Goat of the week

The Year of the Goat doesn’t officially start until Chinese New Year on Feb. 19, but Iron Goat Brewing is getting a head start.

The Spokane brewery today launches its Year of the Goat Series. Each Wednesday, it will tap a small-batch “prototap” brew (no more than 10 gallons each) for as long as it lasts.

First up is a Rye Imperial IPA (9 percent alcohol by volume, 83 International Bitterness Units) full of Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra and Cascade hops. More than 30 other recipes already are in the works, from barleywines to sours; each beer will be announced the day before it’s tapped.

“It’s a creative outlet for us,” says co-owner/brewer Paul Edminster, as well as a way to satisfy beer geeks always searching for something new.

You can sign up for a scorecard in the taproom to keep track of how many prototaps you taste over the course of the year, with merchandise prizes awarded at the end for various levels of participation.

Along with all the new brews, an old favorite is on the way back: Goatorhead, the triple IPA originally created last January as a collaboration with Oregon’s Ninkasi Brewing.

The Goat crew recently did a new batch that should show up in the taproom next month. It and the brewery’s Manito Triple IPA (regularly available at Manito Tap House) also will be poured as part of the second annual Washington Hop Mob Triple IPA Roadshow series of events in Seattle in February.