Mark the date: Friday, September 10th. Hop heads should take the day off work and find a designated driver. Brouwer’s Cafe will celebrate the 5th Annual Hop Fest with dozens of beautifully hoppy beers. Today on the Brower’s Cafe blog, they release the list as it stands right now, noting that a dozen or more beers will be added in the coming days. From near and far, Brouwer’s has assembled an amazing list of hoppy treasures.

The doors open on Friday, September 10th  at 11:00. Do not be surprised if people are lined up by 10:00 a.m.

Here’s the list as of today.

• Alaskan Double Black
• Anacortes Black
• Anderson Valley Imperia
• Anthem Dry Hopped Cider
• Avery Maharaja
• Baron Dry Hopped Pils
• Big Al Dry Hopped
• Big Time Action Jackson
• Black Raven Dry Hopped Trickster
• Black Raven Wisdom Seeker
• Boundary Bay Imperial
• Diamond Knot Shipwreck XXX
• Dogfish Head Burton Baton
• Double Mt. Molten Lave
• Elysian Idiot Sauvin
• Elysian Orgone
• Firestone Walker Union Jack
• Green Flash Pallate Wrecker
• Hub Ace of Spades
• Hub Galactic Imperial Red
• Iron Horse Mystery Firkin
• Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
• Laughing Dog Devil Dog
• Lazy Boy Imperial
• Left Hand Twin Sisters Double
• Mad River Imperial
• Midnight Sun Hop Dog Double Wheat
• Midnight Sun Meltdown Double
• Midnight Sun XXX Black Double
• Mikeller Cascade
• Mikeller Centennial
• Mikeller Chinook
• Moylans Wet Hopsicle
• Naked City Impact
• New Belgium Belgo
• Ninkasi Maiden the Shade
• Oskar Blues Gubna
• Pike Dry Hopped Double
• Port Brewing 4th Anniversary
• Russian River Blind Pig
• Russian River Pliny the elder
• Schooner Exact Imperial
• Scuttlebutt Hoptopia
• Silver City Whoop Pass
• Snoqualmie Dry Hopped Copperhead
• Stone 14th Anniversary
• Two Beers Fresh Hop

Big Wood – Today (Thrs. Dec. 3rd) the Big Wood Festival* gets underway at Brouwer’s Cafe in Fremont. Doors open at 11:00 a.m. This year the list of beers is huge – at least 45 beers long. Beers from near and far, from brewers like Firestone Walker, Cantillon, Allagash, Avery, Great Divide, Southern Tier, Pike, Port Townsend and Schooner Exact. And many more. If you like big, ballsy, wood-aged beers, this is the event for you. To view the list of beers, see our previous post or go to the Brouwer’s Cafe blog.

*NOTE- You should consult your physician before attending Big Wood. Big Wood is not intended for people taking Nitrates or with other heart conditions. If Big Wood lasts for more than four hours, seek immediate medical attention.

Winter Beer Fest – This weekend (Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4th and 5th) the Washington Beer Commission presents the Washington Winter Beer Festival. The event takes place at Hale’s Paladium in Frelard (the place where Fremont meets Ballard). Tickets are still available at some of the outlets and tickets will be available at the door. This is a highly-anticipated event each year and should not be missed.  For more information see our previous post, or go to the official event Web site.

The Big Wood Fest at Brouwer’s is rapidly approaching. The event kicks off on Thursday, December 3rd. Big Wood features a prolific selection of barrel-aged and wood-enhanced beers. Stouts, sours, porters, IPAs, you name it. Here is the list as it stands right now:

Brewery - Beer

Allagash - Curieux

Allagash - Interlude

Alvinne - Oak Aged Balthazar

Alvinne - Oak Aged Podge

Avery - Samaels

Big Sky - BBN IPA

Big Sky - Ivan the Terrible

Boundary Bay - BBN Old Bounder

Cantillon - Classic Geuze

Cantillon - Framboise 06

Cantillon - Kriek 06

Cantillon - Lou Pepe Kriek 04

Cantillon - St. Lamvinus

Cantillon - Vigneron

Cascade - Vlad the Imp Aler

Deschuttes - Abyss 08

Deschuttes - Abyss 09

Deschuttes - Black Butte XXI

Firestone Walker - Barrel Aged Double Barrel

Firestone Walker – The Black Xantus

Flyers - Laphroaig Chipped BW 8

Fremont - BBN Barrel Dry Hopped Abominable

Full Sail - BBN Imperial Porter

Great Divide - 15th Anny Oak Aged Double IPA

Hair of the Dog - …from the wood

Hair of the Dog – Matt

Hair of the Dog - Michael in Wood Firkin

Hales - Oak Aged Dubbel?

