Wednesday 5th of December 2007 02:08:45 PM

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"Life is too short to put bad beer in your mouth."
That's Chip Trudell's attitude, Owner & Brewer at little Lost Falls Brewery in Colville, 70 or so miles north of Spokane, Washington. This is not your typical brewery or brewpub. Not even a standard tasting room. This is party central on Friday & Saturday nights when lovers of great beer come out en masse to spend the not-nearly-long-enough 4 hours the place is open connecting with their neighbors. Folks bring in their lasagnas & casseroles & chips & dip & sausages & salads and everybody brings their forks & paper plates & appetites...and because it's a small warehouse, the noise level and laughter reaches a decimal level just below pain. And yet, in all of this din & confusion, a couple or two can still be seen chatting intimately over their amber or IPA.
Chip has created quite the monster because he "can't make enough beer to satisfy the locals." Or, as customer Lisa put it: "I don't drink beer but I'll drink Chip's." Good thing too. She and Joseph met @ Lost Falls & are "taking it slow & getting to know each other" dating each week same time, same place.
So what does this Dr. Frankenstein have to offer? A little something for all the villagers with a Pale Ale, a Rye (which resembles an IPA in taste but not overly hopped), a Nut Brown (a rare find at any pub), a porter that growls is so good and a very special, 7-year old Barley Wine that is released from its dungeon on special occasions...for example, days ending in "R".
But the hope of getting another taste is so profound, it brings you back and suddenly, you find yourself a part of this "community."
Beer maven Bill Yenne states in his book "Beers of North America" that this country now has brewpubs the way "we did as early as the 16th century - places where (good) beer, good company and a convivial atmosphere were the center of attention."
Chip & the gang don't know it, but he was describing them.