It will be later than expected, but 10 Barrel Brewing Co. is back on track to become the first Central Oregon brewery to expand with a brick-and-mortar facility outside Oregon.

In January 2012, 10 Barrel announced its intent to open a brewpub in Boise, Idaho, by the summer. The company planned to brew beer on site and also bring in beer from its new brewery in northeast Bend.

Garrett Wales, the 10 Barrel partner who has led the company’s efforts to open in Boise, said earlier this week that the company expects to open the brewpub by late March.

“It definitely drug on for quite some time,” Wales said.

The brewery had to hire a lawyer in Boise to navigate the licensing issues. After a meeting that included staff from the governor’s office, Idaho’s Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau and the Office of the Attorney General, Wales said they reached a “workable solution.”

The sticking point was 10 Barrel’s plan to transport beer from Bend to Boise. The brewery plans to continue producing several of its flagship beers — Apocalypse IPA, S1NIST0R Black Ale, India Session Ale and seasonal brews — in Bend to ensure consistent flavor match and quality, Wales said.

Also, 10 Barrel recently invested in building a brewing facility in northeast Bend to produce these beers, with the goal of freeing up the smaller brewpubs in Bend and Boise to experiment.

“It can be a lot more creative and free-thinking over there, when it comes to new beers,” Wales said. “We’ve got a world-class brewer over there, Shawn Kelso.” Kelso previously worked at Barley Brown’s Brewpub in Baker City.

However, Idaho law prohibits out-of-state brewers and wholesalers from holding financial interests in retail businesses in the state, so 10 Barrel was initially unable to obtain a license from the Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau to brew beer on site for consumption at the pub.

Lt. Robert Clements, with the Idaho bureau, said an out-of-state brewer must hold a certificate of approval in order to import beer to Idaho for retail sales. However, due to regulations aimed at curbing monopolies, Idaho does not allow a company with a certificate of approval to have a financial interest in a retail establishment. 10 Barrel Brewing Co. will have to give up its Idaho certificate of approval in order to obtain a retail license for the brewpub, but the company has yet to do so, Clements said.

Under the plan reached with Idaho state officials, 10 Barrel will sell the beer to an Oregon distributor, which will sell the beer to an Idaho distributor, which will sell it back to the Boise brewpub, Wales said.

The building in downtown Boise where 10 Barrel plans to open the brewpub is owned by a state endowment trust, which raises money for schools and other purposes, said Emily Callihan, public information officer for the Idaho Department of Lands. The building is centrally located, near the capitol mall, and previous tenants included a shoe store, carpet store and other retail businesses, Callihan said.

“Most of the buildings downtown here are older, so it needed some work,” Callihan said. “The construction of the building, the necessary finishes and design work, is under way and they should be completed by April of 2013.”

Wales said the brewpub will create 100 to 150 jobs, some of which will be seasonal. However, Wales said many will be full-time jobs.