• Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Idaho Brew Review

Northwestcentric Beerventures

  • Home
  • About
  • Bars, Brewhouses & Cideries!

Alefort is long over… but it was a hell of a good time

April 15, 2016 by Ben Leave a Comment

As the greater Boise area continues to develop as a source for local craft beer, we’re seeing our beer festival’s grow and mature.  Case in point, if you didn’t make it down at some point to Alefort, part of the Treefort Music Festival, you definitely missed out and your tastebuds may never forgive you.

All of the local players that you would expect to find (Meriwether, Cloud9, Sockeye, Slanted Rock, The Ram, Payette, Woodland Empire, EDGE, Bear Island, Crooked Fence, Powderhaus, Barbarian, Longdrop, Highlands Hollow, County Line and Boise Brewing) were on hand along with regional, representation from New Belgium and some outside sources (national and international) courtesy of Bittercreek, Bier:Thirty, The Front Door, and Prost.  To say that this was an expanded event over #Alefort2015 is an understatement and then some.  The brewery tent was easily 3 or 4 times larger than the year before and included secondary tent for some beer panels and belly dancing.  I was more focused on drinking the beer personally, but when I stuck my head in the second tent there was a belly dancer on stage doing her thing. Bottom line, there was thankfully a lot more space to hang out, drink beer, and meet up with fellow beer lovers….

Read More »

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: 2016, Activities, Alefort, Barbarian, Beer, bier:thirty, Boise, Boise Brewing, Cloud 9, County Line, Crooked Fence, Highlands Hollow, Idaho, Longdrop Cider, Micro Brew, Powderhaus, RAM, Sockeye, Treefort, Woodland Empire

Payette Brewing Black Friday 2015

December 21, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

2015-11-27 10.35.24The Friday following the Thanksgiving holiday, for many it’s a day filled with standing in line, braving the cold, and fighting the crowds to save a few bucks on electronics. What if I told you that there was a much better way to spend your day? Payette Brewing’s “Black Friday” is day filled with a possibilities and incredible beers from around the region! You can sate your need for deals with a few minutes online in the morning before you head out to enjoy the a breathtaking selection of Stouts and Porters that will delight your palate and ensnare the spirit. Ok, ok, that may be a little deep, but seriously… this event and theses beers are worth blocking out the day on your calendar and shipping the kids off to the grandparents so you can maximize your experience.

This year, Payette Brewing hosted the event at their new facility in downtown Boise off River Street. Since the building is still being renovated, a large tent was erected in the parking lot filled with tables, music, lights, and thankfully a generator nearby to provide power and some heat! To say that it was cold out is an understatement. To say that the generator was unruly is too kind, especially for those employees & volunteers who were on-site getting everything ready hours before the event started. I arrived at 10, an hour before the “League of Outlaws” members early access and you couldn’t miss the frost that was forming on the inside of the tent walls. Once things really got hopping around 1:00 there was enough heat inside from the heaters and warm bodies that the ambient temps were getting bearable although we had some intermittent rain from all that melting frost. By that time however, I don’t think anyone noticed… or cared. There were simply to many people to talk to and way too many beers to dive into….

Read More »

Filed Under: Beerventure, Events Tagged With: 10 Barrel, 2015, Activities, Alaskan, Anderson Valley, Archies Place, Bear Island, Beer, Beerventure, Big Sky, Boise, Boise Brewing, Boulevard, Cloud 9, County Line, Crooked Fence, Deschutes, drinking, EDGE, Epic, Events, Festivals, Food Trucks, Full Sail, Georgetown, Haff, Heretic, Highlands Hollow, Hopworks, Idaho, Micro Brew, Mother Earth, Ninkasi, Oakshire, Odell, Payette, Payette Brewing, Powderhaus, Salmon River, Sierra Nevada, Slanted Rock, Sockeye, Southern Tier, Squatters, Stone, Tasting, Three Creeks, Uinta

