Today our favorite babysitter Charlotte came over to watch Killian and Rowan for a few hours while Matthew, Mike and I headed downtown to the Holiday Ale Festival. The guys were really excited about it because most of the beers were specialty ones brewed just for the festival. There were over 50 winter ales from 47 different brewers...a beer lovers dream!
As soon as we walked in, the guys started strategizing:
Happy men, beer in hand. One taster down, with a whole bunch more to go!
I loved this guys outfit, and followed him around for a few minutes until I could snap a good picture. Nothing says Happy Ale Fest better than a kilt and moose antlers!
There were so many different kinds of beer, and most of them had hilariously creative holiday names. Some of my favorites were; Ebeweesner Scrooge, Toe Tingler Stout, Very Ill-Tempered Gnome, Parson Brown and Festeroo:
Since I was the designated driver I had lots of time on my hands to look around, and while wandering I found an Oregon Lottery photo area. We signed up for their mailing list, and in exchange they gave us each a lottery ticket (I won $5 on mine!) and a fluffy white Santa beard:
The festival was set up under clear plastic tents, taking up pretty much the whole Pioneer Square. They even had a "SkyBar" set up, and on our way up to that Mike snapped this picture of Matthew and I in front of the Christmas tree (that's root beer in my cup, designated drivers got to drink as much as they wanted for FREE!):
There were a LOT of beer lovers crowded up under the tent, Portland is such a great place to live if you like craft beers!
Despite the crowds, the guys got through the whole thing pretty fast and after tasting everything they wanted to we still had 2 hours left of babysitting time. We decided to head over to Hopworks in SE Portland for a snack and, you guessed it, more beer. On our way to the car we saw this happy Santa driving by in his "sleigh":
Hopworks was a pretty cool little place, great food and good beer. But I especially liked the message waiting for me in the restroom:
Thanks Hopworks...I think so too! :)
We had such a great time, its so nice for Matthew and I to get out of the house together, and it was extra nice for Matthew to have my brother along, as someone else who appreciates a good dark hoppy beer (yuck). I don't know if we will go again next year, as the guys didn't find too many beers that they were really impressed with, but it was worth going down there for this picture if nothing else:
As soon as we walked in, the guys started strategizing:
Happy men, beer in hand. One taster down, with a whole bunch more to go!
I loved this guys outfit, and followed him around for a few minutes until I could snap a good picture. Nothing says Happy Ale Fest better than a kilt and moose antlers!
There were so many different kinds of beer, and most of them had hilariously creative holiday names. Some of my favorites were; Ebeweesner Scrooge, Toe Tingler Stout, Very Ill-Tempered Gnome, Parson Brown and Festeroo:
Since I was the designated driver I had lots of time on my hands to look around, and while wandering I found an Oregon Lottery photo area. We signed up for their mailing list, and in exchange they gave us each a lottery ticket (I won $5 on mine!) and a fluffy white Santa beard:
The festival was set up under clear plastic tents, taking up pretty much the whole Pioneer Square. They even had a "SkyBar" set up, and on our way up to that Mike snapped this picture of Matthew and I in front of the Christmas tree (that's root beer in my cup, designated drivers got to drink as much as they wanted for FREE!):
There were a LOT of beer lovers crowded up under the tent, Portland is such a great place to live if you like craft beers!
Despite the crowds, the guys got through the whole thing pretty fast and after tasting everything they wanted to we still had 2 hours left of babysitting time. We decided to head over to Hopworks in SE Portland for a snack and, you guessed it, more beer. On our way to the car we saw this happy Santa driving by in his "sleigh":
Hopworks was a pretty cool little place, great food and good beer. But I especially liked the message waiting for me in the restroom:
Thanks Hopworks...I think so too! :)
We had such a great time, its so nice for Matthew and I to get out of the house together, and it was extra nice for Matthew to have my brother along, as someone else who appreciates a good dark hoppy beer (yuck). I don't know if we will go again next year, as the guys didn't find too many beers that they were really impressed with, but it was worth going down there for this picture if nothing else:
