Pluck of the Irish

UPDATE THURSDAY 3/17: The dry Irish-style Slainte Stout anniversary beer was tapped this afternoon.

MickDuff’s is pulling out all the stops for its 10th anniversary this weekend, with four days of events beginning Thursday.

“We wanted to do something fun, let’s go a little crazy and have a good time,” says marketing manager/assistant brewer Mack Deibel. “We’re just happy to celebrate 10 years of being in downtown Sandpoint.”

It all starts with a St. Patrick’s Day party on the actual anniversary; brothers Duffy and Mickey Mahoney, in keeping with their Irish heritage, opened the brewery on March 17, 2006.

An Irish-themed menu at the original brewpub , which continues through the weekend, will include the likes of Irish beef stew, corned beef sandwich with sautéed cabbage, smoked salmon salad, lamb burger, rosemary garlic lamb shank and bread pudding with Bailey’s whipped cream.

Mobius Riff provides live music from 6 to 9 down the street and around the corner at the 21-and-older Beer Hal l taproom. On the beer front, a dry Irish-style stout is currently carbonating and could be ready for the festivities at some point.

The Mahoneys will be on hand for an open house with brewery tours Friday from 3 to 6 at the Beer Hall, where brewing operations moved three years ago, followed by music from Devon Wade at 6:30.

“We wanted to make sure the brothers had a special day,” Deibel says. “Our brewery been on display at the Beer Hall since it opened, but maybe not a lot of people have been back there. This is their chance.”

On Saturday , it’s happy hour pricing all day at the Beer Hall (buy a souvenir glass and get half off your first pint), with music by Josh Hedlund and Justin Landis, followed by Harold’s IGA, from 5 to 10.

After all the adult-oriented activities at the Beer Hall, the focus shifts back to the brewpub on Sunday with Kids Eat Free day (10 years old or younger; one child per parent, who must be wearing a MickDuff’s shirt).

“It’s an opportunity for us to say we are a place where you can bring your family, make sure they’re part of the anniversary, too,” says Deibel.

The highlight of MickDuff’s 10th year of operation came early on last April, when an expanded 20-barrel brewing system was installed, replacing the previous seven-barrel setup.

That has allowed the brewery to serve more accounts in North Idaho and Eastern Washington, and add three beers to the distribution mix – the blonde (known as Tipsy Toehead at the pub), flagship IPA (aka Strom Hammer) and Irish Redhead – along with the initial Lake Paddler pale, NOHO imperial IPA and Knot Tree porter.

The big news for year 11 could come by the end of 2016, when MickDuff’s hopes to fire up the 1970s-vintage bottling line it acquired. Six-packs are planned (though specific styles haven’t yet been determined), and distribution likely will expand into southern Idaho and western Montana.

In the near term, the brewery just released its latest seasonal, a red IPA, and plans to follow up closer to June with the raspberry gose sour wheat it brewed as a collaboration with Ramblin’ Road for last year’s Spokane Craft Beer Week.

And it will be back with another collab for Craft Beer Week in May, this time with Pullman’s Paradise Creek.