Tom Douglas Pairs Up with Elysian, Deschutes to Round Out His Empire
It seems like every other day, I'm reading that Tom Douglas is doing something even more amazing and inventive--and it's not just limited to his SLU mini-empire. Now, the curly-headed-chef-to-the-stars has infiltrated the Seattle beer community, and he seems to be doing a bang-up job of it.
His latest venture holds no exception. Last night, Elysian Brewery and the big T-Doug rolled out the newest creation for the Tom Douglas Restaurants--Saison of the Witch, a pumpkin saison which will be highlighted at upcoming harvest pairings in the restaurants. The beer was debuted last night at a special Oktoberfest beer dinner event at Bravehorse Tavern, with the company-wide debut slated for Friday, October 2. My guess (and this is completely speculation) is that we might even see this unique brew featured at Elysian's Great Pumpkin Beer Festival coming up in just a couple of weeks. Here's hoping!
The brew, which was made from 120 pounds of roasted Baby Pam pumpkins, from just across the pass in sunny eastern Washington, boasts fennel fronds and bulbs, to lend some aromatics and a soft herbal background. This saison will make an exciting showing with a medium amber-peach color and a 5.6% ABV. I have yet to try it, but my mouth waters just thinking about the delight it will bring my taste buds.
While we're on the subject of Tom Douglas (really, when are we not?) and the fantastic events that are happening at the Bravehorse, I'd be remiss to skip Deschutes Brewery's visit. Today, the folks from Dechutes, alonside their good buddy "Woody" (who is, by the way, a giant keg on wheels)will be in front of the South Lake Union tavern from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
This will mark day three of Deschutes' Base Camp events here in Seattle. Base Camp is a fun promotional campaign that the brewery came up with to bring their mobile beer truck (that's Woody) around to great beer-drinking spots in cities nation-wide. This afternoon, DJ Lunchbox will be there kickin' out the jams while the Deschutes crew serves UP lots of craft beer - including Deschutes Brewery’s summer Twilight Ale. It's supposed to be a hot one today, (really!) so bring your Happy Hour lovin' selves out to SLU and fill yourselves with delicious beer.
