Craft beer isn’t the only adult beverage causing excitement here in the Pacific Northwest. In recent months, a craft cider movement has been gaining strength. We now have several cider producers in Washington State and there’s even a local cider blog called Old Time Cider.

Earlier this week I attended a media preview of the Cider Summit NW, which will be held on Saturday, September 11 in South Lake Union. Representatives from a few Washington cideries (including Westcott Bay, Tieton and Finnriver) poured and discussed their creations. We lucky drinkers tried several ciders, paired with appetizers provided by Quinn’s in Capitol Hill. My cider knowledge is pretty limited, so this was a great opportunity to learn something. I sampled everything from the crisp and dry Finnriver Artisan to the sweet and tart Tieton Cherry. I enjoyed just about everything, and was surprised by the variety of flavors on display. Based on what I tasted, there should be something for everyone’s palate at the Summit.

The Cider Summit is being organized by SBS Imports, The Seattle Beer Collective, and a brand new organization called the Northwest Cider Association–whose goal is to increase public awareness of our region’s artisan ciders. The festival will feature over 40 ciders from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, England and France.

As someone who drinks beer almost exclusively and has tried the vast majority of the beers offered at local beer festivals, I’m looking forward to the Cider Summit as a great change of pace. It reminds me of the early days of drinking craft beer–when every bottle or pint was a new discovery. It should be a great event. Here’s some additional details:

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 (cash only) at the door and are available online via Brown Paper tickets and at the area’s leading bottle shops. Admission includes a tasting glass and 10 drink tickets. From 11a-12n arriving guests will receive 2 additional “happy hour” tickets. SLU cardholders and WABL members will receive 2 additional drink tickets at any time (offers may not be combined). Additional drink tickets will be available for sale onsite at $2 per ticket. The event is 21 and over only. Dogs will be allowed on event grounds.  For more information including a list of participating ciders please visit www.cidersummitnw.com.

Cider Summit NW benefits The Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research (www.imbcr.org). IMBCR is one of the world’s leading independent research organizations developing effective therapies to increase the quality of life and longevity of myeloma patients. Cider Summit NW is presented by Whole Foods Markets with supporting sponsors Northwest Cider Association, Vulcan Properties, Seattle Weekly and Click Wholesale.

(Posted by Chris Devlin)

To introduce Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company beers to Seattle, Quinn’s and Goose Island Brewmaster Greg Hall hosted a private event at the Sole Repair event space last Thursday. Hall presented three Belgian-style ales paired with delicious appetizers from Quinn’s Executive Chef Scott Staples.

With Geoff unable to attend, he dispatched me (along with SBN staff photographer Russ) to the event. When I arrived, everyone was well-dressed and coiffed, the beer was being served in long-stemmed wine glasses and I didn’t recognize anyone. What had I gotten myself into? Fortunately, some familar faces soon arrived and I started to enjoy myself. The three beers were:

Sofie
Named for Greg Hall’s daughter, Sofie is his take on a Belgian farmhouse ale, featuring pilsner malt and amarillo hops. During the brewing process, a small percentage of the beer is removed and put in oak barrels with orange zest, then blended back into the base beer. Brettanomyces is also added during secondary fermentation.

Matilda
Inspired by Orval, Matilda is a Belgian-style Pale Ale named for the Countess of Tuscany, whose ring is featured on Orval’s logo. As with Orval, Hall adds Brett during secondary fermentation. He describes the beer as having flavors of spice, fruit and funk.

Pere Jacques
Pere Jacques is a Belgian-style Abbey Ale or Dubbel that was inspired by the beers of Rochefort and named for that brewery’s Abbot. The beer has rich malt and complex yeast flavors.

I enjoyed all three beers and went back for seconds of Matilda (which is on tap now at Quinn’s). It may not be quite as complex and delicious as Orval, but it’s got a lot of flavor. Sofie has a refreshing quality that is good for summer, and Pere Jacques is a sipper that makes sense as a dessert beer.

