On this blog, and many others, the debate continues. Is Asheville, NC really deserving of the title Beer Town USA? I have never been there so I can’t really formulate an objective opinion. I will say this, it is very possible that anyone asserting that Asheville is Beer Town USA has not yet visited Bend, OR. The greater Bend area is home to at least nine breweries. Maybe more. I haven’t counted in a while. Having visited most of them, I can attest to their overall excellence.

Today we learn that one of Bend’s highly-decorated breweries is coming to Seattle. It’s been well over a year, but we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to 10 Barrel Brewing. Thursday (Feb 9), Urban Family Public House in Ballard will be the first Washington pub to serve the beers of 10 Barrel Brewing. Ballard’s newest beer destination will be pouring two different 10 Barrel beers: Oregon Brown Ale and Sinister Black Lager. The  fun starts at 4:00 p.m. The folks at Urban Family Pub tell us that this is the first beer from 10 Barrels to be poured north of the border. We’ll take them at their word.
Urban Family Public House
5329 Ballard Avenue Northwest
Seattle, WA

As the year comes to a close, I reflect back on 2011 with a bit of satisfaction, a bit of pride, and a lot of optimism for a bright 2012. We made some good headway this year. I am not only talking about the Washington Beer Blog, but the local craft beer scene as a whole. Local craft beer received some valuable attention this year. We made strides in the right direction. And not just locally, either.

Below I list the Washington Beer Blog’s Top Posts of 2011. These stories received the most attention in terms of page views. The list represents a wide range of topics. I have also included a few highlights from 2011. I think some things deserve mentioning even though they didn’t make our list of Top Posts.

2011 Highlights

These are our highlights. You might have, or other blogs might have, different 2011 highlights. You are welcome to share them in the Comments section, just recognize that the things we mention represent our highlights.

Local Beer Goes Mainstream – For its October 2011 issue, Seattle Magazine decided to do a feature about the local beer scene: “An epic 24-page beer extravaganza,” as one editor called it. Other local lifestyle magazines occasionally and quietly mention the beer scene. This was different because the Seattle Magazine beer issue took a deeper look into our world. Local beer was the cover story. I was honored to be involved in the project. Regardless of my contribution, I was really happy that a mainstream publication like Seattle Magazine dedicated so much attention to local beer. Read more about the Seattle Magazine beer issue.

The Decline of Yellow Beer – The yellow beer segment of the overall U.S. beer market continues to shrink as the good beer segment continues to gain momentum. The evidence is all around us. Whether you look at anecdotal evidence like the ever-growing number of local breweries, or hard facts from agencies like The Brewers Association and others, Big Beer is suffering at the hands of good beer. Our friends at Beervana did a good job of exploring the issue back in September. It’s what we all want. More. Good. Beer. Period.

Washington Beer on the National Stage – In October producers from NBC’s “Today” contacted me about appearing on the show. They wanted a local beer expert to appear on television with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb to taste some of our local flavor. On a cold morning in front of the Pike Street Market as daylight broke and the skies threatened to erupt with precipitation, I enjoyed a very brief moment in the spotlight with KLG and Hoda. (See the video here.) I found the experience wacky and fun if not frantic and crazy. Regardless of my involvement, think about this: when the “Today” show came to Seattle they decided to dedicate a segment (albeit brief) to the local beer scene. That is headway.

New Events – Along with my wife, Kim, I produced two new Seattle beer events. Our goal was to elevate the beer festival experience and present something that appealed to a larger audience. Nothing wrong with the regular beer fest crowd, but there are a lot of other people that need to be turned on to good beer. In September Craft: Beer + Food paired 11 local breweries with 11 upscale restaurants. In November our BitterSweet: Beer + Chocolate event introduced the world of the chocolatier to the world of the brewmaster, not only pairing beer with chocolate but creating never-before-brewed styles of chocolate beers. We are proud of how both events turned out and we owe big thanks to our participating breweries, restaurants and to Theo Chocolates.

