BoiseBrewBlog

Boise, ID is a pretty good beer town.  20-something breweries and taprooms scattered around the treasure valley gives us craft beer enthusiasts plenty of options.  There are a few spots in Eastern Idaho, as well and several more around the Post Falls, area up north.  After that, you’ve got quite a drive in store for the next closest pocket of live taphandles.

Denverc, Co  and its I-25 neighbors, Colorado Springs, Boulder and Fort Collins all have many great beer spots.  The annual Great American Beer Festival, the largest of its kind in the U.S. is in Denver each year.  Most GABF attendees know to allow for a couple days of taproom-hopping for that trip.   If you go West, Seattle, Portland and further south, both college towns, Eugene and Corvallis are worth while destinations.  Bend, in central Oregon is also packed with great breweries and taprooms.

A couple weekends ago, I drove to Portland for a Monday night concert downtown, and knowing what lay before me, I budgeted a couple days to do some beer exploring.   Planning to mainly hit breweries I had not visited before, I first stopped at John’s Marketplace. Though not a brewery, Johns has the biggest and best bottled beer (retail) selection in the US north of San Francisco.  Rivaled perhaps by Bottleworks in the Fremont district of Seattle.  John’s had apparently expanded since my last visit to include a full menu and both indoor and outdoor seating.  The Double Smashburger I had was terrific and the Coldfire Cumulus IPA paired nicely with it.

While I was there I assembled a six pack of assorted fresh hop cans from area brewers and was on my way.

Cooper Mountain was my first actual brewery visit for the day.  After finding a table, I picked out a sampler of mostly hoppy offerings.   None of them were anything spectacular, all were pleasant but were all remarkably similar to each other, light sweet and paltry hop character on each.   I gave them each a chance, but, did not finish any of the 4oz pours.  The best thing I got there was a recommendation of another taproom “out in wine country”. So off I went to “Wolves and People Farmhouse Brewery”

W&P was not much more than a couple of shipping containers cobbled together and a dozen rustic picnic tables on a crushed cinder patio area.  It was “fresh hop” season so I ordered the Honeycone Fresh Hop “Farmhouse” IPA.  It lived up to its name as the light floral hop character played nice with the farmhouse/saison yeast character.

Sipping the beer, with the view of the nearby orchards, the late afternoon unseasonably warm October sun made it all a very nice experience.  So I had another beer.  I had too and the Norse X NW was very good as well.   I really didn’t think the odds were with me, hitting two great beer places in a row judging from my earlier experience, but i pressed it.

Assembly Brewing was the next dice roll.  Most of the first sampler tray was not bad so I went ahead and powered through every other beer they had.  The Kolsch was quite good.  The IPAs had trouble living up to my expectations of them being ON the west coast and the Pilsner left something to be desired.  Namely flavor and aroma.  I felt like the staff was nice and it was getting late so I closed out the tab and left a tip that probably was not sufficient to even have either of their nose rings resized.

My favorite beer spot in the area has to be the HorseBrass Pub.  And that was going to be up next.

continued on pt. 2

The area’s latest addition in our community of craft breweries and taprooms opened its doors this weekend. Ruckus Brewing is officially open and if the turnout on its grand opening is any indication, it will be a real player.

Located at 4340 W Chinden Blvd, Ruckus is in the space formerly occupied by breweries, Loose Screw, Bella and Haff. After quite a bit of remodeling, including an amazing new custom copper bar top, Kyle and Makenna Durham have turned the space into their own.  Looks like the brewing system stayed, and was thus inherited as part of the space.  The previous occupant, Loose Screw Brewing is nearing the completion of its own expansion including a new, much larger system.  I will be posting something about that later. Ruckus has six taps online for its starting lineup including three lagers.  This was maybe a bit bold, but there is a space for it, in the immediate local market. The two IPAs on tap however were the number 1 and 2 sellers opening weekend.  No shock there, I suppose.

