Lofty ambitions

Skiers heading to 49 Degrees North next winter should have a little something extra to look forward to – and we’re not just talking about better snow.

Assuming all goes well, Chewelah will have joined the craft beer boom by then with Quartzite Brewing. Owners Patrick Sawyer and Jake Wilson have received conditional approval from the state Liquor Control Board and are working on their federal license, with hopes of opening in June.

“The Chamber of Commerce is always talking about how to capture the ski traffic,” Sawyer says. “A lot of people rip through town to get to the ski hill, then they want to get back to Spokane. This will give them a reason to stop.”

Beers will be named after peaks in the Colville National Forest, with the brewery getting its title from Quartzite Mountain just outside town (pictured above).

“From the patio at the brewery, you have a great view of it,” says Sawyer, a seasonal biological technician with the U.S. Forest Service.

Having grown up in Denver, Sawyer is well-attuned to the craft beer scene (a brother-in-law is an original Wynecoop employee).  He and Wilson have been brewing together for about three years.

They recently leased an old wooden grain tower from the 1940s, part of a 10-acre complex just south of the stoplight on Main Street. “It will give us an interesting atmosphere, that’s for sure,” Sawyer says.

He and Wilson are starting small, with a two-barrel brewhouse. Food will be provided by deliveries from local restaurants.

Beer styles also will be straightforward to start. “We’ll have to make an ultra-light pale ale to get the Kokanee drinkers in there,” Sawyer says, “but hopefully we can expand their tastes and get into some crazy things down the road.”