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Washington Beer Commission Open House This Saturday!!
This Saturday, February 26, 2011 (TOMORROW) for approximately 4 hours, you should go on a tour of the local craft brewing industry.
The Washington Beer Commission organized an Open House of sorts where local breweries open their doors to beer lovers providing them with the good stuff to make this an epic Saturday afternoon. From 12PM-4PM you can plan your route or pick an area of Washington to tour:
CENTRAL and EASTERN WA
C.I. Shenanigans Brewery, Spokane
Iron Horse Brewery, Ellensburg
Palouse Falls Brewing, Pullman
Yakima Craft Brewing, Yakima
NORTH and EAST of SEATTLE
American Brewing, Edmonds
Anacortes Brewing, Anacortes
Black Raven Brewing, Redmond
Boundary Bay Brewing, Bellingham
Chuckanut Brewing, Bellingham
Diamond Knot Brewing, Mukilteo
Foggy Noggin Brewing, Bothell
Gallagher’s Where U Brew, Edmonds
Lazy Boy Brewing, Everett
Redhook Brewery, Woodinville
Scuttlebutt Brewing, Everett
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing, Snoqualmie
NORTH SEATTLE
Big Time Brewery, U District
Fremont Brewing, Fremont
Maritime Pacific Brewing, Ballard
Naked City Brewing, Greenwood
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE
SOUTH and WEST of DOWNTOWN SEATTLE
Big Al Brewing, White Center
Elliott Bay Brewing, W. Seattle
Epic Ales, SODO
Georgetown Brewing, Georgetown
Schooner Exact Brewing, SODO
Three Skulls Brewing, South Park
Two Beers Brewing, SODO
SOUTH SOUND
M.T. Head Brewing, Graham
Trade Route Brewing, Pacific
The Ram Brewery, Puyallup
The Ram Brewery, Tacoma
WEST of PUGET SOUND
7 Seas Brewing, Gig Harbor
Der Blokken Brewing, Bremerton
This event will showcase a number of special beers, beer pairings and surprises at many locations. You will just have to go and find out what is in store. Don’t forget this Saturday is the Grand Opening of American Brewing Co.
This event is free but beer prices at each location will apply. Drive safely or don’t drive at all and ENJOY!
The Winter Beers Cometh
Each and every time that I have perused the beer aisle or strolled into a bottle shop over the past few weeks I have noticed more and more winter beers on the shelves. I guess it’s officially that time of the year. The days are getting shorter, the trees are shedding, there is a nip in the air… we will soon be required to warm ourselves with thicker clothing, crackling fires, and most importantly, robust beers.
Yeah it’s true, the pumpkin and fresh hop beers will soon be gone for the year. As quickly as they come, they go, but let’s relish in it…enough with those hoity-toity additives…lets soak in the depths of the true beer ingredients, namely, malt, lots and lots of malt.
Winter beers are all about fending off the cold. It’s like a thick chowder that coats the inside of your belly, warms the innards, adds fat, and preps you for a lengthy hibernation. The booze levels often push boundaries, the sugar levels pose similar inner quarrels as that far to common holiday season overindulgence on cookies. It’s hearty through and through. Santa’s belly, not excluded.
And there exists not that boisterous Ho, Ho and inevitable Ho in the Seattle area without the annual Winter Beer Fest at Hale’s Ales. This year, the indulgence falls on the weekend of December 10th and 11th. One can only hope that WA’s finest will be in attendance. If you, personally, are not amongst the present, it’s quite clear that you care not about sustenance and suspension through the cold months, and you should, sooner than later, except your fate as a fallen entity…one existing only as a human icicle. Say your good-byes now.
Whether you prep for hibernation or not, attend winter beer fest or not, any beer drinker with pride for the local and the slightest holiday spirit should do their very best to seek out Washington’s finest Winter Beers.
Here is a list of some of the Washington brewed Winter Ales to keep an eye out for (note: all descriptions presented are commercial unless not supplied. Those not supplied are notated with a “*” and are provided by beerblotter):
Boundary Bay Cabin Fever – A strong ale or “Winter Warmer” with dark red-brown color and a very rich malty flavor. Dry-hopped lightly with Cascades for a pleasant aroma and slightly spicy hop finish. This big beer is deceptively strong, yet tastes very smooth thanks to extra long cold conditioning. Original Gravity: 1.072.
Fremont Abominable Winter Ale – tasty winter ale, limited release. Dark, roasty, chocolaty, malt flavors balanced by Noble hop aroma and subtle hoppy spice. Warm up to it. Don’t be Scared to be Abominable.
Lazy Boy Mistletoe Bliss – A new brown ale on steroids! Stock up now to warm those cold winter nights. ABV 7.5%, Grains: Pale, crystal, Munich, brown, Vienna, chocolate. Hops: Ahtanum.
Maritime Pacific Jolly Roger Christmas Ale – * This rich malt bomb has a dark red hue and flavors of dried fruits.
