Having established a foothold in North Idaho in its first year of operation, Downdraft is setting its sights on Spokane.

The Post Falls brewery, which celebrates its first anniversary Saturday, has signed with KBI Craft for distribution in Eastern Washington. The first kegs shipped Thursday and a sales push starts Monday.

“That kind of hits home for us,” says Aimee Brayman, a partner in the brewery along with her husband, Nick; co-brewer Nolan Garrett; and Nick’s parents, Dee and Jerry Brayman.

“We all live here in Spokane, so once we see those first taps pop up around here, it’s going to be like, whoa, we’re actually a brewery.”

With new accounts to supply, adding more tanks to boost production is a priority for the 10-barrel brewery’s second year. Longer-range goals include canning, and possibly adding some small-scale food offerings at the taproom.

And while the focus so far has been on the core lineup, Downdraft also hopes to produce more small-batch beers for its Winds of Change pilot tap. Another arrives Saturday for the anniversary party, a Vanilla Stout infused with vanilla bean pods.

There also will be a full-batch seasonal Gingersnap Stout, with candied ginger, molasses, cardamom and cloves. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Downdraft brewed a five-gallon test batch last December that was a taproom hit.

And the Project Pale will be pouring over orange, cinnamon sticks and cloves through the brewery’s newly installed Randall.

That all starts when the doors open at 1 p.m. Things hit full stride at 6, with the arrival of live music by Fair 2 Middlin’ and food from Nick’s Shameless Sausages.

Also look for free homemade soft ginger cookies and pumpkin bar bites with cream cheese frosting, while supplies last.         

It might seem a bit early in the season for graduation parties, but Downdraft is throwing one tomorrow – for a beer.

The pilot IPA previously known as Winds of Change 1.0 will officially join the regular lineup as Third Channel, in honor of the Post Falls dam.

Third Channel (7.5 percent alcohol by volume, 102 International Bitterness Units) – full of Cascade and Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus hops – was originally brewed as an alternative to the brewery’s flagship IPA, the smoother, Chinook single-hop Seltice SMaSH  (7.2, 70).

“People were asking, when are you going to do an IPA with more punch-in-the-face type hops?” says Downdraft’s Aimee Brayman.

A second batch, with a few tweaks, is in line to be tapped tomorrow. “It’s spot-on, more hop forward,” Brayman says.

Third Channel will be on special for $3 per pint, and $8 for a growler fill. Each pint purchase between 4 and 8 p.m., when the King of Tacos food truck also will be on hand, earns a raffle ticket toward some schwag.

Meanwhile, more beers are in the works for the experimental Winds of Change series, including an India red ale and something lighter like a session IPA or pilsner for summer.

Area brewers are gradually getting back into gear with the holidays in the rear-view. Among today’s developments:

- River City just tapped the latest in its Experimental Series of pilot recipes, this time a single-hop Palisade Pilsner (6 percent alcohol by volume, 40 International Bitterness Units).  

Palisade hops, known for fruity, floral notes along with an herbal, grassy character, also were used along with Citra in the first three experimental releases, a series of IPAs. These are quarter-barrel batches, or about 8 gallons, so be warned – they don’t last long.

- After two months of operation, Downdraft Brewing is expanding its business hours starting this week.

The Post Falls brewery now will be pouring Tuesdays and Wednesdays, along with Thursdays, from 4 to 9 p.m. And it will be open an hour later on Fridays, from 4 to 10 p.m., and Saturdays, from 1 to 10 p.m.

- Twelve String has put together its latest barrel-aged creation (as pictured above): Harmony Honey Wheat in a tequila barrel along with grapefruit and lactobacillus, a bacteria used to produce sour beers.

The summery-sounding concoction should be ready by May or June, by which time all this fog and slush will just be a distant memory.  

Sometimes, all you really need is a calm, comfortable refuge for taking shelter from life’s storms.

Downdraft Brewing (formerly Cloudburst), which officially opens today in Post Falls, is shaping up to be just that sort of place. It’s the painstakingly shepherded project of two homebrewing couples, Nick and Aimee Brayman, and Nolan and Andrea Garrett.  

Tucked into a rear corner space in the Treaty Rock business plaza on Seltice Way, the taproom is cool and inviting with its gray walls, black furnishings and plentiful windows. Silver ductwork runs overhead, while a structure made from copper tubing frames the sparkling black granite-topped bar.

A large three-dimensional logo sign hangs over the taps on the wall behind, with hanging lights wrapped in chicken wire adding an unusual touch.

The initial beer offerings from the 10-barrel brewhouse are just as clean and straightforward as the surroundings.

The lightest, Project Pale (5 percent alcohol by volume, 36 International Bitterness Units) – so named because of its experimental nature – gets its bready, slightly sweet body from Maris Otter, Munich and caramel malts, and finishes dry with hints of Summit and Cascade hops.

An Anonymous Amber (AA, for short; 5.5, 38) is equally easy-drinking, with a lightly hoppy character from dry-hopping with Cascades.

The more distinctive Seltice SMaSH India pale ale (7.2, 70) – that’s the beer-geek acronym for “Single Malt and Single Hop” – is all pale malt and Chinook hops, with fruity, floral notes on the way to a big piney finish. It goes down deceptively smooth for its strength.

While seldom seen around Spokane breweries, brown ales are more common in North Idaho, and Exit 5 (6.2, 33) doesn’t disappoint. Named after the freeway turnoff for the brewery, it’s fairly dry and toasty for the style, with a hop presence that’s likely to get dialed down a bit in future batches – so if that sounds like your sort of thing, get it while  you can.

Rounding out the regular lineup is Black Beryl Stout (6.5, 50), full-flavored with some creamy smoothness and the requisite coffee and chocolate notes.

Downdraft has a red-colored tap handle that’s designated for experimental or one-off brews. First up is Half Cracked Stout (4.7, 50), which was the first attempt at the Black Beryl – except half of the chocolate malt didn’t crack properly during grinding, reducing its contribution to the finished beer. The result is a sort of session stout with the stronger flavors of black malt and Irish roasted barley coming to the fore.

Other styles under consideration for future brews include a light Belgian grisette, a porter, an India red ale and a more malt-balanced IPA.

But for now, the Downdraft crew is just happy to finally get the doors open. Check it out today from 1 to 9 p.m., with the Shameless Sausages food truck due to arrive at 4:30.

After a bit of a drought, the Inland Northwest is about to add another new brewery.

Downdraft Brewing in Post Falls has announced its grand opening next weekend, Nov. 1 from 1 to 9 p.m.

The project of a pair of homebrewing couples, Downdraft originally was planned for the Spokane Valley as Cloudburst Brewing, but later changed the location (to the Treaty Rock Center business plaza on Seltice Way), and the name (because of a trademark issue).

Launching with a 10-barrel system, it will focus on straightforward styles including an amber, pale, IPA, brown and stout.

Downdraft will be the first brewery in Post Falls proper since the closure of BiPlane Brewing last November. (Selkirk Abbey has a Post Falls address, but is much closer to Coeur d’Alene.)

It’s also the first brewery opening in the area since Perry Street Brewing in March, following a string of six openings in five months in late 2013 and early 2014.

More are on the way. The 238 Brewing Company is awaiting final federal approval before becoming Green Bluff’s second brewery, while construction continues at Black Label in downtown Spokane and Daft Badger in Coeur d’Alene.