The old college try

Above: Get ready for the first Cheney brewery since 1910 (image source).

The local craft brew movement is making inroads into Cheney.

Shane and Melanie Noblin this week applied for a state liquor license for New Boundary Brewing, planned for a former lube shop and equipment rental business on the main drag downtown at 505 1st Street.

Shane Noblin, who has been brewing for 20 years, previously ran a homebrew supply store attached to his print shop in Soldatna, Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula. He decided to start his own brewery, but didn’t want to compete with the three others in the community of 10,000 people.

So he and Melanie rented a car in Seattle and drove across the state, scouting locations. They settled on Cheney, home of Eastern Washington University – which hasn’t had its own brewery since 1910 – and moved in October.

“Everybody has been really friendly and supportive,” Noblin says. “There’s a thirst for craft beer here. We’re excited to become part of the community.”

He’s putting together a 5-barrel electric brewhouse and hopes to open by mid-February, although he admits mid-March is probably more realistic. Adding a restaurant is in the long-range plan.

Several beers are in the works, including a favorite homebrew recipe, Rustler Red, a big, malty imperial flavored with serrano chilies.

Noblin says the brewery’s name signifies both his move from Alaska, and the attitude he hopes to bring to beer drinkers in his new home: “I’d like to see people who typically drink BMC (Budweiser/Miller/Coors) step out of their comfort zones and try something new.”