just a quick one.....

The Biggest Beerfest in Washington is this weekend out at St Edwards Park in Kenmore. Those of you that haven't yet joined WABL should. One incentive, other than supporting great Washington Beer, for joining is at this festival is you get a larger, glass tasting cup, and access to a special keg of beer provided to the festival by one of the many quality Washington Breweries. We have tickets to this fantastic event.

I can not believe that I am writing this, it snowed last night at the Summit, but the following weekend is the Summer Solstice, the arrival of summer? Old Sol Wheatwine will be flowing, if this weather holds it will be the sunshine in a glass that you need to make it through until summer really arrives. I expect to see you all there snifter in hand.

We should have a few new beers on draft shortly, one should already be flowing but our friendly sign makers spelled the name wrong delaying its release.

We still have growlers available, they are very cool and since it is the first time we have ever done one everyone should be coming down to get their hands on this piece of history. Thanks so much and hope to see you soon enjoying a tasty pint or two in Seattle's Original Brewpub.

beer and gas....

There you have it folks. This landed in my inbox this morning and I thought it was only appropriate to pass it on. With the hop crisis it looks like the hop heads and the motor heads will be competing for at least the next year for which is cheaper. I am sure that gas will win this race as I have heard it is supposed to creep up to the 5 dollar mark this summer, and I don't see pints, at least in our establishment hitting that yet.

In other news the Trombipulator is all gone, if you got some you were one of the lucky, if not you really missed out. It was one of the best batches I have ever tasted.

The organic pale ale, Artemis, was brewed a few days ago, look for it in the near future. This is another first for the Big Time. The growlers are selling fast, they are beautiful. Stop in and get one.

We plan to put out a new design for the Old Wooly shirts, right now we are trying to figure out if we are going to do long sleeve shirts, zip hoodies, or pullover hoodies. Sound off with what you would like to see. Zack, the ave rat artist designed them and they are super cool.

Old Sol Wheatwine comes out on Saturday the 21st, I expect to see you all there. Come on in and celebrate half a year of rain with us, maybe it will bring the sun out of hiding.

We still have tickets to the Mother of all Father's Day, Brewer's festival out at St Edwards park in Kenmore. I expect to see you all there. Click here for more information.

Just a reminder beer is cheaper than gas, so drink up. For those of you that must know a gallon of gas is 4.25 a gallon of beer is 16.00 at our establishment so maybe beer really isn't cheaper than gas, but I do think that it has more social value than gas. On that note I will sign off, and if you drink don't drive.

Upcoming Beers.....

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

Ave Rat Malt Liquor

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.....

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.

Coming soon....

It's that time of year again, can you believe it. It is almost the Summer Solstice and you know what that means.... Old Sol Wheatwine, oh and the longest day of the year, they tell me its all downhill from here.

This beer is brewed on the Lunar New Year and aged until its release on the Summer Solstice, which is Thursday June 21st this year. I hope to see you ordering one or more from me. Rumor has it that it is tasting rather hoppy this year. In 2003 it won a gold medal at the GABF in the Other Strong Ale or Lager category. This year Wheatwine's have their own category, we are tossing around the idea of sending it to Denver again.

It was originally brewed in 2002 by Kevin Forhan, the inspiration was provided by Teri of Steelhead fame. This tasty beverage is brewed with 46% Wheat, mostly Simcoe and Amarillo hops with a bit of Warrior hops as well. Here are the specifics for those of you that like to be in the know: OG 23.6 Plato, 1.100SG, 9.75% by vol., 7.75%by wt.

Right now we are in the end stages of tweaking the t-shirt design with our very good friends down at Destee Nation in Fremont. If you ever need t-shirts made these are the guys and gals to go to. I know you will like it. They will be ready for the release date. We will also have 22oz bottles available upon it's release. I hope to share the evening with you all.

Let's all raise a pint

Let's all raise a pint and celebrate all we have to be thankful for. We, here at the Big Time are very thankful that we have such a dedicated staff, who work hard to create great beer and memorable experiences. We are thankful that we are almost 19 years old and still on top of our game. Above is a picture of our lovely brewers hand holding up a delicious pint of Ave Rat Malt Liquor.

Malt liquor conjures up mixed emotions and images for people. Here in the U District it is usually a hooded teenager asking for change. Usually the image includes a paper bag, and for others it brings back memories of the high school years before they had grown up and the bottom line was alcohol content, and that foul tasting malt liquor did the trick. I assure this beer will change your mind about malt liquor, it is crisp, refreshing, and tasty. On a hot day we here at the Big Time couldn't think of a better beer. All of our other beers are ales, so this, being a lager, is the lightest beer in our stable right now. Here is Bill(the brewers) description of his fine creation:

Brewed in celebration of the U-District’s most misunderstood denizen, the
“Ave Rat.” Stylistically, it’s a strong pre-Prohibition West Coast adjunct lager, brewed with Pilsner malt, flaked maize, and Styrian Goldings, which blend together into a rich, golden beer that is smooth, refreshing, and only a little bit edgy. O.G. 16.0, 6.25% ABV

I will leave you with a picture:


Be thankful and smile. Bill is.