Beer School 101 was a blast! Beer 102 and 103 are on the way.

Last Wednesday evening, we had the first session of Shultzy's Beer School with Professor Mike Baker teaching Beer 101. It was a packed house, and everyone seemed to have a good time while learning the basics of beer. I think we tasted about 14 different varieties (I lost count), tasted malts, played with hops, and drank plenty of beer. Everyone came away with a Shultzy's wristband, 0.5 liter German beer glass, course materials, a diploma for impressing friends, family, and especially gullible CLE program administrators (not that we know any).

We're planning on doing a beer class on the first Wednesday of each month, and we already have Beer School 102: All about Pale Ales and IPAs and Beer School 103: Advanced German Beers (Dortmunders, Kolschs, Märzens, Altibiers, and more!) on the drawing board. Of course, we'll also do another session of Beer 101 for those who missed the first session or just need remedial work. One thing we'll change about future classes is that we'll limit them to 20-25 people to make the classes more intimate and interactive. We hope you'll join us for one soon!

If you attended the course and have feedback/ideas to share with us, we'd love to hear from you at beer101@shultzys.com

Beer 101 on February 3rd is Sold Out!

Thanks so much to all of you who have made reservations for Wednesday's Beer 101 class. It looks like it will be a fun evening, and we're all looking forward to it.

Sadly, if you don't have a reservation already, you're too late. We're at capacity for the event. But don't fear, we'll do it again soon. Keep watching this website or Twitter to find out about future classes.

Beer School in session February 3rd at Shultzy's

February 3rd, Shultzy's will be hosting the first installment of Beer School with the Beer 101 course. In about two hours, you will learn all the basics of beer and taste about 15 major varieties of beer in the process.

We're lucky to have Mike Baker of Pacific Beverages teaching the class; Mike's a beer maven, co-founder of Seattle Beer Week and Baron Brewing, and a knowledgeable and entertaining speaker. If you know anyone who attended his Beer 101 course at last year's Seattle Beer Week, I think they'll endorse him wholeheartedly.

You'll learn the basics of beer (ale vs. lager, what's a pilsner, what's an IPA and how to English IPAs differ from the American Pacific Northwest counterparts, what's the Reinheitsgebot and is it still relevant, and much more). Even better, you'll get to experience beer -- both tasting many varieties and getting to smell/taste different malts and hops that go into making your favorite beers. Whether you're a novice or a beer lover, you'll have a good time and new insights.

The details:

• Wednesday, February 3rd
• 6pm to 8pm (may run a bit longer)
• Cost: $20 includes course materials, beer, diploma, German beer mug, and more
• Course size is LIMITED -- you need a reservation to attend.
  The class is filling up fast, even before this blog post.
• You can make your reservation by giving your name, phone number, e-mail address and how many people you're bringing:
  -- at Shultzy's (talk to your server)
  -- by e-mail to beer101@shultzys.com
  -- by phone at 206.548.9461
• We're pretty sure it doesn't qualify for UW credit or Legal Continuing Education credit, but you never know...

Mike Baker, your Beer Professor, is the happy guy
in the middle of this photo.

At least we didn't print them with "What Would Jesus Drink?"

More fun and frivolity down at Shultzy's.

P.S. People attending Beer School 101 on February 3rd at Shultzy's will get one free. Call 206.548.9461 to reserve your spot (space is limited).

It's a Bratwurst! It's a Burger! It's a Bratburger!!!

For a limited time, the Bratburger has made its return to the Shultzy's menu. It's the same great recipe as our best-selling bratwurst link, but served in patty form like a burger. Since the Bratburger's a sausage burger, we serve it on a roll with garlic butter, grilled onions, and sauerkraut.

For an extra treat, order a Geneva Convention. It's a German Bratburger, served on a French roll*, spread with Italian-style garlic butter, topped with Swiss cheese, stone-ground mustard, and sauerkraut. We thought about adding Russian dressing in keeping with the spirit of the name, but that was too much overkill even for us. OK, the name is crazy, but the sandwich is really delicious -- kraut, bratwurst, mustard and swiss is a great combination.

