Seattle Beer Week 2012 - Days 5 & 6

Seattle Beer Week 2012 rolls on - and is wearing me out!  On Monday, I headed down to Big Time Brewing for their first ever bourbon-barrel beer release.  That's the tap handle above.

The Heavenly Bourbon Limited Edition Growlers

Beer Monger's Picks For Seattle Beer Week 2012

Seattle Beer Week 2012 kicks off tomorrow!  Are you ready?  There are well over 150 events listed at various locations throughout Seattle and the Puget Sound, but you'll need a plan of attack if you want to keep them all straight and hit the events you really want.

Here are my picks for Seattle Beer Week 2012, and the events I plan on attending myself:

Thursday, May 10, 2012:


5:00PM

 Seattle Beer Week Kickoff Part 1 at Elysian Brewing Company on Capitol Hill (1221 E Pike St., Seattle, WA).  Join everyone at Elysian for the tappling of the Official Seattle Beer Week Beer, Split Shot, which will be tapped at 6:00PM.  Let the festivities begin!

Get Sauced At Naked City On March 11th - CANCELLED

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY NAKED CITY.

Good food can sometimes take a back seat to good beer.  In fact, many smaller local breweries don't even offer food beyond snacks like chips, pretzels and nuts.  That's okay, of course, for the smaller and newer breweries, who may not have expanded enough yet to offer a full food menu, but pubs and breweries that do offer a full food menu understand that having good food to pair with your beers is a very important consideration.  

If you're a fan of good pasta with your beer, which brewery in the Seattle area do you think makes the best pasta sauce?  Coming up on March 11th at Naked City Brewery & Taphouse, you'll get a good chance to find out. 

Next Sunday, March 11th from 1:00PM to 3:00PM is the 2nd Annual Chaos Cook Off at Naked City.  Nine local breweries will compete, preparing their best pasta sauce and pairing it with the perfect beer.  This is a tickted event, and there are 100 tickets available for $35 a piece.  For that price, you'll get to try all nine pasta and beer combinations and help select the winner.  See the event on Naked City's Facebook page HERE. 

The breweries competing in this year's Chaos Cook Off include:

• 7 Seas Brewing
• Chuckanut Brewery
• Sliver City Brewing
• Diamond Knot Brewery
• Lazy Boy Brewing
• Big Time Brewery
• Pike Brewing
• Schooner Exact Brewing
• Naked City Brewery & Taphouse (of course)

So if you're a fan of great beers and great pasta, drop by Naked City to pick up your ticket(s).  Tickets are only available at Naked City Brewery & Taphouse. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there. 

Old Wooly 2011 Release This Thursday

As a fan of big holiday beers, I'm already really enjoying the season.  With the likes of Hoppy The Woodsman from Schooner Exact Brewing, Jolly Roger Christmas Ale from Maritime Pacific Brewing, Elysian Brewing's Bifrost, etc. etc. I'm a very happy beer drinker this time of year.  And for Big Time Brewery fans and barleywine fans alike, it's that most wonderful time of the year.  This Thursday, December 1st, will be the annual tapping of Big Time Brewery's Old Wooly Barleywine.  I'm always a fan of this one, and I may be at Big Time this Thursday when they open to see if I can be the lucky one to get the first glass off the keg. 

Usually fairly hoppy, but with a solid and complex malt character to back it up, Old Wooly is a real treat for Seattle craft beer fans, as finding it outside of Seattle is extremely rare.  Big Time only bottles four of their beers (Prime Time Pale Ale, Atlas Amber, Coal Creek Porter and Baghwan's Best IPA), and they only sell those bottles at the brewery.  The only other way to get Big Time beers is in the keg or on tap at Big Time or other local craft beer bars that carry Big Time selections. 

In years past, every version of Old Wooly I've experienced has been brewed by Big Time's former head brewer: Bill Jenkins.  Bill has moved on and will be the head brewer at Elliott Bay Brewing's new location up in Lake City (due to open early next year), so I don't know for sure if this year's batch was brewed by Bill before he left or if it was brewed by Big Time's new head brewer (former head brewer at Pike Brewing and, incidentally, Bill Jenkins' brother in law), Drew Cluley.  They're both great brewers so it really doesn't matter.  I believe Drew may have told me earlier this year who brewed this year's batch, I just don't recall and I'm curious.  I'll have to ask Drew on Thursday.

Also, for those who've been living under a rock or don't follow my blog regularly, just another reminder that next Thursday is the Big Wood festival at Brouwer's Cafe.  I will definitely be in attendance, so maybe I'll see you there. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.