The Washington Beer Commission hosted a new beer festival in Bremerton in July: The Bremerton Summer Brewfest. The event was wildly popular and is now part of the Commission’s regular festival lineup. Kudos to the Beer Commission’s Executive Director, Eric Radovich, and the rest of the festival committee for recognizing that the west sound needed and deserved a Washington beer festival of its own

Top Eight Stories of 2011

These are the top eight stories from 2011 as determined by the total number of page views (hits) each story received.

1. A Relief Pitcher of Beer. Published on June 13th. Our most-read post of the year. This is the story of Chris Ray, a Seattle Mariner relief pitcher, brewing a beer with Fremont Brewing. Homefront IPA can still be found around Seattle: Fremont Brewing continues to brew it a few time a year as a limited-release offering. Chris Ray, on the other hand, was released by the Mariners in August and is currently a free agent.

That's me with Chris Ray on brew day at Fremont Brewing.

2. I-1183, Opinions from the Beer Industry. Published on November 2nd, just a few days before the election. This story garnered a lot of comments–the most comments of any story we posted this year. The discussion might not have changed any minds or impacted how anyone voted, but it certainly gave people the opportunity to call each other names and clamor for whichever side of the issue they supported.

3. International IPA Day. This was weird. August 4th was designated (by who, I don’t know) as International IPA Day — a day when we were all supposed to enjoy delicious India Pale Ale. For most followers of this blog, that meant August 4th was no different than any other day, which probably explains why we get a lot of hits whenever we put IPA in the title of a story.

4. Growlers at Bottleshops – a New Market for Many WA Breweries. Earlier in the year our dutiful lawmakers in Olympia passed legislation allowing bottleshops to fill growlers of beer. The legislation became law last summer and the beer began to flow at bottleshops like 99 Bottles (blog sponsor). Many of you expressed confusion over who could and could not fill growlers because of this law. I tried to clarify things.

5. Beer+Food: Spicy Sausage Salmon Cioppino. This story was published in June following Seattle Beer Week 2011. During Seattle Beer Week we attended an amazing beer dinner featuring the food of Trellis Restaurant in Kirkland paired with the beers of Hopworks Urban Brewery. Among the evening’s many amazing culinary delights, I was particularly fond of the Spicy Sausage Salmon Cioppino. In fact I liked it so much that I managed to get Chef Brian Scheehser to give me his recipe, which I shared here on the blog.

Spicy Sausage and Salmon Cioppino

6. For Sale: Seattle Brewery, Turnkey and Ready to Brew. This story was posted in November, two months after we’d made the initial announcement that Baron Brewing was moving from Seattle to Chehalis. Our initial post received national attention because we mentioned that Baron would be selling the existing brewery in Seattle “as is.” (Everyone wants to find a quick and easy way into our vibrant and growing beer market.) In November we received more details about the pending sale of the brewery and posted this story as a follow-up to the original.

7. Protecting Your Precious Cargo: Growler on Board. This is a great product: the Growler on Board Beer Transportation Unit. Maybe this was such a popular post because many of you watched growlers meet the same fate as my Skookum Brewing growler. What an awful mess. Anyway, this is a great product and I shouldn’t be surprised that so many people took an interest in it.

8. Brave Horse Tavern: Not a Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing.  This one was about validation. It has taken years for America’s serious culinary minds to recognize the importance of the craft beer revolution. There is no better example of this recognition than the opening of Tom Douglas’ upscale beer joint, the Brave Horse Tavern. I pretty much love all of Tom Douglas’ restaurants so I kind of freaked out about the opening of the Brave Horse Tavern, which combines Douglas’ world-class cuisine with 24 delicious craft beer taps.

Happy New Year!

Tickets are now available online for the 8th Annual Strange Brewfest in Port Townsend. The event takes place on January 27 – 29 and promises to feature some uncommon beers from more than 30 breweries. Most of the approximately 60 beers available at Strange Brewfest are exclusive to the event. Do not expect to find them anywhere else.

