This will go down as the year when the craft beer express started to lose a little momentum. Production growth is expected to drop below double digits for the first time since 2010 (the midyear figure was 8 percent), and larger players like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada are seeing sales start to slip. But with the brewery count at an all-time high – passing the 5,000 mark last month – there’s also no question that craft beer has carved out its niche in communities across the country. Here’s a look back at local highlights from the past year, plus a few peeks at things to come in 2017:

With a record 41 breweries in the lineup, this year’s Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival at minor league baseball’s Avista Stadium more than covers the bases for beer lovers of all varieties.

Spokane Craft Beer Week returns for its second year starting Monday, bigger and better than before.

Get ready for a winning lineup of local and regional craft beer along with your October baseball. The Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival returns to Avista Stadium, home of the minor league Spokane Indians, the weekend of Oct. 2-3.

Get ready for a winning lineup of local and regional craft beer along with your October baseball. The Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival returns to Avista Stadium, home of the minor league Spokane Indians, the weekend of Oct. 2-3.

On the verge of turning 2 years old, Trickster’s is growing up fast. The Coeur d’Alene brewery is launching a weekly cask series, beginning a barrel-aging program and preparing to can its beers, along with the addition of a new head brewer.

On the verge of turning 2 years old, Trickster’s is growing up fast. The Coeur d’Alene brewery is launching a weekly cask series, beginning a barrel-aging program and preparing to can its beers, along with the addition of a new head brewer.

It’s getting so you can’t keep all the new No-Li Brewhouse beers straight without a scorecard. The just-released, draft-only Expo ’74 Summer Wheat (4.4 percent alcohol by volume, 15 International Bitterness Units) honors the 40th anniversary of the Spokane World’s Fair. It’s crisp and clean with a slight sweetness from honey malt and a hint of orange from fruity Amarillo hops.

If you’re one of those folks who has a hard time choosing among 31 ice cream flavors, your head just might explode at this weekend’s Inland NW Craft Beer Festival. Thirty Washington and North Idaho breweries will offer more than 70 different beers today and Saturday in Riverfront Park. To help you navigate the sea of suds, here’s a look at some of the more noteworthy offerings, by category (subject to last-minute changes):

If you’re one of those folks who has a hard time choosing among 31 ice cream flavors, your head just might explode at this weekend’s Inland NW Craft Beer Festival. Thirty Washington and North Idaho breweries will offer more than 70 different beers today and Saturday in Riverfront Park. To help you navigate the sea of suds, here’s a look at some of the more noteworthy offerings, by category (subject to last-minute changes):