Micropolis Brewing

Moscow, Idaho

By Amy Newsome, Co-op volunteer writer

In honor of Idaho Craft Beer Month I decided to find out more about perhaps the littlest brewery in Moscow, Micropolis Brewing. So I caught up with one of the founders, Chris Jones.    

Can you introduce us to who is behind Micropolis Brewing? 

“Micropolis Brewing was co-founded by Eric Hake and myself. Eric, our head brewer, started home brewing in 2006 while living in a tiny apartment on Asbury Street here in Moscow. In 2008 he moved to Seattle with his wife and found an exciting beer scene that inspired him to continue brewing while building a career as a mechanical engineer in the composting industry.”

“About that same time, I became a beer nerd in Seattle while finishing a PhD in Applied Math. Eric and I became friends, bonding over beers while our children played together and our wives practiced medicine together. Almost as soon as we both returned to Moscow the dream of Micropolis Brewing was born.  It became clear that we shared the same vision: to create something that is unique and special, to bring people from all walks of life together over a well-crafted product, and to celebrate and strengthen our connection to each other in this remarkable community.”

 How did Micropolis Brewery come to be?

“We officially began brewing commercially in 2022. We currently brew at Moscow Brewing Company in an alternating proprietorship, with the hopes of opening our own brewery-taproom location in the future.”

“We chose to name our brewery Micropolis (“small city”) because it resonated with us on multiple levels. For starters, we are a micro-brewery. Our home is here in this Moscow-Pullman Micropolitan Statistical Area. As a little bonus we like that it has the word “crop” buried inside it, reminding us that our beer is brewed from agricultural products (malted barley, wheat, hops) grown right in our backyard.”

Where is your beer available, and what varieties are currently available?

“We love variety at Micropolis Brewing, and our offerings rotate all the time. The only constant is that we always like to keep something hop-forward in the works.”

“We’re primarily a draft-focused brewery. You can always find us on draft at Moscow Brewing Company. We can also be found on draft at select locations around Moscow. For example, this month we’ve been on tap at One World Café, Lodgepole, and at the Kenworthy Theater. We occasionally can an extremely limited amount of beer.  When we do, you’ll be able to find it at the Moscow Food Co-op, Pour Company and other craft beer retailers in town.”

What are your future plans for Micropolis Brewing? 

“We’ll continue to roll out new beers every few weeks. Our biggest future goal is finding a permanent location for our brewery and taproom here in Moscow.  In the meantime we’re looking forward to taking part in all of Moscow’s great upcoming beer-related events, like Pour Company Rare Beer Fest on April 22nd, Camp Moscowanna on June 3rd, and Artisan Grains Beer Fest on July 7th, among others.” 

Micropolis Brewery Snapshot

Founded in 2022

Located in Moscow, Idaho

Regionally sourced ingredients 

Amy Newsome doesn’t like beer but she really enjoyed some of the names of Micropolis past brews, like “DismantALE the Patriarchy”,” Oh, Hi Moscow!” and “Charlie Brown Ale”.