Tap Room - SOON

Brewery Tap Room (Downtown Spokane)

River City Brewing is opening a Tap Room soon and we need one or two craft-beer loving, highly-responsible folks to join our team and tend bar. We are looking for people who will represent our beers to the world, so an outgoing, friendly personality is a plus to help others love our beer as much as we do. We will be open seven days a week, 3 -- 8 pm on Sun to Wed and 3 -- 9 pm Thur to Sat. No food service -- just beer and pretzels. Duties will mostly include serving beer, filling growlers, and talking about beer, but will also involve moving (but not lifting) kegs occasionally.

If you are interested, please e-mail your resume and a cover letter including a description of your favorite craft beer and why you want to work for River City Brewing.

• Location: Downtown Spokane
• Compensation: Hourly plus tips
• This is a part-time job.
• Send cover letter and resume to Emily@InlandNWBrewing.com

It doesn't look like it, but it is a cycling message.

Peru Part Deux

It makes for a nice rhyme, don't you think?  Also, it looks like it makes for a nice trip.

Just focus on the jersey.  Ignore the guy peeing.

Mountain Biking In Peru

The winner of the River City Red Cycling Team "Big Dog" award was Travis Coleman.  Travis has a long, storied cycling history in cycling including stints as a professional downhill mtb racer and road racing with Floyd Landis (long before FL was on the "juice" (I'm assuming)), but before I get too far astray, here is the point: Travis is riding mountain bikes in Peru right now and he had sent along a couple of pictures to tantalize and entice us to all want to go to Peru to ride mountain bikes. 

Hopefully there will be more stories and more pics, but here is a start.

Pick your wheel size, then be a dick about it.

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog DOES the GABF

Updated List - Where to find the Beer!

River City Red

Greenbriar Foods

Imbibe Wine Shop

Italia Trattoria

Rocket Bakery

Shakeys Pizza Parlor

Syringa Japanese Restaurant

Total Wine & More

Vintage Vine

Waddells Neighborhood Pub

The Onion Downtown 

Famous Eds

Girlfriend Golden

A-1 Smokeshop

Pacific Avenue Pizza

Waddells Neighborhood Pub

Nyne Restaurant Bar

Total Wine & More

River City IPA

Shakeys Pizza Parlor

Fox Bear Public House

JJ’s Grill

Vintages 611

Spencers Steakhouse

Waddells Neighborhood Pub

Huckleberry

The Moscow Alehouse

Jacksons Sports Bar-Yakima

Fox Bear Public House

Mid Columbia-kennewick

VB Stout

The Moscow Alehouse

Bardanay Restaurant- CdA

Capones-CdA

JB Foods

Red Robin-Valley

Roosters Landing

Seasons of CdA

The Viking Tavern

Total Wine & More

Jacksons Sports Bar-Yakima

Java on Sherman-CdA

JJ’s Grill

La Rosa Club

Mid Columbia-Kennewick

The Lions Lair

Waddells Neighborhood Pub

Zesta Cucina

Riverkeeper Red

Denny’s Restaurant-Geiger

Longhorn BBQ Spokane Valley

MacKenzie River Pizza-Downtown

The Basement-Cheney

Rocket Natural Market

Beer Events Galore!

We have a bunch of beer events coming up on the next several weeks.  Come join us, drink some beer and support some great local causes.

October 5 - A Girl Scout's Fundraiser with Girl Scout Cookies and Beer:     

The inaugural Craft Beer and Cookie Fest scheduled on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at the Girl Scout Program Center, will pair great craft beer with the iconic Girl Scout Cookie to raise funds and awareness for the nearly 2,500 Girl Scouts in the Spokane area and the 8,200 Girl Scouts in their council.  There will be at least five breweries participating this year and a live band to play throughout the event. This is a 21 and older event that goes from 4pm-8pm Saturday. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. This includes a tasting mug, three 4oz pours and a brat.

You can purchase tickets through Brown Paper Tickets (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/446755) or through the Girl Scout office at 509-747-8091. This event will be held at 1404 N Ash St, Spokane.

October 5- “Crosstoberfest” Cyclocross Race:

Also on Saturday will be the first stop of the Inland Northwest Cyclocross Race Series being held in Sandpoint Idaho with the races starting at 9am, and the beer pouring at noon.  This is a great race to be a part of as well as a great spectator opportunity since it is a cyclocross bike race with a beerfest.  The event is in support of Team Autism 24/7, a non profit dedicated to helping families living with autism to have a better quality of life. They do this through programs that educate, create awareness and create a sense of community for families, professionals, and providers.  There will be four breweries (River City Brewing, Laughing Dog, 219er and MickDuff’s), two pubs (Eichardt’s and Pour Authority), and one winery (Pend Orielle Winery) participating in creating the BeerFest part of the Event.  There will also be live music, food, an announcer, and a raffle. 

The event will be held at the University of Idaho, N. Boyer Avenue, Sandpoint Idaho.  For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/728248223858328/ 

October 6 - Lands Council Brews Cruise:

This Sunday, the Lands Council is organizing their Third Annual Brews Cruise.  Unlike most "cruise", this one does not involve a boat, but involves pedaling around for your own people powered cruise.  The event will begin and end at the Saranac Public House and will include stops at our brewery (complete with behind the scenes look at our brewing facility) and Budge Brothers.  This 21+ event starts at 1 pm and includes live music at the finish line.

Saranac Public House is located at 21 W. Main Avenue in downtown Spokane.  For more info: http://www.landscouncil.org/events/. 