Diamond Knot Ho! Ho! Winter Ale – A robust, ‘Winter Warmer’ ale, ruby brown in color with a slightly sweet, fruity nose. Very hoppy, yet balanced with a residual sweetness.
Elysian Bifrost – Style: Winter ale, Body: Medium to Sturdy, TASTING NOTES: Pours golden with orange highlights. Smells alluringly sweet like caramel apples with a little spice and orange zest. Taste is bold and balanced with a good amount of citrus and earthy hop bitters to offset the bready, sweet malt character. Finishes dry with a bit of fruit. MALTS: Pale with small amounts of Munich and Crystal, HOPS: Bittered with Centennial, finished with Amarillo and Styrian Golding, ABV: 7.5%, IBU: 55.
Pike Auld Acquaintance Hoppy Holiday Ale – A winter treat (Wassail) dating from pre-Christian times. Celebrates the winter solstice. Festive and flavorful with delicious hints of orange peel, coriander, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Pyramid Snow Cap – Deep mahogany in color, our full-bodied winter warmer is brewed in the spirit of British winter ales. Crafted with a flurry of roasted chocolate and caramel malts, and generously hopped, it delivers a smooth finish that makes this beer the perfect cold weather companion. Original Gravity: 17.3, Alcohol by Volume: 7.0, IBU: 47, Malts: 2-Row Barley, Caramel 80L, Chocolate Malt, Hops: Nugget, Willamette, East Kent Goldings.
Redhook Winterhook Winter Ale – The 2010/2011 Winterhook Winter Ale is a rich, full-bodied beer with a red chestnut color. It combines imported and local Caramel, Vienna, Pils, Chocolate and NW 2-Row Malts for a complex profile balanced by four hop varieties added in the brewing to emphasize the end hop character (flavor and aroma). Beautifully balanced, the flavors meld to create an overall complex profile with no single ingredient out of harmony. ABV: 6%, Malts: Caramel, Pils, Chocolate, Vienna and NW 2-Row, Hops: Cascade, Willamette, Northern Brewer and Centennial, Bitterness Units: 42 IBU, Original Gravity: 15 degrees plato.
Schooner Exact Hoppy the Woodsman – Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Ale. Need you say more? A big brother to Hoppy Holidays, this winter ale has gained a level of complexity and intrigue during those months luxuriating in its bourbon barrel haven. Chocolate malt and a healthy dose of hops help maintain balance.
Scuttlebutt 10 Below – Style: imperial dunkelweiss, Aroma: crisp citrus, Taste: medium body with a rich chocolate finish, Hops: mt. hood & american saaz, 22 ibu’s, 7.4% alcohol by volume.
Silver City Old Scrooge – If Old Scrooge can’t get you in the Holiday spirit nothing can. A rich amber ale, ripe with fruit and spice, Old Scrooge’s character will fully develop as it warms. Intriguing notes of apple, cherry and apricot occur naturally as a result of its unique fermentation and extended aging – 9% ABV.
Hale’s Ales Wee Heavy – * This style is Scottish and piles on thick like a marching calvary of bagpipers. There’s malty ales of the old world, and then there’s wee heavys.
Port Townsend Winter Ale – Our winter ale is made from a blend of pale and crystal malts, roasted barley and Belgian aromatic malts. Cooler fermentation and a longer aging time adds further complexity to this Old Ale style. Original Gravity:1.072 Alcohol by Volume: 7.4%.
Two Beers Winter Hop – Winter Hop – The sun doesn’t shine much in winter around here. It’s darker, more subdued and subtle. If you enjoy this about winter, then there is a pretty good chance Winter Hop will find comfort with you. It’s darker, its slightly chocolate-y and dry-hopped with Amarillos. Cheers! IBU’s: 67, OG: 1.068, Hops Used: Amarillo, Galena, Magnum.
Ram Sleigher – * Brew pub chain…don’t make exciting beers…? You’re wrong folks, this is one of the best winter beers I have ever had.
Dick’s Double Diamond Winter Ale – Northwest style seasonal with massive amount of grain and several healthy additions of hops.
Fish Tale Winter Fish – Here is the full-bodied seasonal ale that brings meaning to “Winter Warmer”. With a snappy hop character, this isn’t just another brown beer masquerading as a seasonal. This is hearty fare brewed for the season of celebrations. Enjoyed at ease with friends and food, Winterfish will put a glow in the cheeks and warmth in the veins. Pale and honey malts provide an abundantly deep foundation. Then, for bittering, flavor, and aroma, we use 100% Yakima Chinook hops in the kettle. For additional flavor and aroma, it’s more Yakima Chinooks in the hop-back. Perfect for festive feast, this is the hoppiest winter ale we know of! Savor a pint and you’ll know why Northwesterners agree: An ice-cold Winter never sounded better! 7.5% alc/vol 1.071 O.G. 70 IBUs.