Boise Brewing Hoptober Freshtival 2015

November 5, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

Hoptober PosterBeer festivals! These two magic words can make a beer lovers knees quiver. Sadly, in Boise, we’ve been without a honest to goodness beer festival for the past few years as costs, permitting and other issues with the city brought about their untimely demise. Last year, I was fortunate enough to attend (and volunteer) at the inaugural Boise Brewing Hoptober Freshtival (read about it here). The initial event in 2014 brought out mostly local brewers to a central location (5th & Broad St) in front of the Boise Brewing brewery. Beer lovers heard the call and purchased their $25 tickets and received a taster mug (roughly 5oz) and were treated to unlimited tasters until the beer was gone or until 8pm.

This year, the Hoptober Freshtival was bigger and better in all the ways that count. Instead of 13 breweries we had 25+ for a total of more than 50 tap handles to choose from. All the local players were on hand and some regional breweries made the trip up as well, including Fort George, Deschutes, & Mazama Brewing. Sadly, we did loose the “all you can drink” component due to permitting changes with the city, but that may have been for the best. Who wouldn’t get into trouble at an All You Can Drink craft beer event? The new system offered attendees their taster mug and 20 tickets which, if fully redeemed, would equate to 80+ oz of beer. Still, a pretty damn good deal for a $25 ticket ($30 at the door).  Once again, Broad Street between 4th & 5th was blocked off in front of Boise Brewing. At noon, with people lined up along the fence, the gates opened and people started filing inside….

Read More »

Filed Under: Beerventure, Events Tagged With: 10 Barrel, 2 Towns Cider, 2015, Activities, Barbarian Brewing, Bear Island Brewing, Beer, Beer Festival, Boise, Boise Brewing, Cloud9 Brewing, Crooked Fence, Deschutes, drinking, Events, Fort George, Fresh Hop, Grand Teton, Haff Brewing, Highlands Hollow, Idaho, IPA, Longdrop Cider, Mazama, Melvin Brewing, Micro Brew, Mosaic, Payette Brewing, Postmodern, RAM, ROGUE, Salmon River, Sawtooth, Slanted Rock, Sockeye, Woodland Empire

Radio Boise Pre-Fat Event (New Belgium Shout Out)

August 24, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

New Belgium Brewing, not a name that requires much introduction for their wide variety of beer and of course the traveling Tour de Fat festival. This summer, on the evening before the bicycle parade and TdF festival, Radio Boise (our non-profit; community radio) hosted their annual Pre-Fat street party to raise money to support the station. This block party on 8th street between Idaho & Bannock from 4pm-11pm featured a variety of live music and Radio Boise DJ’s, street vendors, food, and of course beer.

I wanted to send a shout out New Belgium for donating all the beer, which was sold throughout the evening to raise funds for KRBX. As a volunteer, selling beer for four hours or so, I have to think that we must have sold (at least) a few thousand cans. At $5/each that adds up to a nice contribution to a local non-profit.

The evening went off without a hitch, as far as I could tell. The crowd was in good spirits, thirsty and the music was varied enough to keep the groove going. It’s always nice to see craft beer giving back and I see it it regularly on the local level, but to see large regional brewers step up to the plate as well is refreshing. Craft beer, from brewer to consumer continues to have a healthy sense of community that macro brew will never have; not to mention flavor and good beer.

Here is to the continuation of great beer, good people and incredible events.

Happy PeopleBEER!Slow Ride

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: 2015, Activities, Beer, Beerventure, Boise, drinking, Fat Tire, Idaho, New Belgium, Pre-Fat, Session IPA, Slow Ride IPA

Kegs for Kerry 2015

July 24, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

3:10 and the line is almost to the corner!

3:10 and the line is almost to the corner!

On July 18th 2015 the brewing community in and around the Treasure Valley came together to support Kerry Thomas, head brewer at EDGE Brewing in Boise who was injured in a boil over accident.  It has always been my impression that the competition in craft beer, at least here in the Treasure Valley, is pretty good natured and generally friendly.   The wagons were circled to support one of their own from the get go.

