Pacific Northwestern Regional Cookery: Breweries and Wineries

“It’s the Water” the Olympia Brewing Company, located in Tumwater, Washington, advertised in 1902, six years after Leopold Schmidt set up what would become one of the largest and best-known breweries in Washington. It was also what drew earlier experienced German brewers like Henry Saxer, who opened the territory’s first brewery in 1852. The German brewmasters had come just in time to take advantage of the heightened popularity of lager beer. Throughout the territory a thirsty population greeted their arrival with joy. Within a few years a burgeoning saloon industry happily opened the tap of wooden kegs filled with local beer.