Brewing Up Beer In Bonners Ferry

S ome people retire and take up fishing or golf. Mike Naumann, who retired from law enforcement in 2009, opened a brewery. A successful brewery, at that, with five beers on tap and a beefy menu that has us wondering if this is a brewery with a restaurant or a restaurant with its own brewery. When Bonners Ferry-based Kootenai River Brewing Company celebrates its one-year anniversary in August, it will do so as the northernmost brewery in Idaho. Its 10-barrel operation produces five standard beers: crisp pilsner, pale ale, a malty IPA, huckleberry wheat (using local berries), and a dark, chewy porter. Tasters ($7) are served on a wagon wheel in order from from light to dark. Handsome steel brew tanks are visible inside this renovated 1940s-era automotive service building, yet the real view is outside. One wall faces Bonners Ferry’s historic downtown as it backs up to busy Highway 95, while another wall faces Kootenai River. Outside is an upper deck for warm-weather dining and a spacious concrete patio for live music and special occasions/ Carrie Scozzaro , Pacific Northwest Inlander. More here.

Question: Which non-brand brewery beer is your favorite?