52 Weeks: Horse Heaven Hills Brewery, Prosser, WA

Horse Heaven Hills in downtown Prosser, WA

34 of 52 (hot damn!)

Horse Heaven Hills Brewery

1118 Meade Rd.

Prosser, WA 99350

Rank: 4/5

Type of Establishment: Brewery and tasting room.

Visit: In order to escape the deary weather of Seattle, we head east of the Cascade Mountain range to a dry, flat, desert like area of the state. Of course, a beer map has been established as we find all of the breweries worth checking out during our trip. Say “hello” to Whitstran, Snipes Mountain Brewery, Iron Horse and last but certainly not least, Horse Heaven Hills Brewery.

Beers on Tap–

Live Long Lager- a German Pilsner that smells like bananas

Honey Girl- a light beer with 25lbs of honey

Buck Off IPA

TAPS!

Dark Cherry Stout- on nitro

Ruby Spur- their most popular beer

Apricot Honey Light- for all you light beer drinkers….

Mustang Red

Stallion Stout

Bottles: None. They do not bottle their beers. Growlers? You betcha. Bring your own and its only $10.00 to fill!

Food Options: No menu. Pretzels at the bar and a stash of vanilla ice cream (more on that later).

BAR OPINION: I walk up to Horse Heaven Hills Brewery, which in all honesty, isn’t much to look at from the outside. We walked past an outdoor patio and through a disheveled room with old recliners. Upon stepping into the tasting room, a

Brew where you drink.

glistening brewing system dominates the backdrop, several empty tables and chairs collect in the room with a couple reading the newspaper over beers. Another man watches the University of Washington game, as we take a seat at the bar.

“3 schooners of Honey Girl, Buck Off IPA and of course, your Dark Cherry Stout.” As we sip the Honey Girl, Gary, one of the brewers fills us in on this interesting beer. At the very end of the boil, he dumps 25lbs

3 beauts lined up before me.

of honey in! You can taste the honey as it compliments the bitterness you would find in a pils. Thus creating a smooth finish and a taste that develops as it lingers on your palette. Buck Off IPA has three hop profiles, one for bittering, one for flavor and one for finish. Well balanced and dry hopped with Cascade hops. I love me some hops! Dark Cherry Stout was a must order for us. Served on nitro, this stout had body. It smells like cherry soda and the cherry flavors give this dry stout an extra, much welcomed kick.

The whole time we drank, we chatted with Gary and Dave. Two lifelong friends who brew as a hobby and have dreams of sharing their beer with others. We learned that the system was shipped via railroad from Alabama, that they brew on the weekends, that they are passionate about beer and love what they are doing. This is the best kind of brewer.

Gary and Dave educated us on their beers and beer in general. A sample of two beers straight from the fermentor: a dry hop IPA and a peppery saison give us a taste of what’s to come from Horse Heaven Hills. I mention how I have never experience a beer float. Within moments, a taster glass was filled with the Dark Cherry Stout and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I can go ahead and check that off my beer bucket list.

This was a wonderful experience. Not only were their beers innovative and delicious, it was inspirational to hear about their story as brewers. They are passionate about beer and grateful to have patrons who are interested in beer and appreciate the craft. We hope to see more of Horse Heaven Hills in the future!

Hops are awesome.