If you haven’t noticed, Summer has officially arrived early in Seattle. It’s been absolutely beautiful out for a while now and it looks to continue through next weekend at this point. I’m sure we’ll still have another run of crappy weather soon after that, though. Take advantage by drinking beers on your porch, heading out to a park, exploring a new neighborhood, heading out to the mountains, or whatever else sounds interesting.

• This weekend a group of us took advantage of the nice weather and went mini-golfing for the first time in a long time over at Interbay Golf Course. Upon asking the guy behind the counter if drinking is allowed on the mini-golf course he replied, “It is most definitely encouraged.” Works for us. They had Deschutes Cinder Cone and Alaska Summer Ale on tap, which is more than enough to keep me happy while tearing up the mini-golf course. It was a hell of a lot of fun actually.
• Three Skulls Ales (brought to you by the good people at Baron Brewing) has started bottling some of their beers (22oz) for distribution. Their Pillagers Pale, CutThroat Red, Black Bonney Porter, and Hop the Plank IPA should all be available at local bottle shops.
• The Beer Northwest pairing dinner at Tom Douglas’ Serious Pie is this Tuesday, June 2. Check out the calendar for details, but here is the menu:

1st course: Fried Bra Tenero with Calabria Pepper Giardiniera
Paired with Elysian ESB

2nd & 3rd Course: Egg and Guanciale Pizza, and Wild boar Sausage Pizza
Paired with: Pike Kilt Lifter

4th Course: Strawberry and Ricotta Hand Pie
Paired with: New Belgium La Folie

• As the Washington Beer Blog reported last week, Tacoma lost a friend in the beer world when the co-owner of the Swiss Pub, Gayl Bertagni, passed away in an unfortunate accident. I have only been to the Swiss once (great place) and I had never met Gayl, but it’s hard not to be floored by how sudden and bizarre the accident was. My thoughts go out to her family and friends.
• Black Raven Brewing released what I believe was their first beer available in bottles a couple of weeks ago. They brewed their Vertigenwoordigen voor de Oostkant Belgian style tripel for Malt & Vine’s 2nd Anniversary. There were only 40 cases (750ml bottles) of this beer available exclusively through Malt & Vine. Since I’m two weeks late on reporting this one, there’s a chance it might be all gone. You can give them a call at 425-881-6461 to check if they have it in stock.
• Hopworks Urban Brewery from Portland now has their beer available in bottles. They are making the rounds to Portland bottle shops, and I’d highly suggest picking some up the next time you’re down there. Their Cross Town Pale Ale, Seven Grain Survival Stout, IPA (yum) and Deluxe Old Ale (DOA) are currently available.
• Redhook recently released the latest beer in their limited release series in 22oz bottles. The Belgian style Tripel is brewed with Belgian candy sugar, which helps it get up to a 10.2% ABV. I’ve had one in my fridge for a few days and am looking forward to cracking it open. Look for a review on my Seattle PI blog soon. I love seeing Redhook do these limited release beers (the Double Black Stout was the first in the series).