Last November, the Burgundian tavern in Seattle decided to try an experiment. “I always like to challenge the locals to do something that has not been done before,” says Phillip Bonney, event manager for the Burgundian and creator of Coffee Beer Festival. The goal was a total coffee takeover of the Burgundian, explains Bonney, from the 23 taps on the wall to the food coming out of the kitchen to the cocktails rattling away in their shakers.
It’s no surprise that by Northwest demand Coffee Beer Fest is back Saturday, Nov. 23. Bonney already has high expectations for the future of the festival based on last year’s success. Here are just five of the reasons you ought to get on the bandwagon early.
1) New styles, like Big Time Brewing’s Coffee Lollipop Weizenbock. As with any niche beer fest, participants are forced to branch out into uncharted beer territory.
2) The runaway success of coffee IPAs. Last year’s biggest hit? The hoppiest coffee beers. And who better to carry this year’s coffee IPA torch than the likes of big beer powerhouses Oakshire and Fort George?
3) A seasonal preview. Even as Elysian’s Night Owl and other pumpkin beers sell out from grocery stores faster than slouching jack-o-lanterns disappear from our front porches, coffee beers are stepping in to fill their shelf space. This is the most complete sampler you’ll find in one place this coffee beer season.
4) International attendance. There’ll be beers from across the nation and the oceans: Evil Twin from Denmark via New York, Great Divide from Colorado, and Emelisse from the Netherlands among them.
5) Chef Kai Krupa’s coffee beer béchamel. And coffee chocolate barbeque sauce. Onions caramelized with coffee. Coffee yogurt with hop honey granola. Hope you weren’t planning on going to bed early.
