Fetching the Good Life One Beer at a Time
By Haley Grugel
Photos Kimberlee Miller
Over the past few years craft beer has become extremely popular in Boise and all around the Pacific Northwest. Whether it be at your favorite restaurant or local grocery store, run-of-the-mill domestic selections are just not what’s keeping people excited about beer anymore. Craft beer generally refers to much smaller batches of beer that emphasize different flavors and brewing techniques. With their opening on September 1, 2017, White Dog Brewing joined Boise’s growing craft brewing community. Located downtown on Fulton Street, White Dog is open seven days a week to all ages.
White Dog was originally opened by two brothers, Troy and Joe Moore, in Bozeman, Montana three years ago. The name White Dog came from Cami, Joe’s dog who was a yellow lab. The new Boise location is run by Dan Jordan, friend to the brothers and now co-owner of White Dog. The brothers originally started as home brewers in their garage with a pilot brewing system. Troy, now head brewer, went to college in Alaska and studied science. Dan obtained a degree in natural resource management and process technology. Dan explained that Troy’s background in science has really influenced White Dog’s delicious beer list. He says that when Troy gets an idea, like a scientist, he understands his ingredients and how they work together and rather than just putting things together and seeing what happens he has a goal in mind. With that goal, he works backwards to develop the steps to brewing his craft beer. Dan, having a process technology background, runs the machine portion of the operation.
When talking about craft beer, there are many different styles and flavors. Dan says that when deciding what new beer they’re going to creative, they consider what fits the menu and what fun ingredients they have to work with. He says that, “their goal when brewing is to produce high quality, balanced, drinkable, and consistent beers.” Their beers are also inspired by real animals and you can find the story behind every beer on their website.
White Dog’s location is a large open space set up with board games and arcade machines, so the entire family can have a good time. The walls are covered in beautiful dog art true to their name. Unlike most breweries, White Dog has a permanent on-site food truck, Smoke and Thyme, so you don’t have to worry about getting hungry. Smoke and Thyme serves three different establishments in the area with full menus at each and tableside service. One of the most interesting aspects to White Dog is their frost rail. This is quite literally a rail of frost that runs down their entire bar to keep your beer cold.
This Fall, you can expect fresh hopped beers crafted with local hops from Parma and Wilder as well as a few Oktoberfest beers. Dan also said they will be doing some limited releases for Black Friday including barrel aged sours and saisons. White Dog Brewing just celebrated its year anniversary in Boise and is on track to continue to produce more amazing craft beer for years to come.
Check them out on Facebook or visit their website for more information, whitedogbrewing.com.
