Hi-Fi Brewing Almost Ready to Join Redmond's Craft Beer Lineup

The countdown is on for the debut of Redmond's newest brewery.

Hi-Fi Brewing is set to open sometime around Aug. 15 in an office park on Northeast 95th Street—just a few blocks from the award-winning Black Raven Brewing.

The proximity to Black Raven isn't exactly a coincidence, said Hi-Fi's marketing and sales guru Ryan McGee. Hi-Fi's owners were drawn to the location because it offers plenty of space for production along with zoning regulations that allow for a strong retail presence.

"It kind of ends up being the sweet spot for this kind of business," McGee said.

Hi-Fi's 15-barrel brewing setup and 600-square-foot tap room have been nearly a year in the making, with McGee and fellow owners Joe Rovito and John and Cathy Carothers working to perfect the space since they acquired it in October 2012.

The tap room will feature 50 seats and a beer lineup that includes four to six of Hi-Fi's own beers and a few guest brews, McGee said. (An opening-day tap list has yet to be released, but expect to see a session and lager in the mix.) Like Black Raven, Hi-Fi will not have a kitchen but will allow patrons to bring in their own grub. On-site food trucks are also a very real possibility, McGee said.  

The room's layout centers around a bar near the front of the brewery and a window looking into the production area. Nodding to its vinyl theme, the Hi-Fi space will have a turn table and may host bring-your-own-record nights at some point in the future.

Hi-Fi's owners are all Eastside residents who met a few years ago through a home brewing club that included several Microsoft employees. John Carothers used to work for the Redmond company; Rovito and McGee are still employed there. The head brewer is Mike Davis, who held the same title at Tacoma's Harmon Brewing for the past 15 years.

From Microsoft to microbrews, McGee and his co-founders think Redmond is well-positioned for a craft-beer boom.

"We see this as the beginning of a brewery district of sorts," he said. 

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To track Hi-Fi's progress to opening day, check out the brewery's website or follow it on Facebook and Twitter.