FoodTrek: A Brewski or Twoski at Brewers Fest 2012

It's genius that the Washington Beer Commission schedules their annual Brewers Festival over Father's Day weekend -- if my dad were visiting, I know he'd be in Beer Heaven! Sadly, the pesky Pacific Ocean keeps this reunion between Wasabi Dad and Pacific Northwest Beers from happening, so I must imbibe beers for the both of us. It's a tough job, but some Wasabi's gotta do it.

The annual Cheers to Washington Beers - it's Brewers Fest! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

The Mister and I have been going to Brewers Fest for I want to say the last four or five years. Even before I had the blog, we were happy beer-drinking attendees, making the trek to St. Edwards Park, a picturesque venue in Kenmore with an actual monastery in the background. From what I heard was new event organizers, Brewers Fest got all Jeffersons and was movin'-on-up, taking the festival to Redmond's Marymoor Park, a much larger venue with much better traffic flow when it comes to parking. It was a natural progression, finding a new and larger space for what's become a pretty significant event -- St. Edwards wasn't the original location for Brewers Fest, it was originally held in a small field in Fall City, near where the first Herbfarm restaurant was located. But Northwest Beer is getting all grown's-up, and apparently it needed a bigger place to hold its annual kegger party for Dad.

The usual views of Brewers Fest - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Despite the new venue, it still had all the comforts of a typical Brewers Festival -- you can still bring your own food and lawn chairs into the park (subject to bag checks), even though they have food vendors there. No coolers, I think that ban has always been in effect. The attendance was in record numbers, but also a bit of a traffic jam to get in, as they let people buy a ticket to use on Saturday or Sunday, and without knowing who was coming which day, it was causing constant line buildups at the entrance. Not sure what the logic was behind the Saturday or Sunday option, but to avoid this, go right when the festival opens at 11, just to avoid the queue log jam.  If you're drinking beer before noon, at least it's with purpose. There were many a wearer of Utili-Kilts were in attendance, but it's the full-tartan dress kilts that gets more kudos. We had a friend who showed off his Scottish pride with his family tartan and yes, even a sporran, which is a handy keeper of beer tokens. It all looks good when you are bedecked with pretzel necklaces. I saw some folks who even strung wedges of pepperoni sticks on their edible necklaces. Protein as jewelry -- excellent. Yes, the first crazy long line was at Black Raven Brewing, which always baffles me, as the brewery is right in Redmond -- even closer to the new venue now; just head over, you can get full glasses of their marvelous beer there! But I know they had some special kegs, like a Splinters Bourbon Barrel Aged Scotch Ale, and an unusual summer number, a Pina Colada IPA.

Hanging Ten and getting our drank on - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I realize it's an event meant to feature local breweries, but you still get some outside brewers like Kona Brewing, out of Hawaii -- I can't complain, as the dudes were more than happy to throw up a "shaka" handsign and keep spirits up on a very gray day. Breweries that I had for the first time included Sound Brewery, out of Poulsbo. I had their Sommerweizen, an unfiltered wheat ale that was very much like a Belgian wit -- very tart and citrusy, but on a gray day that turned ridiculously humid towards mid afternoon, I needed something refreshing to cut the muggy air. The weather played its own part in beer choices -- I was going from Belgian and pale ales in the muggy afternoon, towards the darker beers when things got positively anti-summer and gusting winds towards the later half of the day. To fight the chill, I was tempted by cherry porters, which some beer purists may call "chick beers," I had one from Airways Brewing (Kent) and it wasn't too strong -- there was one brewery that had strong notes of vanilla in their cherry porter, which really overpowered everything. I think of all the heavier dark beers, I liked Skookum's (Arlington) Murder of Crows, a funny little name choice inspired by, you know, that other raven-themed brewery, where they do a bourbon barrel-aged stout. You get that oaky, heavy flavor infusing a dark beer that compliments its coffee/vanilla notes, and you don't even have to wait in a crazy long line to get a tasty, interesting beer.

