What's Hoppin' this Week? 7/25

Welcome to What's Hoppin' this Week. Let's get right to it.

Thursday, July 26th

- Bellwether's Sainted beer release is a wine-barrel aged version of their Albion gruit ale in honor of St. Abdon, the patron of barrel-makers. The release party goes from 3 to 8. Facebook.

- Millwood Brewing is tapping two Watermelon beers, a Pale and an IPA. Stop in to taste them starting at 5:30. Twitter.

- The Filling Station on 5th is hosting a tasting event with Salt Lake's Epic Brewing. An Epic rep will be on site and they'll be tapping several beers including some barrel-aged kegs and giving out swag. Facebook.

- Steady Flow Growler House in the Valley will be hosting Eastern Idaho's Grand Teton Brewing for a tap takeover and they'll be playing "Name that Tune" for prizes from 6 to 8. Facebook.

Saturday, July 28th

- English Setter is having a Giant Jenga tournament starting at 2 pm in their taproom. Registration is $5 in advance or $10 at the door and is good for entry into the tournament and 10% off your tab. Go and show off your skills. Facebook.

Sunday, July 29th

The Backyard Public House in Spokane's West Central neighborhood is holding a Cornhole tournament and fundraiser for Spokanimal. It kicks off at 6 and from 6 to 10 pm, $1.50 of every pint of Lagunitas sold will be donated directly to Spokanimal. Facebook.

What's Hoppin' this Week? 7/18

Hey folks - Lots to get to this week, so let's jump right in. As always, hit me up with any omissions or other interesting stuff. Cheers!

Thursday, July 19th

- Steel Barrel, the incubator that hosts Little Spokane Brewing, Young Buck Brewing and TT's Old Iron Brewery, is celebrating their two-year anniversary. The party kicks off at 5 pm and will include special beer releases from the three in-house breweries, Ceviche available from the attached Zona Blanca restaurant, and their first "beer mile" challenge. The party is free to attend, but the beer mile challenge has a fee to cover the cost of beer. Congrats to Steel Barrel! Go check it out if you haven't been there. Facebook.

- Steady Flow Growler House in the Spokane Valley is hosting a tap takeover by Eugene, Oregon's Ninkasi Brewing starting at 5 pm. The event is also a fundraiser for CASA for Children, and 50% of pint sales for the day will be donated. You can also purchase custom "Glass Half Full" pint glasses and 100% of those sales will go to this worthy cause. Facebook.

- In other drinking beer for good causes news, Community Pint is having showcase of Paradise Creek beers to benefit the local non-profit Baskets for Babies, which provides basic baby supplies and clothing for new and expecting mothers in need in the Inland Empire. All of the proceeds from sales of Paradise Creek beer will be donated, so bring a DD and drink lots. Facebook.

- The Post Street Ale House is holding their Ale Trail Kickoff event from 5 to 8 pm. Representatives from eight local breweries will be on site promoting their beer and generally celebrating the local beer scene. Details are pretty scarce, but at worst there will be good food and good beer. Facebook.

- Slate Creek Brewing is hosting a Cornhole tournament at their tap house starting at 6 pm. Reservations through Facebook are requested. Facebook.

- Nectar is featuring a special flight of beers bought directly from some of the most popular Westside Breweries, including Holy Mountain, Three Magnets, Evil Twin and Matchless. Flights will be available from 6 to 8 pm and are $10 or $5 for club members. Instagram.

Friday, July 20th

- Sandpoint's Utara Brewing is giving some of their taps over to Iron Goat at 3 pm. There will be five Iron Goat brews on tap, so if you live in the area and haven't gotten a chance to try Iron Goat, now is the time. Facebook.

Saturday, July 21st

- Top Frog Brewing in Newport is turning five this weekend and is celebrating from 1 to 8 pm with beer specials, live music and a food truck. Cheers to five years! Facebook.

- Speaking of anniversaries, The Filling Station on 5th, in CD'A is celebrating their third. They will be featuring specials beers from Seattle's Fremont Brewing. Full tap list should be posted prior to the event. Here's to many more years! Facebook.

- Bellwether is hosting their second annual BraggotFest in association with Hierophant Meadery. For those who don't know, Braggot is an ancient hybrid of ale and mead that was traditionally drank by the Norse and Celts. Bellwether has worked with Hierophant Meadery (located, delightfully, in Mead, WA) to create some co-fermented braggots that will all be available for sampling at the event. Special brews will also be featured from Young Buck, Four-Eyed Guys, Mountain Lakes Brewing and The Grain Shed. The event goes from 3 to 8 pm and tickets are $10 which gets you a mug and three drink tokens. Bardic will also be on site selling their pizzas, which having tried them last week, I can definitely vouch for. Facebook. 

