On Tap: Locals offer new brews to celebrate Washington Beer Open House

Four local breweries are among more than 100 statewide participating in Saturday’s ninth annual Washington Beer Open House:

Badass Backyard taps two new beers at noon, a cherry sour and an imperial bourbon barrel-aged stout on nitro. Anyone interested also can meet in the brewery parking lot, 1415 N. Argonne Road, at 7:30 a.m. for an excursion to the Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park.

At noon, Bellwether releases two barrel-aged beers to be announced. (Look for new barrel-aged offerings each Friday and Saturday through March.) Bellwether is at 2019 N. Monroe St.

Try the mystery ale at Hopped Up, 10421 E. Sprague Ave. in Spokane Valley, and guess the grains, hops, alcohol by volume and International Bitterness Units for the chance to win a Pit Boss Tailgater pellet grill.

Millwood Brewing, 9013 E. Frederick Ave., is offering brewery tours at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. along with a couple of “Science Project” small-batch beers, including one flavored through a Randall.

Hidden agenda

Work is about to begin on The Hidden Mother’s new brewery and taproom at Washington Street and Sharp Avenue following federal permitting delays during the government shutdown.

In the meantime, owner/brewer Mike Detar has been busy collaborating with some of his favorite breweries to build name recognition.

Look for the Mouth Circus collaboration with California’s Heretic Brewing – a Norwegian farmhouse ale with Szechuan pepper, green peppercorn, Thai basil and apricots – at Coeur d’Alene accounts including the Filling Station on 5th, Bulldog Pipe & Cigar and the Growler Guys, along with the Riverbank Taphouse at Northern Quest Casino.

Kegs are coming from a pair of recent collaborations with Colorado brewers: another Norwegian farmhouse with Woods Boss and Jagged Mountain and a Finnish-style sahti with Mockery, both filtered through a hollowed-out Ponderosa pine for resiny flavor and finished on pine sap and needles.

And last week, Ninkasi co-founder Jamie Floyd flew from Oregon to brew a pale ale with tangerines and Szechuan and Tellecherry peppercorns at The Hidden Mother’s current Liberty Lake location. Detar will visit Ninkasi for another collab in April.

Gaining a reputation for his tree beers, Detar was featured in recent articles in Craft Beer & Brewing magazine and on Craftbeer.com following a December appearance on The Brewing Network’s online radio station.

“Our name keeps popping up with people who we really respect in the industry,” he said. “We’re getting a cult following now. It’s awesome.”

Brewery watch

Slate Creek celebrates its sixth anniversary, and first under new ownership, Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. with live music and food from MAK Bread and Lucid Roots. There’s a $5 cash cover and silent auction to support the Hound, the Sandpoint bar and grill that was destroyed in a fire earlier this month. Slate Creek is at 1710 N. Fourth St. in Coeur d’Alene.

Perry Street Brewing’s fifth anniversary celebration is set for March 8-9 with beer and food specials plus a raffle to benefit Grant Elementary School. The brewery is at 1025 S. Perry St., Suite 2.

Humble Abode topped Post Falls Brewing by a single vote in Saturday’s Brewery Battle at the downtown Steady Flow Growler House. The winner poured its hazy Dirtier Sunshine IPA and Hoplomacy double IPA, and Post Falls a pair of hazy IPAs: the regular Pony and double the Stallion Pt. 4.

Distribution-only nanobrewery No Drought has added a second retail account. Look for the hop-forward, West Coast-style Grizzly IPA at Waddell’s Neighborhood Pub & Grille and Ride the Pine Hefeweizen, accented with bitter orange peel and coriander, at Tamarack Public House.

Genus Brewing & Supply (formerly Nu Home Brew) this week moves its nanobrewery/homebrew store two miles east to 17018 E. Sprague Ave.

Pub crawls

Brandywine Bar & Bottle Shop opened last week at 2408 W. Northwest Blvd. In addition to an extensive wine selection, it offers eight taps of beer and cider for pint pours and growler fills, along with 70 different bottles and cans to take out or drink in. A monthly beer/cider club will launch soon.

A Spokane outlet of the Seattle-area Flatstick Pub chain, with 30 taps and golf-themed games, is set to open in the former Macy’s building downtown as soon as this summer.

Freshly tapped

The latest releases from local breweries include:

Daft Badger’s fruity, fragrant Mosaic IPA (6 percent alcohol by volume). Find it at 1710 N. Second St. in Coeur d’Alene.

A citrusy, single-hop Cashmere IPA (7) at Bennidito’s Brewpub, 1909 E. Sprague Ave.

Iron Goat’s milkshake-style Crème de Hop IPA (5.8). The brewery is at 1302 W. Second Ave.

Big Barn’s malty Deitz Bock (5.9), brewed with local LINC Malt. Find it at 16004 N. Applewood Lane.

A Peanut Butter and Chocolate Stout (8) by Humble Abode, 1620 E. Houston Ave., Suite 800.

Twelve String on Tuesday releases a single-malt, single-hop Smash Hit Comet pale (5.8). The Spokane Valley brewery is at 11616 E. Montgomery Drive, Suite 26.

Look for Bottle Bay’s balanced Double IPA (7.6) at Waddell’s and Two Seven Public House.

Save the date

Fremont’s hazy Dark Heron IPA, the official beer of Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con, will be featured Thursday from 5 to 10 at Happy Trails to Brews, 9025 N. Indian Trail Road.

River City’s monthly First Friday party from 4 to 10 will include local art and music by L.O.S. (Left Over Soul) at 121 S. Cedar St.

Whistle Punk and The Hidden Mother will bring their beers, including a dry-hopped saison collaboration, to Nectar Wine and Beer on March 7 from 6 to 8, with $10 flights of six tasters.

A dollar from each pint sold at Millwood Brewing on March 10 will go to the Spokane Nordic Ski Association.

Order No-Li’s new Get Lucky mango IPA on Mondays and Thursdays to support the statewide Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance. No-Li is at 1003 E. Trent Ave., Suite 170.