A military veteran who turned to home brewing after his manufacturing job moved overseas now has a beer on tap in Tumwater, the first student-developed capstone beer ever sold through South Puget Sound Community College's Craft Brewing & Distilling program.

Martin Lee created the sour saison during the 2026 spring quarter as his capstone project. The Percival Creek Tasting Room team scaled it up for commercial production, and the beer went on sale at a public release celebration Friday, Aug. 14, at the tasting room in the Market Building at the Tumwater Craft District.

Lee enrolled in SPSCC's two-year brewing program after retiring from the military and working briefly in manufacturing, the Nisqually Valley News reported. When his company moved operations out of the country, his wife suggested he go back to school. He had dabbled in home brewing at home.

"Most people don't go for this, for saison," Lee told the Nisqually Valley News. "They go for a lager or a pilsner — they're used to that."

To put his own spin on the farmhouse style, Lee partnered with a friend at Elliot Bay Brewing Co. to acquire a "Philly Sour" yeast strain. After several rounds of experimentation, the result balanced citrus and tartness with peppery dryness. The finished beer pours a pale gold with a light haze, according to the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce, and features stone fruit aromas with clean lactic tartness.

Lee is now employed at Percival Creek and hopes to open his own brewery someday.

The tasting room operates in partnership with SPSCC. Students work alongside industry professionals at the brewery, and proceeds from product sales are reinvested into the college's brewing and distilling programs.

Jake Holshue, director of Craft Brewing & Distilling at SPSCC, said in an Aug. 12 press release that the release represents what the program aims to do.

He called it "incredibly rewarding to watch their creativity and technical skills come together in a product that reaches the public."

SPSCC is hosting a Craft Brewing & Distilling information session and facility tour Thursday, Aug. 20, for prospective students interested in the program's hands-on curriculum and industry connections.

The Percival Creek Tasting Room, at 4242 Capitol Blvd. SE in Tumwater, is open Wednesday through Saturday, 3 to 8 p.m., to patrons 21 and older.