Sauced

The 70-Odd Glorious Beers of Belgianfest

They’re big. They’re boozy. They taste like biscuits and banana. And now you can enjoy them in more spacious digs.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 27, 2012 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Earlier this week the Washington Beer Commission released the beer list for this year’s Belgianfest beer event, happening February 4. If Belgian-style beer is your bag, and for some reason you weren’t already counting the days until next Saturday, this roster should banish your ambivalence.

The list currently boasts 32 breweries from around the state pouring more than 70 beers, from saisons to sours. Some participants, like Poulsbo’s Sound Brewery, produce Belgian-style beers all year ‘round (love both the name and the taste of their Dubbel Entendre). But for other breweries, this fest is a chance to get creative with specially concocted wits, saisons, or various big, boozy, biscuit-tasting beers. Other brewers put a Belgian spin on familiar styles like IPAs.

Washington Beer Blog’s Kendall Jones also notes that next weekend is also a rare chance for Seattleites to sample the wares of Engine House No. 9 brewery, which rarely dispatches its beer beyond its Tacoma brewpub.

It’s only the third year for this gathering of Washington brewers, each brandishing their own version(s) of Belgium’s mighty beers. The last two years sold out so rapidly that organizers moved this shindig from Magnuson Park to the larger Bell Harbor space on Pier 66. I still say waiting until the day of to buy tickets is a risky proposition (plus they cost $5 more at the door). Get ‘em online for $30 for either the afternoon or evening sessions.

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Tags: Beer, Beer Festivals, Belgianfest

Coming This Fall: Serious Pumpkin, an Elysian Brewing-Tom Douglas Collaboration Beer

The TDR folks partner on yet another brew, this one made with three kinds of pumpkin.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 25, 2011 at 01:08PM 0 Comments

In addition to drinking pumpkin beer, you can dress your dog up in a pumpkin costume. Because this is America.

Photo: Wondercostumes.com

Elysian Brewing Company’s brewer-in-chief Dick Cantwell revealed yesterday that he is working with the folks at Tom Douglas Restaurants to create Serious Pumpkin, a beer featuring three varieties of America’s favorite gourd.

The squashes will be sourced from the Douglas family’s Prosser Farm, which is already supplying sour cherries for another forthcoming TDR beer. Serious Pumpkin should make the Bravehorse Tavern menu later this fall, according to Cantwell, and will possibly pop up at other T-Doug joints. (One could not be blamed for expecting to see it at Serious Pie, given the name.)

It will also be one of the more than 50 pumpkin beers poured at Elysian’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, to be held on October 8 and 9 at Elysian’s new Georgetown brewery, where no beer has yet been brewed. The brewery is expected to go into operation within the next few weeks.

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Tags: Beer Festivals, Pumpkin, Seattle Beer, Seasonal Beers

Seattle Beer Week Essentials: Hair of the Dog/Bockor Blend

Brewer Alan Sprints is blending a Bocker lambic with his own beers. You have one chance to try it.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 04, 2011 at 10:13AM 0 Comments

A beer week must: Sprints’ mystery blend.

Seattle Beer News did an interview recently with one of the Seattle Beer Week founders, Ian Roberts of Brouwer’s, about Beer Week 2011.

One of the questions was: “Are there any new events for 2011 that you are especially excited about?”

Roberts’ response:
There will be two new things coming this year that I am very excited about and they both revolve around blending. The first of which is New Belgium’s Blending Symposium….The second thing I’m excited about, and not sure I’m supposed to talk about, is the blend that Alan Sprints will be doing during Beer Week. No event attached to that yet, and more details will come.

Intriguing, no?

I knew Alan Sprints was the founder of Hair of the Dog Brewing in Portland. So I called him up and asked him if he could tell me anything more. He said he hasn’t finished it yet, “but I can tell you I’m brewing some of my own beer with a Belgian lambic.”

What kind of lambic?
A Bockor lambic.

Oh man, Bockor.

Are you planning any specific events around it?
We’ll have that beer at Bottleworks on Sunday the 22nd. I only got a little of the Belgian beer, so it’s just a one-off.

And that’s all he’d tell me.

Hair of the Dog is doing another event for Beer Week at the Dray on Saturday, May 21. But Sprints will not be bringing the Belgian blend. In other words, friends: if you want to try this blend that Ian Roberts is so excited about, you have one opportunity. At Bottleworks. On the 22nd. That is all.

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Tags: Beer, Seattle Beer Week, Beer Festivals, Portland Breweries,

Tackling the Cask Festival

70 beers, one liver. What to do?

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 07, 2011 at 11:09AM 3 Comments

Washington brewers bring their best cask beers to Seattle Center this Saturday.

Photo: infosthetics.com

On Saturday, April 9 the Washington Beer Commission’s annual Cask Festival comes to Seattle Center (info here).

