Seattle Beer Week 14 is upon us! It kicks off Friday, May 19 th and runs through May 26 th . Our usual special events include Back in Black Stout Fest and Sour Fest, which we’ve hosted since their inception. This year beer week has been shortened, so we’ve decided to combine our signature events into one, Stour Fest!
So how will that work? On Saturday, May 20 th , we will kick off with at least 20 stouts and 20 sours on draft. Then as those kick, we will add new stouts and sours to keep you going throughout the week. That means you get the best of both worlds – if it’ cold and rainy, you can curl up with a few stouts, and if its super warm and sunny, you can enjoy some thirst-quenching sours.
We are excited about combining these two great events and changing things up! So stay tuned as we work on the draft list and get a great lineup of stouts and sours ready for your enjoyment. See you soon!
It’s BEERlesque time again! One of our favorite events is back for the fifth time on April 6th – for one night, we transform the beer cave into a burlesque club and fill the stage with Seattle’s finest entertainers to celebrate live art, drink great beer, and raise money for Old Dog Haven!
This year’s cast includes:
Caela Bailey
Ruby Mimosa
Faggedy Randy
P. No Noire
Dulce D’Jour
Karmen Sutra
Amara Strutt
The schedule for the night:
Doors open at 5pm
Dinner menu available from 5pm-7pm
Show starts at 7:30pm
Bar is open until 10pm
General Admission seats are $32, and we have a limited number of VIP tickets for $42 with reserved seating up close to the stage! All tickets include a beer.
In order to maintain social distancing and keep groups together, we have a limited amount of single tickets at the bar, and all tables are sold together in groups of 4 or more. Gather your friends and make it a party!
To learn more about Old Dog Haven, check out OldDogHaven.org
Please read all of this!! As there will be online sales and then the in-person celebration which will happen at different times.
We partnered with 2 different breweries to brew Anniversary Beers.
Floodland brewed a beer that was blended from saison fermented and aged in barrels which formerly held Big Gin and refermented on organic 2022 harvest Balaton cherries from Apple Cart Fruit in the Okanogan Valley. This will be available as a bottle and on draft.
Otherlands brewed a spectacular German Pils—this will only be available on draft.
The Nitty Gritty
ONLINE RELEASE:
Floodland bottles will go on sale Wednesday, March 22nd @12pm.
Limit 2 per person. If you order more, we will cancel/refund your whole order!
Proxies: NONE—your ID must match the name on the order.
Pickup: We are asking that you pickup the bottles Thursday between 12 and 4pm. We are trying to avoid having them picked up during hours that we are open during our anniversary celebration as we will be busy enough pouring beer for you. If this time period doesn’t work, we will work with you, but please keep your ticket/order number from the receipt. This will really help us and speed up the process of you getting your bottles.
We have done everything in our power to improve our online platform, if there are technical difficulties we apologize in advance.
We are kicking our 18th anniversary celebration off on Friday, March 24th at 4pm, it runs through the weekend! In addition to having both Anniversary beers on draft, we will have a gravity keg pouring of the Pils, and 6 other beers from Floodland. We are still finalizing the other anniversary beers that will be on the draftlist, but we will be pulling past anniversary beers on draft as well as pulling bottles from the cellar for onsite consumption. Stay tuned for a complete draftlist!
The Hardliver Barleywine festival is now old enough to drink itself! That’s right, this is our 21st Hardliver!! Originally held at the Phinney Center in 2003, it was moved to Brouwer’s Café for our grand opening on St Paddy’s weekend in 2005 (whoa what a party that was!).
Whether you’re a hardcore Hardliver attendee or you haven’t been in a decade; whether you’re a barleywine aficionado or just started your exploration of beer; we invite you to join us for the 21st Hardliver Barleywine Festival on February 25th & 26th 2023.
It’s time to party like it was 2003! We plan to have 30+ barleywines on tap, from up and down the west coast! This is your opportunity to mix and match, taste and critique, and really wet your palette for what could easily become a barleywine obsession. Your liver has been warned! Let the training begin!