Table decor and brewery schwag - Photos by Wasabi Prime

That's another thing to keep in mind when heading to a beer festival -- don't just jump into the longest lines with the attitude of wanting the best of the best. Popular doesn't always mean best, and for a festival like this one, you're not going to get a bad beer. I was with nitpicky company -- the Mister has a beer judge qualification under his belt, but all the things he picks out aren't things the average beer-enjoyer will notice or be bothered with. You go with an open mind and a thirst for sampling something new. If I'm going to try a new beer, I want to try one that's Washington-made and isn't super close to where I live, since a lot of these breweries aren't large enough to bottle their beer to be sold in stores. 

Beer's hot sisters, Cider and Mead - Photos by Wasabi Prime 

And it's not just about the beer! They've always had a table for ciders and meads, granted it's a smaller space and the interest in mead and cider has spawned their own festivals (check NW Cider event page), but several great ones like Finn River and Alpenfire were in attendance, as well as Sky River Mead. I've had all these before, and despite the two-token cost for a taste, they're worth it. And if you're going for pure alcohol percentage, meads and ciders tend to be fairly high-octane, like a dangerously good-looking dame in a detective novel. They'll look real pretty, be a real sweetie, then knock the mickey out of you.

Eye candy for beer enthusiasts - Photos by Wasabi Prime

With a larger venue, I felt like a lot of the brewers upped their game in getting their tables decked out in displays. Brewers had jars of dry hops and the dry ingredients that are used to make their beers, set up on their tables. A fair number of the attendees of the Brewers Fest are homebrewers themselves, so having the brewers pouring tastes is the perfect opportunity to talk shop. There were also some unique Beer Nerd gear being sold -- the incredible etched glass growlers from 7 Seas Brewing (Gig Harbor) were getting lots of oohs and ahhs for good reason, they were exquisite. The Mister was very tempted, I was Mean Wasabi Wife and said no (we have so much beer stuff!!!), but one of his friends got one, so he can visit it and get all "my precioussss" over it when he visits his friend. I especially liked the Growler on Board holders, which the best way I can describe them is, beer car seats. They're lightweight foam holders that can carry four glass growlers, giving them a steady base so they're not rolling around. This seems like a goofy thing, but if you regularly visit breweries, you hate to buy new growlers for every place; it makes better sense to carry your supply with you in a safe, stable holder. Breweries will clean out the growler or you just trade it, without buying a new one. Kind of like keeping cloth grocery bags in the car with you all the time, except in this case, it's beer holders.

Chocolate Beer? Yes, please - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The non-beer vendors were more interesting this year. Aside from the fact that I could go a lifetime with never seeing another bubble-blowing gun again (I know, it's a family event - blargh), I liked the beer-infused chocolate truffles from ChocMo. They were selling boxes of their specialty chocolates that had flavors incorporating beers from Deschutes and Schooner Exact. They're in Poulsbo and along with chocolates, it's a bar and cafe, but the beer-spiked sweets are definitely their specialty. I couldn't get the secret method, but they were saying they infuse the truffles with the beer flavor without having to concentrate and cook it down. Beer-chocolate wizardry at work? Clearly -- so give them a try if you see their goods on the shelf or are going through town.

Lumpia, beer's new BFF - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So, all this beer-drinking, what about the food? The larger venue meant more food vendors, and there were the requisite food-on-sticks stands with skewered berries covered in chocolate and giant ears of corn, but they upped their food vendor game by having Lumpia World and Skillet serving up tasty nomz. They also had a Korean barbecue stand which I wished I'd tried -- it looked like big plates of kalbi-style ribs and a seasoned rice. If I had another stomach, I'd have jumped on that as well. The crowd was growing and I wanted something simple and easy to eat, so I went with the crunchy, savory deliciousness of fried lumpia, from the appropriately named Lumpia World. Their truck usually makes stops in Renton, so I was really glad to see it at this event, plus really glad to see how long their line was. Not that I like to wait, but it was gaining popularity with curious diners who wanted something that sounded different, but had all the familiar tastes they enjoy. Lumpia are like mini eggrolls from the Phillippines. Popular at big family gatherings, since they cook so fast in a fryer, they're perfect finger food and ridiculously good with beer. You could get sweet or savory versions, and along with that, they had noodle dish, pancit, and some chicken bento-style lunches, but they had me at lumpia. 

