Pumpkin Fest 2012 Tickets Go On Sale Tomorrow

It may still be August and it should reach over 90 degrees out there today, but don't forget that October and this year's Great Pumpkin Beer Festival are only 2 months away.  This is the second year the festival will be held at Elysian Brewing's new commercial brewing facility in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. 

This year's fest will feature over 60 different pumpkin beers; 13 of which are from Elysian Brewing Company, including: Mr. Yuck Sour Pumpkin Ale, Night Owl, Great Pumpkin, Dark o' the Moon Pumpkin Stout, Hansel and Gretel Ginger Pumpkin Pils, Coche de Medianoche (new!), Kürbitinus, PK-47 Pumpkin Malt Liquor, Headless Horsey (new!), Ursa Orange (new!) Mens Room Original Pumpkin Ale (new!) and Orange Manalishi (new!).  Wow! 

Seattle Beer Week 2012 Kickoff Events

Seattle Beer Week 2012 kicked off yesterday, and I managed to make it to all four opening night events with my beautiful wife, Lynn.

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!

Full List Of Seattle Beer Week 2012 Events

LAST UPDATED - 5/8/2012

Seattle Beer Week kicks off this Thursday!  Below is the most up-to-date list of all Seattle Beer Week events (including a few not listed on seattlebeerweek.com!)  '

Just like last year, this year's SBW has become so crowded with events, it's literall impossible to hit every single one.  Watch soon for a new post on my event pics and where I'll be for each day of Seattle Beer Week 2012.  Cheers!

Recently added or updated events (since the last update) are marked with a red asterisk.  *

The 7th Annual Great Pumpkin Beer Fest

Today, my wife and I attended day 1 of the 7th Annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival at Elysian Brewing's impressive new Georgetown brewing facility.  We were preparing for grey skies and the possibility of rain, but instead found a beautiful, sunny day where a huge crowd enjoyed a wide variety of pumpkin-influenced beers from both local breweries and from breweries across the country. 

A few of the tanks at Elysian's impressive new brewing facility in Georgetown

Food at the festival was provided by mobile food vendors: Where Ya At Matt, Snout & Co. and Skillet.  To satiate our sweet tooth, we had Bluebird Ice Cream (and yes, they had a few different varieties of pumpkin beer ice cream!) and Mighty O Donuts.  Yum, yum!

Having pre-paid tickets for this event wound up being a real advantage.  Pre-sale ticket holders were allowed in just after 11:30AM, while those purchasing tickets at the door had to wait until noon before they were allowed to start tricking in.  Even by about 6:00 when we left for the day, there was still quite a long line of people waiting to get in. 

My Jack-O-Lantern Great Pumpkin Fest taster glass

We tried to sample as many different pumpkin beers as we could, as well as the pumpkin donuts and some Dark Of The Moon pumpkin beer ice cream.  I'll detail my tasting notes for each beer we tried in a future post very soon, but some of the standouts for me were: Pumpking by Southern Tier Brewing Company, Pumpkineater by Howe Sound Brewing, Punk'n Bbomb from Fremont Brewing and Punkin Ale from Dogfish Head Brewing. 

Lynn with The Great Pumpkin

As 4:00PM approached, we prepared for the tapping of The Great Pumpkin.  The crowd surrounding the pumpkin just kept growig & growing until it was tapped, and this year's batch was pretty darn good! 

Since the Geogetown area is undergoing some road constrution, finding parking was a bit of a challenge.  So, for those planning to attend tomorrow, I suggest you get there early, especially if you don't have pre-paid tickets! 

For those planning on attending tomorrow, I'll see you there! 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

A Detailed Look at Seattle Beer Week - May 19-29, 2011 - UPDATED (5/18)

 

Seattle Beer Week is now just a few hours away.  I wanted to give you an extremely detailed run-down of all the events, so you can plan out your week to get the most out of it.  There are loads of great events to chose from.  Here we go!

UPDATED!  5/18/2011

Seattle Beer Week starts tomorrow!
Even more great events have been added.  New (or moved) events since our last update are indicated by a red asterisk *. 


Day 1 - Thursday, May 19th:

All Day-Growler Madness: Stone Brewing Co. at Super Deli Mart (9051 35th Street SW, Seattle, WA).  Stone will be tapping a cellared keg of Double Bastard and maybe a few others.  10% off all Stone bottled beers. 

11:00AM

-Elliott Bay IPA Feast at Elliott Bay Brewing - West Seattle (4720 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA).  Five Elliott Bay IPAs on one sampler tray.  Come get your IPA on. 

