Hey, so… We’ve been MIA for about a month.
No, we didn’t die. Or pass out from drinking too much beer.
Category: Breweries Washington State
So I realized something. I decided to change my beer blog posts up, by changing to a monthly post, which I did for December…. and then I missed January… and then February and now we are to the middle of March.
Apparently, I need a personal assistant, not that I can afford to pay one, but someone who can hold me accountable for the things I say and then make me do them.
For now, I’ll have to hold myself accountable. So here it goes, March’s Monthly Beer Round Up.
I heard Madonna on the radio today and I became inspired. Now you’re probably thinking WTH does Madonna have to do with a beer post? Well, she does and but she also doesn’t.
As history tells us, it was the Egyptians who first developed beer. It was not men, but Egyptian women, who were crafting the beer.
And for that, we thank these ladies.
Fast forward to 2017 and we now find the beer industry heavily dominated by men. Although there are still women brewers out there, according to a 2014 study by Stanford University, of 1700 polled breweries, only 4% had female head brewers.
Not a great showing ladies.
I sat at a table in the Archer Ale House (1212 10th Street) in Bellingham Washington contemplating what to do. There was a lofty goal in front of me, The Bellingham Tap Trail. Being that I was only in town for a few days. Could I really collect 8 stamps before I left, to obtain my treasured tap trail prize? The two boys to the right of me had attempted the complete trail… in one day… but they had not finished. Instead, they were invited to leave from one of the tap trail establishments participating. Not overly shocking as completing that many breweries and pubs in one day could be considered borderline alcoholic, but let us give them an A for effort.
My attempt would be far less than the boy’s attempt, as I took the shorter of the two options. 8 stops as opposed to the entire trail of 19 stops.
Some say that it is the journey, not the destination that is the most important part of the trip. As a lover or road trips I am a believer of this theory. Although the destination often gives me the achievement of reaching my goals for either the day, the purpose of the trip or checking off a bucket list item, it is often the path that gets me there that is the most enjoyable.
During my mid-summer trip to Western Washington my path had me making a brief stop at the summit of Snoqualmie pass at DruBru Brewery. At the time of my visit the brewery was just about 6 months old. Although the brewery was still in it’s infant stages a warm and inviting tasting room paired up with flavorful beers could convince you else wise. The brewery at the time of my visit was self-distributing to 75 bars. According to their website, as of April 2015, they are now distributing to 80 bars, mostly located in western and central Washington.
Earlier in my trip I had visited my friend Amy, who lives north of Seattle. She knew that I was going to make a stop in Forks and at the Hoh Rain Forest so she recommended that I stop by Fish Tail Brewing in Olympia Washington on my way home. It was taking the long way home but I have said it before and I will say it again sometimes I go great distances for beer.
It was late in the afternoon when I arrived to Olympia and I still had not had lunch yet. Fortunately Fist Tail Brewing offered a food menu in addition to their beers, which came in handy as I could take out two birds with one stone. Pump myself full of both beer and food. I walked into the taproom, adorably called The Fish Bowl, and found myself a seat at the bar. I skimmed over the beer list that is comprised mostly of organic ales. Organic is not a term that one can throw around in the United States. To officially call your product organic it has to be certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). And while I do not believe organic beer is superior over other beers at least I can rest assure that the beer was made with ingredients that will not grow a foot out of my head!
It is funny when you are friends with someone and you have not seen them in awhile, and then when you do meet up, without even discussing it, they suggest to meet at the same place that you were going to suggest meeting up at before you can say “let’s meet here”.
Most likely it was not a coincidence as we both like beer, so when my friend Amy suggested meeting at Scuttlebutt Restaurant and Pub in Everett Washington, I was delighted with her suggestion. I was traveling from Idaho to Washington for a dog treat show last summer that happened to be near Amy’s home. I would stay with her for the weekend, which was not only great to catch up with my friend, but also helped spread the word about my dog treat business to Western Washington.
Don’t judge it from the outside my friend Amy said to me as we stepped out of her car and walked into Skookum Brewery. I laughed a little as I looked at the building, not because it was funny, but because it was funny that Amy thought I had not walked into places that looked just like this all the time.
Mac and Jack is one of my favorite breweries but they also drive me crazy!