Seattle Beer Week 2012 - Day 4

Your Iron Brewer Host & Sensei - Gary Sink

Quite a few events during day 4 of Seattle Beer Week 2012 were about Moms - for obvious reasons.  Since my Mom is several states away, I had no opportunity to take her out to any of the Mother's Day-themed events around the city. 

Rob With An Iron Brewer Taster Tray

Instead, I played it low-key and hit just two events.  The first was Iron Brewer at Beveridge Place Pub.  This annual event is a challenge for the brewers, who must use the ingredients Beveridge Place specifies, and then be judged by the masses to see who comes out as champion. 

Seattle Beer Week 2012 - Day 2

I woke up a bit groggy from all the opening night events on day 1, and got myself ready to head to Brouwer's Cafe for the start of this year's Back In Black Stout Fest.  We managed to arrive just minutes after the doors opened. 

Enjoying Back In Black 2012

My Experience At The 10th Annual Barleywine Bacchanal

Yesterday, I attended the opening day of the 10th Annual Barleywine Bacchanal at Beveridge Place Pub in West Seattle.  I had a great time hanging out with a few new friends, including Dan Swanson from Thirsty In Seattle, and Josh and Risha Sanderson from the South Sound Beer Advocate Posse.  Cheers!  

More than 40 barleywines will be pouring throughout the festival, and yesterday I took a crack at 12 of the first 24 available selections:

The Tap List For Day 1

I did my best to try offerings I haven't had before, though I did have to grab myself a Firestone Walker Abacus '11 (#17).  It's one of my favorites.  My other choices from the list above included (by number): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 18, 22 & 24

The Barleywine Menu For The Bacchanal

My First Taster Tray

The standouts for me included:

Emelisse '11:
This was the one European barleywine I sampled (From Emelisse Brouwerij & Restaurant in the Netherlands).  It had a pleasant, honeysuckle and light citrus aroma and was well balanced with an almost pilsner malt type character, notes of graham cracker and a clean finish.

Big Al Ol' No. 1 '11:
Big Al's offering also had some graham cracker notes and an aroma reminiscent of Chinese almond cookies.  With a medium-light body and notes of what seemed like candi sugar, it was very pleasant and easy drinking.  

Black Raven Old Birdbrain '10:
This one had a light citrus/piney hop aroma and a complex caramel malt character.  Well balanced with notes of Cognac.

Fish 10 Squared '11:
If you like a hoppy barleywine, this is the one to go for.  With a strong citrus/Cascade hop aroma and a pleasing grapefruit hop flavor, with enough caramel malt character to back it up, this is the barleywine at this Bacchanal for the hopheads.

Firestone Walker Abacus '11:
This is one of my favorites, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have it again.  It has a deep ebony/ruby hue with a wonderful oak/bourbon aroma with other spicy notes.  Toffee, oak, vanilla and a faint hop bitterness are all balanced well.  This one is a joy to drink.  If you haven't tried it before, I recommend picking up a bottle.  As of 2012, Abacus is now known as §ucaba (Abacus backwards).

Fremont Snuggle Bunny '11:
I really wanted to like this one.  I'm a fan of Fremont Brewing's beers and with a name like 'Snuggle Bunny'? Well, I was expecting a pleasing experience.  I'm sorry to say, it was not.  I had to ask for confirmation from the other's at my table if I was the only one who got an aroma of Windex.  My sense of smell was confirmed.  The first sip was cloyingly sweet, with just a bit of bitter orange-peel type flavor.  I'm hoping it was just a bad keg, but this was the only one of the day I just couldn't finish.

Wingman Barleywing '11:
I'm not all that familiar with Wingman's beers, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  This one was probably my most pleasant surprise of the day and perhaps my favorite of the day behind Abacus.  It had a light, woody and almost cola-like aroma with a really complex flavor including notes of light wood, raisins and dates, some very light citrus and just the right amount of smoke.

Events Through Thursday

So those were my highlights from my selections for the kickoff of this year's Bacchanal.  I'll have to head back again, as there are still plenty of barleywines that haven't been tapped yet.  Beveridge Palce has Bacchanal events lined up through Thursday (See image above).  So pick a night and make your way out to West Seattle.  It's good 'practice' for the Hard Liver fest next Saturday, March 3rd at Brouwer's Cafe.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

Belgianfest 2012 & Superbowl Sunday Eats

This past Saturday, I attended Seattle's 3rd Annual Belgianfest down at Pier 66.  It was my first time attending this event, and I had a lot of fun.  The following day, Superbowl Sunday, I broke out my smoker for the first time this year and made some great BBQ.

Belgianfest:

Belgianfest is done in two sessions: Noon - 4:00PM and 5:30PM - 9:30PM.  I attended the Noon - 4:00PM session.  While sampling the various Belgian-styled offerings from several Seattle area breweries, I was also busy clicking away, getting lots of photos.  You can view all the photos I got HERE.  If you spot yourself, tag yourself!

Don't Think I Can Last The Month

Back in mid-December, I posted that I was going to attempt to make it the entire month of January without any alcohol whatsoever.  I was going 'on the wagon'.  This was a personal choice, and to be honest it hasn't really been all that bad.  I went the entire first week without any serious cravings or any slip-ups.  I switched to drinking more water, cranberry juice, limeade, etc. 

During that first week, however, I missed a few things I would have preferred to be able to take part in.  The first 'challenge' to my month of sobriety was a really enticing sounding keg from Black Raven Brewing, put on tap January 4th at Brouwer's Cafe.  From Brouwer's description: " It's a Stout with Oak, Theo's Chocolate Nibs, Coffee, and Pecans Soaked in Kahlua and Rum."  OK.  You've gotta admit, that sounds incredible!  It was the first time I really asked myself why I was doing this(?)  Why deny myself just for the heck of it?  But I stayed away.