While it didn’t go exactly as planned, Shelly Maphet, wife of Diamond Knot Craft Brewing co-founder and President & CEO Bob Maphet, christened the new Diamond Knot Brewpub @ MLT Saturday afternoon before a crowd that included Diamond Knot executives and staff members, City of Mountlake Terrace officials, and thirsty and hungry onlookers.

Much like the christening of a new ship with a bottle of champagne, Diamond Knot has made it a tradition to open a new restaurant/brewpub by breaking a bottle of its signature IPO craft beer on an exterior wall of the eatery. At this opening, the bottle slipped out of Maphet’s hand as she swung it against an exterior beam, causing it to break open on the sidewalk — yet no one seemed to mind.

Many in the packed brewpub dining room and bar came outside to view the ceremony, led by the company’s sales and marketing director Sherry Jennings. She began the festivities by thanking various City officials – including Planning Commission Chairperson Alice Wier, who originally had some harsh words to describe the grain silo that sits outside the brewpub.

“She gave us the first opportunity to educate everyone about this amazing experience that has come to Mountlake Terrace, thanks to the silo,” Jennings said.
After extending more thanks to others involved with designing and building of the brewpub, Jennings read a nautical-themed blessing: “In the name of all who have sailed aboard this vessel in the past, and in name of all who may sail aboard her in the future, we invoke the ancient gods of wind, Aeolus, and the sea, Neptune — also hailed as Poseidon — to favor us with their blessing today.”

Diamond Knot Craft Brewing gets its name from a cargo ship that wrecked in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Port Angeles in 1947.

Though Saturday was its official grand opening, the brewpub has been open and serving customers for two weeks and has already been drawing big crowds, especially on weekends. The new restaurant has been such a hit that it has put a strain on parking at the West Plaza shopping center. Some of Diamond Knot’s neighboring businesses had erected hand-made signs labeling some parking spots in the lot reserved just for their customers.

The 8,900-square-foot brewpub features a large dining area, a separate banquet room, and a bar, all with views of the brewery area where brewers will create their 18 craft beers. Diamond Knot Brewpub @ MLT is open 10 a.m. to midnight weekdays, 8 a.m. to midnight weekends.

— By Doug Petrowski