Author: Brouwer's Cafe

Cancer Sux, let’s help Eugene kick it’s ass!!!

Cancer Sux!! We are sure there is not a person out there that has not in some way shape or form been effected by this horrible disease. A few months back Eugene Koptin, our barback, was diagnosed with Leukemia and has been locked in battle with it ever since. He is only 22 years old. For those of you that met him you know what a character he was, so full of life. He has spent most of the past months, since the diagnosis, in the hospital or not far from it. In an effort to help him out with the mounting bills etc. we have decided to throw a party in his honor. We have contacted some of our friends in the industry, who were more than happy to help out. On Tuesday, February 21st we will host a party here. We will sell raffle tickets, and host an auction for a few items. The proceeds from a selection of kegs, the raffle, and auction will all go directly to Eugene. We would like to thank all the Breweries for their gracious donations. We hope that you mark your calender and make it a point to come out and support Eugene, and let Cancer know that we think it Sux. We hope that he is well enough to be on hand, but are not sure that is possible at this time. Help us Help Eugene. We will have an update as to what the raffle items and auction items will be in the near future as well as a list of those that helped out with this event.
Don’t forget to get your pin! We have been selling these for awhile now, and the are currently available. All proceeds from the sale of these Cancer Sux pins go directly to help Eugene. Thank you in advance for your support.

Just a reminder…

We are raising money to help a former co worker of ours out, Eugene Koptin is fighting with Cancer…We are selling Cancer Sux buttons for $5, all of the proceeds go to help Eugene out. Help us help him and purchase a button. We are also in the process of putting together an event where we will donate the proceeds from a bunch of kegs to Eugene. Stay tuned we will be announcing this in the near future.

We hope you are enjoying the snow. We certainly are. We will be closed Sunday January 22nd and Monday, January 23rd for employee appreciation. We will be open our regular hours on Tuesday, January 24th. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Hardliver is Saturday, March 3rd -5th. We are in the process of updating the website, it has last years dates on it. We sorry for any confusion this maybe causing you. This is also last years logo, we are in the process of designing this years as I type this.

For those of you that don’t already know, we opened a new place, The Publican, a few weeks ago, serving Breakfast all day, 22 taps, craft canned beer galore, and a huge collection of Whiskey and Tequila. The Publican is located at 2253 N 56th in the Tangletown neighborhood. Please come check out our new restaurant. The Chicken and Waffles are amazing. Check The Publican out on Facebook.

Attention!!!Attention!!

We have some closures to announce. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you. This Sunday, January 15th we will be closed for a private party starting at 2pm, we will be open for lunch this Sunday. We will be open regular hours on Monday.
We will also be closed on Sunday, January 22 and Monday, January 23 for employee appreciation. Again sorry in advance for an inconvenience this may cause you.

Also don’t forget, the 10th edition of Hardliver Barleywine Fest is March 3-6th, our annual celebration of Barleywine. We replace all of our taps with a delicious Barleywine. There is usually a line for this one so be prepared. We are working on putting up a partial list in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned.

New Year’s Eve

We are open our regular hours on New Year’s Eve. You ask, “Are we doing anything special to ring in the New Year?” The answer is simple, “nothing short of what we do ever day”. Thank you for your support over the years and we look forward to serving you in the upcoming year.

We are closed on Sunday, January 1st for our staff to enjoy the new year. We hope that you do the same.

Let’s all celebrate!!!

Chanukah, that is. On Tuesday night, December 20th, the first day of Chanukak, as part of Shmaltz’s 150 Chosen Bars we will be pouring Shmaltz’s Jewbelation 15, Lenny’s RIPA and Smaltz/Terripin Reunion Ale. Come in and have a glass or two. The Jewbelation 15 consists of 15 malts, 15 hops and is always a unique and rare beer. We are looking forward to having it on draft.


Don’t forget that on Saturday, December 17th at 4pm the Firestone Walker’s Ugly Sweater Party kicks off. We will be pouring a special beer, there will be a special 25 oz glass available and prizes @6pm from under the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Wear your ugly sweater, come in and enjoy delicious and hoppy Firestone Walker beers. For those of you that attended Bigwood last week and enjoyed the unblended Velvet Merkin we will be tapping another keg around 6pm as well.

How Bout that Ugly Christmas Sweater?


