It all started for 16 years ago for Lucas Rate when he began to brew his own personal beers in college. Fast forward to today and Lucas Rate is co-owner with is wife Kimberly Shaw of the two-month-old brewery Moscow Brewing Company.
“I always wanted to start a brewery, and I’ve put about ten years of research into it. Just combing the Internet, reading papers, reading books. When we moved to Moscow a few years ago, I just realized if there’s any place to start a brewery, this is it,” Rate said. “It just seemed right, Kim and I love the community and it just seemed like this was going to be the prefect spot.”
A big step for the new brewery will happen this Friday as they take part in their first BrewFest along with other regional breweries at the 1912 Center hosted by the community group Buy Local Moscow.
“It seems as far as the community ethos goes, it’s very welcoming and tends to embrace good, locally owned, high quality small business. We thought if we could become a part of that it would be really rewarding and gratifying,” Rate said.
There has been a strong following for high quality beer in Moscow and is growing among college students, he said..
“It might have been 20 years ago that college kids were just looking for as much bang for their buck as they could get,” Rate said. “But now, the kids that are coming to college are a lot more savvy, a lot more cultured beer wise. They know good beer and seek it out.”
It was not an easy process for the brewery to get up and running due to all of the logistical work in setting up a brewery.
“When I really started putting my nose to the grindstone was about a year and a half ago. From the securing financing, writing a business plan, to going through the licensing process, the regulatory process with the feds, state, city and the county” Rate said.
The new brewery has only sold a few kegs to the Corner Club but is looking to expand throughout Moscow and Pullman. “The goal is to have this as a manufacturing facility and get the beer out the door and get it around town to establish a local brand.”
The Moscow Brewing Company is not just a manufacturing site but also has a beer hall environment with the wooden décor and paintings and pictures of Moscow’s humble beginnings. “The folks that are coming in here are really diverse and wonderful. It’s been a lot of fun,” he said.
So far the brewery has three main brews available, but the goal is to have four main brews and play around with seasonal beers throughout the seasons, Rate said.. One of the main challenges the brewery is having now is keeping up with demand of the three core beers on tap. With a community behind it the Moscow Brewing Company is making a mark on the Moscow community.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]