April brings a shower of Beer Festivals

So screw the umbrella-ella-ella, just look to the sky and open your mouth!

Lot's of greatness is happening in zee month of April! These are a few of the things I have on my agenda and beyond for the tail end of March and into April:

Tues. 3/29 - Ninkasi Brewers Night @ Parkway Tavern (6p, Tacoma)
Wed. 3/30 - Ninkasi Brewers Night @ The Swiss (7p, Tacoma)

Fri. 4/1 - Give Blood, Get Beer. Cascade Regional Blood Services will be in two locations taking pints of your yummy red stuff in exchange for coupons to be redeemed for pints of the yummy beer stuff. Head on down to The Rock (11a, Puyallup) or The Spar (1p, Tacoma) to participate in this great program!
&
Fri. 4/1 - Hop Scotch Spring Beer & Scotch Festival (5p-12a, Fremont Studios, Seattle) $30 at the door, $25 for advance tickets. For more information on what is being offered at the festival, click here.

Sat. 4/2 - More Hop Scotch Spring Beer & Scotch Festival (1p-12a, Seattle) This is the day I am hoping to attend. It sounds like a really fun event benefiting the Seattle International Film Festival.

Wed. 4/6 - Anderson Valley Brewers Night @ Parkway Tavern (6p, Tacoma) & Chuckanut Brewing Brewers Night @ Red Hot (6p, Tacoma)
&
Wed. 4/6 - KCLS (King County Library System) will be hosting a free 'Basics of Homebrewing' course at their Federal Way 320th location. Registration in necessary, good thing my merry minion Basil took care of all that for us. (7-8:45p, Federal Way)

Thurs. 4/7 - NATIONAL BEER DAY in the U.S.! Holler. There are many beer related days to be celebrated throughout the year. Well, in all fairness, I am of the opinion that beer should be celebrated every day. However, National Beer Day is the only one with a historically significant date. In 1933, FDR signed the Cullen-Harrison Act. This law was enacted on April 7th which then allowed the brewing and sale of beer in the United States after 13 very long (& dry!) years. Bye bye Prohibition!! In celebration of the right to drink (& be merry!), the Harmon Tap Room will be tapping their T-Town Blonde for the first time. (4-7p, Tacoma)

Sat. 4/9 - WABL's Cask Beer Festival. Yeah... I'll be taking the day off for this one. (12-4p & 6-10p, Seattle) $35 Advance/$40 at Door. This event sells out every year so be sure to pick up tickets early! Mmmmm, cask beer. A whole freakin' festival full!

Sun. 4/10 -  Deadline for entering Parkway Tavern's 2nd Annual Am-Pro Homebrew Competition. See their Facebook page for details, judging takes place on April 17th.

Mon. 4/11 - Tap Night Tacoma (6p, Tacoma) Cask conditioned ale will be tapped at multiple locations around the Tacoma area. Look up & 'like' Tap Night Tacoma on Facebook for all the latest info on what's being served and where on the 2nd Monday of every month.

Thurs. 4/14 - Upright Brewing @ Parkway (6p, Tacoma) Impromptu Brewers Night so no schwag, just yummy beer.

Wed. 4/20 - Airways Brewery night @ Parkway Tavern. (6p, Tacoma) Genius creators of the Sky Hag IPA & T-Tail Blonde Ale, can't wait for this occasion! The Airways Tap Room in Kent will also be featuring something yummy on cask every Thursday so go hit 'em up, they are open til 8p. Also at The Red Hot, stop by for Victory Brewing Glassware Night. (most likely 6p, but stay tuned through RHot for more info) They'll be giving way a buncha pilsner style glasses like these!

Thurs. 4/21 - WINGMAN BREWERS RELEASE PARTY!!!!! Yay, finally. The Red Hot will be hosting said event and pouring Wingman's P-51 Porter & Ace IPA. (6p, Tacoma) I'm. Effing. Stoked.

Fri. 4/22 - Beer Share/Potluck (one of my fave events!) for invited guests at Amocat Cafe (7p, Tacoma) Expect all kinds of interesting ales to share & people to imbibe with. 

Sat. 4/30 - One we've ALL been waiting for... The Annual Parkway Tavern Barleywine Fest. (2p til close, the two five freakin' three) More details on this little shindig to come.

Get ready to have your mouth hole rocked!
the pissed liBEERian 

I'm gonna need my energy for all this fun junk...

Photography credited to MGD, you know, the 'real' one. 

Effing sourpuss is present & accounted for at the Parkway sour beer share.

The sourpuss being me, in case you were wondering. Although it might be hard to imagine a grumpy girl when looking at my pictures (a happy smile is always present), but it's utterly impossible for me to be in a cheery social mood if I'm upset. Bad news delivered earlier that day on the home front. Hopefully any surliness on my end came off to my loverly beer tasting companions as just a sourpuss reaction to the beers. I did in fact have a very nice time and am excited for the next installment of the Brew Tribune drinking league.

