Head brewer from Snipes Mountain opening Tri-City tap house
Ryan Wattenbarger and Hilary Bird spent more than a year hunting for the right spot to open their own brewery.
Last week, the Richland couple received the keys to the future home of Moonshot Brewing, which will open next spring in a tidy retail strip tucked off Steptoe Street and Gage Boulevard, on the Kennewick side of the Kennewick-Richland border.
Wattenbarger, a Sunnyside native, is head brewer for Snipes Mountain Brewery & Restaurant in Sunnyside. Bird, a transplant from the Midwest, works at a Tri-City Starbucks.
The couple welcomed a daughter in October. Timing jokes aside, Wattenbarger and Bird say they hope to open Moonshot Brewing in the 3,240-square-foot space in March.
Booth and Sons Construction will convert the unfinished space into a brewery and 100-seat tap house. Moonshot is going for a soccer bar vibe and will offer its own brews as well as a few guest taps.
They plan to invite food trucks to sell to customers from the parking lot.
Moonshot is a dream come true for the couple, who share a vision of opening a business.
Wattenbarger studied education before shifting into the beverage industry. He studied winery operations at Yakima Valley Community College and worked as a production manager for Badger Mountain Winery before moving into brewing.
He’d begun as a home brewer and discovered a love for all things hops. That led to his present gig at Snipes Mountain, where he calls himself a hops-forward brewer who loves to experiment.
He jokes it’s a natural outlet for valley native who grew up next to hop fields.
Bird is originally from Cincinnati but moved to the Northwest for Wattenbarger.
She recalls being taken in by the Northwest brew scene and wanting to create a comfortable, friendly spot where people can gather over a craft brew.
“We love beer,” became the couple’s motto.
They began developing the business more than three years ago. The name was one of the first things they settled on.
As they recall it, they were sitting at brewery drawing up plans for a brewery. It was a daunting undertaking.
“This is really a moonshot for us,” Bird said.
The name stuck.
In early 2017, they started scouting locations with Derrick Stricker, a commercial real estate broker with NAI Tri-Cities.
They loved a spot in downtown Kennewick but backed off when they realized how much it would cost to rehabilitate and aging building to suit their vision.
In the end, they chose new construction at 8804 Victoria Avenue, near Miller Paint and a McDonald’s.
They’ll be neighbors to Smile-A-Mile Painting. President and owner Jason Zook developed the retail strip as a permanent home for his growing business, as well as rental space for tenants.
Moonshot is leasing the two center bays. The end is available.
Wattenbarger and Bird are financing the startup with proceeds from an annuity set up for him when he was a child and with a commercial loan backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
If all goes well, Wattenbarger said he wold like to see Moonshot expand to sell kegs and perhaps eventually buy its own building.
Follow Moonshot Brewing’s progress on Facebook @moonshotbrewing and on Instagram at Moonshotbrew.
Hill’s Restaurant reopening this week
Hills’ Restaurant will hold a soft opening this week, at 24 Vista Way. The beloved Kennewick eatery owned by Nancy Galstad has been completely rebuilt since a devastating fire in October 2016.
Fiction @ Bookwalter celebrates New Year’s Eve
Fiction Restaurant at Bookwalter Winery is offering a couples special for New Year’s Eve. The dinner includes bubbly and appetizer, salad, entree and dessert courses. Seatings are from 5-8 p.m and the cost is $48 per person. Call 509-627-5000 for reservations.
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This story was originally published December 11, 2018 at 12:50 PM.