Always had a hard time swallowing the rot-gut beers served at college parties?

Mike Hale did too, but instead of wincing at the sight of yet another can of MGD, he did something about it.

He started one of western Washington's first microbreweries and began a craft that has become, for him, a labor of love.

Hale, a modest man with a grey crop of short hair, worn jeans and hands that have seen their fair share of the brewing process, is not unlike his own Troll Porter — described as big and complex.

With casual, welcoming air, he leads visitors around his Leary Way brewery (between Fremont and Ballard), as if it were his home. Along the way, he points out hops and barley bins and tanks made of stainless steel with copper pipes (in the traditional English style) as though they were paintings.

His dog, a jovial mutt named PJ, scampers around the stacks of kegs, cases and brewing equipment.

Originally from California and in the greenhouse and wholesale grapevine business, Hale decided to relocate to Washington in 1976 "because it had seasons."

Living in Colville, he "fooled around," ran for city council and learned be an electrician.

It was then, in the early 1980s, Hale came up with the idea to start a small brewery.

At that time, a pyramid was still a structure in Egypt and micro-brewed beer was hardly synonymous with Northwest culture.

"There was one man is Northern California who had a microbrewery, and I was intrigued by it, but I didn't like his beer. It was totally infected, because he was brewing in a chicken coop," Hale said. "So it occurred to me I better learn something about this."

Hale refers to the New Albion Brewing Company of Sonoma, California which the National Brewer's Association recognizes as a catalyst for the "renaissance of craft brewing." Though it went out of business after six years, New Albion is said to have inspired hundreds of microbrewers.

In 1982, Hale accompanied his wife on a Fulbright Exchange to England. With not much to do, he began to haunt small local breweries, ask English brewers questions and informally study brewing by checking books out of the library.

"I pretty well figured out the process," Hale said. "It's not really that complicated, it's a craft, but it's also a science."

Soon after, Hale committed to the idea of opening a microbrewery in Washington state and broke ground for his first brewery in Colville in 1983.

He released Hale's Ales flagship beer — Hale's American Pale Ale — on July 4, 1983.

Twenty-four years later Hale says he was shocked at the explosion of micro brewing the Pacific Northwest.

"I used to be fond of saying, 'It's a lot of work opening a small brewery, this isn't like opening a real estate office, everybody won't be doing this,'" Hale said.. "Well, I was wrong. There are now almost 100 breweries just in Washington state."

Predominately concentrated in the West, there are 1,371 microbreweries similar to Hale's Ales in the United States, according to the National Brewers Association.

Producing 10,000 barrels of beer annually, Hale's Ales is on the larger side, for a microbrewery.

"Most small breweries make between 500 and 1,500 barrels annually, and they really can't make a living off of that — they a have day job — but they do it because of the romance of it," Hale said, noting that when many small brewers throw in the towel, there is always someone stepping up to buy their brewery.

Hale said he is also surprised by the recent take-offs of regional "hot brands" such as Pyramid (Hefeweizen), Red Hook (ESB) and Mac and Jack's (Amber), who had experienced tremendous successes with a single beer.

"No one really knows why that happens," Hale said, almost with an air of visible longing. "Some of them would say, 'Well, my beer is better,' but you can demonstrate that that's not true, just by blind taste-tests. You can take beer aficionados and have them rank their six favorite ambers, and after a blink taste-test they'll never pick the one they said they would."

In many cases, hot beer brands come down to psychologically, buzz and dumb luck and many popular brands have difficulty introducing new lines of beer, Hale said.

The advice Hale handed for individuals with aspirations of opening up their own microbrewery was, "Forget it."

"It's a labor of love. You can make a small fortune in the beer business, provided you start with a large fortune. You don't do it for money, you do it for the joy of the craft and hopefully you can survive."

He did, however, offer one tip.

"Have a pub [along with a brewery], because that's where the cash flow comes from: You can sell a keg of beer for $100 dollars serving 100 glasses, you can sell glasses for at a restaurant for $4 and make $400 [off a keg]."

Hale's wife manages the Pub and restaurant attached to the brewery.

Despite being partially involved with the food service, Hale is fond of saying, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

"Beer is a product that transcends the ages. It's been a desirable and fascinating thing for over 1,000 years and it practically makes itself because the enzymes already exist in nature," Hale said. "The yeast goes in and does its thing, and you've got beer — a lovely, delicate beer that is irreplaceable and fragile and needs to be consumed soon, near the source."

The most important aspect of managing a microbrewery, he said, is the relationships and the best, and worst part of his job is dealing with his employees — some of whom have worked for him for more than 20 years.

As manager and founder of Hales Ale's, Hale's average day consists of "being in charge, doing a lot of 'around the house' tasks and planning new beers (he hopes to soon immortalize his beloved PJ with 'PJ's Porter') and events."

In recognition of the role his business and establishment plays in the neighborhood and region at large, Hale is a member of the Washington state Liquor Control Board's Three-Tier Review Task force.

Created to conduct a comprehensive review of the current regulatory system controlling the sale and distribution of beer and wine in Washington, the task force addresses issues that directly affect Hale.

"They (prevention-oriented groups) don't want anyone drinking anything, or so it would seem, but we just say, 'Well, I've seen so many people where it's a valuable thing in their lives,'" Hale said.

Nothing, however, irritates Hale more than someone drunk in his establishment.

"High-risk drinking should be the focal-point. There are kids in college who want to drink a fifth of tequila in one sitting. We need a campaign against binge-drinking, and we need to band together as producers," Hale said.

Hale hopes that by creating anti-binge drinking campaigns similar to those used to curb smoking among youth, the abuse of his product will soon be non-existent.

"Alcohol can cause harm, but it can also bring great joy," Hale said.

For Hale, however, the joy of brewing and what has become his life's work out-weighs any threat of harm.