Clairvoyant Brewing Becomes the 22nd Brewery in the Treasure Valley

by Bob Hubler

Check the brand new sign

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Clairvoyant Brewing opened it's doors to the public last Friday, September 22, 2017, becoming the 59th Active Brewery in Idaho and the 22nd Brewery in the Treasure Valley (if you include Ontario, Oregon).  The blog I wrote two weeks ago was about White Dog Brewing and I claimed that they were the 57th Brewery in Idaho, failing to count the Shattuck Brewery in Elk River, Idaho. So White Dog Brewing was actually the 58th Brewery in Idaho.

Mike Edmondson actually opened the doors to Clairvoyant Brewery for the very first time on Thursday, September 14th to the members of the Snake River Brewers homebrew club with an offering of four of their beers and giving the members a tour of the Clairvoyant 7 bbl brew system. He described it as being a "hands on" brew system without any automation.  It takes a lot of attention to brew 210 gallons of beer and it is a long brew day.

Mike behind the bar at Clairvoyants soft opening for the Snake River Brewers Club

Mike giving tour of the 7 bbl Brew System

It was a "Long and Winding Road" for Mike Edmondson, Ryan Kowalczyk and Tim Carter as their original target date for opening their brewery was way back in 2015.  Once they found their location and drew up their original plans, many changes pushed back their opening.

They originally were going to occupy half the the former garage/car repair shop at 2800 West Idaho street in Boise and brew their beer on a 2.5 beer barrel system.  After the business that was set to occupy the other half of their building pulled out, they decided to continue their plans, but now they would occupy the whole building and build a 7 bbl brew system.

Clairvoyant already had three competent brewers, but all of them had full time jobs.  The decision was made to add a full time brewer.  The following is a short story about their full time head brewer from their website:

Head Brewer, Eric Brooks 

Originally from Rockville, Maryland, Eric moved to Colorado after college to study and brew craft beer. There he met his fiancee Lindsey, a native Idahoan, who also worked in the craft beer industry. After having a baby named Madison, Lindsey and Eric decided it was time to move back home to her family in Boise.

Eric has been in the beer industry for almost 8 years. He brings his craft beer knowledge, artistry and practical skill to your pint glass. He enjoys brewing stouts, kettle sours, and non-traditional experimental beers. He also has a solid foundation in brewing the traditional favorites. 

Clairvoyant Brewing is located about a mile west of Boise City Center and just a few blocks from the Ester Simplot Water Park. It is a short walk for many customers in the neighborhood of 27th street and State Street.  There is very little parking in the brewery parking lot, but many of their regular customers will probably be able to walk or bike the short distance to this neighborhood pub.  There is a lot of on street parking in a two block radius of the brewery also.

Clairvoyant has a taproom but no restaurant.  It will rely on food trucks like many other Boise area breweries.

Statesman Video Story about Clairvoyant from 2016

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The Shattuck Brewery

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And now a little bit about the brewery that I overlooked earlier.

Idaho's 58th active brewery is easily the most remote brewery in the state.  It is about 50 miles east of Moscow, Idaho, nearly an hour & half drive through the scenic mountains.  It has a 10 bbl brew system.  Owner/Brewer Nate Schwartz is very proud of the pure mountain water that he uses to brew his wide variety of beer for the locals and the tourists.
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The Current list of Treasure Valley Breweries

*Breweries with Food  #Breweries with Tap Rooms

1. Highlands Hollow* - Boise
2. Sockeye BrewPub* - 2 Locations - Boise
3. The RAM - 2 locations* - Boise & Meridian
4. Crescent Brewery# - Nampa
5. Beer Valley Brewing Company- Ontario, OR
6. Payette Brewing# - Boise
7. Crooked Fence Brewing - Ada County
8. Slanted Rock# - Meridian
9. 10 Barrel Brewing* - Boise
10. Woodland Empire Ale Craft# - Boise
11. Edge Brewing* - Boise
12. Cloud Nine* - Boise
13. Boise Brewing#- Boise
14. Bear Island Brewing - Boise
15. Bella Brewing#  - Boise
16. County Line Brewery# - Boise
17. Barbarian Brewing# - Boise 
18. Powderhaus Brewing# - Boise 
19. Mother Earth Brewing# - Nampa
20. Mad Swede Brewing# - Boise 
21. White Dog Brewing* - Boise
22. Clairvoyant Brewing# - Boise

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 FUTURE SW IDAHO BREWERIES

23. Lost Grove Brewing - Boise October 2017
24. Spring Creek Brewing - 2018
25. New Caldwell Brewery at Stewarts - 2018
26. 2C Family Brewing - Nampa - 2018
27. Black Bird Brewing - 2019
28. Charters House Brewing - 2019
29. Summit Ridge Brewery  - 2019
30. Accomplice Brewing - 2019
31. Simian Brewing - 2019
32. Dandelion Brewing - 2019
33. WPA - 2019

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Latest Idaho Breweries List

WHITE DOG BREWING BECOMES IDAHO'S 57TH BREWERY ON SEPTEMBER 1ST

by Bob Hubler

Current and upcoming Beer List

I was pretty sure that White Dog Brewing would open the first week of September, but I was still surprised to see this message on their Facebook page on Friday: " We stayed up all night to get things ready, so our doors are open as of 11 a.m. today. Please accept our sincerest thanks for your ongoing interest, engagement, and enthusiasm. We can't wait to meet you."  It was posted at 2 minutes after 11:00.

