MOSES LAKE — Coffee and Conversation After Dark met Thursday evening at Moore Brewing Company. The evening gathering was highlighted by a $10,000 check being presented to Downtown Moses Lake Association by the Building Industry Association of Washington and Spokane Home Builders Association through the Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program. 

“They decided to choose Moses Lake as one of their five downtown associations that they want to give their taxes to,” said Mallory Miller, executive director of the Downtown Moses Lake Association, “which is amazing for us because we use that money locally in the community rather than it going to Olympia. So, we use that money for downtown revitalization projects.”  

Miller said most of the money will go towards new LED snowflakes and wreaths that will be placed on light poles in town to “light up the holidays.” 

“We want to encourage people to shop local,” Miller said prior to accepting the check. “I'm just really excited for tonight because I didn't know that we were getting the funds from BIAW until their pledge came through, I think in February. It was really exciting for me as somebody just pledged 10-grand. It's not someone that I had previously had a relationship with. I've been able to build a relationship with them and they're able to see the work that I'm doing, and from an outside perspective, from someone that doesn't even live in Moses Lake, and know that what we're doing with the Main Street Tax Credit Program is valuable, and other people should do it too.” 

Chris Anderson, membership director for the Spokane Builders Association, said each year they choose several communities to provide support for downtown projects. 

“We come to them and provide support financially for a project they'd like to complete to spruce up downtown,” he said. "Maybe improve a block or two, provide planters, lighting, whatever it might be, and to just kind of help give back to those groups and help improve their downtown environments.” 

Lorie Moore, co-owner of the Moore Brewing Company, spoke prior to the check presentation, sharing her experience building a craft brewery business from the ground up. For starters, she said the building required significant plumbing repairs and complete renovation, work that was done by her husband, Chris, and son, Zach. 

She said the business has expanded beyond craft beer to include ciders, and now spirits, as well as food and prepared cocktails. She added that Zach and Chris are both master brewers, a skill they developed, like most brewers, in the home. And from there, it sprouted into a business.

“We started off homebrewing, and we were homebrewing in Kent, and that whole concept came to us from my now son-in-law Morgan,” she said. “He was brewing at college. My husband was a huge fan of beer and said, ‘Sure, I'll financially support you. Got him a kegerator, bought him supplies, and he started brewing beer. And it came to a situation where on weekends and holidays we had pop-up tents outside of our garage on the west side, and the neighbors would come around for free tastings, and they thought we had something magical.” 

Moore said the decision was then made to move from their current home of Western Washington to an area in the state where there "was plenty of sunshine." They visited Moses Lake, and spent time in the community, and concluded that it was the perfect place to live and launch their brewery.  

“When we found Third Avenue, when we found downtown, we knew this was it,” Moore said. “We drove up; we drove around and looked, and I was like, ‘Yeah, this is special. I wanted something special, and I wanted something small and intimate that we could bring our kids who are living here now and having kids. So, we got some of our own homegrown Moses Lake kids coming up right here. So that kind of what got things started.” 

After renovation of the building was completed, the brewery opened its doors in May of 2024. Two years later, they have expanded the outside deck, and built a following, not only for their quality craft beer — but the food they make.

“We were really silly because we thought that we were going to just serve beer and some food,” she said, “and that is not what Moses Lake really demanded, and so we have grown and evolved. We started with adding ciders. We knew at some point we'd do spirits. We finally arrived there. We do. We are doing spirits at a limited basis on the weekends. 

The food menu has also evolved, with popular items on the menu that include large homemade pretzels, flatbreads with various toppings and panini sandwiches.

Engaging with the community, building relationships and contributing outside of the business are also important, Moore said.

"We really got out and got engaged with our community," she said. "We dug around to find out what groups needed support and help, whether it was a volunteer, whether it was a board member, and we have tried to show up for as many things as we can, from Habitat for Humanity to the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation. For two years in a row now, we've done our own little fundraising event. It's called the Flock Walk, and so this year we're going to elevate it, and we're going to have a team competition to get more people involved and more people engaged."

In 2026, the walk raised $4,600 for the CBCF. Moore added that they also work with local organizations, offering the brewery for their events and gatherings.

"We have done everything we can to partner with organizations and groups to come in and take over our space," she said, "because it gives us an opportunity to support and serve you, learn more about your cause and your goals, and an opportunity for people to find us." 

    Lorie Moore, co-owner of Moore Brewing Company, speaks at the Coffee and Conversation gathering held last Thursday at the brewery.