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

Roll up the barrels

Rick Bonino

Zythum is upping its game with a bigger, better brewing system.

The Fairfield brewery, which has been working off a tiny one-barrel setup, just acquired the seven-barrel brewhouse previously used by MickDuff’s in Sandpoint – which recently stepped up to a 20-barrel operation.

“I didn’t want to let a good used brewhouse go out on the market. It would be gone right away,” says Zythum owner/brewer Shawn Carney, who’ll pick it up on Thursday.

“It’s a big step for us. We’ll be able to make more beer, and probably more consistent beer. We’re holding our consistency pretty well, but it’s nice to be able to go over and turn a dial and say, there’s 180 (degrees).”

Carney previously bought a seven-barrel fermenter from MickDuff’s, and is on the lookout for more fermenters and brite tanks.

He needs to get a bigger water line installed by the city, but expects to have everything up and running by late July or early August.

Carney and his wife/business partner, Deb, are longtime fans of MickDuff’s.

“We used to be regulars up there,” he says. “We’d ride our motorcyles up on Friday evenings and have a beer.”

MickDuff’s co-owner/head brewer Mickey Mahoney plans to come over and help brew the first batch, says Carney, who hopes they can collaborate on a recipe down the road.

“He went through and polished it all up for us,” Carney says. “It’s nice and pretty right now.”