Tap three local breweries at once

Saturday, May 30, 2009

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Brewing in the Tetons has a young, but rich history, and for the first time three Teton micro-breweries are sitting down together to offer the public a taste.

Snake River Brewing, Grand Teton Brewing, and Wildlife Brewing will bring several beers to taste, a band will play and representatives will talk.

“The idea is just to get the three local breweries in the same room and have some fun,” Wildlife owner Ric Harmon said. “I wanted to let the public see us all in one place, taste everybody’s beer and just see what brewing in the Tetons is all about – without a competition.”

Wildlife, which hopes to host the event each year, is by far the smallest and youngest brewery of the three. Harmon’s home happened to be on the main drag in Victor Idaho, so six years ago he put a couple of pizza ovens in the corner of his two car garage and started selling pies. A few months later he bought brewing equipment and after a year was selling beer.

Last summer and fall, he busted out a few more walls on his home and expanded it into a fully functional brewpub. He’s now putting the finishing touches on a beer garden, and will eventually install a bocce ball court, in what was once his backyard.

“We just want it to be a place where people really want to hang out ... a real community hub kind of place,” Harmon said.
Harmon said he couldn’t have gotten to where he is now without the other two breweries.

“Those guys are very friendly to me and have been a big help, whenever I needed advice, whether it was a missing ingredient or something else,” Harmon said. “Rarely do you get three local breweries that will have a party collectively. I’m just trying to enlighten the public that there are three great breweries in the Tetons.
Someday, he’ll move out of his attic apartment, but until then the new brewpub is also his home. JHW

Tetons on Tap takes place, 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, at Wildlife Brewpub, 145 South Main Street in Victor. Tickets are $15, which include free beer samples, and food will be available at regular prices.


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Tap three local breweries at once | Planet JH News Article: General Music Arts and Culture

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