Boise’s Payette Brewing aims to reopen in June
After a soft opening in late April, the new $4.5 million Payette Brewing Co. facility has attracted a tidal wave of enthusiastic beer drinkers, food trucks, even live music.
“It’s so much fun,” Payette founder Mike Francis told me last week.
But the party is over for now. Idaho’s largest brewery hosted an outdoor event last Saturday, but the taproom hasn’t been open since mid-May. Until it clears final paperwork hurdles, Payette in Boise is closed.
“We don’t have our full beer and wine license,” Francis explains. “We’re working through the process. It’s taking a little longer than we expected.”
Using the license from its Garden City brewery, Payette tapped catering permits to unroll the red carpet at 733 S. Pioneer St. in Boise. But legally, that keg has run dry. Temporary permits aren’t an option anymore.
Hopeful beer drinkers are greeted by “closed” signage at the door explaining the hiccup.
Patience, barhopper.
Payette’s original Garden City taproom at 111 W. 33rd St. “is still rocking and rolling,” Francis says. Check out this weeklong Memorial Day deal: You can pick up $6 canned six packs and $12 canned 12 packs through Sunday: Rustler IPA, Mutton Buster Brown, North Fork Lager, Payette Pale, Fly Line Vienna Lager, Rodeo Rye Pale and Bonanza Golden Ale. The brewery will be closed Memorial Day.
Barring unforeseen red-tape snags, Payette’s much-anticipated Boise brewery will resume pouring beers — seven days a week — at the beginning of June.
Keep your fingers crossed and growlers rinsed.
Michael Deeds: 208-377-6407, @michaeldeeds
This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Boise’s Payette Brewing aims to reopen in June."