We hear a lot these days about our bitterly divided country. Even Vancouver’s annual Craft Beer & Wine Fest has been driven apart.
But there’s no bitterness about this split, other than the bitters on the special cocktail menu.
Now in its sixth year, the Craft Beer & Wine Fest audience has grown so large and diverse, it needs a landscape big enough to contain those multitudes. That’s a nice problem to have, and festival mastermind Rusty Hoyle and his army of volunteers have divided Craft Nation into three regions: Wine Country, Beer Village and Whiskey Town.
We don’t expect any civil unrest or cross-border raids between these allied jurisdictions — just a whole lot of cross-cultural visitation and spirited diplomacy. Maybe our national leaders could learn something about neighborliness right here?
If You Go
• What: Craft Beer & Wine Fest.
• When: 5 to 10 p.m. June 8; noon to 10 p.m. June 9; noon to 7 p.m. June 10.
• Where: Esther Short Park, West Eighth and Columbia streets, Vancouver.
• Tickets: $25 for 3-day pass and 10 tasting tickets; $33 for 3-day pass and 20 tasting tickets; $80 for VIP pass with one day of special seating, cheese plate and meal, plus 3-day pass.
• More information: http://thecraftwinefest.com
“We have family-owned wineries, craft breweries and also craft distilleries,” Hoyle said. “Craft gets tossed around quite a bit, but we hold true to our brand. … Only the skill of the craft created by knowledge that has been handed down for generations will be showcased at our community festival. This is the only local festival that features Pacific Northwest craft beer and Pacific Northwest wine together.” Plus craft bourbons and cocktails, too.
How much craftiness is that, exactly? In all, there’ll be more than 50 beers and ciders, 140 wines, 15 whiskeys and bourbons, and a cocktail bar where you can request your favorite blended beverage from an expert mixologist. Food and arts and crafts will also be for sale. In other words, Hoyle said, something for everyone.
There’s even something for unpredictable weather. “We’ve added big tents and table seating under them in case of inclement weather. If it’s raining, people will have plenty of cover to wait out the rain cloud,” Hoyle said. “If it’s too hot, we will add misters to the tents to cool people off. We’re prepared for any type of weather the Pacific Northwest throws at us, to make this festival as comfortable and relaxed as possible for people.”
Got the blues? Get the blues
Live-crafted music is another key to this festival’s overall craftiness.
The headliner the night of June 8 is Michelle D’Amour & the Love Dealers, a Kirkland blues band that’s won awards for songwriting and soulful recordings.
The headliner the night of June 9 is a sort of musical question mark about the very idea of unity versus bitter division — in the form of Gold Dust, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band. (The famously unstable history of Fleetwood Mac includes enough personal drama and disintegration to drive a Spanish telenovela. Just a few weeks ago, the legendary supergroup announced both a massive North American concert tour later this year — and the firing of lead guitarist Lindsay Buckingham.) Gold Dust is set to demonstrate some musical unity June 9 from 8 p.m. to closing time, 10 p.m. Right before Gold Dust comes Chris Carpenter and the Collective, a groovy punk-reggae band, at 6 p.m.
Then, on June 10, drink off your hangover — or build your next one — with a classic Bloody Mary. Sunday is always Beers, Bloody’s and Blues day at the fest, when you can gulp down that red stuff while listening to deep blues all day long. The Sunday headliner, Bordertown, is a driving, down-n-dirty Texas-style blues band that starts at 5:30 p.m.
Days of haze
What’s on tap? “Hazy beers” are trending this year, Hoyle said — that is, thicker, less-filtered brews that aim to tamp down the bitterness in favor of a creamier, more aromatic and even “juicier” experience. Before being nicknamed “hazy” — for the unfiltered stuff in your glass that renders the beer opaque, not clear — this sort of brewing was simply called New England style. In the past few years, New England style has started turning up everywhere — even here.
New arrivals on the Craft Beer & Wine Fest scene include Hillbilly Brewing and Windy Hills Winery of Ridgefield and Bull Run Distilling of Portland, and four new wine varietals by Heathen Estate of Vancouver. Old favorites include the return of Heathen Estate’s seven-beer-tap fire truck.
Bring your ID, since nobody under age 21 may come in — except dogs. “Well-mannered canines are allowed at the event on a leash,” Hoyle said. “Pet cleanup materials are supplied.”
This nonprofit event benefits the Evergreen School District Foundation.
