On Monday, Bryan Johnson of Westwood brewery, took home the very first “North Idaho Brewers Cup.” 

The competition’s final selection was held at Capone’s Pub and Grill in Midtown and was organized by Kris Herambourg, a beer maker of 20 years and owner of Kaniksu Brewing.

Johnson was proud to take part in the competition, calling the beginning of something like it “special.”  

“I’m really glad to be a part of the start of all of this,” he said. “I love the community aspect of the competition.”

The Brewers Cup is a grassroots competition, started by several local breweries to establish and continue to build a community of local beermakers, brewmasters and beer-drinkers.

Outpost Brewing, Brewscape Beer Co., Chalice Brewing, Trails End Brewery, Bombastic Brewing, Vantage Point Brewing, Knucklehead Brewery, Westwood Brewing Co. and Kaniksu Brewing all took part in the competition. 

Breweries split up into teams, brewed a beer and put it on sale. Customers were then given ballots, to which they would try all of the competition's beers and then vote based upon their favorites. 113 people voted, selecting the Westwood Brewing Co. and Kaniksu Brewery team beer.   

They submitted a dark beer called “Dark as Helles.” Johnson said it was supposed to “drink like a lager” and that it had notes of “roastiness” and “chocolatiness.” 

Johnson’s favorite part of the competition was the search for the participating breweries’ beers across North Idaho. 

“It was a really fun quest to go out and try everyone’s beer,” he said.  

Even after winning the trophy, Johnson remained humble and was happy 

“We are all in this together,” he said. “The more we support each other, the better the community and the beers are going to be.” 

Part of the reason for the occasion was the simple fact that people aren’t drinking like they used to.

According to a Gallup Poll, the percentage of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, the lowest point in almost 90 years. 

Months ago, Herambourg decided it was time to establish the North Idaho Brewers Cup.

The afternoon’s tastebud tour of 10 breweries from around Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls aimed to get would-be beer lovers back to enjoying tastefully crafted lagers – not brewed by big-time household companies, but in the customers’ back yard, by their neighbors. 

“Eventually,” the Newman Lake, Wash., native said, “they’re going to drink good beer again.”

Johnson called the decline in alcoholic beverage consumption a part of “beer history” and that it “isn’t anything new.” 

“Breweries will survive,” he said.   

Not only does Herambourg want simple beer lovers to return to savoring the art of brew, he also intends to turn this event into a biannual gathering. 

If all goes well, he wants fellow breweries from Sandpoint, Wallace and St. Maries to flock to Capone’s to see who the next enterprise will be to get their name on the North Idaho Brewers Cup.

“That’s what it’s really all about,” Herambourg said of the local brewers’ community. “We’re all friends. We’re all brothers and sisters.”

    Owners of several local breweries pose together and celebrate their very first competition.