Seattle Beer Week 2011? Already!?

The 2010 SBW Booze. Whats in store for 2011?

We have the dates for your favorite beer festival! May 19th- May 28th, Seattle will showcase the best in the world’s beer.

If you were lucky enough to live here the past two years, you probably know all about Seattle Beer Week. Its a 10 days celebration of all things barley, hops and yeast.

Last year’s celebration included visits from Port Brewing’s Tomme Arthur, Trappiste Rochefort’s Gumer Santos, and Patrick Rue of The Bruery, among many others. The 2010 variety also included a menagerie of mind bending events, such as 5 Guys, Burgers and Fries – featuring the creations of Sam Calagione, Rob Todd, Tomme Arthur (P, Dick Cantwell (Elysian) and Christian Ettinger (Hopworks).

We expect nothing but the best from the SBW crew. These guys are some of the most important people in the Seattle beer industry; their hard work has made Seattle Beer Week a huge beer destination.

Stay tuned to their website. We expect updates on the first set of events shortly.

Also, there has been some chatter that they are meeting with the SBW brewer this week. The past two years, Pike (09) and Hales (10) have created a Double IPA to commemorate the week. We are very curious to see who has been selected to make this delicious grog this year!

Remember to follow Seattle Beer Week on Twitter and on Facebook for up to date notices. Of course, we’ll be there along the way.

 

Don’t Forget! Book Your Hotel (And Your Beer) For Strange Brewfest 2011

don't delay - get a hotel now

Time to start thinking about Strange Brewfest 2011! This festival is a celebration of the unique spirit that the now-closed Water Street Brewing once encompassed. Strange Brewfest is a chance to see the creativity of Washington’s wonderful brewing community.

If this is the first time that you ever read this blog, you might not know about our affinity for a former brew house known as Water Street Brewing. The iconic pub once ruled the streets of Port Townsend, Washington, with incredible food, heartwarming charm and of course – excellent beer. If you need to catch up on why we loved (and still love) it so very much – read this post.

Of course, many of us were concerned that Water Street’s closing spelled the end to this event. But Nina and Mark, the committed owners of the former pub, have made sure that Strange Brewfest continues on!

The event will span across three days this year and be held down the street from the original location at the American Legion Hall. The event will no longer be a Water Street Brewing event, but Nina and Mark will serve as consultants, to ensure that the festival does not lose it luster.

So, book your hotel for January 28-30, 2011. There are a list of suggested hotels on the Strange Brewfest website. Be sure to peruse the rest of their website to find out more info on the event.

If you are a brewer and want to showcase your exotic grog at the festival, please complete this Brewer’s Application and have it submitted by January 14, 2010. Submission instructions are included in the form and you can contact the festival crew at info@strangebrewfestpt.com with any questions.

Check in with the Water Street Facebook page to learn more about the event as we inch closed to the big date.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Party Coming to Brouwers Cafe

If you still haven't tried this guy - get to Brouwers on Monday

 

Brouwers Cafe is continuing its onslaught of more than impressive beer events. Sierra Nevada is celebrating its 30th Anniversary – and Brouwers will be its Seattle host.

On November 15, 2010, you can enjoy some of the most amazing, and limited, beer produced by the California brewer. We were ecstatic to see that they will be bringing  Life & Limb back to Seattle!

Here is the post from Brouwers’ website. Don’t miss out on the toast at 6 PM:

 

 

The Beer Line-up is looking good for the 30th Anniversary Party on Monday the 15th.

 

Fritz & Ken’s Imperial Stout
Charlie, Fred, & Ken’s Bock
Jack & Ken’s Barleywine
Our Brewers Reserve Oak-Aged Ale
Life & Limb Strong Dark Ale
Organic Estate Ale

& more…

The Nationwide toast is at 6pm, this Monday, November 15th.

 

Early Notice: Brouwers Cafe Hosts Big Wood on December 2nd!

A magnificent night of woody grog awaits...

Big Wood is coming. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

There is no secret that we are utterly obsessed with Brouwer’s Cafe’s Big Wood beer festival. Last year, we launched this site in the midst of Big Wood 2009. This year, we are giving you a 3 week “head’s up.”

Big Wood will be held on December 2, 2010. If I remember correctly (but I might stand corrected), Big Wood begins in the afternoon, sometime around 4 PM. The event is officially one day, but the beers will pour for several days afterwards.

