KENNEWICK, Wash. – D’s Wicked Cider, a beloved local brewery, is closing its doors permanently. Owner Daniel Washam shared the bittersweet news, explaining that the financial burden has become too heavy to bear.
The last pint will be sold tomorrow night. Washam recounted the journey of D’s Wicked Cider, which began as a winery in 2000. “We started off as a winery in 2007 or 2008 and, early 2013 came up with the cider recipe,” he said.
The cider gained popularity, and a local Budweiser distributor picked them up in 2013. “It’s just been a roller coaster ever since,” Washam added.
For over ten years, the brewery has been a local favorite in the Tri-Cities, offering sweet and savory pints to the community. Washam expressed the joy he found in creating a product that brought happiness to others. “Having a place where people came, you know, and a product where they came to enjoy it. It was the most gratifying thing to have something, you know, to be behind something that somebody else really loved,” he said.
However, rising agricultural costs have made it impossible for them to continue. Washam explained, “Over the last several years, there have been changes made that have caused, land tax increases. That’s one attack, you know, kick in one leg of the farmer out, increasing the land cost.”
He also noted that 30 to 40 percent of the apple crop went unpicked last year due to an overtime law which increased labor costs. Washam said, “I could pay people $1,000 an hour, but nobody’s going to come in here and buy a can of cider for $500 isn’t going to happen. It drove the cost of the harvest up so high that you couldn’t sell the fruit.”
The impact is not limited to D’s Wicked Cider. Washam mentioned that over 100 breweries along the West Coast are facing similar challenges. “We have over a thousand acres of orchard for sale around Tri-Cities, which is unprecedented, and some of it is for sale at multi-million dollar losses because they’re trying to get out from underneath it as fast as they can,” he said.
Despite the disappointment, Washam expressed gratitude for the community support. “I just I would love to, you know, thank everybody and thank all of our customers, you know, you’ve become part of our family because you helped our family,” he said. “We are disappointed to have to go. This is not it wasn’t an easy decision.”
Washam and his family plan to move back to Tennessee to ranch cattle. There is hope for cider fans, as production might resume at a new facility, although someone else will be making the famous baked apple cider.
For more information on what’s next for D’s Wicked Cider, you can visit their website.
