Indians improve lineup

ALSC Architects photo

We can’t say for sure what the Spokane Indians will be like on the field this summer, but the organization certainly has boosted its beer batting average.

When the season opens Thursday at Avista Stadium, the draft roster will feature eight newcomers – all craft styles – including three from California’s highly regarded Firestone Walker, as well as two each from hometown No-Li and national player Sam Adams.

It’s still not quite Safeco Field , with its dozens of crafts and cask offerings, but it’s a big step forward for the home team.

“There seems to be a huge shift toward craft styles,” says Justin Stottlemyre, the Indians’ director of concessions and operations. “If I put Coors Light and Bud Light on every handle, it’s going to sell, but we’re going to sell more if there’s something new out there.”

He adds:  “What people ask for more than anything, they don’t say, what do you have on tap that’s craft, they say, what do you have on tap that’s local.”

Until last year, the only answer to that question was Clem’s Gold lager from Orlison in Airway Heights. Then midway through the season, Stottlemyre added No-Li’s Born & Raised IPA, which was a big hit.

“It’s definitely the Number One local, and it’s up there in sheer volume,” he says.

This season, it’s joined by No-Li’s light but flavorful Poser session pale (a born baseball beer, if there ever was one) and the strong, orange-accented Brass Monkey.

And No-Li is doing a special bottling of its new house golden ale to commemorate the inaugural Northwest League/Pioneer League All-Star Game, coming to Avista on Aug. 4. The 22-ounce bottles go on sale at the brewery Thursday and should start reaching stores by Friday.

“You just don’t get the opportunity to do that with a Bud or a Miller,” Stottlemyre says.

As part of a promotion with the Washington Beer Commission, beer customers will get punch cards this season listing the stadium’s craft selections. Complete the card and you can enter it in a drawing for prizes including tickets to the commission’s Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival , which returns to Avista in October.

India pale ales dominate the rest of the season’s newcomers, including three from Firestone Walker: the sessionable Easy Jack, regular Union Jack and imperial Double Jack. Those will be joined by the Rebel IPA from Sam Adams (whose Boston Lager and Summer Ale already were on board) and the White IPA by Coors’ Blue Moon label.

The other new addition is Adams’ Illusive Traveler grapefruit shandy, which could do well given the previous success of Leinenkugel’s lemony Summer Shandy. That has shot to No. 2 on the Avista sales chart, Stottlemyre says, behind Coors Light and ahead of Bud Light.

Add in the other returnees – Blue Moon Belgian White, Kona Longboard Lager, Kokanee, Miller Lite, regular Budweiser and Bud Light Lime, and Adams’ Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Cider – and customers will have up to 22 flavors to choose from at the stadium’s 70 taps.

There also are occasional specialties like last year’s Ginger Lemon Radler from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City.

“I wasn’t so sure about that one, but we went through two kegs in little over a day,” Stottlemyre says. “I always say (to distributors), use us for a testing ground – we’ve got six or seven thousand people out here on any given night.”

Ironically, Stottlemyre can’t do any testing himself, since a blood disorder doesn’t allow him to drink beer. “I just get to haul the kegs around and make sure we have them in stock,” he says.

And yes, the Missouri native is related to former New York Yankees pitching great Mel Stottlemyre, who also was born back there but grew up in the Yakima area, where he later raised his own family.

“I met a couple of the relatives when I was a kid (in Missouri), but it’s not like we were doing family trips to New York,” Justin says. “Then I relocated here for work, and people just assume that I’m from Yakima.”