Spokanite Brewing welcomes namesake patrons, beer lovers

Six years ago, Spokanite Brewing owners Tim Kassa and Kevin Kuttner were enjoying one of their favorite pastimes – drinking a cold beer with family – when they came up with an idea.

“We want to brew beer,” Kassa said. “And (Kuttner) was like, ‘Let’s brew beer’ and I said, ‘Fine, let’s brew it at your house.’ ”

Turns out, Kuttner still had his first home-brew kit he purchased from Jim’s HomeBrew nearly 30 years ago and he had used it many times for leisure over the years – especially while in college at Eastern Washington University.

Kuttner rebuffed Kassa’s proposal and offered a rebuttal.

“Let’s brew it at your house,” Kuttner said.

That too was shot down.

A compromise was found at 6607 N. Ash St., a building owned by Kassa, and on June 3, 2018, the stainless-steel kettle was fired up for the inaugural time and the brew was on for the then-unnamed brewery.

First taste

Spokanite operates with one word in mind: family.

It is reflected in their staff and their focus on involving as many family members and close friends as possible.

Kuttner married into the family, marrying Kassa’s sister Patti.

Kassa’s daughter, Laurel, helps with social media and his son, Mitch, works behind the bar primarily.

Kuttner’s three boys have all helped around the brewery in some capacity.

His middle son, Max, tends the bar when he isn’t at school in Montana and is also building the website.

Andrew is under 21, so he has done some odd jobs around the building. Kuttner’s oldest, Ben, has provided ideas, while Ben’s fiancée, Jordyn, designs the art that goes along with the beer names on their beer slat chalkboard.

The other bartender, Jarrod Judd, spent weeks during the pandemic flipping the former office space into a functioning brewery. His sister, Haley, also spends time behind the bar.

Judd’s fiancée, Katie, who works in marketing, helped with the branding and social media after Spokanite’s name was chosen.

And that doesn’t even include the countless aunts, uncles and cousins who have spent hours in and around the brewery offering their hands or their heads for ideas.

Between 2018 and 2019, the only people who drank their beer were family and friends as Kuttner and lead brewer Scottie Schlosser went to work on curating and refining their recipes.

“Because at first it was just like, ‘Come over, there’s a keg ready,’ then we’re like, ‘All right, we’re actually liking what we make in here,’ ” Schlosser said.

Each beer concocted at Spokanite has a special connection to a friend or family member.

“Each recipe started out with something I wanted to brew,” Kuttner said. “And then I find a friend or family member who is passionate about that style. I brew it, we taste the beer together and refine the recipes.”

Big stage

In June 2019, the beer was tasted on a large scale when Kassa’s daughter, Natalie, married Josh Geiger with just over 300 people in attendance.

Spokanite provided seven kegs for the event, or the equivalent of 868 pints of beer.

“I don’t think we had hardly any left after that wedding, like drops left,” Schlosser said. “So, after that, after the feedback we got from that, we kicked it into high gear. We started trying new recipes, trying new processes, focusing on not just making beer, but making our current beers better.”

Kassa was a little more focused on his first-born daughter getting married than the beer itself, but when the time came for him to hear about the results, it was an eye-opening moment.

“Everyone just said how great it was, and so that told me that we’re on to something,” he said. “Turns out, that the beer that we like, is a lot of the beers that everybody else likes.”

As they ramped up plans for opening in summer 2020, the pandemic forced them to sit back and wait until 2022 to make their move into the public eye.

“It was a long process, but I think our beer reflects that,” Kuttner said. “We didn’t just open and start refining our recipes from the day we opened. These beers were brewed for several years before we opened the door.”

Full steam ahead

Over the past year, Spokanite has continued to rack up accolades, while adding more beers to its rotating tap list.

What started off as eight taps and a “do it yourself” seltzer, has morphed into around 20 rotating options on their 10-tap lineup.

A few months ago, they took home second place in the Inlander’s Best of Spokane in the New Brewery category.

Their Uncle Porter – brewed with Cascade hops and expressing notes of caramel, chocolate and coffee – took second place in the brown porter category at the 2022 Washington Beer Awards.

Rookie, their Pacific Northwest ale with citra and mosaic hops, took second place in a Leavenworth beer competition.

One of the jumping-off points, Kuttner said, was when their Citrus Twist, a hazy IPA, won Brick West’s home-brew competition in 2020.

It allowed them to brew with Brick West to nail down details and to clean up the recipe, while picking up some tips.

“So getting that feedback and refining the beers was part of the process and was just confirmation of what we thought,” Kuttner said.

Citrus Twist has cemented itself, along with S.S. Hazy, as a staple on the tap list.

T-Rex, a West Coast IPA, tops the list of favorites among the crowds with a citrus and pine taste that fades into a clean, bitter finish.

And their Soak of the Sun blonde ale is for those who want the standard light beer taste with no bitterness or overpowering flavors.

“I didn’t think we’d build such a huge base like we have,” Schlosser said. “We have some really diehard North Side regulars that love coming in here. We really have some loyal, loyal followers up here on the North Side that really wanted a place on the North Side by North Siders for North Siders.

“But really, we’re for anyone who likes good beer.”

Moving forward

The brewery has had nights of live music, they’ve donated beer and have hosted fundraising events – most recently an Ales for ALS event.

Spokanite brewed a beer called the El Camino, inspired by Schlosser’s uncle who is battling ALS.

They pride themselves on creating a welcoming environment for everyone, including pets and kids year-round in their taproom and on their patio.

“It’s always been to create a place that not only if you’re a North Side family or biological family or whatever, we wanted a place that family and friends could come together,” Kassa said.

They are open 4-9 p.m. Thursdays, 12-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 12-8 p.m. Sundays. That will change soon as Schlosser transitions into the brewery full time over the next weeks.

“I have had my sights set on being here full time and doing what I love,” he said. “Because I feel like I got really, really lucky finding myself in a position where I love what I do. And I found a great group of people to do it with and we’ve created a great place to do it in, and I can’t wait to be here full time and to shepherd our growth.”

Spokanite still operates on its original half-barrel system not much larger than most home brew setups.

It is capable of producing one keg per brew, which has sustained them for the first year,.

“It’s been good to sort of temper ourselves a little bit, make sure we’re not going in too hard or too fast,” Schlosser said. “So, it’s really been a learning exercise in patience and listening to the business. When it’s ready to grow, we’ll be ready to grow.”

“From the beginning, we’ve let the beer, the business and the customers, tell us what to do next,” Kuttner said.

Spokanite’s taproom is built and designed with artifacts from friends and family. A neon sign made by a Chris Bovey, a wood-burned sign crafted by Tom “Grampy” Stixrud, a church pew donated by Dean Astleford and bar tops that were made from a tree that fell on the Kassa property are just a few examples.

“We always thought we need to make sure to try and shoot for creating good beer and a great atmosphere,” Kassa said. “And if we can do that, that’s a great foundation to build off of. And I feel that we’ve done that.”

Down the road, Spokanite could expand its physical and beer footprint.

But, for now, being able to walk in, see a friendly face right away and have the bartender remember your name is what Spokanite wants to be known for.

“We’re all from Spokane, and we call ourselves Spokanites, because we have so much in common that it doesn’t take very long for two people to realize that they can sit here and have a beer with anyone,” Kassa said.

“That’s one of the great things about having a small taproom, too,” Kuttner said. “It creates a pretty intimate environment.”