What's Hoppin' this Week? 7/11

Hey all - I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence day/week. The mid-week holiday is always a bit strange and I'm a firm believer that all holidays should be observed on either Fridays or Mondays, but that's a topic for a different blog.

Anyway, now that we're fully into summer and the hot weather appears to be sticking around for a while, our weekly events should start increasing, so bookmark this page because I try to update the weekly post as I run across new stuff. You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
As always, if you know of any event I've missed, let me know. Cheers!

Thursday, July 12th

- Bellwether's newest round of "Sainted" beers are getting released in honor of St. Arnulf, Bishop of Metz. This release includes five new beers, each one developed with input from a different staff member. The event runs from 3 - 9 pm. Facebook.

Friday, July 13th

- The 2nd annual Great Northwest Beer and Barbecue Festival kicks off at 4pm. This weekend-long event is pretty self explanatory, Local Beer and BBQ in McEuen Park in CD'A. There will also be local vendors, and stuff for kids. $10 gets you entry, but as far as I can tell, food and beverages are purchased separately. 4-9 pm. Facebook.

- The Growler Guys on Spokane's South Hill are hosting a visit from Olympia's Fish Brewing from 4 - 7 pm. They will have some of their own beers and well as stuff from their partners, Spire Mountain Cider and Leavenworth Biers. Facebook.

Saturday, July 14th

- The Beer and BBQ Festival continues from 11 am -9 pm.

- Trinity at City Beach in Sandpoint, ID is hosting the 5th annual Sandpoint Beerfest from noon to 5 pm, sponsored by the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce. The event will feature 16 regional breweries as well as food, games and more. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and include a commemorative glass and six sample tokens. Facebook.

- Bombastic Brewing in Hayden is opening the doors of their brewery which they describe as "basically a garage by the Coeur d'Alene Airport" and holding "Bombastic Beer Day" from 10 am to 4 pm. They will be pouring several of their beers including a collab stout with Daft Badger. Pours will be $5 and Growler Fills $20. The Cornhole boards will be out. Facebook.

- Also in the CD'A area, Daft Badger is throwing a "Pau Hana" Hawaiian costume party at their tap house from noon to 9 pm. Enjoy live music and beer and food specials. Facebook.

- Although Bardic Brewing has not quite opened yet, they want to give the public a chance to sample some of the specialty pizzas they will be featuring in their upcoming North Spokane Spokane Valley (Sorry Bardic) taproom/restaurant. In order to do this, the owners will be at Bellwether on Saturday from 5 - 8 pm selling pizzas to go with six small-batch IPAs that Bellwether has brewed for the occasion. Facebook. 

Sunday, July 15th

The Beer and BBQ Festival wraps up from noon to 6 pm.

What's Hoppin' this Week? 7/4

Hey all - welcome to WHTW. I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th. We've got a few events going on this week, but first some some brief housekeeping. I've finally gotten around to setting up a Facebook  page. This is especially useful since it seems like Facebook is the preferred method of communication for many of the breweries in the area. My plan is to mostly crosspost stuff from here and Instagram, but I'll also do my best to post links to various smaller events or interesting updates I see. Please give it a like and a follow.

Anyway, on to the events:

Thursday, July 5th

No-Li Brewhouse is continuing their featured pint glass series this month. Order a pint of Red, White & No-Li pale ale after 5pm any Thursday this month a you get to keep the special Tubbs Hill pint glass. Twitter.

Friday, July 6th

- River City is hosting another Garage Party from 4-7 at their brewery. They will be pouring pints and filling growlers. No word yet, on the full tap list, but they usually have a surprise or two in store. Facebook.

Saturday, July 7th

- Downtown Coeur d'Alene Brew Fest is happening in McEuen Park. There will be 30+ beers and ciders on tap, along with food and live music. Tickets are $25 and get you entry, a tasting glass and six, 5oz pours. Additional pours available for $2 and designated drivers get in free. No Pets. Facebook.

- Big Barn Brewing is holding their 3rd annual bocce ball tournament and fundraiser benefiting Liberty Park Families. Registration for the tournament starts at noon and costs $15 for an individual or $50 for a team of four players. There will also be food, ice cream, a raffle and other fun stuff. Instagram.