Alesong Meastro ’23 (13.5%) Eugene
2. Anchor Old Foghorn ’12 (9.4%) San Francisco
3. Away Days Bucket Head Bobby (9%) Portland
4. Big Time Old Wooly ’16 (10.3%) Seattle
5. Block 15 Hypnosis ‘22 (12.5%) Corvallis
6. Boneyard Wooden Femur Rye (11.5%) Bend
7. Chuckanut BA Barleywine (10.3%) Mt Vernon
8. Duel Citizen Mayhem and Mischief ’21 (11.5%) Minneapolis
9. Duel Citizen Mayhem and Mischief ’22 (12%) Minneapolis
What time is it again? You guessed it – Big Wood time; our time to celebrate all beers (and ciders) barrel-aged. Not barrel-aged? Not interested. That’s right, 25+ taps of beers that have been aged in barrels. We are talking real time, in real barrels. This is one of the events we put on that certainly isn’t to be missed.
On December 8th – 11th, 2022, we will once again dive deep into the bowels of the cellar and pull all sorts of vintage goods for your palate from sour to sweet and everything in between. So clear your calendars and plan to join us throughout the weekend. Big Wood is good.
Brouwer’s Café is honored to announce that we have been selected to participate in the Tilquin Fruit Extravaganza. There are 20 participating bars around the United States and only a few on the West Coast. The nearest event on the West Coast is in Santa Cruz! Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 12th and plan to join us.
What is the Tilquin Fruit Experience? Modeled after Cantillon Zwanze Day, It is an event that honors the blending of lambic from Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilguin. We will be receiving 5 unique beers that have never been on draft in Washington. What follows is a list of the beers we will have pouring:
Framboise- New larger scale batch prepared for Tilquin Fruit Extravaganza 2021-2022, with 220 gr of organic raspberries per liter of lambic, in a blend of 50% of 1 year old Meerts and 50% of 1 and 2 years old lambics. First time served on October 23, 2021.
Peche
New larger scale batch prepared for Tilquin Fruit Extravaganza 2021-2022, with 200 gr of organic peaches per liter of lambic, in a blend of 50% of 1 year old Meerts and 50% of 1 and 2 years old lambics. First time served on October 23, 2021
Sureau
Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Sureau Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 125 g of elderberries by liter of lambic. Unfiltered unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.
Myrtille Sauvage
The Myrtille Sauvage Tilquin à l’ancienne (6.6% alc/vol) is a spontaneous fermentation beer obtained from the fermentation of frozen wild blueberries in young lambics, blended with 1, 2 and 3 years lambic to reach a final concentration of fruits of 200 gr fruit per liter. This is a different version from the Experimental Draft Versions #1 and #2, as no Meerts lambic was used to lower the ABV of the blend. Served for the first time as a premiere at BxlBeerFest 2019 and sold at the blendery from 6th-7th of September
Cassis
The Cassis Tilquin à l’ancienne (6.3% alc/vol) is a spontaneous fermentation beer obtained from the fermentation of frozen blackcurrants in young lambics, blended with 1, 2 and 3 years lambic to reach a final concentration of fruits of 200 gr fruit per liter. This is a different version from the Experimental Draft Versions #1 and #2, as no Meerts lambic was used to lower the ABV of the blend. Served for the first time as a premiere at BxlBeerFest 2019 and sold at the blendery from 6th-7th of September
Details about November 12th
All beers will be on draft when we open at noon.
We are not selling tickets.
While these are limited beers we think that there will be plenty to go around. Please be kind with the staff.
That’s right we are closing down for the week from August 8th until Aug 16th. We all need a little time to get away, and we thought in the middle of August would be a perfect time to take a week long break. Thanks for understanding. See you after that, we reopen on Wednesday August 17th.