Your $25 entry fee gets you in to all three sessions, or whichever session(s) you choose to attend. You’ll get some tokens to get you started but you can (and probably will) purchase more once you’re in the festival. This is a 21+ event. This is no place for children. It’s Strange Brewfest. Friday 7:00 – 11:00, Saturday 1:00 – 11:00, and Sundays 1:00 – 6:00. If you plan to spend the night, as you should, you need to hustle and secure some lodging.

For the uninitiated, Strange Brewfest is an event rewarding creativity. Nothing is out of bounds with regards to the brews. The Reinheitsgebot –the German beer purity law dictating that beer be made using only the three most primary ingredients– is frowned upon at Strange Brewfest. Last year 7 Seas Brewing brought a tomato-infused “7 Bloody Seas” to emulate a Bloody Mary. Anacortes brought a “Grand Salami” beer as a tribute to the late Dave Niehaus. Yes, it did taste like salami. Those are just a couple examples of why this is not an event for the timid, unadventurous beer drinker.

Last year's Nut Warmer - a Peanut Butter Winter Warmer from Big Al Brewing.

Once again the musical lineup for Strange Brewfest is impressive. Visit the website for details. In addition to the music, expect to see belly dancers, stilt walkers, jugglers, fire dancers and even hula hoops. Saturday night features an “anything goes” costume contest. After all, creativity is the driving theme behind this festival.

Packed house at Strange Brewfest 2011.

Free Advice

Read our previous posts about Strange Brewfest. You just might learn something valuable.

Port Townsend Brewing – Visit the Port Townsend Brewing Company while you are in town. Why not? It’s a great place with great beer. Friday open from Noon – 9:00. Saturday and Sunday open from Noon – 7:00.

The Early Bird - Last year the first session (Friday night) was quite mellow and enjoyable, however a few of breweries were not there. Most of you are likely planning to attend the Saturday session. You are not alone. Be there at 1:00 when the doors open. Chase down the beers that pique you interest early. Enjoy the festival all afternoon and then go enjoy dinner at one of Port Townsend’s fine restaurants. The event will get packed beyond belief as the day moves on. Do not be disappointed or upset because of the crowd. You have been warned.

Stay the Night – Strange Brewfest is one part beer festival, one part carnival, and two parts elegant debauchery. Do not plan to keep a lid on it. That would be silly and naive. Instead, plan to spend the night and fully enjoy Strange Brewfest like a pro. Get on it now. NOW! The entire town will sell out. Below we list some of our favorite Port Townsend lodging options. The Strange Brewfest website lists many more.

The Bishop Hotel. Just a couple blocks from the event.

The Swan Hotel. Right across the street from the event.

The Aladdin Motor Inn. About a mile away, but cheap and clean. By foot, it’s about a 20 minute walk from the festival. My experience is that getting a cab in PT requires a lot of patience.

Go to the official Strange Brewfest website for more event information and to purchase tickets.

Last spring Big Al Brewing became the first Washington craft brewery to install a solar-thermal heating system. Big Al Brewing flipped the switch in June and started brewing with water heated (at least in part) by the sun. Net Zero Impact, a local solar energy solutions firm, designed and installed the system. The same company recently began installation of a similar hybrid solar-thermal system at Hale’s Ales Brewery in Fremont.

The system at Hale’s Ales Brewery is about three times the size of the system at Big Al Brewing. The project recently began with the dramatic lowering of a 1,200-gallon storage tank through a temporary opening in the brewery’s roof.

Hale’s Ales expects to reduce natural gas expenditures by $15,000 per year. The system will supply 3,000 – 4,000 gallons of solar-heated water per day. The hot water will heat the building and be used in the adjoining pub, but the most significant savings come from using the solar-heated water in the brewing process–a process requiring copious quantities of hot water.