In the last post I mentioned that Firestone Walker had something in the works, and to find that Ugly Sweater.(there’s a visual aid pictured above) Well I am pleased to inform you that this event, Think Ugly Sweater with a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, is this Saturday, December 17th at 4pm . We will be pouring a very special beer from Firkins in to these:
Santa knows you, here in the Northwest, love all things hoppy and has a very special beer for you. No, I am not going to say exactly what, but I can assure you that your taste buds will thank you for showing up. In addition we will have Pale 31 (pre J), the UJ(in its purest form), Velvet Merlin (the other side of the rainbow), and towards the end of this event we will be tapping an Unblended Velvet Merkin (Rainbow in the dark)…all words in () provided by the Firestone rep.

Alright, you probably are bored of me typing on so you want details, here you go:
1. Wear your ugly sweater
2. The event starts at 4pm, we have a limited (40) of the large mugs pictured above, have a mug and you get to be the some of the first to taste this special beer. It is 25 oz, cost $20 filled on the first time, $12 dollars the second time. (you can still drink this beer without a mug but it will cost $7 a pint).
3. With your mug purchase you also receive a ticket for a prize that will be under the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (gifts will be given between 6 and 7). Gifts will run the gamete from funny to awesome.
4. Have fun, it is the holidays after all, a time to reflect and be thankful.
5. Hope to see you Saturday!

Just a reminder…


Hey there! Above is the Bigwood t shirt image. We hope you like it. They will be available for purchase in the upcoming days. The kegs are coming in and our cooler is filling up. We are excited about this event and hope you are as well. Its only a week away and we have some woody goodness in store for you. Chef Bobby is also coming up with some tasty treats in the kitchen to compliment the beers.

We have a cool event int the works for Saturday, December 17th, I can’t give you details right now other than I hope you have an ugly sweater handy.

On a side note, we will be closed on both December 24th and 25 for Christmas, but reopen regular hours on Monday the 26th. We hope you enjoy a wonderful Holiday. Will we get snow this year? Also don’t forget to stop by Bottleworks and pick up craft beers for the beer lover on your Christmas list.

Bigwood is just around the corner


We hope that your Turkey Day is a good one! We would like take this time to say thank you for your support over the years. Without your love of fine malt beverages and your patronage we would not be able to do all that we do. With that we have decided to post a few of the beers that are going to be available at BigWood, Your Welcome! We know with the last few festivals we held all the info in and that was not the right choice, so we thought this would be a great time to provide you with information…Knowing after much time with your family you will need a distraction. As you sit on the couch having too much to eat and drink you can daydream about Thursday, December 8th.

Some of the Bigwood Beers:

Alaskan Perseverance RIS

Allagash Curieux

Avery Rumpkin

Big Time 2010 Bourbon/Oaked Old Rip

Dogfish Head Palo Santo

Double Mountain Wooden Nipple Barrel Aged Triple

Full Sail Black Gold

Glacier Makers Mark Eisbock

Great Divide Oaked Rumble IPA

Hitachino Classic in Schnider-Wiesse Barrel

HOD 2008 Fred Flanders

HUB Bourbon Baltic Porter

Maritime BBN Jolly Roger

Nectar Black Xantus

New Belgium Love

Oakshire Hellshire II Oaked Imperial Stout

Port Townsend Oaked Mables Best Imperial Stout

Russian River Supplication

Russian River Temptation

Schooner Exact Hoppy the Woodsman

Shmaltz Barrel Aged Blockhead

Silver City 2010 Fat Woody

The Bruery 3 French Hens


We are packing in the events…


Tonight at 6pm, Alaskan Brewer’s night…Don’t expect to see Amber, but so expect Baltic Porter, IPA, Perseverance( their 25th Anniversary), Oatmeal Stout, and a handful of others. If that isn’t enough we have another event on Thursday.

Awhile back we got a few J.W. Lee’s Wooden Barrel Casks in. With the changing of the season we have decided that it was time to pour a couple of them. On Thursday, November 10 we will be pouring two of them, a Port and a Lagavulin, both these are 2010 vintages. This will be a fun night.

Next Monday, November 14th is a very special night with Firestone Walker. Its the release of their Anniversary Beer, Firestone XV. We will be pouring one 1/6 barrel, starting at 7pm, don’t expect it to last very long. We have Parabola, 13 and 14 available in the bottle and for on site consumption only. This is a not to be missed event.