In case you didn’t make it out to Prefunk for ‪#‎kegsforkerry‬ here are just a few of the things you missed. The crowd was of course, great and the turn out was pretty amazing. When I arrived a few minutes after 3pm there was already a line out the building of people waiting to get some beer. There was both a raffle (personally I didn’t win anything, but Rick & his wife Sarah cleaned house at the table we shared) and a silent auction. Auction items ran the gambit from a beach house stay in Oregon to gift certificates, growlers + fills, amazing beer packages, art and more.…

Read More »

Filed Under: Events, Musings Tagged With: 10 Barrel Brewing, 2015, Activities, Barbarian Brewing, Barley Browns, Beer, bier:thirty, Boise, Boise Brewing, Craft Beer, Craft Beer Events, Crooked Fence, EDGE, Highlands Hollow, kegsforkerry, Longdrop Cider, Payette Brewing, Postmodern Brewers, Prefunk, Sockeye, Woodland Empire

Payette Brewing League of Outlaws Initiation 2015

April 16, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

2015-04-12 13.07.49

This past Sunday marked the inauguration of the 2015 League of Outlaws class at Payette Brewing.  If you weren’t there or didn’t jump in to the league when you had the chance, I strongly suggest that you mark your calendar to take part next when it comes back around.  Like so many brew related experiences in the greater Boise area, the thing that makes clubs like this so entertaining is that it brings a pretty diverse group together to meet, mingle, and be, under the common love for great beer.…

Read More »

Filed Under: Beer/Brew Clubs, Breweries, Events Tagged With: 2015, Activities, Beer, Boise, Brewery Tour, drinking, Events, League of Outlaws, Payette, Payette Brewing, Tasting

Alefort Reflections 2015

April 2, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

Clearly this is the place to be in Boise today! @alefortfest sun is shining and the crowd is ready for BEER! (and Cider of course)

Well, the weekend is over, the bands have packed up and gone on their way home or off to other venues.  But the biggest letdown of the entire weekend, for me at least, is the tear down of the tent that was Alefort.  The most compelling part of the mini-beer festival within the larger Treefort Music Fest, in my opinion at least, was having such a diverse group of breweries (mostly local) that were all within a few feet of each other! …

Read More »

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: 2015, Alefort, Beer, Boise, drinking, Events, Micro Brew, Treefort

HAFF Brewing Grand Opening

February 28, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

Adding to the growing list of local micro breweries in the Treasure Valley, HAFF Brewing opened their doors officially with a Chamber Ribbon cutting on February 11th 2015. If you find yourself in town looking to check them out, they are on Chinden, West of Veterans Parkway on the North side of the street. It can be a little hairy to find them with an absence of street signage as you shoot down the road, but to make it easy just turn into the COBBYS parking lot and you're there. 🙂

The ribbon cutting event was a blast and the turn out, while I was there anyway, was promising. The beer was very good. I grabbed a McCallywood Porter which left me with absolutely no regrets. In chatting with the bartender I was tempted to try the White Chocolate (Raspberry) stout? I think it was Raspberry anyway and while the three other patrons near the bar that had already tried it were singing its praises and assuring me that it didn't really taste of white chocolate… my adamant distaste for anything “white chocolate” forced me to stay away. Maybe on a return trip when things aren't quite so chaotic, I'll break my cardinal rule and give it a go.

One thing that is clear though is that Boise seems to continue to open new breweries with open arms. While I can appreciate the business sense and likely lower operating costs associated with having a brewery/tasting room on Chinden it's a pretty dreadful location to try to get in or out of during peak traffic times. Hopefully this will prove to just be a temporary issue and perhaps success will lead to expansion into the downtown corridor.

Filed Under: Breweries Tagged With: 2015, Boise, Brewing, drinking, Events, Idaho, Micro Brew, Tasting

Pub Clubs? What’cha got?

