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

From anniversary to Zythum

Rick Bonino

Zythum Brewing marks its first year of operation Saturday with a nod to the past and an eye to the future.

The celebration starts at 2 p.m. at the Fairfield brewery and will feature the Toby’s BBQ food truck, live classic rock by Random Generation starting at 7 and a new Troja IPA heavy on herbal, earthy Columbus hops.

That’s a favorite variety of the hop grower in the nearby Mt. Hope area who provides Zythum with the special, citrusy Trestle hops (first discovered growing wild near the railroad trestle in Tekoa) used in its Navis IPA.

“It’s not quite single-hop, but its darned close,” owner/brewer Shawn Carney says of the new creation, also brewed with some Centennial.

Carney and his wife, Deb, bought Fairfield’s former hardware store with hopes of opening a McMenamins-style brewpub and restaurant complex in the sprawling, historic space.

Over their first year they cranked out a dozen-plus styles from their tiny one-barrel brewing system, along with root beer, ginger ale and cream soda that get incorporated into beer “cocktails.”

“Everything we made we sold as fast as we could,” Shawn says. ”All in all, it was a pretty good year for a small system.”

A larger brewing operation is in the works. Once that’s nailed down, the Carneys can proceed with plans for a commercial kitchen to produce both food for the brewery, and a line of snacks made with spent brewing grain.