Hale’s Ale Brewery
- By Kendall Jones, Washington Beer Blog -
Hale’s Ale Brewery has the distinction of being the oldest privately held brewing company in the Pacific Northwest. With few exceptions, the people who own the brewery today are the same folks who decided to open a brewery back in 1983. At the time, it must have seemed a crazy idea. Depending on how you reckon such things, Hale’s Ale Brewery was either the third or fourth craft brewery in Washington. At the time, it was one of a small handful of craft breweries in the nation.
Mike Hale started Hale’s Ale Brewery in Colville, Washington in 1983, introducing his first beer on Independence Day of that year. In 1986, Hale’s opened a second brewery west of the Cascades in Kirkland. Somewhere along the way they opened a brewery in Spokane as well. In 1995, Hale’s moved the Kirkland brewery to Fremont. Today, all of the brewing is done at the Fremont brewery on Leary Way.
Mike Hale is one of the patriots of the American craft beer revolution; he is one of craft beer’s founding fathers. There was no blueprint for what he did. As a young man, Mike spent some time in Great Britain. Upon returning to America, he found that his beer palate had changed significantly. Longing for the kind of beers he had enjoyed in England, Mike began brewing his own. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today Hale’s Ale Brewery is a fixture in Fremont. Many patrons might wrongly assume that it is the first and only location. They’re wrong. Hale’s knew a few other homes over the years and today also operates an Alehouse in Silverdale.
Perhaps you’ve seen the Hale’s Ale double-decker bus? It’s an old British relic that Mike lovingly struggles to keep road worthy. He often leaves it parked in front of the brewery in Fremont. As an old-time craft beer guy, one who started drinking Hale’s Ale in the mid-80s, I often describe my relationship with craft beer like this: a bus came by and I got on. Thank you, Mike Hale, for stopping to pick me up.
Hale’s Ale Brewery
4301 Leary Way NW
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 782-0737
http://www.halesbrewery.com/
Daily: 11:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Hale’s Alehouse
10315 Silverdale Way NW
Silverdale, WA 98383
(360) 692-4253
http://halesalehouse.com/
Monday – Thursday: 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday: 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM - 11:00 PM
(Breakfast 9 AM - 2 PM)
Sunday: 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
(Breakfast 9 AM - 2 PM)