Water and ashes
A pair of anticipated annual beer releases are waiting in the wings for Wednesday:
- River City introduces this year’s Riverkeeper IPA in a release party from 5 to 8 p.m. at The Lantern Tap House.
A dollar from every pint sold will be donated to the nonprofit Spokane Riverkeeper water protection program. There also will be shirts for sale, and swag including coasters and koozies.
The new, double dry-hopped version (7.2 percent alcohol by volume, 77 International Bitterness Units) is bittered with Warrior and Millennium and finished with Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Palisade and El Dorado for a tropical, citrus and stone fruit character followed by a dry, spicy, earthy finish.
It’s also fermented with a cleaner, West Coast yeast, in place of River City’s standard, fruitier English-style yeast, so those hops will pop even more.
“It’s going to be a big departure for us in terms of IPAs,” says brewery president Gage Stromberg.
“We don’t want to blow anyone out of the water with IBUs,” adds assistant brewer Todd Grove. “It’s really about the hop flavor and aroma.”
- In Post Falls, Selkirk Abbey unveils the new version of its 8° Belgian dubbel, and it’s no coincidence that it arrives on Ash Wednesday. Trappist monks traditionally brewed the big, rich beer as a liquid food substitute to tide them over through their Lenten fast.
Owner/brewer Jeff Whitman is particularly pleased with this year’s release (8.5, 40), made with an authentic Belgian malt, Castle Malting Chateau Special B, that wasn’t available last year. That provides rich caramel and toffee notes that were lacking in last year's drier, hoppier offering, he says.
“There are no sharp edges on this one,” Whitman says. “It’s what a Belgian beer should be. It’s high alcohol, but it doesn’t taste high alcohol. It just tastes soft and easy.”
Look for 12-ounce glass and growler specials across the board on Wednesday, including fills of 8° that day only. It also will be available in 22-ounce bottles for the first time, as soon as Selkirk receives federal label approval.
And some of it is headed for Dry Fly triticale and wheat whiskey barrels. That will be blended later with 10° quad and 12° Belgian strong ale aged in whiskey and wine barrels for a Grand Cru scheduled for release around the holidays in December.