Paul Gibson

The Fourth Annual Seattle Beer Week is in full swing. Events around Seattle kicked off last night at Elysian Brewing on Capitol Hill and will be running at various locations through Sunday, May 20th. Speaking of Elysian Brewing, they brewed this year's official Seattle Beer Week beer, the Split Shot Espresso Milk Stout.

How much more Seattle can you get than a beer made with coffee?

Here in the Great Pacific Northwest the days are getting longer, the temperature is on the rise and we are finally starting to see some sun. We’re not out of the iffy spring weather yet but soon we’ll be grilling on the BBQ, lounging on beaches and looking for pubs that have outside seating.

A hefeweizen is a great summer time beer and the Widmer Hefeweizen is one worth trying.

Hale's Ales from Seattle is one of the oldest craft breweries in the state. Started in 1983, Hale's has been brewing for nearly 29 years. They have been in their current location on the border of the Fremont and Ballard neighborhoods since 1995. That's a good long time in the craft beer scene.

I found this Troll Porter being served "on cask.”

American Brewing Co., out of Edmonds, Wash., is a relatively new brewery on the Pacific Northwest craft beer scene. Started in early 2011, they offer a solid line up including a blonde, stout, brown, scotch ale, winter seasonal and the very nice Breakaway IPA.

Bothell’s Foggy Noggin Big Chief Imperial Irish Red is one of those rare ales you’re lucky to find outside of the brewery’s tasting room. I didn’t know that when I sat down to order a beer, but that’s where a good bar and a knowledgeable staff can help guide the beer adventurer.

This malty Irish Red offered a slightly sweet, mildly hoppy flavor without masking the 8.3 percent ABV.

It’s less than one week until the first day of spring. As we near the vernal equinox, the Pacific Northwest has been getting its share of wacky weather. Rain, wind, snow, sun... yes, we’ve been getting it all in one day. But that’s spring. It can be unpredictable.

And as we say an eager goodbye to a recalcitrant winter some of us are thinking of switching to a different style of beer.

On a recent trip to Portland I was hoping to stop by a brewery I hadn’t been to before. That’s not a hard thing to do in Portland. According to the Oregon Brewers Guild “there are 47 breweries operating in Portland, more than any other city in the world.”  

“The Portland metro area is the largest craft brewing market in the U.S. with the most number of breweries at 61,” the Guild continued.

Suffice it to say it’s not hard to find new beers or places to drink in The City of Roses.

Beer is a wonderful thing. Through taste and aroma, beer brings you flavors from around the globe. As the art of beer making has spread around that same globe, you can now find beer styles traditional to other countries made right here in our own backyard.

From Portland, Ore., to Portland, Maine, from San Franciso to Boston, from Denver to New York, from Savannah to Anchorage … the United States has many great craft beer scenes.

In recent years San Diego, Calif., has grown to be a fantastic beer city. The “West Coast IPA” is a style of beer that is heavy on the hops, low on the malts and not sweet like you find in other IPAs.

Road trip! Nothing beats a road trip to get you out of a routine. Road trips present an opportunity to try new breweries, explore new pubs and meet new people. A recent trip to Bend, Ore provided just the change of scenery I needed. Out of lowland Seattle up into the high desert of Central Oregon. While in Bend I had the opportunity to visit Deschutes, Boneyard and 10 Barrel. Great beers and great people all around.

Pictured here is the 10 Barrel ISA. It's their India Session Ale. A bit lower on the alcohol and very drinkable with great citrusy aroma.

A few weeks ago we had a post about Russian River's Pliny the Elder and if you investigated the brewery you may have learned about their very limited release of Pliny the Younger. The Younger is a super hopped up version of an already hoppy beer.

Only a small amount of the Younger is brewed each year and it is yearned for by hop heads everywhere. But, it's a small batch brew and only a lucky few actually get a taste before it's all gone … and then people complain about not getting any. They kvetch that it never made it to their city or how the keg was finished in an hour.

Hence Big Time Brewery came up with its response to that unmet desire: The super hoppy Whiny the Complainer.

This past Tuesday there was a little competition between 10 of Puget Sound's breweries to see who will brew a special 50th anniversary beer for the Space Needle.

With scorecards and tasting glasses in hand, a packed room in the famous landmark enjoyed the view, sampled beers and chose a winner.

Pike Brewing Company's "Pike Space Needle Golden Anniversary IPA" came out on top.

All along the West Coast, from Victoria, B.C., to San Diego, Calif., you can find not just good but great beer. We are lucky. The Racer 5 India Pale Ale is another fine IPA from Northern California available locally.

Winter has finally come down from the mountains here in the Pacific Northwest and has been pounding the lowlands with snow, freezing rain and wind. It's times like this when you ask yourself what type of beer goes with a power outage. The correct answer of course is any beer.

But really, in this part of the country we don't have to settle on just any beer. Hopefully you've stocked up on some good food and locally crafted beers to weather the storm.

What's that? Pliny is on tap? Let's go get some! I'm sure those words have been spoken many, many times. Pliny the Elder is one of those beers that has taken on a cult-like following. People go crazy for it.

Over at Beeradovate, it rates a perfect 100.