The Shocker: Surprisingly Enjoyable!

Surprisingly enjoyable, so says the tap handle anyways. I was on a Seamstress Union hunt sometime in late July and heard the delightful rumor that Parkway Tavern may have some on tap. Wrong. Negatory. Denied. However, imagine my surprise when a little beauty called 'The Shocker' was pouring. It was a special brew made by Schooner Exact for the 75th Anniversary of Parkway (congrats!) and there was a bit left over.

The folks @ SE gave me a tap handle sticker!

'Twas a beautiful sunny day so I grabbed myself a pint and headed out to the patio to enjoy some literature with my beer. Well I was holding a book in my lap, but there was little to no reading going on. I had to text MGD immediately to tell him all about my find! He demanded a picture of me holding/drinking the Shocker while doing one. Naturally, I didn't see how I could manage the flexibility while keeping all of the liquid in my glass so I said "Nope, sorry." He replied that if I didn't take a picture of me drinking it while throwing the sign he would call Parkway and have me thrown out immediately.

Oh... you want me to throw the Shocker sign (not perform one) while holding my drink! Gotcha. Being the picture whore that I am, I turned to my fellow patio goers and asked them to snap a quick pic.

Alright, let's get around to the reason I am writing this. While I was describing the Raspberry Shocker to a friend last night I mentioned that the beer is made up of 2 parts Seamstress Union Raspberry Wheat and 1 part King Street Brown. Let me say that again... 2 pink & 1 brown. Maybe all of that blond hair dye has finally gone to my brain because the relevancy of the drink components never even occurred to me. I don't have 'aha' moments, I have 'duuuuuuuh' moments with epic authority. Seeing as it took me approximately 3 months to figure this out... Hahahahahaha.

Nicely done Schooner EXACT, nicely done.

Throwing my Shocker, while holding The Shocker @ Parkway Tavern. 

the pissed liBEERian

My buddy Spock throws his own variation...

    Options are always good...                                                                     Local flare outside the Top of Tacoma...            

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 

Time to tweek thangs...

Wednesday Sept. 22nd

Hitting up E9 for dinner tonight!! Took myself out on a date because I'm awesome and independent like that. Plus no one could meet up til later and I needed some vittles.

Enjoyed some Seamstress Union on tap to go with my fish sammy and TATER TOTZ!! holy gawd, lurv the death out of those little things. Per pissed liBEERian SOP, got in a pretty heated debate about Dogfish Head beer with my bar mates, but as always... I came out on top @ the end of it. Pretty stellar for a girl who labels herself as a bottom, eh? Let's face it, I know a thing or two about the awesome that is Dogfish Head beer. I did introduce some newbies to the greatness that is SU and they were compliant. However, how militant can one be when flat on the floor with a bar stool pressed into their neck while I'm sitting on it with a cute smile and saying "Here, try this." Lucky for them, they enjoyed it and I'm slowly learning that drinking solo in public is not for me, I need babysitting or at least semi-attentive supervision.

Dinner. Drinks. Moving on to...

The RedHot's Farewell to Summer Beer and Ice Cream Social

I already penned (typed... whatever) a post about the Red Hot and this particular event, a Red Hot affair in the 253, so I won't bore you with reiterating all I had to say about it. Here's the lineup for this fun event: Unibroue La Terrible (sans ice cream), Schooner Exact Gutter Punk'n w/ vanilla ice cream, Boundary Bay ESB, Sum-a-Dis Pilsner by Double Moutain & Ommegang Rare Vos.

Thursday Sept. 23rd

Top of Tacoma with MGD, Basil & TPG3

Back @ the old stompin' grounds for an entertaining evening in a 253 locale. Enjoyed some Schooner Exact 3 Grid & a Mocha Death by Iron Horse Brewery. IH somehow concocted a beer that tastes like amazing cold coffee minus the alcohol. Perfect breakfast drink, thanks Iron Horse for making my hungover mornings bearable and tasty-licious!!

** for those of you wondering... yes I drank on Friday, but it was just Shocktop **

Saturday Sept. 25th

BJ's in Southcenter with Miss Massey to soothe the sore and achy mess that was my body after the Weekend Warrior Workout.

Imbibed some Boulevard Single Wide IPA to accompany my grilled shrimp tacos and avocado rolls. Dee. Lish. Us. Had tasted Single Wide in the bottle a month or so ago with MGD, and it was mutually agreed upon that hitting some up on tap could be possibly most magical. This little happy mobile dwelling ale delivered like a manufactured home with a foundation. So I had multiple of course. My thoughts on the beer: a light amber pour with a thick head. lightly carbonated and smooth with a lacy after-coating. As you can see, scientific terms are my specialty.

Single Wide IPA in the gorgeous wknd sunshine.

After sharing a crazy morning workout and a day full of errands, two small appetizers to share on top of 2 big beers, made afternoon shopping extremely entertaining. Think trying on fur coats & granny sweaters over our clothes and buying hideous silk paisley luggage at a low low price of "we can't find the tag on this so can you just pay us to take it since it's so damn fugly?". Lots 'o laffs to be had that day.

later that night...

