‘Beer Hiking Pacific Northwest’ celebrates regional hikes and breweries

It’s hard to believe, but when Rachel Wood and Brandon Fralic came up with the idea to write a guidebook on hiking and beer just five years ago, Bellingham – as well as the entire state of Washington – only had half as many breweries as it does today. Incredulously, hiking [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:06-07:00

Cholaca, world’s first and only liquid cacao, is a game changer for beer, coffee, cocktails

I love chocolate porters, stouts, and brown ales, but most of the commercial examples I have had lack the chocolate depth I desire, and many seem to get their chocolaty flavor more from dark malts than actual chocolate additions. I get it, though. As a homebrewer, I understand how challenging it [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:34-07:00

Beer Review #69 — Oskar Blues Hotbox Coffee IPA

  Oxymorons. What are some that you know well? Cruel kindness, disgustingly delicious,  busy doing nothing. There are a few out there, but how about this one, coffee IPA. Two seemingly contradictory terms colliding in one unassuming can. Hotbox Coffee IPA comes to us courtesy of Longmont, Colorado's Oskar Blues Brewery. [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:35-07:00

Beer Review #67 — Uinta Pit Stop Sour Apricot IPA

Happy Monday folks and welcome back for another Tap Trail Review. As it continues to warm, albeit slowly, I keep reaching for lighter and brighter offerings. Todays offering comes from Salt Lake City's Uinta Brewing. Back in Colorado I would find myself consistently reaching for their flagship Hop Nosh IPA, it [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:36-07:00

Beer Review #65 — Fort George Suicide Squeeze Special Edition

Happy Monday! We've got a freshly released hoppy treat to sample today. Fort George has long been a staple in my fridge, their Three Way IPA is always a treat, Suicide Squeeze is one of their rotating IPA releases, along with Magnanimous, Overdub, and Fresh IPA. These beers are always heavily [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:37-07:00

Beer Review #61 — Almanac Coffee Barbary Coast Imperial Stout

  Welcome back for another installment of Tap Trail Reviews. It was a wonderfully bright and warm day out today but we are still in the heart of winter, the prime season for dark roasty stouts. Today's choice was quite easy as I am a sucker for a good stout in [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:41-07:00

Beer Review #59 — Stone | Marble | Odell Megawheat IIPA

Hello again all craft drinkers and advocates. We've got a fun one today that I was pleasantly surprised to see and find. We did a collaboration beer last week of Evil Twin & Westbrook's Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, which was quite good. Today we journey to the other side of [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:45-07:00

Beer Review #58 — Evil Twin | Westbrook — Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break

  We've got one hell of a collaboration brew on the table today. Each of the collaborators is best known for their dark beer efforts, particularly their Imperial Stouts. Evil Twin has long been a brewer without a brewery, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø founded Evil Twin in 2010 and has quickly climbed the ranks [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:46-07:00

Beer Review #56 — Against the Grain & Hoof Hearted — Clearly Everybody Wants Some

Welcome back for another installment of Tap Trail reviews. We've got an interesting collaboration beer here today. Collaborations are always a nice idea, especially if it affords you the opportunity to try a beer from a brewery you wouldn't normally be able to. There have been quite a few local breweries [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:47-07:00

Beer Review No. 54 — Oskar Blues Barrel Aged TenFidy

  Welcome back to another installment of Tap Trail Reviews. We've taken some time off as we've been inundated with some awesome Fresh Hop beers. Some of my favorites were from Fremont, Fort George, Laurelwood, Skookum, and well, too many to name. This years crop was fantastic and the multitude of [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:53-07:00

A visit to Anacortes’ newest brewery, Bastion Brewing Co.

With all the new breweries opening in Bellingham and across the country, it’s easy to forget that this growth isn’t occurring in every city. Anacortes is one example, which, until recently, has had just one brewery for many years. The Anacortes Brewery (at The Rockfish Grill), which opened in 1994, is [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:53-07:00

Beer Review #53 — Fremont Field To Ferment Fresh Hop Pale Ale(s)

Fresh hop season is upon us and I could not be any happier. Fremont has been giving us delicious but limited fresh hop beers from their kick ass Cowiche Canyon hop program, where they partner with hop growers to grow small plots of organic delicious hops. For the first time this [...]

