Putting Old Iron in the fire

A third brewer is getting ready to set up shop at Spokane’s downtown brewery incubator.

Travis Thosath of TT’s Old Iron Brewery is finalizing lease arrangements and preparing to apply for permits with an eye toward opening around the end of the year.

“It’s a unique opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” Thosath says. “I’ve been spending as much time down there as I can, learning the big system.”

The incubator in the Luminaria Building north of Second and Madison, with its attached Steel Barrel taproom and Zona Blanca ceviche bar, has a seven-barrel system designed to be shared by up to five brewers. Little Spokane and Young Buck are the original tenants.

While he looks forward to someday opening his own place, Thosath says, “In the meantime, the co-op is awesome. I have a lot to learn. It’s the right fit for me.”

Thosath started hobby brewing with malt extracts some 20 years ago before getting serious and switching to all-grain brewing in 2014, and got some commercial experience helping out at Zythum Brewing last summer.

He’s developed a variety of recipes, some of which use rye along with barley for spicier flavors. “It puts a little twist on things, something a little different,” he says.

Like the brewery itself, the beers will have car-related names. Old Iron is a reference to the vintage autos at Thosath’s home southeast of Spokane, including two Model Ts – a 1920 touring and 1926 roadster – plus a 1955 Buick and his regular ride, a 1956 Chevy truck that he rebuilt.

“It will be a little bit of an education for people,” he says.

There’s still plenty of educating to do about beer itself, Thosath adds: “So many people haven’t tapped into the craft beer world yet. There’s a lot of opportunity there. You just have to get them to try it.”