POST FALLS - When the telecommunications industry tumbled and Doug and Nadine Martindale went with it last year, the Athol couple turned to their roots to rebound.

That meant brewing beer with a bi-plane theme.

"Going from making a couple hundred thousand a year between the two of us to unemployment in Idaho two weeks later pretty much turned our whole lives around," Doug said.

He sold his recreational toys and stock to recently open the couple's BiPlane Brewing Co. along Highway 41 in Post Falls.

"I've had to invest my entire retirement into the business, so it's either make it or break it right now," Doug said.

After 25 years, the Martindales' run in the telecommunications industry ended last year when both were laid off from Florida-based RJE Telecom.

Both worked on the construction side of the business and were on the road a lot, often in different areas away from their North Idaho home of 10 years.

"With all the wireless, the work just dried up," Doug said.

The couple has been brewing beer at home about 10 years - a hobby Nadine became familiar with from her grandmother, Bama Bell Hollingsworth, who grew her own hops and malted her own barley.

"It was a natural for us," Doug said. "Friends and family liked (the beers), so I thought we'd give it a go."

Doug's childhood hobby of building radio-controlled planes and his fascination of World War I planes was also natural for the theme.

An antique World War I replica plane - believed to be an Albatros and built in the 1950s - is the centerpiece decoration.

"It just amazes me what a couple guys would get into with little or no training and have dog fights in the air," said Doug, referring to bi-planes. "Some of them could barely get off the ground."

Nadine said Post Falls' central location between Coeur d'Alene, Spokane Valley and Rathdrum - and the nanobrewery's spot just north of Interstate 90 next to Starbucks Coffee - was the logical site to fill a niche in Post Falls. She is pleased with the response.

"I think a lot of people are excited to have something like this in their backyard," Nadine said.

The couple revived an old tradition - making beer in small batches and only selling it on site either with $4 pints or a sampler and take-home in kegs or "party pigs."

"They're drinking beer as fast as I can make it," Doug said. "It's very hands-on. Every day is a brew day."

Hauser's Curtis Heirston is glad that BiPlane landed in Post Falls.

"It's neat to see somebody start up from scratch and grow it," Heirston said on Tuesday while having a drink. "Good beer at a reasonable price and good folks."

The most popular choice is the "Bristol Bulldog," a brown ale with six different barley malts.

"Most people think that dark beers are hard and heavy, but this one goes down easily," Nadine said.

While BiPlane has had offers to distribute the beer to some local bars, it plans to stay small and refrain from mass producing.

"Our hope is that will save us from falling fast," Nadine said. "We're trying to hold prices down as much as possible and bring a good product to the hard-working people of Kootenai County.

"Even in tough times, a hard-working person deserves to have a good beer."

Nadine said the couple's experience of working long hours and business startups helped them in the transition.

"When one door closes, you've got to figure out how to open the other one," she said.