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

Your weekly roundup

Rick Bonino

Some odds and ends from the past week in local craft beer:

– This year’s Inland Northwest Ale Trail map will be officially released March 5, with various events in the works at participating breweries to mark the occasion; we’ll keep you posted as details become available. There are 41 stops on the new map, up from the previous 27.

– Two more Spokane newcomers, Young Buck and Little Spokane, have received final federal licensing approval and plan to begin brewing by April at the downtown incubator. Beer will be served out of the breweries and later at an accompanying Steel Barrel Taproom, along with limited distribution to outside accounts.  

– Pullman’s Paradise Creek releases its seasonal Hoe’s Daddy Dunkelweizen on Sunday for Valentine’s Day, along with a contest: Create a Valentine card for your favorite Paradise Creek beer and get a discount, and a chance to win a $30 gift certificate.    

– Wallace Brewing’s Strong Ale took the bronze medal among a dozen entries in the old/strong ale category in the second annual Bend-based Best of Craft Beer Awards.

– Mad Bomber, which has begun selling a series of brewery-themed comic book cover prints to benefit local charities, this week launched Community Night, with 10 percent of proceeds each Wednesday being donated to a worthy cause.   

– The Washington Beer Commission’s new Collaboration Festival, coming April 22-23 in Seattle, will feature 20 collaborative beers from 40 breweries statewide. Yakima’s Bale Breaker is the first from east of the Cascades to sign up; hopefully there will be more to come.

– Finally, Anheuser-Busch’s slightly less craft beer-bashing Super Bowl ad didn’t cause anywhere near as much of a stir as last year’s version, though winning quarterback Peyton Manning did raise a few eyebrows with his repeated post-game references to his plans for pounding Budweiser. Hoping to broaden his horizons, the Brewers Association sent Manning an assortment of 10 craft beers, including six from the Broncos’ home state of Colorado.