Kootenai River Brewing Company builds progress towards beer expansion

BONNERS FERRY — Overlooking the Kootenai River at the corner of Riverside Street sits the Kootenai River Brewing Company, which specializes in microbrews that contain locally sourced materials and features a selection of quality pub foods.

KRBC is excited about the future and increased business opportunities as COVID-19 restrictions in neighboring states open up and allow people to travel more.

The brewery is a family-based business, owned and operated by Michael Naumann, brewer Daniel Simpson and employs a large staff.

Naumann started brewing 20 years ago and blames his wife for encouraging his passion for brewing beer.

“It’s my wife’s fault. She bought me a beer making kit for Christmas in the year 2000, so I started making beer,” Naumann said, “We started going to craft breweries 20 years ago, and that was good beer and a lot nicer and more us than going to a winery.”

The brewery can function smoothly because of a friendly and supportive staff that includes: Mike Carmean, Dale Cook, Eddie Matchett, Bonnie Matchett, Kimberly Helsper, Chelsea Hartman, Deborah Fletcher, Amanda Fairchild, Julie Edwards, Kileah Crum, Cindy Sumpter, Jada Fairchild, Hailie Drake, Fairchild and Kaylee Sumpter.

COVID-19 affected on-premise beer licensees and forced many to close their doors or restrict occupancy of businesses drastically. These restrictions caused brewers, distributors and retailers around the county to scramble on what to do with the untapped kegs of draft beer.

“A lot less people are coming in,” Naumann said. “The Canadians are not coming, so that’s a huge loss.

According to Naumann, the business could ride the storm to stay open with the Payment Protection Program’s help, which kept his staff employed with a limited schedule.

“We never closed down; we reduced our seating to half,” Naumann said.

The future for KRBC includes focusing on building on their seven main beers and distributing its craft brews to three neighboring states for bars and restaurants that carry their beer.

“We’re gonna concentrate on the beer part of it, and we’re gonna be going into full production,” Naumann said.

The brewery offers kegs, growlers and is planning to begin bottling their beers to be offered to locals and businesses who want to try the award-winning beers.

The U.S. economy has almost 400,000 licensed on-premise establishments that include bars, taverns, restaurants and nightclubs. Draft beer sold into these accounts represents 10 percent of all beer volumes in the marketplace; a more significant percentage affects breweries.

According to an article written by Joshua M. Bernstein, author of “Drink Better Beer and The Complete Beer Course” that was published on the beverage Industry website: “The independent craft beer market was worth an estimated $29.3 billion in retail spending in 2019, with about 50 percent of spending occurring on-premise.”

There is no other local microbrewery to Bonners Ferry; the nearest breweries are in Libby or Sandpoint. KRBC provides a much-needed service for residents of Boundary, and with the utilization of local ingredients,

What makes the region unique for brewing beer is the placement along the 49 parallel, similar in climate to the Bavarian beer growing region, which allows local growers to grow many European varieties that prefer long warm days and cool nights are found in Boundary County.

According to Simpson, terroir places a significant factor in the quality of beer. Terroir is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat.

According to Best Things Idaho, KRBC is regarded as one of the best in all of Idaho and stated, “Having won awards at the Great American Beer Festival, this brew company hosts some of the best beer in North Idaho. Everyone needs a true taste of Idahome with the huckleberry wheat beer, a sweet yet surprising taste.”

Simpson has an extensive background in beer which started as a hobby and quickly turned into a passion that he pursued. He started taking courses at Oregon State University in fermentation science and was hired on at Rogue Ales and spent years working in the distillery and the brewery. Eventually, Simpson began his family and moved to Boundary County, where he started his journey at KRBC.

The brewery will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Aug. 5, 2021, and hopes to plan an event to celebrate.

According to Simpson, beer sales have gone up overall after beer consumption saw behavioral changes due to people not drinking on the premise but ordering kegs, growlers and bottled drinks.

“They say when times are tough, people drown sorrows in beer, and when times get good, they celebrate with beer,” Simpson said.

A passionate Simpson looks forward to restrictions lifting and quenching everyone’s beer thirst with top crafted brews and even has recommendations for a person looking to get into craft brews.

According to Simpson, if you’re new to beer, then the huckleberry is a considerable favorite. If you enjoy West Coast IPAs, then the Grizzly IPA is a favorite, and Sessions is a hoppy and light beer that many prefer.

Staff member Kimberly Helsper expects business to boom as the restrictions open because you can’t go wrong with ice-cold beer brewed in-house. If you were to ask Helsper her recommendations, she would say, try the Grizzly IPA or the McGregor Scottish Ale, aged in barrels on location.

“Thank you for supporting our local business and keep coming down and enjoy the beer and great service.

The Kootenai River Brewing Company is located at 6424 Riverside St, Bonners Ferry and can be reached at 208-267-4677.