Rock & Roll & Beer

This past Saturday was AWESOME. 

We spent most of the day rocking climbing at Mt. Erie near Anacortes, WA.  

The day started out chilly and a little wet, but soon it was gloriously sunny! 

My trusty belay. 

This is Ross on "The Intimidator" using our new bright red and yellow rope. I think it's a pretty sweet name for the route of our rope's inaugural climb. 

The weather couldn't have been better! 

The view was gorgeous - you could see the San Juan Islands and the Olympic Mountains! 

The day was not done, however, because it was April Brews Day!!!! 

Since we were going to a Beer Festival, we hopped on our bikes and donned our helmets as any responsible citizen would. 

And about 20 minutes later and mostly downhill, we were down town. 

With our admission we each received a 10th anniversary 5oz taster glass, a tray of pretzels, and our tickets supported the Max Higbee Center. 

Here's my first sample! 

We went with our climbing buddies Lauren and Chris. 

To think... we were supposed to all be snow camping this weekend, but due to Mother Nature and extreme avalanche conditions, we went rock climbing in the sun and the sipped on local & regional micro-brews in the evening. Major Bummer, wouldn't you say?!?! ;-)

My first sample was a Hefeweizen from Anacortes Brewery - it was a good first choice! 

As we were looking around at the lines we assumed the longer the lines the better the brew - so we hopped in the 192 line. WRONG. This beer tasted, as Chris so eloquently put it, like sweat. YUCK. I needed those pretzels after this taste for sure! 

After that disappointment I headed over to Port Townsend Brewing Co for a Peeping Peater Scotch Ale. I really like dark brown ales, and this beer even had a slight smoky flavor. I love smoked cheeses, smoked salmon, and now I have fallen in love with smoked beer!

Nest was a visit to Fish Brewing Co from Olympia, WA. I LOVE their Organic Amber Ale, so I was excited to try their blonde. While I liked it, the Amber is definitely better. Oh - and did I mention that it is organic? 

Lastly was a King Heffy Imperial Hefeweizen from Howe Sound from Squamish, BC (Another popular rock climbing location!) It was a solid ending to the evening of beer tasting. 

Fun fun fun! 

By the end of waiting in lines, greeting people we knew from various parts of our lives (AmeriCorps, Western, Hockey, The Mountaineers - Bellingham is a small town, and I love it) we decided we could go for another beer in a warm place - but not a warm beer. 

We headed to the Copper Hog. While they have a great rotating selection of beers, and we were able to catch the two overtime periods of the Predators/Canucks game, their menu has changed and I wasn't as excited for it as I used to be - they got rid of their garlic fries!!!! Boo.  

We opted to split some enormous Chipotle Chicken Wings - they sure had a kick! 

And this Two Beers Sodo Brown was a dessert in a glass, I loved it. 

So then I put on my balaclava for the bike ride home - this time, unfortunately, mostly uphill. Whew - I was exhausted and slept like a rock last night. And I would be lying if I didn't say my butt hurts from the bicycle seat. What a FANTASTIC Saturday! 

What is your favorite type of beer?