Our beer tokens and rapidly declining livers kept us from staying into the early evening hours. I always come early just to take photos before the crowds are too overwhelming. We bid our beer friends adieu and headed home for an at-home dinner of spicy pork tacos. Because, really, tacos and beer, what could be better?

A happy and sleepy Saturday of food and beer - Photos by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Beer Appreciation, Come Rain or Come Shine!

Tom Hanks said there's no crying in baseball. Take that analogy and throw it on a beer festival in Washington -- there's no skipping out on Brewers Festival when there's rain. It's called, put on your Big Boy/Girl Pants, throw on a pair of Wellies, and get your hiney over to St. Edwards Park, as that beer ain't gonna drink itself.

Washington Brewers Festival, complete with liquid sunshine! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

The recent celebration of Father's Day means one thing: BEER. No, not just what dear ol' Dad likes to get crunked on, but the celebration of regional craft beers during an annual three day festival out in St. Edwards State Park, put on by the good folks at the Washington Beer Commission. Despite the adage that if you're a true local, at least in the Western Washington area, you don't use an umbrella, but the skies dumped enough H20 to make people cast aside that waterlogged machismo and pull out a few umbrellas. It was also a great way to see who totally klepto-ed umbrellas from malls or hotels. And bubbles. No, not the ones in the beer glasses -- because this is a family-friendly event, there was a toy vendor selling these bubble wands and guns, and because of the rain-soaked grass, the soap bubbles were collecting on the grass en masse, making for a very surreal place to be. Dudes dressed like beer bottles, umbrellas everywhere and a lawn of bubbles -- it was an episode of The Prisoner waiting to happen.

I've posted about this festival pretty regularly -- it's one of my favorite seasonal activities and of all the WA Beer events, the Washington Brewers Festival is probably the easiest to buy tickets the day-of, since it's a three day event, you can bring your own picnic setup as space isn't an issue, and when the weather isn't so freaky-cold, it's usually a pretty amazing day to spend with a group of friends outside, just eating and drinking the day away. I have to say, despite the fact that it was so cold we could see our breath and my fingers turned purple at one point, this did not dampen the spirits of any beer festival-goers. The startup on Saturday, the day I went, was a little slow, but that just meant you made a run for the favorite beers you knew would either have big lines or just run out early. In general, I recommend this of all beer festivals -- set your alarm, spare those extra sleep-in hours on a weekend, because they're well spent on getting a first shot at good beers. The Black Raven (Redmond) line was, of course, crazy-long, and a few other breweries like Wingman Brothers (Tacoma) and Elliot Bay (Burien) had their own periodic moments of long wait times, but this didn't necessarily mean that these were the only good beers. I was at the festival with a big group of friends, including the fabulous folks at the travel blog, Travellious (they also have a writeup and way better photos of the festival here), and we were saying that one long line just means you head to another booth and try something else. There is no wrong beer to try. The multiple choice portion of this exam reveals that all answers are correct ones. And oh yeah... there is no spoon. (hello, Matrix anyone?)

Bubbles and Beer Dudes for a day at the park - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Instead of listing all the same-old favorites I always list, I did find some additional beers to add to the hit list -- namely Skookum Brewery, out in Arlington. They ran out of their Murder of Crows Bourbon Stout, which I'm sure was a little jab at Black Raven (all in good fun, I'm sure), so I instead went for their awesomely named Effenheffen Hefeweizen, and I also tried their Hooskai Stout, a smoky barrel aged stout with rich molasses notes. Despite the utter lack of sun, the Effenheffen was not only fun to say, but even more enjoyable to drink. Marvelously citrus, unfiltered sunshine in a glass. Another newbie on the Wasabi Favorite list is the Old School House Brewery from Winthrop -- I really liked their Hooligan Stout. I'm sure after having too much of this stout, it will likely turn one towards hooligan-like behavior, but at least it's a delicious transformation. I love an experimental, flavor-packed beer like anyone else, but sometimes a good classic is all you need. I'm more of a dark beer fan, and while the summertime leads me more towards IPAs or Belgian style beers, this crummy weather made me crave winter beers like stouts, and the Hooligan really hit the spot. Full-bodied flavor, nicely balanced without too much of that coffee/cocoa bitterness, but not too strong with rounded vanilla notes; just a really well-made classic. But, so-called girly beer drinker that I am, I still used my last beer token at Northern Lights Brewing Company (Spokane) to do their half/half combo of a Chocolate Dunkel and Blue Berry Ale -- a "Black and Blue" -- their beer cocktail special of the day.

