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.
After a COVID-year hiatus, Brouwer’s Café will be hosting our annual Stout and Sour Fest once again during Seattle Beer Week, this time a little bit differently.
In order to revive Stout and Sour Fest from a rough year off, we knew what was needed was a shot (or two) in the arm. Fortunately, the team here in the beer cave has just that. Having our staff fully vaccinated made us feel like hosting a Beer Week event was actually possible. Still though, we know many people are not or will not hit that milestone before the annual May festivities would have kicked off. Once again, we are going to pivot the event a tad to keep it as responsible as we can.
This year, instead of two separate events with too much beer for the current climate, we are going to hold Stout and Sour Fest jointly throughout Beer Week. It’ll be a bit smaller, obviously, as have been the events we’ve held in the last couple of months. What we are thinking is putting twelve stouts and twelve sours for your enjoyment. We’ll make sure the quality of the beers make up for the lack of quantity. It is a departure from the usual Beer Week blowout, but we know bigger festivals and events are down the road, hopefully sooner than we think.
In addition to the in-house draft list, we’ll also be doing special “Fest-at-Home” packs for those who want to make it to their own milestones before venturing out to events again. Those will be made available on May 2nd.
As is the case with everyday dining here, we are strictly adhering to all King County regulations for indoor and outdoor dining. We are also placing a cap on party sizes to six (6) guests. We won’t be taking reservations, and as such, we ask that tables limit their time here to two (2) hours. That should be plenty of time to get your fill of awesome brews.
Beer Week has historically been the end of our festival season here and we really want to thank all of your who have beared with us and supported us as we’ve tried to deliver a little bit of normal through Big Wood, Hard Liver, our Anniversary, and this upcoming week. This time has been anything but normal, and we look forward to seeing a lot of you in the near future. Hopefully. Keep wearing your masks and wash your damn hands.
Last year we planned to blow the doors off any previous anniversaries.
Last year we wanted to celebrate fifteen f*ckin’ years of craft beer.
Last year we were going to run back some of our amazing birthday beers for the last time.
Last year we couldn’t wait to see hundreds of our friends at the biggest party we could throw.
All of that was so last year. This year, though? Well, we’re turning sixteen and given the difficulties of the previous year, we are pretty stoked to be doing so. Making it through all the gray and uncertain days has been a labor of love, but thankfully, a light at the end of this is starting to brighten. That being said, we’ll be celebrating our anniversary this year in a more subdued manner. We are still going to have some kick ass vintage pulls from our cellar, so no worries there. We will also be following the state mandates for capacity and party sizes, so those days of being shoulder to shoulder drinking, laughing, and celebrating will have to wait for another year.
As is tradition though, we are going to have some kickass brews for you to celebrate with. First up will be Stationary Momentum IPA from Ravenna Brewing. Tommy, Audra, Alex, and the rest of the team over there are putting together a super refreshing, northwest style IPA that will pair well with the terrific weather we are having and hope to keep around for a while.
Our second beer will be coming from the wild beer minds of Paul and Eric, of The Ale Apothecary and The North Fork, respectively. Both brewed the same base beer at each of their spots and then Eric drove down to Bend to blend his version with Paul’s. The finished product is a spontaneous ale brewed with Aronia berries and then aged on Chardonnay Lees. If you know either of these two breweries or brewers, you know it won’t be a beer to be missed.
As we get closer to the date, we’ll release the draftlist as well as the instructions on how to get these great beers out of our hands, and into yours.
We feel incredible lucky to have had the support of the Seattle beer scene for sixteen years and we know with your support we’ll be here another sixteen. Cheers!
Wait, didn’t we just do this? Well yes, but also, no. Back in October several fine establishments and patrons at home raised a glass and celebrated one of the finest Trappist beers in the world. It was a make-up Orval Day, kind of like a snow day, except this snow was a global pandemic and the day has now been a year. As the world slowly crawls out of the fog, the fine people at Merchant du Vin, the importers of Orval, wanted to get Orval Day back to rightful place in March. Brouwer’s Café, the fine people who love Orval, don’t want to miss an opportunity to get an Orval into the hands of the 25% masses. While we wish the days were still here that we were opening up cases of Orval, filling the big glass, and passing it all around, we still think it is a day worth celebrating. Whether you come in and see us that day or add an Orval to your to-go order, everyone can safely celebrate this wonderful brew together, separately. Did we mention it is for a great cause? Each year Merchant du Vin makes a donation to charity based on US sales of Orval on Orval Day. This year, their charitable contribution will go to regional US hunger-relief organizations Houston Food Bank and our very own Northwest Harvest. Charitable donations AND an Orval?! Sounds like a pretty good Saturday to us. Cheers!
