Back in the PNW

*The first of many posts to come from our new BEER contributor! Welcome to Ally!*

Six months have passed in my new adventure back in the northwest and the beers have not disappointed.  After being inundated with San Diego’s ever changing take on the IPA, don’t get me wrong I will always love Stone Levitation, but it’s nice to be back in the PNW where craft beers of all varieties reign supreme.  I am particularly pleased with the variety of amazing ambers/browns, porters and stouts.  Preferring dark beers to their lighter cousins, I find that so far no other region of the country does these quite like the Northwest.  The flavor quality in Rogue’s hazelnut brown is unbeatable and several other breweries have tried, but the toasted flavor of the hazelnut shines in perfect harmony with the malty flavor of this beer.

As for stouts my favorite so far was found on a business trip to Portland, at the Laurelwood Brewing Co.  Their award winning Space Stout lives up to the hype.  It is a dark heady stout with a great pallet of chocolate malt and balanced hop combination.  Not a heavy stout, it would pair well with an afternoon BBQ or a rich dessert. 

Not to be too biased in my love of dark beers, I throw a shout out to my favorite NW pale ale, Mannys, by Georgetown Brewing Co.  This is the beer that reminded me pale ales can carry a great flavor when done right.  As there are so many other great beers to try and what feels like too little time I don’t get this one as often as I would like, but at the end of a long night it’s my go to.

While I’ve certainly had more than just these three beers in the last six months, there are too many to list.  Moving forward I hope to give you the reader a glimpse in to the ambiance of some of the NW’s best breweries and bars and the beers that take center stage in each! 

BevMo! Makes the Move to Washington!

With the changes in Washington state liquor laws brought on by the passing of I-1183, the doors were opened for new retailers to make their move into our fine state. One of these retailers is BevMo!, a chain with over 100 locations in both California and Arizona. I had heard of the chain when I lived down in California several years ago, but had never ventured into one of their locations (what was I thinking?!). I finally had the opportunity to see what the buzz was about when BevMo! hosted several local writers and media on the “BevMo! Fun Bus” tour of their two brand new Washington stores in Tacoma and Silverdale. While I was only able to join up for the Tacoma store visit and didn’t get a chance at any of the fun bus fun, I had a great time learning about the chain, touring the store and sampling some fantastic wines.

Sparkling Wines of Washington: A Blind Birthday Bubbly Tasting

 

One of the things that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now is a focus on Washington Sparkling Wine (raise your hand if you know why we can’t call it “Champagne” here?). I’ve had several different ones from different wineries and I thought it would be fun to do a little side by side of some of Washington’s finest (and most well-known) Sparkling Wine… blind! What better way to compare than to test our palates to guess the high-end from the low-end? AND, what better occasion to celebrate a birthday than to bust open five bottles of bubby with some girlfriends? As part of my “Birthday Week 2012”, we did just that. And so, “Birthday Bubbles” commenced…

Upcoming Event: 4th Annual WSU Wine Symposium - Palace Ballroom - Seattle

What do you get when you mix 11 WSU connected wineries, Beecher’s Cheese, a posh event space and food from Tom Douglas Catering? Why, the 4^th annual Washington State University Wine Symposium of course! As you may remember from last year, I assisted in organizing the 3^rd annual event in summer 2011. This year, I was given the lead role and, along with some amazing help, have managed to put together the biggest and best WSU Wine Symposium yet! The 4^th annual event will be held on Thursday, July 19^th, 2012 at the Palace Ballroom in downtown Seattle from 7-10pm.

The whole purpose of the event is to showcase WSU affiliated wineries. So whether it’s the winemaker, the owners, founding members, or a Coug that runs the show in the tasting room or back office, each and every winery that is featured at the Wine Symposium is somehow connected to WSU. This is the beauty of the event, showing Cougs how many amazing wines come from wineries connected to the University. Another addition to this year’s event is Beecher’s Cheese, the owner of which is also a WSU Alum! They will be there with their cheese and mac & cheese samples (maybe we should invite Oprah?) to pair with the wines. So whether you are a wine expert, or a newbie who wants to learn more about Washington wine and the fine people that make it, this event is for you.

The 4^th Annual WSU Wine Symposium will feature wines from:

Alexandria Nicole Cellars

Ash Hollow Estate Vineyard & Winery

Gard Vintners

Kiona Vineyards & Winery

Laurelhurst Cellars

Marcus Sophia Winery

Palouse Winery

Skylite Cellars

Smasne Cellars

Sozo Friends

William Church Winery

Some of the wineries are familiar faces at the event, back this year with new vintages, and others are first time participants. We are beyond excited to have such a stellar line-up of WSU connected wineries pouring at the event!

Your ticket for the event features entrance, tastings, heavy appetizers from Tom Douglas Catering, and a raffle ticket. This year’s raffle items include a wine gift basket from The Wine Alley, a wine basket and spirits basket from Sip Northwest Magazine, a private tasting from Smasne Cellars, a gift certificate from Beecher's Cheese, t-shirts/entrance to the Fall 2012 Cougar Crawl, and more!

Please join us in supporting all things WSU and get your tickets to what is sure to be a fantastic evening!

All tickets must be pre-purchased, so there will be no ticket sales at the door the night of the event. Visit the registration page here to get your tickets, and GO COUGS!