My Experience At The 10th Annual Hard Liver Festival

Yesterday, I attended the 10th Annual Hard Liver Festival at Brouwer's Cafe.  It's the biggest two-day annual barleywine event in Seattle.  There were 57 different barleywines all on tap, as well as a few special menu items to enjoy.

The doors opened just a bit late this year, at 11:15AM, and Brouwer's filled up quickly with barleywine fans eager to sample this year's offerings.  As with every year at this event, there was quite a line.

Hard Liver X

Just three days from today, Brouwer's Cafe will kick off their 10th Annual Hard Liver Festival.  This barleywine festival is one of several annual festivals Brouwer's puts on throughout the year.  Some of the others include:

• Hopfest- Featuring all hoppy beers and a menu to match with items like Kangaroo, Rabbit, Frogs Legs, etc.
• Big Wood- Featuring all wood-aged beers.
• Sour Fest- Featuring all sour beers/lambics/etc.

I'm still trying to develop more of a taste for the sours.  I can definitely see the appeal and there are some sours I really like, but some of them can really do a number on my palate!  I usually always attend Hard Liver, Big Wood and Hopfest, though I think Hard Liver is the one I look forward to the most.  As much of a hophead as I am, I really do love a good barleywine, and I've been having a great time over at Beveridge Place Pub - attending three days so far of their 10th Annual Barleywine Bacchanal, which ends this Thursday. 

Last year's Hard Liver Festival was great, with the winners being:

1. Anacortes Old Sebastes '10 - Anacortes Brewery, Anacortes, WA. 
2. Anderson Valley Horn of the Beer '09 - Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Boonville, CA.
3. Glacier Brew House Old Woody '10 - Glacier Brewhouse, Anchorage, AK.

You can see the full tap list from last year's festival HERE.  This year, I'm fortunate to be judging, so I'll have at least some say in which selections from this year's tap list will be declared the winner(s).  However, that also means I won't know which barleywines I'm drinking until after the judging is complete.  Of course, that's a sacrifice I'm quite willing to make. 

Many people may not realize this, but Brouwer's Cafe has not yet been open for ten years.  In fact, they've only been open for just under seven years, launching on March 24th, 2005.  If that's the case, however, then how can this be the 10th Annual Hard Liver Festival? 

It all began in 2002, when two friends, Matt Bonney (Brouwer's Cafe's Operations Manager) and Matt Vandenberghe, decided to launch the Hard Liver Festival as a non-profit event held at the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Association, knowing they planned to open a bar in the future.  And even though Brouwer's hasn't quite been open for seven years yet, this will be the 8th Hard Liver festival held at Brouwer's rather than at Phinney Ridge.  According to Matt Bonney, "We were so excited about having Hard Liver at Brouwer's that somehow we have had 8 in seven years.. Crazy.."  Crazy indeed, but my kind of crazy! 

So if you missed any of the Barleywine Bacchanal over at Beveridge Place, or you're just a barleywine lover like me, make your way down to Brouwer's Cafe this Saturday, March 3rd at 11:00AM.  That's the 'official' start time, but through experience I've learned that there is always a line for this festival. 

Last year, I got to Brouwer's at 9:30AM and was about the 25th person in line.  Yes, the line starts that early.  So get up early, have a good breakfast (you do not want to start drinking barleywine on an empty stomach), and I'll see you down at Brouwer's on Saturday.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

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.

Barleywine, Barleywine Everywhere, So Let's All Have A Drink

It's barleywine season - one of my favorite beer times of year.  I've always been a fan of good barleywines, so I'm really looking forward to both the 10th Annual 'Barleywine Bacchanal' at Beveridge Place Pub, and the 10th Annual 'Hard Liver Festival' at Brouwer's Cafe. 

First up is the 10th Annual Barleywine Bacchanal at Beveridge Place Pub in West Seattle.  This is a popular beer destination in the Seattle area, so if you've never been there I urge you to head on over to West Seattle and check them out.  It's well worth the trip across the West Seattle bridge. 

Belgianfest, Judging & Barleywine Festivals

Snowpocalypse 2012 has passed.  I for one, hope that was the majority of lowland snow we'll be seeing this winter.  Living at the bottom of a steep hill, it cuases lots of problems for me.  I hope any of you who were snowed in had an adequate supply of liquid courage on hand.  Now it's time to look ahead to what's next. 

Belgianfest:

The next event I'll be attending is Seattle's 2012 Belgianfest, which will be held this year on Saturday, February 4th at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center on pier 66.  There will be more than 60 different Belgian styled beers from several different Seattle area breweries.  Tickets are on sale now from Brown Paper Tickets, and there are two sessions to chose from:

Session 1: 12:00-4:00 pm
Session 2: 5:30-9:30 pm

I already have my ticket for Session 1, and I'm looking forward to wrapping my lips around some Saisons, dubbels, wits, farmhouse ales, lambics and more.  Belgian yeasts have very distinctive character, and I'm looking forward to a full afternoon of inundating my palate with various, wonderful Belgian styles. 

Barleywine Bacchanal & Hard Liver On The Way

I'm currently into the first week of my dry January, but I'm already thinking ahead to two of my favorite annual events coming up in February and March, respectively: The Barleywine Bacchanal at Beveridge Place Pub and the Hard Liver Fest at Brouwer's Cafe.  These are two of the most popular annual barleywine events in Seattle and I usually try to attend both events each year. 

You can read about the details of last year's Barleywine Bacchanal HERE, and about last year's Hard Liver Fest HERE.  This year will be the 10th year for both events, and I'm eager to see this year's lineups.  This year's Barleywine Bacchanal will start on Saturday, February 25th, and the Hard Liver Fest will kick off on Saturday, March 3rd. 

Thankfully and for obvious reasons, these events offer smaller pour sizes.  This allows you to try a greater number of selections from the menu than would otherwise be possible (without needing a wheelchair to get home, 'cuase you can't walk straight). 

In fact, I believe the best way to experience each of these events is to attend with a few friends.  For example, if you attend either event with two other friends, plan carefully so that you don't double-order and share your selections, you can sample up to three times as many barleywines as you would be able to on your own, without drinking a greater volume. 

No matter how many selections you have or friends you attend with, however, drink responsibly and stay safe out there.