Will be in Spokane for business next week. Staying at the Davenport Grand Hotel. Any taprooms, bars with good tap lists, or bottle shops within short walking distance that I should check out? Thanks.
@woemad and @Babbo will chime in with specifics, but I'm a big fan of Iron Goat, and would say it's a must-stop. You should see plenty of Selkirk Abbey beers, and they are really good, if you like Belgian styles.
You'll be on the far east end of downtown, only things particularly close will be Black Label Brewing (nice folks, worth checking out), Saranac Public House next door to them (dozen well-selected taps and interesting menu), Onion Bar & Grill (50ish taps including some locals) and Hills' Restaurant (only 10 taps but they know their stuff, plus good food). The real action is on the other side of town, west of Monroe Street, where you'll find four brewery taprooms (Iron Goat, River City, Orlison, Whistle Punk) plus Steel Barrel, which has a handful of selections from two in-house breweries plus a couple dozen good guest taps (and a cool ceviche bar). You can find addresses and more specifics on my blog for the daily newspaper (go down to the Beer Here links on the right side rail): http://www.spokane7.com/blog/ontap/
@Babbo is pretty much the #1 authority, but I'll throw in my two cents. Black Label is a nice brewery to visit. There's nothing from them that blows me away, but everything they do is quality. I'd give them a shot one night while you're here and grab some grub at Saranac before or after (one of the better burgers I've had in Spokane was consumed there, and they'll have something decent to wash it down with). If you can spring for a couple short uber rides, you will be rewarded if you visit the "brewery district" @Babbo speaks of. From east to west, from the west side of Monroe downtown, you've got Whistle Punk, Orlison, Steel Barrel, Iron Goat and River City all within a short stroll of one another. In addition to Zona Blanca (the ceviche restaurant that shares space with Steel Barrel), Whistle Punk is a few feet from a restaurant specializing in Texas BBQ (haven't been there yet) and Iron Goat has a kitchen that does a myriad of pizzas and sandwiches. Also, you won't be too far from Blackbird (pretty much just across the river on Washington), either, which always has some epic beers on tap.
If you only have a short amount of time, go to iron goat, whistle punk, and steel barrel. All 3 are within walking distance of one another and the former two are the best breweries downtown. Skip black label.
Definitely more bang for your buck on the west end of town - all depends on what you mean by "short walking distance," it's a mile or so from the hotel to there.
