Bellingham Beer Week '13

No! Ours, all ours! Had a bottle last night. Nearly perfect. Another bottle is going down in a little bit.

 

Was drinking the Collab brew at Kulshan this afternoon while they were still canning it in the brewery. They brought out a bunch and put in the growler cooler. From that point forward, it was going out the door faster than they were canning it. I only had 5 tulips (a work night, don't ya know) and bought 3 4-packs. $16oz cans are $14, if anybody's interested. Shoot me a BM and we'll work out details.

 

When I opened my first bottle, all I could smell was coffee and I was prepared to be disappointed. On the tongue, the coffee is very understated and plays well with the other flavors. I think it's nearly perfect. I like better than KDS, and about equal with B-Bomb.

 

BTW, Team Firestone Walker/Boundary Bay defeated Team Fremont 2-1 at Polish Horseshoes in a match plagued by wind and rain yesterday. Defending the home turf!

 

Went to the IPA Cage Match last night. 21 different IPAs on tap WA vs OR-CA. The judges chose Silver City St. Florian as the winner.

 

FWIW, here's the list: WA- Kulshan Bastard Kat, Island Hoppin' Elwha, Diamond Knot Industrial, American Breakaway, Silver City St. Florian, Elysian Immortal, Schooner Exact Hop Vine, Skagit The Gospel, No-Li Boern & Raised, Fremont Interurban, and a cask of Silver City Whoop Ass.

OR: Burnside Alter Ego, Ninkasi total Domination, Goodlife Descender, Ft. George Vortex, and Oakshire Watershed.

CA: 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die, Stone IPA, FW Union Jack, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Spek Easy Big Daddy, and Green Flash West Coast


I had: Vortex, Hop Vine, West Coast, Alter Ego, Gospel, Whoop Pass, and Big Daddy. Gospel and Hop Vine were probably my favorites, but all were very good.

 

Actual judges. A couple local BJCP certified guys, and the rest were brewers/industry folks. One of the judges is a rep for a brew that was involved, and voted his own beer about 6th.