GSP Craft Brewing coming to Gig Harbor

April 23--Another brewery is coming to the Gig Harbor area soon. GSP Craft Brewing, the brainchild of Jim and Nancy Giacolone, is expected to begin rolling out beer in the next six to eight weeks.

The name "GSP" stands for German shorthaired pointer, the type of dog the couple owns. The logo features the dog with hops in place of the nose, combining their love of beer with their love of dogs.

The project will be operated, at least at first, out of a dedicated space in the couple's home. They have secured all the necessary permits and are funding the project entirely out-of-pocket. Right now, GSP will take its time.

"We've seen other breweries put a lot of money into something and not know what they're doing," Nancy Giacolone said. "We wanted to take it slowly, this was a little more cautious. We both have full time jobs, I own my own insurance agency, he works at a computer programming firm. This was a way to dip our toes into the water and see what it's all about."

The couple plans to roll out approximately four varieties of beer to begin with. While their emphasis will be on European and Belgian-style beer, they're also willing to recognize the region they live in.

"We'll have to have an IPA because we're in the Northwest," Giacolone said with a laugh. "But that's not really our thing."

The company will not bottle or can in the beginning. Sales will be restricted to kegs.

One of the perks of owning a brewery is the opportunity to name the beers you create. GSP will be naming theirs after the names of dogs of their friends.

"That's going to be one of our things that we do," Giacolone said. "The website we're building, we'll have people send in pictures of their dogs and have naming contests, we kind of want it to be interactive."

The couple hopes to open a modest taproom by the end of the year, likely sometime in the fall. They're eyeing someplace in North Gig Harbor. Right now, they just want exposure.

"Our plans for expansion primarily have to do with getting our beer out there," Giacolone said. "We've talked to a number of different places about carrying our beer. We took growlers around, asked them for an unbiased opinion. The response has been very positive. Our feeling is, the demand will be greater than the supply. That'll give us a chance to refine the process. Starting small will give us the ability to do that."

The company will have a launch party, at a site which has yet to be announced. Those looking to purchase beer or find out more about the company are encouraged the visit the GSP website, gspcraftbrewing.com. The website is not yet live, but is expected to launch within the next three weeks.

While the couple is busy with their full-time jobs, craft brewing is a fun release for them, and taps into their skills.

"My husband likes the technical, I like the creative," Giacolone said. "I like to cook, the culinary aspect is fun. He loves the timing and watching the temperature and he's built very sophisticated control panels. Once we come up with a recipe, we should be able to replicate it pretty accurately."

Jon Manley: 253-358-4151 [email protected] Twitter: @gateway_jon

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