Goose Island brewmaster, Greg Hall

Meanwhile, Quinn’s supplied information sheets suggesting which appetizer to pair with which beer. I’m not usually much of a meat eater, but at these sorts of events, I’m an opportunistic omnivore. I just kept eating everything that came out of the kitchen (except for the foie gras). My favorites were the smoked salmon on corn blinis with crème fraiche and chives, the Moroccan-spiced shrimp skewers and the caramelized onion tarts with bacon and Stilton.

Overall, it was a fun event with good beer and great food. Brewmaster Hall mentioned that Goose Island wisely decided to bring their Belgian-style beers into the Seattle market instead of more familiar beers like the IPA since Seattle already has so many good local IPAs. They hope these beers will appeal to a wide variety of beer drinkers as well as non-beer drinkers. Hopefully we’ll see Goose Island’s other Belgian-style beers like Fleur and Juliet in Seattle soon.

Check out the rest of Russ’ photos from this event on Flickr.

Last week, Washington Beer Blog had an interesting piece on drinking local. With breweries like Double Mountain (OR) and Green Flash (CA) recently hitting the market, should we feel guilty for not drinking more local beers? In my opinion, the choice comes down to what tastes better and often those are going to be Oregon or California beers.

I never feel guilty about choosing an out-of-state beer over a local one. I drink plenty of solid Washington beers and I want to be a stronger advocate of them, but sometimes it’s difficult. Unlike many locals I couldn’t say that Washington brewers make some of the best beer on the West Coast, let alone the world. Oregon and California are producing tastier, more exciting beers and I keep waiting for our state to catch up.

Perfect example: If I want an IPA, I’ll choose Firestone Walker Union Jack, Russian River Blind Pig, Double Mountain Hop Lava, Green Flash West Coast IPA or Hopworks IPA every time over local IPAs. That’s not to say that the WA beers are bad (during the past year I loved Chuckanut’s Rauchbier and Black Raven’s Wisdom Seeker Double IPA), just that the ones from Oregon and California are better. I find myself wondering how it is that a Washington brewery doesn’t make an IPA that would crack my top five IPA list. That bothers me.

I’m sure plenty of people will take issue with my criticism of our beer, but let me put a positive spin on it. Out-of-town beer is obviously good for the beer drinker: it gives us more options. But it could also be good for Washington brewers. Instead of seeing these out-of-town beers as a threat, they could see them as a challenge–a challenge to make better, more exciting beer. They’re already making good beer, but this new competition could push them to make great beer.

I want to love our beer. I look forward to the day I can tell my friends in California and Oregon that I’m drinking a local beer that’s better than anything they have down there. I hope that day comes…soon.

(The author of this post would like to thank Mr. Geoff Kaiser for the opportunity to contribute to Seattle Beer News. Also, the opinions contained herein do not reflect the views of Mr. Kaiser or anyone else at Seattle Beer News).

About 15 of us gather at Quinn's

It seems like I’m always writing about trips to places like Portland where I try to visit as many beer spots as possible in a single day, but when is the last time I did that in Seattle? Yeah, never. With the amount of beer spots to visit here in town, it’s quite amazing that I had never before taken the time to do a day long bar crawl.

That finally changed this past weekend when several of us (ranged between seven and fifteen people throughout the afternoon/evening) headed to Capitol Hill to see what was on tap around the neighborhood. With so many good beer bars in a concentrated area, it was no problem to walk everywhere we went. Chris Devlin was part of the group, and we’ll both give you some thoughts below on each spot we visited (forgive our duplicate thoughts; we put our comments together separately). Keep in mind that a bar crawl of this magnitude isn’t for the faint of heart; there was a good amount of drinking involved…and we paid for it on Sunday. But, it was worth it.

