April Brews Day 2008

April Brews Day was alive as ever this year. The awesome appearance of the sun earlier that day certaintly made a beer festival very enticing. They had sold out of tickets by at least 8pm, but my memory of the event was slightly fogged. Hooray beer!

This was their second event at this site and the first with an expanded layout. The crowd was great, beer was poured, and the drink tickets were bountiful. My only complaint about the event in whole was trying to figure out if people were in line or just chatting, which was a minor detail. They had covered area's in the middle incase of rain and the main covered site was reserved for info, tshirts, tickets, and such.

Beers that stood out that day were Georgetown Brewery 9lb Porter and Flyers Pacemaker Porter. I do appreciate a good porter! Of the closest breweries to attend (Boundary Bay, North Fork, and Whatcom Brewery), Boundary Bay certaintly took the cake with most consistant and drank (being the beer is most in demand). I didn't bother to try the Whatcom Brewery and North Forks typical highlight beer Son of Frog was served a little too warm and flat due to a jockey box problem. It is generally a good beer so try it on tap at their establishment off highway 9.
-Oskar Blues Brewing was present as well all the way from Colorado! Since loosing ties with Dickerson Distributing their beer has been hard to find here in local grociery stores. "Best beer in a can" certaintly goes to them, though it would have been nice to be served from tap.
-Scuttlebutt is another favorite of mine. Hailing from Everette, this brewery does several beers worth mentioning. Their Amber, IPA, and Porter are worth trying. Since I was familiar with them I tried the Mai Bock. It was definetely a bock though it wasn't to impressed overall.
-Georgetown Brewery brought both their Manny's Pale Ale and the 9lb Porter. Both were good choices. Kudo's to their brewers for producing a full flavored beer. They will definetly be on my to do list when I make it down to seattle.

But like many things, I lacked sufficient time to make complete rounds to every tap and brewery. So to the Max Higbee Center, thank you again for coordinating such a great event!

And for the ugly, there was a theft the day prior to the event that deprived us of some quality brew from both Lazy Boy Brewing and Skagit River Brewery. More details here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/393565.html

Flyers Brewery: Sick Duck Imperial Stout

http://www.eatatflyers.com/

Let me say, EXCELLENCE! Tony does an awesome job and gives his brews the attention they so deserve. The brewery is set up nice and cozy with a pane glass view of his 7 bbl brew setup. The Sick Duck is a seasonal beer that must be had. Its rich malty, sweet goodness certaintly does a number on my tastebuds while its 10% abv warms the pallet up nicely. This is a beer which is double mashed and sits heavily on the tongue. It is served in a small schooner and is a wise decision to have with desert or as desert alone!

P.S.

Make sure you try the nachos for cast iron skillet deliciousness!