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

The new orange and Black

Rick Bonino

V Twin Brewing is preparing to start its engine.

The motorcycle-themed brewery from Barry and Kim Black has its grand opening Friday from 2 to 10 p.m. at 2302 N. Argonne, in a business strip across from McDonald’s.

“It’s been a long time in the making, that’s for sure,” says Barry Black, who brewed at home for 10 years before deciding to take the commercial plunge. “There’s been a lot of late nights, a lot of back and forth.”

The L-shaped taproom, which wraps around the southeast corner of the building, is done up in Harley-Davidson colors with orange walls and black trim and tables (chalkboard-topped for doodling). Motorcycle parts hang on the walls, and silver metal inlays of the brewery’s bike logo accent the black bartop.

Like the brewery itself, which takes its name from a type of engine, the beers have motorcycle-related themes. The six core offerings are the homebrew recipes Black says were most popular with his friends and family.

There’s a straightforward, filtered Wheat Glide, after the Harley Street Glide (5.7 percent alcohol by volume, 42 International Bitterness Units); a single-malt, single-hop SMaSH & Grab (6.9, 31) with rich Maris Otter malt and spicy Chinook hops; a Rye Open (6.5, 33) with hints of pepper; and one of Black's favorites, a lightly roasty Brake Line Brown (6, 40) which may see some smoked malts in future recipes.

Most distinctive is the Suicide Shifter IPA (7.5, 138), the third-place winner at last year’s local Battle of the Homebrews, which gets some smoothness from honey and a complex, lingering hoppiness from a combination of Simcoe, Columbus, Chinook, Centennial and Amarillo. Rounding out the group is an I Pee Ale amber (8, 80) that wasn’t available for advance tasting.

Also pouring Friday will be a pair of small-batch offerings, a Thumpin Punk-Kin pumpkin ale (6.4, 38) and the vanilla KB Porter (5.6, 24) that finished fourth in 2014’s Battle of the Homebrews. Cranberry and crisp apple ciders from nearby One Tree fill out the 10 taps for starters.

Black is brewing two barrels (four kegs) at a time on an electric brewing system that he’s been busy dialing in with his scaled-up homebrew recipes.

There’s just one drawback: With all the work getting up and running, he says, “I’ve barely been able to ride my Harley this year. It’s been sitting in the garage crying.”