Longtime Spokane Valley winery Arbor Crest Wine Cellars plans to begin making two microbrews early next year as part of an effort to expand its beverage offerings to guests at private events held on its grounds.

Also, on Jan. 1, Arbor Crest plans to launch a new, higher-end wine brand under the name van Loben Sels Cellars, says Jim van Loben Sels, the winery's general manager.

Of the microbrew venture, van Loben Sels says Arbor Crest has applied to the Washington state Liquor Control Board for a microbrewery license. Once that license has been approved, and after the holiday season and the grape-crushing cycle later this year, it will begin prepping the first batches of beer.

Arbor Crest will make its beer at its East Spokane production facility, at 4506 E. Buckeye, he says.

The winery's assistant wine maker, Chris Farrington, has some experience with home brewing and will be overseeing the beer-making operation with three or four other winery employees, van Loben Sels says.

"It's not our strength because we have been making wine for 30 years, but we felt brewing was replicable and we could do a good job," he says. "We already have some of the equipment needed and we understand fermentation."

Van Loben Sels says Arbor Crest had been considering brewing beer for about a year before the winery submitted a license application earlier this month to the Liquor Control Board.

"We decided that because the event program has expanded so much, and because we started experimenting with having beer as part of events, that there was an opportunity for the private event program to do an ale and a lager," van Loben Sels says.

Arbor Crest's main private-event season runs through the five or six warmer months of the year from late spring to early fall and includes weddings, corporate events, and other functions. Last year those events attracted large numbers of people to the winery's grounds, which overlook Spokane Valley.

The winery previously hadn't allowed any outside alcohol vendors on its grounds, but this year began approving requests to serve beer at some of its private events only in bottled form, van Loben Sels says.

The venue doesn't allow any hard spirits or kegs at events, he says.

"It's an opportunity because of our facility and what we do with the event program, and it will add to our bottom line," he says. "Predominantly weddings are looking for alternative beverages to wine. To be accommodating and be competitive with other event centers out there, we decided to expand and have beer as an option."

He says the two brews have yet to be named and that a label design still is in the works. They won't be available for retail sale, he says, and likely only will be offered on tap at events and in Arbor Crest's tasting room.

Of the plans to launch a new wine brand, van Loben Sels says, "Arbor Crest has been known in the community for more than 30 years, but to broaden our reach and expand what we do qualitatively—wine is associated with price points and we have a reasonable price point—we wanted to get into that next tier of signature wineries known for quality."

One of three wines planned for release in 2012 is a chardonnay made from two French clones grown at the Connor Lee Vineyard, in Othello, Wash., van Loben Sels says.

Another of the new releases will be a cabernet made with fruit from Stillwater Creek Vineyard, in Royal City, Wash., and the third will be a red blend called Bona Dea—after the Greek goddess of good fortune—and made with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and merlot, he says.

Arbor Crest's winemaker is Kristina Mielke-van Loben Sels, who is the wife of Jim van Loben Sels.