On Monday, April 19th, Two Beers Brewing Company announced via Facebook that they were looking for volunteers to help transport a keg from their brewery in Seattle’s SODO district to the Latona Pub near Green Lake.
“It’s 9.8 miles from the brewery to the Latona Pub,” Two Beers Brewing said via a Facebook post. “This means to do the Keg Relay we need at least 25 people who are willing to walk/run a keg on a hand cart for at least a 1/4 mile. Some, a half mile.”
As many people learned in college, transporting a keg by hand is not easy. A full keg of beer weighs more than 160 pounds. Why, then, would you choose to transport a keg all the way across the city of Seattle by hand? Simple. Because you want the Latona Pub, one of Seattle’s greatest beer bars, to serve your beer this week as part of their Earth Day observation.
A fitting, if not cruel, celebration
Bob Brenlin, owner of the Latona Pub, came up with a very fitting (if not cruel) way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. All this week, the Latona is only serving beer delivered by human power. If you want your beer on tap, be prepared to do some huffing and puffing. Expect your thighs to burn and your back to ache. Rest well, knowing that you’ve done a good thing.
As of Monday at 5:30, the Latona Pub was pouring a nice selection of beers from Hale’s Ale Brewery, Fremont Brewing, Maritime Pacific Brewing, Elysian Brewing, Naked City Brewing, Big Time Brewing, and the RAM Brewery at Northgate.
Most of the kegs on the Latona’s tap list arrived by hand cart. One arrived in a rickshaw. None of them were delivered by truck, van or car. You can see more pictures of kegs in motion by checking out the Latona’s Web site and their online photo gallery.
If Joel VandenBrink, Owner/Brewmaster at Two Beers Brewing, has anything to say about it, his beer will soon make the list at the Latona, as well.
Elliott Bay Brewing is joining in on the fun, too. They will ‘ll be transporting a keg of their Organic Demolition Ale to Latona, first by Metro bus from Burien to West Seattle and then by bike from West Seattle to Greenlake.
Earth Day around Washington and around the world
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day – a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. Each year it is celebrated on April 22nd in nearly every country on earth. Latona’s celebration of the environment will last all week.
On Thursday, April 22, Pike Brewing in Seattle will celebrate Earth Day with a very special dinner that will feature not only great food and beer pairings, but a lot of earth-friendly information as well. Pike will donate 20 percent of its revenues on Earth Day to Chefs Collaborative – a network of chefs that fosters a sustainable food system through advocacy, education and collaboration with the broader food community. (RSVP recommended, call 206.622.6044.)
Representatives of Chefs Collaborative, Full Circle Farm, Zip Cars, Revision Labs, Green Drinks and the Pike Place Market Foundation will be available to share information about how you can lead a more sustainable lifestyle. For anyone who signs up as a member, or makes a donation to these local sustainability organizations, Pike will reward you with a $5.00 gift card for use at The Pike Pub.
In Bellingham, Boundary Bay Brewing Company is also planning a big Earth Day celebration on Thursday. Their Earth Day-inspired Sustainability Fair runs from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. This free, family-friendly event is willl feature fun activities to encourage sustainability, a raffle, as well as informational booths from local, sustainable businesses. Local businesses will be there to share information about how they make sustainable choices and how they can help you make more sustainable decisions in your daily life.
Boundary Bay strongly encourages everyone to use human power or public transportation to come to the event. In Bellingham, the Whatcom Transit Authority observes Earth Day by offering free bus rides all day.