I checked Facebook a little after 1:00 as I was preparing to do some yard work.  So I changed clothes and call my buddy, Mike Johnston, and told him to meet me at the old Table Rock Brewing location at 2:00 and I was on my way.

It was great to drink beer at 705 W. Fulton again; good beer and a wonderful staff.  Sara, the manager was very happy to take time to talk about the brewery, the beer and their concept of a full time food truck (fifth wheel).  Dan, owner and brewer, came over and talked about their beer and how they are planning to keep the history of Table Rock alive by offering two Table Rock signature beers, Hopzilla and TD's Nut Brown Ale.  The Hopzilla is currently on tap and brought back great memories as I drank a pint of one of my favorite beers reborn.  It was not on the untappd app, so I added it plus the new location.

My wife, Nelda and I have a long history of drinking beer at that location.  We were there on the opening day of Table Rock Brew Pub 26 years ago.  The original brewery was owned by Mike and Peggy Fitzgerald.  Their first Head Brewer was Terry Dennis, a long-time home brewer and member of Boise's first Home Brew Club, the Boise Quaffers.  Table Rock became our favorite restaurant in Boise.  We only lived three miles away, so we were there a lot.

We bought our first Growler there.  It was a clear bottle that still had an Apple Cider Vinegar label on it.  We used to buy a couple of growlers of TD's Nut Brown Ale on Christmas Eve every year.

Over the years we drank Table Rock beer brewed by Terry Dennis, Bob McSherry, Kerry Caldwell and Derek Anderson.  We drank beer brewed by Marvin Kinney when it was the Post Modern Brewery and now we are drinking beer brewed by White Dog Brewing's Dan Jordan and Troy Moore, who are both the owners and the brewers.

We are very excited to be able to take our friends to White Dog Brewing for food and drink. It is a new brewery to Boise but the location has been home to a brewery since 1991.

I checked out the new brewery on Friday and brought my wife to see it on Monday.  We planned to check out the food that they served from Smoke and Thyme.  Smoke and Thyme food is cooked in a fifth wheel mobile kitchen that sits in the alley next to White Dog.  You don't leave the tap room to order or get the food.  Your server at White Dog will take the order and deliver your food.  It is included in your bill at White Dog.  You can also order their food from the Longdrop Cider Company which is in the same building as White Dog.

This is where the food is prepared

I had the BLT (photo below).  It was very good and they served it on a slice of a tree.  Nelda had the street tacos that she loved. We are looking forward to trying some of their vegetarian fare, as well.

My BLT, served on a slice of log

When we visited Monday, Dan gave us tour of the brewery and showed us a few changes.  It still has the 15BBL original system, the wall was moved to allow more room for the brewing process.  The loss in floor space from the tap room was made up for by moving the wall where the former kitchen was. What's left of that space is now used for keg and canned beer storage.

The 15BBL Boil Kettle and Mash Tun

Fermentor containing a Fresh Hop Ale

Fermentors facing west

The old kitchen space holding cans of White Dog Beer

The old kitchen space holding kegs ready to distribute

White Dog Brewery becomes the 57th Brewery in Idaho (counting only current breweries) and 21st brewery in the Treasure Valley.  White Dog becomes the third brewery in Idaho that had a brewery in another state before coming to Idaho.  Ten Barrel Brewing opened it's second Brew Pub in Boise after their highly successful Brew Pub in Bend, Oregon.  Mother Earth Brewing opened a huge production brewery with a tap room in Nampa, Idaho.  Their first brewery was in Vista, California.

Oh....I can't forget the Frost Rail...it's fun to set your glass on its snowy surface to keep your beer cold.  And another great reason to sit at the bar.

The Frost Rail

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In other Valley Brewery news, I met Alvin Mullins at PreFunk Nampa. Alvin plans to open the  2C Family Brewery right across the street from PreFunk.  He originally was calling his  brewery Black Angel Brewing,  but another brewery took offense and threatened to "legal up" if he continued to use that name.  Alvin plans to have a tap room that will be open to families, hence the name.  We wish Alvin the best of luck on his new brewery, which will be the third brewery in Nampa.

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I talked to Heather and Ryan, the owners of  PreFunk Nampa about their upcoming expansion.  The expansion will double floor space of their business, but they do not plan to add a bottle shop.  They already sell a few bottles of very special releases.