Scuttlebutt Brewing

We recently took a couple of days off work and headed down to Seattle for a couple of days. While we were down there we were able to hit up this family friendly pub for a lunch and a taster tray. The Scuttlebutt brewing building is located on the Everett Harbour and is a bit of a dated building. But that is fine with me as that means charachter. We entered the pub and were greeted with two other groups quite promptly. But who cares that much about that, it's the beer that is important.

So we sat down and I noticed the sampler was 8 X 6oz. pours, a great way to get to know their beers and Julie agreed to drive for the afternoon so it was on. The sampler included all of their regular lineup 5 on beer gas and one on nitro, I love beers on nitro, can't we have them all that way? And it also included two of their seasonals. AS I have found myself drinking a little bit more seasonal lately I really enjoyed the 10 Below Winter Ale. It was delicious, nice and malty but with some good hop action still. I really enjoyed the IPA, in fact I bought a case to take home. It's more of an English style IPA with some westcoast hop action. Also their Hoptopia seasonal was tasty. The red ale on nitro was a great red with good hop charachter and oh so smooth. The other's were good, but to tell the truth after that many beers I can't remember the details all that great.

On the food it was hot, tasty and really reasonably priced. I definitely recommend this place if you are ever in Everett, WA and looking for a tasty, friendly and reasonably priced pint. I also have heard they are going to be moving locations, so look forward to hitting that up next time i'm in Everett.

Great Canadian Beer Fest

Headed over to Victoria last week for the 2010 edition of the Great Canadian Beer Fest. This is the largest beer festival in Canada and it sells out every year. I had heard good things about going on the Friday as there are more special beers available that get drank up before Saturday. The day started off early and we headed out to the ferry. Grabbed some coffee and the 1:30 went by super quick.

Once on the Island we headed downtown and grabbed a pre-festival lunch at Swan's Brewpub. As I had never been here before I ordered a sampler. In my sampler I had the Brown Ale, the ESB, the Belgian Wit, and the Stout. All were very tasty, but I especially enjoyed the Wit, which is not normally one of my favourite styles. I also enjoyed a Lamb Burger which was very tasty.


After we finished lunch we had some time and decided to go check out one of our favourite BC Breweries, Phillips. Checked out the store front which is very cool and was super stoked to see so many people in filling up their growlers for the weekend. We also bumped in to a friend from high school Kurtis. Check out the link cause the prank they played on him was very funny.

Once we got to the festival the lineup was quite long to get in, but surprisingly once the gates opened it moved very quickly. Once in I was overwhelmed with all of the choices available for tasting. I won't go over everything but here is a synopsis.

Favourite Beer Tasted: Dead Frog Cascadian Nutbrown. Super tasty.

Most disappointing beer: Green Flash La Freak. I had big expectations after trying there other beers but this just not stand up for me.

Wish I had tried: Lighthouse Brewing - Espr
esso Vodka Infused Imperial Stout. Heard great things about this one after.
Beer that will inspire a road trip: Peaks Brewing - Train Wreck IPA and Chocolate Porter. Both were delicious can't wait to make a trip.


Most Interesting: R&B Black Raspberry Lambic.



All in all this was a great trip and cant wait to go back next year. I definitely recommend it if you love beer.

Skagit River Brewery

With Victoria day long weekend this past weekend the family headed down to Bayview State Park for some camping. On Sunday while the ladies shopped Rob and myself decided to go check out a beer bar out I had read about online. The Empire Ale House in Mt. Vernon. Unfortunately when we finally found it, it ended up being closed on Sunday's no problem we had seen the Skagit River Brewery on the way in and decided to head there instead.

The brewery is an interesting looking building from the outside and I looked forward to getting in there. As we walked in I could tell that this was a place i would like. A little older with some vintage looking decorations. We sat at the Bar about a 6 stool spot of wood, connected to the kitchen. Service was quick and friendly. I had the Sculler IPA, surprise, surprise. I quite enjoyed it. A little maltier than most westcoast IPA's, but had a great punch of hops. Would definitely drink again. Rob had the taster with there Pilsner, Pale Ale, Brown Ale and IPA. He mentioned that they were all good but that the IPA was the best.

Another cool thing about this brewpub is the assortment of custom ceramic beer steins they have. I forgot to ask but I am guessing they are for regular customers.

Overall I would definitely go back and if you are in the area I reccomend you check them out.

Down the hatch.

Welcome and Phillips Hop Circle IPA

I've been thinking of starting a beer blog for awhile now and well, sometimes you just get busy. For the last 10 or so years, since I started drinking beer I have always searched to try something different, something new wherever I was. As I look back I realize I always enjoyed the craft beers but until last year didn't really know that there was a seperate category. Now that I know I love the idea of craft beer and have been very busy over the last year trying different beers. I've also taken on the hobby of homebrewing, the ultimate craft beer.

This blog will be the place I document all things beer. Whether it be brewing, drinking or a a great beer adventure. I hope you stay tuned.

To start the blog off I will start with a review of a new IPA. The Phillips Brewing Hop Circle IPA. I enjoyed the previous edition of Phillips IPA, but I have to say I enjoy this one even more. It's very hoppy with a hop bitter taste. It's a little light on the malt, but that's fine because I love what they have done. This has definitely moved into one of my go to beers.





Me, My Wife and My Daughter