Seattle’s Hop Scotch Festival ^[1] is over now, but for us, it is a weekend that won’t soon be forgotten. This was our first year at Hop Scotch, and while I can’t say for sure whether we’ll go back next year, it was a fantastic event and I’m very happy we attended. Hop Scotch is a benefit for the Seattle International Film Festival ^[2], so of course, since we love SIFF, we wanted to attend.

Let’s start with the space. Fremont Studios is a fantastic location for an event. Two large rooms, decent sized bathrooms (especially important anywhere mass quantities of beer are consumed), and the most amazing walls ever. Solid white walls that curve up to the ceiling and down… forming the floor. The entire room took on a bluish tint with the lighting, and various slide shows and movies were shown throughout the room.

Helpful signs well above the crowd pointed out which breweries and which beers you’d find at the various stations. The food was limited, but very well priced for an event such as this. Pretzels and fries are perfect “sop up that alcohol” foods.

The beer was actually the weakest part of the day for me, mostly because I don’t much care for IPA’s. I’ve had a couple decent ones, but I’m more of a brown ale type of girl, so I only found five beers I really wanted to taste. But then we wandered over to the lone winery booth. Small-Lot Wine Co-Op helps small wineries get their wines out there for the public to enjoy. They were offering a full glass of wine for two tokens or a half pour for one. We tried each of the reds they brought with them and I can honestly say that those wines were some of the best I’ve ever had. It seems odd to find amazing wines at a beer fest, but wow.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.