On Tuesday, November 15th, we along with many other establishments around the country will host : Coast to Coast a toast to Vanberg and Dewulf importers of fine Belgian Beers like Scaldis, Saison Dupont, Moinette and Witkap to name a few

Addtionally our much anticipated Wood Aged beer event is shaping up nicely. Look for some special beers from New Belgium, HUB Brouwer’s 6th anniversary, Great Divide Oak aged Yeti, Nectar Black Xantus, The Bruery 3 French Hens, and many more…Trust us you will not be dissappointed. It all starts Thursday, December 8th at 11am when the doors open.

Firestone Walker XV Release…

The much anticipated release of Firestone’s anniversary beer, on draft, here in Seattle will be on Monday, November 14th. Bottles of XV will also be for sale starting at 11am at Bottleworks. I imagine there will be a limited number that can be purchased per person. This is one of those beers that I anticipate will only get better with age.
As I am sure most of you are aware, this is a rare beer, and even more rare on draft. We will be tapping one small keg at 7pm. There will be a few other Firestone Beers on draft, adn we are also working on getting a special IPA, one that we had in the past, but nothing has been confirmed yet. From the sounds of it Brewmaster Matt Brynildson had a lot of fun making this beer, he calls in the winemakers from around Paso Robles and has them help with the blending. The first Anniversary beer was made for Firestone’s 10th anniversary, and one has been released every year since. Here’s a link with more information about the blending process, and a little history as well. We look forward to this night with much anticipation. If XV isn’t enough for you we also have Parabola, 13, and 14 available in the bottle for consumption on site, no to go sales here.

Don’t forget our other events as well:

Tuesday, November 8th, Alaskan Brewer’s night, we will be pouring their IPA, Perseverance Anniversary Ale, Smoked Porter and others.

Tuesday, November 15th, Coast to Coast Toast, a toast to the Importers Vanberg and DeWulf importers of fine Belgian Beers like: Scaldis, Dupont, Foret, and Moinette to name a few.

We have some events….

Bigwood, our celebration of wood aged beers is just around the corner. All the woody goodness starts flowing at 11am on Thursday, December 8th. We expect you to take the day off so that you can join us for the day. We will be getting a draftlist together for this one early, look for updates on the blog. I know for the past two festivals we have not posted a draftlist early and we apologize and plan to get a partial list up much earlier for this festival.
Tuesday, November 8th at 6pm, come on in for a Alaskan Brewers night. We will not be pouring the amber, but will have 8 dedicated Alaskan taps including their IPA, Oatmeal Stout and their 25th Anniversary Perseverance Ale. There will be a brewery representative on hand to answer all of your questions.

Its that time of year again, time for some of us to pedal our bikes in circles in the mud and grass for the fun that is called Cyclocross, Sunday, November 13 we host the end of the season party for the MFG Cyclocross series. The upstairs will be closed and used to host this party.
On Tuesday, November 15th, we along with many other establishments around the country will host : Coast to Coast a toast to Vanberd and Dewulf importers of fine Belgian Beers like Scaldis, Saison Dupont, Moinette and Witkap to name a few. What follows is a little more info:

November 15, 2011 – King’s Day in Belgium – marks the official day (and night) of the Coast to Coast Toast celebration for the 30th anniversary of the founding of Vanberg & DeWulf. Ever and always our mission has been to support independent, family-run breweries and indigenous beer styles that express the spirit of a place.

Although the Coast to Coast Toast is taking place on our birthday, at its core, the Toast is a salute to the Heroes of the Good Beer Movement: the bars, restaurants, stores, and patrons who made our cause their cause too. Won’t you join us, on November 15, for the nationwide festivities in honor of good beer?

Who loves Washington? and Washington Beer? We are all well aware that Washington brews some of the greatest beer in the nation, and for that matter the world. Tomorrow we invite you to come on down and hoist a pint in honor of our great state. Lets all say a big thank you to the great brewers that have decided to call Washington home, for without them the long winter would be that much longer. See you tomorrow.

Listen up!!!!

The month of October is near, I know this because, this weekend is the Fremont Oktoberfest.