The new solar-thermal hybrid system is one of several “green tech” solutions implemented by Hale’s Ales. The company uses high-efficiency light bulbs throughout the 17,000 square foot facility and manages the building’s lights and heating/cooling systems with an automated energy management system.

“We’ve spent 27 years serving the community with the very best hand-crafted beers possible and making our operations greener is just another way of giving back to our community,” said Mike Hale, founder and president of Hale’s Ales. “Net Zero Impact’s experience working with breweries, exceptional warranty and ability to implement an extremely complex design made it an easy choice to work with the company.”

According to Net Zero Impact, the solar system should prevent 3.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere over the next 25 years.

“Northwest brewers have an acute need for hot water and have been early adopters of our hybrid solar thermal technology,” said Barry Andersen, CEO, Net Zero Impact LLC. “We proved the value of the Net Zero Impact system with our installation at Big Al Brewing earlier this year and now, with Hale’s, we’re demonstrating that it works on a large scale.”

The Net Zero Impact system, replacing the inefficient gas-fueled steam boiler, includes:

• 480 solar thermal tubes manufactured by Kingspan Solar,
• a one million British Thermal unit (MBtu) steam boiler,
• a one MBtu high-efficiency hot water boiler,
• a 1,200-gallon water storage tank,
• heat exchangers and programmable controllers for all pump delivery systems.

Kingspan solar thermal tubes transform direct and diffuse sunlight—solar radiation available even on cold, cloudy or humid days—into useful heat in the form of hot water, capturing the sun’s energy, a critically important advantage in the Pacific Northwest’s frequently sun-starved environment.

Inside each tube, solar radiation is collected, concentrated and transferred to an insulated manifold. Super-heated water is then pumped through a heat exchanger to Hale’s 1,200-gallon storage tank. The water is then used to make delicious beer, heat the building, and provide hot water for the pub.

The other day King 5 Evening Magazine announced the winners of the 2011 Best of Western Washington poll.  Below we list the winners and runners-up in the beer-related categories, of which there are too few.

Recognize that this is a poll;  how well a business ranks depends a lot on how well they were able to mobilize their fans. This is not a ranking based on empirical evidence. In some cases the results don’t make sense at all. For example, regardless of how popular Mac and Jack’s Brewery might be, it is not a beer store.

The Washington Beer Blog was nominated in the category Best Food Blog. Not exactly a great category for us, and Lord knows there is plenty of competition in that realm, but we aren’t complaining. We are proud to have come in third place! We didn’t really work that hard to mobilize the troops once we found out that we’d been nominated, so we are very happy with the outcome.

Thank you to everyone who voted for the Washington Beer Blog. Congratulations to the winners and runners-up listed below.

Best Beer Selection
Tap House Grill, Seattle and Bellevue.

Runners-up included:
99 Bottles (blog sponsor)
Brouwer’s
Parkway Tavern
Beveridge Place Pub (blog sponsor)

Best Brewpub
Silver City Brewery, Silverdale

Runners-up included:
Diamond Knot
Big E
Scuttlebutt
Boundary Bay

Best Beer Store
99 Bottles, Federal Way (blog sponsor)

Runners-up included:
The Beer Junction (blog sponsor)
Bottleworks
Mack and Jack’s Brewery
Full Throttle Bottles

This weekend is turning out to be a good one, at least if you like local craft beers. Go get em.

Fresh Hop Throwdown at The Noble Fir
Saturday, October 15th, 4 p.m. Fresh hop beers from 15 Washington and Oregon breweries, organized by our fellow local beer blogger, Geoff Kaiser. Cheers to that. You know that the Washington Beer Blog loves our fresh hop beers. We had a lot of the Washington beers on the Throwdown list when we were at Yakima Fresh Hop Festival a couple weekends ago, so we’re planning on stopping by The Fir to sample some of the Oregon beers like Double Mountain’s Killer Red and Hopworks Give Me Liberty.