4:30PM

-Boundary Bay Brewery Appreciation at Collins Pub (526 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA).  6 tap handles, showcasing beers from one of Seattle's finest breweries for over 15 years. 

5:00PM *

-*Lazy Boy Brewer's Night at Blaefire (1801 Hewitt Ave, Everett, WA).  There will be $10 beer flights and Lazy Boy schwag giveaways. 

5:30PM

-Seattle Beer Week kicks off with the tapping of the official Seattle Beer Week beer, brewed this year by Maritime Pacific Brewing Company (1111 NW Ballard Way, Seattle, WA). 

-*Schmaltz & Vine at Malt & Vine (16851 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA).  Taste beers by Coney Island's Schmaltz Brewing, including 'Human Blockhead'- a 10% Imperial American Bock, a 7-vintage vertical tasting of Jewbelation, and see Donny Vomit of Coney Island fame. 

6:00PM

-Seattle Cask-O-Rama at Beveridge Place Pub (6431 California Ave. SW, West Seattle, WA).  Cask beers from all Seattle breweries participating in Seattle Beer Week will be on the bartop!  Come on by and have a cask!

-Pike Brewer's Dinner at Emmer & Rye (1825 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA).  This is a food and beer pairing dinner, featuring the food of chef Seth Caswell and beers from the Pike with Charles and Rose Ann Finkel.  The menu is yet to be announced. 

-Hales Brewer's Dinner at DeLuxe Bar & Grill (625 Broadway Ave E, Seattle, WA).  A beer and food pairing between DeLuxe Executive Chef, Beth Fuller and Hales beers.  A four-course menu has been prepared.  Contact DeLuxe for tickets and info or call them at (206) 324-9697.  The cost is $35 per person (tax and gratuity not included). 

-North End Kick Off at Fred's Rivertown Alehouse (1114 First St, Snohomish, WA).  If you're in the North end and can't make it down to Seattle for the Beer Week kick off, come celebrate it at Fred's.

-Schooner Exact Night at The Beer Junction (4707 42nd Ave SW, Seattle, WA).  Come enjoy some Schooner Exact beers at The Beer Junction. 

-Upright Brewing Night at Old Town Alehouse (5233 Ballard Ave N, Seattle, WA).  Upright is a Belgian-inspired brewery using Northwest ingredients.  Come on out and have a few at Old Town Alehouse. 

-*Bayern Brewery Night at 74th Street Alehouse (7401 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA).  Bayern's owner & head Brewmaster, Jurgen Knoller will be on hand to open an Oak Firkin of his new Cask Summer Bock beer.  He has driven the firken himself from Missoula, MT to be here for this event. 

-*Colorado Invades Ballard at the Barking Dog Alehouse (705 NW 70th St, Seattle, WA).  All Colorado beers will be on tap at the Barking Dog.  There will be taps from New Belgium, Left Hand, Oskar Blues & Boulder Brewing.

7:00PM

-Alaskan Brewery Smokin' Beer Dinner at Julia's on Broadway (300 Broadway E, Seattle, WA).  An enticing menu, paired with beers from Alaskan Brewery.  You can see the full menu HERE. 

-Seattle Beer Week Kick Off Stop 2 at Brouwer's Cafe (400 N. 35th St, Seattle, WA).  The kick off party rolls on at Brouwer's! 

8:00PM

-Seattle Beer Week Kick Off Stop 3 at Pyramid Alehouse (1201 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA).  The party's still rollin' - now at Pyramid Alehouse near Safeco Field. 

-*Carnies & Cronies at the Unicorn (1118 E Pike St, Seattle, WA). Come see Zak from Schmaltz brewing & Donny Vomit of Coney Island fame.  Coney Island Ales & Unicorn corndogs. 

9:00PM

-Seattle Beer Week Kick Off Stop 4 at Naked City Taphouse (8564 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA).  And the party is still rolling.  Are you still standing?  24 Taps - 12 will be devoted to Naked City Beers and 12 to beers from other Seattle area breweries. 

-Heavy Metal Beer Bash at Highline (210 Broaday Ave E, Seattle, WA).  Come enjoy some heavy metal from: Lightning Swords of Death, Saviors and Black Queen.  There will be pint specials on metal-themed beers such as: Back in Black IPA, TNT Doppel Weizenbock and Helmet Pale Ale. 

10:00PM

-Heavy Metal Beer Bash at The Galaway Arms (5257 University Way NE, Seattle, WA).  Come enjoy a show with live, local heavy metal bands, along with brews from Left Hand, 21st Amendment, etc. etc. etc.