News from the Trunk

Upcoming Beers.....

2008-05-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I arrived to work, a bit sweaty and late, and was happy to see that we had added a new/old beer to the lineup, Paxton's ESB. Originally brewed by Drew Cluley now of Pike fame. Many years ago he was the bar manager, and guess what he also knows how to brew beer, so he did. I think Kevin was on vacation at the time or maybe they even collaborated. The name, well Paxton is Drew's middle name, there the secret is out. Now on the details. It is a Northwest Style ESB, using Columbus, Goldings and Mt Hood hops. It has good hop character with a solid malt backbone, the original recipe has been altered a bit, Bill likes to tweak things now and again, but the namesake stays the same.

A new beer was brewed yesterday, we are keeping the details under wraps a bit, look for something that we haven't done in the past. I'll leave it at that.....

Diana, our resident hippy, has decided that she needs to leave, it appears she is over the city life and needs to go to greener pastures, think Northern California. In sticking with the theme, that a beer is named after you upon your decision to leave i.e Firecracker Pale ale, Serrano Puzzano, Bill is brewing an Organic Pale Ale and naming it in Diana's honor. A note on the Serrano Puzzano, Sarah tried to leave and then didn't, somethings are just too good to quit, but she did get pink boots and a beer named after her, so it looks like she played it right. Back to this Organic Pale Ale, it will be brewed early next week, look for it on draft in the upcoming weeks. The name will be Artemis, which Bill tells me is the Greek Goddess of the forest and the hills, the counter part to the Roman Goddess Diana, the Goddess of the Hunt. If you know Diana and you followed the links, it all must make a bit of sense, the name that is. Our hippy returns to the forest. I'll leave it at that.

We have almost exactly one month until the release of the Old Sol Wheatwine. It will be released on the Summer Solstice which this year falls on Saturday June 21st. I'll see you all there, snifter in hand.

The weekend before that is the Mother of All Father's day Festival Amber Rye ale, Paxton's out at Saint Edwards State Park. A three day celebration. We will be bringing the Ave Rat Malt Liquor, the Ryenoceros ESB and maybe one of the above mentioned beers.

What a success.....

2008-05-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Street Fair was a success, thanks to all who joined us for the first truly sunny weather in years. Usually it rains at some point during the weekend, making the beer garden a nice thought. This year it was the exact opposite, it was "too hot" for people, instead of too windy and rainy. I stayed clear on Saturday, with one day off I had no desire to show up, I figured I would get my share of the crowds and the madness on Sunday. We had some unfortunate breaks, of all things to break this weekend the ice machine went out, which meant many trips to Safeway to get bags and bags of ice, talk about irony. I won't bore you with more details, some of my favorite moments and sightings were.

An old man wearing a shirt that put it all in perspective..."got dates?"

Little dogs in the purses of woman in high heels and jeans, should we thank Paris Hilton?

More tie die than I have seen in years.

The familiar smell of caramel corn.

Kids with face paint, adults for that matter, maybe I should have gotten my bald head painted in spirit.

I was also confused at certain points in the day when I saw more than a few people wearing jackets, or long sleeves. I ask you Seattle are we that afraid to shed our winter armor? What is that bright ball in the sky anyways?

I brought my camera which died as soon as I turned it on, or I would have a photo gallery for you all. Lets face it a picture is worth a thousand words. Thanks to all who came and joined us on this fine weekend.

Ave Rat Malt Liquor

2008-05-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

Ave Rat arrives on Wednesday when we open, just in time for the U-Districts street fair, this weekend May 17th and 18th. We will have a giant beer garden in front of the building, and with the temps predicted to be in the 80's summer looks to be here. The Big Time Brewery's beer garden looks to be the spot to be. I expect to see you all there with sunglasses, and of course a pint of tasty Ave Rat in hand. Just what the doctor ordered after a long winter of hibernation. We will have t-shirts and pint glasses available in limited supply. It is after all the year of the rat, so we have a very special logo, different than last years. We plan to keep changing the logo every year, in fact we already have next years logo, we think. Last year we sold all the shirts before the street fair, and missed a golden opportunity, lets just say we prepared a bit better this year. Zack, the ave rat artist, is a great guy to see more of his stuff go here or here. Bill and I give him a vague idea of what we are thinking and her translates, or channels it through him and out comes a magic.

