Why I love Eyeluvbeer & other out of this world musings

 You gotta check out my buddies blog post today over at Eyeluvbeer, it made me laugh out loud (sorry, I can't physically make myself type 'LOL'). I totally love them and their goofy weirdness, my kinda peeps through and through. You can check out his other posts and rad merchandise here, after you're done reading. Might as well read on and enjoy!

Meet 0101110, Our New Friend

Hi, I'm 0101110

Greetings Earthlings. I have been deployed from the planet Bräuzeer contained in the UDFj-39546284 Galaxy, which is approximately 13.2 billion light-years from Earth. We are fluent in 10,126 languages, including English. My planet Bräuzeer is interested in a liquid you create called beer. Where I'm from no such thing exists. We used our recently developed Hopdar Sensor Technology (HST) and have found the Pacific Northwest produces some of the best beer in the United States. After careful analysis we have chosen Oregon as our test site; Portland to be exact. Bräuzeer was amazed when they looked at their radar findings and saw 47+ breweries in the metropolitan area. Fascinated by this enormous number they have sent me, 0101110 to explore the love you humanoids have with beer. Oh, and don’t worry, we aren’t going to try to take over your planet like those Hollywood movies want you to believe.

Bräuzeer as seen from your crappy Hubble Space Telescope

My space craft was programmed to land at 45° 33' 7.2'', -122° 40' 32.2''. As it turns out, this was the exact coordinates of what I have become to know as Bridgetown Beerhouse. I made it, but was in bad shape from a very rough landing. Almost unconscious outside Bridgetown’s entrance, I was scooped up off the ground by a scruffy looking human who was headed out the door. I noticed one particular article of clothing the earthly being was wearing had some strange symbols on it; one I recognized was the state of Oregon. Below it, in tiny letters was some text. It read Eyeluvbeer. I would call this Earthling, Eyeluvbeer.

Eyeluvbeer, put me in his pocket and we traveled by foot to the place he calls home. So far, I have been on Earth for roughly two weeks. In that time, I have consumed a number of beers and have begun to see why you humans love it so much. It's certainly delicious, there seems to be a style for everyone’s liking and more importantly, it brings people together. I have met some really great beings in Portland while out sipping a pint. They think I look a little funny at first, but they figure I’m just keeping Portland weird.

Eyeluvbeer bought me a nice
HUB Galactic Imperial Red.  It was out of
this world!

Eyeluvbeer has promised to take me out more and more. He said he’d be happy to have me as a guest blogger or at least contribute somehow to the beer blog he maintains. Eventually I will have to return to Bräuzeer to report my discoveries. Until then, I hope we cross paths and can enjoy a pint together.

Happy St. Patricks Day,
0101110

You can check out Eyeluvbeer's other blog posts and rad merchandise here, they are definitely doing their part to keep Portland weird. Thank goodness for that!

Tacoma Drinks Washington Beer! Wed. 2/22 through Wed. 2/29

Get your drinking arm ready, it's time for one of my most favorite events of ever: 

 The Parkway Tavern & The Red Hot present...

Tacoma Drinks Washington Beer Week 2012!

See why it's my favorite? Look how happy I was for the first rendition of this event, with my growler and Eye Luv WA Beer shirt and beer sheet!

I do. I really, really do.

What's not to love about a giant bingo-y punch card-y thing, spending oodles of time at both the Red Hot and Parkway Tavern, special beer related events and the opportunity to win a special made growler for completing the arduous task that has been set forth?

Here's the dealio: 

 (Hopefully you already knew this event was happening and in preparation let your liver rest for a few days or maybe pumped some iron to prep your drinking arm.)

1. Pick up your super special beer sheet (pictured above) at either the Parkway Tavern or The Red Hot.

2. Drink WA beer at the Parkway Tavern or The Red Hot.

3. Get beer sheet stamped for specific breweries or random WA beer.

4. Try your bestest to attend the listed events from the Red Hot blog. I have an inkling that most likely, not every brewery will be available on tap the entire week. Drink the hard to find stuff ASAP.

5. Complete beer sheet by Wednesday, February 229th.

6. Get a 32oz commemorative growler (pictured below) for completing.

7. Pat self on back.

8. Give speech to adoring fans.

9. DO NOT add up how much $$ you spent drinking beer just to get a nifty growler.

10. Possibly finish early and work on completing a 2nd beer sheet like MGD and I did last year. This year we have decided that we will feel fulfilled enough by just finishing uno sheeto. I of course say this now, as it is only the first day of the challenge. I'll let ya know how that's working out later this week. Basically, at what point do we by default finish enough beer and look at the 2nd sheet and state "Damn, we got this! Let's keep drinkin'!"

For all the official info (as if I'm not official) you can check out the Red Hot's blog post: Tacoma Drinks Washington Beer Week 2012. There are links to tap lists etc. that you may want to hang on to, as well as a list of beer related events you don't want to miss. 

As of my being chauffeured into work at 8:30a this morning and going over our MGP (Master Game Plan), MGD & I are planning on hitting every event that's listed. The fun starts tonight with the Tacoma debut of the Wingman/Airways collaboration Chocolate Rye beer (had it in Kent at the Airways Beer & Bistro awhile ago, twas delicious!) at the Red Hot and the Parkway Tavern will be hosting a brewers night with American Brewing Company (6-9p) for the release of their Scotch Ale and much more.

drink local

during this week if no other

Newish & Highly Noteworthy-ish Blogs You Should Follow

Been out and about lately with MGD on an ale-cation of sorts around the Midwest. Brewery visits galore & a pub crawl that took 2 full days to complete. Since I'm so busy easing myself back into reality, sorting out notes for a (multi-part) blog & planning a private weekend party to enjoy the cooler loads of brews MGD is hauling home, I'm gonna hafta pull a bait and switch move on ya.

This essentially means 'That all sounds exciting, right? Well, I'm going to try and distract you with something else while I'm busy doing all that..." Although I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence, I'm hoping it's an effective diversion.

I'd like to recommend two newish blogs I've been enjoying immensely as of late. Hopefully you'll love 'em too.

EyeLuvBeer

Chris Baker of Portland's EyeLuvBeer products (think bumper stickers & tshirts, check out their swag here!) started a blog recently describing his adventures in all things beer. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the Tacoma Craft Beer Fest in Fall 2010 and we've been buds ever since. EyeLuvBeer stuff is great, he spells stuff like I do & has a well written blog that provides hilarity and interesting-ness upon perusal.

and...

Table of Contents: Notes on Books & the Literary Life

 This is a blog from the Tacoma Public Library System, which multiple employees scribe for. However, there is one author in particular that really stands out. The author goes by jreisdorf and posts not only well researched & thought out blogs, but is a talented writer to boot. Her reviews have led me to crack open some fantastic novels that I may not have considered before hearing her thoughts. You should FOR SURE check out her latest post (which you can access by clicking on the blog title above) describing the history of classic cocktails and the local imbibing scene. I had the pleasure of joining her on a 'research' trip and she found my witticisms awesome enough to quote at the end of her blog. (Yes, I did just manage to self promote myself while promoting someone else.)

I subscribe to a LOT of blogs (over half of them beer related) and end up skimming a lot of them due to time constraints. There are about 10-15 blogs that cause me to first do an internal happy dance (although some blogs demand an external happy dance) upon seeing a new post, then I devour every single word. As an admitted bibliophile, I heart the general existence of all literature. There are too many wonderful things to read out there to ever waste my time on something that isn't a cut above. Both of these blogs (& their writers) are worth my time. And yours.

Slowly working my way out of vacation recovery mode,

the pissed liBEERian