November 19, 2014 by Ben Leave a Comment

beerbuddies_orig

I’m curious as I start to plan adventures around the North West to explore all of the beers that we have access to, are there any Pub Clubs or Beer Drinking memberships that you belong to that you think are worth sharing? Here in Boise, I recently discovered Boise Beer Buddies and so far I’ve been pleased. If you are a regular consumer of craft beer in Boise, it’s definitely going to pay for itself and then some in no time.

For $20/year you get a membership card that entitles you to various perks at local bars & breweries in the greater Boise area. Typically this is either a 10% discount on food/drink or $1 off pints, but if you go out just a few times a month and get 2 or 3 pints it adds up quickly.  In fact, take a quick peek at their most current “Buddy Hubs” now!  They also have a newsletter (email) which helps keep you in the loop regarding specials, events, and new breweries opening in the area.  My hope of course is that they continue to expand their reach as some bars/breweries are not participating yet. Overall though, this concept is spot on, the only thing that might make it better would be to convert it to a digital format instead of the membership card.

What else is out there in Oregon/Washington? Do you have anything similar to Boise Beer Buddies?  Please feel free to share in the comments with links so that we can all get on board!

Filed Under: Beer/Brew Clubs Tagged With: Beer, Boise, boise beer buddies, clubs, discounts, drinking, pints, promotions

Sockeye & Boise Public Library Beer Training!

November 6, 2014 by Ben Leave a Comment

sockeye-logo

Who would have thought that a beer lover should scour the local library website for classes concerning beer? Even better than classes, how about free beer tastings?? Certainly not this beer guy. Nevertheless there it was plain as day, a 2 hour beer presentation at the library with Josh King, the head brewer from neighboring Sockeye. Last week, the evening kicked off at the Cole library location with a light, conversational, basics of beer overview where we were able to put hands on the raw ingredients that go into natures best beverage and ask questions about styles, brewing, the micro-brew industry… really questions ran the gambit and it was incredibly insightful.

For example, as a huge Lager fan myself, I was always curious about why it’s almost impossible to find a local lager. The answer surprised me, but now that I know is perfectly obvious. It all comes down to timing and turn-around. A lager is going to have to sit for an additional week (or two) over a typical ale. When micro-breweries are trying to produce in volume to maximize their production and profit… having equipment tied up for an extra week or more poses a real problem when you have a very finite amount of space.

After our initial introduction to Sockeye things really kicked into high gear. A quick walk across the parking lot brought our merry band to the brewery and a private room with an array of tables, pitchers, and empty pint glasses. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to ascertain that the evening was about to get magical. Josh, and the helpful Sockeye staff proceeded to introduce us to their six primary beers; Galena Gold (smooth, crisp, easy drinking), Whoolybugger Wheat (heffe style), Angels Perch Amber (malty ale with hints of nut & chocolate), Powerhouse Porter (dark but not too rich, hints of coffee and chocolate), Hell Diver Pale Ale (I’d classify this as an IPA personally, very hoppy), & the Dagger Falls IPA.

Once we were all settled, Josh offered a brief introduction to each which was followed by the presentation of the pitchers. The idea being that we would each pour approximately 4oz samples into the waiting pint glass. An impressive amount of restraint was shown and everyone was more than covered on the initial pour… my issue however arises in sending a perfectly good partial pitcher back to be discarded. I simply can’t allow that to happen, and neither could a few others. The result of course was that 4oz pours quickly doubled or tripled as pitches needed to be put down before the next beer came out.

I’ve of course been to Sockeye on a number of occasion and have always enjoyed having a few beers there. They are well established and do what they do well. But prior to that evening I didn’t really know much about Sockeye.

As a general rule, Sockeye beers run on the hoppy side, beer lovers who haven’t yet acquired a fierce love of hops will do great up to the Hell Diver I’d say.  Bottom line, if you are a lover of beer, always keep your feelers open for great brew related events in Boise, even at the Boise Public Library!

library-logo

Filed Under: Breweries, Events Tagged With: Beer, Boise, Brewing, Class, Events, Free, Library, Sockeye, Tasting

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »
Tweets by @Idahobrewreview

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress