Goodbye, old Goat

Photo by Rita Vigil

At first glance, it was just another Wednesday-night packed house at Iron Goat – the kind so familiar from last year’s weekly Year of the Goat small-batch releases.

Most of the familiar faces were there, human and canine. The Couple of Chefs food truck was again parked outside the door.

The beer and conversation flowed freely, but this time, the laughter was tinged with a wistful tone. These people were there to bid farewell to a friend, for the final time.

After almost four years, it was the last night of operation at the small, out-of-the-way East Mallon taproom before the brewery moves to its bigger, more visible home on the west end of downtown Spokane.

Co-owner/brewers Greg Brandt and Paul Edminster hauled the last tank to the new location before returning to rejoin the party with their wives and business partners, Heather Brandt and Sheila Edminster.

There’s still much to move, and plenty of preparations to complete. If all goes smoothly, beer will be pouring again sometime next week, with a kitchen to open shortly afterward.

Last night’s crowd talked eagerly about the new place – the more convenient location for many, the more than doubling of the taps to 26, the resumption of the popular Thursday night trivia.

But everyone knew they were leaving a small piece of themselves behind in the little brick building on the edge of nowhere.