What is Big Wood? Guess. Big Wood showcases wood-aged beers on more than 40 taps. Typically, you will see a plethora of massive scale beers pouring, including some of the most complex beers you will ever taste.

Last year – Hair of the Dog dominated. From beer nerds to beer newbs, Hair of the Dog shocked and awed the crowd. Alan Sprints delivered Fred from the Wood, Michael (Flemish Red), Matt (Bottleworks 10th Anniversary) and BOB (a barrel-aged lambic). Read our review of the event by following this link.

Brouwers has yet to release a list of this year’s beers. They will slowly begin to trickle in but we have already seen them announce that Midnight Sun is sending a keg of Berserker and heard, through the grapvine, that New Belgium is bringing something special!

Keep following Brouwers Cafe’s website and Facebook.

Brouwers Cafe Publishes Washington Beer Festival Lineup

 

North Sound Brewing pouring two new IPAs at WBF

 

Last week we published an article about Washington Beer Festival, which begins tomorrow at Brouwers Cafe. Brouwers will be clearing every single tap in the house for Washington brewers and matching the exquisite beer offerings with some locally sourced food options.

If you want to check up on the event as it develops, check out Brouwers’ website. But, the bar released its initial version of the tap list. We are speechless.

Here it is. We have underlined a few that you should probably give a try!

 

Anacortes  Tenth Anniversary, Anacortes

Big Al Alt Bier, Seattle

Big Time Big Dance, Seattle

Birdsview Cardiac Arrest Strong Brown Ale, Concrete

Black Raven All Washington Fresh Hop, Redmond

Boundary Bay Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Bellingham

Chuckanut Pilsner, Bellingham

Der Blokken Sacred Hop IPA, Bremerton (fairly sure this is their first visit across the Sound)

Diamond Knot Whip Ale, Mukilteo

Dick’s Bottleworks RyePA, Centralia

Elliot Bay Mashing Pumpkin, Seattle / Burien

Elysian The Great Pumpkin, Seattle

Emerald City Dotties, Seattle

Flyers Proptoberfest, Oak Harbor

Fremont Harvest Saison, Seattle

Georgetown Choppers, Seattle

Hales Super goose, Seattle

Harmon ESB, Tacoma

Hood Canal Dosewallip, Kingston

Iron Horse Fresh Hop, Ellensburg

Laht Neppur Piper Canyon Scotts Ale, Waitsburg

Lazyboy Big Double Trouble, Everett

Maritime Bosuns Black Porter, Seattle

Naked City Fresh Hop Saison, Seattle (have yet to try; got to love the creativity)

New Belgium Trip VI,  Seattle / Fort Collins

North Sound Brewing Hop Chops IPA, Mount Vernon (loved the first few things i had from them)

North Sound Brewing X-batch Single Hop IPA, Mount Vernon

Northern Lights IPA, Spokane

Odin Smokey Bacon, Seattle (people have loved this!)

Palouse Falls Crimson Pride Amber, Pullman

Paradise Creek Dirty Blonde, Pullman

Paradise Creek Over the Hop, Pullman (ummm? who?!)

Peaks Trainwreck, Port Angeles

Pike Double IPA, Seattle

Port Townsend Green Tea Golden,  Port Townsend

Ram Northgate Locavore Fresh Hop, Seattle

Red Hook Eisbock, Woodinville

River Port BullseyePA,Clarkston (again, who?!)

Rogue Issaquah CASK Belgian Pale, Issaquah

Rogue Issaquah Wet Frog , Issaquah

Schooner Exact  CASK Cascade Dry-Hopped 3 Grid, Seattle

Schooner Exact Fresh Hop, Seattle

Seven Seas Ballz Deep, Gig Harbor

Silver City Blonde, Silverdale

Silver City Fat Bastard, Silverdale

Skaggit Black Jack Lager, Mount Vernon

Skaggit Gospel IPA, Mount Vernon

Skookum Mule Strong Ale, Arlington (loved the few things ive had from them; strong = interesting)

Snipes Two Fresh, Sunnyside

Snoqualmie Belgian Wit, Snoqualmie

Three Skulls Coconut Porter, Seattle (every coconut porter i’ve had has killed)
Two Beers Pumpkin Spice, Seattle

Two Beers Summer Hop, Seattle

Yakima Brewing Ipa 1, Yakima