Snoqualmie’s No Boat Brewing Company has been recognized by Washington Wild with the 2025 Brewshed Alliance Award, honoring the brewery’s commitment to clean water, healthy watersheds, and community stewardship.
Washington Wild partners with nearly 90 breweries across the state through its Brewshed Alliance, a coalition that highlights the connection between healthy watersheds and quality beer. Members raise funds through collaboration brews, share conservation messages with their customers, and support advocacy efforts led by the nonprofit.
No Boat joined the alliance in 2020, and the partnership has only deepened since then. Cofounder and head brewer David Skiba said, “It’s a huge honor to be recognized by Washington Wild for their Brewshed Alliance Award. We love partnering with them in many capacities and feel their cause is one that resonates with all of us – protecting wild lands.”
One of the clearest signs of that commitment is the Lagerhead Festival, which Skiba launched in 2024. The lager-focused event pairs celebration with purpose, raising money for watershed protection while introducing the community to breweries from across the region and beyond. “What began as them reaching out to us many years ago to join the Brewshed has developed into our annual LAGERHEAD Festival, which will have its third iteration this coming July,” he said.
The brewery’s location near the Snoqualmie River and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness influences both its outlook and its beer. Skiba has described No Boat as a gateway between the city and the mountains. That perspective supports its choice to operate as a minimum intervention brewhouse. “This water is key to our ability to be a minimum intervention brewhouse,” he explained.
A minimum intervention brewhouse avoids heavy processing and artificial additives, instead focusing on simple, natural ingredients like water, yeast, and hops. The goal is to let the environment shape the beer’s character, with only minimal adjustments to the water profile.
That philosophy has led to experiments with wild yeast harvested locally and only small adjustments to brewing water to highlight the region’s natural character. Skiba has emphasized that protecting clean water is not only symbolic but essential for quality. “Pristine water directly correlates to high-quality beer, wine, cider, and spirits. This can only happen if we protect our water sources from harmful activities.”
Looking ahead, he pointed to public land selloffs, logging, and mining as serious threats. He said the brewery will continue working with Washington Wild to keep wild spaces intact.
The Brewshed Alliance Award highlights how Washington’s brewing industry depends on its natural resources. For No Boat Brewing, it affirms that the best beer starts with the water that flows from the mountains nearby.
