Since we moved to Gig Harbor last year, we’ve tried to become part of the community by participating in the annual events that are part of life here. Yesterday was one such event – the Gig Harbor Beer Festival. The festival was held at the Pavilion in Uptown (next door to Panera Breads) and was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. For the admission price of $20, one was given a four-ounce sampling glass and 7 tokens (one beer equals one token). But always in the spirit of community, additional tokens were on sale.

This year’s festival had 21 brewers, offering a total of 48 different brews. With only seven tokens, choices had to be made. My favorites were Dick’s Brewing Company (Centralia, WA), with both their Imperial IPA and 12-Man Pale Ale being great beers. Almost as much as those, I liked the Interurban IPA from Fremont Brewing (Seattle, WA). Others I liked were the Dabob Bay IPA (Hood Canal Brewery from Kingston WA); Whoop Pass Double IPA (Silver City Brewery from Bremerton WA); and the Narrows IPA (from Narrows Brewing from Tacoma WA).

Several other beers were…interesting. The following had unusual (at least for me) ingredients, producing beers that were definitely not from the King of Beers. Narrows Brewing had beer called Hibiscus Salson. It was pink and tasted somewhat like flat champagne. Slippery Pig Brewing (Poulsbo WA) had a beer called Stinging Nettle Extra Mild. Made from stinging nettles, it had a very earthy taste, which reminded me of something that the Ents of might have served Merry and Pippiin in Lord of the Rings. It was a bit too earthy for me.

After our time at the Beer Festival, we determined we’ll be back next year. Tough duty, but someone has to do it.