According to Wikipedia:
Behind the smiles and charm, rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling, insisting on having things their way no matter what the cost. These people tend to have immense control of their emotions, which they may use as a tool to manipulate and exploit others, both emotionally and mentally. Rats are masters of mind games and can be very dangerous, calculative and downright cruel if the need arises. Quick-tempered and aggressive, they will not think twice about exacting revenge on those that hurt them in any way. Rats need to learn to relax sometimes, as they can be quite obsessed with detail, intolerant and strict, demanding order, obedience, and perfection.

this is another way to look at it taken from this website.

In Chinese, the Rat is respected and considered a courageous, enterprising person. People born in the Year of Rat are clever and bright, sociable and family-minded. They have broad interests and strong ability in adapting to the environment and able to react adequately to any changes.

I have noticed a lot of changes going on around me, maybe it is attributed to the year of the rat, many relationships are in flux, people are committing to do different things. Does this all have something to do with the animal that guides us all. Rats seem to be very tenacious and adaptable, willing to sacrifice a bit now for more down the road. Thrifty, demanding and focused. There is more information if you follow the links above. I will leave your with this years ave rat logo....

In the interest of promotion.....

2008-05-08T12:56:00.001-07:00

In the interest of shameless self promotion I am urging each and everyone of you to vote for us as your favorite Brewpub in the NWsource's People's Picks. Here is the link. Let the city know how much you love us.

In other news there is more and more beer blogging going on out there. If you don't already know about these blogs and would like to hear someone's opinion on all things beer related here in Seattle and the greater Northwest I suggest that you take a look.

Chris Devlin's beer examiner site. This is where the beer retard as he has affectionately dubbed himself steps in to the spotlight. His first blog in his own words is taking a back seat at the moment. Two beer blogs, might not be as easy to maintain. That's a lot of saying the same thing differently. Way to go Chris.

I met Geoff a few months back, well now it is almost a year ago across the bar, we started in to a conversation about the Old Sol Wheatwine. Then again at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, it was a bit fuzzy, and from time to time he stops by. Turns out he's got a blog for the Seattle PI. Check out what he has to say on his Blog What's on tap.

Are there other beer bloggers that I should know about. If you are out there, let me know. Thanks so much for all your promotion of all things craft beer here in the great Northwest.

For a limited time only.....

2008-05-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Can you say a day late and a dollar short....wish I had this up yesterday, but better late than never. Our Chili Beer, Serrano Puzzono is on draft for a limited time only. Bill dry hopped our Prime Time Pale Ale with some serrano chili peppers, adding a bit of spicy and earth tones to an already great beer. Come on in and try a pint. Hint, it will pour from the large pink handle.

We've turned back the clock....

2008-05-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Fridays have turned in to a celebration of the 80's. Sarah and Diana have taken it upon themselves to turn back the clock so to speak, complete with hair scrunchies, bright makeup, leg warmers, bad sugar candy, and most importantly all 80's music. Flock of Seagulls, The Thompson Twins, Seena Easton, and the list goes on. They are also taking requests all day long. I have said it before the 80's are coming back in everyday fashion and I am scared, florescent colors are on the rise.... So you are sincerely invited to make a pilgrimage to the Big Time on Friday, heck wear your favorite t shirt from days gone by. I know a lot of you were too young to remember much of the 80's, so you don't remember just how wacky it was...come on down and find out. Sarah and Diana will take you down memory lane, call it a history lesson if you will.

This guy agrees the idea rocks.

Diana pours a beer.

The masterminds.....

In other news we have a new beer call Ryenoceros. Bill describes this beer as "Strong, full bodied with a big nose." There you have it. Using Simcoe, Ahtanum, and Mt Hood hops and coming in at 7.5 % abv. It is delicious. Stop on in for a Pint.

20 years of award winning beers and tasty food.