We have a few other events in the Month of October that I’d like to tell you about:

Thursday, October 6th at 6pm is a Bayern Brewing. We will have 5 wooden casks on the bar, The beers pouring will be Dopplebock, Dark Hefe, Pils, Oktoberfest, and Amber.

Saturday, October 8th: We will be closing at 3pm for a private event.


Wednesday, October 12th, its our Washington Beer Fest, we replace all our taps with Washington, and celebrate this great state. Brewers please get in touch with us and let us know what beer you’d like to showcase at this festival.


Saturday, October 22nd, at 2pm the Seattle Weekly Homebrew Awards. The beer will be brewed by Big Al. This is the 3rd year of this event.

And I know its a ways off, BigWood, our festival of wood aged beers, will start Thursday, December 8th. Mark your calenders and get the day off or at least get the next day off so you can recover.

Thanks!!!

Thank you all for coming out for Hopfest. We still have quite a few hoppy selections on draft, so if you didn’t get your fix over the weekend come on back for some more.
The Hopfest winners, chosen by popular vote, were:
1. Founders Devil Dancer
2 HUB Bourbon Ace of Spades
3.Left Coast Hop Juice

Thank you to those who voted.


Tonight we are hosting Big Al Brewers Night starting at 6pm. Big Al, the original Local Hero,will be in attendance. We are pouring their Big Hoppa IPA, Pale Ale, Brougham Bitter, Smoked Porter, Mixed Berry Sour, Kolsch, Local Hero #10 Haynerweizen, and Irish Red. We hope to see you here.

Vote for us!!!

Who thinks we have the best beer selection in the city? I think you do, we think we do. Its that time of the year again. King 5 is asking people to vote for their Best Of Western Washington, and we are in the running for the Best Beer Selection. Please take the time to vote for us by going to their website. I’ve made it easy…(Follow the link here .) Thanks in advance for your support.

Who loves hops? We do!!! The cooler is filling up as we speak, and we are getting ready for lupulin to fall from the heavens and descend upon us all. Hopfest starts Friday September 9th at 11am. We expect their to be a line. So plan accordingly.



I hate to admit it, but fall is coming. But lets admit, Fall just happens to be a great season for cycling endeavors of the Cyclocross variety. Cyclocross just happens to be a favorite of the Belgians. For the past couple of seasons we have been a sponsor of a great local Cross series, MFG. On Tuesday September 6th the upstairs will be closed and we will be hosting the series annual opening party upstairs starting at 7pm.



If thats not enough for you. Right after Hopfest on Tuesday September 13th, at 6pm we are having a Big Al Brewers night. We will be pouring their Ipa, Pale, Irish Red, Brougham Bitter, Smoked Porter, Kolsch, Weissbier, and a sour beer of their choosing. Come on down and sample some of White Center’s finest.

We got some events coming up…



For one Hopfest is just around the corner. It starts Friday, September 9th and runs through the end of the weekend. The cooler is filling up with delicious hoppy goodness. The image above is one of the possible t shirt logos for this year. As we have in past years there will be a special menu, we will be serving Frog legs, Kangaroo, and Rabbit, hoppy animals to compliment the hoppy beers.



Thursday, October 6th we are having a Bayern Brewing night starting at 6pm. The brewery will be bringing in 5 beers in wooden casks and tapping them on the bar top. The beers pouring will be Dopplebock, Dark Hefe, Pils, Oktoberfest, and Amber.



Wednesday, October 12th Washington Beer Fest. We will be replacing all of our taps with Washington Beers. More info to come.

Attention!!!Attention!!!


I have an announcement. I just got off the phone with a one Mr Tomme Arthur, shortly after that I received an email with the list of the beers that he is sending our way. I am not going to list all of them here and now, but you can expect to see some of his year round beers on draft like, Lost Abbey Devotion, Lost and Found, Port Wipeout and Mongo Double Ipa, Port Summer Pale and Shark Attack . You can also expect to see Serpents Stout, Old and Older Viscosity, and Angels Share. I will tell you that Tomme did dig deep in to his cellar and sent Anit Ox ( it was here very shortly for Sour Fest), his Framboise, and Saints Devotion an all Brett version of Devotion. I hesitate to list all the beers cause that just isn’t fun…come on down and see what else he has sent our way, I promise you will not be dissappointed.