Jubelpalooza @ Parkway Tavern

I've come to the very sad realization that I can't switch all of my work shifts in the name of beer events, just most of them. As I was stuck doing paid slavery until 9p on 10/13, I begged, pleaded and did everything on my knees that I could think of to get my very best ale minion down to the Parkway Tavern @ 6p for...

Jubelpalooza!!

Parkways 11th Annual Celebration of Deschute's Jubelale 6-9p

You wish you had a Deschutes skate deck...

We'd been entering in the Jubelpalooza contest all week (while filling up our Tacoma Drinks WA Beer punch cards) and at some point the liBEERian learned how to read and noticed the entry slip saying something like "must be present to win." FML. Taking one for the team, MGD got there shortly after the festivities began to represent our beer drinking team. I knew our luck was in place when I scored 2 Diet Cokes for the price of 1 from the vending machine @ work. I won nada that night (unless you count the Black Butte T-shirt TPG3 found in the grass outside as we left), but MGD scored BIG TIME. Check out the swag   ------------------- >

Lineup for the evening (the ones we sampled are starred):

Jubelale '08          *The Abyss Imperial Stout '09

Jubelale '09         Mirror Mirror Barleywine '09

Jubelale '10         Black Butte Porter XXI '09

*Cask Jubelale '09                     *Oktoberfest

*Nitro Jubelale '09    Miss Spelt Hefewiezen
*Superjubel '08                          *Hop Trip

Jubel '10    Green Lakes Organic Amber



I love events @ Parkway; they are high energy and crazy busy. Usually, it is standing room only, but you end up meeting some interesting folks that way. Other than having cool peeps come out (thnx MGD & TPG3!) for the sake of my blog, since I couldn't get there until 9p, here are 2 things that really made my night:

 1. You know you've hit true (local) celebrity blogger status when someone comes up to you at an event and says, "Hey you write a blog, don't you?!" Score. And here I thought having blog hits in places like Slovenia & Australia was the cat's pajamas...

B. It was thought by MGD (correctly) that I would truly love the Hop Trip ale. Sean (awesome Parkway beer dude, sorry if I Miss Spelt your name) thought it would be the first to 'tap out' of the lineup so he stowed away a sample for me just in case. Bloggy fist bump of awesomeness to you Sean, fanx! (btw I did totally heart the Hop Trip; I can't wait to try it on tap @ the brewery when we road trip it down to PDX).

If you didn't make it out to this Jubelpalooza, try for 2011, fun times were aplenty.

Hoping nothing in this post is Miss Spelt, the pissed liBEERian

And we now conclude the 'Tacoma Drinks WA Beer' event 2 Growlers richer & what can only be described as a happy ending known as 'Tap Night Tacoma'.

Ahhhh, the invention of the beer punch card. Bingo style sheet to be defiled with special made Red Hot & Parkway stamps with the promise of a special edition Tacoma Drinks WA Beer Growler upon completion. Somebody let it leak that I am a marketing persons dream; this event was MADE for me. A legitimate reason to go drink and review lotsa awesome ale. Okay guys... you talked me into it.

There is way too much randomness to go over from 10/1-10/11 so I'll just list up the ales we had and other B.S. I personally find muy importante to our overall enjoyment. Enjoy!

Go Team Washington!

 Pike Dry Wit, Elysian Men's Room Red, Big Al Harvest. 2 crazy days @ Tacoma Craft Beer Festival. 1 visit to the Schooner Exact tasting room & a Jack Johnson concert to follow. Nautical Night @ Parkway involved 7 Seas Cutt's Amber & Ballz Deep, Port Townsend Oak aged Scotch Ale on cask & Old Bawdy Barleywine & Green Tea Gold, Snoqualmie Stout, Schooner Exact King St. Kriek. Harvest Night @ Red Hot entailed Two Beers Fresh Hop & Pumpkin Spice and Schooner Exact Gutter P'nkn & Fresh Hop. Enjoyed some Elysian Immortal IPA, Scuttlebut Hoptopia and Port Townsend Straight Stout on nitro.