Event: 19 th Annual Hard Liver Barleywine Festival Date: February 25- 28th, 2021 Summary: Brouwer’s will be tapping 12-16 barleywines in celebration of Hard Liver this year. We will also be making a select number of beer packs to enjoy the festival at home. Last year if you would have told us that the next event we’d hold after Hard Liver would be Hard Liver again, we’d have to have cut you off from service. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened and soon after last year’s festival we all entered into a pandemic lifestyle that made such events impossible for us to host. Well, though things remain tentative, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Should phase restrictions currently in place remain in place, we feel confident in being able to put on an abbreviated version of one of our most popular events. To spread out the seekers of “life”, we are going to hold this event over four days instead of two, meaning the beers will be tapped and ready to go on Thursday, February 25th. Remember, party sizes are limited to six people from a max of three households and our capacity is capped at 25%. As an extra precaution, we are limiting indoor dining to parties of five (5). Parties of six will be seated outside. We are placing an extra restriction this year as well – glass sharing between households will be prohibited. We know there is a lot of sharing that happens at our festivals as people aim to try as many of the offerings and this year. We simply cannot allow that to go on this year; don’t hesitate to ask for an extra glass or two. For those that will choose to fest at home, we will be offering limited mixed packs of 6-8 barleywines so you can play Hard Liver: The Home Game. That pack will be posted and put in our webstore for pre-order on Sunday, February 21st. Pickup will begin on Thursday the 25th. We know it isn’t ideal and we wish we could burst open the doors like we used to, but this is the best we can offer right now. We hope to see some of you that weekend for one of our favorite events!
Hallo and Hello. Well, this year has been quite the ride. With perhaps the exception being the noticeable movement towards equality in this country, 2020 has been kind of a sham. We were supposed to roar into the 20s and distance ourselves from the last couple of years. It’s been disheartening to say the least.
What it’s meant for us at the restaurant and for the service industry at-large is we have had to take a giant leap back from the main function of why we stay dedicated to this life – hospitality. Not being able to see all of you and host awesome events for and with the community has taken a lot out of our collective sails. Not just ours, but we are sure yours as well. What is a beer drinker’s calendar without the barleywines at Hard Liver or at Bacchanal at Gary’s, the dark stuff at Stout Fest or the Festival or Dark Arts, tart treats at Sour Fest or Chuck’s, the expression of brewers’ imaginations at Strange Brew, fresh, hoppy delights at the hop harvest, or just going into the Monk (which always feels like a celebration to us)? Hell, GABF and Zwanze Day were supposed to be this weekend.
The truth of the matter is that we want to see all of you. We want to hold these events where we are packed with excited imbibers. We also know that cram-jamming people into spaces is counterintuitive to guidance for getting through this health crisis. We have been racking our brains trying to find a safe middle ground. Here is what we’ve come up with.
Of course, one of the biggest events on the docket is Fremont Oktoberfest and it certainly isn’t happening this year. This weekend we’ll be doing a small Oktoberfest celebration. We are going to have on a handful of German beers, about 4 or so, and put on a couple of our previous Oktoberfest specials. We are also going to have an online-order only special for some food and a crowler of Festbier if you want to fest at home. We aren’t taking reservations, there is no standing room at the bar, all of the restaurant-specific social distance guidelines we’ve dutifully followed to this point are still going to be followed.
Next weekend, we’ll be celebration Fresh Hop Fest. While we do have Fresh Hops is enjoy currently, we are going to try and have a full bank of freshies (8) for you to enjoy. We’ll have a food special as well for it that is still TBD. Crowlers will also be available.
Again, these aren’t the huge parties or yesteryear, but still a way to celebrate the time of year in the most responsible way we can manage right now. We do hope to see some of you out over the next couple weekends to celebrate with but do understand many or you are still wary of dining out. In that case, we be happy to see your masked faces picking up some food and a crowler to enjoy in the comfort of your own home.
Either way, have a happy harvest season, support local businesses, and survive 2020 as best as you can so we can see more of you next years. Cheers from all of us.
We will be closed August 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. We want to assure you that it isn’t directly COVID related, i.e. neither staff nor recent guest have tested positive. We have enjoyed seeing many of our regulars’ faces since reopening our doors; but with uncertainty surrounding pretty much everything, we are going to take the next week and a half off to reevaluate our current strategy. A semblance of normalcy is just that – a semblance.