This is an auspicious occasion indeed, a chance to try many of your favorite beers—not to mention some new-to-you brews—in unfiltered form.

But there are going to be 70 different beers there. You can’t try them all, I’m sorry to say. And while none of them is likely to be a bad choice, here are some you won’t want to miss:

Herbert’s Legendary Cask Festival Ale: This is the official beer of the Cask Festival. Not trying it would be like going to Disney World and eschewing Space Mountain. It’s just not done. (Mr Toad’s Wild Ride, on the other hand, is highly overrated, according to my fifth grade diary. So feel free to skip that one.)

Hop Villain Black IPA: Black IPA is also called Cascadian Dark Ale by people who want to ensure that the Northwest gets the credit for developing the style. It’s basically a hoppy IPA but with roasted malt flavor. Hop Villain is made by Big Al’s Brewing in White Center. (Elliott Bay Brewing is also offering its Black Ops black IPA, that one is fermented with a Belgian yeast strain and dry-hopped (more hops are added when the beer goes in the cask) with “three different hop varieties,” per the description.)

Black Raven in Redmond is responsible for some really great beer. Its Belgian IPA is made “with lemongrass, lemon thyme, black lemon and whole leaf Citra hops” and available on cask at the festival.

Fremont Brewing is definitely one to watch among the local micros. The vanilla-bean flavored Totonac B-Bomb is a first-place people’s choice winner this year. It was aged in bourbon barrels, as was the Kentucky Dark Star Imperial Oatmeal Stout. To which I say: yum.

Schooner Exact (which started in West Seattle but has since moved to SoDo) is another kick-butt local brewery. It has concocted a signature IPA for Brave Horse Tavern, Tom Douglas’s new bar that opens today. The festival is your chance to try it on cask first.

Just last night I had my first pint of Silver City Brewing’s Whoop Pass Double IPA. For a beer that hoppy to be so well-balanced…very impressive. Try it on cask this Saturday.

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Tags: Beer Festivals, Cask Beer, Washington IPAs, Cascadian Dark Ale

Attention Beer Fans: ExBEERience and Hop Scotch Are Approaching

Seattle’s annual spring beer events get under way.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 01, 2011 at 01:20PM 1 Comments

Hopscotch returns to the Fremont Studios.

Photo courtesy: Hopscotchtasting.com

On Saturday, March 12, ExBEERience comes to the Weatherman’s Room at Redhook Brewery in Woodinville.

On hand will be 15 local craft brewers alongside a number of home brewers—so you can see how those hobby dudes compare. (Most commercial brewers start out as hobby dudes anyway right? Also why am I calling them “hobby dudes”? That sounds dumb.)

A buffet lunch and six beer tokens are included in the $25 ($30 at the door) price, proceeds go to Childhaven. Tickets on sale here.

Then of course you’ve got Hop Scotch, the annual beer-and-scotchanalia that benefits SIFF. In addition to the main tasting event—lots of good West Coast brews—there are tequila and scotch flights and hour-long seminars with a master of whiskey.

Hop Scotch happens on April 1 and 2 at Fremont Studios. General admission is $25 ($30 at the door). That buys you five tokens, each good for a schooner of beer. Upgrade to the $35 price and you get 10 tokens. You also get a big buzz, unless you happen to be a Superhero called Megatolerance (dumb joke number 2), so plan your ride home accordingly. Advance tickets to Hopscotch are available here.

PS: If you’d like to volunteer to work at Hop Scotch (free admission/tokens), be quick about it! A lot of people volunteer.

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Tags: Fremont, Woodinville, Craft Brewing, Beer Festivals

Belgianfest Returns

In its second year, the beer festival moves to Magnuson Park.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Dec 13, 2010 at 02:40PM 0 Comments

Belgianfest (now with ample bathrooms!) will host between 20 and 25 breweries this year.

Washington Beer Blog had news yesterday of the return of Belgianfest, which debuted last year.

The inaugural festival, held at Georgetown studios, received some criticism due to long lines at the bathroom—always cause for alarm when drinking beer is the task at hand. This—plus the need for a larger space to accommodate the 20-25 breweries (!) expected this year—prompted the Washington Beer Commission to move the festival, says Matt Russell, director of festival operations for the WBC.

And so Belgianfest 2011 will be held at the Workshop at Warren G Magnuson Park on Sand Point Way. It goes down Saturday, January 22 and there are two sessions—one from 12pm-4pm; another from 5:30-9:30pm.

Advance tickets will be available online later this week. Those are $30; entry will be $35 at the door. I’ll let you know about brewery confirmations/special dinners once those are announced.

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Tags: Beer Festivals, Belgian Beer

Weekend Plans: Elysian’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival

Pumpkin ales are an American original. Try 40 this weekend on Capitol Hill.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Oct 13, 2010 at 08:49AM 0 Comments

Welcome, Great Pumpkin.

