SEASIDE — The Whet Spot, a tap room and bottle stop, recently marked their six-month anniversary at 616 S. Holladay Drive. The shop offers a wide variety of beer, wine and cider including 20 taps and 150 different bottles.
“We don’t brew our own beer, but we sell everybody else’s basically,” said owner Tracy Linder. “The focus is primarily on Pacific Northwest craft beers.”
Oregon and Washington brews make up about 85 percent of the beers, Linder said. India Pale Ales, or IPAs, are ‘always popular,’ according to Linder, but some peculiar tastes have emerged.
“We have a surprisingly strong porter and stout crowd,” she said. “Even through we’re headed into summer, we’re still going through porters and stouts at a significant pace.”
The tap room offers a different experience than traditional bars.
“There’s no pool table, video poker or sports on TV,” Linder said. “This is a different experience from a bar. This is a place for people to come socialize, enjoy each others company and try some new beers. There’s no requirement to spend or rush to turn a table over. We really want people to come in, chill out, and have a good time.”
Roughly six months in, Linder said the first half year of business has gone “pretty good.”
“With any business, there’s a to-do list larger than the hours in the day,” she joked.
The beer-selection process is bittersweet.
“It’s definitely fun, but at times it can be excruciating,” Linder said, because of having so many good choices.
After considering Portland, Linder doesn’t have any regrets about opening in her hometown.
“Portland has a ton of taprooms and bottle shops, but where do all those people go in the summer? A large percentage up in a Seaside because of Highway 26,” she said. “It just made sense.”