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Idaho Brew Review

Northwestcentric Beerventures

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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….

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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

Moscow Brewfest 2015

May 22, 2015 by Ben Leave a Comment

As luck would have it, my trip coincided with @moscowalehouse 3rd Annual Brewfest. Of course, I was late and they were already out of the souvenir glassware but the turn out was impressive. Lots of beer on hand! #brewfest #idaho

Take a moment and ponder your perfect day.  Are you’re thinking about a sunny summer afternoon, 40+ regional brews on tap, live music and a bunch of beer lovers on hand? I know I am. If you’re up for a drive up North you should consider checking out the Moscow Alehouse Brewfest. If you’re not already familiar with Moscow (home of the University of Idaho), it’s a quaint college town about 5 hours North of Boise (just a few miles East of the Washington border & Washington State University)  nestled in the rolling hills of the Palouse. Now, when I first rolled into town a few days before, my first stop was of course, Moscow Brewing. When you’re in the area I can’t recommend highly enough that you stop by, have a few pints and say hello.  This nano brewery is a hotspot for beer drinkers to congregate, drink and talk beer.  They start trickling in right at open (4pm) and by 5:00 or 5:30 you may find it hard to score a seat.

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Filed Under: Events Tagged With: 2015, Beer, Brewfest, drinking, Events, Idaho, May, Micro Brew, Moscow, Moscow Alehouse, Tasting

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.…

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

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

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

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