Hoqiuam building slated for use as brewery

July 27--By Terri Harber

The Daily World

The owners of Mill 109 in Seabrook plan to start brewing beer on 8th Street in Hoquiam, in the building that formerly housed the Passport Cafe.

At first, the beer will go the restaurant at Seabrook, but eventually, they plan to open a tasting room and sell beer and food at the 8th Street location.

The building is owned by the City of Hoquiam and the council took action Monday to sell it to Rob Paylor and Patrick Durney, partners in Mill 109, for $72,000.

The 4,200 square foot building housed the cafe. The city also owns the building next door, which houses CrossFit Grays Harbor. The CrossFit business also was interested in buying the cafe building in order to expand.

"We appreciate the offers from two different, but quality businesses," said City Administrator Brian Shay.

Paylor has been a successful restaurateur in the area and Durney, son of ex-Mayor Jack Durney, is the third generation owner of the family's insurance business.

"It would fit our needs just perfectly," Paylor said before the council went into closed session to discuss offers made by Paylor and Durney as well as the owners of CrossFit Grays Harbor, the neighboring business located in what's also a city-owned building of about 2,000 square feet.

Paylor said the location was a tavern "at one point."

He explained Tuesday the goal is to complete work on the Hoquiam building to accommodate a five-barrel brewing system within the next few months. There will be three fermenters, which would produce three different varieties of beer, he said.

"We want to produce 10 to 12 varieties for the restaurant" at Seabrook, Paylor said.

That would require a couple of brew processes each week to keep up with the demand for unique beers they say already exist at Mill 109.

The menu at the restaurant changes seasonally so he and Durney could be creative with the types of brews they make in Hoquiam. Both men have experience with home brewing but expect they'll need a consultant to help them along the way.

The brewing equipment they expect to install late this year or early next year will be coming from Portland Kettleworks in Portland, which custom builds stations, kettles and tanks.

Shay said brewing beer is an allowed use for the space, though it would require other permits from other government entities.

It had been the site of Hoquiam's Senior Center before both sites of 8th and L came into the city's possession about five years ago, Shay said.

The lease for the space CrossFit occupies ends in June. It wanted the neighboring building to expand their business.

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