Your weekly roundup
Catching up with more news from the week in local craft beer:
• Tickets are on sale for the second annual Spokane Brewers Festival, Aug, 4-5 in the Spokane Arena parking lot. Organizers are shooting for 40 breweries and cideries this year after attracting 35 to the inaugural event. Advance tickets are $25 ($30 at the door), at the Arena box office (get an extra $5 military discount there) or through TicketsWest; that includes a plastic mug (good for both days) and 13 drink tokens, each worth a 2-ounce pour (10 ounces for five). This year's event benefits Feeding Washington.
• No-Li, Orlison and Paradise Creek will be among the guest breweries pouring for the final stop of Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp on Tour festival June 30 in Seattle; tickets are $75 for early access, $55 general admission. This year's accompanying Beer Camp Across the World mix pack, featuring collaborations with a dozen breweries around the globe, will hit stores next month.
• Iron Goat is representing Spokane today at the Reuben's Brews Invitational Beer Festival, part of Seattle Beer Week activities. Reuben's, which just started distributing in Spokane, also is a partner in this year's 3-Way IPA collaboration from Fort George along with Great Notion; look for that always-anticipated release – this time in the hazy, juicy New England style – next month.
• And of course, Spokane Craft Beer Week kicks off on Monday with our On Tap party at Perry Street; check out an overview in this week's On Tap newspaper column, and keep coming back here for a detailed schedule each day next week. Tickets are on sale in advance for the centerpiece event: Thursday's Collaboration Festival at No- Li, with 16 joint beers by area breweries.
• Mad Bomber will be featured in a four-course, bacon-themed beer dinner Wednesday at Uva Italian Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene. Tickets are $40, available at the brewery or restaurant.
• Drinking in the downtown brewery district just got a little cheaper. River City has added a pair of weekly promotions; on Sunday, buy a pint and get another for half price, and on Wednesday, enjoy $2.50 pints of a special small-batch beer and win a $10 gift certificate if you're the one who kills the keg. And The Steel Barrel's new daily happy hour, from 3 to 5 p.m. and 10 to close, includes $1 off house-brewed beers, $3.50 well drinks and rotating cocktail specials.
• Finally, Badass Backyard won't be the smallest kid on the local brewery block any more. The Spokane Valley brewery is upgrading from its current half-barrel (15-gallon) homebrew setup to a shiny new 3.5-barrel system; owners hope to have that in place sometime next month.