We recently sat down with Jason Heitt, Retail Operations Manager with Postdoc Brewing to learn about their story, local partnerships, upcoming events, and what Postdoc loves about operating in Kenmore.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about the Postdoc story?
Jason: Postdoc started around 11 years ago in December of 2014. It was the vision of Tom Schmidlin and his wife Julie. Tom has his PhD in biochemistry with an emphasis on yeast studies. When he was in college, he would joke with his friends and say he was going home to work on his post doc, which meant he was going to go brew beer. After he graduated, he looked for a bunch of different research opportunities and couldn’t really find what he was looking for—but he could get funding for a brewery. And when it came time to name the brewery, there really wasn’t a better name. So, Postdoc it was.
Q. What brought Postdoc to Kenmore?
Jason: Our original location is in Redmond at Marymoor Park, and we’re still operating going on 11 years now. But we had been looking for second space for a while, and when this opportunity became available, it really matched our values. There’s a strong community here, and we get to be part of it while making great beer and providing community space.
Q: Will Postdoc be involved with Oktoberfest in 2026?
Jason: Yes, Postdoc will absolutely be involved in Kenmore’s Oktoberfest. The last two years we got the opportunity to brew the Kenmore Oktoberfest beer, and that’s on the agenda for us again this year. One of my favorite Oktoberfest events is actually the tapping of the first firkin. It’s a fun ceremonial thing where we get a big mallet and spigot, and hammer it into the keg. It’s a great time—people line up with their steins, and we just start pouring beers right off the top.
Q: How can we as a community support you?
Jason: Just come and celebrate with us. If you have a party, you can have it here or one of the other awesome spaces in Kenmore. Let us get excited with you, and if you want reach out about donations or maybe you have a community event that you want to host but don’t have the space—come to Postdoc and celebrate with us.
Q: Where is your favorite place to drink and or dine in Kenmore? (aside from Postdoc?)
Jason: When we first opened in Kenmore, we immediately went to Kenmore Lanes because it’s iconic—if you want to eat a meal, have some drinks, and have a good time that’s the place to be. We also love going just down the street to Copperworks and trying some really awesome spirits. Jason [of Copperworks] has a background in brewing, so it’s always a blast to chat with him. And then, I mean, how can you beat the menu over at Stoup? That’s a favorite as well.
Q: Will you be hosting any new events or community opportunities in the near future?
Jason: Among a ton of other weekly community events, we’ll actually be hosting comedy shows here at Postdoc. We’re working with Dani Marie Events to bring live comedy to Kenmore – the first show was Thursday, March 19. We also do a lot of fundraisers throughout the year and have collaborative beers on tap that we donate a portion of proceeds to. The next one coming up benefits the Pink Boot Society, which is a foundation that helps women and non-binary people advance their careers in the brewing industry through opportunity and education. And, finally, we’ll have the two year anniversary of Postdoc in Kenmore this May. To mark that occasion, there will be a full weekend of events, celebrations, and more.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at Postdoc in 2026?
Jason: We really want keep up our community events, continue inviting people to our space, and servicing food trucks. So, we’re going to do a food and beer pairing with Outsider Barbecue, we’re hoping to do some puzzle events with Snapdoodle across the street this year, and really just connecting with other businesses and sharing our voice with them.
Q: Tell me about Brew Row and its novelty in Kenmore?
Jason: Brew Row is actually a really great idea. When people go out—and I think this is similar for wineries too—when you go out tasting, you want to try a bunch of different things. And so when you have density or you have multiple locations that you can walk to, a rising tide in that case actually lifts all boats. You might spend an hour here [at Postdoc], walk over to Copperworks, and then walk down to Stoup. Having something like Brew Row is really awesome for us specifically, and also for the community, because they get to spend all day out and about in their community. I think it’s a really awesome idea and I think more communities could definitely benefit from it.
Q: What makes Kenmore different than other cities?
Jason: The City of Kenmore is much more hands on; they constantly give you ways to amplify your voice and find opportunities. There are a lot of grants that we’ve been approached about. Community events and resources like Oktoberfest and FindKenmore.org with the online events calendar is awesome. Kenmore encourages involvement in meetings and planning, and getting to know your community members, and they just give you space to grow. It’s been great.
To learn more about Postdoc Brewing, visit>>Postdoc Brewing.
