River of increasing returns
River City celebrates its third anniversary Saturday with some things old and something new.
Along with the regular lineup – Girlfriend Golden, Huckleberry, Red, Riverkeeper IPA, VB Stout and current seasonal Midnight Marmot imperial stout – the tap list for the party from 3 to 10 p.m. includes:
– The last of a bourbon barrel-aged stout from 2014 (limited to one 8-ounce pour per person).
– The 2014 Oako-Coco Nitro, Midnight Marmot aged on oak chips and cacao nibs and creamily carbonated with nitrogen.
– The 2014 Deep Thaw Winter Warmer (not brewed this winter), which has aged beautifully, based on a sneak sample.
– Last year’s anniversary Congratulator Doppelbock, along with the debut of this year’s drier version, fermented with more yeast at a warmer temperature.
The 2015 Congratulator is a tough act to follow, having both won a silver medal at the Washington Beer Awards and being named best of the Northwest/Pacific region in the United States Beer Tasting Championship (along with the Red and seasonal Inconceivable Imperial Pilsner).
Awards aside, the beer development that brewery president Gage Stromberg is most proud of was the launch of a revised Riverkeeper, with new hopping and a cleaner West Coast yeast in place of River City’s fruitier house English yeast to accent the hop character.
“I think we made a big step forward with our IPA this past year,” Stromberg says. “The market, beer drinkers have responded to it. I think we landed in the right spot.”
A more slightly tweaked version will debut in March as part of a monthlong celebration of the brewery’s partnership with the Spokane Riverkeeper water protection program, which benefits from sales of the beer.
And next fall, the sessionable Afternoon IPA is scheduled to return as a permanent part of River City’s lineup. Stromberg also is again shooting for packaged beer in 22-ounce bottles by year’s end.
River City nearly doubled its production in 2015 compared to 2014 – from 1,000 barrels to more than 1,700 – and early reports show this month’s sales are up 40 percent over last January. Distribution expanded into southern Idaho last year, and will continue to spread.
In 2015, Stromberg says, “I think we did just a little better job with everything we do. We became a little more efficient in the brewery, and our education process internally improved.
“When we opened, we were reinventing the wheel (from predecessor Coeur d’Alene Brewing). Now we’re fine-tuning things, making smaller improvements.”
Along with the beers, Saturday’s party will feature music by Folkinception from 5 to 9 p.m. inside the brewery’s production space, and food all day from the Couple of Chefs truck at a large tent set up in the parking lot.
Beer tickets will be $3 each, which will get you an 8-ounce pour for one ticket or a full pint for two (except the bourbon barrel stout, which is two tickets for 8 ounces).