Gig Harbor Brewing Company

First and foremost, Gig Harbor Brewing is not actually located in Gig Harbor. In fact, it’s located in the spot that feels least like Gig Harbor within the shortest possible drive from the city limits. It’s in the Nalley Valley, so named because everything down here is either a manufacturing or processing plant, the biggest being Nalley Foods. There are quite a few other light industrial structures, and there’s no shortage of overpasses and onramps. But mostly it’s an industrial area.

I’ve teased them on Facebook about keeping their name after finding real estate only outside the city limits of their namesake. They’re pretty nonchalant about it. They’re GH folk, and they’re only a few miles down Highway 16 from GH, so why not? Let ’em have the name. At least they didn’t call the place "Manhattan Brewing" or "Paris Brewing" or something.

They’ve taken over a big shoebox-shaped building with high ceilings and plenty of space for both a brewhouse and a taproom. They have plenty of seating, clean comfortable restrooms, and a shuffleboard table. In fact, the first thing you smell when you walk in is the fresh sawdust in service on the shuffleboard table.

The beer list is fairly short, focused mainly on anglo ales—IPAs, APAs, stouts, porters, etc. Good stuff. They’re brewing clean and interesting beers with a clear identity. They’re pretty new, but I’d have to put them pretty high on the list of South Sound breweries already. I know the brewmaster has been brewing professionally for a decade and a half, and the experience shows in the glass.

Prices are good here, and there’s some nice basic swag to go (growlers and such). I really enjoyed stopping here, and would definitely return.