Black Lodge Brewing Company

what a neat little place, right downtown in this town that seems built for summer vacation. lots of new spots in town too since i was up there last, and we had a blast in here. they have a really small system, just a barrel or two, which seems to be quite common in these parts, nano level brewing. its tucked over to the right when you walk in, the space is bigger than it looks from the outside but still quaint, minimalist feeling in terms of decor, sort of artsy in a sparse way, but comfortable and not trying too hard or anything. the bar area is great, they make pizzas and some other food but we did not eat or even really get eyes on the food, cool to have the option though, and the beer list was very unique, im talking extremely experimental stuff that ive never even really heard of before, weird seems to be the thing, i mean they had a decent hazy but pretty much everything else was of extreme interest, a witbier with ginger and cardamom and lemongrass and coriander, they had a blue colored sour beer with tropical fruit, coconut, vanilla, and soft serve ice cream, so weird, even had a hazy black ipa, which is an interesting concept. an imperial thai iced tea seltzer at 10% abv was also an exotic option, really some innovative stuff here, but the beers were hit or miss for me, lager with french hops was solid, the black ipa was nice, but the crazy flavored ones were all a bit much for me, not really dialed in on quality, but that doesnt seem to be the point, its obvious how much fun they are having, and it was cool to chat with the female brewer, high stoke levels for sure. they had a cool guest beer list too both in terms of draft but also in package, impressively well curated there, even some heady wines on the list too, so definitely a fun place to go for drinks! will be back for sure, try the pizza next time, and see what other crazy stuff they are brewing up! a great addition to the scene, so cool to see such interesting beers being made, well worth a visit if you are in town!

I visited Black Lodge Brewing a few weeks ago when passing through Coeur d'Alene. It's a pretty new spot, and they are brewing on a pretty tiny one barrel system, so when I was there they had only one of their own beers on tap, plus an in-house hard seltzer and about a dozen guest taps. Their one beer was a hazy IPA, which was actually quite good; the seltzer, while not technically beer, was also pretty tasty.

The large taproom is a cool space with with brick walls and a slightly industrial but welcoming vibe; plenty of tables for groups and the like, as well as a small bar. They've got a kitchen and do brunch, although I didn't get anything to eat myself. I chatted with the bartender/owner/brewer and she was wonderful, and I am certain I will be stopping at Black Lodge the next time I'm passing through Coeur d'Alene (which I will make it a point to do!) to see what kind of beers they have on offer in the future.