What's Hoppin' this Week 2/27

Here are some events to keep you warm this week. Hopefully sun is around the corner.

Thursday, February 28th

- Happy Trails to Brews is celebrating the release of Fremont Brewing's Dark Heron 2019, the official beer of Emerald City Comic Con from 5 to 10 pm. They will be holding a raffle with the grand prize being two tickets to the Emerald City Comic Con. Earn a ticket for every Fremont Pint and if you dress up in Cosplay you'll earn two bonus tickets. Facebook.

Friday, March 1st

- Brandywine Bar & Bottle Shop is having their official grand opening party starting at noon and running all afternoon/evening. There will be food, prize drawings and drink specials on Friday and happy hour pricing and retail specials the rest of the weekend. I got a chance to visit during their soft opening last weekend and I was very impressed with their selection and atmosphere. Facebook.

- River City Brewing is throwing their usual first Friday garage party from 4 to 10 pm. As usual it will feature live music, art and usually a special beer or two. Facebook.

- Slate Creek Brewing in CD'A is celebrating their 5th overall anniversary and its first under new ownership with a party and silent auction to benefit The Hound in downtown Sandpoint, a bar which was recently impacted by a fire, from 5 to 10 pm. Happy Anniversary! Facebook.

- Bellwether is kicking off Barrel Madness, a month-long event where there will be releasing at least one barrel aged beer every Friday and Saturday during March. Facebook.

- Riverfront Park is bringing back their Friday Night Flights event they started last summer. Starting today and running through May, every Friday from 5 to 8 pm, there will be a featured local beer flight, a family friendly game of Bent Trivia and discounted SkyRides. Meet at the Skate Ribbon and Sky Ride Patio in the southwest corner of the park. Facebook.

- Bon Bon in the Garland District is hosting a tap takeover by Iron Goat starting at 6 pm with bingo starting at 8. Facebook.

Saturday, March 2nd

- Perry Street Brewing and The Lantern Tap House are co-hosting a special Mardi Gras party to raise money for a local family whose infant daughter is dealing with some medical issues. The event kicks off at 11:30 am at Perry Street with beer specials and and a silent auction and at 6:30 the party will move down the street to the Lantern for more drink specials, live music and a live auction. Facebook.

What's Hoppin' this Week? 2/20

No time to waste tonight. Let's get right to it.

Thursday, February 21st

- Reps from Elysian Brewing will be visiting McClain's Pizzeria from 6 to 8 pm. They'll be bringing some special beers and swag. Facebook.

- This is the opening weekend for new Northwest Spokane bar and bottle shop, Brandywine. I look forward to checking them out soon. Facebook.

- Riverbank Tap House at Northern Quest is bringing in Bend, OR's 10 Barrel Brewing for a pint night. They'll have a couple new releases and giveaways throughout the night. Facebook.

Friday, February 22nd

- The Coeur d' Alene Growler Guys is hosting a tap takeover by Montana's Great Northern Brewing from 6 to 8 pm. Facebook.

- Huckleberry's Market is having a pop-up tasting from Seattle's Ghostfish Brewing which specializes in gluten-free beer. 4 to 6 pm. Facebook.

Saturday, February 23rd

- Sandpoint is celebrating it's 3rd annual "Weird & Wonderful Winter Carnival Beerfest & Pub Crawl" at several places around town including several of the local breweries (MickDuff's, Matchwood and Utara). Sound like a fun event. Full details (including pricing) be found on Facebook.

If you're in the mood for a bit of a drive (with a DD of course) Lewiston, ID is holding their annual brewfest from 2 to 7. It will feature over 30 local beers and ciders. Ticket details can be found on Facebook.

- Happy Trails to Brews will be featuring beers from CD'A's Tricksters Brewing. Pint of Tricksters beer will be $1 off all day and reps will be in the house from 6 to 8 pm. Facebook.

- The Spokane Chiefs are putting on a pregame brew bash from 4 to 6 pm featuring several regional breweries. $25 gets you a commemorative glass, 4 tasting pours and a ticket to the game (at 7). Facebook.

- Steady Flow Growler House downtown is once again hosting a brewery battle between the reigning champion Post Falls Brewing and North Spokane's Humble Abode Brewing from 4 to 6 pm. You will be able to buy a blind flight of the completion beers and vote for your favorite and the winning brewery gets bragging rights. I was at the last one, and it was an awesome time. Facebook.

Tuesday, February 26th

- Humble Abode is also hosting the Inland Brewers Unite Home Brew Club's Feb-Brew-ary home-brew challenge finals at 6 pm. Attendees will vote for their favorite beer and the winners will be able to brew a batch at the brewery where it will eventually be served. IMPORTANT NOTE: This event is only open to dues paying members of the IBU Home Brew Club, but they will be selling memberships at the door for as little as $10, so this would be a good chance to learn more about the organization and try some great beer. Facebook.

