From Construction to Craft Beer – Triplehorn is Making Noise on the Eastside

Triplehorn Brewing Co. has been pouring pints of their eclectic roster of brews for just over a year, but they already have a decidedly committed and enthusiastic following. Despite the brewery’s less-than-conspicuous location tucked into the back corner of a ho-hum Woodinville industrial park, the “Triplehorde” has been regularly finding their way to enjoy brothers Ray and Rich Neishem’s tasty beers in a curiously convivial setting. Imagine Viking-inspired quirkiness in a cozily appointed living room that happens to also be a neighborhood VFW Hall. And then add heavenly beer seemingly delivered via the Bifrost by Odin himself.

Triplehorn, along with a few other impressive neighbors, seems to have filled a gap of sorts in the local craft beer scene. Woodinville is decidedly winery country, with almost 100 different wineries and a surfeit of tasting rooms, but comparatively few craft breweries. Locals were clearly keen on something new, as more than 400 people flocked to Triplehorn’s opening day in August 2012 without a drop of real advertising by Rich and Ray. And more than three times that number showed up for the brewery’s one year anniversary. Grab a pint of their N3m351s Milk Stout or Barrel Aged Mystic Belgian Strong Dark and you’ll understand the draw before you can say Mjölnir.

Meeting up with Rich on a cloudy Saturday, he talked a little about their beer philosophy, summing it up rather nicely by asserting it’s “always the weirdos” who seem to do well in this business. With that in mind, he describes their style as “willy-nilly and a little chaotic,” and that sentiment is reflected well in the wink-y nature of their beer names: their big Imperial IPA is dubbed the “Bjørn Klem,” which means “bear hug” in Norwegian, and they describe their “six-three blonde” – the 6.3% ABV Falcon Cloak Blonde – as “leggy.” A name is just a name in the end though, and where Triplehorn really delivers is in the high-quality, adventurous, and evolving tap list that keeps people coming back for more.

The Brothers Neishem came to craft beer via the construction industry. Finding themselves with too much time on their hands in the aftermath of the recession, they took Ray’s skills as a homebrewer (praised as a “savant” by some) and Rich’s business experience as a general contractor, put the two together (along with essentially everything they had in the bank), and voila: Triplehorn. Now Ray handles the brewing while Rich tackles the ever-frustrating business side. They do all their own construction in the brewery as well, which right now includes a 3,500-square-foot expansion project that is essentially doubling their footprint and quadrupling their brewing capacity.

But no matter their square footage, it seems Triplehorn will always be a place where ever-increasing numbers of locals and out-of-towners alike will gather to see what Rich and Ray are up to. During a recent weekend windstorm, the brewery lost power but assured the masses via social media that they were still open for business (cash only) for a cold beer and salty pretzels by candlelight. That kind of commitment to the people and the beer is what the Triplehorde loves and expects.