In Washington’s Chimacum Valley, a small brewery is redefining what it means to craft beer. Chimacum Valley Grainery and Brewery, operating as part of a larger farm and grainery, takes a rare and deeply localized approach—producing beer quite literally from the ground up.
Unlike the majority of breweries that source malted barley from large-scale operations or import it from Europe, Chimacum Valley grows its own barley on-site, malts it manually using traditional floor malting techniques, and brews the beer within steps of where the grain was harvested. This hyperlocal model, rooted in organic farming, makes it one of the few breweries in the nation to fully integrate the brewing process into the farm ecosystem.
The brewery describes itself as a “micro-farm-brewery operation,” focused on producing what it calls “village-scale” beer—organically grown, soil-sustained, and handled by only a few sets of hands. The process includes planting, cultivating, harvesting, floor malting by hand in a barn, and brewing across a courtyard from the bakery and stone mills. Even some of the hops used in their beer are grown on the same land.
Chimacum Valley Brewery has been brewing for some time with limited availability and without a dedicated retail outlet. Now, its small-batch beers are available in cans at select locations in the Chimacum and Port Townsend area—a major milestone for the operation.
“This is a big step for our very small, very localized brewing project,” a recent social media post announced. “We grow this beer! Using our organically grown Chimacum Valley barley, we then floor malt it in our barn by hand turning, and then brew it across the courtyard… A continued quest to diversify our organic grain crops, our processing capacity, and the goods we can offer our regional community.”
Despite its growth, the brewery acknowledges the challenges of staying small. With no distribution deal and no formal sales team, the operation relies heavily on community support and word-of-mouth to build awareness.
Canned beers from Chimacum Valley Brewery are now available at the following locations:
- Pourhouse (Port Townsend)
- Chums A Shop by the Sea (Port Townsend)
- Nordland General Store (Marrowstone Island)
- Bishop Block Bottle Shop & Garden (Port Townsend)
- Chimacum Corner Farmstand (Chimacum)
For updates, the brewery maintains an active presence on Instagram, showcasing its unique farm-brewing model and the people behind the process.
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