WOODINVILLE, Wash. — DISCLAIMER: This is an encore presentation of KING 5's Evening, shot prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please visit business websites directly for the most up-to-date information on hours and closures.
The Pacific Northwest has long been ground zero for the craft brewing industry, and a brewery in Woodinville is breaking down boundaries.
Métier Brewing is the first Black-owned brewery in Washington State.
"I've enjoyed beer most of my adult life and I have friends of all hues, sexuality, everything, there's a diverse group of friends and people who enjoy beer. And I just thought, why isn't this industry reflective of who we are?" said CEO Rodney Hines.
He opened Métier to help start conversations about community building and social action.
"There's a joy in conversation, period,” said CEO Rodney Hines. "And I think beer is almost like an ice breaker for conversation, for connection."
The spacious taproom in the Woodinville Commerce Center is filled with communal tables, games, and a kids’ play area.
"We really want folks right as they come in to have a sense of feeling welcome and that they belong here,” said General Manager Dreux Dillingham.
Award-winning beer, from light pale ale to a Russian Imperial Stout, is brewed on-site.
To help bring new faces into the traditionally white male industry, Métier offers internships for women and people of color. Sale of their canned Black Stripe coconut porter supports the program.
The brewery is also inspired by cycling (Hines came up with the idea alongside his former cycling trainer and owner of Capitol Hill’s Métier Racing, Todd Herriott.)
The Trail Blazer pale ale label features a drawing of Major Taylor, the first African American world champion cyclist. Sales of the bottles support Cascade Bicycle Club's "Major Taylor Project."
“That’s a program that helps children in middle school and high school - between Seattle and Tacoma, they have 16 schools that they participate in,” Dillingham said. "They're providing access to bicycles to kids who don't traditionally have that access."
Métier’s beer is available at a handful of local restaurants like Jerk Shack in Belltown. But the Woodinville taproom is the only place with a "Beer It Forward" wall - where customers buy pints for future visitors.
““Like, the next police officer who comes in will have a beer," Hines said. "The next nurse, the next teacher, the next professor."
Whoever's next, they'll find a place at the bar. Métier Brewing is based on the idea that there's room for everyone.
"Beer is our avenue to do what we really love, and that's helping people,” Dillingham said.
Métier Brewing | 14125 NE 189th St., Suite B
DISCLAIMER: This is an encore presentation of KING 5's Evening, shot before the COVID-19 pandemic. Please visit business websites directly for the most up-to-date information on hours and closures.
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