Clark County craft beer lovers will soon have another choice when it comes to locally brewed beer.
Michael Difabio and Mark Doleski are the owners of Fortside Brewing Company, a new 3,900-square-foot brewery and taproom scheduled to open next month in Vancouver.
“We’ve built out a nice little space for a tasting room and we have room to grow,” said Difabio. “It has been a long road to this point, but it’s very fulfilling.”
Named after Fort Vancouver and its Washington-side-of-the-Columbia-River roots, the company plans to self-distribute their beer to restaurants and bars throughout the county once the brewery is open.
“Mark and I have both been home brewers for many years,” said Difabio, who left behind a career in sales and marketing to help launch Fortside. “It’s just a passion that led us in this direction – a passion for great beer, the art of making it, and just seeing a growing market here and wanting to dive in with the mission of improving our craft beer climate on this side of the river.”
Fortside won’t specialize in any specific type of beer, according to Difabio. Rather, he said, “we aim to brew a variety of beers with great aroma and flavor.”
Located at 2200 NE Andresen Road, the brewery is strategically positioned in the center of the city to help with distributing product, explained Difabio.
“We’ve had a lot of locals stopping by and popping their head in to tell us how excited they are,” he said. “Because we plan to do so much distribution, being right up the middle of the gut in Vancouver is good for logistics. We’ll be positioned well to deliver beer east and west and north into the county.
Craft beer lovers will have the opportunity to give Fortside beer a try prior to the opening of the Andresen facility by attending the spring edition of Vancouver Brewfest, March 20-21 at Esther Short Park.
“That’s going to be our big public debut,” said Difabio. “It will be perfect timing to help us spread the word.”
For more information on Fortside Brewing Company, visit www.fortsidebrewing.com. For information on Vancouver Brewfest, visit www.vancouverbrewfest.com.
