At its August meeting, the Port of Grays Harbor Commission approved a new lease with local brewer, Steam Donkey, for nearly 2,900 square feet of warehouse and office space at the Port’s R&D Facility on Port Industrial Road.

Originally envisioned as an incubator space for craft breweries and distilleries, the site was the previous home of the Wishkah River Distillery.

Steam Donkey was founded in 2017 by Jonathan and Stefanie Bennett, becoming the first brewery to open in Aberdeen, in 70 years. Their original location in downtown Aberdeen has become a community fixture, including a tasting room, food truck, and outdoor seating.

They plan to continue operating from the original tasting room while adding new off-site brewing space at the Port. The brewery’s new location at the Port will double production capacity, streamline operations and create three additional jobs.

“After maximizing every inch of our current brewing space, and adding a food truck and off-site storage, we have just outgrown our original footprint,” said Steam Donkey owner Stefanie Bennett. “We are thrilled about our new production space at the Port and are looking forward to serving our growing customer base and remaining a cornerstone of the community while expanding our business.”

“We are so excited to welcome Steam Donkey as a Port tenant,” said Port of Grays Harbor Executive Director Leonard Barnes. “It is great to see this space utilized for craft brewing again and we couldn’t ask for a better community partner than Steam Donkey.”

Steam Donkey is proudly female and veteran founded, and remains majority female owned and operated today. Earning more than 15 medals in regional and national competitions, they proudly source ingredients from the Pacific Northwest whenever possible.