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Seattle Beer Examiner
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2008 Washington Brewers Festival
On Saturday, I made my virgin visit to the annual Washington Brewers Festival at Saint Edward Park in Kenmore. With a couple out-of-town friends,I spent three hours sampling beer, blabbing and people watching. Rather than boring you with an exhaustive recap, here's a six pack of highlights:
1. Schooner Exact's glass rinser (pictured at left) was a stroke of genius. It's the first time I've seen one outside of a bar. I made a pain in the ass of myself by asking Schooner's Marcus Connery for a rinse after several of my beers--even beers from other breweries. You'll probably be seeing more glass rinsers at beer fests in the future. By the way, Schooner's dry-hopped-with-amarillos version of their 3-Grid IPA was tasty.
2. Laughing Dog's Dogzilla was my favorite beer. The Black IPA's dark color leads you to expect roasty flavors, but instead you get a very hoppy aroma and taste. Some people said they got roast from the malt, but all I got was hops, which was fine by me. This beer used to be called Tail Wagger but was recently renamed Dogzilla and will be available in Seattle in 22 ounce bombers.
3. Up to Sierra Nevada's high standards was the Monorail Ale, a special one-off beer with an interesting story. Sierra is working with the city in their plan to reopen the Monorail by providing 436 water-filled kegs to simulate a full capacity run. The Northern California brewery also made 100+ kegs of this 7.5% pale ale that will only be available in Seattle pubs. A percentage of the proceeds from each keg will go to local organizations.
4. Spokane's Northern Lights Brewing had a solid lineup of beers that made me wish they'd get regular distribution in the Seattle area. I tried the Chocolate Dunkel and the IPA, and both were excellent.
5. Laughing Buddha is gathering quite a following. When I left at 3 pm, the longest lines were at LB's table of interesting beers (Ginger Pale Ale, Mango Weizen and Pandan Brown Ale). It's good to see one of Seattle's fledgling breweries gaining a following.
6. Public transit made it easy for Seattleites to attend the festival without worrying about parking or designated drivers. I took a bus from downtown to the Kenmore Park & Ride and hopped on one of the free shuttles. My only wish during the ride back to Seattle was that the buses had bathrooms.
