An indispensable resource

Last week, my buddy Jeff and I did the brewery walk/bus trip that Sarah, my brother Joe and I came up with this summer. Jeff and I added The Lantern to it, just to practice for when the South Perry brewery opens. It was a very rainy/snowy day and I think we wound up walking about seven miles. Sarah joined us at Budge Brothers, so we did wind up taking a ride (cheaters).

I ran by River City Brewery today and it looks like their tasting room is either ready or just about. They have hours posted. Ramblin' Road is slated to open in December.

What this means is that there will be six breweries that will be accessibly clustered in three areas of town. 1. River City and Steamplant, 2. No-Li and Ramblin Road and 3. Budge Brothers and Mountain Goat. Really, it's not a bad walk to do all six or you could bus in between the three clusters. The best will be by bike (or maybe a run). The tricky part is coalescing the limited hours the breweries are open. Saturday would probably be your best bet.

I know there are more breweries a'comin' and that I am neglecting Airway Heights, Spokane Valley and Post Falls favorites, but you could do these six in the afternoon and still ride up to Beneditos for dinner (and beer). It's a good start anyway.

And you should have a map. The Inland Northwest Ale Trail map is not only very functional but its design is enticing and makes one pine for camping in the pines. Here it is.

great weekend..

Aidan was in town this weekend from UW. Good to be with him. My brother was also in town. He is getting to be a Spokane regular. Maybe he will move back. I worked on Friday and missed Terrain which was a bummer. Next year!

Sarah, my brother and I did a bus and walking tour of the local breweries on Saturday. We hit River City (tasting at The Rocket), Iron Goat, Budge Brothers, Steam Plant, and ate dinner at Benniditos. Was going to do NoLi and Ramblin' Road, but RR hasn't opened yet for tasting, according to their phone message, and we seem to go to NoLi a lot.

How about adding 12 Strings (although it's in the Valley),  and the breweries on the north side and the one up on Perry, when they are up and running? That would be epic! How about bicycles instead of the bus and walking? Even better. Still, a $3.50 all day bus pass buys you a lot of time and adventure.

The end of the weekend featured the traditional goat cheese open house in Chattaroy. I can see why Ben Stuckart wants a goat.

Opened up the first bottle of the recently brewed all grain pale ale. I think it's my best beer in years!