Seattle Beer Week 2012 - Day 3

For the third day of Seattle Beer Week 2012, I started things off at The Pine Box to check out the Can Derby - The Pine Box's version of the old Pinewood Derby races from Cub Scout/Boy Scout days gone by.  I started off my visit with a delicious Elysian Brewing's Split Shot Espresso Milk Stout, through a randall of Four Roses Bourbon-soaked oak chips and a tasty savory fritatta. Yum, yum.

The Randall Filled With Four Roses Bourbon-Soaked Oak Chips

Got Your Year End Beers Picked Out?

2012 is almost upon us.  As 2011 comes to a close, I'm looking back over many of the various beers I've had this year and trying to decide what my selections will be for around the holidays - especially considering the fact that I'm planning on a 'dry' January. 

You may already be aware that a few different places are celebrating the year's end with things like the `12 Days of Beer' (I believe this event is over now - sorry) or the Bottle Sale & Gift Wrapping event going on this weekend at Beveride Place Pub in West Seattle (Dec. 18th - 1-7PM).

(From Beveridge Place Pub's Website):
We’ll pull up rare offerings from the cellar from great breweries like Avery, Dogfish Head, Full Sail, Hair of the Dog, Harvieston, Hitachino, North Coast, Russian River, and more! We’re selling these rarities “to go” at retail prices! The selections will make perfect gifts for the beer geek in your life, even if that beer geek is YOU!  Bottle selection will be available soon.

Planning A December Trip To Some California Breweries - UPDATED 10/28/11

Updated 10/28/2011 - The article below has been updated with a few more breweries we'd like to try and visit during this trip.  We may not be able to hit them all, but we're sure as hell gonna give it a good try!

On the road again.  I can't wait to get on the road again!  My wife and I haven't had a decent vacation in quite a while, so this year, we're going all out.  I like to think of it as a sort of warm up for the Beer Monger World Beer Tour Project, which I hope to get off the ground in a few years. 

This December we'll be making a drive from Seattle all the way down to Tuscon, AZ to visit some family.  Along the way, we've planned several brewery stops and a few gourmet food stops and will be ending our trip (before the drive home, that is), by spending New Years in Las Vegas. 

After a quick stop at Gustav's German Restaurant in Vancouver, Washington for a great, authentic German meal, our first stop will be at Hair of the Dog Brewing in Portland, Oregon.  We've been there before, but wanted to drop by on our way South to fill a growler or two with some Adam and perhaps some Doggie Claws barleywine.  After a quick visit, we'll be back on the road, headed down towards California. 

Board Membership & The Waiting Game

This past Saturday the 22nd of October, I was officially selected as the next member of the Board of Directors for the Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery.  It's been a long road since I first joined Flying Bike as member #12 earlier this year, but I'm ready to take a leadership role and do all I can to help Flying Bike move forward and become a great success. 

It seemed clear at the annual meeting, that the members desire more communication from the Board of Directors regarding what's happening with the cooperative 'behind the scenes'.  As someone who's only been a member up until now, I fully agree.  During my time on the Flying Bike Board of Directors, I intend to do all I can to make the activities of the Board as transparent to the members of the cooperative as possible. 

Fly-PA Judging Last Month at Pillager's Pub

Next up for Flying Bike is something very exciting.  Our first beer is going on tap!  For those who members who didn't get a chance to try it out at the annual meeting this past weekend, gather your friends and acquaintances and come on out this Thursday, October 27th, where Fly-PA will be on tap at the following locations:

Pillager's Pub
8551 Greenwood Ave. N
Seattle, WA  98103

Beveridge Place Pub
6413 California Ave. SW
Seattle, WA  98136
(West Seattle)

Fiddler's Inn
9219 35th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA  98115

Also, this past weekend, I took my long-anticipated BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) exam.  It was a three-hour written exam, but I was so busy writing the whole time that it felt like it was only about 15 minutes!  The test consisted of several 'essay' style questions and four beer tasting/judging challenges, done at half-hour intervals after the first hour of the exam. 