2008-04-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

December 7th marks the 20 year anniversary of the Big Time. 20 years of award-winning beer and tasty food. We are in the process of planning the activities, we plan to celebrate a few days in the months prior and then for the whole week leading up to the actual anniversary day. Monday the 1st Old Wooly Barleywine will be released to start off a week that will sure go down as one to be remembered. Our plan is to have the days sured up and the plan set so that no one will have an excuse not to be there.

Other ideas that have bee thrown around:

a bring back old employee party.

a where are they now night..past employees/brewers celebration.

new and exciting beers, old recipes.

Those are just a few, I don't want to give too many details, lets just say 20 years is a long time and Seattle's Original Brewpub plans to remember and celebrate its long tradition in the U-district.

In the near future look for a series of where are they now posts, as well as some short history posts.

Open a beer and prepare to be amazed

2008-04-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Our friend and regular Wolfgang brought this to our attention, enjoy.

Spring is most definately in the air......

2008-04-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

"Tulips for your tulip," Patrick said as he arrived on this fine day. "Or is it two lips for the tulip," was all I could think to say. However you see it, or slice it up, on this the 15th brewing of everybody's favorite sign that warmer temperatures, longer days, and more sun are on the way has arrived. Trombipulator is here!!!! You should all be making your way, canceling your plans and settling in for a glass or two of this tasty adult beverage. We all know that it doesn't take more than that to help find the silver lining in it all. Look at how happy our very own Beer Janitor is, he is practically glowing, and you will too. Thank you Patrick for adding cheer to our day, we really appreciate it. This moment was brought to you courtesy of the I phone, for without it we never would have had the photo documentation, again Patrick we owe you there, I can just never seem to remember to bring the camera.

The rumblings of Ave Rat

2008-04-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

That's right the sun is starting to shine a bit more, and we all know what that means, Malt Liquor, am I right? There you have it our infamous Malt Liquor that burst on the scene last year will be back again. Right around the time of Street Fair, mid May. We are putting the finishing touches on the new shirt, it is the Year Of The Rat after all, and a few other surprises we have up our sleeves, expect to see pint glasses. I will keep you updated as I know more. You know how secretive that Brewer, Bill can be.

Trombipulator is almost ready to be served to the masses. Expect it within the week. It is delicious this year, as always.

We are also devising a plan for the celebration of our twentieth anniversary. You'll know when I know.

We are planning...

2008-03-21T13:35:00.001-07:00

On having too much fun at the Cask Festival. We love this event.

It's our 20th Birthday coming up in December 7th to be exact, look for us to have a few events in the months leading up to the actual birthday. We plan on bring back some old bartenders, brewing some celebratory beers. How often is it that you turn 20.

We will be playing the NCAA games on our 50 inch HDTV's come on down and watch a game or two over a couple of beers. The Big Dance Imperial Amber is tasty and brewed just for the Tournament.

The Firecracker Northwest Pale Ale is back, inspired by an old employee who embodied this beer in spirit, feisty and full bodied. Which is her in a nut shell.

Trombipulator is tasting good, and almost ready to be served to the masses, I'll keep you posted.

Thanks....

2008-02-27T12:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who came out and enjoyed the night of delicious darkness that we dubbed the "Art of Darkness." It appears that not everyone is a Hophead, or at least everyone is willing to put down the IPA's for a night. It was a bit rocky in the beginning, to be truthful we were a bit surprised by all the interest. We had a great time I am sure you were entertained. I am unsure what the favorites were, it seemed a majority of people really liked the Stranahan's Oaked Old Rip, but then again the Raspberry Old Rip and the Stumptown Coffee Cask Buck Mulligans all seemed to tickle peoples palettes as well. Again, thanks to all who came out and made this night a success. Who knows what the next event might be....you'll have to wait and see.

In other news. It's that time of year again. College Hoops are in full swing and March is just around the corner. We will be doing a March Madness pool, come in and fill out your bracket. We will of course be pouring the Big Dance, our Imperial Amber to celebrate the event. We will have the brackets available the day after they are announced. Come on in an fill one or two out.

Thanks again for all the interest last night.

The Art of Darkness

2008-02-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

WABL member #1000 checking in with an idea for a WABL night of different beers for next Tuesday, February 26th. I want to do an "Art of Darkness" night, where we'll pour four different Stouts along with our delicious Porter. I'm planning to serve: Old Rip Oatmeal Stout, Buck Mulligan's Irish Stout, a cask of the Buck conditioned with Stumptown Coffee's Ethiopian Biloya roast, and a keg of Rip matured with American Oak soaked in Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. And maybe something else, we'll see. We'll do a WABL thing where all the dark beers are Daily Special price, $3.50 per pint. How 'bout that?

Cheers,
bill

There you have it straight from the brewer. Non WABL members are invited to come on down as well. Join WABL and you get to save 75 cents a beer.

Tuesday is also Logo glass night. Buy a logo glass with beer in it for 6 dollars and get refills for $3.50, all night, then take the glass home with you.

Late edit: It will start at 5pm, sorry for the lack of information earlier.

The Maine Thing....

2008-01-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

"The main thing is to keep the Maine thing the main thing." life according to Bill. A few weeks back our friend Kevin Watson, of Far West fame, returned from his current local, the Stone Coast brewery in of all places Maine. Bill being a native of Maine, and having many fond memories wanted to brew a beer with him. They brought a little of the East Coast to the West coast in this tasty, crisp adult beverage. Drink up. It has been dubbed an East Coast pale, we threw around a hoppy pale, or a few other variations, but the end result was East Coast pale. They used Simcoe, Liberty and Northern Brewer hops, a little bit of wheat and lots of The Maine thing in this little creation. Topping the scales at 5 1/2 % alcohol.
"Its crisp, hoppy and full bodied with hints of lobster and whoopie pies." tasting notes from Bill Jenkins

Kevin it was great to see you out here. Thanks for leaving us with something tasty to drink.

Happy New Year to all...

2008-01-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

I hope you are able to keep those resolutions that you undoubtedly made, at least for a bit. Here are some of the ones I have heard:
To eat bacon at least once a week.
To drink less
To drink more
To be more aware
To be less aware
To exercise at least 3 times a week, (arm curls at the bar don't count)
To ride more
To consume less
and the list goes on. These all seem vague, to really succeed don't goals need to be really specific. Send your Resolutions here and I will, hopefully, post the good ones.

My favorite so far is at the top of the list.

The Old Rip Oatmeal Stout is back, and the experimentation should continue more Breakfast in a Glass, some sort of Bourbon Wood aged tasty adult beverage, and who knows what else we can come up with.

Our friend Kevin Watson, of Far West fame, now brewing on the other coast at The Stone Coast Brewery is in town for a little visit. According to their website he is becoming a real Mainer making a home out there. Right now he and Bill are hard at work collaborating on brewing who knows what, but I do know this, you will like it. It will be good. I imagine that Bill has Kevin hauling spent grain out at this very moment, he is such a surly fella and a drill Sargent underneath that calm, cool, collected exterior. Look for it in the upcoming weeks.

I would like to get some more pictures here on the blog, I like taking them I just never seem to have the camera along at the right time.

Hope you are enjoying the new year and it is the best one yet. Cheers to livin' the dream.

Its all gone....

2007-12-22T18:07:00.000-08:00

Both the Old Wooly and the Yulefest are no longer with us. For those of you that partook in all things good, consider yourself lucky. It sure was a good year for both these beers.

In other news:

Old rip will return.

Lift Ticket has been brewed, we got our hands on some of the necessary hops and decided we just couldn't make it through a year without this tasty beer.

Sunbreak Blonde ale will be arriving soon as well, just on the heels of the Solstice.

Happy Solstice, it is all up hill from here. Thank you so much to all. We appreciate everyone of you.

Upcoming brews...

2007-12-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

We have a few new, and some old brews on the way:

Liberty Hopfest, our single hop pale ale featuring Liberty Hops.

Old Rip Oatmeal Stout, its been brewed and will be returning, it was so good, and we did some experimental, so we may have Breakfast In a Glass again and maybe even a Bourbon Oak aged Stout as well. Stay tuned.