For those of you who prefer our original Bratwurst link, we have that, too -- don't fear. But you might want to try this special version while it lasts.

* It's actually half an Amoroso Bakery cheesesteak roll from Philadelphia, PA, but it looks a little like a baguette to us.

♫ Are you ready for some... Hockey? (apologies to Hank Jr.)

Football season is rapidly coming to a close, so we need some other reason to hang out with our friends, enjoy a cold beer, and watch a bunch of guys fight it out on TV. UEFA soccer's great, but the time difference between Europe and Seattle puts those at lunch instead of after work when it's prime socializing time.

Luckily, hockey is coming to the rescue. This year, Shultzy's added NHL Center Ice to our satellite package, so we get several games live every night, most in HD. So, whether you're a local hockey fan or a displaced fan from somewhere else in the USA or Canada, your favorite team's on TV here. And if that's not enough, we'll also have some great hockey games during the Olympics for you to enjoy. We'll have hockey games on most nights, but we're going to make Monday Night Hockey (and Wednesday Night Hockey) extra special.

And if you're going to watch hockey, you'll probably need a beer to keep you refreshed during the game, and we've got that covered, too! Labatt's Blue, official sponsor of USA Hockey, is now available at Shultzy's, and we'll have 12 ounce bottles at 2 for $5 during Monday Night Hockey and Wednesday Night Hockey. And if you want something to go along with your beer, we'll have Canadian Club for only $4.

So, if you and your buddies are hockey fans and/or Labatt's beer fans, you'll want to make Shultzy's your Monday and Wednesday night hangout. See you there!

Shultzy's new Foursquare special

Foursquare is a social networking website/application that allows you to keep in touch with your friends while you're out on the town and get insider tips for new places you visit. It's a little like a cross between Twitter and Yelp, combined with points/awards that make it a game, too. The picture above is of the Shultzy's page on Foursquare.

If you're new to Foursquare, we have an offer for you; come in and when you check into Shultzy's for the first time, show your phone to your server and you'll get a free soft drink or $1 off a draft beer.

And if you're an experienced Foursquare user, don't fret that you've already checked into Shultzy's and aren't eligible for this special; we're working on additional specials for The Mayor of Shultzy's and some for frequent visitors. Stay tuned!

Q: Where does a 400 Pound Monkey Sit? At Shultzy's, of course!

It's not an actual monkey, it's Left Hand Brewing's newest beer, an English-style IPA called "400 Pound Monkey", and Shultzy's is the ONLY place in Seattle to have it. English IPAs have a very different hop flavor profile than American/Pacific Northwest IPAs, so IPA drinkers may enjoy the contrast while some non-IPA drinkers may appreciate the difference. You may want to try one along with one of our Pacific Northwest IPAs on tap (we almost always have one) and see the difference for yourself.

As you know, we've had a long-standing relationship with Left Hand ever since we started pouring their flagship ESB, Sawtooth Ale (which the New York Times called the World's Best ESB) over a year ago. Since then, we've also enjoyed their Oak Aged Imperial Stout, their Milk Stout, and of course their Oktoberfest, which we participated in the brewing of last June.

Why is it called "400 Pound Monkey"? It's a "tribute" to Joe Schiraldi, Left Hand's Director of Brewing Operations. Joe was being interviewed by a beer industry publication, and when asked to comment on the proliferation of IPAs (and Left Hand's not brewing one) responded, "Any monkey can throw 400 pounds of hops into a kettle and call it an IPA". So, when Left Hand decided to finally brew an IPA, they wanted to do something excellent and different. They settled on brewing an English-style IPA with British hop varieties instead of the Pacific Northwest varieties used in most American IPAs. We had Test Batch #2 on tap last winter and tasted Test Batch #3 when we were at Left Hand in June.

Chris Lennert, Left Hand's VP of Operations was up in Seattle in late summer and told us that the latest test batch of 400 Pound Monkey wasn't scheduled to be distributed to Seattle, but we stepped in and committed to enough kegs for them to send it here. That's how we became the exclusive seller of Left Hand's Test Batch #5 of 400 Pound Monkey; we shared four of our kegs with a Left Hand account in Alaska, but kept the rest for ourselves. 400 Pound Monkey will hit retail shelves in bottles this month, but won't come out in kegs officially until later this year. Until then, Shultzy's is the only place in Western Washington to enjoy "The Monkey" on tap.

