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Information and Details about WA Cask Beer Festival

by Kendall Jones, Washington Beer Blog

We received an official press release today from the Washington Brewers Guild regarding this year’s Cask Beer Festival. The event takes place at the end of this month at Seattle Center. This is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year for local beer lovers. We now have all the details, including information about the particpating breweries. We also have information about this year’s version of Herbert’s Legendary Cask Fest Ale. Some changes to the beer bearing Bert Grant’s name.

Click here to see our previous posts about Washington Cask Beer Festival, including coverage of past events. Otherwise, here’s the press release from the Guild:

 

The Washington Brewers Guild presents

2012 WASHINGTON CASK BEER FESTIVAL

Saturday March 31st, 2012 12-4pm & 5:30-9:30pm Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion

(Seattle, WA) March 5, 2012- Washington Cask Beer Festival is going back to its roots. After several years of hiatus the Washington Brewers Guild is returning as the presenting sponsor of the Washington Cask Beer Festival on Saturday, March 31st at the Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion.

Washington Brewers Guild is a non-profit organization whose mission is to build a community of Washington State brewers, protect and advance their common interests through legislative process, and to promote the quality and value of their beers. The Guild represents more than 60 brewery members and is led by the Executive Committee who is tasked to lead legislative discussions and make sure the brewing industry’s voice is heard in Olympia. Over the years the Guild has tackled various issues including fighting excise tax increases, defending breweries’ right to self-distribute, and opposing deregulation of the industry. Some of those achievements were not only remarkable but even life-saving to many of its member breweries. As this year’s legislative session nears the end the Guild continues to keep an eye on new developments in Olympia to make sure the Washington brewing industry can continue to grow, create new jobs, and contribute to the economic well-being of the local communities.

Washington brewers are known for its tight-knit community and the Guild’s return as the presenter of the Cask Festival is a fitting homecoming for many brewers. While the Washington Beer Commission, the Guild’s sister organization, is in charge of consumer marketing the Guild focuses on education and community building among the brewing community in addition to lobbying. The Cask Festival was originally founded by several Guild member breweries back in 2000, one year after the organization was formed in an attempt to create a platform to showcase what the Washington brewers had to offer. The event mostly features unique, one-off cask-conditioned beers that require the brewers to flex their creative muscles and technical skills, and for this reason it is a favorite beer festival of many beer connoisseurs and brewers alike. Washington brewers often freely exchange ideas, seek technical advices, and trade equipment and ingredients with each other, and such supportive and collaborative culture helped made the Washington Cask Beer Festival one of the best beer festivals of its kind in the nation.

The Cask Festival will host two sessions, one from noon to 4pm and a second session from 5:30pm to 9:30pm on Saturday, March 31st. Admission is $35 in advance or $40 at the door if tickets are still available. The event will feature over 70 cask-conditioned beers including the Herbert’s Legendary Cask Festival Ale, a collaborative beer brewed every year in honor of late Bert Grant, a legendary Washington beer icon. Separate tickets are required for each session. Admission includes a commemorative tasting cup and up to 25 sample tastes. Tickets are available online at www.washingtonbrewersguild.org and at select ticket outlets. The event is expected to sell out so advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended. This is a 21 and over only event.

Participating breweries:

7 Seas Brewing (Gig Harbor)

Airways Brewing (Kent)

American Brewing (Edmonds)

Anacortes Brewery (Anacortes)

Big Al Brewing (Seattle)

Big Time Brewery (Seattle)

Black Raven Brewing (Redmond)

Boundary Bay Brewery (Bellingham)

Diamond Knot Brewing (Mukilteo)

Dick’s Brewing (Centralia)

Elliott Bay Brewing (Seattle & Burien)

Elysian Brewing (Seattle)

Epic Ales (Seattle)

Fremont Brewing (Seattle)

Georgetown Brewing (Seattle)

Hale’s Ales Brewery (Seattle)

Harmon Brewing (Tacoma)

Iron Horse Brewery (Ellensburg)

Issaquah Brewhouse (Issaquah)

Mac & Jack’s Brewing (Redmond)

Maritime Pacific Brewing (Seattle)

McMenamin’s Pubs & Breweries (Seattle)

Naked City Brewery (Seattle)

New Belgium Brewing (Seattle)

North Sound Brewing (Mt. Vernon)

Pike Brewing (Seattle)

Port Townsend Brewing (Port Townsend)

Ram Restaurant & Brewery (Seattle)

Redhook Brewery (Woodinville)

Rock Bottom Brewery (Bellevue)

Rock Bottom Brewery (Seattle)

Schooner Exact Brewing (Seattle)

Silver City Brewery (Silverdale)

Snipes Mountain Brewing (Sunnyside)

Snoqualmie Falls Brewing (Snoqualmie)

Sound Brewery (Poulsbo)

Two Beers Brewing (Seattle)

WASHINGTON CASK BEER FESTIVAL

Saturday, March 31, 2012 12-4pm & 5:30-9:30pm Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion

DATE

Saturday, March 31, 2012

HOURS

Session 1- 12-4 pm

Session 2- 5:30-9:30 pm

Separate ticket required for each session

LOCATION

Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion

305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109

ADMISSION

$35 advance tickets or $40 at the door if still available. Admission includes a commemorative tasting cup and up to 25 sample tastes.

Must be 21 years old or older and have a valid ID to be admitted.

Designated driver admission is $5 and available at the door only.

Tickets are on sale online at www.washingtonbrewersguild.org and at select outlets

BEERS

Washington Cask Beer Festival is a major highlight of the Pacific Northwest beer festival scene. The event features more than 70 one-of-a-kind cask-conditioned beers from the region’s most innovative microbreweries. To stay true to the tradition of cask-conditioned beer the Festival requires brewers to naturally condition the beer in a firkin or other vessels without artificially introducing CO2. Poured by gravity the result is smooth ale with a thick creamy head that brings out subtle, nuanced flavors.

HERBERT’S LEGENDARY CASK FEST ALE

Also serving is Herbert’s Legendary Cask Festival Ale, a special cask beer brewed collectively by the Washington brewers in memory of Bert Grant, a legendary Washington beer icon. This year’s Herbert’s received a slight facelift and was brewed in a Dark English Mild style by Diamond Knot Brewing. The new and improved Herbert’s will debut at a release party scheduled for late March at Brouwer’s Café and will be available at the Cask Festival as well as select pubs prior to the event.

BENEFICIARY

Washington Brewers Guild is a non-profit organization whose mission is to build a community of Washington State brewers, advance their common interests through the legislative process and promote the quality and value of their beers.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Web site: www.washingtonbrewersguild.org

Email: lmiyashita@gmail.com

Phone (press inquiries): (206) 915-0015

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Filed under: Washington Beer News, Washington Cask Beer Festival