Waitsburg’s Laht Neppur Brewery Opens Ale House In Walla Walla

WALLA WALLA - The idea of starting a pub in Walla Walla kind of came through the back door for Laht Nep­pur owners Court and Katie Ruppenthal. As the labels from their brewery on Preston Avenue were becoming more popu­lar, they toyed with the no­tion of adding a bottling and distribution operation to their current barrels and kegs pro­duction facility. But when they found out what it would cost, they fig­ured they might as well open a restaurant for that price.

So by the end of Septem­ber, the Ruppenthals hope to open the doors to their com­pany's first expansion be­yond Waitsburg in the form of a 49-seat beer and wine pub at the corner of Alder and Spokane in Walla Walla. The company will serve its signature pizzas, pork sandwiches, bratwurst and chicken nuggets - not men­tion peanuts (yes, you may toss the shells on the floor here, too). It will have many of its 18 brews on tap, serve its own and local wines and perhaps even add a "guest tap" to its lineup of micro­brews. The Ruppenthals plan to have regular live musi­cal performances under the Celtic murals painted by Di­xie artist Shannon Duvall in the 2,800-square-foot corner building that once housed Studio Opal.

Laht Neppur is no stranger to Walla Walla. The label is served at Sapolil Cellars, Red Monkey and during Walla Walla Sweets baseball games. The Ruppenthals hope to draw from local pub enthusiasts and college stu­dents alike at the new down­town location. At a time when many food and beverage businesses are cutting back, Laht Nep­pur's expansion that almost doubles the size of its staff is bucking an industry trend. But the company's success has as much to do with its growing following among beer enthusiasts as it does the uptick in traffic and business at the brewery along High­way 12 in Waitsburg. The Ruppenthals have worked hard to get their beers in front of discerning audi­ences

through regional beer festivals and soon even a na­tional one - the Great Ameri­can Beer Festival in Denver, where 1,300 breweries will showcase 2,800 beers. In 2006, the first year the Ruppenthals made beer on Preston Avenue, Laht Nep­pur produced 150 barrels of six different ales. This year, its volume will reach 240 barrels, and it offers three times as many styles, with its Indian Pale Ale being its most popular. Though it struggled through lean highway traffic times in 2008, Laht Neppur's ales have a unique appeal to its consumers, and word is spreading at festivals and on Facebook.

"The brewery turned out to be more popular than we expected," said Court Ruppenthal, a former home brewer who has built a repu­tation as a craftsman who likes to experiment and offer some unique "flavor pro­files." A good example is his Whiskey Creek Wild Hop Ale, which, as one might imagine, is made using wild hops from the Whiskey Creek watershed. The com­pany's

second most popular beer, a Strawberry Cream Ale, was Katie's invention. Total strangers now come up to the Ruppenthals at festi­vals and ask for it. From Vancouver, Wash., the Ruppenthals came to the Walla Walla area in 2003 so Court could take the wine­maker's

course at the Center for Enology Viticulture. He worked as a "cellar rat" at Abeja for a while but quickly concluded the region was already endowed with more wineries than you could shake a stick at, so the couple figured they'd try a winery/brewery combination. They set up in Waitsburg for two reasons, he said. One was the cost of doing business. The other was the water. "You have to have good water to make good beer, and the water is really good here," Ruppenthal said. "It's soft. It has a low mineral content, and they don't over-chlorinate it." So, because of all the right ingredients, Waitsburg will remain the brewery's base of operations, with a new full-time production manager, Matt Black, and an existing wait staff of one full-time and six part-time employees.

Katie Ruppenthal is ex­pected to run the Laht Nep­pur Ale House in Walla Walla with a wait staff of about as many workers. Although Walla Walla does not have as many local microbrew pubs, Laht Nep­pur still has to compete with Mill Creek, a brewery and full-service bar a block away on Palouse. Unlike Laht Neppur's new restaurant, Mill Creek does not allow minors.

But with Charles Smith's planned new wine and beer resaurant on Spokane, the es­tablishments may offer some critical mass in a neighbor­hood customers may start to frequent for its choices. "The area is kind of dead at night," Court Ruppenthal said. "It will be interesting to see if we can liven it up."