Dave Quick calls Badger Mountain Brewing his second midlifecrisis. If only all midlife crises included serving beer and food to theWenatchee Valley.

After a career in real estate development and construction,Dave Quick bought a gun shop.

“That was my first midlife crisis,” he says.

He’d been a home brewer for more than 20 years and decidedto open a brewery instead of retiring.

“It’s something I’d wanted to do my whole life,” he said. “Iwas getting old enough that I thought I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t do it now.”

Badger Mountain Brewerey opened in 2013 in the same buildingas Dave’s gun shop.

“As far as I know, we’re the only brewery with a gun shop inthe same building. But to be fair, there’s a separate entrance.”

At any given time, Badger Mountain has 12-15 of its ownbeers on tap, plus a nonalcoholic rootbeer Dave makes, and roughly 10 guesttaps from other breweries.

“Nobody else does as many,” he says.

Dave can’t bring himself to name a favorite beer that hebrews.

“People ask me, ‘What’s your favorite beer?’ I say, ‘Do youhave kids? Which is your favorite kid?’ It’s the same concept.”

Their most popular beer is the Bimbo Beach Honey Blonde,followed closely by the Foxy Tail Blood Orange Pale Ale. They have a copper alewith caramel undertones and a barrel aged version that they put in a barrelstill wet with the red wine that just aged in it. The wine yeast creates asecondary fermentation and fills out the flavor profile.

“Most people don’t realize it’s the same beer {as theregular copper ale.}”

Dave has been experimenting and updating as he goes, including collaboratingwith other local businesses. The Bimbo Blonde is made with coffee from CaffeMela, which makes it unique: the most common beer/coffee combinations are madewith porters or stouts.

“There are periods of time with flashes of innovation, butit’s not continuous,” says Dave.

In April 2019, Badger Mountain began another experiment whenit changed its menu after two years of planning. Before they’d had basic pubfood, but on April 16 they officially opened their newly constructed commercialkitchen, run by Galen Goodman, head cook.

“It was my birthday so I’ll never forget it,” says Galen.

“I gave him a commercial kitchen for his birthday,” saysDave.

Galen has been involved in the restaurant industry most ofhis adult life, but his ability to cook stretches back into his childhood. Hewas the oldest of three boys raised by a single mom, who taught him the basicswhen he was about 7 years old.

“I learned to cook to take care of my two younger brothers,”he said.

Galen’s favorite food to cook is barbecue, which they’reslowly incorporating more and more into the menu. His homemade barbecue sauceis one of the many sauces, dressings and wing sauce he makes in house, and iswell worth ordering as a dipping sauce for their hand cut fries and sweetpotato fries.

“My wife doesn’t even know that recipe,” he says, referringto the barbecue sauce.

Badger Mountain’s new menu includes garlic fries, salads,wraps and burgers, which Galen grinds the meat (certified Angus brisket) forhimself and adds pork belly to for added flavor.

“It makes my eyes roll into the back of my head when I biteinto it,” says Dave.

So far no one has taken them up on The Chef’s Challenge,which involves eating a 9-pound on a 12-inch bun in a single sitting. Anyonewho can manage to do it gets a free growler of beer, a t-shirt and theirpicture hung up on the wall.

“I’ve seen people cut that burger like a pizza and share itwith friends,” says Dave.

The Badger Burger is Galen’s favorite item on the menu, butfor different reasons. The ½ pound burger is topped with melted beer cheese, madewith Badger brewery beer. He’s always working to create new dishes and flavorcombinations, many of which end up as specials.

“I love being a guinea pig for his ideas,” says Dave. It’sone of the biggest perks.”

“I love getting to be creative,” says Galen. “Dave gives mea pretty long leash in the kitchen.”

“I didn’t even know there was a leash,” says Dave.

Badger Mountain switched from being open five days a week toseven days a week when they opened the new kitchen. Dave says getting the wordout about new changes is one of the biggest challenges to owning the brewery.

“Sales continue to increase, he said. “We’re advertising,but word of mouth is important, especially in Wenatchee.”

Badger Mountain Brewery is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday toThursday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. There are specials everyday and prime rib and seafood specials on Fridays and Saturdays.

For a full list of their diverse beer options and to seetheir menu, go to badgermountainbrewing.com.