Payette Brewing Company
Idaho
Idaho's largest craft brewer sets the pace with its dedication and passion
A leader in Boise, Idaho’s brewing renaissance, Payette Brewing Company was founded in 2010 by ex-industrial engineer Mike Francis. The brewery operates a 60-barrel brewing system (with the capacity to brew 100,000 barrels annually!), focusing on ten year round beers available in cans and on tap. Payette also crafts a handful of seasonal offerings and a limited-release series dubbed the ‘Ales of No Return.’ Although just eleven years old, Payette Brewing Company is already the largest craft brewery in the state.
Mike Francis found his passion for brewing beer while living in Seattle and attending the University of Washington. He was inspired by the city’s amazing craft beer scene and started as a homebrewer. After earning a degree in Industrial Engineering, Mike started a career at Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. He quickly realized the corporate life wasn’t for him, and after just two and a half years, left his job to pursue a career in the beer industry.
Mike earned a degree in Brewing Technology from Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Technology, gained some valuable brewing experience working at Seattle’s Schooner Exact Brewing Company, and moved to his home turf of Boise, Idaho to establish his own brewery. Payette Brewing Company became a reality in 2010.
The brewery is named after Francois Payette, a French Canadian trapper whose name and memory is enriched among numerous Idaho landmarks. The name has become representative of the adventurous spirit that embraces Idaho’s year-round outdoor lifestyle. Each of Payette’s beers are named after the Idaho culture as well.
Further embracing the outdoor lifestyle (and the desire to take Payette beers everywhere you go), Payette introduced cans in 2012 and made history with the state’s first ever craft beer cans.
In 2016, Mike Francis finished a major expansion project and unveiled a new state-of-the-art brewhouse, located just a few miles from the original Payette brewery in Garden City. The large 40,000 square foot facility includes a tasting room, beer garden, a canning line, and offices, plus some new brewing toys like a centrifuge and a hop cannon!
We are proud to present two of Payette Brewing Company’s most popular offerings to our Craft Beer Club members this month. Please enjoy!
