Keg tossing, seasonal brews and kids running around with the adults could only mean one thing - the Washington Brewers Festival is here for 2008. Coming up this weekend at Saint Edwards Park, in Kenmore, WA(North side of Lake Washington), almost 200 beers will be available for your tasting pleasure. The full list is here, but we're most looking forward to the Organic Alder Smoked Coffee Stout by Elliott Bay, Scuttlebutt's 12th Anniversary Scotch......

Seattle's beloved brewer of Manny's Pale Ale (and now, the wonderful 9LB Hammer) releases Bob's Brown Ale on this day every year to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House and to honor the memory of their old friend, Bob Hirsch, who died of cancer at age 21. More than seventy bars in the Seattle area will have this 6.3% ABV ale pouring today (Bob's bday). Bob's Brown Ale is big and brown with......

Two local techies, Chris Castillo and Joe Valvo, owners of the new Laughing Buddha brewery, follow the market price of hops with rapt attention. Five bucks a pound six months ago, a spike at $50, now settling down at a relatively affordable $20. Galena and Northern Brewer they buy for the bitterness in the brown ale, a Czech variety for the lager. So far, they've been getting what they need from other breweries. The grain......