Beer Blotter

When we were in Boston, a local beer bar was marketing their upcoming Session Fest and I thought it was such a good idea. There are so many quality brews out there at lower ABVs- we dont always need to drink big beers, do we?

When we got back to Seattle, I was thrilled to find out that Naked City Brewery and Taphouse was hosting a Session Fest of their own. It starts tomorrow and goes through July 24, 2011, does not have an entry fee- you just pay as you drink and will allow you to drink more without the consequences of getting too drunk. So Cheers!

Below is the draft list for Naked City’s Session Fest:

Session Beers at 5.00% Alcohol by Volume

Cascade Summer Gose German-style Gose
Chuckanut German-style Alt Bier
Roslyn Brookside German-style Lager
Big Al Summer Lager German-style Helles
Hale’s German-style Kolsch
Dogfish Head Namaste Belgian-style Wit
Anacortes American-style Pale Ale
Sound Dunkelweizen

Session Beers between 4.50% and 4.99% Alcohol by Volume
4.80% Wingman American-style Pale Ale
4.80% Anacortes Helles Festival-style Lager
4.80% Firestone Walker Pale 31 American-style Pale Ale
4.80% Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Bavarian-style Hefeweizen
4.70% Silver City Gee Whiz Black Koslch-style Ale
4.50% Slip Point Chito Cream Ale
4.50% Fremont Wandering Wheat American-style Wheat Ale

Session Beers between 4.00% and 4.49% Alcohol by Volume

4.40% Stone Levitation
4.40% Boulevard ZON
4.30% Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde American-style Blonde Ale
4.20% Fremont Universale American-style Pale Ale

Session Beers between 2.00% and 3.99% Alcohol by Volume
3.40% Foggy Noggin Bit O Beaver English-style Bitter Ale
3.00% Elysian Slight Return
2.99% Silver City Baby Fat 60 Schilling Scottish-style Ale

Report back on what your favorite beers were! For More information contact Paul Orchard (northwestbeerguide@gmail.com), follow the festival on Twitter (@sessionfest) or visit http://nwsessionfest.blogspot.com.

First it was harvest season and in celebration we indulged in glorious IPAs, then it was Halloween, so we attended a Pumpkin beer fest. Now, the first snow has fallen (sending Seattle into a state of disbelif, terror and general panic) and it is time for Christmas brews and Winter ales.

This year’s Winter Beer Fest will not dissapoint. Here are the details:

2010 WINTER BEER FEST

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DATES & HOURS

Friday, December 10th, 2010 5:30-9:30 pm
(WABL* Hour: 5:00-5:30 pm)

Saturday December 11th, 2010 12-4 pm + 5:30-9:30 pm
(WABL* Hour: 11:30-12 pm)

*Open exclusively to WABL members.

LOCATION

Hale’s Palladium
4301 Leary Way NW
Seattle, WA
MAP

ADMISSION

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$23 advance/$25 at the door.
Admission includes a tasting cup and six 5 oz. beer tastes.
Additional tokens are available at $1.50 each.

Designated driver admission is $5 and available at the door only.
We accept cash and check only. Sorry, no credit cards!

Admission and token sales will end at 45 minutes before the end of each session and taps will close with 20 minutes left in each session.

This is a 21+ only event

Space is limited so get your tickets early!

Advance tickets are available online now.

Advance ticket sales end at 5:00 AM on Friday, December 10th, or whenever tickets allocated for advance sale are sold out. There will be additional tickets available at the door during the event.

Beers to look out for (and by look out for, I mean drink)-

7 Seas Saison

Airways Hot Chocolate Ale

Big Al Penut Butter Stout

Big Time Yulefest Winter Ale

Black Raven Old Birdbrain Barleywine

Black Raven Bourboun Barrel la Petite Mort

Boundary Bay 2008, 2009 and 2010 Cabin Fever

Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale

Flyers Brewery Daybreak Breakfast Oatmeal Stout

Fremont Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Abominable

Naked City Bing Spiked Cherry Ale

Schooner Exact Hoppy the Woodsman

Silver City Brewing Old Scrooge Christmas Ale

There are so many amazing beers being poured at this event- check out the full list here!

What beer puts you in the holiday spirit??

Home brewing: A passion, an experience, a lifestyle

There seem to be a decent amount of contests going on here in Washington State and this is no exception. This past Saturday, Brouwer’s Cafe hosted Seattle Weekly’s Homebrew Contest. Beer was poured, tasted, judged and ultimately a difficult decision was made.

