Gig Harbor Beer Fest
Next weekend I’ll be attending the Gig Harbor Beer Fest. Looks like I got sucked into the Tacoma beer life during my recent visit to Odd Otter and I couldn't be happier. Gig Harbor isn’t as far as you think and will make a great bike ride. This will be an exploratory mission out there to see what it is all about. With the festival coming up on Saturday May 19th 2018 and not much time to get out there before hand, here is what I expect to see. I’ll be updating this post after I make it out there.
Gig Harbor is home to a pretty great little web of breweries that you can easily access by bike; once you get there, that is. I will be coming from Seattle, so I’ll be scouting out the Southworth-Fauntleroy ferry and seeing about riding down through Longlake. It’s only 30 miles, and with the ferry ride, it clocks in at around 3 hours from Seattle to the first destination: Wet Coast Brewery.
If you are like me, then you are pretty excited to get to visit some of the breweries you only get to see at the bigger beer fests in Seattle. These folks usually can’t be found on shelves around town, so the chance to get to see them all up close and personal is coveted! These include Wet Coast, Gig Harbor Brewing Co., Fox Island Brewing, Harmon Brewing ,and 7 Seas Brewing co and they are all on a very achievable 7 miles ride with only mild hills.
The Beer Fest itself gathers 25 breweries from far and wide. It includes the folks in town as well Everett staple Lazy Boy, Bellingham ring leader Kulshan, and Seattle’s favorite gluten free brewery, Ghost Fish as well as many many small and local breweries from around the Sound (including Sound Brewery). This will be a great chance that round up some breweries that I only ever get to see on my longest rides.
Come and join me on my ride out and stay for the weekend. The festival starts at noon, so we'll be riding out as early as 8 AM . Shoot us an email if you want to join up! You can buy tickets on their website, but as far as information goes, their Facebook page is better - www.facebook.com/GigHarborBeerFestival/