A Visit To No-Li Brewhouse With Head Brewer Mark Irvin

I was in Spokane, WA last week for Easter, and while I was in town I was lucky enough to get an invite from Owner/Partner John Bryant to tour the new No-Li Brewhouse and sample the new beers.  Originally named Northern Lights Brewery, I was very familiar with the facility and the beers, but much more than the name has changed since our last visit in March 2012.

Partner and Head Brewer Mark Irvin was nice enough to spend the afternoon giving me an inside look at the brewery and lots of great info on No-Li.  Mark started Northern Lights Brewing many years ago, and we’ve always loved his beers.  But I’m very excited to report that the partnership Mark & John have formed under the name No-Li Brewhouse has me very excited for their future.

Mark & John seem to have very similar backgrounds and goals for the new brewery and the synergy of this merger is palpable when you visit.  The brewery has added fermentation capacity and expanded into a 4,000 square foot facility just behind the brewery.  A new brewer has been added to the staff, 6 new bottled beers are hitting distribution and Mark even gave me a peek at a “test” barrel from the Dry Fly distillery.  Dry Fly is right next door to No-Li, and Mark has a Whiskey barrel loaded with his Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout.  This was just a small test batch, but with the distillery right next door, I suspect we’ll see more barrel-aged beers coming from No-Li in the future.

Mark let me sit in as he worked on a batch of their Born & Raised IPA, so the brewery smelled wonderful.  The 30bbl original brewhouse was in high gear and as you can see from the photos the hops additions were approaching.  It was even more enjoyable to carry with me a pint of Born & Raised IPA to be able to sample while the brew was underway.

As part of the tour I also was fortunate enough to get a peek at the new fermentation tanks Mark was installing and a look inside the new space just behind the brewery.  As you can see below, the space is currently filled with their new silk screened bottles, but Mark tells me they have much more planned for the space so stay tuned.

No-Li Brewing is currently bottling 6 beers, and Mark was not only nice enough to share some samples on draft, but also send us home with a bottle of each to share with my family & friends for Easter.

So how are the new beers?  They’re actually VERY good.  The family favorite was the GABF award winning Crystal Bitter ESB.  This beer is a traditional ESB, but it finishes very bright, crisp and clean.  My personal favorites were the new Born & Raised IPA and the Jet Star Imperial IPA.  Both beers are loaded with citrusy hops on both the nose & palate and both also have the signature bright clean finish.  Silent Treatment Pale ale is a really easy drinking Pale, with just enough hops to draw in the hop-lovers, but not so much that a traditional Pale Ale drinker would be put off.  

We finished the night with Mark’s Winter Warmer Ale and Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout and we really enjoyed both.  The Winter Warmer isn’t a traditional warmer, but it has lots of flavor and body, and the Wrecking Ball was a really enjoyable Imperial Stout with notes of coffee, chocolate and vanilla.
Before we ended the day I took the time to beg Mark to bring back my favorite former Northern Lights beer; Solar Winds.  This beer was loaded with Amarillo hops, and unfortunately No-Li has had trouble contracting them.  Hopefully we’ll see a new version return from No-Li in the future.

I’m really excited to see what will come next for No-Li and I expect you’ll be seeing higher and higher output in 2013.  The beers are really good, their distribution network is expanding and the energy and excitement at No-Li are absolutely contagious.  Be sure to check out the new No-Li bottles and better yet, stop up to the brewhouse in Spokane and feel the excitement for yourself.
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