Nate Muller took home the title of best homebrew for his Belgian Dubbel, called “Ommeknate”. Not only will Nate’s Dubbel be on tap at Brouwer’s for the month of November, he gets to brew this recipe on Big Al’s system. Lucky guy. So head down to Brouwer’s and get a taste of victory. However, others were rewarded for their innovation and skill as 5 home brewers received recognition for producing the best beer of their category.

Below is a complete list of all the best of this year’s home brewing competition–>

Best Stout/Porter: John Herman, for his Baltic Porter, called “Smokey Smoke”

Best Pale Ale/IPA: Mike Ritzer, for his IPA, called “Pucker Up”

Best Belgian: Ted Stone, for his Belgium Specialty Ale, called “Black Betty”

Best Wheat Beer: Mark Guth, for his Dunkelweisen, called “Summer Dunkel”

Best of the “Other” Category: DJ Moxley, for his American Brown Ale, called “BMW Brewing: Cardinal Ale”

So congrats to Nate and the other winners for your dedication to craft brewing. Keep up the hard work! If you attended this event at Brouwer’s and you have an opinion about which home brewer tickled your tastebuds, then leave a comment or email me at jess@beerblotter.com!

And the winner is...

Every year, local TV station, KING 5 takes a tally from the Washington State population on their favorite bars, restaurants, friendliest athlete, bike shops and so much more. This year and for the third year in a row, Silver City Brewing Co. located on the Kitsap Peninsula won best brewpub! Trust me, it is well deserved.

Silver City gives us Seattleites a reason to hop on a ferry to Silverdale, WA. A large facility, Silver City brews amazing beers, showcases only the finest bar food and is very welcoming to its patrons.

Runners up include: 5th Place-Diamond Knot Brewing Co. (Mukilteo, WA), 4th Place- Redhook Brewing Co. (Woodenville, WA), 3rd Place-Boundary Bay Bar and Bistro and rolling in at 2nd Place-Fishbowl Brewpub (home of Fish Brewing Co. in Olympia, WA)

So, congrats to Silver City who brews amazing beers such as their Woop PAss Double IPA, Fat Scotch Ale (so good), Indianola Pale Ale IPA and several others including some amazing seasonals. I am looking forward to their Winter Bock, Nutcracker Special Belgium Brown Ale and their Christmas Ale, Old Scrooge. Tis the season.

2010 ExBEERience

We like to experience beer, we like the state of Washington and we like Redhook Brewery (you must take one of their tours- lots o’ beer and knowledge for $1.00).  We were asked to share information about the 2010 ExBEERience and are honored to do so. We will be in the far off land called Belgium during this event, but if we were in Seattle, you better believe we would be there!

The 4th annual ExBEERience will be held on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at Redhook Brewing Company in Woodinville from noon to 4 PM. The event, sponsored by the Cascade Brewers Guild home brewing club, will feature commercial brewers, home brew samples, food, and the recognition of award winners from both the 2010 Cascade Brewers Cup home brewing competition and the annual awards from the Washington Homebrewers Association. Brewers scheduled to pour at the event are Alaskan Brewing, Baron/3 Skulls, Big Al, Black Raven, Firestone Walker, Fremont Brewing, Georgetown, Issaquah Brewhouse, Kona, Lazy Boy, Odin, Powerhouse, Redhook, Trade Route and Widmer. Proceeds benefit Childhaven, a non-profit to benefit abused and neglected children.

Entry is $20 in advance, $25 at the door and includes entry, lunch and 9 beer tokens. Additional tokens available to purchase on site; ATM available. Advance tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/98927.

This event is hosted by the Cascade Brewers Guild (also known as the Cascade Brewers Club), a group of beer aficionados and enthusiasts. They host competitions, enjoy brewery tours and have frequent social events. To learn more about joining the CBG, check out their Yahoo Group. The meetings, unless otherwise specified, are held every first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM at Mountain Homebrew & Wine Supply, Inc., in Kirkland, Washington.  The public is welcome to attend, but after the third meeting they request annual dues of $20 to join the Club.

Beer Blotter loves seeing other motivated beer lovers and drinkers! We wish the Cascade Brewers Guild “best of luck” with the upcoming event! Its going to be a great event and we wish we could be there!