One night @ home I tried out the Wells Banana Bread Beer... yeah, whoa. I passed out early so I didn't have to finish it and could pass THAT buck. Took trips to both World Beers on 56th in Tacoma and 99 Bottles in Federal Way for Dogfish Head swag and lots of bottled goodness. At this point I think we are set for the next 10 private beer fests... I'm currently formulating a private punch card to use so we can start working on some of the stuff I've been stocking up on. I think it might help open up some room in my fridge for actual food. A brewery crawl to visit both Odin & Big Al in West Seattle. Will blog more info on those trips later...

Back to punch card drinking... Fish Tale Organic Amber Ale, Elysian The Immortal IPA, Lazy Boy Belgian Gold, Schooner Exact Fresh Hop, Two Beers Crooked Belgian Wit, Snoqualmie Black Frog, Big Al Sourlicious on cask, Boundary Bay IPA (the head had a cool swirly nebula and we missed the effing photo opportunity which equaled sadness for this girl because I heart astronomy.) Hit up Crown Bar in Tacoma for some mac 'n cheese, burgers and fried oysters. Yes, the best eating decisions are ALWAYS made late at night.

Moving on to the pinnacle of our adventure...

VICTORY!!! Growler #1 secured. Final beer stamp was Diamond Knot Industrial XIPA. Finished #6 @ Red Hot. They took my picture but walked away quickly when I started giving my acceptance speech so I did it in my head. Had a Fremont Interurban IPA, hit up some pesto pizza @ PSP then onto Parkway to finish things off.

As you can tell from the picture, the sun shineth down on our victory ales...

and again... VICTORY!!! It truly creates a sweet mouth feel. The winning beers for Growler #2 was the Big Al IPA and the Burris Octoburrfest. Once again, 6th to complete a card @ Parkway. Did you know that 6 - 5 = 1? That's right. Number FUCKING 1. Forgot the foam finger at home... sigh. Must be more boyscout-ish in the future. You would think that I of all people would carry around a beer drinking survival kit of some kind for these occasions. Oh... now THERE'S an idea!

We kick it old school.

Rounded out the night with Mac & Jack's Imperial IPA & Elysian The Immortal IPA then onto the Alehouse in University Place for some Schooner Exact Seamstress Union and a teeny Shuffleboard smack down.

Does this seem like a lot of booze? Guess what? That's because it is. There were 24 beers per punch card and by 10/11/10 we were the owners of two Growlers'... you do the math. Then factor in 2 FULL days @ Tacoma Craft Beer Festival, visits to 3 breweries and a few other random locations... Yeah. Wow is right. Don't worry, we're impressed with us too.

Bye bye paycheck...

Bye bye healthy liver...

Bye bye all of my free time...

Hello 11 days of awesome time spent with MGD. Having many a laugh, many a pint & many an awesome memory to bring home in addition to our limited edition Growlers.

"No babe, we can't stay in tonight for a movie and a few beers. Yes, I know we have filled Growlers burning a hole in the fridge. We chose to accept this mission and still have empty spots on our cards... put your shoes on. Now. Please." (insert irresistibly cute pissed liBEERian smile) See Example A(ale) below, could you say 'no' to that? :) If your answer is 'yes', well... you shouldn't.

Could this shirt be more perfect? I truly do heart WA beer. Thanks eyeluvbeer.com!

Mustered up some (nonexistent) energy for one final day of TdrinksWAbeer. After all, it's freaking Tap Night. I rambled on last week about how great this event is, how everyone should come out for it and questioned why there wasn't better advertising for it. I couldn't be a lame ass no show and ruin my street cred.

Tap Night Tacoma #4, I ask you... when & where else could I find Georgetown Lucille IPA on tap, cask AND on the Randall; all in one evening? Seriously people, nowhere. (okay that may or may not be a lie, but F off; it seems pretty awesome to me!)

