… And party every day

UPDATE: The 10˚ is set for release Friday, followed by the barrel-aged Guilt on Saturday.

Selkirk Abbey is taking a little more low-key approach to its birthday celebration this year.

Instead of a single, larger party, like in the past, the Belgian-inspired Post Falls brewery is observing its third anniversary all week long, with special beer releases and discount pricing on the regular lineup.

“We’ve done that with the huge tents, bands, food, and it’s just unwieldy,” says owner Jeff Whitman. “It’s too hard, it’s too draining. Plus you compete with so many other things, since you have to do that on a weekend.

“It’s a lot better to do it this way. People can stop by when it’s convenient for them.”

Special releases throughout the week include:

– The last keg of barrel-aged Guilt imperial porter, blended from syrah and cabernet barrels.

– Last year’s big, rich 10˚ quadruple.

– Citrus-zested Chapel witbier, along with a grapefruit version.

– A new, unnamed farmhouse ale that Whitman calls “ridiculously clean and easy-drinking,” despite its 6.2 percent alcohol by volume, after fermenting down to the density of water (1.000) using Brett and lacto.

Pints of Selkirk’s standard beers will be $3 all week, with growler fills for $9.

Asked about the highlight of his third year of operation, Whitman pointed to a distributor switch in Montana, to Helena-based George’s . “They’re just killing it for us,” he says.

For year four, he’s looking to expand distribution to the southwest, including Utah, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada. The recent acquisition of two 30-barrel fermenters has increased production capacity by 50 percent, allowing for further growth.

Whitman also is putting a bunch more beer in wine barrels, including more Guilt that should be ready in about a year. And he has a Grand Cru planned for Christmas time that will be a blend of already barrel-aged 8˚ dubbel, 10˚ quad and 12˚ Belgian strong dark, plus possibly some others.

“We have saisons in barrels, and our pale ale,” Whitman says. “It just depends on what the beer needs, what we’ll put in.”