Spokane Beer News (2021)

I think I missed this article when it was published, last December, concerning Golden Handle Project and Project Craft:
https://www.inlander.com/spokane/go...he-spokane-brewing-scene/Content?oid=18770861
This thread could keep going for Spokane/eastern Washington/north Idaho beer news as it comes.

 

Curious if anyone has been to Bottle Bay yet?

 

I know pretty much nothing about them. Only beer of theirs I've seen in the wild is their amber, and I'm not an amber ale guy.

 

Spinal Tap references are the way to my heart, good sir.

Yeah, Bottle Bay's amber turned up in bars for the first time, oh, I think something like 3 or 4 yrs ago. I figured I'd hold off until I saw a beer from them in another style, but I never have seen one. They finally opened up a taproom on Spokane's South Hill right around the time the Covid shit hit the fan. As I mentioned above, I know no one who has had any of their beers. A friend tried to go at a time FB seemed to indicate they'd be open, but they were, in fact closed.

 

Sounds like Steel Barrel is going to be changing their license and will be able to open up again for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Not sure if drinking-in will be an option, but to-go will finally be a thing there, for the first time ever.

 

Lumberbeard is back open for on-premises consumption. They added food in the form of grilled cheese sandwiches to make themselves a "restaurant."

Right now, they have what might be their first barrel-aged beer, an IPA that was aged in Dry Fly gin barrels and clocks in at a whopping 11% abv.

 

Apparently, it's their Batch 1 IPA, aged in gin barrels. I misunderstood the name as meaning their first BA batch. As usual I'm making things seem more complicated than they need to be.

 

In n. Idaho beer news, I was unaware Trail's End Brewing, in Coeur d'Alene, existed until last night. I was told they'd been open for 11 weeks. I had an Altbier and a juicy IPA. Both were quite good, although the alt was overly hoppy for the style. Apparently they do brick oven pizzas, but my friends and I were stuffed with sushi, so trying the food will have to wait for another time.

 

Whistle Punk is back open again to near-regular hours (closing around 9pm) and with some indoor seating. Apparently they now offer food and have done a change-up of licensing (like a lot of breweries have had to do). More importantly (to me, anyway), they're back open late enough that I can visit them after getting off work.

 

Bars that can't do food are so absolutely screwed right now. I have friends who own a great bar, but they're stuck until Spokane reaches Stage 4, and they don't have the space to prep food, and even if they did, their regular crowd was always a late crowd. Most of them wouldn't have shown up before 10pm.

 

At least Whistle Punk had a small outdoor area for drinking. Lumberbeard had nowhere to set up outside (ironic because they're absolutely cavernous indoors), so could only do to-go orders until they put grilled cheese sandwiches on their menu and changed their license.

 

This is not confirmed, but I have heard a rumor that 12 String Brewing, in Spokane Valley, is closing their doors. I haven't gotten out that way for a while due to work hours and my own vehicle's recent infirmiries, but it seemed like they generally had a pretty good crowd, pre-Covid, in the tap room there. Terry was the first brewer, locally, to have barrel-aged beers a fairly regular part of his lineup, so, if they are, indeed, closing, it's sad to see a local pioneer go under.

 

Haven't seen anything official re: 12 String since I posted the above, so that may be bullshit.

One thing that's been confirmed is that the version of Black Is Beautiful brewed in collaboration by Precious Things Fermentation Project, 4-Eyed Guys Brewing (whose brewery taproom will presumably be open before too much longer), The Golden Handle Project and Hidden Mother Brewery is now available. I was trying to organize a trip out to PT with some friends, but realized the smoke would ruin such plans, and they are, indeed, closed today. Really interested in trying it, though, as it's quite a deviation from most BiB releases, being a Black Saison.
FB post from Precious Things:
https://www.facebook.com/1694442553935329/posts/3353815484664686/