Due to all of my strenuous efforts in punch card filling out... I didn't accomplish much for Tacoma Tap Night. However, here is what I was able to sample due to the combined efforts between myself & MGD:

•  E9 - Dry Hopped IPA
• Doyle's - Morland Old Speckled Hen (plus a hummus plate because I was working on the equation of 'super hunger + cranky = hankry')
• Parkway - Mac & Jack's (new!) Yerba Mate IPA (the Double Mountain Vaporizer was the listed cask ale for TNT but that was before they decided on the dates for WA beer week. Therefore it had to be thrown out like the little piece of Oregonian trash that it was. Hahahaha, I'm totally kidding. That was just fun to say.)
• Swiss - Georgetown Lucille IPA

My pick of the night would have to be the M&J's Yerba Mate. A very enjoyable IPA but my stomach was really done tolerating any level of hoppiness. It was starting to feel like the apocalypse was happening in there. Thank the sweet flying spaghetti monster for MGD, he totally carried this event. Considering I almost left after visiting E9 I was so sick of drinking. I know, okay, I know. A super scary thought. A day or two off and I'm back to normal, ready to blog it up and make some arrangements for the next few events. I won't abandon you, my faithful readers!! Here, take a free hug.

Anywho... like I was saying. Favorite beer was the Yerba Mate but my fave moment was when I drank it so slowly that eventually MGD just took it from me. Then said "Are you actually going to drink anything tonight, or are you beyond done? Steal my beer instead..." and handed me his ever so lovely (partially emptied) Schooner Exact Gallant Maiden. Happeh sigh.

We also found it to be highly entertaining that out of the 24+ Parkway ales on tap, it was pretty impossible to find something we haven't already tried over the last week or so. Yay for punch card drinking. We truly know how to get 'er done. I believe the pivotal moment that brought us here was when I was looking over our 2 collective cards in dismay and thinking "How on Earth are we going to finish 1 punch card let alone 2? Did you actually NEED a Growler?" I handed the sheets to MGD who stated "This is a piece of piss. It's on like Donkey Kong. Get your coat." Who knew we could be so efficient as a team?

Thanks Red Hot & Parkway! You made my October totally interesting. It hasn't been the easiest 11 days of my life, but it was worth every bit of my time and energy and moola. Can't wait to see what y'all come up with next.

Check out my previous blogs (also known as: amazingly funny & marvelously informative musings by thePL) on Tacoma Craft Beer Festival and Tap Night Tacoma if you crave more oh-so-delightful information.

switching to the H2O for a damn minute, the pissed liBEERian

 Oh and BTfreakingW... you only dream of having minions as amazing as I do. Much like the Beer Bitch who writes for NWBrewing News and has her feet rubbed down as she scribes her articles, I am equally blessed. Spent many an hour out drinking while spending our punch card completion night in style. MGD brought me this awesome morning care package the next day because I was too tired & cranky to cure myself from so much fun. Heart bubbles.

Good to the last drop.

In fact, all it's drops are good. Helloooooooo Schooner Exact Seamstress Union. Found this precious tap flowing at the Ale House Pub & Grill in Tacoma, WA last night. What a perfect reward for filling out not 1, but 2, Tacoma Drinks WA Beer punch cards (thank you very effing much, we even impressed ourselves). Rock star status... official. Plus the added bonus of realizing I am a kick ass shuffle board player. Holla!

Check out the Ale House sometime. It's a cool enough local joint with a ton of taps going (almost everything Full Sail carries!), sports to watch & games to play and hosts trivia night on Wednesday where you get to spin a big Price is Right style wheel if you win. Big money, big money!

TCBF... the reason I do what I do.

2nd Annual Tacoma Craft Beer Festival!

How better to express my gratitude and awe of the previous weekend than to simply say "Thank you, from the bottom of my yiddle pissed liBEERian heart." I may have had more fun than one person (or even a whole group of me and my peeps) could possible handle. After spending some time compiling notes, memories and general randomness that occurred over both days; I felt it would be better to review the event in lists and pictures (in this case, they truly do say a thousand words) so that you don't need eye bleach, a nap and a hug by the time you are done reading this.

                       Top Brewers 

Me chillin' @ the Schooner Exact booth

Schooner Exact. Well... duh, it's my blog and to me they are PERFECTION. Really enjoyed talking with Heather and Matt McClung (owners of SE) about all the greatness that is them. Was treated to a specialty pour of Seamstress Union on Friday night (cue random ass dance of happiness which lead me to spill a drop of my beloved 4oz. Time to simmer the hell down and get serious!)  & found out about a few places SU is pouring locally @ this moment in the 253. Thanks for being so great guys!