Sour Fest 2022 When the sun comes out for our Stout Fest, it’s usually cold and grey again for our Sour Fest! Pay that no mind though, whatever the weather, it’s aways a good time for Sours! Do you like Lambics? Yes! Funky beers? Yes! Wild beers? Yes! Are you on an unquenchable quest for everything sour? Yes! Then join us on Thursday May 19 th , for the kickoff of Sour Fest 2022.
This will be a wreak your palate, rip the enamel off your teeth good time! Bring your antacids, bring your friends, and bring your appetite for sour beers! Sour Fest will run all weekend, so you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy them all.
Stout Fest 2022 Seattle Beer Week and Stout Fest are back! As we all know, we are emerging from more than our recent rain-soaked winter here in the PNW. It’s been a long hard journey, and we are more than ready to see the sun again! So, with Seattle Beer Week back in full regalia, we are excited to announce the return of our Back in Black Stout Fest. Once you get through Friday the 13 th , join us on Saturday, May 14 th at Noon for the kickoff of our Stout Fest. This will be a celebration of dark, boozy beers, hearty food, and good friends! We’ve amassed quite a collection of stouts over the years, so invite you to take a trip down memory lane or try something totally new. They’re here for your enjoyment, and we look forward to seeing your faces!
Loam – a fertile soil of clay and sand containing humus, aka epic trail conditions found here in the PNW
Temple – a building or place devoted to worship
We all worship something to some degree or another! For some of us it’s nature, but even more specifically for mountain bikers, it’s the dirt and the woods that surround them while they ride. Our general manager Nat is one of those. He’ll readily admit that what’s kept him going over the years, kept him sane (reasonably!), is mountain biking and beers. With so much of his time devoted to Brouwers though, he isn’t able to get out there to “throw dirt” and help build trails. So, instead he inspired Loam Temple!
Loam Temple is a way to say thank you! It brings two passions together to honor the folks that regularly build and maintain mountain bike trails here in Washington (Evergreen and WMBC), as well as make awesome beer (Structures Brewing). Where these two communities intersect is where Nat lives and breathes, and he’s not alone there. So, drink and celebrate, you’re in fantastic company!
Interested in getting involved? This year we have a few ways to make that happen.
Thursday, April 7th – Loam Temple cans go on sale at Bottleworks, Brouwer’s Café and Structures Brewing. We will be closed for a private event on this day so no draft option. $2 from every 4-pack sold will be donated to either Evergreen (Seattle Sales) or WMBC (Structures Sales)
Starting Friday, April 8th and running through the following weekend, Loam Temple will be on draft at Brouwer’s Café and Bottleworks, and a portion the keg sales will be donated to Evergreen.
Saturday, April 9th– Dig day in Bellingham- followed by a party at Structures Brewing with a DJ and food truck.
Thursday, April 14th – An Evening with Evergreen at Brouwer’s Café. Stop in talk with the Evergreen folks about upcoming projects, renew your membership, raise a pint or 3, we will continue donating sales from the draft pours of Loam Temple to Evergreen.
Saturday, April 16th – A dig day with Evergreen sponsored by Brouwer’s Café in the I 90 corridor, come work on trails, drink Loam Temple and hang out.
It’s BEERlesque time again! One of our favorite events is back for the fourth time and has been rescheduled for Thursday, April 7th and this year we’ve partnered with Stoup Brewing Company to bring you a limited-edition beer brewed just for the occasion. For one night, we transform the beer cave into a burlesque club and fill the stage with Seattle’s finest entertainers to celebrate live art, drink great beer, and raise money for Old Dog Haven!
This year’s cast includes:
Ruby Mimosa – The Island Flower
Faggedy Randy – The Bronzed Bottom of Burlesque
Champagne Splitz – The World’s Saddest Showgirl
Amara Strutt – The Feathered Fox
Sailor St. Claire – The Showgirl Scholar
with more cast announcements to come!
