West End Beer Fest Put on your walking shoes and get ready for a hoppy, sudsy Saturday afternoon with the return of the West End Beer Fest. Five local breweries — all located in downtown Spokane’s west end, obviously — are teaming up to offer discounted, $3 pours to festival attendees, along with live entertainment, tasty eats and more. Those participating breweries are River City, Iron Goat, Whistle Punk, Brick West and the Golden Handle Project, all conveniently located less than a mile from each other. Tickets include a commemorative glass, koozie and access to the featured event beers, which are listed online and range from IPAs to porters and from lagers to pilsners. Also find the lineup of local musicians slated to perform throughout the day. It’s a good idea to purchase tickets in advance since the Oktoberfest version held last fall sold out.
Suds and Science Seminar Series: Soil Science Dr. Michael Ebinger retired from WSU, where he led the WSU Center for Innovation. Before that, he was a staff scientist and manager at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. There, he invented and patented a soil analysis method using laser spectroscopy; a related method is now on Mars aboard Nasa’s Curiosity rover. Join Ebinger at Golden Handle Project for a talk on his journey through science and business and his migration from the mountains.
Suds and Science Seminar Series: From Genes to Genomes Making beer is a science, so it’s a natural fit for local craft brewery the Golden Handle Project to pair that science with other fields of study for its weekly Suds & Science speaker series. Held most Saturday evenings — see the complete schedule on its website — the series invites local researchers and subject matter experts to discuss their work and how it applies to the rest of us non-science folk. Up next is J. Britt Ravnan, who holds a doctorate in cytogenetics and serves as the molecular genetics director at Allele Diagnostics, based in Spokane and which offers genetic testing services. Ravnan’s presentation in this casual atmosphere highlights how new technologies in human genetics translate to better health care.