Hit up Puget Sound Pizza w/ MGD for some artichoke topped pie, super sucky service & Sierra Nevada Hop Harvest Nitro. It may or may not have gone unnoticed but I didn't scrape a single topping or piece of anything off my pizza, but it's worth mentioning now. Still trying to earn some star stickers on my 'eat pizza like a normal human being' chart so that I can win a trip to NYC. Not to mention, while reading the 'I saw you' section in the Seattle Stranger, I'm pretty sure I was mentioned in there twice. That makes for a darn stellar dinner in my book.

Aaaaaand since we can't do anything half assed, onto the PARKWAY we go!!!

Before mentioning any ales we consumed it has to be said that a Tap Night Tacoma poster was already up for display so I took a pikshur for easy referencing later. Fist bump of excitement, then blew it up. & I'm pretty sure there was a good 30m where I waxed poetic about the loss of Pluto as an official planet in our solar system. Thanks for listening, I wasn't drunk. Just deliriously tired. Runneth of the mouth hole syndrome begins.

We partook in all of the following ales: Left Hand Sawtooth Pale ale, Beer Valley Leafer Madness, Mad River Rorschach Wheat Wine. (whoa!!)

Sunday Sept. 26th

Literature & Libations book club meet up @ Parkway Tavern

Peeps in attendance were Basil, Laura, MGD and myself with a late edition of TPG3

Decent turn out of my peeps and we actually did a ton of reading, it was great and felt promising for the future of our little club. Literature on the menu for that evening was 'Gregor the Overlander' & 'He says Beer, She says Wine'. Damn we're productive & nerdy; at least it was rounded out by a Yankee game later in the afternoon. During our 8hr stint in our corner booth we had some/much of the following:

Rude Parrot IPA (my notes since I don't have a ratebeer.com account: golden pour with a medium lace and small head. tangy taste in the middle with a tart but yummy finish)

Elysian Men's Room Original Red

Issaquah Pumpkin Frog

Lips of Faith/New Belgium Sah ti

Russian River Damnation

Full Sail Lupulin Fresh Hop

L&L Admin... representing hardcore!

Basil sitll smiling among the mess

The scene unfolds...

Rude Parrot IPA & an effective bargaining chip.

As you can imagine, 8 hours spent in a bar can create a lot of hilarity but there is only one pied piper in this blog so I will leave you with a lesson that was hard learned (and earned) on my part. When soaking and stripping the label off of a beer bottle, the next step is to press it flat while it dries. Check. Usually... doing this in a book or magazine is ideal. This book SHALL NOT be a library book! Nor shall it be a library book about BEER. The inevitable will happen: when you are reading it at an L&L meeting, paraphrasing notes for ultimate beer knowledge retain-ment... all of sudden you look down and declare "what the balls is all this water damage doing in this book??!!" as your perfectly dried and pressed beer label flutters into your lap. Awesome. I should know better, considering where I work, but in my defense I did wrap it in a paper towel first. 

Best leave such heavy lifting to the professionals. I can't peel a label on a bottle but I sure know how to open one... with the proper tools. Some of us were meant for greatness, others will find their own path.

My misguided attempt to handle a label removal myself...

& hereby vowing to stick to what I know, bottle opening.

Oh what a world, what a world when kissing one's muscular bicep becomes the height of fashion.
So very truly yours,

the pissed liBEERian

P.S. Due to some of my friends current state's, I have been doing some thinking. Let's all say a small prayer that I don't get pregnant or have some infection requiring antibiotics... the blog will suffer and so shall you my dear readers. ;)

There are 24 usable hours in every day.

I have always been a person who enjoys having plans. I enjoy making them and changing them and letting them run me ragged. Burning the candle at both ends is a way of life for this girl. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy downtime and relaxation as much as the next person (well I try to at least) but I'm not truly content unless I'm feverishly adding things to my planner and multiple calendars. I enjoy having things to look forward to and here are some beer related events on my upcoming agenda. Hoping that a few of these suggestions will give you something to look forward to as well. Let's send summer out with a little kiss kiss bang bang.

Parkway Tavern's IPA Festival 

August 28th/29th, 2p-2a (Tacoma) 40+ IPAs, 4 grilled pigs, and some veggie dogs for the weir-dooooooooz! (please envoke 12 days of Christmas tune while reading that)

Brouwer's Cafe's Hopfest

September 10th, 11a til close (Seattle) Showcasing approx. 60 IPA's on tap for your mouthy enjoyment. Sure to be a well attended event, it's their 5th annual.

Fremont Oktoberfest 

Sept 24-26th, hrs vary between 11a and 12a daily (Seattle) Multiple beer gardens, Miss Buxom contest, Steins n shit, entertainment, pumpkin carving with chain saws and a Brew-Ha-Ha 5k on Sunday. Now... where did I put my beer wench outfit?

Oh... there it is!

Tacoma Craft Beer Fest 

Oct 1st (5-9p) Oct 2nd (12-8p) Food, craft beer & live music, right in my own back yard?! Not sure where you could go wrong with that scenario. I'm buying my tickets early. It's the 2nd TCBF, my first experience. Tacoma is a great place for craft brewing experiences. Honored to live in the 253.