seattle

damn busy days at work getting in the way of my blogging!
here’s the rest of my seattle post (finally)

sunday:
elysian capitol hill:

i was a little hungover from an accidental whisky episode on saturday night
(the accident was forgetting i was in america and a simple shot of whisky is never just a little shot of whisky – this one had to be six ounces at least…)
and just couldn’t get my shit together to enjoy the pride parade and ensuing street party
so we got away from it all at elysian

its a great big room with high ceilings with open duct work and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the street
it was just what the doctor ordered
a pint of the space dust ipa
and some fish tacos fixed everything that ailed me!

the specialty beer menu:

and the regular menu:

and while in rome…
i brought home a few bottles too:

beernesday

at last night’s beernesday the number of beers i needed to try was overwhelming
that is why i thank dog every day that the taster paddle was invented!

the star of the night for me was the two beers brewing evolutionary ipa

elysian brewing rapture heather ale – 7.6%  a pound per barrel of high country heather tips in both the mash and toward the end of the boil give rapture floral and piney notes
very floral, but oh so drinkable, definitely get some before its gone!

elysian brewing idiot sauvin ipa – 6.3%  an ipa both fiercely fruity and floral, made with new zealand nelson sauvin hops. strong citrus and passion fruit aroma and flavor
it is very floral, and bitter, and i’m just not sure how i feel about it.  possibly love, possibly indifference.  i look forward to trying a whole bottle of this brew to decide!

two beers brewing evolutionary ipa – 6.2%  a dry hopped, deep copper coloured ipa brewed with yakima valley simcoe, amarillo and centennial hops, then aggressively dry hopped with simcoe and columbus
yes, yes, yes! its a hop bomb of the most delicious variety.  i am a fan.  nay, a devoté

mill street tankhouse ale – 5.2%  five different malts are used to produce a complex malty texture.  cascades give an assertive hop flavour, aroma and bitterness.  a satisfying and complex-tasting beer
wow – easterners making a hoppy ale?  yay!  its a damned nice brew.

two beers brewing heart of darkness cascadian dark ale – 8.4%  this hoppy yet smooth ale is an adventure all its own
it sure is!  dark, delicious and packs quite a punch

granville island imperial ipa – 8.2%  hopped-up version of beers made famous during the british raj over a century ago.  big malt, bold hops and a higher-alcohol content
i want to apologize every time i order it, but damn, vern sure makes a tasty beer and i can’t help but order it when its available

skagit river sculler’s ipa – 6.8%  full of northwest hops and a rich and fruity malt back bone
i want to like this beer, i keep trying it hoping that maybe i just had an old bottle or something
but no, i just don’t love it

hopworks survival organic 7-grain stout – 5.3%  certified organic.  brewed with 7 ancient grains: barley, wheat, oats, amaranth, quinoa, spelt and kamut.  finished with 15 pounds of cold-pressed stumptown holler mountain coffee
if you need a coffee after its too late for caffeine, this is your salvation!  such coffee goodness

i’m ba-ack!

i’m back, i’m tanned
and i’m off to a superbowl party!

found a great craft beer spot in playa del carmen
plenty more to come about that
and all the beers i got to try
but not today…

all i have for you today is this from elysian about their upcoming ipa offerings:

MANIC IPA SPECIALTY SERIES  We are Hopping into 2012 with an Exciting New Line-up of IPAs

So many IPAs, so little time… Elysian Brewing Company is kicking it’s Manic IPA Series in February of 2012 with Idiot Sauvin, an IPA both fiercely fruity and floral, made with New Zealand Nelson Sauvin hops. The beer has appeared before only at Elysian’s pubs, and will be issued in both 22 oz bottles and draft.  Then in June will come Prometheus, anaggressively aromatic blend of Northwest classic Chinook, Cascade, Centennial and Amarillo hops fondly familiar to Elysian regulars.   Rounding out the year will be Valhalla, a reddish fall-into-holiday IPA using Sorachi Ace and Citra hops, scheduled for release in October. Too many IPAs?  Bah, humbug!     – Dick Cantwell   Manic Release Summary: Idiot Sauvin :: FEB – APR Prometheus :: MAY – AUG Valhalla :: SEPT – DEC

cask nights

managed to hit a couple of cask nights this week

very much enjoyed the elysian idiot sauvin ipa at granville room on monday night
methinks that it must have been a very potent brew as my coordination rapidly failed after just two pints
but really, isn’t coordination highly overrated?
hoppy and delicious
and apparently the first cask to do some blowing up real good upon tapping at the granville room

the railway is not so lucky
they get some good spray most days out of their casks
including the r&b dry-hopped pale ale i had on tuesday night

nice, but didn’t tempt us to have a second
instead we ran off to rogue wetbar because we knew the twitter code of the day to get a free drink
woohoo, free tiki drink!
in a fabulous tiki glass!

wednesday saw me taking the night off from casking
a girl has to do other things some times you know!

last night yaletown had its nagila pale ale on cask, dry-hopped with sorachi ace
i do love me the sorachi ace!