With Malt prices set to rise we have eclipsed the past high Malt Mark, it goes clear to the ceiling now. I'll try to get a picture of the new flood level.

We are currently looking for kitchen help, come on in and apply.

Last Call....

2007-12-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

Old Wooly is about to be gone, to return next year. The bottles are all gone, and the draft will be by the end of the week or sooner. If you haven't been in yet, you won't know what you are missing, if you have you will run down for one last snifter or two. Thats all right now. We do have long sleeve t shirts that make great gifts come on down while they last and kill two birds with one stone.

We will be Closed...

2007-12-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

We will be closed on:
Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24th
Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25th
New Years Day, Tuesday, January 1st

So we can Enjoy our Holidaze. You should tool.

The Old Wooly is going fast, come in for a snifter or two before it is all gone and the long wait till next year begins.

In other news I forgot to post on the day of it, We turned 19 years old on December 7th. Start planning now for next year when we turn 20 and have a big week long celebration. I hope.

Stout is going fast, looks like we will have to brew another one to keep the masses happy. Tis the season for Dark beer, but then again when isn't it Dark beer season. On some of the hottest days of the year I sell more Porter than Pale Ale, not always, but there are those days.

Thanks again for your patronage and your support, we appreciate it.

Holidaze....

2007-12-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Everything seems to be picking up speed as I get older. I say that with hesitation because as a kid I always overheard my father say things like, " just yesterday you were 3", or "who are you, you don't look like my son, he is much younger," or "enjoy it, it only picks up speed as you get older." Not to say I am old, I am not a big fan of young people, like me only younger, talking about how old they are. Getting carded will never get old to me, I like it, unlike the ungrateful 24 year olds who have trouble showing their ID's because according to them, "they are old." To which I always respond with something like"watch yourself" or "get used to it." Alas it seems like yesterday that we were tasting Old Wooly 2006 and here we are tasting the 2007 and about to head in to the New Year. What are your resolutions? I know it is a bit early, but life has a way of happening and soon the day will be upon us. I am trying to come up with a good one, or two that I can hopefully stick with for awhile, if not the whole year.

Breakfast in a Glass is our Old Rip Oatmeal Stout "dry hopped" with some Stumptown Coffee. It is delicious and we have joked about serving it with a strip of bacon, or a cup of eggs. It has all the essential vitamins and minerals you need for a healthy start to your day. Come in and get it, it won't last long.

The Bulliet Bourbon Old Rip was a hit at the Brouwer's Big Wood Fest, if you got to try it you were lucky we made one keg and it is now gone. Just like the passing of time. We have really experimented with the Old Rip this time around, have you noticed?

What's new: I know that Bill recently brewed a new Hopfest using Liberty Hops, look for that in the not so distant future.

Come in and enjoy it because before you know it, it will be gone. Old Wooly is quiet amazing this year, we are starting to run low on the bottles, and are over halfway through the batch. Come on in and show us some love.

Wooly Mammoth brings snow to Seattle!!!!!!

2007-12-03T20:49:00.001-08:00

That's right, its here folks, come on in and get it while you can. It happens every year, The mammoth arriving, on December 1st with it this year we had snow that actually stuck to the ground for awhile.

This year we have new long sleeve shirts with the above logo on the front. I really like them. We also have bottles, but not for long if they keep disappearing out the front door like they have been. This year's Old Wooly is very well balanced and drinkable. I have heard more than one person say, " it was a little sweet last year, this year it is very delicious." I expect to see you all in for a snifter or two real soon. It looks as though winter has finally arrived and in a big way. Come on in for some medicine, we have what ales you.

New Beers....

2007-11-27T14:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long lag in updates to this site. It is the Holidaze after all. Suddenly you wake up and realize that things need to get done, then your Internet connection goes down and life takes over. I am sure you all know the feeling. Enough about that.
We have a few new "old" beers on tap:
Yulefest Christmas Ale and Tinderstick a British Style ESB
and some new "new" beers:
Damn Spot, a strong Scottish Ale

All of them are very delicious. The Damn Spot is Chris Borgia's first recipe as the assistant brewer. We all think he did a great job with this one. As you would expect from a Strong Scottish Ale it is a bit higher in alcohol and not very hoppy. There is the hop shortage after all, think malty and warming. Our hats go off to Chris for creating this tasty adult beverage for all of us to enjoy.