Left Hand - Oak Aged Imperial Stout

Lost Abbey – Angels Share

Mad River - BBN Extra Stout

New Belgium - Bottleworks 10

New Belgium - La Folie

New Belgium - La Terroir

Oude Beersel - 3yr lambic

Pike - Entire

Port Brewing - Brouwer’s Imagination

Port Townsend – Oak Aged Imperial Porter

Russian River - Consecration

Russian River - Temptation

Schooner Exact – Hoppy The Woodsman

Skaggit - BBn Imperial IPA

Southern Tier - Oak Aged Unearthly

Stone - BBN 12th Anniversary

There are a couple of events going on this week at Brouwer’s Cafe that we’d like to tell you about.

First, tonight (Monday, Nov. 9th), they will have a guest bartender. Matt Bonney, the Grand Poobah around Brouwer’s, will be working behind the bar from 5:00 until midnight. The staff at Brouwer’s encourages everyone to come on down and show Matt that it isn’t as easy as it looks. He’s pretty confident that he can handle things and the staff would love to see him struggle.

On Wednesday (Nov. 11th) at 7:00, Brouwer’s will host its first-ever cider dinner as they welcome Crispin Cider Company for an evening of specially prepared food and delicious ciders. While cider is not beer, and Crispin isn’t even from Washington, they do in fact use Washington apples.

Here at the blog we focus on Washington beer, so why are we talking about cider? Well, we also happen to be fans of hard cider and often wonder why there isn’t a larger cider culture in Washington. Sure, we have a few producers of tasty cider, and they do a fine job, but Washington is the world’s apple grower. You’d think it would be ubiquitous around here. Beyond that, a portion of the proceeds benefit Northwest Harvest Hunger Relief Agency, and we also just think that this sounds like a very, very yummy event in general.

For example, the menu will include citrus zest and apple butter Maine lobster; seared and chilled coriander and Szechwan pepper-dusted yellowtail jack fish; and pheasant apple mushroom leek sausage. All this, and much more, paired with Crispin’s selection of hard ciders.

Sure, maybe this is not at all about beer, but it sure does sound good.

Visit the Brouwer’s Web site for details.

Tonight (Fri. Oct. 23th), Brouwer’s Cafe will begin its celebration of Washington Beer. This is similar to the WA beer event we hosted at the Beveridge Place Pub last June (here), only on a grander scale. Brouwer’s will turn over their 60+ taps to serve Washington beer exclusively. Obviously, they won’t go through all 60 kegs in one night, so you can expect to find an outstanding selection of Washington beers on tap through the weekend if you cannot make it tonight.

This event is being sponsored by WABL (Washington Beer Lovers). If you are a WABL member don’t forget  to bring your passport. You will receive happy hour prices all night long. If you are not a WABL member, you should be. Click here to learn more about becoming a member.

Here is a list of the beers they’ll be pouring at Brouwer’s:

Alpine Octoberfest
Anacortes Darkside IPA
Baron Liberator Doppelbock ’07
Big Al Harvest Ale
Big Al Mild Mannered Ale
Big E Two Pints Imperial IPA
Big Time Jeezum Crow
Birdsview Ditzy Blonde
Black Raven La Petite Mort
Boundary Bay Irish Stout
Boundary Bay Oak Aged Cabin Fever ’08
Breakaway IPA
Chuckanut (not sure which)
Diamond Knot Shipwreck XXXIPA
Dick’s Bottleworks Rye
Dick’s Double Diamond
Elliot Bay Imperial Von Boorian
Elysian Haleakala Hibiscous Sour
Engine House #9 Brewing Co Dry Hop Pale
Fish Winterfish
Flyers PBY Pale
Flyers Pro-Am Stout
Fremont Lil’ Woody
Georgetown Choppers Red Cask
Hale’s Dry Hopped Pale
Hale’s HSB Nitro
Harmon IPA
Hood Canal Big Beef Stout
Ice Harbor Hop Warrior
Iron Horse Mocha Death
Lazyboy Big Trouble Double
Leavenworth Alt
Lunar Goat Roaper Scottish Ale
Maritime Dry Hopped Pale Cask
Northern Lights Chocloate Dunkel
Olympia (It’s the water)
Peaks Pub Big Ass Red
Pike 5x Stout
Pike Old Bawdy 08
Port Townsend Oak Aged Scotch Ale
Port Townsend Scotch Ale Nitro
Ram Northgate Barrel Aged Red Cherries & Bugs
Ranier (Mountain fresh)
Red Hook Belgian Tripel
Rogue Issaquah Pumpkin Frog
Roslyn Dark Lager
Schooner Exact Dry Hopped 3-grid Cask
Scuttlebut Golden Mariner
7 Seas Balls Deep douple IPA
Silver City Fat Woody
Silver City Red
Skaggit Black Jack Lager
Skookum Hooskal Stout
Snipes Mountain Porter
Snoqualmie Dry Hopped Avalanche
Three Skulls IPA
Trade Route Chieftan Amber
Two Beers Stout
Walking Man Black Cherry Stout
Water Street (not sure which beer)