So what does Left Hand's head brewer, Ro Guenzel, have to say about this latest version of 400 Pound Monkey?

Test batch #5... ahh, a good one. We were getting close at that point. The biggest difference from what you have and what we are going to bottle is an increase in aroma. We upped the dry hopping and changed around the late additions to get a little more earthy hoppiness coming through. It almost resembles the smell of a white mold cheese, intentionally. We hope this beer will help stimulate discussions about hops. All too often, if a beer doesn't smell like the ubiquitous American hops people think the beer is not hoppy. A sad thing when it comes to earthy English varieties and well made pilsners. I think most people are not familiar with the vast range of hop aromas including the aforementioned white mold or my favorite descriptor, wet tweed.

Although we've got a quite a few kegs, they're going pretty fast, so come by and enjoy some of this special beer while it lasts.

Holidays at the office (with Bowden)

Holiday Hours and Winter Hours

The holidays are coming up (for some they're already here), and it's time for us to publish our holiday hours. They're a little different from year's past, so here are the details:

HOLIDAY HOURS
Monday Dec 21st – Wednesday Dec 23rd Thursday Dec 24th Friday Dec 25th Saturday Dec 26th Sunday Dec 27th Monday Dec 28th – Wednesday Dec 30th Thursday Dec 31st Friday Jan 1st Saturday Jan 2nd Sunday Jan 3rd Monday Jan 4th	11am – 2am CLOSED CLOSED 11am – 2am 9:30am – Midnight 11am – 2am 11am – 9pm CLOSED 11am – 2am 9:30am – Midnight Winter Hours Start

WINTER HOURS
Monday-Friday Saturday Sunday	9am - 2am 11am – 2am 11am – Midnight

A few notes:

• We will NOT be open on Christmas Eve. A lot of our long-time regulars have grown accustomed to returning to town and coming in to Shultzy's for a pre-Christmas lunch. Sadly (for you), we have finally recognized our tendency to procrastinate in gift buying and feast preparing and decided to close on Christmas Eve so we can get those things done.
  
  But, you're welcome to come in on Christmas Eve's Eve (December 23rd) or the day after Christmas and get your traditional Shultzy's fix. And a bonus, we won't be as irritable as we usually are on Christmas Eve trying to get you to hurry up and finish your lunch so we can close and run errands.
  
  
• Our weekly Tuesday Night trivia will take a short holiday break, just like the UW students. Last trivia night for 2009 will be tomorrow (December 15th), and we'll restart the trivia battles on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010.
  
  
• We will be open on New Year's Eve for those of you going to the UW-Oregon St basketball game that night (and we'll have our usual Top-25 special in effect), but we'll be closing at 9pm since most people prefer champagne to a liter of lager for celebrating the new year (though I have no idea why). We'll reopen on January 2nd at 11am, and you can cheer on the Huskies again that night against Oregon.
  
  
• Winter weekend opening hours are 11am. Why? No more east coast football games to watch while we eat hot wings and drink beer in our jammies. Instead, we'll be ready at 11am for you to eat a hearty lunch to ward off the winter chill.
  

We hope that you and your families and friends enjoy the holiday season and have a wonderful 2010 ahead.

November Odds & Ends

As we're winding down to Thanksgiving, it seemed like a good time to catch up on a number of things I've been overdue in posting.

Final list of Oktoberfest Liter Beer Mug Winners:
Christopher O'Neill, Kevin Wierman, Steve Bunn, Rohan Singh, Brad Ohman, Travis White, Nicholas Lederer, Samson Lim, Kris Buitrago, Ryan Morlen, Kristian Anderson, Thoren McDole, Rodney "Chip" Swarlz II, Christopher Semiao, Mike Long, Brent Starkey, Ly Ho, Vu Le, Tory Brundige, Jennifer Swann, Herr Professor Janssen, Chris Cannon, Chris Weimer, Jamie Stroble, J. Paul Rinehimer, Ken Nagle, Kevin Realon, Matt Harris, Adriana Hernandez, Joel Leigh, John Milner, and Kyle Goldsmith. Congratulations to all, and we'll be immortalizing you on a plaque at Shultzy's.

