Sauced

A caped straggler of New Belgium’s Tour de Fat Bike Parade hurries to join the the other 200 plus bikers at the Gas Works Park festivities. It’s reassuring to see that even superheroes wear helmets.

“Francois,” part of the New Belgium carnie brigade, gets the crowd to chant “America is stupide” during his aptly named “American Stupide” show. Truth be told, his accent was more Triumph the Insult Comic Dog than Pepé Le Pew.

Entrance to the event was free and open to all ages, but the 21+ crowd had to purchase “tokens of our affection” before knocking back brewskies like Mothership Wit Wheat Beer and Ranger IPA…

…Although some opted out of the tokens for a more BYOB mentality.

Cassie Rosch and Derek Martin traveled from Fort Collins, CO, to support their local brewery. Unfortunately they suffered a popped tire and had to drive their bikes to the event, where they swapped flat tires for Fat Tire.

Dressed up in a toga that his mother made for him in the 3rd grade for the bike parade, Taylor Knowles came to the event for his love of bikes. Here’s to hoping he was riding sidesaddle.

New Belgium carnie Curt, of “The Curt Show”, demonstrates his juggling skills – now if those cups were filled with beer we’d be really impressed.

Ok. We’re impressed.

You didn’t need to be old enough to drink a beer to attend, as the Ten Commandments of Tour de Fat declares “May every generation come forth: This is a family friendly event. Costumes, bikes and a parade? We were thinking like kids when we created Tour de Fat.”

Comedian Jonathan Burns proved better at ingesting balloons than twisting them into dogs or dinosaurs – the crowd didn’t seem to mind.

Evan Schneider, Jordan Twiggs, aka urban cowboy extraordinaire, and Melissa Reeser were at Tour de Fat to teach event-goers “how to fall back in love with their homestead” with the help of their book Boneshaker, A Bicycling Almanac.

New Belgium and Sustainable Seattle collaborated to make the event environmentally responsible. Each cup was made from corn and was 100% biodegradable.

Sustainable Seattle volunteer Melinda Minch rode her bike to the festivities while carrying landfill bins, which were fortunately much smaller than the recycling bins.

Part-time carnie Victor Bejarano takes beer goggles to a whole new level.

All the carnies sang the praises of New Belgium. No wonder: After five years with the company, employees are treated to a brewery tour through Belgium by bike. Access to free-flowing beer is a nice perk too.

The coveted prize of the “Great Bike Story Contest” for a New Belgium Cruiser Bike. Are the wings an added feature?

Jennie Stabler, KC Byl, Nikki Baldvins and Carter Mast liked “making the squares uncomfortable” as they biked around Fremont in their costumes. Stabler, of Fort Collins, would like to see the Seattle celebration grow to the size of her hometown’s, where everyone wears a costume.

Andrew Bohn, or “Dr. Bohn of Carnie Fun,” used to sell grilled cheese sandwiches in the parking lot of Tour de Fat events before becoming an official New Belgium member. Here he keeps Seattleites in line as they pedal some bicycle contraptions.

Perhaps New Belgium’s idea of couple’s therapy?

One of the highlights of the day was the karaoke port-a-potty. Who knew that all port-a-potties needed to become a pleasant experience was…karaoke music?

The winner of the Slow Ride contest proudly holds his belted Space Needle prize. “How many paint chips did you eat to ride that slow?” asked the announcer.

Tracy Marsh shades herself with a self-made bike wheel parasol while listening to the bluegrass stylings of the Dovekins.

In line with New Belgium’s environmentally responsible credo, all their tour trucks run on bio-diesel. Pretty cool, though we’d be more impressed if they ran on beer.

The beer can only flow forth so long. Time to compost, bike home, and take a nap.

The product in question

The party took place at Daniel’s Broiler, a steak and chops staple in B-vue.

Bartender Jeane Franklin

Jenise Silva and Michael Nank (of the Examiner) came out from Queen Anne to taste the new libation.

Editor-in-chief of Mutineer Magazine, Alan Kropf, came up from Los Angeles with some fellow Mutineers to try the new Makers 46.

