Food, Photos, Wine & Fun: The 2013 Seattle Wine & Food Experience

This year’s Seattle Wine & Food Experience (@SeattleWineFood) has come and gone, but not without some great eats, great treats, and amazing beer, wine & spirits. Jamie Peha @TableTalkPeha and her team did an amazing job with the event this year, adding new elements in some areas, and changing things up in others. The room flowed well, the wine flowed well, and the restaurants kept the delicious bites coming. I will say right off the bat that the live music was probably the best I’ve heard at any tasting event. The guy just made you want to do a little dance along to the music every time you walked by. If you missed him (and I hope you didn’t), he was positioned at the front part of the Snoqualmie Casino (@SnoCasino) “Luxe Lounge”, which was a great addition to this year’s SWFE. So without further ado, here are some of my highlights (believe me, there were a lot, these are just the ones I happened to capture photos of) of the 2013 Seattle Wine & Food Experience.

Sips on the Road: Beer Thirty, Part Three

Green Flash Brewing Company

Karl in front of the brewery

Our third stop for the birthday fun was where our group dynamic started to go downhill.   It was here that not one but two pint glasses were broken and security started to pay more attention than we would have like, it’s probably a good thing that this was the last major brewery stop on the list, the last two being newer smaller breweries with less crowd control.

Green Flash tasting wall

Traditionally a green flash is the optical phenomenon that is seen typically on a cloudless sunset or sunrise, right as the sun sinks or rises below the horizon; made famous in Pirates of the Caribbean.  In this case it is a brewery located in Mira Mesa.  Started by a husband wife team in 2002, this brewery has grown to a staple of the San Diego craft beer scene.  They like so many of the breweries in San Diego can lay claim to an award winning IPA and unique perspective in their take on beer.   With over 20 beers on tap during our visit if you can't find something you like, you're likely not a beer drinker. 

Ready to leave Green Flash

Their brewery, bottling line and tasting room are all in the same industrial space.  A small wall separates tasters from brewers and the magic.  The large tasting space is great for large groups and with so many beers on tap I recommend going the taster route so you can experience more than just the few beers bottled for commercial sales.  If you become a fan you can even get yourself some Green Flash swag at their small shop including filled growlers or dog bones (mine loved them).  Be sure to check out the San Diego exclusive beers brewed, bottled and sold only at the Green Flash tasting room.



Sips on the Road: Beer Thirty, Part Two



Make your selection Saints and Sinners

Located in an industrial park in San Marcos, CA Port Brewing and Lost Abbey would literally be lost in the mix of concrete buildings if not for the massive crowd extending from the brewery out to the food truck and the ID checker waiting for the tour buses that roll up to the entrance during the day.   Lost Abbey’s tag line “Inspired Beer for Saints and Sinners alike” only adds to the intrigue of the various brews they keep bottled on site and in stores.  With beer names like Devotion, Inferno and Judgment Day you just might be choosing a side; sinner or saint.

Upcoming Event: 2013 Seattle Wine & Food Experience - 2/24/13 - Seattle Center Exhibition Hall

 

Much like a fine wine, the Seattle Wine & Food Experience (@SeattleWineFood) gets even better with age. Each vintage of the event gets better every year, as if event producer Jamie Peha (@tabletalkpeha) of Peha Promotions strives to out-do herself year after year. This will be my 4^th visit to the SWFE and I am just as excited for this year as I have been for previous years. This year the SWFE will be held on February 24^th, 2013 from 12-5pm at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall (its home for the past several years). The 5^th annual SWFE will feature more than 100 wineries from around the globe plus local foods, beer, cider and craft spirits.