Ice Harbor Brewing Company is a
brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...
founded in
Pasco, Washington
Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 80,038 in 2023.
Pasco is one of three cities (the others being Kennewick and Richland) t ...
in 1996 by two former workers at the
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It has also been known as SiteW and the Hanford Nuclear R ...
. They entered this venture after buying the Meheen & Collins brewery.
The
brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...
is located in what was once a
grain mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separate ...
at 206 N. Benton St. in
Kennewick, Washington
Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...
. This building serves as a brewery, and as a
brewpub
Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...
. The menu offers
sandwiches
A sandwich is a dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''container'' or ...
and various fare as well as the brewery's creations. The brewpub recently installed a
beer engine
A beer engine is a device for pumping beer from a cask, usually located in a pub's cellar.
The beer engine was invented by John Lofting, a Dutch inventor, merchant and manufacturer who moved from Amsterdam to London in about 1688 and patented a ...
, which allows the beer to be pulled from the cask, rather than pushed by
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
gas. The brewpub is believed to be the only Tri-City brewpub that uses such a device.
Recently, Ice Harbor Brewing had opened its second pub, which is located at the Port of Kennewick's commercial building at 350 Clover Island Dr. on
Clover Island
Clover Island is a small island in the Columbia River located between the Blue Bridge and the Cable Bridge in Kennewick, Washington. It is roughly long, wide and has an area of . The island is owned by the Port of Kennewick. Prior to the constr ...
in Kennewick. The pub opened in late October 2007, and features much of the same brews and fare at the Railroad Avenue brewpub, but without the homebrewing inventory.
The Brewery
The brewery (located at 206 N. Benton St., #C in Kennewick) uses a 10-
barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...
(bbl) system and uses a single-stage infusion
mash system. The brewery is capable of producing an annual yield of 1300 bbls, both for sale outside the brewery and in the brewpub.
In addition to being a brewery and a brewpub, Ice Harbor also sells
homebrewing
Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...
equipment and supplies. They also provide monthly classes for beginning homebrewers as well as the meeting place for the local homebrew club the Mid-Columbia Zymurgy Association.
The Beers
Ice Harbor Brewing provides a wide variety of handcrafted
ale
Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
s and
lagers
Lager (; ) is a style of beer brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "''lager''" comes from the German word for "s ...
, all of which have names that reflect the local area.
Columbia Kölsch
This
Kölsch beer
Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
is brewed in the style of the beers of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. Light in color, dry and refreshing. This is one of the company's best sellers.
The Tangerine exBEERience
A hefewiezen beer with added tangerines.
India Pale Ale
A classic ale style, with double the hop rate.
Runaway Red Ale
A red ale, generously hopped with local
hops
Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...
.
Sternwheeler Stout
Closely modeled after the classic Irish stout. A
nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
-charged version of this stout is often made available around
St. Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chri ...
.
Barley Wine-style beer
A high-gravity ale, hopped heavily to counter the malt sweetness. Available mostly in the winter months.
Cask-conditioned Hop Warrior
This beer, one of the few offered at the brewpub which is cask-conditioned (their Pale Ale is another), is dry-hopped with Amarillo hops, and is only offered sporadically.
References
{{reflist
External links
Ice Harbor Brewing Company
Food and drink companies established in 1996
Beer brewing companies based in Washington (state)
Pasco, Washington
American beer brands
American companies established in 1996
1996 establishments in Washington (state)