The Next Big Thing

I was at Latona Pub the other night to grab a swig of Black Raven's new Latona ESP -- Extra Sensory Peppercorns -- a beer they made in honor of the pub's upcoming 25th Anniversary and I ran into my  pal Elliott Ryan.  You may recall that for the past couple of years Elliott has been the tireless organizer of the Earth Day keg hikes (more info here, courtesy Washington Beer Blog) where, for about a week, kegs are delivered to the pub using no motorized transportation whatsoever.  Link and I have done it twice now and it's a grand undertaking and a lot of fun.  Each year, more and more breweries and beer hikers (and bikers) join the effort and I expect this year to be no different.

Anyway, since it was Black Raven night, I half-seriously wondered aloud if and how a keg could be hiked from Redmond to Green Lake.  I chuckled a bit (it's over 20 miles) and noticed Elliott's shit-eating grin looking right back at me.  He postulated that it would have to be an overnight hike and perhaps there is somewhere along the way to camp (legal or otherwise), but what he was really saying is, "You're the man for the job."

I didn't give it much serious thought until I got to my final stop of the night, ordered a beer, and launched Google Maps.  It turns out that this is very doable.  Check it out:

Earth Day 2012 Keg Haul
Black Raven Brewing to Latona Pub; About 22 miles (over two days)


View Earth Day 2012 UBH in a larger map

To be clear, I'm not sure if this is happening yet.  Last year, Black Raven put a keg on a small boat in the Sammamish River, and sent it to a waiting cyclist (with trailer) near Red Hook, so they may be planning to do that again.

I still to have to put out some feelers and work out a bunch of details, but it would be pretty incredible if this turned out to be the biggest, baddest beer hike yet.

Stay tuned.