SILVERDALE — Tommy Cash has learned many lessons in his first year of operating Cash Brewing in Old Town Silverdale.

And there have been a few surprises, too.

“I’ve been surprised how many of the old faces I still see,” he said, referring to his previous customers when he operated Tommy C’s in Port Orchard.

“Our customers have followed us here, even though it’s a drive to come, especially on weekdays.”

It was just a year ago, in June 2015, that Cash Brewing opened in Silverdale. Two months earlier, Cash and his wife, Ester, closed Tommy C’s, a popular sports bar in Port Orchard, after the building went into foreclosure and the business was evicted. Tommy C’s had been open since 2011.

The Cashes looked for a new place and found they liked Old Town Silverdale. And their location at 3388 NW Byron St. gave them plenty of room, they thought, to run a restaurant, set up a brewery and make their own beers.

“About two years into the restaurant business, I began making beer in the garage of another beermaker,” he said. “From that point on, I knew I wanted to have a brewery.”

On Oct. 21, 2015, Cash Brewing began brewing beer at the Silverdale site. Brewmaster Bill Poss and his brewer son, Kyle, started with one variety of beer and soon they had six signature beers on tap. Most of the time, they also have three or four seasonal choices, including a tangerine IPA in the spring, an Irish stout for St. Patrick’s Day, and a winter rye IPA for the cold months.

Currently, they brew three days a week. They’ve added additional infrastructure to ensure proper chilling during fermentation.

Cash said they’ve already outgrown their brewing space.

“We’re doing a remodel to give us some more space to brew,” he said. “We have plans filed with the county right now to extend 12 feet out and 30 feet across (in an area which is now a used parking lot).”

Cash Brewing’s beers have grown in popularity. They are now available in 29 locations throughout Kitsap County and in Gig Harbor.

And, even with all the growth on the beer side of the house, the restaurant has been successful. The menu includes appetizers, salads, wraps, burgers and pizza. They are known for their homemade poppers and mac ’n’ cheese.

“We use six different cheeses,” he said. “And we hand-press all our burgers.”

They also make prime rib every night, and the leftovers become thin sliced beef for their steak sandwiches on the following day.

“We’re working on new items for the menu right now,” he said. “We’re hoping to add more seafood options, salmon and oysters.”

Tommy, who grew up in Silverdale and graduated from Central Kitsap High School in 1995, went to college after high school, working in restaurants to pay his way. He then spent a year in Vail, Colorado, “being a ski bum.” He followed his younger brother to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where, with no money, his brother told him to “walk the docks.”

“He told me the folks who own yachts down there will hire guys as deckhands,” he said. “I got lucky and became a deckhand on a $22 million mega-yacht.”

He spent time on the yacht in New Zealand. He was able to glean some tips from the yacht’s chef. Cash knew he wanted to have his own restaurant someday.

When he returned to Washington, he began a construction and painting company and dabbled in real estate as a way to make money to eventually get a restaurant going. That happened when he opened Tommy C’s in 2011.

The restaurant and brewery in Silverdale is 4,500-square feet and seats 210. There’s a banquet room upstairs for 50.

It has 32 television screens and, on football Sundays, draws a big crowd.

The restaurant also has a covered patio with tables and two streetside tables out front. When the weather’s nice, they raise the roll-up glass-panel doors.

The busiest times, he said, are nice summer days and evenings, especially when there are events at Silverdale Waterfront Park.

Inside, on the brick wall, hangs the Tommy C’s sign from the old place.

“A couple of friends took it down and brought it to me,” he said. “They thought I should have it.”

Cash has about 40 employees, 20 who are cooks. His wife is the general manager, and Brian Stutey is the operations manager and has been with Cash since the Tommy C’s days.

Cash likes that he can meet customers’ needs. He brewed a special beer for the 10th anniversary of Monica’s Bakery, a nearby business. On the last Wednesday of the month from 6-9 p.m., he opens up the parking area next door, puts out tables, hangs lights, and local bicycling enthusiasts bike in for dinner. He’s also hosted bands in the lot; on Tuesdays, it’s jazz and blues night.

Happy hour, with drink specials, is from 3-6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to closing, every night.

Anyone, anytime, can ask Cash for a tour of the brewery.

“People want to see how our beers are made,” he said. “I enjoy walking them through and explaining the process.”

Cash is looking forward to the second year. Besides an expansion of the brewery, he’s got a remodel of the kitchen planned. He’s marketing his beers at beer festivals, and he always tries to be in the restaurant from 4-9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday to meet and greet customers.

Two customers boat over from Tracyton twice a week to eat dinner. He’s reunited with old classmates who’ve come by and he’s even served his former high school counselor.

“We keep growing everyday,” he said. “I love seeing folks I know and bet I meet 20 new customers everyday. It’s one of the parts of my job that I really love.”

Learn more at www.cash brewing.com.