So... what do you think this festival is about...? - Photo by Wasabi Prime

It wasn't until after the festival I realized, Wasabi, you're such a jerk. No, really, I kind of am. I'm talking about all these incredible beer festivals showing off local craft beers, and Big Freakin' Duh -- not everyone who reads this blog lives in Washington. It's like saying, See this amazing, fantastic adventure? Yeah, you can't have it -- talk to the hand, sucka! We are extremely fortunate in that we can go to the actual breweries, if they're close enough, and just buy a growler to take home, or sit in their tasting room and guzzle their beer from the taps, so I thought, Stop the Madness! I went to a grocery store in the hopes that maybe other stores in places other than Washington State will have something from some of these breweries.

After you drink beer... you buy some more! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Me, Sunday morning on Father's Day-proper, at a grocery store all a-bustle with shoppers buying last minute things like steak and bacon for celebratory dinners for Dad. I go to the chilled beer section and take a look, which I realized I hadn't done in a long time. Because Mr. Wasabi brews his own beer and has other friends that do the same, we often just drink homebrew beers, which are marvelous, but it of course reduces my need to buy beer from the store. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many good local beers are available in bottles at a grocery store. Now, this is the big caveat - while I was in a national chain grocery store, I'm still in Washington, and they likely stock more local items, so what I could easily find at the local store, you may have to search out at a specialty wine/beer shop or just hit the local Whole Foods (because it totally gets real in their parking lot, yo).

The microbreweries I was able to find nestled amongst the macrobreweries included: Iron Horse Brewery (Ellensburg, WA), Diamond Knot (Mukilteo, WA), Elysian Brewery (Seattle, WA), Lazy Boy Brewing (Everett, WA), Rogue (Newport, OR), Deschutes Brewery (Bend, OR), and Pyramid Brewery (Seattle, WA). This is just what I grabbed a few 40-ouncers of, there were a few more local breweries, but I was fearing looking like a raving drunk at 11am, filling a basket full of nothing but Forties. I won't get into the nitty gritty of beer styles, as this will be subject to whatever's available, but these are some breweries that are big enough to bottle their beer and get it distributed, so I'd just make note of their brewery names and just see what you can find in your neck of the woods. Some of these beers, like Deschutes' Hop in the Dark, one of the trendy new "Cascadian Dark Ales" (sort of like a smoky IPA), was at the beer festival, and if you can get a hold of it from a local beer/wine shop, it's definitely an interesting find. But likely, the most widely distributed styles of beer from Washington will be IPA, given our Hop Harvest HQ status, and that's always a fine choice. You'll find that the IPA's of Washington are much more punch-in-the-face with hop flavor than IPAs from other regions of the country, so don't always assume beer styles will be consistent from region to region. So, hopefully this lessens my "I'm a Beer Jerk" status and happy shopping!

FoodTrek: To the Beermobile, Robin!

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na - Brewer's Festival! It's Beer-thirty or close to Beer-o'-clock somewhere in the world and Washington knew how to do it up right with sudsy goodness at the annual Brewer's Festival, put on by the Washington Beer Commission. Literally hundreds of beers were presented by over fifty brewers from across the country for a weekend to celebrate dads and beer, and I'm sure Duffman would have heartily approved. Oh Yeah!

