Payette moves forward
Last month, amid a major expansion, Boise’s Payette Brewing celebrated its fifth anniversary with five special beers created collaboratively by its staff.
Tomorrow, five of the few kegs distributed beyond the brewery will be tapped at one of Spokane’s newest craft beer destinations, Beerocracy in the Garland District.
“I’m pretty excited,” says owner Tyler Riggs, who opened at the beginning of May in the former Filt space at 911 W. Garland.
The lineup, which will be available in flights or full pints starting at 4 p.m., includes the hoppy red Tumble Wheat (5.9 percent alcohol by volume, 34 International Bitterness Units); Berry’d Alive strawberry smoked porter (5.3, 35); two imperial IPAs, Outlawed (7.8, 120), which is essentially a double version of the flagship Rustler (formerly Outlaw), and an alternative C.R.E.A.M. (7.5, 65); and Bo-He-Man imperial pilsner (9, 33).
There also will be merchandise raffles, live music and pizza from McClain’s.
The process behind the beers began a year ago, when Payette employees were split into five teams and each assigned a brewer to brainstorm ideas.
“It offered them an opportunity to work with some ingredients that they don’t ordinarily get to use,” says Payette’s Paige Coyle, who oversees the brewery’s marketing and graphic design.
It also laid the groundwork for future releases; the brewer who did the Tumble Wheat is working on Payette’s first wheat beer since an initial attempt when the brewery first opened. “It gave us more opportunities than we expected,” Coyle says.
The beers were introduced at an anniversary party during the soft opening of Payette’s new brewery in downtown Boise. The 60-barrel brewhouse is four times larger than the original facility in Garden City (which remains in operation for specialty beers) and gives Payette the potential to grow from last year’s 10,000 barrels produced to an eventual 100,000.
Distribution is expanding as a result, with Wyoming and Montana recently added to the previous Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Arizona and Alaska are on the horizon, says Coyle.
While Payette launched in the Spokane market last July, it’s gained visibility lately with the addition of a locally based brewery representative.
Beerocracy also will be raising its profile with more special events, Riggs says, including a Dogfish Head night next month and a Sunday brunch on July 10.
Its 12 rotating taps include 10 craft selections, along with a domestic beer (currently Labatt’s Blue) and a cider.
“There aren’t a lot of places on the north side with really good beer selections,” says Riggs, previously a bartender down the street at Bon Bon in the Garland Theater. “That’s something the Garland neighborhood has been missing, good craft beer.”