PORT TOWNSEND — Social Fabric Brewing is the latest evolution for owner and brewer Levi Liberty on his beer journey.
The brewery, at 948 N. Park Ave. in Port Townsend, is open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays, and it’s also a taproom.
Officially opened on Aug. 2, Social Fabric has seven beers brewed in-house, plus five from around the Peninsula and Seattle on tap.
The house-brewed beers are mostly IPAs, which are big sellers in the area, Liberty said. He also has a pilsner. Liberty said he’s eager to brew more lagers, pilsners, stouts and sours, among other things.
His beer menu includes a number of different styles from outside brewers. There also is a Finnriver Cider on tap, and the brewery sells canned non-alcoholic options.
Opening the commercial brewery marks another step for Liberty, who has owned and operated Angeles Brewing Supplies & Taproom in Port Angeles since 2016.
Liberty, 38, said he’s been brewing at home for 19 years, half of his life. He’s still learning some of the details of operations, like scheduling batches of beer, but he said, “We’re gonna keep the beer flowing.”
“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do since my second homebrew batch. I’m like the quintessential home brewer who brews one good beer and thinks they want to do it for the rest of their lives.
“As an entrepreneur, they say to never fall in love with your business idea. I did immediately. It’s a labor of love.”
Liberty will handle the beer and business side of the operation and have staff handle the pouring and bartending side.
Social Fabric Brewing owner and brewer Levi Liberty pours himself a pilsner at a new brewery in Port Townsend. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Liberty said he expects he may need to bring on some other brewers in the future, if demand increases.
In the short term, Liberty said the brewery is placing its focus on the quality and operations of its beer production, developing some wholesale relationships with restaurants, and working on a small-scale canning operation.
It currently has a Czech Pilsner being served at Yodelin in Port Angeles.
Cans can now be purchased at the Social Fabric Brewery and at Angeles Brewing Supplies & Taproom.
The brewery purchase was finalized in June. Gaining a commercial brewery license was relatively simple, as the warehouse already was outfitted as a brewery, Liberty said.
“This was an ideal situation because it was a turn-key business, already with the licensing required,” he said.
The building already had the infrastructure set up to be a brewery, so pre-opening projects were mostly based around organizing, painting, outdoor landscaping and prepping the beer, Liberty said.
Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend musicians Chandra Johnson, David Rivers, Joey Gish and Will Jevne played live music for the opening under the name Contra Band.
Rivers also played for the opening of the Port Angeles Taproom, Liberty said.
The brewery plans to host live music events moving into the future, and it has music on its schedule this Saturday, but Liberty said he plans on mostly maintaining an ambiance where conversations can occur.
The brewery does offer snacks, currently chips and nuts.
Liberty said the brewery does allow outside food in, and points customers to Lila’s Kitchen, a commercial kitchen with a rotating schedule of vendors, located across the street on Park Avenue. Friendly Nettle serves Gyros and fried chicken out of the kitchen, among other things, Liberty said.
Brewery owner Levi Liberty in the beer garden at Social Fabric Brewing in Port Townsend on Tuesday. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
“The public house, kind of community-minded idea,” he said. “A gathering place for everybody. Kids and dogs are allowed in here. The idea of breweries and bars being like the original social media, in my eyes, where people would gather after work and share the news of their day, hang out, talk politics, sit across the table from each other, gossip or whatever. This is where you would get a lot of your information for a long time.”
For more information about the brewery and its current menu, visit https://www.socialfabricbeer.com. The brewery also has pages on Facebook and Instagram and is reachable by phone at 360-344-2999.
________
Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