This weekend, October 16 and 17, Elysian Brewing holds its annual pumpkin beer festival. This is what happens: Over 40 different pumpkin beers are poured, there is pumpkin carving, and—on 4pm on both days—Elysian taps a massive pumpkin filled with the brewery’s own fragrant, spicy Great Pumpkin Ale.

There are also pumpkin food specials on the menu.

If you’ve never had pumpkin ales, go give them a try. These beers are American originals, invented here just as surely as were Twinkies and the Tea Party. They are often spiced with pumpkin-pie spices like allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger—the flavors of fall, in other words. They tend towards malty but sweetness varies as does pumpkiny-ness.

The festival takes place at Elysian Brewing on Capitol Hill.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Beer Festivals, Pumpkin

Great American Beer Festival: Washington Winners

Which of our state brews won awards this year? Check it out.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Oct 07, 2010 at 01:09PM 0 Comments

Washington State winners include beers from three Seattle-based breweries.

The Great American Beer Festival took place last week in Denver—the annual event doles out the most important beer awards of the year.

Want to see how Washington State fared in 2010? I’ve included all the award winners below by medal (gold, silver, bronze) and by category (categories are in bold).

Big congrats to all our breweries—including Seattle-based beermakers Hale’s (whose kolsch is definitely among my top five most purchased beers), Pyramid, and Elysian.

GOLD
Kellerbier/Zwickelbier Hale’s Ales (Seattle) Kolsch
Brown Porter Ram Production Brewery (Tacoma) Total Disorder Porter
Vienna-Style Lager Chuckanut Brewery (Bellingham) Chuckanut Vienna Lager

SILVER
Fruit Beers Pyramid Breweries (Seattle) Apricot Ale
Field beers Elysian Brewing Co (Seattle) Dark o’ the Moon

BRONZE
Other Strong Beer Boundary Bay Brewery (Bellingham) Imperial Oatmeal Stout
German-Style Pilsner Chuckanut Brewery (Bellingham) Chuckanut Pilsner

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Tags: Beer, Awards and Accolades, Beer Festivals

Tour de Fat: Beer and Bikes in Gas Works Park

New Belgium Brewing’s annual bike-analia rolled into Fremont this weekend. We have pictures.

Posted by: Alexandra Notman on Aug 02, 2010 at 11:18AM 0 Comments

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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.

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“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.

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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…

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Ok. We’re impressed.

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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.”

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

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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.

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

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

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

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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?

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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.

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

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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.

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

Hi there. Alexandra here—the A of A&M. This Saturday, July 31, I rode solo to Gas Works Park to witness Tour de Fat, the annual bike-annalia put on by Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing.

Tour de Fat toured 13 western cities this summer to spread “the good word about the positive societal offerings of the bicycle” and, of course, to promote New Belgian beer. Bike-happy Seattle responded in kind, pedaling through Fremont to Gas Works Park to experience colorful carnies, bedazzled bikes, and compostable cups full of delicious, delicious beer.

I captured what I could through my rose-tinted beer goggles. Enjoy the show.

All photos by Alexandra Notman.

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Tags: Beer Festivals, A&M Drink Up the City

Seattle International Beerfest: A Photo Essay

Sauced’s roving duo of imbibing interns take you inside SIB 2010.

Posted by: Alexandra Notman and Mary Pritchard on Jul 06, 2010 at 02:04PM 4 Comments

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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

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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.

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

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

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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).

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

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

Hello, Jess here. I’d like to introduce you to a couple of intrepid Seattle Met interns—Alexandra Notman and Mary Pritchard—otherwise known as the fabulous A&M. This summer, they’ll be employing their considerable reporting and photo talents to take us inside our city’s many alcohol-fueled happenings. Because that’s a wholesome thing for interns to do.

In the first edition of A&M Drink Up the City, the ladies lead us on a tour of the Seattle International Beerfest, which went down this July 4 weekend at the Seattle Center. Enjoy.

All photos by Alexandra Notman.

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Tags: Beer, Drinking Events, Beer Festivals, Fourth of July, A&M Drink Up the City

Tickets on Sale for Seattle International Beerfest

Seattle Center’s annual beer party is $35.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jun 23, 2010 at 03:11PM 0 Comments

If it’s July 4, it must be Beerfest.

I kind of can’t believe that it’s almost time for another Seattle International Beerfest. This beer-drinking celebration takes place at Seattle Center each fourth of July weekend.

You buy your $35 ticket, you get some tokens, you drink a lot of brewsky, you get some more tokens, you silly dance to polka music, you eat a sausage sandwich, you go home, you pass out by 8pm. And that’s that.

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Tags: Beer, Beer Festivals, Fourth of July