In other news: Old Wooly our Barleywine comes out on Saturday December 1st, we expect to see all of you there. We will have bottles and a newly designed long sleeve shirt. All other details are being kept under wraps until Saturday, although a few people have seen the new design or heard about it, we are trying to make it a big surprise. We hope you like it.

The Winter Beerfest is the same weekend and Brouwer's is having their Big Woodfest, where they will showcase 40+ wood aged beers from around the Northwest, on Thursday the 29th. It is also Moustache weekend at Brouwer's so dawn your best stache and head on down. It looks like we are all in for a long weekend, are your livers ready?

There you have it. Welcome to November and December folks. Peace and good cheer.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Much to everyone's chagrin I didn't don a dress this halloween as I have in the past.

I decided I would stay a man, a real man, one who consumes too much cheap beer and is all powerful.
Only 4 of us workers managed to get in to the spirit of the day.

We managed to have lots of fun anyways.
Our ex employee Barry came in with the best costume I have seen:

He didn't win any thing for it, but it was amazing, with a working spout and all.

In other news. The Bevridge Place is having their Cask o Rama tonight, sorry for the short notice, but you should head on out there for 20 or so cask IPA's.

The Perfect Storm 2007

2007-10-25T12:52:00.001-07:00

In an earlier post I mentioned that malt prices were set to increase. We don't have a silo, we have 50 pound bags of grain, and a very small room in which to store them. Usually we have about 10,000 lbs of grain on hand at any one time. With grain prices increasing sooner than later Bill got one more order in before a very large increase, the problem was going to be fitting it in to the grain room, or more getting it in there. The room has lots of head space, but 50lb grain sack ain't gonna get themselves up there. Bill mentioned that he had a 10,000 lb grain delivery coming on Wednesday morning, and that help would be appreciated in moving it. The night before he worked late in to the evening consolidating the grain that we had on hand. We left late, he was back early and I got there about 15 mins before the grain arrived at noon. Lucky for us the rain came right when the grain did, well not really, added insult to injury so to speak. Lets just say we stacked, and stacked, and then stacked some more.

another view of all the grain and our great stacking job.

Afterwards we figured we could have gotten one more pallet in, that however would have been a logistical nightmare. We now have 20,665 lbs of grain. I wish I had some action shots, but we were too busy throwing bags and climbing around on the piles stacked to the ceiling.
Bill marked the high grain mark, like a flood line. We joked about having armed guards and maybe a guard dog on hand to protect this very valuable resource, don't even get us started about the hops, those are well protected with a series of booby traps and other scary devices.

On a totally different note, Male Escort anyone? It was dropped in our weekly drawing for a free lunch.

Give us a call if you need more info. I can't give out all the information here. I don't think more needs to be said except maybe sorry for the poor photo quality.

Pumpkin beer to arrive soon....

2007-10-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Our Hobgoblin Pumpkin Ale will be on draft soon. We have intentionally waited until now to release this beer, because if we didn't there would be none left for the appropriate time of year. Thanks for waiting you will be rewarded with one hell of a beer.

Meerkat IPA makes an appearance. Amarillo and Simcoe hops abound in this tasty beverage. Come on in, this one won't last long.

WABL turns two and the Elliot Bay Brewing Company is throwing a party at their Burien location, on Sunday the 28th from 3 to 6. Hope to see all you WABL's and who ever else wishes to attend down there. Kevin Sullivan, of Bottlework's fame, designed the Anniversary shirt which means it has to be good. Kevin is one hell of an artist. He does all the Brouwer's signs, in addition to those at Bottlework's. I am sure you have all seen his art at one of these fine locations.

We will be open at 9:30 this Saturday for the Huskies game as they take on Arizona St. Lets hope we play a good game and maybe even get another win. We played the Duck's better than expected, we even managed to score in the 3rd Quarter, something we hadn't done all year. I hope to see you there after the game to celebrate a win.