Big Wood 2011

I just got home from the kickoff of the 2011 Big Wood fest at Brouwer's Cafe.  I attended this year's event with a few friends, so we could share our beers and have a chance to sample a larger portion of the available menu. 

Here is the full list of beers and prices at this year's Big Wood.  The selections I enjoyed today are in bold:

 All Beers are 12oz pours unless otherwise denoted:

Allagash Curieux .................................................... $7.00

Alpine Imperial Porter in Bourbon Barrels ........... $8.00

Anacotes BBN Imperial Stout ................................. $6.00

Anderson Valley BBN Gatlin Damnosis ................ $5.00

Avery Rumpkin (6oz) .............................................. $9.00

Big Time 2010 Bourbon/Oaked Old Rip ................ $5.00

Black Raven Gunbarrel Brl Aged Porter(nitro) .... $5.00

Boundary Bay Scotch Ale in Dry Fly Barrels ........ $5.00

Cantillion Framboise ’06 (6oz) .............................. $9.00

Cantillion Lou Pepe Kriek ’10 (6oz) ..................... $9.00

Deschutes Abyss ‘10 ............................................... $6.00

Diamond Knot Oaked Shipwreck XXXIPAcask ...... $5.00

Dogfish Head Burton Baton ................................... $8.00

Dogfish Head Palo Santo ....................................... $8.00

Double Mountian Wooden Nipple Belgian Triple . $7.00

Elliot Bay Bourbon Imperial Stout ....................... $6.00

Elysian Perseus Lost Sour ..................................... $6.00

Emielisse Jack Daniels BBN Stout ......................... $9.00

Firestone DBA ........................................................ $4.00

Firestone Velvet Merkin (unblended from barrel) .. $8.00

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (6oz) .............. $8.00

Fremont B-Bomb .................................................... $6.00

Full Sail Black Gold ............................................... $7.00

Glacier Maker's Eisbock ......................................... $7.00

Great Divide Oaked Rumble IPA............................ $6.00

Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti ................................... $7.00

Hales BBN Way Heavy ........................................... $6.00

Hitachino Classic in Schneider Barrel ................... $9.00

HOD 2008 Fred Flanders ...................................... $8.00

HOD 2008 Michael ................................................ $8.00

HUB Barrel Aged Imperial Porter ......................... $7.00

JW Lees Calvados Wooden Firkin(6oz) ................ $9.00

JW Lees Sherry Wooden Firkin(6oz) ..................... $9.00

Laughing Dog BBN Dogfather ............................... $6.00

Left Hand Oaked Imperial Stout ............................ $5.00

Lost Abbey Ad-Lib ................................................. $9.00

Maritime BBN Imperial IPA ................................... $5.00

Maritime BBN Decompression Ale Cask ............... $6.00

Morte Subite Rouge ................................................ $8.00

Morte Subite Wit .................................................... $8.00

Nectar Black Xantus ............................................... $9.00

New Belgium Special La Follie Blend ................... $6.00

New Belgium Love in Wood Barrel @6pm ............ $5.00

Ninkasi Oaked Maiden Shade ................................ $6.00

North Sound BBN Imperial Porter ......................... $6.00

Oakshire Gin Barrel Saison .................................... $6.00

Pike Oaked Imperial Stout Firkin .......................... $6.00

Port Brewing Bourbon Santa’s Imperial Stout ....... $9.00

Port Townsend Barrel Aged Mabel’s Nitro............ $5.00

Russian River Supplication .................................... $8.00

Russian River Temptation ...................................... $8.00

Schooner Exact Hoppy The Woodsman .................. $6.00

Seven Seas Le Havre Belgium Winter In Oak ........ $5.00

Shmaltz Barrel-aged Blockhead ............................. $7.00

Sierra Nevada Oaked Triple ................................... $6.00

Silver City 2010 Fat Woody ................................... $5.00

Stone 2008 Elijah Craig IRS .................................. $6.00

The Bruery 3 French Hens ..................................... $7.00

Tilquin Geuze (6oz) ................................................ $9.00

Quite an impressive lineup, as you can see.  The standout selections from the offerings I sampled were:

Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin (Unblended from the barrel) - rich and complex.  Subtly different from the blended versions I've had before.

Morte Subite Wit - with pleasant vanilla and citrus notes.  I'll have to see if I can find some of this in the botttle.  Yum!

Schooner Exact Hoppy The Woodsman - a dark, oak, bourbon barrel aged beer where the bourbon flavor really comes through.  One of my favorite winter beers this year.

Big Wood continues tomorrow and through the weekend but don't wait too long, because the best and most popular selections will run out fast. 

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.

Happy Thanksgiving - Two Weeks Until Big Wood 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday - and a fun time shopping on Black Friday, if that's your thing. 

Today is my wife's birthday, so we're actually ignoring Thanksgiving this year and focusing on that instead (not an easy task, when just about everything is closed on Thanksgiving!)  So enjoy your bird, we'll be grilling up some salmon and enjoying some great beers.

I also wanted to reminder my readers that the Big Wood Fest is coming up in just two weeks at Brouwer's Cafe in Seattle, and Brouwer's has released a partial list of what you'll see on tap this year.  Here it is:

Some of the Bigwood Beers:

Alaskan Perseverance RIS

Allagash Curieux

Avery Rumpkin

Big Time 2010 Bourbon/Oaked Old Rip

Dogfish Head Palo Santo

Double Mountain Wooden Nipple Barrel Aged Triple

Full Sail Black Gold

Glacier Makers Mark Eisbock

Great Divide Oaked Rumble IPA

Hitachino Classic in Schnider-Wiesse Barrel

HOD 2008 Fred Flanders

HUB Bourbon Baltic Porter

Maritime BBN Jolly Roger

Nectar Black Xantus

New Belgium Love

Oakshire Hellshire II Oaked Imperial Stout

Port Townsend Oaked Mables Best Imperial Stout

Russian River Supplication

Russian River Temptation

Schooner Exact Hoppy the Woodsman

Shmaltz Barrel Aged Blockhead

Silver City 2010 Fat Woody

The Bruery 3 French Hens

Pretty impressive, and this is only a partial list.  Things kick off at 11:00AM on Thursday, December 8th.  I'll be taking the day off work for this one.  Will I see you there?

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.