It’s a tall order to stand out among a crowded collection of breweries in Ballard, but that’s just what newcomer Obec Brewing aims to do.
The brewery is a project of husband-and-wife team Wayne and Stacey Jehlik, and partner Brian Gill. The trio set up shop in August inside a former Pickle-Ball warehouse smack in between Stoup Brewing and Reuben’s Brews — definitely not an easy locale for a brewery looking to differentiate itself. But the taplist is certainly on its way to being unique, combining Czech brews (Obec is Czech for “community,” after all), sours, Northwest classics and Belgian styles.
The current tap list includes a porter, English pale, Czech pils, India red rye, Belgian singel, house IPA and a red rye saison, with a Belgian dubbel and Czech dark lager in production. The response has been especially strong to the Czech pils, which was sold out on a recent visit.
“I’m a big fan of malt balance in pretty much everything I brew, and in trying to bring a little complexity to our beers,” Wayne Jehlik says. “Our porter and pale ale, for example, are more English style ales than they are Northwest ales. We have quite a catalog of recipes and styles that we’ve developed over the past 20 years, so the plan is to always rotate new beers through our taps.”
The seeds for Obec were planted nearly 20 years ago, when Stacey bought Wayne a homebrew starter kit from Pike Brewing. “Years, many beers, and much encouragement from friends and family later, we finally decided to take a shot at this brewery thing and bring Obec to life,” he says.
Obec sought a broader liquor license right out of the gate, which means non-beer drinkers will feel welcome here. There’s wine, vermouth, and soda as alternatives.
Jehlik says the brewery is still in its infancy, with lots of potential for future expansion. He’s currently using only half of his space, but will look to build out the rest down the line.
“We’d love to increase the size of our taproom, perhaps add a stage to bring in live music on occasion, and make the space even more of a destination/hang-out spot,” he says. “We’ve got some really cool ideas for what we’d love to do — I think it will be unique and people will really like it. So we’ve got our fingers crossed that we can bring it all to life.”
Ultimately, beer is a way to bring people together — thus the “community” moniker at Obec (pronounced O-betz). “We want people to come in and hang out, to make it their second living room,” Jehlik says. “We want it to be a place that’s warm, inviting and welcoming. It’s always been important to us that the brewery not only creates a sense of community, but brings something to the community.”
