No-Li Brewhouse is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

and restaurant in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

, United States, co-founded by brewmaster Mark Irvin and beer industry executive John Bryant, expanding on Irvin's Northern Lights Brewery. The brewery is known for its emphasis on local sourcing and local production; in 2013 it was designated a "Spokane Style Beer" producer. Formerly known as Northern Lights Brewing, the company markets such beers as Born & Raised IPA and Big Juicy IPA. No-Li Brewhouse beverages are licensed for distribution in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. The brewery has won various international awards for its beers. No-Li Brewhouse is the oldest active brewery in Spokane. It is also Spokane's largest

brewpub Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

, located at the edge of the

Spokane River The Spokane River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and eastern Washington in the United States. It drains a low mountainous area east of the Columbia, passing through the Spokane Valley and the city of ...

near

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

. The company logo celebrates the Skyride over

Spokane Falls Spokane Falls is the name of a waterfall and dam on the Spokane River, located in the central business district in downtown Spokane, Washington. The city of Spokane was also initially named "Spokane Falls". History The Native American name for ...

History

The brewery was founded in 1993 as Northern Lights Brewery, first focusing on delivering kegs to restaurants. Brewmaster Mark Irvin started the brewery in

Airway Heights, Washington Airway Heights is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States, just west of Spokane. The population was 10,757 at the 2020 census. The city's name was taken from its close proximity to the runways at Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane ...

, after working at Coeur d'Alene Brewing in Idaho and Hale's Ales in Seattle, Washington. In June 2002, Irvin moved Northern Lights from Airway to Spokane, its current location, to open as a brewpub. Beer industry executive John Bryant tasted Irvin's brews from time to time and in November 2011 offered a partnership. Bryant was a craft beer industry veteran, formerly associated with several beer brands, notably as vice president of sales and marketing of

Deschutes Brewery Deschutes Brewery is a craft brewery in the northwest United States, located in Bend, Oregon. Founded in 1988 as a brew pub, it is known for such products as Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale. In 2008, the brewery opened a second pub in ...

, and chief operating officer of

Odell Brewing Company Odell Brewing Company is an independent craft brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. It's the 23rd largest U.S. craft brewing company by the Brewers Association (based on 2018 beer sales volume). Odell Brewing is known for their hop-forward and balanc ...

. Bryant worked to give the company an exclusive brand. The name "Northern Lights" was dropped in early 2012 after another American brewer,

Starr Hill Brewery Starr Hill Brewery was founded in 1999 in the town of Charlottesville, Virginia, by Mark Thompson and Kristin Dolan. The brewery takes its name from the neighborhood where it was originally located. In 2005, the brewery moved to nearby Crozet, Vi ...

, did not respond to any of Bryant's requests to negotiate licensing for the brand which it was using for an IPA product. Bryant consulted with Greg Owsley, formerly chief of branding at New Belgium Brewing, and they worked with graphic artist Riley Cran in early 2012 to create a new logo and a series of new labels. Under Irvin and Bryant, Northern Lights officially rebranded as No-Li Brewhouse in April 2012. The logo shows three

gondolas The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...

which represent the Skyride over

, a recreational aerial lift installed for

Expo '74 Expo '74, officially known as the International Exposition on the Environment, Spokane 1974, was a world's fair held May 4, 1974, to November 3, 1974 in Spokane, Washington in the northwest United States. It was the first environmentally themed ...

and operated by Spokane ever since. (The brewhouse displays an original gondola from the ride.) No-Li soon entered several international beer competitions in North America, Japan and Europe, winning Gold, Silver and bronze medals.

Production

The brewery produced 2,400 barrels of beer in 2012, 5,500 barrels in 2013, and was expected to produce about 8,000 in 2014. In September 2014, country music singer

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

stopped by No-Li Brewhouse during a tour which included Spokane, and he liked the beverages enough to direct his road manager to buy hundreds of dollars of beer to take with him.

Mission

No-Li Brewhouse places high importance on the ingredients of its brews being locally sourced, with local labor used to produce the beverages. The company began offering in September 2013 what it called "Fresh Sheet Kegs" to customers in Seattle and Portland. In April 2013, No-Li Brewhouse received the newly approved federal designation of Spokane Style Beer, to differentiate beers made by Spokane area residents, with ingredients drawn from a radius.

Recognition

*2012 – Gold medal for Crystal Bitter ESB at the

Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. ...

*2012 – Gold medal for Crystal Bitter ESB at the International Beer Competition in Yokohama, Japan *2012 – Silver medal for Born & Raised IPA at the International Beer Competition in Yokohama, Japan *2012 – Silver medal for Silent Treatment IPA at the Brussels International Beer Competition *2012 – Silver medal for Crystal Bitter ESB at the Brussels International Beer Competition *2012 – Bronze medal at the European Beer Star Competition *2013 – Top Brewery to Watch, ''

Draft Magazine ''DRAFT'' was an American magazine about beer and beer culture, published between September 2006 and August 2017 by DRAFT Publishing. Erika Rietz was the founder and editor-in-chief. The magazine was headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. It was purch ...