Everyone attending brought a sour beer to share and Parkway treated us to some special stuff straight outta da keg. Here's what went down, literally, and my 'special' notes on them.

1. Cascade Kriek - Bourbon barrel variety from the tap, a subtle tartness that went down smoothly.

2. Cascade Kriek - Higher carbonation than the previous Cascade, very tart with a light amber color. I had some of this again last evening and found it to be much more drinkable as it warms.

3. Oud Beersel Oude Kriek - Heavy bodied with a loverly raspberry colored pour and a nice oak taste with added cherryishness.

4. La Folie '09 Oak Aged - Drastically mellower in the luscious tart department than it's current year counterpart (which I am a ginormous fan of) and for some reason smelled like bacon. Yeah I don't know what's up with that either but I still drank the eff out of it.

5. Ommegang Zuur - Tasted a bit smoked and only slightly tart, not very impressive from the bottle. I had it on tap at Bottleworks back in November and found it to be phenomenal. Don't plan on buying another bottle but I'll surely grab a pint when I see it on tap.

6. Russian River Sanctification - Enjoyed the Sanctification better out of the bottle than on tap during Parkway's Russian River night. Light in body with a tart lemon taste and golden pour.

7. Cascade Vlad the Imp Aler - A perfectly balanced sour with all the tartness right up front & none of the face/cheek puckering at the end. Another fabulous Cascade Brewing selection!

After finishing the beers in our lineup we turned our dump bucket into a grog and everyone had a taste, whether they wanted to or not. I'm always a willing participant to put something new in my mouth hole and I'd rate the grog as my personal 3rd place for the evening. Cascade Kriek Bourbon Barrel (1), Vlad the Impaler (2), GROG (3).

There was some random talk of Parkway having a permanent tap devoted to sours but I'm not holding my breath. Mostly because there is too much good beer to drink for me to keep my mouth closed that long but it didn't sound overly likely. Unless you guys want to ditch the PBR perma tap... :) All beer serves a purpose, I suppose.

Will tap into my inner pep squad next time and bring my happeh face for Round 2 and further editions of the Brews Tribune,

the pissed liBEERian

 Photo & Editing credits to MGD

Tapping into some lovely suds in the 253 tonight!

Per standard Tacoma operating procedure, it is the 2nd Monday of the Month & therefore Tap Night Tacoma. Starting at 6p you can enjoy a loverly pint of fresh cask ale at zee following places:

The Red Hot - Iron Horse Oaked IPA

The Parkway - Schooner Exact Imperial Porter

Doyle's - Fuller's Mr. Harry's (Wexford's Irish Ale won't be served on cask as advertised)

The Swiss - Hales Dry Hopped Mongoose IPA

E9 - E9 Amarillo IPA

Tap Night always seems to be on a Monday that follows a particularly busy & excessively fun weekend for me, but I have my priorities straight and know my role. Actually, MGD more or less informed me of my role when I suggested that we perhaps take the night off.  Something to the effect of "I'm bringing my camera. Put your happy face on and suck it up, I'll see you at 6p."

I'll be der tappin' T-Town,

the pissed liBEERian

Peninsula pub crawl & other dreams that came true...

MGD and I enjoyed our sunny Saturday by driving around the peninsula and visiting a few breweries. Our morning began at Der Blokken Brewery in Bremerton for a delicious brunch paired with their beers. The flagship Black Stout was excellent! As we headed on to Silver City Brewery, we passed through Tracyton. Feel free to keep any and all fat jokes to yourself. Had to take a few pictures of me standing next to signs and the Tracyton Public House, of course.

Chatted up some peeps at Silver City and had a variety of beers before heading to the 7 Seas Tasting Room in Gig Harbor for their Growler Release and the opening of their beer garden. Kept warm by the outdoor fires (next time I'm bringing s'mores gear) & life sized Jenga while sippin' on some proper pints and hanging out with the fun folks that embody 7 Seas Brewing. You guys give me heart bubbles, all of you. I think you are awesome with a capital 7. Will do a more detail oriented blog on the evening once we get our pics developed in the dark room.

Headed home with my new hoodie & MGD's new growler for an early-ish evening. Put on the 'Invention of Lying' and proceeded to drool all over MGD as I passed out from way too much fun.

