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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Around here, beer’s the game

Rick Bonino

If you’re looking to bag some big beers, we hear the hunting will be pretty good Friday night at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park.

Ten regional breweries – Big Barn, Big Sky, English Setter, Laughing Dog, MickDuff’s, Orlison, Paradise Creek, Perry Street, Selkirk Abbey and Trickster’s – will each pour a pair of their offerings in the inaugural Backcountry Brewfest.

It’s the kickoff event for the fourth annual North American Rendezvous of the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), a Missoula-based sportsmen’s conservation group that works to protect fish and game habitat in the wilderness. The national gathering is in Spokane for the first time.

“In Denver last year, we looked around at all those breweries and thought, we should be having a brew festival,” says Grant Alban, BHA development associate. “I don’t know anybody who hunts who doesn’t enjoy beer.”

This year, he says, “We went online and saw all the breweries in the Spokane area, and it seemed like the right thing to do.”

Tickets are $10 at participating breweries, and online here through Wednesday; after that, it’s $15 online and at the door.

For your money, you get a six-ounce tasting glass and two pours. Additional samples are $1 each.

There also will be raffles and a silent auction for such outdoor-related items as camping gear and a mountain bike.

“It’s definitely going to be beer first, sportsmen second,” Alban says – though the BHA is hoping the general public might also check out the conference’s vendor tables on the first floor, and maybe come back for Saturday’s activities.

“We have an up-and-coming chapter in Washington,” says Alban. “A lot of young folks in the Spokane area are very involved.”

Whatever you might make of the weekend, he says, “All proceeds help protect wild public lands and waters. It’s for a good cause.”