Earth Day, the Seattle way

Elliott Bay Brewing Company’s Head Brewer, Doug Hindman, hoisted a 1/6th barrel (small keg) of beer onto his shoulder and marched out of the brewery in Burien. He walked a few blocks to the Burien Transit Center where he boarded a Sound Transit route 560 bus headed to West Seattle. Thirty minutes and 8 miles later, Doug and the keg arrived safely at Elliott Bay’s West Seattle brew pub. The rest of the journey would not be so easy.

In the alley behind the pub, the keg was loaded carefully into a trailer behind Hindman’s Fuji road bike. It was comical watching the care with which they strapped the keg into position. You had to wonder if parents use so much care when loading a child into such a trailer. Not likely. Doug Hindman, Todd Carden and Brett Norton (Elliott Bay Brewing Company’s owners) are about to start pedaling their way across Seattle to deliver the keg of Elliott Bay Demolition Ale to the Latona Pub in the Green Lake neighborhood.

The second and final leg of the journey will see them cross the low bridge out of West Seattle and navigate the rough and truck-crowded Alaskan Way through SODO. They will pedal along the waterfront and through Myrtle Edwards Park. From Interbay, they will take Nickerson Street to the Fremont Bridge. Then the part of the trip that Hindman, who is the one actually carting the keg, is expecting to enjoy the least: the climb up Stone Way to Green Lake and the Latona Pub.

All told, this keg of Elliott Bay Organic Demolition Ale will have traveled approximately 21 miles without the assistance of cars, vans or trucks.


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Happy Earth Day, Seattle style. (Read our previous post about beery Earth Day celebrations around Washington.)

Two Beers Brewing is trekking across the city from SODO to the Latona Pub on foot, using a hand cart to transport their keg. That’s a long walk even if you aren’t carting a keg of beer. Schooner Exact Brewing, also in SODO, delivered a keg by bicycle yesterday. Likely, other breweries are getting in on the action as well.


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All week long the Latona Pub is serving only beer delivered without the use of trucks, vans or cars. Rickshaws are perfectly acceptable, as are hand carts and bicycles. The Latona Pub’s manager, Elliott Ryan, is the one who came up with the idea. Elliott himself, along with Latona regulars, have done their share of the work, transporting kegs from breweries in Fremont, the University District, Northgate, Greenwood and beyond.

You might think that this is all symbolic. You’re right. But it’s a good symbol. “I looked at a map and plotted where our beer came from,” says Elliott Ryan. “We have so many beers brewed so close to us, some times we forget about that, but I wanted to really focus on local beers, extremely local beers, for Earth Day. Then we had a few beers and came up with the rest of the idea.”

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Doug Hindman, a big fan of public transit, arrives in West Seattle.
The precious cargo.
Road-ready.
The boys take a break at the park.
Team Elliott Bay arrives at the Latona.
The current tap list at the Latona (12:30 Thursday).
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10 thoughts on “Earth Day, the Seattle way

  1. So not to put a damper on things, because I think the whole idea is awesome, but the Latona Pub’s website says “All the kegs for the week of Earth Day are being transported to the Latona without combustion engine!” Isn’t using the bus cheating?

  2. So not to put a damper on things, because I think the whole idea is awesome, but the Latona Pub’s website says “All the kegs for the week of Earth Day are being transported to the Latona without combustion engine!” Isn’t using the bus cheating?

  3. Nevermind, just saw the note on the tap list that says “All these kegs have been brought to the Latona without car or truck.” Works for me! Kudos to everyone who biked, carried or dragged a keg to Latona.

  4. Nevermind, just saw the note on the tap list that says “All these kegs have been brought to the Latona without car or truck.” Works for me! Kudos to everyone who biked, carried or dragged a keg to Latona.

  5. I sure hope they let those kegs settle down a tad before they tap them. I sure there has been a fair amount of jostling of them.

    But still, this is a VERY cool idea. Kudo’s to all who participated!

  6. I sure hope they let those kegs settle down a tad before they tap them. I sure there has been a fair amount of jostling of them.

    But still, this is a VERY cool idea. Kudo’s to all who participated!

  7. They tapped the keg of Elliott Bay Demolition about 30 minutes after it arrived. Surprisingly, it had settled down plenty and was still cold. Good beer karma, I suppose.

  8. They tapped the keg of Elliott Bay Demolition about 30 minutes after it arrived. Surprisingly, it had settled down plenty and was still cold. Good beer karma, I suppose.

  9. Have you ever been in the back of a truck that delivers beer? Its quite a rough ride, I would think the handcart walk is actually less jostling…

  10. Have you ever been in the back of a truck that delivers beer? Its quite a rough ride, I would think the handcart walk is actually less jostling…

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