Something brewin’ locally

The Inland Northwest doesn’t exactly stand out amid the rest of the regional microbrew scene.

Not that the beer produced here isn’t good – in many cases, local brews flirt with a greatness long lost on now-giants like Red Hook or Widmer.

But the truth is, while other sectors of the Northwest brewery community maintain the status quo or continue to grow, our region’s beer scene shrank by about 70 percent in the past decade, and isn’t doing much growing.

Once home to at least 10 breweries and, as legend has it, the birthplace of the first-ever commercial American Pale Ale – from Hale’s Ales, which now calls Seattle home – the Spokane area now boasts a meager three brewpubs, with a handful of others in North Idaho.

The breweries that have survived continually try to find new ways to remind people that, hey, people still produce microbrews around here.

That’s the case at C.I. Shenanigan’s Seafood Chophouse, which recently revived its Mug Club. Along with similar programs at Steam Plant Grill and the Coeur d’Alene Brewpub, it’s one of the hidden-gem secrets of the local bar and restaurant scene.

Gabe Smoley, head brewer at Shenanigan’s, realized that most people probably don’t even know that the restaurant boasts its own small-batch brewery. So he wanted to find a way to showcase his craft.

“For us, it’s something to hang our hat on here,” Smoley said.

He decided to revamp an old alehouse tradition, and let people buy memberships to the brewery.

For a $20 annual membership fee, C.I. Shenanigan’s mug club members get a 22-ounce glass – bigger than the brewpub’s regular glasses – to be kept at the bar. They can fill it with any Shenanigan’s beer, at any time, for the happy hour price of $3.

It’s a bragging right among members, Smoley said.

“We had (a mug club member) sitting at the bar the other day, and someone asked, ‘Why is he drinking out of a bigger glass?’ ” Smoley said.

The club member turned to envious customer and replied, “I’m a member here.”

It’s that kind of word-of-mouth wildfire that Smoley is hoping for, to fill out the ranks of the fledgling club. Members will receive advance notice of new beers, tapping parties and other functions, and will pay discounted admission prices to any beer-related events at Shenanigan’s.

Smoley plans to keep a cap of 100 members on the club, in order to keep events – and mug storage – manageable.

If you miss the cut and don’t want to spend a calendar year on the waiting list, try your luck at one of the other breweries in the area.

The Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company has been running mug clubs at all three of its locations for years, after being inspired by an East Coast brewery.

“We went to the national brewpub conference in Portland, Maine, and there was a brewpub that had 1,000-strong mugs,” said Sean Murphy, director of operations. “There were mugs that were passed down through families.”

That trip inspired Murphy and Co. to start the club at the company’s headquarters, the Coeur d’Alene Brewpub, 209 Lakeside Ave., Coeur d’Alene.

Members of the club at the Coeur d’Alene location get to bring in their own mugs – up to 32 ounces – to keep at the bar. The membership at that location costs more than other clubs ($25), because of the large mug size and a T-shirt that comes with membership. Clubbers get to fill up their 32-ounce mugs with any beer, anytime, for $3.

For comparison purposes, that’s the average cost of a 16-ounce pint at the brewery. “So it’s like two-for-one,” Murphy said.

Membership stands at about 525 at the Coeur d’Alene location, and, unfortunately for those of us who aren’t members, it’s currently closed to new additions.

“All of our walls are filled up,” Murphy said. “We can’t fit any more mugs.”

Membership is still open at the brewery’s other locations, The Alehouse, 226 W. 6th St., in Moscow, and Steam Plant Grill, 159 S. Lincoln St., in Spokane. Those locations don’t have as many perks – the mugs are uniform 20-ouncers and members don’t get T-shirts. And memberships reset in January, when clubbers have to renew or lose their place among the mug hooks, so it might be better to wait until after the first of the year when your $20 buys you an entire year of membership.

Still, at $2.75 per fill, it’s still an easy way to score cheap beer, so depending on how much beer you drink, it could be a good investment either way.

In the end, it’s that affordability that brewers dangle in front of beer drinkers, hoping to keep people coming back for local microbrews.

As Murphy puts it, “Unless you’re brewing it, you can’t afford to give it away at those prices.”