Was chilling in Seattle while writing this and recalling events from the evening as I waited for MGD to finish playing rugby so we can see where the day would take us. My vote is on anywhere that will allow me to take a nap. I'm still chuckling over something Travis Guterson (co-owner and head brewer of 7 Seas) said to me at the 7 Seas party as he left our Wheelchair Barleywine (which I really like and was defending to some dude who didn't 'get' it) conversation and the fire we lovingly tended for him:

Travis: The pissed liBEERian is in the HOUSE!!! If the pissed liBEERian thinks it's good, it's at least half decent.
Me: (left pondering if that was actually a compliment, MGD confirmed that it was) 

blogging while daydreaming of seas numbering seven,

the pissed liBEERian

Photography & Editing Credits to The Real MGD

Another evening spent as bacchanalians at Beveridge Place Pub

It was brought to my attention at Beveridge Place Pub last night that what we (MGD & I) spend our time doing (imbibing and writing about it) is supposed to be fun. Apparently my speechless & aggravated state on the drive to Seattle must have indicated that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment trying to accomplish things so a chill pill prescription was written out to one pissed liBEERian. It was a somber & quiet evening (some of us might call that an understatement) but I got a lot of work done while enjoying the 2007 Barleywines that BPP had in store for our mid-week sojourn to West Seattle.

Dinner equaled having some yummy Thai food delivered that paired nicely with our following selections:

Stone Old Guardian '07 (absolutely delicious!)

Lucky Labrador Old Yeller '09

Mad River John Barleycorn '07

Alaskan Barleywine '07

Pike Old Bawdy '07

North Coast Old Stock '09

We don't make the trek up to Seattle very often during the week since we tend to spend most Sundays tooling around The 206. Plus a looming wake up time of 7 a.m. (for one of us) can make traveling far from home less than appealing and throwing on Big Wednesday when we got home around midnight thirty didn't help much either. A stipulation was put in place that if I looked over and saw MGD snoozing during the movie that HE wanted to watch, it was getting turned off regardless if it woke him up or not. This was shortly before I threw myself face first onto the bed claiming something muffled and was (accurately) labeled as 'pitiful'. A good description as there is apparently some point in any given night where I just need to be put to bed for my own safety and for the sanity of everyone around. 

Instead of a flick keeping me up all night for the usual reasons of over stimulation via noise and flashing lights, I was fascinated (mostly by Gary Busey's teeth) therefore watching and awake. Around 1:30a I forced myself to call it a night. I want to see the 2nd half of Big Wednesday then watch Point Break. I heart surfing movies.

Anywho, I"m rambling cause my soy vanilla latte has no vanilla in it and the caffeine portion hasn't kicked in yet. Beveridge Place was good value both Sunday and Tuesday night, I'm happy we were able to make it out twice to experience the event.

insert something clever,

the pissed liBEERian

the face up version of pitiful, Resco style

Calling all Bacchanalians!!

You may already know that Beveridge Place Pub's Barleywine Bacchanal is happening right now. MGD & I chose to spend our loverly rainy Sunday afternoon there last weekend and tasted the following barleywines:

Anacortes Old Sebastes '08, '09, '10 (Vertical Tasting)

Alaskan Barleywine '08, '09, '10 (Vertical Tasting)

Stone Belgo Old Guardian '10

Left Hand Oaked Widdershins '10 (more smoked than oaked. Most know I'm not a smoked beer fan and thnx MGD for letting me taste it before giving me a heads up on the smokiness so I could make the sexiest face EVER as I tried to swallow it down.)

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot '09

Boulder Killer Penguin '09

Seven Seas Wheelchair '10 (MGD thought there was a hint of cotton candy in the wheelchair and don't get me wrong, I thoroughly trust his evaluations and opinions on beer. It did prompt me to ask 'Have you even had cotton candy before?')

Flying Dog Horndog '09

Naked City Cluster Cuss '10 (Could have been so much funnier if it was called the Cluster Fuck, IMO)

Speakeasy Old Godfather '09

I would like to add a small disclaimer at this time. I know it seems like I'm kind of a (huge) lush with how many beer events I attend. It is a lot, agreed. However I am there to enjoy our local establishments while promoting craft beer. I usually drink & share schooner sized brews with my fwends/minions so more options can be tasted. (It's not about drinking to excess) Same case at BPP with the Barleywine event. Everything I listed above that we tasted was served in a 4-6oz glass and shared between MGD & myself. We walked to dinner at some point, picked a DD amongst ourselves, then came back for a few rounds of UNO while the non-DD enjoyed another barleywine or two before calling it a night.

The Beveridge Place Pub Barleywine Bacchanal officially goes from February 25th thru March 5th, so feel free to swing by anytime before Sunday. Many a Barleywine on tap (24!!) with special events going on the rest of the week.

Tuesday 1st (tonight!) - Party Like It's 2007!: Several 2007 vintage barleywines that won't be available again.
Wednesday 2nd - Pairs: Two years worth of brew from Fish, Elysian and North Coast.
Thursday 3rd - Rare Keg!: Port Townsend Bourbon Barrel~aged Barleywine from 2008.
Friday 4th & Saturday 5th - KILL the KEG!: Kill the keg, win a prize! (I wonder if it involves a blindfold, spinning around then being handed a bat...)

Multiple visits strongly encouraged,

the pissed liBEERian