It takes time to make sour beer. Time for the beer to rest in barrels and let the wild yeasts and bacteria interact with it to create a medley of mouth-puckering goodness. It’s a slow process that can take months and even years to get right.
That feeling of time slowing down is what John Spada wants to inspire with his new taproom. Housed in a beautiful red barn, the taproom looks like something out of a 17th-century French farm brewhouse. Farmhouse tables, mismatched antique chairs and comfy couches are spread throughout the main room of the former hay barn, which has a ceiling that reaches dramatically upward. Just outside, French Creek meanders slowly past the barn, a pair of couches and picnic tables sit nearby waiting for customers.
“We want time to stop and stand still in here,” said Spada, who will host a grand opening of the taproom on July 22. “We want people to bring their dogs and kids, read a newspaper and enjoy a beer. No rush. No hurry. It’s got a real casual vibe.”
The taproom is just down the road from the Spada Farmhouse Brewery, which is in an out-building near Spada’s parents’ home on the family farm off Spada Road between Snohomish and Monroe. The barn that houses the taproom is on the property of John and Robin Rotondo, Spada’s brother-in-law and sister.
Putting the taproom together has truly been a family affair. Not only is it on his sister’s property, but much of the design and aesthetic was created by his mother and sister, Melissa and Sarah Spada, respectively. The two went to work, hunting for unique chairs, tables and couches at estate and garage sales and Goodwill. Family friends made the giant farm table in the center of the space and John Rotondo is building and milling by hand the wood from the family farm that will eventually be the taproom’s bar.
“We really wanted to create the right environment,” said Spada, who was inspired by multiple trips to France and Belgium. “I think we kind of nailed it here.”
Spada’s trips to Europe influenced more than just the vibe of the taproom. Belgium is where he discovered the depth of flavor in lambic, Flemish beers and sours. There are many different variables of sour beers, but the biggest differences between them and everyday ales and lagers are the strains of bacteria and yeast used in fermentation and the time it takes. The two main yeasts used in sour brewing, lactobacillus and brettanomyces, give the beers tart and funky flavors.
After returning home, Spada knew he wanted to open a sour brewery and, besides garnering the expertise of brewing them, he also knew he needed experience on the business and sales side. He got a job as the Washington and Idaho sales representative for Fort George Brewing in Astoria, Oregon. While working for Fort George, Spada started making experimental batches of sour beers in his parents’ garage and made a crucial discovery.
“I found that I was much better at making sours than making anything else,” Spada said. “I don’t make a great IPA, but what I excel at is sours.”
Spada Farmhouse Brewery is a rarity, an almost exclusive sour brewery. There are no other in Snohomish County, and only a few breweries in the region that specialize in sour and farmhouse ales, including Holy Mountain Brewing and Urban Family Brewers in Seattle and Propolis Brewing in Port Townsend.
“John is doing it the right way: true farm-to-barrel sours,” said Ace Younggren, assistant general manager at Snohomish’s Trail’s End Taphouse and a childhood friend of Spada’s. “Barrel-aged sours have a complexity and depth of flavor that you can’t get any other way. What he’s doing is unique and he’s good at it. I told him, ‘Honestly, if you didn’t make great beer I wouldn’t put it on.’ ”
Because of the time it takes to make good sours, Spada said it’s going to be a balancing act keeping enough beers on tap as well as continuing to send kegs out to local taprooms he’s been regularly supplying, like Trail’s End Taphouse, Fred’s Rivertown Alehouse and Josh’s Taps and Caps. He said he envisions brewing up to four days a week after the taproom opens.
The 40-acre family farm where Spada set up his brewery was established by his great grandfather, also John Spada, near the turn of the 20th century. The elder John Spada emigrated from Italy in 1905. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service and helped found Snohomish County PUD. His great grandson now lives in the original farmhouse he built in 1938.
If you go
The grand opening of the brewery’s taproom, 7610 Spada Road, Snohomish, is 4 p.m. July 22. The regular hours will be 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The taproom is kid and dog friendly (don’t be surprised to see owner John Spada’s dog, Molly, around). For more information, call 425-330-6938 or visit www.spadafarmhousebrewery.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
Gallery
