Seattle International Beerfest

[malarkey]

Met up with a few eGulleteers at the S.I.B. We went on Sunday, which isn't ideal, because a lot of the beers were already gone, even though we got there at opening time. We shared, in an attempt to, 1. taste as much as possible, and 2. not get too blasted.

Hitachino Nest - Japanese beer, belgian wit style. I really like this, and this was the first time I had it on tap. Not as much spice as what I remember from the bottled version. Still, very nice.

Leavenworth Blind Pig Dunkelweizen - This used to be my absolute favorite local brew. It looked like muddy water and tasted like heaven. I can still remember the first time I tasted it 11 years ago in Leavenworth at the brewery, that's the impact it had on me. Well, Leavenworth has changed brewers multiple times and I believe they've also changed owners. But I thought I'd give it a whirl. IMO, it was a mistake. I want to believe that this keg was mislabeled. It is so dramatically different that what it used to be. It might be truer to a real german dunkelweizen, but damn, I still miss the old BP.

Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pils - We really liked this one. Apple-y flavors, clean, crisp, bright. I'll seek this out again. They also had the soba earlier in the weekend but were out Maybe that's an indication of how good that one is...?

Lagunitas Sirius Cream Ale - YUM, very slight spice, creamy. Really liked this one.

(ok, you might notice that we were sticking to the "american imitation of international styles" side of the table, but hey, we eventually worked our way down)

Salopian Entire Butt Porter - Leave it to the Brits to come up with a name like this, apparently its a term used for a porter blended from a variety of ales, this one uses 14 different malts Dominant flavor: chocolate malt and coffee. I liked it, but not everyone at our tasting table did. Porters always make me think of ice cream floats especially the roasty, toasty ones.

Okocim O.K. Bohemian Pils from Poland - soft and light. Not much body. Nice, not remarkable.

Urthel Triple: huge contrast to the Okocim! sweet, full bodied, full alcohol, but nicely balanced. 9% yippee!

Regenboog t'Smisje Calva Reserva - WOW oh wow. This one was fabulous. Fruity, big round flavors. Almost wine like. Aged in calvados casks for 6 months. I need to taste this one again. Would be magnificent with food. At a wopping 12%, its a sipper.

Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor - Candy-ish, with an alcohol burn, this one was lost on me following the Reserva. Or maybe it was the Kerkom Bink Bloesem that I found so cloying. Things were a bit fuzzy at this point.

Maredsous 8 - on tap! Slightly sweet, but plenty of toasty malt. Seemed less intense than the bottled versions I've had.

Alpine Pils - a local brewery's take on a Czech Pils - MsRamsey thought this one was skunked. It tasted and smelled fine to me, if a bit unexciting.

North Coast Pranqster - mild version of a belgian golden. almost lemony. I liked this one.

LaChouffe Golden - what's not to like?

Kastelanski Polish Mead - a honey mead. Like dessert wine. Thick. Tasted like baklava. Really not bad at all, but very sweet.

Beers they were out of that bummed us out: Belzubuth, Yeti, Monty Python's Holy Ale, Wye Valley Buddy Bach, Regenboog t'Smisje BBBourgondier, Cantillon Fou'foune, Dogfish Head Midas Touch, Riva Lucifer, Fantome Pissenlit, Ridgeway Bad Elf, and a few others.

Our fine panel of tasters took this opportunity to discuss & plan to attend the Cask Beer Festival, coming up in October. We'll be posting notes on that one, you bet.