Helping Seniors One Beer at a Time

Last weekend, in the quaint farming town of Snohomish, was a beer fest unlike any other.  Was it the heaping plates of German food?  Was it the life-sized Alf serving beer?  Was it the plethora of drink tickets and generous pours?  The answer is YES.

For the second year in a row, the Snohomish BrewFest invited beer lovers into their Senior Center for two days of tasty seasonal brews.  With 20 breweries ready to fill up my hefty 4oz tasting glass, I headed for the nearest tap handle.

Notable Beer #1:

Old Schoolhouse Brewery's Imperial Stout

One of their Brewer's Reserve beers, this imperial weighs in around 10% ABV.  Smooth, creamy, malty love swept across my palette.  Convincing my friends to try it wasn't difficult.  

Notable Beer #2: 

Paradise Creek Brewery's Pumpkin Porter
Located over in Pullman, WA, Paradise Creek has been making more appearances at beer fests around the state.  This season, I have tried dozens of pumpkin beers.  This PC Porter was impeccable.  It had the chocolatey malt with creamy pumpkin.  Extremely well balanced on both ends.

Notable Beer #3:
Big E Ales' Blackberry Ale
Usually I am picky about the fruit beers that I like.  This one had me at hello.  One sip and I was sold.    A dark ale at 7.2%ABV, I wasn't expecting the pleasant mouth full of jam.  Not sweet and syrupy, just wholesome blackberries.  Even after spending a few tickets at the Big E table, I yearned for more.  But, unfortunately, I was still in search of notable number four.

Notable Beer #4:
Iron Horse Brewery's High Five Hefe
I'm a little embarrassed to note that with all of my ventures over to E-burg to this brewery, I never reached for this hefeweizen.  Being a hophead, I tend to shy away from wheat beers.  Maybe if the sun is hot and the lawn needs to be mowed, I could make an exception.  (Who am I kidding?  I don't mow.)  Bottom line folks, I have been missing out.  This brew didn't need the obligatory lemon to spice up the often bland wheat taste.  With hints of honey and ginger, I could dream of drinking this brew all year long.

Besides the great beer, the Snohomish Beerfest was filled with kind people.  Hard to find these days in over crowded, filled to the max, festivals.  All the volunteers were there to help out this community's senior center, a well used building right across from the library.  With senior parents of my own, I know first hand how that social outlet for the retired can literally be a life saver.  And if I have to drink some beer to help, sign me up!


Snohomish BrewFest
www.snohobrewfest.com