The schedule for the night:
Doors open at 5pm
Dinner menu available from 5pm-7pm
Show starts at 7:30pm
Bar is open until 10pm
General Admission seats are $30, and this year we have a limited number of VIP tickets for $40 with reserved seating up close to the stage and swag bags! All tickets include your choice of either a Stoup BEERlesque Beer .
In order to maintain social distancing and keep groups together, we have a limited amount of single tickets at the bar, and all tables are sold together in groups of 4 or 6. Gather your friends and make it a party!
Can you believe we opened our doors for the first time in 2005?! That’s right, we are turning 17 this year, and what a ride it’s been! Thankfully we get to celebrate our 17th birthday with you in style again!
Since our 5th anniversary it’s become tradition to brew a special anniversary beer, and this year we decided to do two. We got together with Fair Isle (Ballard) to make a Strawberry/Rhubarb Sour Ale, and Single Hill (Yakima) to make a Frozen Fresh Hop IPA. Both of these anniversary beers will be on draft and available for take out.
We had to postpone celebrating and tapping the last two anniversary beers, so we’ll also be adding those to the line up. We won’t be publishing the full draft list just yet, but trust us when we say that there will be some real special beers to enjoy!
This year’s celebration will kick off Friday, March 25th (at 4pm) and run through the weekend. So block out some time that weekend, and plan on joining us. We look forward to celebrating 17 years with you!
We’ll admit it, we’re in love with New Belgium. Over the years they’ve hosted us and Bottleworks for many anniversary blendings! They’ve let us run wild in their Foeder Forest! And while lots has changed with New Belgium, lots has stayed the same. They make great beer! So, when Lauren Limbach said she was coming to town, we immediately started planning. Lauren started at New Belgian in 1997, and as a self-proclaimed beer “blender”, every position she’s ever held there didn’t previously exist. Flavor, quality and pushing beer boundaries is what she’s all about, and now she heads their sour program.
So, we wanted to create an opportunity for you to meet her in person, hear some of her great stories, and enjoy beers she has inspired!
What to expect:
Lots of great New Belgium beers (see list below)! The event kicks off at 6pm. Lauren will introduce herself and the beers with a short talk, then mix and mingle with New Belgium beer enthusiasts like you.
We will have some special beers for Lauren to talk about, including:
Le Terrior Green Walnut (Bottle Pours)
La Folie Grand Reserve Velvet Apricot (Bottle Pours)
Dominga (Cans) – With a shot of tequila, per Lauren’s request!
La Kriek Noir (Draft)
My Nirvana (Draft)
Decennium (Draft) – This was our 10th anniversary beer.
One of our favorite annual events, Drunk HERstory, was born in 2017 in response to the results of the last presidential election. Fearing cuts to some of the programs most vital to women’s health, some of the amazing women of the craft beer industry banded together to put on a show highlighting women in history and raising money for an organization that does so much for our population – Planned Parenthood.
We unfortunately had to cancel this event during the Pandemic, but in 2022 Drunk HERstory will once again take center stage to educate and entertain guests with fun skits highlighting some of the most badass women around. As has been tradition, proceeds from beer sales at event will go directly to Planned Parenthood to help further their mission of providing affordable medical and reproductive health care to people of all genders.
Please join us on March 10th at 5pm (show starts at 6pm) for a wonderful tradition of celebrating women and especially the women of our terrific industry. This year, in the interest of health and safety, we have decided to make Drunk HERstory a ticketed event. We will have spaces for individuals, think Theater seating near the stage, as well as bar seating. The Tables will be sold only as 4-6 tops, so that you can determine who you are sharing close contact with. Tickets will be $15, with all proceeds going to Planned Parenthood. There will also be a silent auction, think rare beers and other specialties upstairs, 100% of the proceeds from this auction will be donated to Planned Parenthood.
Schedule for the evening:
Doors open at 5pm
Dinner menu available from 5pm-8pm
Show starts at 6:30 pm
Bar is open until 10pm
Come join us to raise money for this great organization, raise a pint or two and laugh your ass off.
