It’s time for another Beer Notebook, where drinks correspondent Aaron Swaney clues you in on what’s new and exciting in Snohomish County’s drinks scene. Keep reading to learn about a Marysville meeting of the brewer minds, a new wine spot and the end of a Dairyland era.
5 Rights hosting Breakside brewer’s event, Clear Beer Fest
A few years ago, R.J. Whitlow, owner of 5 Rights Brewing, pitched the idea of collaborating on a special event to friend and Breakside Brewing brewmaster Ben Edmunds. Edmunds enthusiastically agreed and they set up a date for later that spring.
Then the pandemic put all of it on hold.
Three years later, the two are reviving the idea. 5 Rights will host Edmunds for a Brewer’s Experience Night on Wednesday, April 26, with a focus on barrel-aged beers. The reservation-only event includes a taster tray with two barrel-aged selections from each brewery and paired food from 5 Rights’s kitchen, all for $35. There will also be a chance to hear from both brewers on the science of barrel-aging and blending during a Q&A session.
“Ben is one of those brewers that the brewing community really looks up to,” said Whitlow. “We’re really excited to have him here for what promises to be a great conversation.”
Educated at the Siebel Institute and Yale University, Edmunds is a leader in the craft beer industry. The accomplished brewmaster has guided Portland’s Breakside Brewing from a small brewpub into a successful regional brewery and helped them win eight World Beer Cup awards, 22 Great American Beer Festival medals since 2011 and multiple Brewery of the Year honors at the Oregon Beer Awards. Most recently, the Brewers Association recognized him with the 2023 Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Craft Brewing.
Breakside will be sharing two barrel-aged beers: Finders Keepers, a blend of barrel-aged imperial stouts, milk stouts and rye stout, and My Stars Shine Darkly, a blend of imperial porter milk stouts and chocolate stout. 5 Rights will be sharing two versions of its 2019 Tax Man Pauper Maker Russian Imperial Stout, one aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels and the other in Skip Rock Amber Rum barrels.
A day later, 5 Rights will kick off its Clear Beer Fest, a beer fest focused on West Coast-style IPAs and other “clear,” hoppy beers. The lineup for the Clear Beer Fest is full of award-winning beers from up and down the West Coast, including Russian River Brewing, RIIP Beer, Moonraker Brewing, Ghost Town Brewing, Grand Fir Brewing and more.
The Clear Beer Fest is from April 27 through 29 and tickets are $22, including a taster tray, souvenir glass and access to full pours of the guest beers. Call or stop by the taproom, 1514 3rd Street in Marysville, to reserve your spot for both events.
New wine shop opens in Edmonds
Husband-and-wife duo Brandon and Jordan McKerney recently opened Vie & Vin, a community focused wine and gift shop in Edmonds. The wine and gift shop offers wine tastings, wine by the glass and a gift concierge service.
The new wine and gift shop is located at the north end of Salish Crossing at 172 Sunset Ave., and is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Snohomish’s Haywire Brewing moving
Since opening their brewery in an old Snohomish dairy barn in 2016, Haywire Brewing has found great success. But after more than six years at “the barn,” Haywire is moving. The brewery will be hosting their final day at Dairyland on April 23, the brewery announced on Facebook.
Haywire Brewing encouraged fans to come out and celebrate the move, noting they brewed a special new beer for the event. No details have been made public on Haywire’s new location.
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