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CROOKED FENCE BREWING
craFt brEWInG rEnaIssancE Boise embraces the microbrew with both hands tara morGan | PhotoGraPh By Laurie Pearman Not so long ago, big-name domestic brews drowned the Boise market—ads promoted beers with a “light and refreshing,” “less filling” taste, and bashed “bitter beer face.” But, oh, how the times have changed. Now craft breweries and boutique beer-focused joints are popping tops on corners from Boise to Meridian. And even the dive-iest dive bar slings some sort of microbrew. “even five years ago here it was still a domesticdominant market. But over the last five years, it’s definitely snowballed into a more open-minded market,” said kris Price, head brewer at crooked Fence brewing co. Crooked fence opened in garden City in february 2012. the 2,400-square-foot commercial brewing facility features four 15-barrel tanks and cranks out staple brews—like the Rusty Nail Pale Ale and the Crooked fence Porter—and also spe56 | AnnuAl MAnuAl 2012-2013 | boiseweekly
cializes in small-batch specialty beers, like the Sins of Our fathers imperial Stout. “i’m surprised it’s taken this long, as far as breweries popping up. We definitely need it, considering the fact that we grow 25 percent of the hops in the nation and we are lacking breweries comparatively to everywhere else in the u.S.,” Price said. Mike francis, owner of payette brewing company, echoed that sentiment. he opened Payette in May 2011 in garden City. the brewery has made a name for itself supplying brews like the Mutton Buster Brown and Outlaw iPA to myriad events around town. And in a little over a year, Payette has expanded its operation twice—increasing its capacity to nine 30-barrel tanks. “We’re at 100 percent capacity right now,” said francis. “And we’re getting close to summer, where beer drinkers drink more—everyone drinks more in
the summer.” Both Payette and Crooked fence represent a major shift in the Boise brewing scene, which has traditionally been dominated by small restaurant/ brewpubs that focus on supplying suds for their own taps. “We’re production-focused. We want to have our beer on tap around town, whereas the pubs that have been here before were focused on their restaurants and bringing people in to drink the beer there,” said francis. “We have a tasting room, but our main focus is, ‘hey, go drink our beer at the 80 different places around town that have it.’” But that’s not to say the old guard has been left out of the trend. Bob McSherry, head brewer at Boise’s 21-year-old brewery tablerock brewpub, has also noticed a rise in demand for craft beer and drinkers with generally bolder palates. WWW.b oI s EWEEk ly.com