1st Stop – Hopvine
Geoff: I know people that love Hopvine, but I’ve never had a great experience there myself. Food issues, service issues, and after this trip…beer issues. Jeanne ordered a small glass of the Elysian Trip IV, which was nice, and I ordered a pint of the Iron Horse IPA, which I usually really enjoy. But, this pint was very buttery and tasted like crap. After hearing that the Silver City IPA they were pouring was also tasting a little ”off”, we finished by sharing a small Boundary Bay IPA, which was thankfully free of issues. If these quality issues are a common occurrence at Hopvine (I don’t go there often enough to know), then they need to figure things out.

Chris: I live stumbling distance from the Hopvine, but I haven’t been there in about six months, because the beer quality can be a roll of the dice, and I don’t enjoy the atmosphere. I decided to start the day with an IPA. Geoff told me the Iron Horse was off, so I asked for a sample of the Silver City. It was slightly better, but off enough that I wasn’t having a pint. They also had the Deschutes Abyss and Elysian Trip IV, but other than that it was the same beers as always, so I settled for the Boundary Bay. I have better luck at their sister establishment, the Latona Pub, where they take more care with their beer quality and selection. Maybe I should’ve had soup–that’s one thing the Hopvine always does well.

2nd Stop – Smith
Geoff: I had only been in Smith once before, so I was looking forward to returning. On a Saturday at 2pm, there was a nice big table with our name on it and plenty of good beer on tap. The Big Al Pale Ale was just phenomenal, and Jeanne and I split a glass of St. Bernardus Abt 12. Their brunch menu was also enticing.

Chris: If I’m drinking beer on 15th in Capitol Hill, Smith is where I’m going. They have a good mix of locals and imports on tap (Big Al Pale, Maritime Flagship Red, Fuller’s London Porter, St. Bernardus Abt. 12) and pretty good food. The two drawbacks to Smith are the crowds (although that wasn’t an issue on a Saturday afternoon), and the fact that they use shaker pints. I reminded myself we were in for a long day, so I stuck with the lower octane Big Al and Maritime. I probably should’ve eaten something, but luckily one of our pub crawlers handed out tasty, homemade cherry rolls as we left for our next stop.

3rd Stop – Elysian
Geoff: I’ve been to Elysian many times, and it is one of my favorite breweries in town. I enjoyed my first Bifröst of the season and then followed it up with a schooner of their ESB on cask. They had a few interesting seasonals/special releases beers on the menu, but I felt like sticking with a couple classics. Jeanne ate the fish tacos here, which are always very good.

Chris: I stop by Elysian regularly because it’s one of the best spots in Capitol Hill to sit quietly at the bar and have a few pints. They always have at least a couple beers worth drinking and the bartenders are mostly very cool. I continued to play it safe here by having a Fields Pale Ale and ate fries off other people’s plates. When it’s fresh, the Fields Pale may be my favorite beer in Elysian’s regular lineup. I think it has a better hop character than the Immortal IPA. Must be the Simcoes.

4th Stop – Quinn’s
Geoff: For those not familiar with it, Quinn’s is a nice restaurant (same owners as Restaurant Zoe) with a solid beer list. Some might call it a gastropub, but I try my best to not use that word. There is a focus on Belgian beer, but you should think twice before getting any bottles because it’s crazy expensive for some things ($13 for a bottle of Orval!!!!???). I had a pint of the Speakeasy Hunters Point Porter, which is a treat that I had never seen before in Seattle. They also had a cask of Georgetown’s 9lb Porter and Russian River Pliny the Elder on tap. I had a few tastes of some small bites that various people ordered, and the Devils on Horseback (something like dates stuffed with bleu cheese and wrapped in bacon) was enough to make me want to come back again some other time for more food; outstanding. Overall, this place probably isn’t for everyone, but if you’re as interested in your food as you are your beer, then this might be a required stop. I’m also not sure the staff really enjoyed our group of 15 or so (at this point) mostly tipsy bar crawlers coming in for just a single drink and a couple of small plates…