2018-10-18T13:21:57-07:00

Recommended reading for beer enthusiasts, pro and home brewers: ‘Brewing Local’ by Stan Hieronymus

The latest book from Brewers Publications, Brewing Local: American-Grown Beer, examines the increased demand for locally brewed beers as well as beers made with “non-traditional” ingredients. Author Stan Hieronymus chronicles the history of how distinctly American beers came about, visits farm breweries, and forages for both plants and yeast to discover how brewers are [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:01-07:00

Beer Review #52 — Double Mountain The Divine 9th Anniversary Ale

  Welcome back again to another sip on the Tap Trail Reviews. We've just conquered yet another epic Bellingham Beer Week. Replete with numerous stellar beers, familiar faces, new friends, and many memories to add to the logbook. To decompress and celebrate a bit I wanted to go for a beer [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:03-07:00

Beer Review #51 — Off Color Barrel Aged Dino Smores

Off Color has been cranking out delicious and off kilter beers for what seems like quite a while now. Everything from their delicious flagship farmhouse Apex Predator, to their famed Dino Smores Imperial Stout. Their reaches are far and their competencies are many. If you'll recall, we quite liked the base [...]

2016-09-13T07:32:02-07:00

Beer Review #49 — Mikkeller Ich Bin Berliner Weisse

Ah the venerable Berlinerweisse, the approachable lightly tart German wheat beer. A delicious low alcohol treat on a hot summers day. I much prefer a clean and tangy Berlinerweisse to a sweet and sticky Radler on warm days like we've been having lately. These sour wheats do have a broad spectrum [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:09-07:00

Beer Review #45 — Sierra Nevada Beer Camp 2016

Welcome back again beer lovers, sippers, fanatics, dabblers, and dynamos. This past weekend saw one of six Beer Camp festivals come to Seattle. Complete with 100+ breweries from across the country, hundreds of beers. Good times were had. The culmination of this has been made available to nearly everyone through the [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:33-07:00

Beer Review #43 — Crux [BANISHED] Freakcake 2016

I put little superstition or thought into Friday the 13th, it is just another day. However this most recent one, donned "Freaky Friday" by our beer brothers at Crux Fermentation Project brought us the release of something quite special and unexpected. My ears, and taste-buds always perk up when I see or hear [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:40-07:00

Beer Review #41 — Wander Wild Warehouse 2016

Welcome back again for another rendition of Tap Trail Reviews. We've got a fun one this week from Wander, who just celebrated their second anniversary on Saturday in epic fashion. Loads of incredible beer, people, and community made for a great party. Prior to their anniversary, Wander re-released bottles of their Wild [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:42-07:00

Beer Review #38 — Perennial Artisan Ales Sump Coffee Stout

Welcome dark beer brewers, lovers, consumers, and aficionados. We've got a special one today, a beer of epic proportions, this is perhaps the epitome of coffee beers. Sump is an Imperial Stout from Perennial, in St. Louis, MO, along the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. Established in September 2011, Perennial has [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:50-07:00

Beer Review #37 — Toppling Goliath pseudoSue

Beer fans, connoisseurs, enthusiasts, and adventurers, welcome back, and welcome to an extra special day of beer. That's right, this year has granted us an extra day, a day that only arrives once every four years. It brings us opportunity and the possibility to explore more of the outdoors, more of the [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:52-07:00

Beer Review #35 — Reuben’s Hat Trick Triple IPA

Welcome back craft beer fans, hop heads, barley wine braggadocios, and lager lovers. We've got a new entry from our friends at Reuben's tonight. Recent winners of Washington's Best Places for Beer > Brewer's Tap Room according to RateBeer. I've long been a fan of their beers, Crikey is a solid NW IPA, their [...]

2018-10-18T13:22:59-07:00

Beer Review #33 — Ballast Point Mango Even Keel & Pineapple Sculpin

Welcome back all, I thought today would be an excellent opportunity to showcase two new beers from Ballast Point. Recently acquired by Constellation Brands for $1B Ballast Point becomes their sole craft beer brand. Since that acquisition, Ballast Point has been on a bit of a war path with fruited beer releases, [...]

2018-10-18T13:23:04-07:00

Beer Review #32 — Off Color Dinos’mores Imperial Stout

Welcome all dark beer lovers to another installment of Tap Trail reviews. I have been waiting quite some time for this little guy to be released. Off Color has been consistently climbing the ranks in my own personal favorites. They have killer, unique artwork, and brew consistently well made inconsistent and [...]

2018-10-18T13:23:06-07:00

Beer Review #31 — pFriem Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Welcome back for another week of reviews, there have been some remarkable releases lately, most notably Cognac Abyss, as much as I'd love to post a review for that beer, it won't be today. Perhaps we can revisit it at the six month mark or so when it really hits its stride, as [...]

2018-10-18T13:23:09-07:00
Go to Top