'' *2013 – Best of the Northwest, by the ''

Seattle Post Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'' *2013 – ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'' Top 21 Beers of the Year: Crystal Bitter ESB *2013 – Bronze medal for Born & Raised IPA at the Australian International Beer Awards *2013 – Bronze medal for Silent Treatment Pale at the Australian International Beer Awards *2013 – Silver medal for Crystal Bitter ESB at the Australian International Beer Awards *2014 – Silver medal for Créme Ale at the Great International Beer & Cider Competition *2014 – Gold medal for Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout at the Great International Beer & Cider Competition *2014 – Gold medal for Aksel at the Great International Beer & Cider Competition *2014 – Silver medal for Rise & Grind at the Brussels International Beer Competition *2014 – Gold medal for Blackfill at the Brussels International Beer Competition *2015 – Bronze medal for Mosh Pit Tart Cherry at the Australian International Beer Awards *2015 – Bronze medal for Rise & Grind at the Australian International Beer Awards *2016 – Bronze medal for Born & Raised IPA at the Australian International Beer Awards *2016 – Silver medal for Red, White & No-Li at the Great International Beer & Cider Competition *2016 – Silver medal for Rise & Grind at the Brussels Beer Competition *2016 – Silver medal for Spin Cycle Red at the European Beer Star *2016 – Large Brewery of the year at the Washington Brewers Festivals *2017 – Bronze medal for Born & Raised IPA at the Australian International Beer Awards *2017 – Silver medal for Big Juicy IPA at the Australian International Beer Awards *2017 – Bronze medal for Spin Cycle Red at the Brussels Beer Challenge *2018 – Silver medal for Born & Raised IPA at the Washington Brewers Festival *2018 – Bronze medal for Falls Porter at the Australian International Beer Awards *2018 – Bronze medal for Born & Raised IPA at the Australian International Beer Awards *2018 – Silver medal for Born & Raised IPA at the 2018 World Beer Cup *2019 – Bronze medal for Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout at the Australian Beer Awards *2020 – Gold medal for Cascade Fog Hazy IPA at the World Beer Awards *2020 – Silver medal for Red, White & Hazy IPA at the World Beer Awards *2020 – Gold medal for Red, White & Hazy IPA at the Best of the Northwest SIP *2020 – Silver Medal for Corner Coast Golden Ale at the Best of the Northwest SIP Magazine *2020 – Gold medal for Born & Raised IPA at the Brussels Beer Challenge *2020 – Gold medal for Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout at the Brussels Beer Challenge *2020 – Silver medal for Big Juicy IPA at the US Open Beer Championship *2020 – Spokane Philanthropic Small Business of the Year *2021 - Double Gold medal - Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout - New York International Beer Competition *2021 - Gold medal - Porch Glow Amber Ale - New York International Beer Competition *2021 - Silver medal - Cascade Fog Hazy IPA - New York International Beer Competition *2021 - Bronze medal - Red, White & Hazy IPA - New York International Beer Competition *2021 - Bronze medal - Jet Juiced IPA - New York International Beer Competition *2021 - Washington Brewery of the Year - New York International Beer Competition *2021 - Silver - Threezy Does It - Australian International Brewing Awards *2021 - Silver - Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout - Australian International Brewing Awards *2021 - Silver - Red, White & Hazy - Australian International Brewing Awards *2021 - Silver - Jet Juiced IPA - Australian International Brewing Awards *2021 - Bronze - Cascade Fog Hazy IPA - Australian International Brewing Awards *2021 - Gold - Corner Coast Golden Ale - Can Can Awards *2021 - Bronze - Threezy Does It Hazy IPA - Can Can Awards *2021 - Gold - Red, White & Hazy IPA - World Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Cascade Fog Hazy IPA - World Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Threezy Does It Hazy IPA - World Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Corner Coast Golden Ale - World Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Porch Glow Amber - World Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout - World Beer Awards *2021 - Gold - Big Juicy IPA - International Beer Awards *2021 - Gold - Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout - International Beer Awards *2021 - Gold - Jet Juiced IPA - International Beer Awards *2021 - Gold - Red, White & Hazy IPA - International Beer Awards *2021 - Gold - Cascade Fog Hazy IPA - International Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Born & Raised IPA - International Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Porch Glow Amber - International Beer Awards *2021 - Gold - Corner Coast Golden Ale - International Beer Awards *2021 - Bronze - Threezy Does It Hazy IPA - International Beer Awards *2021 - Silver - Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout - International Beer Cup *2021 - Bronze - Threezy Does It Hazy IPA - International Beer Cup *2021 - Bronze - Red, White & Hazy IPA - European Beer Star *2021 - Bronze - Big Juicy IPA - Brussels Beer Challenge

References

External links and references

*{{Official website Companies based in Spokane, Washington Beer brewing companies based in Washington (state) 1993 establishments in Washington (state) Companies established in 1993 Privately held companies based in Washington (state)