Duffman covets this car and hip-thrusts in the direction of it - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I should make a Father's Day-related note that while my dad is beer's #1 Fan, his choice tends to lean towards Bud Light, and having it from the bottle is considered a special occasion. In a household where I recall such classics as Hamms and the generic "Beer" written on white cans gracing the shelves of our hallowed fridge, I can't say I was raised with any particular pedigree of brew-sipping. But you leave the nest, learn new things and discover there's a wide, wonderful world of frosty beverages that don't require a cute animal mascot to make the product more appealing. With the growth of craft beermaking steadily on the rise, festivals like the Brewer's Festival are like a foamy oasis, with a strong aroma of hops in the air. This is probably my favorite of all the local beer festivals -- St. Edwards Park is the ideal location, with the huge monastery in the backdrop for tents teeming with brewery tables, cider and wine tastings, food vendors that just need to say Sausages! to get a crowd to gather, and a big stage for live music. And yes, I saw some people moshing near the stage. This is why it's held outdoors for the open air and soft ground for which to collapse upon.

Wholesome family fun - beer and bouncy castles - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So, to brass tacks -- what were the notable beers? As always, one of the longest lines was local favorite, Redmond's Black Raven Brewing Co. The trick to these shindigs is to go right when it opens and get to all the popular samples before the lines get crazy or worse, they just run out. I got a sample of their Bourbon Barrel Aged Scotch, which was a nice, rich, lightly smoky-flavored beer, which is a good overall sense of their beer flavor profile, and why the lines get so crazy-long. They qualified as a "two sample" beer, because you had to get a sample from another brewery to drink while waiting in line for the sample you really want.

One of my early beeline samples was to the Rogue-owned Issaquah Brewhouse, which offered their White Frog, a Belgian style wit beer. It was a light, summery beer, but I think I still love their fall/winter beers best, which have been standouts at previous festivals. But I have to give them extra props for handing out temporary frog tattoos and green condoms with a frog printed on the wrapper. Beer, tats and rubbers -- it's like the Trinity. Cheers to your smart-thinkin' Issaquah Brewhouse!

An early view of the festival, before the crowds totally obscured the booths - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I had a chance to chat with the owner of Gallaghers' from Edmonds, a brewery where people can brew their own beer, plus they brought some brews of their own. Their Citra Blond was like a Sha-zam of citrus flavor, minus any actual citrus, as the hops provided that kick of vitamin C goodness. Another charming summer-themed beer was Elysian's Avatar Jasmine IPA -- very floral, so it's something that's good to have on its own or bookended with really light-tasting beers, so the jasmine flavor doesn't feel off-putting. Another summer beer I liked was Seattle's Schooner Exact Brewing Co's Seamstress Union, a raspberry wheat having a beautiful blush, like grapefruit juice. It had a nice mellow grain flavor with fruity notes that wouldn't put off the "no fruity beers" brew-drinker.

Beer, beer, and more beer -- and cans of beer! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

What would probably put off the "no fruity beers" brew-drinker is this part -- I love ciders. Not the sugary, illegitimate booze-child of Zima and Hard Lemonade, but real ciders that truly take on the flavor of the orchard. The cider tables are usually slower traffic, since they require two tokens, but that's because they pack a higher alcoholic punch. I visited the Snowdrift Cider table not once but twice, to sample their Dry Cider and Semi Dry New English style ciders, which were crisp and fresh-flavored, especially the Semi Dry. They're based out of Wenatchee and their bottles of sparkling apple goodness is starting to make its way into the Seattle area. They mentioned they'll soon be carried in specialty stores like Malt and Vine, so I look forward to seeing their lovely-designed labels soon in shops.

In the immortal words of Ice Cube, I gotta say it was a good day. Even if the sun made no cameo appearance. Actually, for something like the Brewer's Festival where you're sitting out in the middle of a grassy park with little to no cover for hours at a time, an overcast day is ideal. Learning from past festivals, it's good to bring your own food and snacks, just to save on the pricier festival food, although the Tim's Cascade chips booth was a rare bargain for $2 full-sized bags. Salt and Vinegar chips, thy name is Kryptonite. Aside from that festival indulgence and a trip past Bluebird Ice Cream's tent for a stout-flavored ice cream run, people brought a wide mix of nuts, jerky, cheese, crackers and veggies, which made for a perfect snack buffet to keep the beer from going to anyone's head. I can gladly say that the Kraken was released in a responsible, non-belligerent manner.

Beer festival tips - be protected and bring your own snacks - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Much Wasabi Thanks to the Washington Beer Commission for throwing yet another fantastic festival and for the invitation to raise a glass at one of my favorite events!