Downtown Onion gets Area 51 treatment

Area 51 is about to land in downtown Spokane.

Owners of the Onion Bar & Grill are taking the 51-tap alehouse concept they installed at the North Side location a year ago and extending it to the original restaurant.

“It’s just been working so well up north, it should really work well downtown,” said co-owner Ken Belisle, who plans to have the remodeled bar space open Dec. 7.

“We’re kind of Spokane’s original beer and burgers place,” he said of the downtown Onion, which opened in 1978. “We’re just taking that up a notch.”

Like at the north Onion, the downtown Area 51 will have 45 rotating beer taps (up from the previous 12) plus barrel-aged wines, a gourmet root beer and two cask-conditioned cocktails: a spiced root bourbon recipe dating to 1886, and a mint julep from the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. It also will offer growler fills, a mug club and a special bar menu along with the regular food offerings.

One difference: Instead of a concrete bar (with a frost rail to keep drinks cool), like on the North Side, the downtown Onion will keep the big wooden Brunswick Delmonico bar that came from Chicago in 1910 to the former occupant of the block, the St. Regis Hotel.

“We’re taking that apart and refinishing it all,” Belisle said. “It’s a real labor of love – it’s like taking a Model A apart and putting it back together again. It’s going to be really special.”

The space also will be opened up, eliminating the separation between the bar and dining areas.

“There’s no reason today to have a bar and dining room that are separate,” said Belisle. “Being a taphouse is just more fun if you open it up a little.”

Freshly tapped

This year’s Twelve Strings of Winter (7.5 percent alcohol by volume, 65 International Bitterness Units) from Twelve String gets spicy notes from rye malt and a combination of Chinook and Willamette hops.

Downdraft’s new seasonal is a cookie-inspired Gingersnap Stout brewed with candied ginger, molasses, cardamom and cloves.

Perry Street’s Session IPL (4.5, 45) is a crisp lager take on the India pale ale style, hopped with Simcoe and Mosaic and fermented with Czech pilsner yeast.

Waddell’s Lost Woods Winter Ale (8, 57) has rich toffee and roasted malt flavors balanced by dry-hopping with Cascade and Glacier.

English Setter’s Ruffled Grouse Stout (6.3, 40) has balanced coffee and caramel flavors with a hint of smokiness.

Save the date

The Blackbird’s first in a series of monthly Flight Nights on Dec. 3 will feature four barrel-aged imperial stouts – No-Li’s Blackfill, Firestone’s Parabola, North Coast’s Old Rasputin and Port’s Older Viscosity – with a flight of 4-ounce pours for $19.

Look for a bourbon barrel-aged oatmeal stout at Trickster’s third anniversary party Dec. 5.

The 19th annual 12 Ales of Christmas at Capone’s in Coeur d’Alene on Dec. 5 will include a dozen winter seasonal tasters, souvenir cup and T-shirt, buffet food and a free taxi ride home (in the Coeur d’Alene area); cost is $55.

Send beer news, comments and questions to senior correspondent Rick Bonino at boninobeer@comcast.net.