Summer is here

The longest day

The weather has made it seem like summer arrived much earlier. However, the naked Fremont bicyclists are tuning their bikes and cushioning their seats for the first day of summer this weekend. Yes it is solstice time and Father's Day all bundled together. For beer lovers it is the St. Edwards Festival out in Kenmore and for lovers of nakedness and summer frivolity it is the Fremont parade and Arts Festival.

Do we really want to think that the days are now getting shorter. Let no Seattle-ite complain that it is too hot too soon. It was not long ago that we experienced record rain in May.

So stay up and celebrate the sun until it disappears behind the magnificent Olympic Mountains.

Welcome to the NW Beer World

This fine summery weather reminds us how wonderful beer tastes and how enjoyable it is to be here in the Northwest. We are so lucky to be part of a brewing community that continues to brew some of the best beer in the world.

The Seattle Beer Week only helped to remind people that yes we are lucky to be part of a growing craft beer movement. Though craft beer is not new to us it is amazing that the quantity and quality is greater than ever before. The excitement for craft beer is also growing. In a time when the economy is struggling many small craft breweries are expanding. This helps the local economy, and keeps the interest in beer alive.

That pint of fine ale you drink is a testament to the quality of the environment we live in and the skills of the brewers in our community. What an adventure we are on .

Sierra Nevada Brewing

Sierra Nevada King of Craft

Sierra Nevada Brewing has reached a place where most brewers can only dream of. In the course of their nearly 30 year journey from that one car garage brewery to producing 800,000 barrels a year, they have never strayed from maintaining the highest consistency in the industry. Though they may be outside the definition of a microbrewery they have never let production outweigh quality. 

As part of their desire to remain creative they continue to brew on a 10 barrel system which is adjacent to the main brewhouse. It is meant to showcase recipes and serve as a demonstration brewery. As part of that the quest to keep brewing fun they have organized "brew camps". Industry folks are invited to participate, travel to Chico, design a beer that is brewed in the demo brewery, and talk beer and live a brewer's dream. What a blast. The beers that have been brewed in the camps have been great. The participants then are able to buy the beer and showcase it back home.

We were able to participate in one of the camps and during the week of March 23rd the beer we brewed will be available at one of your 3pubs. The beer is an Irish Style Red Ale. Superb red color. Pleasantly hopped. It is a session red ale. They say it is a keeper.