Joe Yonke already had two of his recipes pouring at Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery before he got the job.

On Monday, August 3, he started as head brewer at Washington state's first cooperatively owned brewery, stepping from Fremont Brewing's 80-barrel production system into a 7-barrel manual brewhouse on Greenwood Avenue North.

The hire matters. It's a bet on the cooperative model's ability to attract serious talent. Yonke holds a doctoral degree in animal science from Virginia Tech, a Certified Cicerone designation, and a General Certificate in Brewing from the Chartered Institute of Brewers and Distillers.

His professional career includes Rising Silo Brewery in Blacksburg, Virginia, and a head brewer role at Northwest Brewing Company before joining Fremont Brewing, one of the largest craft operations in Washington.

His connection to Flying Bike predates the job offer. Yonke taught his brother-in-law, a co-op member, to homebrew. Together they developed "Cloudia" and "Sapsucker," both of which won Flying Bike's member homebrew competition and are currently on tap at 8570 Greenwood Ave. N.

Flying Bike's structure is unusual in the industry. The brewery is incorporated as a nonprofit mutual corporation under Washington law.

A one-time $200 membership buys one voting share, and the co-op reported more than 2,000 member-owners in a prior profile. Members help choose which recipes get brewed on the full system, judge homebrew competitions, and share in the business. Winning recipes are scaled up and served in the taproom.

The co-op announced that Yonke plans to brew rotating IPAs and experiment with local ingredients like spruce tips and unusual grain bills, emphasizing what it called "data-driven sensory analysis" in a statement posted Monday.

The timing matters for the broader north Seattle beer scene. The Ballard Brewery District lost three operations this spring: Distant West Brewing ceased operations in May, Wheelie Pop Brewing closed its Ballard location the same month, and Bale Breaker Brewing acquired Cloudburst Brewing, according to MyBallard. Boutique retailer September announced July 28 that it would close its Ballard storefront at 5410 22nd Ave. NW after a decade.

Flying Bike, which opened its taproom in August 2015, operates on a different economic logic. Member dues and taproom sales fund the business; beer is sold primarily on-site, with limited wholesale to local bars and appearances at western Washington beer festivals.

The cooperative structure distributes risk across thousands of owners rather than concentrating it in one.

Flying Bike's taproom is open Monday through Thursday from 2 to 10 p.m., Friday from 2 to 11 p.m., Saturday from 1 to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 8 p.m. Membership is open to any Washington resident for $200.