Expanding to Boise, Idaho’s largest brewery to open tasting room with ‘awesome’ patio

Two years after expanding from Southern California to Nampa, Mother Earth Brew Co. became the largest beer producer in Idaho.

Three years later, it will be able to call itself a Boise brewery.

Mother Earth has leased a 4,200-square-foot building at 406 S. 3rd St. — 3rd and Broad streets. The space will become a new tasting room and nanobrewery, founder and president Daniel Love said.

Mother Earth has been on a three-year quest to find the right spot, Love said. He’s targeting an August opening.

“I’m going to try to do the best I can to be able to represent downtown,” Love said, “and make it a place that people want to come to.”

After the building is vacated by Lone Cone, a children’s clothing company, Mother Earth will start the transformation. It will include about 3,000 square feet of taphouse. Another 1,200 square feet will be private space. “I’m going to deck it out to be a room with a TV that people can rent,” Love said.

In addition to 30-plus taps, the remodeled pub also will feature a small, 15-gallon brewing system used for research and development.

Love is excited about the potential outside. With tables, corn hole and “tons of bike racks,” Mother Earth will offer a 3,000-square-foot patio, visible from the tasting room through a large roll-up door and two roll-up windows.

“The patio is just going to be awesome,” Love said, “with the landscaping and the lighting and the ability to take full advantage, when we can, outdoors.”

Nestled at the bottom of the eight-story River Caddis apartment complex, Mother Earth will have a built-in clientele. Customers will be able to enjoy popular Mother Earth pours such as Boo Koo IPA and Cali Creamin’, plus beer and wine from other brands. And, yes, soft drinks. All ages will be allowed.

“We will have a food truck there,” Love added. “I don’t know if it’s going to be 24-7, but we’ll create some kind of contract with somebody to have food there Thursday through Sunday, at least.”

Founded in San Diego County in 2010, Mother Earth opened its second, larger brewery in Nampa in 2016. The Vista, California, location continues to operate, but Nampa brews the majority of Mother Earth’s beer, including all packaged product. The Idaho brewery increased its production to 22,500 barrels in 2020, Love said.

Mother Earth sells beer in 18 U.S. states. After expanding distribution to Singapore, Australia and Mexico last year, its beer is now available in 12 countries.

Even after the new Boise location debuts, the Nampa tasting room will remain open at 1428 Madison Ave., Love said. But having a flagship taproom in the heart of Boise will feel special, he added.

“It was one of the reasons that we brought the facility here,” Love said, “to eventually find the right spot in downtown.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 4:00 AM.