Big Al Brewing Company Who doesn't love a company who's logo is: Live your dreams, drink ours. Epic. Got my right chesticle branded with their logo & about a million pics taken. Sorry Mom, but we all have our talents. Booth runner Micah was a laugh and we sampled some of their Chili IPA which was crazy good. Can't wait to try some more and will definitely be looking for Big Al first @ the next event I attend.

7 Seas Brewing Company A bidding war over the growler shown which resulted in us being $150 poorer, my winning smile becoming sore, amazing promo pics being taken & a promise of some blog worthiness and a visit to the brewery. Sounds like a winning combo to me. Can't wait to go see Mike & 7 Seas up north soon, y'all made this event very special for me and you have my thanks. Keep doing what you are doing.

Odin Brewing Company  They were serving up Thor's Fury and were probably some of the most hilarious people I met all night. Mad props to Dan for not giving me his glitter Odin T off his back (even though I could totally SEE the other shirt underneath) and promising that if I visit Odin, I can have one for free. A promise of free swag and legit reason to visit a new brewery... yeah I'm a hard sell; see ya Friday.

Amazing Ales on Cask

Showin' off the guns!

Airways Sky Hag
Oskar Blues Gubna
Everybody's Brewing Country Boy IPA

Most Memorable 4oz Pours
Walking Man Black Cherry Stout
Airways Sky Hag (cask)
Schooner Exact Seamstress Union (Friday night special, freshest of the fresh)
Big Al Chili IPA
Odin Thor's Intrigue (this was mistakenly labeled as Thor's Fury)
Two Beers Infused 20:20 Blonde

Top 5 Things I Went Home With 

1. 7 Seas limited edition growler. Thanks Mike, you fought a good fight but our charms are a force to be reckoned with.

2. Breasticle (temporary) tattoos featuring Parkway Tavern & Big Al, that still won't come off

3. An unexpected win in the bean bag toss game. Take THAT and like it Basil!

4. 8 plastic 4oz TCBF taster glasses.

5. Memories to last a lifetime, until the next Tacoma Craft Beer Festival that is.

Best places in the 253 to start and end your TCBF experience

Parkway Tavern - Friday, stopped in for some pints before and after. Hitched a cab from here both days. Next time we go with a limo or a town car so we can rock our celebrity status. Amazing after party on Saturday, it has to be said.

Puget Sound Pizza - grabbed some bomb sammies for lunch on Friday before heading down. Then ended up there again Saturday to enjoy some wonderfully awful karaoke.

Utter Randomness that really made my weekend!                 

1. Getting a shout out (plus some free beer tokens to try and win me over to the dark side...) from the Red Hot dude @ the cask pour. It's nice to be recognized for my work as a liBEERian. Total happiness sprung from loathing.

2. In an effort not to throw anyone under the bus I will attempt to be discreet, which is not my strong suit. As the event concluded, we picked up our (empty) 7 Seas growler. Before we actually left the venue, it was no longer empty. Thanks for the free fill up, I was wondering what y'all do with that left over beer. *Please note, the growler was produced and given to me by 7 Seas but they DID NOT fill it*

3. Found an abandoned wooden beer token in a port-a-potty urinal. Events unfolded from there in the following order: Took a picture. Thought about how desperate one would have to be to grab it. Wondered how high the comedic value would be if I personally snagged it. Laughed my ass off that I even considered touching it. Got a bit sad that I didn't think of such an awesome social experiment first. Went inside to my peeps and showed them the picture, then said "See this token in the urinal? It's now in my purse." I love me, I'll do anything for a cheap laugh.

4. As I was standing outside the bathrooms Saturday night, perched on the back of a truck; got a new compliment that I have never heard before. Some dude walked by me, did a double take and walked back and said "You look amazing. I'm not hitting on you but I wanted to tell you that you look so classy, everything that you have going on right now. Total class." Pretty sure there are very few people who have been around me when I'm actually talking who would call me classy. At least I got the look part down that night, thank you blue dress.