- Mead's Big Barn Brewing is teaming up with Remington's Restaurant and Lounge (at the Spokane airport Ramada) to host a special beer makers dinner starting at 6 pm. The meal will feature 4 beers paired with four special courses. Ticketing information can be found on Facebook.

What's Hoppin' this Week? 2/13

It's Valentine's Day this week (tomorrow if you're reading this on Wednesday. You still have time to run to Rite-Aid.) And love it or hate it, there is no better way to show someone you care than with beer. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities to show your love not just to your significant other, but also to all the wonderful people in the area who make and sell the beer we so enjoy. Happy V-Day to all of you. Cheers!

Thursday, February 14th

- There are a ton of special events going on today. I'm going to focus on the ones that are the most beer-specific, but it seems like most of the breweries and beer bars around town are offering special deals on beer and or food to celebrate the day. I encourage everyone to hop on the social media of your favorite beer spots and see what they've got planned if I haven't listed it here.

- Community Pint is celebrating with a special flight of sour beers from breweries all of the West Coast. They'll be pouring the beers as a flight and offering special deals on pint throughout the weekend. Facebook.

- Bellwether is pairing several of their beers with mini desserts from Made With Love Bakery and Sweet Annie's Artisan Creamery. $20 gets you 5 beers and five dessert pairings. 3 to 9 pm while supplies last. Facebook.

Friday February 15th

- Happy Trails to Brews will be pouring a special flight of different versions of Fremont Brewing's always popular BBomb beers. Facebook.

What's Hoppin' this Week? 2/6

Hi and welcome to a chilly edition of What's Hoppin' this week. The thermometer is reading 10º as I write this inside the 509BeerBlog world headquarters, but we've got some indoor events to keep you warm this weekend. Also the winter edition of the Lester Cup brew off has begun and this time the participants have all brewed strong ales which should go down very nice in this weather. I put a post together last week about it, so check that out for more info. Cheers and stay warm everyone!

Thursday, February 7th

- Speaking of strong beer, Nectar is kicking off their featured February flight which is all about barrel-aged beers. They will be pouring this flight of 4 beers fro 6 to 8 pm. Facebook.

- 12 String brewing is hosting a release event for their newest beer, the B-Side BRUTish IPA from 2 to 9 pm. Stop in to try their take on an extremely popular beer style. Facebook.

- Happy Trails to Brews is hosting the Spokane release party for Deschutes Brewing's new American style pilsner aptly named "Da Shootz!" from 5 to 10 pm. They will have the beer on tap and selling cans to go. Facebook.

Saturday, February 9th

- With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Steady Flow Growler House is hosting a singles night at both their Valley and Downtown Spokane locations. They will be offering food and beer specials all day and night, so stop in and see if you can meet a special someone to split a flight with. Facebook.

Monday February 11th

- English Setter Brewing is celebrating their 5th anniversary with special events all week long including daily releases of special 5 gallon batches beers brewed specially for the occasion. Please check out Facebook for all the details. Congrats on 5 years! 🎉 Facebook.

- Laughing Dog Brewing in Ponderay, ID is hosting a pint night to benefit Community Cancer Services. From 5 to 8 pm, $1 of every pint sold will be donated to this organization. Facebook.

Tuesday, February 12th

- Nectar will be combining it's usual Tuesday night trivia with a party to celebrate the first 12 oz can distribution of Iron Goat Brewing's Buzzsaw McThunder IPA. They will have cans available for purchase and 3 addition Iron Goat beers on tap. 7 to 9 pm. Facebook.

Wednesday, February 13th

- Steady Flow Growler House Downtown is having a special chocolate and beer pairing event. $15 gets you a special beer flight with chocolate pairings. Limited to the first 16 reservations so sign up early. Facebook.

The Lester Cup Winter Edition is Starting

The second edition of The Lester Cup Brew Off is kicking off today and will be pitting five local Spokane breweries against each other in an epic (but pretty friendly) battle. Last Summer's inaugural competition featured SMaSH (single malt and single hop) beers and was won by Mountain Lakes Brewing. For the winter competition, however, the featured beer style will be Strong Ales, a somewhat generic term for generally dark amber-colored ales which feature malt-forward sweetness in the 5.5-8% ABV range. Some well known American examples include Arrogant Consordia's flagship Arrogant Bastard, Fremont Brewing's B-Bomb Winter Ales, and Lagunitas Brewing's Brown Shugga'. It's a style that is wide open to interpretation, so I'm definitely excited to see what the participating breweries come up with. 

To participate, stop by one of the 5 participating breweries - Mountain Lakes, Bellwether, The Grain Shed, Whistle Punk and Black Label - to pick up your ballot. Stop by each of the breweries to sample their entry and get your ballot stamped. When you've tried them all, you can vote for your favorite. Voting runs from February 1st though March 15th, so you have plenty of time to get to all of them. Good luck to everyone involved and may the best beer win. Cheers! 🍻🍻🍻