Wet Coast Brewing Co. celebrates successful first year with awards, party

After a whirlwind year filled with surprises and unexpected production demands, Bryan Copeland and Aaron Johnson, owners of Wet Coast Brewing Company, are ready to celebrate.

The company’s most recent achievement is a series of awards from the Washington Beer Awards, received at the Washington Brewers Festival June 17 to 19.

“It’s a cool segue into year two,” Copeland said. “We’re very excited.”

The company received three awards at the festival on June 18 — a Bronze Award for its Wet Coast Cream Ale, a Silver Award for its El Capitan Brown Ale and a Gold Award for its Sneak Thief Stout.

Additionally, out of 111 breweries in attendance at the festival, Wet Coast was the 19th most visited vendor by event attendees, Johnson said.

The company has been busy the past year, offering 26 different beers to customers and exceeding its production goals by 30 to 35 percent through the year.

“We are a small business, so we have to be cross trained to step in where needed, “ Johnson said.

Copeland takes care of brewing while Johnson handles production and distribution.

“For the most part, this is our first run at a business,” Copeland said. “We’ve jumped in with both feet and it’s been lots of surprises. Most of them good.”

The demand for their product has been one of the biggest surprises for the pair, and that fact has them working to increase production. One of the more popular beers includes the newly award-winning Cream Ale, which Johnson noted as coming in second in sales every week.

Looking toward their second year, Copeland and Johnson are working on bottling some of their brews and continue to expand the company’s selection.

“It’s a slow and steady process,” Johnson said. “Bryan has recipes locked down in his mind that, if it ever slows down, we’ll get to unlock Pandora’s box.”

Keeping their patrons engaged remains a goal for the company, with favorite beers and new brews rotated through its taproom.

“We like to change things up for our customers,” Johnson said. “We want to continue to do that.”

A one-year anniversary celebration party is set for noon to 8 p.m. Saturday (June 25), featuring food from Rib Ticklers Barbeque, live music by Leify Green and Dave Hannon and “crowd favorite” beers from Wet Coast.

The event is for those 21 and older with a $5 cash cover. Proceeds from the event will go to benefit Communities in Schools for the Peninsula School District, which has partnered with the company for the event.

“We’ll just have a day full of fun,” Copeland said. “I don’t think we could ask for much better.”

Wet Coast Brewing Company is located at 6820 Kimball Drive, Suite C, in Gig Harbor.

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Wet Coast Brewing Co. celebrates successful first year with awards, party."