Founded in 2004 by John Quilter, Iron Horse Brewery has plowed the way to make incredible beer in Ellensburg, WA. In 2007, Gary and Greg Parker, investors who helped finance and worked behind the scenes at IHB, bought the brewery after Jim said he was ready to move on.
With a sense of humor and steadfastness, the Parkers learned on the fly to keep Iron Horse moving forward. Fast forward 20 years since its founding, Iron Horse Brewery now boasts as one of the top independent breweries in Washington, producing over 22,000 barrels of beer annually.
The below descriptions were pulled from IHB’s site; majority are available in 6-pack cans and/or draught. Please contact your local Columbia Distributing rep or office to learn about other beers that may be available to retailers.
Core Beers:
- Gato Grande Mexican Dark Lager: Darker in appearance but goes down light and finishes crisp. Low bitterness, effervescent, with a slight fruity aroma. (ABV: 4.7%)
- Mel’s Magic IPA: Big on hops, full in flavor, Mel’s Magic is a well deep in character. This unclear beer matches the myth that precedes it. (ABV: 6.8%)
- Mid-Light Crisis: A low calorie, low abv, highly delicious ale that drinks like a lager. (3.96%)
- Quilter’s Irish Death: The namesake beer of Iron Horse Brewery’s founder, Jim Quilter. This malt focused brew – dark in color and deep in taste – defies those pesky style guidelines. This beer is a little bit extra, and will always be a dark, smooth ale. (ABV: 7.8%)
- Timothy Hay-Z: Citra and Azacca hops are baled together with unmalted wheat and oats, giving this beer crop a sweet, citrus flavor and hazy-like appearance. (ABV: 6.25)
Seasonal Death Beers:
- Aloha Death: A dark smooth ale brewed with coconut and inspired by Irish Death; the malt forward profile brings the tropics with hints of coconut and chocolate. (ABV: 6.8%)
- Chocolate Hazelnut Death: The Death series continues with this chocolate and hazelnut flavor infused variation of our classic dark, smooth, brew. Orange peel rounds out this beer to add to the complexity of this flavor bomb. (ABV: 7.3%)
- Cookie Death: This big, bodied beer has notes of caramel, cinnamon, oatmeal and raisin to round out the dark smooth base. No milk required. (ABV 7.8%)
- Mexican Coco Death: This dark chocolatey beer brings in hints of vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and pasilla chiles to warm things up as fall sets. (ABV: 7.5%)
- Tiramisu Death: Teer-a-me-sue? We don’t know how it’s pronounced either but we know we like it and we know it’s an appropriate French cake for Death. (ABV: 9.7%)
Seasonal & Limited Release Beers:
- 509 Pilsner, Release the Beast Limited Series: Our rotating selection of experimental batches in collaboration with local Hop growers and Malt producers in Washington State. Fourth in the series is a Hoppy Pilsner made in collaboration with Hopstiener and Cascadia Malts. (ABV: 4.5%)
- Cozy Sweater Vanilla Milk Stout: This dark, chocolatey stout is stitched together with lactose and vanilla to keep your tastes buds all warm and snuggly. (ABV:5%)
- Double Rainbow Red IPA: A slightly sweet malt base is mashed together with Eureka hops creating a perfect malty-hoppy balance, akin to seeing a double rainbow after a rainstorm or on YouTube. (ABV: 7.4%)
- High-Five Hefe: Ginger and Honey join forces to create a zesty citrus flavor. Light and bright, you’ll thank yourself with drinking this cold, crisp high five. (ABV: 6%)
- Uncommonly Cold IPA: Hints of citrus make this hoppy Cold IPA feel neat, tidy and refreshing on your taste buds, reminding us all to embrace the unique and eschew the mundane.
- Velvet Shine Hazy Pale: This retro inspired pale is a cloudy tune spun in with tropical fruit notes and melonic (see what we did there?) hop notes to keep grooving on the dance floor all day long. (ABV: 5%)
And the brand new RISE Mocha Death: when you take PNW favorites – coffee, chocolate and Irish Death – and combine them into one delicious, malt-forward ale. This Rise Brewery Co. collaboration is for those who can’t decide between coffee or beer. We say, why choose? (Seasonal; ABV: 7.5%)
Find Iron Horse Brewery in Oregon & Washington
We proudly distribute Iron Horse Brewery products throughout Oregon and Washington.
To learn more about their core and seasonal products, please contact your local Columbia Distributing rep or office; or add currently available products to your next order via your business’ Fridge account today.
For our readers who wish to find Iron Horse’s products locally but unsure where to start, please visit IHB’s product location finder on their website, or if you don’t see it on the shelves at your favorite beverage retailer, ask them to add it to their next order with us.