It’s been a busy week for me as I had to cram my week forward so that I could take Friday off due to a minor surgery I had on Thursday.
Thankfully it was National IPA Day (#ipaday) and I was able to self-medicate with a good-not-great IPA after going under the knife. On the way home from my surgery, we stopped at QFC and my wife grabbed an IPA from one of Portland’s best young breweries, Gigantic Brewing. The avant-garde brewery opened in 2012 and specializes in seasonal limited edition beers and one-off collaborations like its recent teaming up with Ecliptic Brewing to produce TicWitTic, a sour Belgian witbier brewed with Curacao orange peel, coriander and chamomile flowers.
Wow.
As for its IPA, it is a pretty straightforward version of the popular West Coast style. Brewed with four different kinds of hops — Cascade, Centennial, Crystal and Simcoe — it’s more citrus than grass but neither notes are overpowering. Overall the quality is good but above all not too memorable. I’ll have to try the TicWitTic.
Surgery over and done and #GoHawks about to play. Oh and it’s #IPADay so you know … @GiganticBrewing pic.twitter.com/ovsos5g2Oq
— Aaron Swaney (@swaney_aaron79) August 8, 2014
Here’s a look at some notes and links from the past week in booze:
Attempting to open a brewery and taproom in Kirkland, a new brewery, Chainline Brewing Company, ran into some trouble in the form of a … ballet academy?!? That’s right. The International Ballet Academy objected to having a business that planned to serve alcohol so close to children and took their concerns to the Kirkland City Council. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and it seems Chainline Brewing will be able to move forward and brew beer soon.
Edmonds’ American Brewing Company is now trading shares on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol ABRW, hoping to fuel growth for the 3-year-old business. (Insert tired IPA to IPO joke here.)
Once a dirty word in brewers’ circles, corn is making its way back into craft beer as a substitute for barley. Interesting Washington Post story here.
USA Today writes the kind of glass you drink your beer out of matters. OK, but I’m a fan of the old Mason jars for most of my imbibing. I did recently buy some cool steel pint cups from Fox Outfitters for camping.
Dick’s Brewing celebrated 20 years by donning some new clothes.
An iconic San Francisco establishment has migrated north. Toronado will open in Ravenna and be run by Matt Bonney (of Bottleworks/Brouwer’s fame).
Nice story by New York Times on the growing fascination with a “new breed of whiskey parlors,” including Seattle’s Canon and Portland’s Multnomah Whiskey Library.
Beards and mustaches are en vogue, so I guess this was inevitable.
Check out the brewery/beer list for the upcoming Everett Craft Beer Fest (Saturday, Aug. 16) here.
As for events this weekend, check out this story here.
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