Latona Times 5/3

[Elliott Ryan]

Happy May, folks, the end is nigh—of rainy, grey weather, that is.  

When it comes to making small talk, the weather has always been a prevailing topic of discussion. This morning, I found myself wondering why, so I consulted the experts via a quick Google search.  Oscar Wilde famously claimed that “conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” 

On the other side of the conversation, Yahoo! Answers’ “best answer” for this phenomenon is, comically, “because if [people] talked about what they really wanted to talk about, they probably would get slapped.” 

I like that one better. 

The truth about the weather is that it’s one of those things that affects all of us, and there’s pretty much nothing we can do about it. The weather also brings change—like lighter beers that remind us of warmer weather—and change is good.

Last month we brewed and released our collaboration with Naked City and Flying Bike—The Latona’s Flying Naked Citra Pale. Coming in at 5.5 ABV, it’s a super dry-hopped, easy drinking Citra Pale brewed at both breweries via the Wort Line of Friendship (WLOF). The WLOF is a combination of various hoses from both breweries—connected by the sacred golden tri-clip—that allows us to start the brew at Flying Bike and finish it at Naked City, making it a true collaboration between a bunch of old friends.  

The Flying Naked Pale was also hand trucked over from Greenwood as part of our Earth Week Celebration, which was a rousing success this year with almost 30 breweries and over 50 volunteer walkers participating. We had a lot of fun, drank some great beers, and—most importantly—raised a bunch of cash for environmental organizations like Feet First and Washington Wilds. 

Our 30th Anniversary Beer Series continues on Monday, May 22nd with Anacortes Brewing. Bob and I trekked out there bright and early last week to brew the Sunrise Over Latona IPA with brewer Kevin Shannon. With the Sunrise, we went for a bright, hoppy IPA that would carry us right into summer—I can’t wait to taste this one. There are still seats available for the dinner, so let me or anyone at the pub know if you’re interested.

Seattle Beer Week is careening towards us like a beer-fueled freight train and we’ve got some pretty killer events featuring some unique, rarely-seen beers coming up next week. I’ll be sending a separate e-mail with all of the pertinent info, but consider this your official invitation to help us kick things off this Friday, May 5^th, with Sierra Nevada during our weekly Jazz Happy Hour with Phil Sparks.

Remember back in March when Reuben’s reigned supreme in our March IPA Madness competition? Well, they’re returning on Thursday, May 25th, taking seven handles at the Latona alongside runners up Stoup, Georgetown, and Cloudburst, who will round out the tap list with a handle each. We’ll also be presenting the first official March IPA Madness trophy to the brewer, so, come make history with us!

In other news, look for a menu change in the next week as we move towards warmer days. We’re bringing back some old favorites like the Southwest Salad, Rockfish Cakes, Fish Tacos, and Turkey Club while we add a new BBQ Chicken Sandwich that rocked the specials board last month. 

In addition to our weekly Jazz Happy Hour, The Wild Hares return on Sunday, May 14th followed by the Highball String Band on Sunday, May 29. 

As always, thanks for making the Latona your neighborhood pub—you make the place great, and I hope you’re having as much fun as we are. 

Cheers!