Three Magnets Brewing in Olympia, Washington is a very important place to me. When I arrived there, I was completely burned out on brewing and thinking about quitting the industry completely. As a matter of fact, the only reason I took the job in the first place was because my wife and I had been travelling in our van for 6 months and I needed a job.
It was a Saturday in October 2019 and we were doing laundry in West Olympia when I decided to send out some resumes to breweries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. At that point, I was going to find a job in Washington or turn back to find work in Texas. I had a reply from Three Magnets in less than 30 minutes, so we finished our laundry, and I went to the pub for an interview an hour later.

On my first day of work at Three Magnets, my wife found a job she loved, and the day after that we found a possible place to live. None of it was planned, but that’s how I came to live in Washington. If it wasn’t for my time working with Nate, Sara, and Aaron, I would have already left this industry.

Events at my previous brewery left a sour taste in my mouth and I was ready to move on to something else. However, the passion and kindness that came with the job helped me to recover a love for this craft I have committed my life to. Nate and Sara showed loyalty and kindness to their workers time and time again.

They even found a way to give us a Christmas bonus during COVID even though the restaurant made almost no money in 2020. I’ll never forget that. Aaron is such a passionate and knowledgeable brewer that it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement of whatever we’re working on. Because of his enthusiasm, I even found myself getting excited to start a line of non-alcoholic beers (which is something I never thought I would do). Slowly but surely, I regained my love of brewing by working closely with Aaron on all the projects we had going.

Three Magnets is where the idea of having a seasonal IPA selection first took hold of me. Every spring and summer we would release the Sun IPA, and every Fall and Winter we would come out with our Rain IPA. The Sun IPA was lighter in body with refreshing flavours of citrus and coconut from some very unique American hops. On the flip side, Rain IPA was meant to be heavier in body and colour with dank, piney, and earthy hops that pair well with the cold, rainy winter days of western Washington.

I wanted to bring this idea to Zadar as a way of paying tribute to all the people in Washington that helped me rediscover the joy of brewing. There are too many to name here, but it goes far beyond just Nate, Sara, and Aaron. The people of Olympia are the reason why I love this endlessly frustrating job again, and if it wasn’t for them, I would have never ended up in Croatia, and this is where I’m supposed to be right now.

This American-Style West Coast IPA with Slovenian Hops features a combination of Pale Malt, Munich Malt, and a touch of Wheat that provides light notes of bread and a touch of sweetness to set up the hops nicely. Slovenian Dragon and Cardinal Hops shine through with a distinct but balanced bitterness with full, fresh hop flavour and hints of tangerine, guava, and tropical fruits. This offering is on the lighter side of IPAs to pair well with the warm summer days of the Dalmatian Coast. This beer is dedicated to the people that inspire us to keep going through all the changing seasons of life.