Goose Island landing

Goose Island is bringing its traveling show to Spokane.

The Chicago-based brewery’s Migration Week tour comes to town the first week of May with a series of events showcasing its people and its beers, from the Belgian-style Sofie, Matilda and Halia to Four Star Pils to variations on its signature Bourbon County Stout.

 “It’s taking our culture on the road, and doing it in an authentic way,” says Jack Blake, the brewery’s event coordinator. “We want that introduction to Goose Island, whether people have heard of us or had our beer, to be reflective of what we do in Chicago.”

The Spokane itinerary includes:

– A kickoff event May 3 at the Washington Cracker Company building with beer and food, featuring chefs and visual artists from both Chicago and Spokane, to benefit the Make a Wish foundation (6-10 p.m., $10, RSVP requested).

– A Bourbon County Deconstruction class May 4 at Jim’s Homebrew exploring all the elements of the groundbreaking barrel-aged stout, from dry ingredients to liquid samples from various stages of the brewing and aging process (4:30-6:30, free, RSVP requested).

– A May 4 screening of the film “Grit & Grain,” about the making of Bourbon County Stout, at the Magic Lantern (7-9:30, free, RSVP requested).

– Lunch With a Brewer on May 5 at the South Hill Growler Guys with Goose Island brewer Austin Niestrom and the rest of the Migration team (noon to 2, free).

– A Flight School tasting with Niestrom at the Blackbird on May 6 (5-6, free, RSVP requested) followed by a closing Celebration of Beer (6 to 8, free).

Goose Island launched Migration Week as an outreach when its distribution went national following the brewery’s acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2011. It’s stopping at 30 U.S. cities this year, plus Canada, Mexico, Europe, China and Brazil.

Overseas, Blake says, “You can see that curiosity starting to build. We’re trying to get ahead of the craft beer revolution as it happens.”