52 Places: Delicatus, Seattle, WA
Week 23 of 52
Rank: 4/5
Type of Establishment: Delicatessen
Visit: A Monday without work provided a great opportunity to get lunch at this very new sandwich shop in Pioneer Square, aka – The New Sandwich Center of Seattle.
BEERS ON TAP —>
None
BOTTLED/CANNED BEER:
Scuttlebutt Brewing Tripel 7 Belgian Ale
Hale’s Ales Pale Ale
Elysian Brewing Immortal IPA
Pike Brewing Tandem Double Ale
Pike Brewing Pale Ale
Kostritzer Schwarzbier
Terminal Gravity ESG
Full Sail Session Lager
Full Sail Session Black
FOOD OPTIONS:
This is a Deli. They have sandwiches here. Amazing, amazing sandwiches!
BAR OPINION:
Just a mere hop, skip,and jump down 1st Ave, south of the Beer Blotter home base, lies a lunch dream that we have never before visited. On this day, we changed that.
Allow me to quickly state, right from the onset, that this is not a Seattle beer destination. This is, however, a serious Seattle culinary destination. If you like sandwiches, this place is a MUST visit. I think, after reading this article, you will be very willing to take my word for it.
Luckily for us, they offer a few local craft beers to sip on whilst chewing.
Let’s get down to business. I’m an East Coast guy. I grew up just south of Philadelphia. There is nothing that I miss more about home, other than a few superior humans, than sandwiches. Breakfast sandwiches from street vendors, Tony Luke’s and John’s Roast Pork, Italian hoagies from Sarcone’s, Cheesesteaks from Jim’s. I’m getting emotional just thinking about it. I am totally serious when I yell you that the last time I went to Philly, my absolute first stop, before seeing family or friends was Sarcone’s for an Italian, everything sweet. That was shortly followed by a trip to Philly Soft Pretzel Factory. Food is even above beer for me when I go home, and that is surely saying a lot.
In Seattle, Tat’s is my savior. I can get a 12″ Italian hoagie there and all that is required to make it authentic is to request oil over the menu subscribed mayo. For those that don’t know, the piece of the puzzle that is very rarely attained in the West is the bread. Philly has good Italian bread…period. It makes the sandwich. Tat’s has the bread. Tat’s also had Tastykakes, but I won’t get into that now or this will be far too long of an article.
Most sandwich joints worth while in Seattle have good bread as well, just different from the bread of Philly. Many seem to use baguettes, which seems to work quite well most of the time. It is the opinion of this writer that there is no better sandwich in Seattle than the Cuban delights of Paseo. Just as an example of how highly I regard Paseo, I offer the following insight. My father is coming to town in a few weeks. He has never been to Seattle. My top-three list of non-nature related destinations to take him to, in order, are Pike Place Market, Brouwer’s Cafe, and Paseo. If I had to pick one place in Seattle to eat every meal of the rest of my life, it would be Paseo.
Moving on… Salumi is amongst my favorites, as is Tub’s and Honey Hole. Buffalo Deli is on my list of places to go, as is Homegrown. Delicatus, though I have only been there this one time, has been added to my list of favorites. I feel confident in doing this, not only because of the quality of the sandwich I had, but of the genius behind the available sandwich offerings. I implore you to brief the menu online, you will begin to salivate.
The only negative thing I have to say about Delicatus is that choosing a sandwich from the menu is impossible. I wanted everything. I initially narrowed my search to “spicy” sandwiches, I guess because I was in a spicy mood. The Pavo Diablo and the Fire of 1889 became my finalists, and the braised pork won me over in the end. Fire of 1889 it was. This little firecracker consists of spicy braised pork (as I just mentioned), jalapeno-lime aioli sauce, shredded cabbage, shaved and pickled red onions, hot peppers, and cilantro on a toasted Italian roll.
I can honestly say that I have never had a sandwich quite like this one. A unique marriage of flavors that worked ever so well. The cabbage gave a bit more of a crunch than your average run-of-the-mill lettuce. The aioli and cilantro mingled like royalty and reminded my of the special sauce of Paseo. Hot peppers have me the kick that I needed and the picked onions fought through all that stood in their way to shine but not overpower the flavor. The shaved pork, though not all that spicy, was still shaved pork, which is awesomely delicious.
I chose a beer that would wash a bit of the heat down but not overpower the flavors in the sandwich. Hale’s Pale worked wonders. The carbonation and light floral hopiness sliced just the right amount of heat out of the jalapenos in the aioli and the hot peppers on top. This was a Monday moment to remember.
As much as I find it a bit embarrassing that I speak so enthusiastically about sandwiches and have yet to hit all of the most respected spots in the city, it’s places like Delicatus that continually stand in my way. Once I find a place that I know I like, and they have a massive menu of mouth-watering, bread flanking treats to ingest, all I can think of is conquering the menu from front to back.
Something tells me that I’ll make it back for the Pavo Diablo sooner than later.