New Sausage Special: HolidayWurst
The Kielbasa special is over, and now it's time for the HolidayWurst. It's a chicken sausage with cranberries, served on a toasted roll with onions and peppers and cranberry mustard on the side. As we say on the menu, "It's all the good stuff about the holidays without the relatives." OK, we're just kidding -- we like our relatives, especially the ones who check out our website regularly.

Thanksgiving Hours
We'll be closed on Thursday, November 26th for Thanksgiving feasting. We'll also be closed on Friday, November 27th for our usual periodic maintenance and cleaning day. But we'll be back open at 9AM on Saturday, November 28th for the early Apple Cup crowd. Come get your SARKburger and root on your Huskies as we take on those pesky Washington State Cougars.

Huskies Top-25 Special
A promotion we started last year is back. When the Huskies Basketball team is playing on TV, your first IPA/Hop Handle pint is based on the Huskies AP Ranking. We're #14 this week, so your first pint will be just $1.40! What happens if the Huskies keep moving up on the polls? We don't really know since we can't sell beer for less than we pay for it (Washington State Law), but we hope UW keeps winning and we have to deal with that problem (Go Huskies!).

Other Hours tweaks
Check out our new very simple schedule:
Monday-Saturday 9am-2am
Sunday 9am-Midnight
(Breakfast served until about 10:30 or so)

Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday, enjoy those leftovers on Friday, and when you're completely Turkeyed out, come in on Saturday and join us for the Apple Cup and a SARKburger!

Oktoberfest 2009 Update

We've had a fantastic Oktoberfest at Shultzy's, and it's not quite over yet.

We'll wrap things up this Friday night with our Last Gulp of Oktoberfest Party with beer specials, food specials, and fun for everyone. Don't miss it!

Last year, we had 11 different Oktoberfest beers at Shultzy's and thought that was a pretty impressive achievement. Well, that was nothing compared with Oktoberfest 2009. We've had 20 different Oktoberfest beers on tap already.

Here's the list of Oktoberfest beers served at Shultzy's in 2009.

• Alpine (Oroville, WA)
• Ayinger (Germany)
• Bayern (Missoula, MT)
• Beck's (Germany)
• Chuckanut Oktoberfest (Bellingham, WA)
• Dundee (Rochester, NY)
• Hacker-Pschorr (Munich, Germany)
• HB Munich (Munich, Germany)
• Köstritzer (Germany)
• Leavenworth (Leavenworth, WA)
• Left Hand (Longmont, CO)
• Leinenkugel (Chippewa Falls, WI)
• Paulaner (Munich, Germany)
• Rogue (Newport, OR)
• Sam Adams (Boston, MA)
• Snoqualmie (Snoqualmie, WA)
• Spaten (Munich, Germany)
• Victory (Downington, PA)
• Warsteiner (Germany)
• Weihenstephan (Suburban Munich, Germany)

Not only did we serve a wide variety of beers, we served a lot of volume, too. It was great that we managed to get 10 kegs (over 500 liters) of the Left Hand Oktoberfest that we participated in brewing back in June, but it went so fast that we wish we'd had more.

2009 was also the inaugural year for the Shultzy's OktoBEERfest Liter Club, where we recognized customers who drank at least one liter of 12 different beers during our extended 42-day celebration. Here's the list of winners as of October 23rd:

Christopher O'Neill, Kevin Wierman, Steve Bunn, Rohan Singh, Brad Ohman, Travis White, Nicholas Lederer, Samson Lim, Kris Buitrago, Ryan Morlen, Kristian Anderson, Thoren McDole, Rodney "Chip" Swarlz II, and Christopher Semiao.

Congratulations to all of these folks who each will receive a 1-liter German beer mug and be immortalized on the walls of Shultzy's. Your opportunity to join the club lasts until the end of Friday night's party, so there's still time.