Country Life Bellingham beer week @GRUFF
Friday april 19 Wednesday, April 10, 2019 Atwood • lyndentribune.comales xGruff Brewing beer release @6pm
Dairy • A9 Youth Fair • A10
Brewers Atwood, Gruff Get going! — bring collaborate on beet beer
‘Assistant to N-STYLE ALE BREWED GOLDEN BEETS the Regional
MILY FA
BEER. BEER? BEER!
tent from bottle to bottle. “You’d have bottles that were bright magenta, and then bottles from the same batch that were yellow,” Josh Smith said. “It’s finicky.” This beer would be considered a saison ale, with its rustic, low-alcohol style. Atwood Ales brewed the beet beer in mid-December, meaning it had an extended period of cold conditioning due to the chilly temperatures of the winter. They let the beer age a bit longer than usual, and
packaged it at the beginning of February. The “Assistant to the Regional Manager” name comes from television show “The Office,” which features a character who, in addition to serving as the assistant to the regional manager (or assistant regional manager, if you ask him), also grows beets on his family’s farm. “We’re all ‘Office’ fans,” Josh Smith said. “It’s part of the fun of any beer, especially with collaboration beers — the naming part See Beer on A9
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The label for the Atwood Ales/Gruff Brewing Co. collaboration features beets in jello, a reference to the first episode of the American version of “The Office.” (Courtesy artwork/Atwood Ales)
SKAGIT VALLEY
At last, flowering trees and E spring bulbs are R D & OPE in bloom, lawns have reHOPS MALTS EST. 2016 awakened, and new life is bursting forth everywhere BREWED BOTTLED BY — spring is&here! Amidst April showers, ATWOOD ALES this month is an exciting FARM BREWERY time to spend outside in BLAINE, WAto your the yard, tending WWW.ATWOODALES.COM lawn and garden. I hope you are discovering exciting new CONDITIONED. plants to replace BOTTLE those killed or damaged POUR INTO GLASS, by winter’s and desiccatLEAVEcold SEDIMENT IN ing winds. BOTTLE. First, April is the perfect time to apply preemergent weed killer to your yard. By now you’ve probably taken some time to kill moss and fertilize your 45-50F lawn — and if you haven’t, it’s not too late. Don’t miss out,1 PINT though, applying 0.9on FL OZ a preemergent (500ML) herbicide likeALC Bonide Crabgrass 5.3% BY VOL Plus to prevent crabgrass, poa annua (also known as annual bluegrass), and other tough-to-battle grassy weeds from taking over your lawn this spring and summer. Unlike moss control, which can be applied just about any time of year, preemergents need to be applied before weeds get established in early to midspring to be most effective. Second, make one last assessment of the winter damage to the plants in your landscape. Last month, I encouraged you to give damaged plants time to recover before replacing them, and by now most plants have started to bud or show other signs of new life. If, however, you have a shrub or tree that still hasn’t begun to OW
Manager’ saison makes use of garden-grown golden beets
OLLABORATION BETWEEN TWO ATCOM COUNTY’S SMALLEST RIES BEGAN WITH A SIMPLE NGE. GRUFF SAID TO US, “WE O BREW A BEER WITH GOLDEN AND WE REPLIED, “WE WILL THE BEETS FOR THAT BEER!” ONE-DRY, BEET SAISON” By“GOLDEN Brent Lindquist RES THE brent@lyndentribune.com EARTHY FLAVOR OF OUR -GROWN BEETS AND PLAYS IT WHATCOM — Beer SOFT, BREADY MALTS, SPICY collaborations are nothing CHARACTER AND BALANCED new OUR for brewer Josh Smith, NESS FROM HOPS.
and usually they stem from casual conversations among friends. The new “Assistant to the Regional Manager” beet beer is no different. Josh and Monica Smith, co-owners of Atwood Ales near Blaine, were sitting in the beer garden at Bellingham’s Gruff Brewing Co., and Gruff co-founder Chris Bierman approached them with an idea. “I’ve always wanted to use beets because of the color and the flavor,” Bierman said. “Then Josh was in our beer garden with Monica one day about two years ago.” Bierman asked the Smiths if they had ever done a beet beer before. Josh said they hadn’t, but it was on their radar. So Bierman suggested collaborating on it. Bierman’s preference was to use golden beets. Atwood Ales is a farm brewery, meaning it uses ingredients grown on-site for a wide variety of beers. Josh said he knew some brewer friends who had attempted beet beers using red beets in the past, but the color often drops out or is inconsis-
new life to the garden
ESTATE GROWN
GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) ACCORDING TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN SHOULD NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS. (2) CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IMPAIRS YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE A CAR OR OPERATE MACHINERY, AND MAY CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS.
the office trivia @7pm $1/person, up to 6/team best costume prize
IN BLOOM
By David Vos
recover, check to see if it’s alive by using a knife or fingernail to carefully scratch a small section of the bark on a branch. If there’s green underneath the bark, there’s still life — and hope! If the underside of the bark is dry and brown, that plant is most likely dead and will need to be replaced. As sad as it is to lose plants from winter damage,
it can also be a great excuse to find something new and exciting to plant! One of my favorites this spring — and an exceptionally hardy one at that — is Tuff Stuff hydrangea, a dwarf lacecap type that looks like a traditional hydrangea but is very cold-hardy. If you’ve ever struggled with a hydrangea that doesn’t bloom reliably after a cold winter that kills the flower buds, try Tuff Stuff, which is hardy down to -20F and is a reblooming variety, so not only will it bloom reliably each year, but it will bloom longer through summer and into autumn. Two other plants I’m excited about this spring are both part of the See In Bloom on A9