Washington Beer Festival at Brouwer’s Cafe
Continuing this weekend. When Brouwer’s turns their 64 taphandles over to Washington beer it’s an impressive sight. They’ve brought in some beers and brewers that you don’t always see in Seattle, like Paradise Creek’s Hopocalypse CDA and Wingman Belgian Strong.

The Cask One Year Anniversary
Saturday, October 15th, 5:30 p.m. West Seattle has a couple great beer bars, but The Cask has found its niche as a beer (and wine) bar with a dark, music-filled, cool-vibe space where conversation rules. Shon and Dee are the Yin and Yang of bar owners – Shon is the low-key, music and beer guy, and Dee is the high-energy wine gal. Join them as The Cask celebrates their one year anniversary on Saturday night with free appetizers from 5:30 to 7:30. Live music by Joe Ross and the Birdwatchers starts at 8 p.m.

Beveridge Place Pub Hoptoberfest
Continues all weekend. Hop lovers take note – the Bev (Washington Beer Blog sponsor), will have a minimum of 12 IPAs on tap, and this is your chance to vote for next year’s house IPA, currently held by Boundary Bay IPA. Full story here.

Foggy Noggin Brewers Night at Jillian’s
Friday, October 14th, 4 to 7 p.m. A chance to try the British-style ales of this nano-iest of nano-brewers straight from their garage in Bothell.

(Reported live from the event on Saturday.) Crowds are building as the sun shines down on the Elysian Great Pumpkin Beer Fest at their new production facility in Georgetown.

What’s new? More space – lots more space – so you can tell the lines apart from each other.

Food trucks – we had Po’boy sandwiches from Where Ya At Matt without waiting in line for an hour a la last weekend’s Mobile Chowdown. We also saw Skillet, Bluebird Ice Cream and Mighty O Donuts.

Presale ticket holders can walk right in. If you don’t have tickets, there’s a long line of people waiting to get in as drinkers leave for the day. (Probably will not be the case on Sunday as the second day of the festival did not sell out.)

We showed up early and sampled a wide assortment of pumpkin beers. We noticed a trend toward sour and Belgian style ales this year. We recommend two of the beers being poured inside, Elysian’s Orange Manalishi and Coche de Medianoche.

Advice for tomorrow – get there early, be patient while searching the construction-riddled neighborhood for parking, and bring cash for extra beer tickets. Sunday the event runs from noon until 6:00.

Elysian Brewery Parking Lot
5510 Airport Way S
Seattle, WA 98108
Map

Tickets
$20 – Ticket price includes Souvenir Glass and 6 drink tickets.

Dick Cantwell - Elysian Brewmaster and renowned pumpkin beer guru.

Elliott Bay Brewery has just tapped its 2011 Hop Harvest Ale. It is currently on tap at the Burien pub and goes on tap tomorrow (if not sooner) at the West Seattle pub.

Elliott Bay Brewing was the first brewery in King County to earn Certified Organic status from the US Department of Agriculture. For this beer, they used fresh organic Amarillo hops from Gamache Farms.  If you’re keeping score, this is the first year Gamache has grown organic Amarillo hops. That is significant information for us serious hop geeks, especially as it relates to the world of certified organic beer.

As I write this, Mrs. Beerblog is at the Burien pub enjoying a pint of Hop Harvest (pictured below). She reports that it is nothing short of spectacular.

I should note that tomorrow (Saturday, October 8th) is also Elliott Bay’s big Oktoberfest party in West Seattle. Time to drink some freshy-fresh and do some oom-pah-pah music! Expect special food, great beer, and tubas.

Here is what Brooks Gay, the manager at the West Seattle pub told us about the beer.

