Hi-Fi Brewing is set to open their doors this weekend at 14950 NE 95th St. in Redmond, just down the street from Black Raven Brewing. They’ll be starting out with a soft opening today from 4pm to 9pm, and regular hours going forward will be 4pm to 9pm Monday through Thursday, 4pm to 10pm on Friday, 12pm to 10pm on Saturday and 12pm to 9pm on Sunday.

The team of owners at Hi-Fi includes John and Cathy Carothers, Joe Rovito, and Ryan McGee. They wanted some experience in the brewery, though, and they sure got that when they hired Mike Davis, a longtime brewer from Harmon Brewing in Tacoma. Mike’s experience has been essential in getting their 15bbl brewing system up and running and filling their cooler with plenty of beer to get things rolling.

The opening beer lineup this weekend should include an ESB, IPA, English Mild and Porter. You might see their Summer Ale and Vienna Lager if they are ready as well.

Jeanne and I had a chance to stop by and check the place out this past weekend, and they’ve put together a beautiful taproom. The music theme is evident, with a custom stereo-themed panel wall on the end of the taproom opposite the window peering in on the brewing system. There are maybe 10 seats or so at the bar, and there will be several tables available as well.

As for the beer, the first thing I’ll point out is that everything I tried was well-made & absolutely clean with no off-flavors. Sadly, that is a rare occurrence with many new breweries in my experience. I loved the 3.2% ABV English Mild, which will be available this weekend. I believe their plan is to have a session beer and a lager of some sort available at all times, which is a welcome change for this market. The IPA was a solid, balanced IPA that leans towards a traditional English style more so than a NW hop bomb.

Cheers to the team at Hi-Fi for getting off the ground!