Wednesday, March 15, 2017

March 15th, 2017 - Checkin' Out Bonneville Brewery!




Brewing Assistant Mike "The Janitor" Millen & Master Brewer Dave Watson

About 25 minutes west of Salt Lake City, Utah is the fairly small, sleepy city of Tooele.  Probably the last thing you would expect to find in Tooele is a world-class brewery and pub.  But that is exactly what you find with the Bonneville Brewery!

In October of 2012, head brewer Dave Watson brewed Bonneville Brewery's first batch and he's been going non-stop ever since!  With 6 fermenters (four 10 barrel fermenters and two 30 barrel fermenters) and 9 brite tanks (eight 10 barrel brite tanks and one 30 barrel brite tank), Dave and his assistant Mike "The Janitor" Millen are cranking out multiple batches a week of tasty brews!  About 90 to 100 kegs and hundreds of bottles go out every other week to local bars, bowling alleys, and grocery stores.  They just started bottling recently and are focusing on upping their volume for more visibility and distribution.

Dave is from New Mexico where he worked as a news photographer for several years and also dabbled in home brewing.  Really enjoying beer and brewing in general, he eventually ended up working at the High Desert Brewery in Las Cruces.  He eventually came to Utah because of his wife's job and found work in a small downtown brewery pub and a beer store in Salt Lake City, where he was surprised to find that Utah had a "really cool local beer culture!"  In 2012, he found himself designing the beer line at Bonneville and running the show.  He states, "the beer culture in Utah is great!  There are a lot of very supportive people who love and want to support beer." 

I asked Dave what his favorite beers are that he currently brews:
"My favorite beers?  Probably the Free Roller Session IPA and the Redline Irish Style Red Ale."

As with all my interviews, I asked Dave what beer he likes to crack open and what album he likes to spin after a long day at the brewery:
"Something mellow like our Pilot Pilsner and "Rain Dogs" by Tom Waits.  I really like Tom Waits!"

Bonneville Brewery's fine ales are all available on tap at their wonderful pub restaurant, which opened in March of 2013.  You can also find several area bars, Harmon's, and Whole Foods... so go get some!!

Cheers!!

Sir Malcolm's Stout

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