This Saturday is not only our Oktoberfest celebration but it is also our release of the 2011 Hop Harvest. What makes this batch so special is that instead of dry hopping the beer, we added 44 pounds of Organic Amarillo Hops that had been picked the day before from Darren Gamache’s farm. This is the first year that Gamache farms has grown organic Amarillo hops, and we are the first to get to use them. We ran the whole batch of beer over these freshly picked hops on its way to the fermentor. We didn’t dry hop because we didn’t want to cover up the citrusy earthy of these freshly picked hops. We are very proud and excited to be the first to use organic Amarillo hops!! ABV=6.0 percent. IBU=86

Everyone loves Boundary Bay Brewery’s beers. If you have ever visited the Railroad Avenue location in Bellingham you very likely love the pub too. The Boundary Bay Bistro is beloved by locals who simply refer to it as “the brewery” or “the pub.” It is also a top destination for many wayward beer gypsies — a pilgrimage, of sorts.

Congratulations to our friends in Bellingham! Boundary Bay Brewery is about to expand. The company has secured a lease for the space next door and will begin construction in January. The expansion will increase brewing capacity and annual production. Plans are still being drawn but the company expects to expand the brewery as well as the bar and office space.

We will track this story closely in the coming months. Sounds like we may have to hit the highway and roadtrip to Bellingham. I love it when that happens.

Here is the press release.

Boundary Bay Brewery, Bellingham’s Local Brewpub, will be expanding in 2012.  The brewery recently signed the lease for 1103 Railroad Avenue, and plan to begin construction on the building located on the corner of Railroad and Maple after the first of year.

The expansion will increase Boundary Bay’s brewing capacity and their annual production. Prior to signing the lease, the brewery was already brewing at maximum capacity and was still seeing a growing demand for their beer. The expansion will allow Boundary Bay Brewery to better satisfy their local customers, but they also hope to increase their distribution up to Vancouver and down to Oregon.

Plans are still being finalized for 1103 Railroad Avenue, but the brewery imagines using the new space for an additional bar retail space as well as for offices and brewing.

“We are excited to expand,” says Ed Bennett, owner of Boundary Bay Brewery.  “We are eager to increase our brewing capacity as well as our distribution and the expanded brewing facilities will help us reach our goal of continuing to be a strong regional brewery here in the Pacific Northwest.”

Below I list Seattle Beer Week events devoted to Washington beer.

Seattle Beer Week is a celebration of our local beer culture. It is not, as I have heard some embattled individuals in the local beer industry assert, an excuse for out-of-state breweries and their distributors to get a toehold in, or further assert their dominance over, the Seattle beer market. Sure, Seattle Beer Week provides an excellent opportunity for out-of-state breweries to make advances in America’s second largest craft beer market*, but that is not why Seattle Beer Week exists.

Seattle’s magnificent beer culture is the reason that Seattle Beer Week exists. It just so happens that breweries in faraway places like California and Colorado want to send their rockstar brewers up here to help us celebrate. Somewhere between the much-ballyhooed Stone, New Belgium, and Firestone Walker events, Seattle Beer Week offers beer-lovers some great opportunities to show their appreciation for Washington-brewed beers and the other things that make Seattle’s beer scene the envy of the nation.

Compared to most cities in America, the Seattle metroplex is replete with amazing pubs devoted to craft beer, whether it be local or imported beer. What’s more, we enjoy a wide variety of craft beer choices because our politicos have not built a fence around the state to keep out-of-state competition at bay. And while those things help to create and maintain our vibrant craft beer culture, it is the breweries of Washington, funneling great beer into Seattle, that truly make this such a great beer town. At least that’s my opinion. We started the American craft beer revolution back in the 1980s and our brewers and pub owners have never slowed down and never looked back.

The following events provide a chance for us homers to show a little love to our local breweries. These are just some of the Washington-focused beer events happen during Seattle Beer Week—the Washington beer events about which I am most excited. What Washington beer events have piqued your interest? Leave a comment.

Note that I did not include individual brewers night events or individual beer dinners: there are just too many of those. Check with the official Seattle Beer Week calendar of events for the complete skinny.