It's an extremely challenging exam, and the three-hour time limit may sound long, but it's not!  The test requires a vast amount of knowledge regarding all the various styles of beer, the 'classic' examples of what each of those styles should encompass, as well as an extremely thorough knowledge of the entire beer brewing process - all the way from grains to glass. 

Now I play the waiting game.  Unfortunately, the BJCP is so backed up in scoring exams, that I won't have my test results for approximately six months; a long time to wait.  Due to this, however, the BJCP is changing the format of the test next year.  The test will be given in two parts starting next year: The written part which, for the first time ever, will be available to take in an online format, and the tasting portion, which will have to still be scheduled and attended in-person like the current exam. 

I'm hoping I did well enough my first time taking the exam to get 'Certified' status, which requires an exam score of 70% or higher; no easy task.  Otherwise, I'll likely be 'Recognized' status, which requires an exam score of 60% or higher.  But I can always take the exam again next year in the new online format. 

My whole motivation for taking the BJCP exam has been to increase my own personal knowledge about beer and the brewing process, mainly so that I can better articulate my various beer experiences and tastings to my readers.  There is no other benefit to me or to any other BJCP judge beyond the personal satisfaction of gaining the knowledge and experience necessary to continually improve our beer tasting and evaluation skills.  And, though I have now taken the test, the journey is not over.  I'll continue to learn more and improve my tasting and evaluation skills, so that I can provide better information to my readers about all the various and wonderful beers out there to try. 

I'm looking forward to putting some of my sharpened tasting skills to the test this December, when I hope to visit as many of the following breweries during my vacation as possible.  I plan to contact each brewing I'm going to visit beforehand, to see if I can setup some interviews and get you all as much 'inside' information as I can:

Hair of the Dog Brewing Co. - Portland, OR

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. - Chico, CA

Russian River Brewing Co. - Santa Rosa, CA

Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma, CA

Moylan's Brewing Co. - Novato, CA
(Moylan's is the 'Sister' brewery to Marin Brewing below.)

Marin Brewing Co. - Larkspur, CA

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Paso Robles, CA

Stone Brewing Co. - Escondido, CA

Whew!  I hope I'll have time to hit 'em all. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there!

No One Can Pick Just One (Volume 1)

Welcome to the first in a series of articles, where I will search my soul to share with you some of my favorite brews.  Every few months, there will be another volume, where I'll keep adding to the list of my all-time favorite beers. 

Pick Just One?  Good luck!

It's a question I get asked a lot: What is your favorite beer? or What is your favorite brewery? 

Really?  Do I have to pick just one?  I mean, isn't one of the joys of craft beer the fact that there are so many choices? It would be a pretty boring World if you were only able to select a single beer to drink for the rest of your life.  Most people I know have an extremely difficult, if not impossible time answering this question. 

I know, I know.  Some people aspire to just that: finding the one beer they consider barley & hop Nirvana, and then never stray.  Unfortunately, most of the beer drinkers I know with this mentality are those who drink Bud, Coors, Pabst or another similarly watered-down, mass-produced American lager.  A couple of weeks ago, while at the Dog & Pony Alehouse in Renton, WA, I saw one of the 'regulars' come in.  His usual oder is Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap, but they had run out or were having a problem with the Pabst tap that day.  He sat there, looking at the menu and tap handles (which included plenty of beers from breweries such as Stone, Fremont, Firestone Walker, Deschutes, Odin, Laurelwood, etc. etc.), for nearly 5 minutes before deciding that he'd have to settle for a can of Ranier Beer. 

That's definitely not me.  While I do have a favorite beer style (IPA - though Pale Ale, Stout, Barleywine, etc. are all a close 2nd), I couldn't stand being limited to just a single beer or even just a single brewery.  I have occasional favorite beers, but the answer is always changing because I'm always on the hunt for new beers and breweries to try.  With all this in mind, however, the question has gotten me thinking about what some of my favorite beers are.  What are the ones I've had over the years that really stick in my mind as what I might call 'favorites'? Let's see what comes to mind.