POST FALLS - It's out with the old and in with the brew.

That sums up how the Selkirk Abbey Brewing Co. - expected to open sometime in June along Seltice Way between Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene - was born.

A state law dating back to Prohibition days prevented the same brewer from owning more than one brewery.

Selkirk's hurdle made legislators keen on job creation thirsty for a change this session, so the law was amended to allow a brewer to own two breweries.

Owners Robert Wallace and Jeff Whitman, who plan to partner with Fred Colby of Laughing Dog Brewing in Ponderay, toast the brew breakthrough.

"I was nauseous," Whitman said about his reaction to learning about the law when their application for a state alcohol license was denied earlier this year. "I got a lot of dough stuck in this."

Without Colby as a partner, Whitman said the venture would be a "big risk."

"Having Fred involved gives us a huge leg up on any starting brewer," Whitman said.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, and Reps. George Eskridge, R-Dover, and Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, were the primary supporters of the law that takes effect July 1.

Colby, in the meantime, has given up his shares in Selkirk so the company can get its state license and open before the law changes. Colby plans to be co-owner again on July 1.

The concept of Selkirk began when Whitman and Wallace met over beers at Enoteca in Post Falls and later got acquainted with Colby at a Laughing Dog tasting event.

"We got into a discussion about Belgian beers, and sealed it with a handshake at Fred's around Christmas in 2010," Whitman said. "Belgians are on fire right now. They give you a lot of versatility."

Whitman said a variety of Belgian-style beers will be made, but he declined to say what they'll be named until they're sold. He said the beers will be sold at Enoteca and Pilgrim's Natural Foods this summer initially to start, in addition to on site, with the hope they will be available at most local grocery outlets in the future.

"We'll have one with an alcohol content of around 15 percent that will be a monster," Whitman said with a smile, adding that it may be a year before it's sold.

The business at 6180 E. SelticeWay in the former Habitat for Humanity building supply store features a dimly-lit Gothic-themed tap room with a seating capacity of 28.

The place is decorated with antique cathedral lights, photos of historic Trappist monasteries where beer was brewed and a modern fireplace.

The brewing and bottling operations will be housed in the back.

The business will have snacks, but not meals.

"I don't want to run a restaurant," Whitman said. "I want to brew beer."

Whitman and Wallace will be the lone employees to start, but about a dozen are expected a year or so down the road.

Whitman estimates $500,000 has been invested in the business. The location is good for both visibility and shipments of grain and hops to arrive, he said.

"It's in the middle of an industrial complex, so there's nobody that you're going to make angry and most of the places around us close shop between 3 and 5 p.m.," Whitman said.