Skip Madsen admiring a glass of oatmeal stout.

American Brewing opened the doors at their new Edmonds, WA brewery for the first time to a crowd of people during the Washington Beer Open House on February 26. Owner Neil Fallon, brewer Skip Madsen, and the rest of his team pushed hard to make that opening date. Since that crazy weekend they’ve had some time to get their product rolled out to more of the market and concentrate on getting the brewery and tap room running like clockwork. To date they have still brewed less than ten batches of beer, and they continue to dial in the recipes on the first four beers they have brought to market. I recently had a chance to stop by and visit with Neil and Skip and check out the brewery. Here are my initial thoughts on their beers:

Breakaway IPA – Fans of brewer Skip Madsen know him from his days brewing at Boundary Bay, Water Street, Big Time and Pike. He brewed a lot of great IPAs at those breweries, so it is no surprise that his IPA here is pretty spectacular. Their first batch of IPA from the new brewery was solid, but for the second batch Skip wanted to add more citrus flavor and sweeten up the finish a bit; it showed promise out of the tank.

Breakaway Caboose Oatmeal Stout – This was probably my favorite out of the four beers I tried, and I’m an IPA man. Lots of roasted flavor, smooth as can be on nitro, and not too heavy. Just a great oatmeal stout.

Ed’s Red – A balanced red with moderately complex malts and some light citrus hops coming through. At around 5% ABV, this is a nice session beer that has already become a favorite for some.

American Blonde – Their first batch of the blonde came in at around 3.5% ABV. Their second batch should finish closer to 4.5% ABV and give them a nice, light alternative for folks looking for something refreshing.

Neil and Skip seem to have a great working relationship already. Neil has a business background, while Skip is the creative force behind the beers. Neil will have input in the lineup, but he completely left it up to Skip to decide what beers he wanted to brew initially. While Skip has been around the industry for a long time, Neil is learning as he goes along and has had help from other friendly brewery owners in the area, in particular from Beaux at Black Raven and Alejandro over at Big Al Brewing. Neil hopes to be able to repay the favor to other local breweries in the future.

Their beers are (or will be soon) making it out to various bars all over Seattle, including these that I heard them mention: Naked City, Collins Pub, Hudson Public, Last Drop (growler fills), Red Door, Pub at Piper’s Creek, and all the way down to the Red Hot in Tacoma. They had a full time sales rep starting this week, so I expect you’ll see even more soon. Or, it is worth a trip up to the tap room to visit the brewery. It’s a well put together tap room, with plenty of room at the bar, several tables, and a garage door to open up when the sun is shining.

Upon first impression, American Brewing has a great brewer, an owner with a good sense for business, and a solid lineup of initial beers. I’ll look forward to seeing what the future brings from them, and I won’t hesitate to order up a pint anytime I see them on tap.

American Brewing
180 West. Dayton St. Warehouse 102
Edmonds, WA 98020
425.774.1717

Taproom Hours:
Wed – Fri from 3pm to 9pm
Sat from 2pm to 9pm
Sun from 2pm to 8pm
21+ only

Here is a useful post from Washington Beer Blog on how to get to the brewery, which is located very near the Kingston Ferry Terminal.