With no timetable on when, if ever, normal returns, we are constantly adjusting both our guests’ needs and the requirements of the state. This time will give us a much needed break to step back, clear the air, clear our heads, and think of ways we can more effectively serve the beer drinking community while being good stewards of the community at large.
Please don’t worry, we’ll be back after the break, we’re too damn determined not to.
We are open during Phase 2 for Dine In and Take Away, Beer, Food and Alcohol.
Our hours for the month of July are:
Thursday and Friday: 4-9pm (Kitchen till 8:30)
Saturday 2-9pm (Kitchen till 8:30)
Sunday 2-7pm (Kitchen till 6:30)
We are following all Washington State guidelines, we are cleaning all the time.
We are asking you to follow the following guidelines:
Wear a mask. If you don’t want to wear a mask, don’t come here.
Please be patient with us, we are learning a new dance.
Don’t move the tables– no groups of more than 5 at one table. If your group is larger you will be seated at different tables, and asked to stay at those tables.
Brouwer’s will be open this week for dine-in and take-out on Wed 4-8, Thurs 4-8 and Fri 4-9.
We’ve decided to close on Saturday June 20th, for Solstice (wait! what?!). We know, even writing that sounds strange, as it’s usually one of our busier days. Here’s a brief explanation.
We keep referring to our re-opening as a “grand experiment”, because right now everything we’ve ever done to keep our house packed – creating great draft lists, having fun festivals, supporting important causes and more – is all on hold. Instead we’re coming up with new cleaning protocols, figuring out schedules for limited hours and employees, ensuring people are spaced 6 feet apart, wearing masks, and using a host to keep our capacity within the guidance for each reopening phase. As a restaurant, we want to maximize the amount of people who can enjoy a meal here, while also following all the protocols to keep you and ourselves safe. It’s a fine line we’re trying to navigate here, keeping our business going, but also trying to keep everyone protected. We know it is a tense time, but we hope to assuage your concerns by taking all necessary safety measures and following them strictly. All that is to say, it just doesn’t make sense to be open on a day when large groups of people will be celebrating in Fremont, and we can’t welcome them all into Brouwer’s as we would like to and have done so in the past.
So, STAY OUTSIDE, STAY SAFE and HAPPY SOLSTICE to all!
*********PLEASE READ THIS SECTION********* This pertains to our anniversary beer release
3 bottle limit per order. No duplicate orders. If you attempt to order more than 3 bottles, your order(s) will be canceled
NO PROXIES. At pickup, present your ID and the credit card used for payment. The name on your ID must match the name on the credit card processed for the order. No exceptions and no pickups for anyone but yourself.
Pick-Ups begin this weekend during our kitchen operating times Thursday-Saturday 4-8. Space in our restaurant is at a premium and we kindly ask that you pick up your bottles this weekend or next week. Orders may be cancelled if pickup is not completed. Please follow the rules. Please don’t be a dick. Beer is meant to be shared and consumed.
We are pleased to announce that we are now open for takeout FOOD and BEER! Our hours are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4-8pm, and we ask that all orders be made online in advance.
We’re instituting new systems here, and trying to make our ordering process quick, easy and contact-free. But, this is a work in progress, so please bear with us!
Currently we cannot accept scheduled beer pickups. Beer orders can be placed any time throughout the week, but they will only be available for pick up during our open hours (see above). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
We are asking folks to please wear a mask, and follow social distancing practices when picking up your order.
We appreciate your support and look forward to the day we can welcome you back in for the experience you are more accustomed to.
We are excited to announce the creation of our webstore where you’ll be able to purchase items from our cellar, growler fills, cider, wine, and gift cards. This is a new experience for us, so please keep that in mind when ordering. Also keep in mind that Nat and Cannon have been working on it, so we are expecting a couple hiccups to pop up that we didn’t expect. We will fix those as they arise. All orders must be placed online, i.e., you can’t walk up and place an order.
Items are only available for pickup at this time (except gift cards) and that will be on Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. If you order after 1 p.m. on Friday, your order will be ready on Saturday. If you order after 1 p.m. on Saturday, your order will be ready the following week. If we get a substantial enough amount of interest, we will look to expand our pickup times.
We look forward to be able to better support the beer drinking community with this new service in this time of uncertainty. All order fulfillment will be done with proper PPE in mind to ensure as safe as a transaction as we can provide. Cheers and come check out our new site!