Chris: Quinn’s is not the kind of place I’d just drop by to have a few beers. They’re more about high-end food, with beer as a complement. The draft selection is reasonably-priced and has a few surprises (including the Speakeasy Hunter’s Point Porter, a beer you rarely see outside of the Bay Area), but the markup on bottles is obscene. $12 for a Schenkerla Marzen and $13 for an Orval? You’ve gotta be kidding. I had a pint of Georgetown’s 9 Pound Porter on cask, which was alright, but more interesting was that I went omnivore for a bite of a Devil on Horseback, bacon wrapped around a cheese-filled date. My lady tried to tempt me with the beef tartare, but I wasn’t drunk enough for that–yet.

5th Stop – Oddfellows Café + Bar
Geoff: This was the only place on the crawl I had never previously visited, and I’m glad we did. It’s definitely not a beer-focused cafe, but they had a few well-picked choices on draft, including Firestone Walker IPA and Stone Smoked Porter. Oddfellows opens for coffee and light breakfast at 7am, and they have full food service from 11am to midnight. I sampled some Mac & Cheese (worthy), as well as Buffalo Fried Chicken Livers served with a bleu cheese salad; very nice. I’ll be back.

Chris: Like Quinn’s, Oddfellows focuses on food, but they surprised me with some good beers on tap (like Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA). At this point I was in desperate need of something to soak up the alcohol, so I got a bowl of good mac n’ cheese. The Buffalo Chicken Livers were also good (when I drink, I try a bite of anything that isn’t tartare). The only downside was that I made my one regrettable beer call of the day. Thinking more of my sobriety level than what I really wanted, I chose the Stone Smoked Porter over the Union Jack. The Stone was okay, but one taste of someone’s Union Jack reminded me that it was what I should’ve ordered.

6th Stop – Stumbling Monk
Geoff: I’ve been in the Monk more than anywhere else in the neighborhood. It has a laid-back atmosphere with no scent of pretension or beer-geekery. Just good beer with a heavy Belgian focus at great prices. I had a snifter of the Pike Entire Boubrbon Barrel Imperial Stout (tasting great) and then a bottle of the Ice Harbor Barleywine, which they haul in themselves from the brewery. This place rocks. We were all feeling good by this point…a group of four of us adults couldn’t recall how to play the boardgame “Sorry”, if that gives you any indication.

Chris: The Monk is arguably the best place to drink Belgian beer in Seattle. Where else can you find solid Belgians on tap for under $7? Also, the bottle list is extensive for a small place, and not too pricey. Everything on tap was around 10% and I was craving something sour and kinda drinkable, so I went with a bottle of the Petrus Aged Pale. It’s not exactly a session choice at over 7%, but the tart edge was just the wake up I needed to rally for our last stop of the night.

7th Stop – Summit Public House
Geoff: Amazingly, I think that about seven of us made it to the Summit to finish things off, and we were all feeling pretty good by that point. The Summit is more along the vein of the Monk: good beer in a relaxed environment. I somehow thought it was a good idea to start with a high octane Maritime Jolly Roger; couldn’t pass it up I guess. I then sipped on the low 5% ABV Firestone Walker DBA while we played quite a bit of pool and got some pizza from next door (which, was surprisingly good). I need to come here more. Overall, this was an easy crawl to do walking-wise, and I’ll hopefully be visiting most of these places more often in the future. Staying out as long as we did wasn’t necessary…but it sure was fun!

Chris: Despite having the first pint I ordered disappear, and losing twice in pool to a comically tight-shirted hipster, I had a lot of fun at Summit Public. More than any other place we visited (except for maybe the Monk), Summit is the type of place where I could spend hours. They have free pool and good beer on tap (Maritime Jolly Roger and Firestone Walker DBA, among others). I had several more pints of the DBA and stayed with the most hardcore of the group, who lasted until 1 a.m. I probably should’ve left one hour and two pints earlier, but I have no regrets. It was a good finish to a long day. Where and when for the next one?

Jolly Roger and Firestone DBA at the Summit