Bale Breaker and Yonder team up for new Ballard taproom

This is good news for both beer lovers and cider lovers. One of the state’s most popular breweries, Bale Breaker Brewing, is teaming up with Yonder Cider to open a new taproom in Ballard. The new location is scheduled to open this summer. When the official date is announced, you’ll read about it here on the blog.

Local beer lovers are already familiar with the location of the new Yonder/Bale Breaker taproom; they’re taking over the spot vacated by Populuxe Brewing, which recently closed (read it), at 826 NW 49th Street, Seattle.

By now most beer fans are familiar with Bale Breaker, the brewery and taproom located on the family’s hop farm near Yakima. We introduced you to Yonder Cider when the company launched last summer (read our previous stories). Most recently, Yonder Cider made the local news when the company closed its taproom in Seattle, in part because of complaints from one neighbor (read it).

Because all of that isn’t exciting enough, the two company’s are teamed up to also start a distillery, which will focus on developing spirits created with products from Yonder and Bale Breaker.

Here is the press release:

Yonder Cider and Bale Breaker Brewing Co Announce Joint Taproom
in Seattle’s Ballard Brewery District

The East heads West as two Central Washington brands team up to bring unique taproom experience to Seattle; scheduled to open Summer 2021

SEATTLE (February 23, 2021) – Yonder Cider and Bale Breaking Brewing Co are excited to announce the opening of a joint taproom in the heart of Seattle’s Ballard Brewery District. Scheduled to open this summer, the The beer and cider together under one roof, showcasing the best of apples and hops grown in the state. 

“After years of thinking about an expansion west of the Cascades, we’re thrilled to have found the perfect space and perfect partners for this taproom,” said Meghann Quinn, co-founder of Bale Breaker. “Because our beer focuses on showcasing the best of our homegrown ingredients, partnering with Yonder Cider was an easy decision. We’ll bring the hops from Yakima, they’ll bring the apples from Wenatchee, and we’ll showcase the best of the east side of Washington to those on the west.”

“We dreamed of a taproom when we launched Yonder, but this is beyond our wildest dreams,” said Caitlin Braam, founder of Yonder. “By joining forces with Bale Breaker, we will be able to bring customers the full craft beverage experience. I’ve been lucky to call the founders of Bale Breaker friends for nearly my entire career and could not think of better partners for this exciting project.” 

Located at 826 NW 49th Street, the former home of Populuxe Brewing, the project joins the more than dozen breweries located in Ballard’s vibrant brewing district. Boasting more than 6,200 square feet of outdoor space and a spacious shared taproom, the new location will feature two bars, rotating food trucks, outdoor firepits and more. Offering year round, seasonal and specialty releases from both brands, the two buildings on site will also house small-batch production for both Yonder and Bale Breaker.

To make the shared tasting room possible, the founders of Yonder and Bale Breaker have started a distillery together. As of now, cideries and breweries alone cannot share a tasting room in Washington state. However, thanks to a new bill passed in June of 2020, distilleries can share their tasting rooms with wineries and breweries. The distillery will act as R&D for spirits produced using products from the two brands. 

This new taproom is in addition to Bale Breaker’s Yakima taproom, as well as Yonder’s ‘Yonder Bar’ retail space in Seattle. More details about the new location will be announced closer to the opening. In the meantime, follow along on Instagram at @yondercider and @balebreaker.  

About Yonder Cider

Best Enjoyed Anywhere. Yonder Cider was started to bring full-flavored, delicious cider to every occasion. Whether it’s a hammock, a hike, or your favorite hole-in-the-wall, Yonder is a place where you’re welcome and every possibility is just within reach. Picked and pressed in Wenatchee, Washington – the heart of Apple Country – we create cider that’s as balanced, bright and complex as the land itself. Crafted using a blend of bittersweet cider apples and juicy dessert apples, our ciders are hardly simple, and never straightforward, but you can always count on them being interesting. Founded August 2020, Yonder Cider is available in 16-ouncecans and on draft throughout Seattle and online at yondercider.com. For more information, follow Yonder Cider on Instagram and Facebook (@yondercider).

About Bale Breaker Brewing Co.

Crafting fresh-off-the-farm brews from the middle of a hop field, Bale Breaker Brewing Company is a family-owned brewery located in the heart of the Yakima Valley. Hops are in the family’s DNA: the great-grandparents of sibling-owners Meghann Quinn, Kevin Smith, and Patrick Smith first planted hops in the Yakima Valley in 1932, the year before Prohibition ended. Over four generations, their love of hops has evolved into a passion for craft beer. Today, Meghann, Kevin, Patrick along with Meghann’s husband, Kevin Quinn, operate a 30-barrel brewhouse and a 27,000 square foot facility surrounded by their family’s hop fields, crafting seven year-round canned beers including the widely celebrated Topcutter IPA, and are distributed throughout Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. For more information, follow Bale Breaker on Facebook and Instagram (@balebreaker), or online at balebreaker.com.