Craft Beer Popularity Continues to Rise

It wasn’t that long ago in the Inland Northwest that your options for craft brew were awfully limited. Today, that’s another story. New breweries are popping up across North Idaho and Eastern Washington every couple of months, and availability of craft beer in bars and restaurants has never been better.

“It's been great seeing the interest in craft beer grow in this area,” said Jeff Whitman, co-founder of Selkirk Abbey Brewing in Post Falls. “Consumer knowledge has grown quite a bit as well. It's very encouraging.”

Founded in 2011, Selkirk Abbey has already increased the size of their equipment in order to speed up the production rate. Their old equipment has stayed in the area and is now being used to create more craft beer at the newly opened Wadell’s tap house in North Spokane. As more breweries continue to open and consumers’ pallets become more sophisticated, it’s up to the brewer to come up with a consistent, well received beer.

“We have made fifteen unique beers since opening, and a sixteenth will be released on March 2nd,” said Whitman. “Most of those beers have been seasonal releases.”

During this time Selkirk Abbey has expanded from serving primarily at the brewery and a few local bars and restaurants, to being available both on tap and in bottles throughout North Idaho, Spokane, and Alberta. Once their licensing application is accepted, Selkirk will also be available in Montana and the brewery is also on track to be distributing in the Seattle area this spring.

Helping to aid Selkirk Abbey’s expansion are two recent Gold Medals at the 2013 North American Brewer’s Awards and being named Idaho’s best brewery and the best Saison style beer in the Northwest by the Seattle PI.

Craft brewers are innovators, and when you stop by a local tap house there’s a good chance you’ll find something you can’t get anywhere else. If you’re interested in learning more about the craft beer scene in our area, visit the Inland Northwest Ale Trail Website (www.inlandnwaletrail.com). Here you will find locations and information on many of our regional breweries and you can download an ‘Ale Trail’ map to get you going on your journey, just don’t try to tackle all the breweries in one day!

#dining #local