5. FOOD! Tasted pickle/bacon/absinthe flavored toothpicks and will remember to bring some eye bleach next time for all of the hairy ass Parkway tattoos I saw. Plus devoured a burrito bigger than my head. Noshed on different varieties of malts and actually LEARNED something about beer and it's different flavors. Imagine that... thank you my devoted teacher for always trying to make me more 'studious'.

The apex of my weekend was realizing (as if I didn't know already) that I have such amazing people in my life who are ridiculously supportive of me and consider my journey to be a shared one. They show up for events, will write down beers I consume and hold my free swag in their big purses & pockets. Outrageously barter for unobtainable goods and make sure I meet the right people. I wish I could encapsulate these moments in time we've all shared together. Magic in the making, over WAY too soon.

I love beer. I love my blog. I love what I get to do with my time concerning both. I'm having the time of my life in every way and THEY are the one's who make this possible for me. Thank you, you know who you    are.     

 What a great way to end the day. A beautiful view, empty glasses and big smiles.

A parting shot as the sun sets and the tasters begin to empty...

Cheers, the pissed liBEERian 

You wanna tap this?

Due to what I find to be highly insufficient plugging and advertising, I am going to start doing my part to promote Tap Night Tacoma. This is an event that happens on the 2nd Monday of every month at local pubs and taverns around the general 253 area.

At 6p sharp, a city wide selection of cask ales are tapped for the enjoyment of the masses at approximately 5-6 locations. The breweries who provide the casks are usually well known & it may even be beer you've consumed before. However, I'll give you four reasons that this is a must attend event so listen the fuck up... I only want to have to repeat myself once a month (approx. a week before the event as a reminder).

1. Support your local businesses. We don't need to pump any more of our hard earn $ into the hands of any more Red Robins and Applebees. Stay away from chains, obvious. Kthnxbai.

2. You may have had Schooner Exact's 3 Grid IPA (winner of the blind IPA David & Goliath event @ Parkway Tavern on 9/29) but have you had their 2-5-3 Grid IPA? This was a special made brew for a previous Tap Night Tacoma. You will see all kinds of great new ales and tweaked old favorites featured.

3. Help keep great events alive! More bars should collaborate and host events like this. I totally dig how much the Parkway and Red Hot are into doing special & weird things in the sake of craft beer. It gives me a reason to go out (because my social life is really lacking right now, as is my beer drinking...) and shoves them deeper and deeper into my heart of hearts. I've become bored just showing up @ a bar to drink nowadays. Other than doing it to keep my loyal following going... I want a reason! I am a marketing persons DREAM. You make a punch card for WA beer... I'm fucking there with my sleeping bag and toothbrush.

4. Cask ale is da bomb! It offers a richer taste and has more character, while at its freshest. It is unfiltered and unpasteurized, served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide or nitrogen around room temperature. The live product in it's natural state, kind of like traveling back to the Mesozoic period to see real dinosaurs vs. a field trip to see some fossils @ a museum. Yep... just like that.

Hope those points hit home and you make it out to the next Tap Night Tacoma, Monday October 11th @ 6p. Here's the lineup:

The Red Hot - Naked City Dry-Hopped Impact IPA*
Engine House 9 - E9 Dry-Hopped IPA
Doyle's - Morland Old Speckled Hen*
Meconi's - Maritime Pacific Imperial IPA
The Swiss - Georgetown Brewing Lucille IPA
Parkway Tavern - Double Mountain Vaporizer*

I starred the ones I am the most excited to try, then followed it with one based on convenience. I mean come on, if I'm gonna hit Red Hot why wouldn't I walk across the street to E9? Please note that I put Parkway last because it is my most favoritest and I like to save it. I haven't made it to all locations yet on a single Tap Night and when I'm done traveling, I head to Parkway to finish my evening for the cask ale they are serving up and whatever else looks delicious.

I will do what I can to help this event be a success. Not only by promoting it and attending, but I am only one liBEERian. I don't understand why I can only find out info on what's being served and where for this event by seeing a random poster @ a pub (which works for me, I go often but there are many who don't) or MAYBE hearing some info on Facebook the day of the event. Can't Tap Night Tacoma have it's own FB page? I'll even make it if that's what it takes to get the good word out because it's TNT and it's dynamite.

 

the pissed liBEERian

Tap this.