Walla Walla, Washington has been  a world class destination for wine connoisseurs since the 1970s. Producing some complex and flavorful varietals has garnered international acclaim for the Merlots, Cabernets, and most recently Syrahs of the area. In fact more than 100 wineries in the the Walla Walla Valley generate more than $100 million annually and make the area a hotspot for tourism. Walla Walla Community College offers an associate’s degree program in winemaking through its recently established school of Enology and Viticulture, which also operates its own commercial winery.

However, long before the emergence of the valley’s identity as a wine producer, beer was the lamen’s drink. Thanks to my friend Yvette Uber, I was able to learn a history of Walla Walla’s brewing culture from an issue of American Breweriana Journal which had an article by Herman Wiley Ronnenberg. In this magazine Yvette let me borrow, I learned that in 1855 pioneer brewer Emil Meyer established the first brewery in the future state of Washington. At the time this was Oregon Territory. When gold was discovered along the nearby Salmon River in 1860, Walla Walla became a major depot for supplies and by the following year, Meyer advertised his City Brewery and Bakery on Main Street in the local publication, the Walla Walla Statesman. Meyer’s focus was lager beer, bread, a variety of crackers, fruits and vegetables, wines and liquors.In 1862 Vancouver Brewery Ale from America’s Vancouver became available in Walla Walla to compete with the local brews. Making the long journey up the Columbia before being hauled over land, Vancouver’s ale offered a fruitier tasting alternative to Meyer’s lager. By 1864 Meyer was also in the ale producing business and had the beer brewed at his Second Street brewery on the east end of town. A real entrepeneur it has been documented that Meyer also briefly ran a brewery in Idaho City in the Boise Basin during times of gold rush. In 1865 Meyer was back at the Walla Walla City Brewery manufacturing bock beer. A report says that the brewer gave a dozen bottles to the newspaper and says that some “beer sops who happened to drop in hornswaggled it down and left smacking their lips with smiles of satisfaction beaming upon their countenances.”