Need a beer, Boise? Three new local breweries plan to open in 2020.

Even with two dozen breweries competing in the Treasure Valley, 2019 felt like a year of growth.

In Boise, Bear Island Brewing opened its long-awaited taproom. Edge Brewing launched a second brewpub. Mad Swede signed a lease on a second location. Craft Brewers of Boise started making and selling beer, with plans to package it. And in Nampa, 2C Family Brewing opened its doors.

So what should local beer drinkers expect in 2020?

More beer!

Three new breweries are preparing to open in Boise and Eagle. Here’s what to expect.

▪ If you’ve ever worked up a thirst at The Commons rock climbing gym on the Boise Bench, you’re in luck.

Bench House Brewing Co. is on track to open next door this summer — in what used to be an office building at 4795 W. Emerald St.

Co-owners Derek Brown and Cade Beck are inspired by world-renowned breweries such as Cantillon, Firestone Walker, Fremont, Side Project, Jester King and de Garde. An award-winning brewer, Brown spent over a year at Laughing Dog Brewing in Ponderay and almost five at Woodland Empire Ale Craft in Boise. He’ll be the head brewer at Bench House.

The brewery will open with a 2 1/2-barrel brewhouse, Beck says. (To put that in perspective, Boise brewery Cloud 9, which proudly calls itself a “nanobrewery,” has a four-barrel system.) Bench House beers will flow from nine taps; a 10th will feature a non-Bench House hard cider. Patrons should expect a variety of staple beer styles such as West Coast IPA, hazy IPA, hefeweizen and kolsch. “Maybe a pilsner, tripel and/or saison,” Beck says. “In the winter, we will do a seasonal barrel-aged stout, maybe a barley wine, quad, doppelbock, et cetera.

“We do like Belgian,” Beck says, “and I would point out that includes farmhouse, in general, as well as wild ales. Recently, Derek brewed a saison with a Lithuanian farmhouse yeast and infused the brewing water with grape pomace from Split Rail (Winery). It turned out quite nice. Derek is more creative than me, but I am more technical. As the lab/QC manager, my long-term goal is to find a wild yeast and cultivate and ‘domesticate’ to a house strain. I have a background in bioengineering and will use these technical skills to our advantage.”

Bench House won’t have a lab when it opens, but that’s a future goal. The same goes for a kitchen. Initially, Bench House will have its own food truck. “Our chef is still working out the concept for what our menu will entail,” marketing director Christy Brown explains.

With a space that will hold about 50 patrons, an outdoor patio and on-site parking, the neighborhood’s first brewpub has the potential to be something special. And if you don’t want beer? In addition to that cider tap, Bench House will lure customers with a “well-curated wine list and some fun non-alcoholic beverages,” Christy Brown promises.

Online: benchhousebrewco.com.

▪ If you love beer, Spring Creek Brewing Company wants to be your Cupid. The brewery and pizzeria should be open around Valentine’s Day, if all goes according to plan.

The community-owned brewery will serve the Avimor area at 18651 N. Streams Edge Way, 5 miles north of Eagle off Idaho 55.

“We have our master brewer and executive chef hired,” co-founder and CEO Marc Gruber says, “and will begin full staffing sometime in January.”

The newly constructed, 5,800-square-foot building sits on about an acre of land. There will be seating for about 100 inside, and 60 on an outdoor patio.

Spring Creek plans to offer seven beer styles initially, eventually expanding to a 14-beer rotation. A seven-barrel, steam-fired brewing system was delivered from Portland Kettle Works the week before Christmas. Wine and cider also will be sold.

Customers will be able to soak up the libations with wood-fired pizza, sandwiches, salads and soups, along with weekly specials.

Online: springcreekbrewing.com.

▪ Cruised through downtown Eagle lately? You’ve probably noticed a brewery sign in front of an empty building at 281 E. State St.

Gem State Brewing is coming (although not in spring 2020, as the sign indicates). And that old building is going away.

Chris McGinnis and his wife, Kristl Caron, bought the property. They hope to break ground this spring. Gem State Brewing could be open by late summer — although that’s probably optimistic.

“We are still getting our permits together for the building, so those are rough timelines,” says McGinnis, a former brewer at County Line Brewing in Garden City. “Once we break ground, we will have a much better idea of how long the construction will take ... .”

At nearly 5,000 square feet, Gem State Brewing will be a major new draw in Eagle. The building design includes a 750-square-foot mezzanine overlooking a 15-barrel brewhouse and taproom. A kitchen is not planned, but patrons will be welcome to bring in food from nearby restaurants.

“The space is designed to be a community gathering point that will be family- and dog-friendly,” McGinnis says. “... As for beer styles, I’ve brewed everything under the sun. Our aim is to have 15 taps with four to five permanent flagships and 10 or so small batch/seasonal rotation brews.”

Online: gemstatebrewing.com.

This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 4:51 PM.