Event organizer John Fosberg welcomes visitors to the 2nd Annual Gig Harbor Beer Festival.

The 2nd Annual Gig Harbor promised to be bigger and better than its inaugural run last May. Organizer John Fosberg was a busy man keeping the sold-out event humming along on Saturday, May 11, keeping brewers supplied with ice on a hot – yes you read it here folks – HOT – Spring day on the peninsula. “We actually sold twice as many tickets online than we anticipated,” said Fosberg. This led to a bit of a jam-up at the entry gate for a while as advance ticket buyers started queuing up well in advance of the Noon opening.This is fast becoming one of the must-do events of the Spring. Eighteen brewers, primarily from the West Sound, brought a combined 40+ brews to delight the senses.

Click here to read more about this great event inside.

So What Exactly IS World of Beer?

It is a pub that does not serve its own food. It sells a lot of craft beers, mostly from the west coast. It is a gathering place for the after-work Boeing crowd from the looks of things. In the evening, they feature live music – but no dance floor per se. You can boogie at your table if you are so inclined. Meet market? Not that I could tell on the couple of visits I have made there. Most of the folks there came with someone or with a group and seemed to not interact with anyone not at their table.

It is not a bottle shop. If you were hoping that those 500 bottled beers were arranged like Beer Junction, or All Things Wine, hope again. The brews are safely tucked away from customers in coolers behind the bar – quite a beautiful bar too, by the way – and are more for display than actual browsing/selection. They have a beer menu that lists what is in the coolers, and the prices.

Oh. Prices. Umm. Bring lots of $$ if you are planning to sample a few. A Fremont IPA that you can get at a bottle shop for $3.99 will set you back $10.50 here. Not all the prices are marked up as much. There are several in the $4-5 range. Quilter’s Irish Death from Iron Horse Brewing is another one more than double what you might expect. Caveat Emptor, as the say. Know before you go. Pints of those 50 brews on tap also vary widely in price, and average around $5.50. They have some clubs you can join that offer rewards after a certain number of purchases.

There is nothing like it at the Landing. It will be a great place to go before or after a movie for a great beer. WOB has partenered with several nearby eateries who will deliver your order right to your table at WOB; Jimmy John’s, Five Guys Burgers, Gyro House and Fresh Way Pizza.

Other Renton pubs with a wide variety of craft beers include the Dog and Pony and The Whistle Stop. Both of those places have a full kitchen and make some very nice eats in addition to a decent rotation of quality craft beers.

They were contemplating budget proposals that included huge excise tax increases on WA craft beer, and extending the “temporary” tax passed a couple years back. Several blogs and brewery tweets called for those loyal to the concept of craft beer to contact their representatives and explain to them why this is a disastrous move for the industry. WA craft brewers went to Olympia to testify against these proposals. These efforts apparently had a major impact judging from the results.

You can read about this at the following  sites:

• Washington Brewers Guild
• Washington Beer Blog
• Puget Sound Business Journal
• Let the Beer Tax Expire (as promised)
• American Homebrewers Association
• Brewers Association
• Who Will Pay the Proposed Craft Beer Tax
• Also check out some of WBB’s archived posts – really well done!

From dark and delicious to creative and refreshing, beer lovers had lots from which to choose – 25 different tastes to be exact although I only managed to try 17 over the four-hour session. In addition to the great brews, there were some top-notch food offerings (dogs, pretzels and other pub snack-type foods).

For more details – check inside →

The Cask Beer Festival has moved off the Washington Beer Commission (aka WABL) website and is now a fundraiser for the Washington Brewers Guild. It will still be held at the Seattle Center, but will move from the Fischer Plaza Pavillion to the Exhibition Hall this year. Save the date. March 30. This is a good one!

There are two beer festivals in February; the BIG BEER festival on the waterfront in Tacoma (outdoors in Winter? – brilliant) and the Belgianfest (saisons, wits, dubels and tripples – yeasty marvels of Bavaria) down on the Seattle waterfront. All the more reason to get excited about Strange Brewfest in Port Townsend Jan 25-27.

• On the First Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . a beer! It was a HOHO! Winter Ale from Diamond Knot Brewery. A robust ’winter warmer’ ale, ruby brown in color with a sweet, fruity nose. Very hoppy. Balanced with a residual sweetness. Actually mellows out as it warms and the 8.5% ABV becomes more apparent.
• On the Second Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . a beer! It was Deschutes Brewing Company’s 25th Annniversay Jubleale. Jubelale is classified as a “Strong Ale” or an “English Olde Ale.” . Characterized by a very large malt body and pronounced bitterness, Jubelale contains five different varieties of hops and a healthy amount of caramel.
• Third Day of Christmas – Merry Mischief from Samuel Adams. This Gingerbread Stout is pretty overwhelming with spices and deep stoutiness fighting to control the extra helping of alcohol.
• Fourth Day of Christmas – Winter from Alaskan Brewing Company. Light colored winter ale with spruce tips and a carmel
• Fifth Day of Christmas - “Five Golden Sam Adamses” – Why just have one when you can have five? This was a Sam Adams Winter Classic day with Old Fezziwig, Winter Lager, White Christmas, Chocolate Bock and Holiday Porter. Well done by the big guys who still think like a craft brewer.
• Sixth Day of Christmas – Winter Bock from Silver City Brewing.
• Seventh Day of Christmas – Jolly Roger from Maritime Brewing
• Eighth Day of Christmas – Pike Brewing’s Auld Acquaintance
• NInth Day of Christmas – Sleigher from Ninkasi Brewing.
• Tenth Day of Christmas - Winter Fish from Fish Brewing Company was the choice of the day.
• Eleventh Day of Christmas – Bad Santa from Pelican Brewing Company
• Twelfth Day of Christmas – Ill Tempered Gnome from Oakshire Brewing.

This was so much fun – I think I will do an Advent Calendar of Beers in 2013. Twenty-five of the best winter ales I can lay my hands on. Only 340 days to go!

Maybe a 12 Breweries of Christmas tour, too!

The argument between “Less Filling” or “Tastes Great” has been decided. Say goodbye to weak-ass beer piss.

The whole story is posted here.

The nine are:

• Milwaukee’s Best Light – Sales loss (2006-2011): 35.5%
• Miller High Life Light – Sales loss (2006-2011): 37.6%
• Amstel Light – Sales loss (2006-2011): 47.7%
• Miller Genuine Draft – Sales loss (2006-2011): 52.3%
• Old Milwaukee – Sales loss (2006-2011): 52.8%
• Milwaukee’s Best – Sales loss (2006-2011): 57.1%
• Budweiser Select – Sales loss (2006-2011): 60.8%
• Michelob Light – Sales loss (2006-2011): 66.3%
• Michelob - Sales loss (2006-2011): 72.0%

The video is now edited and the story written. See yourself. See your friends. Or just see some crazy, happy revelers having a good time.

HTBN filmed the third day of the Portland (OR) 2012 Holiday Ale Festival yesterday. Guests were treated to stellar beers from Oregon and Northern California. This five-day festival ran Wednesday through Sunday, Nov.28 – Dec.2. One ticket got you into all five days of the festival. You just needed to buy extra tasting tickets when you ran out.

This is one festival where it is very difficult to pick a favorite beer here. Let’s just say there were MANY worthy of a taste (or two). More stories and pictures are posted here.

Deck us all with Boston Charlie,

Don’t we know archaic barrel,
Lullaby Lilla boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don’t love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!

(A Christmas carol by Walt Kelly, cartoonist/political satirist, and creator of Pogo Possum and other great characters of my childhood. Should be a national pub song. Merry Christmas to you all! ) See full lyrics right here.