October 12 - EWU Library Roaring ‘20s Oktoberfest:

Eastern Washington University is simply jazzed about the Roaring '20s theme this year for the EWU Library Oktoberfest on October 12th. They are telling people “Don't be a flat tire, put on your Fedora or headdress and come join the rest of the guys and gals. This awesome “swanky” event helps raise some funds for the Collection Endowment Fund. All proceeds go to the EWU Libraries' Collection Endowment Fund to purchase books, journals, and electronic resources for students, faculty, staff and the EWU community at large. The event will include a swanky meal and dessert, spiffy beer and wine tastings.  This year they've got wine from the pros- Latah Creek Wineries and Walla Walla Vintners.  River City Brewing and  No-Li Brewhouse will be serving up some great (LOCAL!) beers to sample.  There will also be live rag-time music by some swinging cats- the Chris Grant Quartet!

This fun event will be Saturday October 12th from 5pm-10:30pm at the JFK Library on the Cheney Campus.  For more info: www.ewu.edu/oktoberfest and http://sites.ewu.edu/Eastern247/2013/10/01/oktoberfest-roaring-20s-ewu-libraries-annual-fundraiser/ 

October 12- March of Dimes Signature Chef Event:

One of the best events hosted by Red Lion Hotels Corporation is their annual March of Dimes Signature Chefs event held on Saturday October 12th from 6pm-10pm.  The March of Dimes annual Signature Chefs Auction returns with delectable tastings from Spokane's finest chefs and the opportunity to bid on unique and desirable auction packages, as well as tastings from local wineries and River City Brewing. All proceeds benefit the March of Dimes mission of improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. This years event marks the 75th anniversary of March of Dimes saving lives so it is an especially important event for them this year. 

This fundraiser will be held at Red Lion Hotel at the Park, 303 West North River Drive  For more info: https://www.marchofdimes.com/washington/events/events_10382.html 

October 19 - 18th Annual OctoBREWfest for MS

OctoBREWfest is a fun-filled evening of Brews & Bids that features tastings of a variety of microbrews from the most popular northwest microbreweries and both a silent and live auction will offer a variety of items for auction goers to bid on.  Every year, 100% of the money raised from the OctoBREWfest event goes to support the efforts of the Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Sixty percent stays in the Inland Northwest to provide services to over 2500 local people who have MS and their families, and 40% goes to funding increasingly hopeful research. Admittance for the event, by ticket, is open to anyone over twenty-one years of age.

 The event will be held at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  For more info: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/wai/fundraising-events/octobrewfest/index.aspx

Car Culture Can't Rule the Road

On Sunday, our local daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, ran the following piece written by one our owners.  He seems reasonably smart when we drink beer together, but we didn't know he could string together sentences one after the other that make so much sense.  Read on and then make plans to hit up the Listening Tour at CV High School . . .

Car Culture Can't Rule the Road

The Washington state Senate’s statewide “Listening Tour” to gather citizen input on our transportation system stops off in Spokane on Wednesday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Central Valley High School theater.
Among the topics is the inclusion of funds for cycling, walking and mass transit within transportation budget priorities. If you are interested in seeing equitable treatment of cycling, walking and mass transit, I urge you to attend and make your voice heard. Cyclists, walkers and bus riders don’t have big-budget campaigns or organizations to make sure we are included in the discussion, but we collectively deserve consideration.

When the subject of bikes comes up within the context of roads, the primary and loudest reaction is that cyclists don’t pay for roads and therefore shouldn’t have a say in what happens. Some believe cyclists may not even deserve space on the road, much less designated bike lanes or other accommodations. The sentiment appears to be based on the idea that those riding bikes must not own a car, may not have a job, don’t contribute to the economy and certainly aren’t doing their fair share to pay for the roads, which are, admittedly, usually designed for cars.  When I get together with cyclists, however, I have a hard time squaring this perception against reality, which is that cyclists come from every walk of life. Many own businesses, multiple cars and homes, and pay all sorts of taxes. Why, you might ask, is it important to note that we are homeowners who pay taxes? Because direct taxes and fees, such as gas taxes, license fees and road tolls, pay for only 47 percent of the cost of streets and roads in Washington. The rest is from the other taxes that state residents pay, including sales taxes and property taxes (either through ownership or rental).

That means everyone in our state is contributing to the tax base that funds 53 percent of our roads, even if we don’t own a car. This includes some of the estimated 2 million state residents who can’t, don’t or shouldn’t drive because they are too young, too old, too poor or otherwise are unable to operate a vehicle. So to be fair to those who don’t drive, whether by circumstances or choice, it is reasonable to take these needs into account when developing budgets and designing projects.

Besides the fundamental equity of including cyclists, walkers and transit users, there is also an economic case. A Washington State Parks study found that the Centennial Trail has an economic impact of $30 million per year. According to Visit Spokane, the trail is one of the top five tourist attractions, and 53 percent of its users are visitors. Those people pay hotel and motel taxes and help to support our retail establishments, restaurants, theaters, museums and the jobs attached to them.  Other studies have shown that home prices are more stable near bike trails and that businesses on streets with bike lanes show higher sales tax revenue. Simply stated, spending money to include cyclists shows an ongoing return on investment.

It is fair to assume that at the various stops of the Listening Tour, the senators will hear from people supporting investment in moving goods quickly and efficiently in large trucks. They are also likely to hear from folks who don’t want to spend money on anything that increases the expense of a transportation project. That is why supporters of cycling, walking and transit need to speak up.  Our transportation system should work for everyone. A system that honors all choices is equitable and reflects the way transportation is funded. Plus, it makes economic sense. Please take the time to make your voice heard.

Gage Stromberg and his family own River City Brewing and he is a partner at Powers Stromberg Pension Consulting Inc. He was a founding board member of SpokeFest and Mobius.  He regularly rides his bike to work.