Seattle Beer Week Rolls On

Today, Monday, May 23rd, is the 5th day of Seattle Beer Week.  The first four days have already been a whirlwind of amazing beer-related events and activities, and we still have 6 more days of fun to go.  Thankfully I have today and Tuesday off, but heading back to work Wednesday is gonna be so hard!

So far, I've been able to attend the following Seattle Beer Week events:

Day 1 - Thursday, May 19

-Seattle Beer Week Kick Off at Maritime Pacific Brewing:
You can read all about my experience at this event HERE.  It was a great night filled with good food, great beer, old and new friends alike.  Everyone was having an amazing time in the great weather, and enjoying the Official Seattle Beer Week beer: Decompression Ale. 

At the Jolly Roger Taproom at Maritime Pacific

I followed up the SBW Kick Off at Maritime with a brief stop at Uber Tavern.  I wanted to drop by because I'd heard they were having Dogfish Head World Wide Stout on tap as well as Dog Fish Head 120 Minute IPA.  Now, I've had both of these beers before, but it's rare to find them on tap.  Both were amazing. 

-Cask-O-Rama at Beveridge Place Pub:
This is an annual event at BPP.  Casks cover the bar and you can have a pint or go with a taster tray.  I chose the latter.  You can see my selections and read a bit more about what I thought HERE.  I hung out here, enjoying myself and the great lineup of Cask beers until nearly 10:00PM, my last event for the night (I had to be at work on Friday!)

My Taster Tray at Cask-O-Rama

Day 2 - Friday, May 20th

I was unable to attend any SBW events on Friday due to the monthly meeting of my homebrew club, The Impaling Alers.  I had a great time at the meeting with my fellow members, enjoying some great homebrew, and some delicious hummus and salmon dip, both provided at the meeting by my beautiful wife, Lynn.  By the time the meeting/socializing wrapped up, it was nearly 11:00PM.  Time to call it a night. 

Seattle Beer Week Kick Off at Maritime Pacific Brewing Company

Yarrr, me mateys!  Yarrr!

Last night was the kick off for Seattle Beer Week.  I arrived at Maritime Pacific Brewing's Jolly Roger taproom early, so I'd be sure to capture all the action.  Early on, 3:00 or so, the place wasn't crowded at all:

The Calm Before The Storm

As the day progressed, however, it started slowly getting more and more crowded:

The Crowd Was Growing

My friend, Brian Williams (Of SnootyDrunks.com), and I had some great seats staked out at the bar, but later found out that the first keg/firkin of the Official Seattle Beer Week beer: Decompression, would be tapped out in the brewhouse; so when 5:30 drew close, out we went. 

It was now 5:30, the line ahead of us wasn't too bad, but little did we know they were not pouring Decompression yet.  They couldn't start pouring it until the Official reading of the Mayor's Proclamation, declaring Seattle Beer Week open.  However, since Brian & I had given up our bar seats to head out to the brewhouse, we decided to wait right there until they started pouring it.  It turned out to be a great place to wait too, because a few miutes later, the reading of the Proclamation took place:

If the video link above is not working, you can also view the video on Youtbe HERE.  

You can see the rest of the photos from this album/event that are not included in this article HERE. 

After the reading of the Procclamation, Brian got the very first pint of Decompression from the firkin and I got the 2nd.  Not a bad way to kick off Seattle Beer Week, 'eh?  We hung around at the Jolly Roger for about another hour, gretting friends, meeting new ones and enjoying the festivities, but then decided to move on to another stop. 

Ironically, with the plethora of events listed for Seattle Beer Week, our next stop wasn't even on the list!  We had heard that Über Tavern (7517 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA), had Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout and 120 Minute IPA on tap.  Now, I have had both of these beers before, but finding them on tap is extremely rare, so to Über we went!  We hung out there long enough to have a World Wide Stout each and share a 120 Minute IPA (remember, moderation people!) 

My Cask-O-Rama Selections

After that, it was off to Beveridge Place Pub for Cask-O-Rama.  We each got a sampler tray of six different cask beers.  My selections included:

-Big Al Old No. 1 Barleywine (On tap for the firs time anywhere).  This was probably my favorite of the 6 I tried.

-Elysian Prometheus IPA.  I'd had this one before, but it's a good one so I had some more. 

-Naked City FNG ESB.  A bit on the 'grainy' side, but drinkable.  Meh.

-Schooner Exact Ealiente Golden w/ Serrano & Anaheim Peppers.  Unfortunatley, this brought back my dislike for chili beers immediately.  My impression?  A distinctly dishwater taste - I didn't finish it. 

-Three Skulls Poison Dry-Hopped Winter Warmer.  This one was extremely grainy.  I felt like I was drinking the grains the beer was made from.  I didnt' finish it.

-Two Beers Evolutionary IPA.  A decent beer, but Big Al was the winner here for me. 

My Tray & Brian's Tray of Cask Beers

By now it was approaching 9:00PM.  We both had to work the next day (today), so off we went on our way.  All in all, a solid opening day for Seattle Beer Week.  Today I may only have time for one early event before I head to my monthly homebrew club meeting, so I'll have to choose wisely.  Watch for many more photos and videos as Seattle Beer Week rolls on.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.