The sun was an unrelenting tyrant. Eighty-three degrees and climbing, which in the pale, pine-sheltered psyche of Western Washington might as well be the surface of a Belgian tripel-fueled sun. Gas Works Park shimmered like a heat mirage dreamscape of brewery tents and sweaty enlightenment, where sunscreen turned to varnish and IPA turned to gospel. Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across The World had descended, and the barley-blessed masses came shuffling in, damp and delirious, hearts open, palates primed, shirts clinging in that very specific way that screams: yes, I drank a smoked porter under a merciless sky and lived to tell the tale.
This was not for the timid. This was not for the one-beer wonders or macro-light apologists. This was for the seekers. For the sun-scorched warriors who think nothing of sipping a Fremont B-Bomb—yes, that winter-brewed malt leviathan—beneath a July sun that scorched the earth like an unrepentant saison. This was for those who welcome unicorn-named beers into their mouths and hearts with no irony whatsoever. Those who wander from booth to booth like mystical pilgrims, knowing—truly knowing—that names like Ayinger, Baranof Island, Bear Republic, and Modern Times don’t just represent breweries. They are waystations in the long, ecstatic unraveling of reality via malt and foam.
The brewers, those high priests of yeast and vision, stood behind the taps like desert shamans, pouring liquid riddles from barrels of delirium. Fuller’s, Belching Beaver, Mad River, High Water—all were there, holy and hoppy, offering strange blessings to the sacrificial livers of Seattle. Favorites? Hah. At a certain point in the haze, all boundaries blurred. Every beer became the one. The journey, the sacrament, the mouthful of transcendence. And we, the beautifully over-toasted congregation, we loved every blazing, syrup-laced, unicorn-soaked second of it.
There were celebrity brewers pouring their own creations at the roving, eight-city festival — including Sierra Nevada Brewing founder Ken Grossman donning sunglasses and a hat — beers from around a 100 breweries, the lush melodies of Vaudeville Etiquette and The Dip bands, snifter glasses for tasting cups, a plethora of food trucks and restrooms — between the stunning setting of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant and bustling Lake Union.
Breweries from across the world, although most from the Pacific Northwest, poured two beers from their coffers with almost no lines anywhere, including the bathrooms. The longest line formed in front of the Rare Beer tent, although Postdoc Brewing’s tart and refreshing Evans Kriek was worth the wait. The other two short lines were before E9 Brewery and Sierra Nevada. People scurried to grab a taste of E9’s delicious Frambuesa Moka raspberry sour stout. Grossman behind the Sierra taps caused the other line, mostly full of anxious festivalgoers wanting to pose for pictures. Like last year’s Beer Camp at South Lake Union Park, there wasn’t any jostling through herd-like drunken crowds, which was refreshing as the occasional breeze. Instead, attendees had their choice of several hundred beers, a few rare or special ones, which they could sip from snifter glasses in the spacious park.
To accompany the festival, Sierra Nevada selected 12 breweries — six stateside and six overseas — with which to collaborate — and ended up making 12 beers, all of which have been bottled for one-time only variety packs. Brewers started making pilot batches of the beers as early as November 2016. In February 2017, brewers from 10 of the collaborating breweries visited Sierra Nevada’s new brewery in Mills River, North Carolina, for a round table tasting of the initial brews. East Meets West IPA with Tree House Brewing Co. was a crowd favorite with a vibrant, oily and complex hop flavors of pineapple, peach, pomegranate, berry and pine.
An over abundance of IPAs was the only complaint that could be heard bouncing off the ancient steel gas machinery. Indeed, there were many, but Cloudburst’s Plays Well With Others Imperial IPA, Trap Door’s Lighten Up Session IPA, Breakside’s Rainbows & Unicorns IPA and Bale Breaker’s Kiln Series #005 liquid hop small-batch IPA, among others, didn’t disappoint.
Most people were clamoring for the lighter fare underneath the sun, including Oakshire’s juicy Sun Made Cucumber Berliner Weisse, Baerlic’s Fancy Umbrella Drink Pink Guava Gose, Ghost Runners‘ Chasing Fluffy Pink Unicorns Raspberry Gose and High Water’s Central Valley Breakfast Sour with citrus and a tart finish.
Speaking of finish, the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across The World festival finished mellow, with only a few piggyback riders, ample sunburn faces and no lake jumpers. Sierra Nevada has these festivals down.
