Raise a glass to summer’s end

With summer winding down, the calendar is filling up with outdoor beer events:

• Laughing Dog celebrates its eighth anniversary with its annual barbecue, Saturday from noon-7 p.m. at the brewery north of Sandpoint.

Along with $5-per-plate chow, there’ll be live music, games and prize drawings, including a free daily beer for one year. Dogs are welcome on leashes.

Brewer/owner Fred Colby will debut a special creation for the occasion: a crisp, tart Belgian-style sour dubbed De Achtste Hond (Flemish for “The Eighth Dog”), weighing in at 7.2 percent alcohol by volume and aged for a month in new oak barrels. If you can’t make the party, look for it later on tap around the area. Rick Bonino, SR

I’m not much of a beer drinker, but my husband is. We stopped in at Laughing Dog in March and had a great time. Cool ambience and an interesting tour. I recommend it.

Have you visited Laughing Dog Brewery?