Speaking of the great Seattle-area pubs that helped get this whole craft beer thing started, and that keep it thriving today, Cooper’s Alehouse will feature all local Seattle beers all week. What an appropriate thing for one of Seattle’s original great alehouses to do for SBW. Along the way, they are hosting a couple of brewers nights featuring Georgetown Brewing (Monday, May 23) and Hale’s Ales (Wednesday, May 25).

THURSDAY, MAY 19

Seattle is the Naked City
3:00 – Close
Naked City Brewery and Taphouse

There are 24 taps at Naked City. On this night, 12 taps will be dedicated to Naked City beers. The remaining 12 taps will be dedicated to beers from Seattle breweries. The official SBW Kick-Off Party stops by Naked City at 9:00.

Seattle Cask-O-Rama
6:00 – Close
Beveridge Place Pub

A night featuring all Seattle-brewed cask beer. This self-explanatory event will see Firkins lined up on the bar for your enjoyment. If you like cask beer, and you appreciate Seattle breweries, this is the event for you.

SATURDAY, MAY 21

World Class Brewers Reunion
2:00 – 5:00
Pike Pub and Brewery

You could argue that Washington has exported more great brewers than it has great beer. That said, Pike Brewery has pumped out a lot of great beer and a lot of great brewers over the years. Many of those brewers are still here brewing locally; others have moved out of state. This event is a reunion of the many great brewers to come through the Pike pipeline. People like Skip Madsen, Bill Jenkins, Fal Allen, Dick Cantwell, Kevin Forhan, Janelle Pritchard, Shawn Loring and many, many others. It’s quite amazing. This is your chance to mingle with greatness.

SUNDAY, MAY 22

Iron Brewers Triple Header
5:00 – 8:00
Beveridge Place Pub

Have you been to a Beveridge Place Pub Iron Brewers event yet? They are awesome. Similar to the television show, Iron Chef, two breweries are given two secret ingredients (not so secret, in this case) that they must use when brewing a beer. Imagine two different beers incorporating wasabi and satsuma, for instance. The beers face off in a head to head battle. The people choose the winner. On this day, six Washington breweries will compete in three different Iron Brewer competitions. This year’s theme includes Japanese-influenced ingredients, with a portion of proceeds going to earthquake relief organizations.

MONDAY, MAY 23

This is Washington, Damn it!
All Day
Beveridge Place Pub

All 24 taps at the Beveridge Place will be dedicated to Washington beer. As if that isn’t awesome enough, the beer will only cost $3.00 per pint. The Bev is an ardent supporter of Washington beer. On this day, they really prove it.

TUESDAY, MAY 24

West Sound Brewers Night
6:00 – 10:00
Naked City Brewery and Taphouse

See what’s brewing on the other side of Puget Sound. Enjoy beers from favorite westsiders like Silver City, Port Townsend, and Hood Canal. Also, some newcomers: Der Blokken, Sound, Slippery Pig, Valholl, Slip Point and more. Try some new beer and get some cool schwag!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25

Firkin-Firkin Throwdown
3:00 – 8:00
Elysian Capitol Hill

Washington brewers battle against Colorado brewers in a cask throw down. Sixteen breweries will compete in eight different styles. The public will vote for the winners. BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON!

THURSDAY, MAY 26

New Brewers Night at the Park
6:00 – 10:00
The Park Pub

A celebration of Washington’s best and brightest new brewers. The brewmasters from Emerald City Beer, North Sound Brewing and American Brewing Company will be pouring three of their finest craft brews and supplying plenty of schwag.

FRIDAY, MAY 27

Night of the Living Nanos
7:00 – 11:00
Fiddler’s Inn

Three of Washington’s nano-breweries get together at Fiddler’s Inn. It’s a big celebration of the state’s most diminutive breweries.

+++++

*Seattle is the second largest craft beer market per capita in the USA. According to the Brewers Association, 24 percent of the beer consumed in Seattle is craft beer. Portland consumes 29.9 percent and San Francisco consumes 20.3 percent.  Those are the only three American cities over 20 percent.  In fact, Denver is the only other city in double digits (14 percent).