The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - When Mike Spring was learning to brew beer a few years ago, he took a class for home brewers at Ice Harbor Brewing Compa­ny in Kennewick. Now that he and his wife, Ann, own a brew pub in Dayton, they hope to help and encourage local home brewers by of­fering classes and other ser­vices, like Ice Harbor does.

The Springs As The Times went to Press, they were planning to open Wednesday, with new wood floors and a new bar configu­ration.

"We'll still have some remodeling work left to do," Mike Spring said, "and we may close for a day here and there to get it done."

Spring is currently a bat­talion chief for the fire de­partment at Hanford. He was formerly Chief of the College Place Fire Depart­ment and then Chief in West Richland.

Spring said he is carrying on the tradition of quality local brewing that Mike Mc­Quary established at Skye. "We purchased his recipes and we'll keep producing them," Spring said. "We'll also have some fun introduc­ing some new ones as well."

Spring said he and Ann do have changes in store for their business. "We want to make it more like a bar," he said. Some of those changes include:

A new bar has been in­stalled along the east wall. It will be lined with bar stools.

New bar-height tables will line the opposite wall and tables will be set up on the upstairs balcony.

The new business will no longer carry books, and most of the bookshelves will be removed.

The remaining book­shelves will display some of the Springs' large quantity of firefighting memorabilia.

Chief Spring's Fire and Iron will be open seven days a week, from 11-7 Mondays through Thursdays and 11-9 Fridays and Saturdays.

Spring also hopes to move most of the brewing tanks and equipment upstairs onto the main floor, near the back of the building. "We want the brewing process to be something that customers can see," he said.

Mike Spring is a Bend, Ore. native. Ann is from the LaGrande area, and the two met while they were attending Eastern Oregon State College. Mike started his firefighting career in La­Grande, before moving on to Walla Walla and then to College Place.

While living in Walla Walla, Mike and a couple of partners owned the Time Out Tavern there for a few years in the early 2000s.

Ann Spring had a long career as a librarian, working at the LaGrande library, and then the Whitman College Library. The Springs bought a home near Turner, east of Dayton, and moved in last fall.

Mike plans to continue his job with the Hanford Fire Department for at least another year, while he and Ann build the business. "We know it'll take awhile to get established and make money," he says. The Springs have retained two long-time Skye employees, Amy and Rhonda.

Spring says he plans to expand the brewing opera­tion and start selling to other local and regional establish­ments. "We've talked to several businesses in Dayton, including Bluewood," which plans to carry his beer, he said. Spring also hopes to sell beer to bars and restau­rants in Walla Walla and the Tri-Cities.

Spring also plans to begin bottling, and selling six- packs on site and in other establishments. "There is a lot involved in bottling," he said, "like buying equipment getting your label approved by the federal government."

Mike Spring is particu­larly enthusiastic about cre­ating a community of local home brewers in the Touchet Valley. "Other brewers and brew pubs were generous in sharing what they knew with me when I got started home brewing," he said. "And I want to pass that on."

Spring says that he plans to start a home-brewing club which can not only provide advice and a place to share ideas, but also a source for buying supplies and ingredi­ents at a better price.