Here's a quick synopsis:

Steve and I got into business together in 1990 when we opened our first restaurant, Top Notch Burger, in East Bremerton. We operated with a menu of fresh, made-to-order hamburgers, fresh cut French Fries and real ice cream shakes. Our 2nd location was here at our Silverdale location. We had fun and we still have Silver City Guests ask us about 39 cent hamburgers and grilled onion burgers. We miss 'em too, but we proved it's real hard to put the big hamburger chains out of business. It isn't as easy as it looks.

In 1996 we decided to switch gears and get into the Brewpub business. We sold our Bremerton location and remodeled the Silverdale location into what it is today.

We operate today on the same principles as we did when we opened our first Top Notch Burger. We work hard at making sure each Guest leaves happier than when they arrived. We work hard side-by-side with our staff and train them to treat their Guests like you would treat a Guest in your own home.

We listen to our Guests. Most of the changes we have made over the past seven years have been made from Guest comments on Comment Cards.

We give Guests what they want. We like to have fun, we want to wake up in the morning and look forward to our job and the people that we work with.

Today we are not only businessmen, but family men too. Steve has a wonderful wife, Amy, and has two daughters, Kate & Nicole (9 & 6). Scott married Sunny in 1998 and they have two youngsters as well, Abbie & Jack (9 & 7). These little characters keep us busy as well, but we feel very fortunate to be in the positions we are in today.

Thanks for your continued support and we look forward to "talking shop" with you anytime you are in the restaurant.

"Ideally, brewers interpret history and through science they create art." - Don Spencer

Silver City Brewmaster Don Spencer is dedicated to making  great beer. As a homebrewer for almost 30 years, he will tell you that brewing beer is fun and easy. However, as a professional brewer for over 15 years he will also tell you that making great beer doesn't happen by accident. It takes ample study and research, great patience and experience using quality ingredients and equipment.

"From the beginning, we wanted to develop our own complete line of beers." adds Don (A.K.A. "Big Daddy")

"I wanted to create many different styles, provide a lot of different tastes. I didn't want to limit myself. As a brewer, I'm very traditional. I like my beer to taste like beer. So I try to stay true to style but at the same time you want to push some beers to the edge, be creative and try new things."

Don says the brewing process has changed little in the last few hundred years. "It is amazing how many different tastes you can create using the same three or four basic ingredients. It's about selecting the right variety of malt, hops or yeast to get the character and balance you want. A small change can make a huge difference. Brewers in Germany and Belgium for example, make vastly different types of beer. In the end, however, it still all comes down to water, malt, hops and yeast".

Don has won numerous medals for his beers at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the World Beer Cup and the North American Beer Awards. For a complete listing, of Big Daddy's acolades, see our Home Page.