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

Down the deep river

Rick Bonino

River City celebrates its fourth anniversary Saturday with a liquid journey through its past.

The party from 3 to 10 p.m. will feature a dozen-plus specialty beers that span the past three years. The oldest is the final remaining keg of 2014 Deep Thaw winter warmer, the last time that was brewed; the newest is a big Mad Latvian Baltic porter, pushing 10 percent alcohol by volume, which makes its debut.

There also will be both cocoa- and coffee-infused variations on the Baltic porter, a smooth Northern European lager interpretation of the traditional British ale style. It balances the sweeter fruitiness of River City’s Congratulator Doppelbock – its anniversary release the previous two years – with the chocolaty roastiness of its Midnight Marmot imperial stout.

The largely rotating lineup also includes both the 2015 and 2016 Congratulator, the past three vintages of Marmot – along with its Curry Spice, blended Grand Cru and chocolate/oak-aged Oako Coco Nitro versions – and a coffee-infused Riverkeeper IPA.

Also look for the standard Riverkeeper and Afternoon IPAs, Girlfriend Golden, Huckleberry Ale, River City Red and VBS Stout, plus root beer for the kids. Beer tickets will be $2.50 (8 ounces for one ticket, a full pint for two).

One Night Stand BBQ will provide the food, with live music by Haley Young and by L.O.S. (Left Over Soul).

It all caps a year that saw the brewery’s production reach almost 2,000 barrels, a 16 percent increase over 2015. A fourth 25-barrel fermenter has been added for further expansion.

“With the number of breweries growing, it feels really good to be in that position,” says brewery president Gage Stromberg.

The biggest beer news in 2016 was the return of the sessionable Afternoon IPA as a permanent part of the lineup, led by Todd Grove, who took over as head brewer in September. “I couldn’t be happier with the way that he’s stepped up and the beers that he’s created,” Stromberg says.    

Next up on the agenda is this year’s crisper, more aromatic version of Riverkeeper – which benefits the Spokane Riverkeeper water protection program – to be released in early March, hopped with fruity, floral Mandarina Bavaria along with Simcoe and Columbus.

A bigger change comes this summer when the former seasonal Clocktower imperial IPA gives way to a new version dubbed Kung Fu Death Monkey.  “We want to maintain the alcohol but lighten up the body a bit and make it more hop-forward,” Stromberg says.

River City’s first sour, the tart wheat Gose-Way developed jointly last summer with Moscow Alehouse, will be back. There also will be a new, upcoming collaboration with The Lantern Tap House.

And, Stromberg promises, “After saying it the past two years in a row, the third year is the charm: We will be in 22-ounce bottles this year.”

Those will include the Huckleberry – the most popular bottled offering by River City’s previous incarnation, Coeur d’Alene Brewing – along with one or two other regular beers plus seasonals, he says.

The Huckleberry won a gold medal for fruit beers at last year’s Washington Beer Awards, with its wine barrel-aged version earning a bronze. The Congratulator took silver among strong lagers.