Dick’s Brewing Company to celebrate 30th anniversary this year

By Emily Fitzgerald
For the C-C Chamber of Commerce

Dick’s Brewing Company has come a long way in the 30 years since Richard “Dick” Young opened the business in 1994, in the back room of his already-renowned meat company, Northwest Sausage & Deli.

What started as a side project supported with a hand-built three-barrel brew house in the back of Young’s deli has grown into a successful business in its own right, producing an average of about 100 barrels a month for sale across six states and hosting a wide variety of events at its tasting room in Centralia.

“It’s always fun to think about what (Young) would have thought with … how busy it gets and the events that we can do and have done here, and the popularity of it,” Julie Pendleton, Young’s daughter and the current owner of Dick’s Brewing Company, said of the business.

Young ran the brewery behind Northwest Sausage & Deli from 1994 to 2008, when he moved the company to its current location in a warehouse on Galvin Road.

“When we built this and moved here, he didn’t even think about selling beer here. It was all just supposed to be production,” Dick’s Brewing Company Co-Owner Dave Pendleton said. “And then, all of a sudden, he’s like, ‘Wait, why don’t we have people come in here?’ Because we were all drinking beer here after work, and he was like, ‘Yeah, people can come in and join us.’”

Dick’s Brewing Company opened its tasting room inside the Galvin Road warehouse in 2009 as a fridge with three taps on it. Young didn’t get to see the tasting room or the brewery grow beyond that, as he passed away in October 2009 at the age of 56.

  Julie Pendleton took over her father’s business after his death.

“At 30 years, I will have owned it longer than my   dad did, which is a really weird and sad thing to think about,” Julie Pendleton said.

While the company’s upcoming 30th anniversary celebration in October will showcase the current successes and future growth opportunities for  Dick’s Brewing, there will be a heavy focus on Young’s legacy, Dave Pendleton said.

The details for the 30th anniversary celebration will be announced in the upcoming months.

In the meantime, Dick’s Brewing Company is set to host the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce’s August Business After Hours event from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15; and the annual Cornhole Tournament and Sausage Fest, benefitting the Rob Fuller Scholarship, on Sept. 14.

Dick’s Brewing Company is also hosting signups for its Mug Club until Saturday, Aug. 17. The mugs will be released during a party on Sept. 6 at Dick’s Tasting Room.

Dick’s tasting room at 3516 Galvin Road in Centralia is open Friday to Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m.

For more information, visit https://dicksbeer.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/DicksNWSausage.