The final counts are in and we did pretty well! #27 out of 73. Thanks to everyone that came by our booth for a sample and hello to all the new people here for the first time.

A brief primer on finding our beer.

You can visit the brewery for growler fills or 22oz bottles, but it is by appointment only. Please call with plenty of advance notice but if you’re brave call anytime, 425-835-2337 SMS available as well.

Secondly you could find us at one of the many fine retailers that carry our beer. Check out distribution map for what shops carry what beers.

We’re still alive and doing quite! We have some one off beers showing up on draft soon and we’re underway on a huge 1st anniversary party and bottle release surrounding that. For more up to the minute info check out our Facebook or Twitter feed.

This Saturday is High Stupidity Day around the Puget Sound!

Sam Seaborn: You ever tried to overthrow the government?

Charlie Young: N-No sir.

Sam Seaborn: What the hell’s been stopping you?

I’m going to get political for a minute, there is a new proposed expansion to raise taxes on Washington craft beer.

As a newly minted craft brewery in Washington we have many hurdles to face. Increasing supply, energy, and labor costs. These go up and up every year, usually outpacing inflation. We pay taxes on quite a many number of things…

1. Manufacturing Tax
2. Wholesale Tax
3. Federal Excise Tax
4. Litter Tax
5. Retailer Tax
6. State Excise Tax
7. County Sales Tax
8. State Sales Tax
9. City Sales Tax

For just having the license to produce Beer we currently pay per 31 gallons is $7 in Federal Excise tax and $4.23 State Excise tax. We have the 7th highest tax rate in the country for beer (source). Now I am all for paying my fair share of taxes, and we do that in spades, but the Washington State Legislators are proposing a 300 to 500% increase in State Excise tax, but only on beer produced in the State.

By doing this you give a even larger advantage to the California, Oregon, and Colorado breweries that already outsell Washington beer in it’s own state. This will give them an even larger competitive advantage when they already pay much lower tax rates than Washington breweries.

What do I think a proportional response is? Tax every beer at the point of sale, not just Washington beer. Make it a sin tax and move the hell on and stop pussy footing around the issue.

I want more money for education, but increasing the taxes on just Washington beer is not going to do it. In fact I was part of a team that was able to secure a $20,000 grant for Edmonds School District when I was still a student and Jay Inslee was part of that.

Want an even better solution than taxing all beer? Get I-502 off and running, we’ll see how little deficit is left once you start taxing an industry that is a potential $10-$40 billion industry. Craft beer looks like pennies at this point.

Help us out! Call your local rep and tell them you are not in favor of raising taxes on Washington beer.

This week we brewed two new beers that will be draft only.

The first is our 425 Belgo-Session Ale. A lighter alcohol take on a dark belgian. We’ve taken our Duplex recipe, scaled back on the alcohol and aimed for a dry finish for a easy drinking session beer.

The second is the complete opposite of the first. High Stupidity is the name we’re playing with. A one off batch made with Cascade Beer Candi’s Maple Bacon Candy Syrup and Hemp Seeds, Pale Malt, Aromatic, Munich, Crystal 80 and 40 combined for a starting gravity of 1.066. The brew smelled amazing today and I can’t wait to see what it comes out like.

This will hit the streets in a few weeks.

I’ve added a new feature, an interactive Google Map that shows where our beers are for sale and what they purchased from us. Please call ahead to make sure it’s still in stock and if it isn’t, drop us a line so we can make sure they can get more.

Justice Brewing Distribution Map (will open in new window/tab)

More places are coming soon!

We have 22oz bottles for sale direct at the brewery and going out to select speciality stores.

If you want us in a store near you, tell us and then tell the manager the next time your in there that you want to buy our beer at their store. We would love to be in the following stores so ask for us! Norm’s Market, Brews Almighty, Full Throttle Bottles, Uber, Brouwer’s, The Pine Box, Chucks Hop Shop, Big Star Beer Mart, Beer Authority, Malt & Vine, Snohomish Beer & Wine, Fred’s Alehouse, The White Buffalo, Beer Junction and anywhere else you buy craft beer.

Currently Special Brews in Lynnwood has 13 Questions Belma, Stout Hearted, White & Nerdy, and Whiter & Nerdier White IPA in Bombers on draft.

We are open on Wednesday the 21st 4 to 8 for growler fills. So you don’t run out of beer on Thanksgiving. Come stock up on our Belgian Pumpkin Ale that goes perfectly with a Turkey dinner.

Saturday the 24th we will be open for Small Business Day from Noon to 6pm. We are also having a soft launch of our 22oz bottle sales. We will have Whiter & Nerdier, 13 Questions Belma, and if we get label approval back in time our Belgian Stout in bombers. More coming in a few weeks.

Friday night from 6pm to 9pm and again Saturday from 12:30pm to 4pm for Growler fills and samples.

Current tap list: White & Nerdy, Straight Up Berliner, Don’t Be A Welch Berliner (almost gone!), Stout Hearted Belgian Stout, 13?’s Bravo (almost gone!), Single Batch Belgian Pumpkin.

We have a couple kegs of Don’t Be A Welch and Bravo that will go to retail accounts but the kegs that are on now for growler fills are the last for in house sales.

When Bravo blows we’ll have the new Belma hop version on. Don’t Be A Welch will retire til the Spring and we’ll have the Whiter & Nerdier White IPA on after it kicks, but probably not til next week.

I thought I would take the time to give all your RSS junkies a fix on what is currently cooking at Justice.

In the next week we will have Belgian Pumpkin on tap. Next week our Black Belgian will be out of fermentation.

We will be brewing a new recipes this week along with 13 Questions Belma Hop edition.

NEW T-SHIRTS! We should have new two color t-shirts in stock on Tuesday.

Label Approval Status: 1 out of 3 labels have been approved by the TTB. Hopefully we will have everything approved this week and will start test bottling.