Turning two on Perry Street

Perry Street Brewing celebrates its second anniversary this weekend with a fruity flashback.

The Kumquat IPA originally brewed for last May’s Spokane Craft Beer Week will return on tap when the festivities kick off Friday at 4 p.m.

“It was our most popular beer, hands down,” says brewer Ben Lukes, who owns the business with his wife, Christy.

There will be a raffle for two Electra cruiser bicycles donated by Two Wheel Transit, with proceeds going to the T.E.A.M. Grant program at nearby Grant Elementary School, a regular beneficiary of the brewery’s charitable efforts.  The winner of a “golden growler” raffle Saturday at 9 gets a free fill and a pint each week for the coming year.

Music arrives Saturday, when doors open at noon, with bluegrass by Sam Saxton and friends at 2 p.m. followed by Nic Vigil’s Latin sounds at 4. DJ Downtown Tony Brown finishes things off in the taproom from 7 to 11. The 3 Ninjas and Bistro Box food trucks will be on hand Friday and Saturday, respectively.

And on Sunday, anyone who previously purchased a Perry Street Oktoberfest stein can get it filled for $8 (along with the regular weekly $2 discount on growler fills).

Over the next month or so, the brewery will put the finishing touches on some projects that started in year two. A kitchen is being set up to serve sandwiches and soups, following up on the small-plate menu that launched last year.

With food trucks not always a guarantee, Lukes says, “So many people are leaving us for the lull during dinner, it will be nice to have something to offer them so they can stay.”

And in addition to the pergola placed over the patio last year, a bartop made of three-inch cedar from sunken river logs is being installed along the railing overlooking Perry, with Amish tractor seats for stools.

“Continued growth has been the theme around here,” Lukes says. “We’re finally getting close to finishing what this place will be. Then for year three, we can add some tanks and begin to do a little more distribution around town.”

Such experiments as the Kumquat IPA aside, the brewery has built a reputation for solid interpretations of fairly straightforward styles, from a Czech pilsner to a Scotch ale to the popular milk stout.

“We love brewing to style and playing around within styles,” says Lukes, who got his start with Missoula’s Big Sky. “I like drinking sours and stuff, but when I’m drinking beer, I crush pales and IPAs.

“A well-made pilsner or pale, there’s a craft to executing these styles that everybody sees as commonplace. It’s fun when you can nail that, it’s really rewarding.”

The brewery, whose Wi-Fi password remains “nosimcoe” – a joking reference to its inability to procure that popular hop in the early days – now has hop contracts secured for the next three years.

A new IPA tapped Tuesday takes a fruitier turn from a combination of Simcoe, Mosaic and Amarillo, compared to the previous Centennial and Citra, with its alcohol percentage reduced a full point to 6.3. The recently introduced Citra double IPA will become a regular offering.

Lukes also hopes to find the time and space to squeeze in some more barrel aging. The brewery’s first barrel beer, a Belgian-style tripel that has spent three months in chardonnay barrels, could debut as soon as Saturday. “That beer is going to be killer,” he says.

One of the past year’s biggest developments on the brewery side was the addition of assistant brewer Riley Elmer, one of six certified Cicerones around the area, who has taken over the daily duties.

Elmer also leads blind tasting sessions where the Perry crew compares its beers to similar local and regional styles and gets ideas for fine-tuning recipes.

“He’s brought so much in the way of sensory (analysis) to our brewing,” says Lukes. “It’s been great to have him.”

And his mere presence has been a lifesaver, Lukes adds: “Being the full-time brewer for a year and a half, while trying to run an entire business, I honestly can’t believe I survived that.”