Days 66-67 (July 7-8): Seattle, Washington

Ok, did I mention my timing was good? Did I?

Sunday, July 7th was the last day of Seattle's International Beerfest. (But really, I stumble upon a blues festival in Portland and then a beer festival in Seattle; I cannot wait to see what is next...)

From what I could make out, rather than inviting brewers (and agents) to rent space to display their wares, the organisers ordered the beer directly from said brewers and agents. They assembled a wide array of various beer types representing both American craft and European brewers. Some beers were only available at specific times, while others, mostly single casks, were tapped at random times. Overall, roughly 125 beers were available during the two-day festival. In addition, there were at least two 'beer garden' counters, where people could buy 12 ounce glasses of more accessible beer (e.g., Pilsner Urqel [sp?]) rather than 2 ounce samplers.

According to my less than copious notes, amongst the several beers that I sampled, two my favourites were:

- a bourbon stout, brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing Co. (Boonville, Ca) in Wild Turkey barrels. The lingering taste of bourbon married itself well with the stout; and,

- Tripel Entendre, a strong Belgian style beer with a very nice finish (and a funny name which only works on two levels, unfortunately. Well, maybe only on one.) brewed by Sound Brewery (Poulsbo, Wa).

Random Comments:

- I listened to Neko Case's 'Thrice All American' as the train went through Tacoma.

- If it seems like I did not do much in Seattle, well ...

A) I got in around noon on the 7th and left early in the AM on the 9th, so I was not there for all that long. (A good chunk of Monday was also spent trip planning. I do not have little elves that do this stuff for me, you know...)

B) I spent Sunday afternoon at a Beer Fest...

C) I did go to the Crocodile club (2nd Ave.), another one of Rolling Stone's top 20 rock clubs, on Sunday night. I do not have many observations to share because of, well, see B above.

D) I went to Jade Garden (7th Ave), which, according to eater.com, is the best dim sum place in town, but it was, surprisingly, very, very pedestrian, so I will not review it... Oops, oh, darn...

E) After the baseball game on Monday evening at Safeco Field (soon [?] to be reviewed), I went to the Purple Cafe and 'Wine Bar', located within a block of my hotel (the Monaco, BTW) which supposedly has a great wine selection, hoping to try a few Washington State offerings. Well, the bastards do not serve past 10:45, which really invalidates calling themselves a 'wine bar'. Fuckers.

Still, I really like Seattle.

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