**Please note: per venue policy, all attendees must be fully vaccinated.
Hardliver 2022— Lil liver ? or another name here or nothing?
20 years? What were you doing 20 years ago. Was it even legal for you to drink? Did you even know what Barleywine was? Or were you at the Phinney Ridge Center for the inaugural year of this event. 20 years of flogging your livers, its time to celebrate, and we wish things were different and we could throw one giant party where everyone hung out all day, drank through the list of beers, and enjoyed the malty goodness. But the pandemic has yet to release its grip on the day to day and to limit our close interactions. We are sure there’s enough alcohol in Barleywine stop almost anything in its tracks, but it is not to be at this time. The show must go on as it does and we would like to add a little familiarity and normalcy to all the chaos.
Originally held in the Phinney Ridge Center as a Bottleworks festival early on before Brouwer’s Café was open, in 2005 when we opened it was with this festival, what a way to kick it all off. In one way or another the festival has continued ever year since. And it will continue.
Hardliver 2022 will take place. The 20th Anniversary of this great event. It is scheduled for Saturday, February 26 and Sunday, February 27th. Again, while we wish we could showcase 50 plus barleywines on this the 20th year of the event we are going to have 25 plus this year. Lets all hope that next year we can have a little more normalcy and a few more beers on tap for the event.
Cheers to 20 years and heres to 20 more!
May your livers be strengthened by the merriment of consuming Barleywine!
We had high hopes for this year, thinking we might see a transition from pandemic to endemic, maybe getting back to a sense of normality! But no, not yet! By design, Hop Mob is a large gathering, and while we’d certainly enjoy seeing all of you, standing shoulder to shoulder, drinking great beers, we can’t in good conscience do that quite yet!
Hop Mob is about brewers brewing the beer they think has the best hop expression (yummy hops!), and we’ve decided to still host it, but in a much more subdued way. Brouwers will host Hop Mob on February 10th with 13 event specific, deliciously hoppy beers on draft.
One of these beers will be Supreme Triumvirate! Many of you are familiar with our house IPA Triumvirate, brewed for us by Rueben’s Brews in Ballard. Well, this will be an Imperial version – think 9% Triumvirate. When Adam reached out to us about this idea, we were thrilled because Reubens will be turning 10 this year (wow where did the time go!), and we are proud to be one of their beer partners. Supreme Triumvirate will be available here and at Bottleworks on February 10th, in cans and on draft. It will then be released at Reubens on Saturday, February 12th, and elsewhere the following week.
We will open at 4pm on February 10th, and we welcome you to join us for a pint or two, and wish Reubens a happy 10th. We’ll also have food specials and cans to go!
Little Bigwood—December 2 nd – 5 th Can you believe it’s almost December?! The holidays weren’t the same without you last year, and we’ve come a long way since then, so we decided it’s time for a wee bit of a celebration.
Bigwood is one of our favorite festivals here at Brouwer’s Café. Why you ask? Well, it’s the barrel aged beers of course! For this event we’re able to tap all styles of beer, from Stouts to Sours, as long as they’ve been aged on wood. Plus these are the ones we personally love to drink!
So, why “Little” Bigwood? Well, we are still in a pandemic after all. We used to switch out every tap with a barrel aged beer, but with our still limited seating (and desire to help keep everyone healthy!), we figured somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 barrel aged beers would do the trick.
What can you expect? The draft-list will be filled with cellar picks from years gone by, as well as some more recently acquired barrel aged goodies. You won’t be disappointed, and we willrelease the list in advance! So, come join us for the 2021 Little Bigwood, because well, you deserve it!
No reservations accepted, bring your mask and vax card.
It’s mid-September the rain has started to return, and we are excited. This change signals the return of fall, which makes us think of a couple of things, Oktoberfest, and the fall harvest going on in Yakima. Here in the NW this is special times, breweries start taking lots of early morning trips to Yakima to harvest/pick up the freshest of hops, and then quickly return to Seattle to get them in the kettle.
