A Visit to 101 Brewery and Twana Roadhouse

The Olympic Peninsula is becoming more and more of a tourist destination. The raw beauty of the Olympic National Forest draws tourists and adventure seekers from all over the world. Then when it comes to craft beer Port Townsend has a great reputation; Port Angeles could use some improvement, but what about Quilcene?

Quilcene is a town of about 650 residents and is home to the Olympic Music Festival. It is also home to the wonderful 101 Brewery and Twana Roadhouse. We stopped in one Sunday afternoon; three efficient and friendly young ladies staffed the place. Three parties arrived at once and the service didn’t suffer at all.

The menu is standard pub fare done well; we had a nice bowl of chowder and a delectable bacon cheeseburger. We washed this down with a flight of the house beer. There are 4 house beers; the White Wheat was not available the day we arrived so we had 2 tasters of stout.

I admit that I went to this brewery/taproom with a little trepidation. More than once I have visited similar sized establishments in small towns only to be let down by subpar beer, this was NOT the case at the 101.

The Pecker Pole Pale Ale, while oddly named is a solid well balanced pale that most palates would be happy to wash down a juicy burger with. The Look Out Stout has a nice roasty flavor; it is appropriately hopped and could use just a little more malt to provide more backbone. Finally we got to the Hook Tender Honey Brown Ale. This is a classic American honey brown, true to style with a floral honey flavor. This beer was our favorite of the 3.

I recommend you take the time for a light meal and beer the next time you are traveling through Quilcene, the lack of pretentiousness is a welcome respite, the small town feel is real and accommodating and the beer is good.

I look forward to a return trip on a hot day when we can take full advantage of the patio.

101 Brewery and Twana Roadhouse is located at 294793 US Hwy 101 in Quilcene, Washington. The hours of operation are 7:00am to 8:00pm Monday – Saturday and 8:00am to 8:00pm on Sundays.