Bartender Dylan Fitzgerald makes a line of Manhattans for the thirsty crowd using Daniel’s Broiler’s homemade bitters.

The bartender pours a Smash, a light, citrus concoction refreshing on a summer’s eve. We had four each. Just kidding.

Head chef for Daniel’s Broiler Mike Dremann stopped by the party to check out his kitchen’s handiwork.

Free food! The flowing bourbon helped wash down gulpables such as crispy fried artichoke hearts, stuffed mushrooms, smoked salmon, and fresh fruit.

Restaurateur Bill Thomas, of the Brown Lantern Alehouse, drove more than two hours from Anacortes to sample the new product. Wonder who drove him back….

Perks of the job: Sarah Cortes of the Stranger and her husband Michael Hewson enjoy the free bourbon and good eats.

Matt Moses of Rockstar Energy Drink (yeah, he was pretty perky) and Scott Carlton, the marketing guru for Seattle-based indie label Tooth and Nail Records, sipped on a Brooklyn and a Manhattan, respectively.

Distillery Diplomat (his words, not ours) Cody Rossen told the crowd that “the bourbon market had been fielding questions for years about a new product, but last December we found a taste we were proud of.” Tasted pretty good to us, too.

The evening capped off with each attendee throwing back a shot of Maker’s 46. And yet somehow, no one ended up dancing on the bar.

Ye Olde Product Placement: Daniel’s Broiler displays a bottle of the flagship Maker’s Mark, autographed by the founder’s son Bill Samuels.

This 4th of July weekend, Seattle International Beer Festival served over a 150 beers from 15 countries to thirsty Seattleites. One of them, Phillip Andruss, came out sporting red and blue spikes in honor of the 4th.

The zombie ballerina Lauren Broomall might be practicing her zombie scowl…or perhaps her beer was just too hoppy.

The Midwest was out in full force at SIB. Minnesotans Becky Rude and Selena and Eric Schmidt took a break from their Washington camping trip for some fresh brewskies.

After a weekend of beer tastings, no one was driving the classic SIB Volkswagon anywhere.

Volunteers know all the tricks for enjoying beer fest – James Musladin enjoyed all the beer he could drink after a three hour volunteer stint for the festival

With beers originating from Japan to Croatia, it’s a good thing birthday girl Julie Schaar and her husband Eric could consult the SIB guide to map out their day of tastings.

Ashley Cook came back for a second year of volunteering at SIB because of the laid-back atmosphere and the free beer.

Beer connoisseurs tired of waiting in line could lounge at a table in the beer garden and sip on a $3 pint of pilsner.

First time beer festival goers Rob Land and Nick Read kicked backed in the beer garden with $3 Mexican corn on the cob (a delicious mayo, cheese and chili powder covered bargain).

Nick Reed came prepared with his own bottle-opening cap (and yes, he swears he used it).

On this uncharacteristically sunny Seattle day, Anna Orton finds a shady spot while her friends get refills. “We’ve got a system.”

A portion of the proceeds from animal friendly SIB benefit Purrfect Pals, a no-kill shelter in Arlington. Kittens on hand, like little Einstein here, acted as the marketing department for the organization.

Gypsy jazz band Hot Club Sandwich got the crowds dancing (the beer may have helped too).

Adam Donovan and Vanessa Rich took a break from sampling beer and couldn’t resist grooving to the blue grass tunes of the Haggis Brothers.

Clear skies on Saturday and the holiday weekend spirit made for a packed Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater.

Leaving a SIB glass unattended was a no-go for festival goers who needed the coveted cup to get their beer samples.

Tim Saunders hasn’t had a proper hair cut in seven years, but he says his unruly mane doesn’t get in the way of drinking beer.

A tradition in the making, this is the second year Victor Avelar has constructed his pyramid of pints. He assured us that it was no where near complete when we snapped this photo.

Nate Gowdy and Christina Jacobson advised us to try the Deschutes Super Jubel, which at 10.5 percent ABV was the best deal for only one ticket.

Even musicians, like Joe of blue grass band the Haggis Brothers, sported the ubiquitous SIB wrist band.

The Ninkasi brewery of Eugene, Oregon, represents on the dance floor.