Myself, along with many of the regular crew of Boise area craft beer aficionados, were there this past Saturday for their grand opening.  Apparently sufficient word had gotten out beforehand as the place was completely packed.  A couple friends and family were hastily recruited to help out behind the counter to help try to keep up. Kyle was splitting his time much of the afternoon between schmoozing with customers who want to meet the man behind it all and washing glasses in the back as fast as he could.  The local Boise beer community can really get the word out.  They showed up in force that day, lining up out the door at times.

In the taproom, there are just a couple of TVs so you can keep an eye on the game, but they are not the focus.  The great beer and even better times are.  Seating about 25 at several small tables and another 6-8 at the bar, it is a cozy spot.

Currently 10 faucets are on the wall behind the till, suggesting a longer taplist before too long. Summer is officially over and some fall seasonals will likely be coming on, before long.  I talked with Kyle and he’s not concerned about running out of been in the short run.  Rest assured, there are plenty of full kegs in the back.  He’d like to increase his offerings soon and there are thoughts of stouts and ambers on the “to make” list. The focus late this summer was just “getting the doors open” and this they have done.

Open Thursday – Sunday currently, but with a little more help minding the shop, Kyle is hoping to be open a bit more.  Continued regular traffic from good beer lovers like myself and many of my friends will, I’m sure help to convince him that would be a good thing.

Kyle and Makenna are friendly, laid back folks making good beer and trying to carve out a part of the American dream here in Garden City, ID.  Stop by for a pint sometime and say hi.

-Cheers

Sockeye Brewing has been in Boise since the early ’90s. One of Boise’s original breweries and for most all of that time has produced some well know quality beers we’re all well familiar with. The classic, and their flagship beer Dagger Falls IPA is one the the best selling brands in the region. A hoppy sturdy IPA that has been making appearances at backyard bar-b-ques and BSU tailgate parties for nearly 3 decades.

When the craft beer explosion, renaissance, awakening…whatever you want to call it, took over in the mid 2000’s, breweries starting popping up in the area every several months it seemed. Many of these places had to find their own niche, establishing their unique foothold in the growing local craft beer economy. Some were largely experimental and esoteric, others focused on German styles etc. Sockeye seemed to stick with what they already knew they did well. A standard line-up. An IPA, a Brown, an American wheat, an Amber and a Pale. These and a few rotating seasonals, the menu didn’t change that often and when something new did show up, it was pretty few and far between, It also disappeared…usually for good after a short time.

I’ve often told people, and written about this on numerous occasions. The most interesting part of the craft beer industry, for me as a consumer and beer nerd is the never ending variety of what I can get a pint of at a local brew-on-premise. With this in mind the now 30 some breweries in the area, out competed for my attention, and business. Over the last several years Sockeye had dropped off my frequent rotation due to what seemed to me, a strategy of sticking mainly to just their regular lineup.

Catch and Release

I’m happy to report that evidently this is no longer the case. Something clearly changed several months ago. There are now, and have been, regular appearances of uncommon, or lesser known styles and recipes. Rogenbiers, Italian Pilseners, Saisons, Vienna lagers etc, have all recently shown up on their new “Catch and Release” list. I have to think this change was at least partly set in motion from feedback and suggestions that reflected my own view.

I had a conversation with Derek at the West Boise location recently and he confirmed that this was/is an intentional change. Maybe it is a bit of “keeping up with the jones’s” or maybe just livening things up with some “fresh blood”. Either way, I’m loving it. I’ll still order a Dagger Falls at a local restaurant, with dinner, when I see it. These experimentals at the brewpub are just a lot of fun. I’ll be trying as many of then as I can as they are released.

There is also rumored to be a rye-barrel aged “Baklava Russian Imperial Stout” on the horizon. It still has at least a few months to go, before its ready for prime time. I’ll be watching for that one especially. But with these small batch experiments coming out more often, this Idaho craft beer icon is back in my wheelhouse.

-Cheers