FPB in Argentina

Forbidden Peak Brewery has now hit South America, thanks to John and his adventures in Argentina!

Hola Forbidden Peak,

Living the large life down here....after a couple weeks of hiking around Patagonia I´m finally back to a place with a decent Internet connection. Here are the pics with my FPB gear so far. First two are at Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile. Last one is in the Fitz Roy mountains of southern Argentina. Both places are in in what´s classified as Patagonia. Rugged terrain, that's for sure. No sight of the Jaeger Squirrel but I did catch faint tracks of the elusive StrohChilla. One month down, one to go.

John

John is currently trying to secure a summer internship working on foreign beer relations in Columbia, trying to obtain for Forbidden Peak our first official militant guerilla army - we wish him luck!! If he makes it back with a camera intact, we'll be sure to pass on those pics as well.

As always, send your pictures, stories, and questions to ForbiddenPeak@gmail.com.

Forbidden Pumpkins 2009

The 2009 Forbidden Pumpkin Carving Contest was a smashing success! Both the Juneau and Seattle branches hosted the event and we even had a couple mail in efforts. As usual, the FPB related pumpkins took home the glory, but that's not to diminish the efforts of these other amazing works of art. Above we have the ShotGun Lager logo lady performing in style.

Above are the entries from the Juneau branch and below are the carvers hard at work.

Here are the entries from the Seattle crew:

And this is where it all began- A trip to the local pumpkin farm to select the potential big winner. Selecting the perfect pumpkin can be a difficult task and we noted that people who grabbed two or three generally seemed more pleased and took half the time than those searching for the "one". This particular farm feeds their pumpkins a combination of water, milk, and beer. The pumpkins seemed healthy and happy, so obviously a great combination.

Some find the beautiful flawless orange pumpkins, but others have a different perspective......

The Forbidden Peak Mountain Monster pumpkin received the unique pumpkin award this year. It was clearly the creepiest entry and deserved recognition.

Thanks to everyone for continuing the great tradition. We look forward to besting these next year!

Cheers,

FPB

FPB Goes to Vermont!

Our latest FPB expedition took the road less traveled and wandered into Vermont to see the amazing fall colors and explore the Maple Syrup industry. Dave and Cindy stopped to spread the word and extend the FPB family while on duty. Here's what our adventurous crew had to say:

Two FPB "elders" ventured to Vermont recently to check on New England family members and determine their suitability for FPB connectivity. They are shown below.

We noticed a family resemblence to those in the attached photos documenting these travels.

While one or two bottles of fairly decent Vermont Long Trail Ale brews and other local micros were heartily sampled, it can be attested that none compared with the fine elixers produced under the supervision of our beloved Forbidden Peak crew.

The maple sap extraction lines created for lively "Entrapment" style manuevering. Maple syrup in beer? A new venture perhaps.

We are pleased to report that the Vermont side of the family passed the FPB criteria that "beer is fun" - their family tradition is that "Saturday is for beer".

Thanks Cindy & Dave!

Forbidden Peak Crashes Munich & Oktoberfest!

The Forbidden Family made its way across the Atlantic Ocean and over to Munich, Germany for the true/ original Oktoberfest. It's a lot like how you would imagine it, only about 10 times better! Above Mike, Justin, Skye, the Steve's (Wisconsin), Sara, and Anya took over the "Von Wolfstein" table after finishing round 1. Everyone at your table and at each table around you soon becomes friends or at least good drinking buddies.

The first night of our Oktoberfest adventure found us exhausted from our journey. We mustered up enough energy to wander into the Oktoberfest grounds and immediately got our second wind. After consuming meter long sausages we wandered into one of the Paulaner tents. A couple liters later and we were right smack in the middle of the party. Though we were a little slow on German the first night, we slowly began to pick up on it when bier related.

Day 2: The crew got up early and set up camp in front of the Schottenhamel tent (tent really doesn't do these custom wood structures justice). We were told to get there at 8 AM in order to ensure that we got a table. So, we did. They began letting us in at 9:30. Once inside the empty tent we were told to find the open seating section. We later learned that this is the "not reserved" section. About 90% of tables in the tents are reserved. After scrambling around like clueless Americans (we were not alone) we discovered that the open seating area is right in the middle of the tent, below the band. Unfortunately, we were a little slow and ended up sitting at a reserved table. After several discussions with locals, we decifered that it is okay to sit at these tables until around 3, at which time they are cleared for the folks with reservations. As I mentioned earlier we were at the "Von Wolfstein" table. Not quite Wolfhouse, but pretty darn close. The beer began flowing at 10 AM (not noon as we were told) and it made for one awesome/ long day. After a few beers, the FPB crew decided it was time to spread the word....

After feeling a bit out of place in our outfits, we inquired with some of the locals as to where we might find some clothes that would help us "blend in". With smashing success, we were able to return to the Oktoberfest grounds in fine form for our third and final visit.

We also spent a day exploring Munich and the other beer gardens they had to offer. The famous Hofbräuhaus is basically a year round Oktoberfest style drinking hall.

Hirschgarten was our next stop. Awesome place that has so many people and so much beer that they have a little cart that wanders around to pick up all the liter glassware. Then we visited a few beer gardens in the English Garten (the famed Munich surf spot). We learned not to just pick up the 1/2 liter beers, as some are infused with Sprite (which they sometimes call Lemonade). Not good, so to be safe we stuck with drinking liters.

We also visited FC Bayern Munich's stadium- really cool building and what do you know, they have beer served everyday there. In conclusion you can pretty much have a beer anywhere in Munich, but the best place is, of course, Oktoberfest.

PROST!

FORBIDDEN PEAK ON THE MOVE

The "We were here, we drank beer" adventures continue!

Forbidden Peak Brewery is proud to sponsor one of the most extreme adventurists of the modern era, Mr. John B, on a solo quest to find the true meaning of Beer is Fun. John's mission has been long, and it has been difficult, and it is our duty to report on the adventures of a true beer fan. John's adventures have been so extensive that we had to break the blog post into two segments...

Our hero began in Bellingham, Washington, with a glimmer in his eye and a Forbidden Peak Brewery beanie on this head.
A stop in Bend, Oregon found our friends at Deschutes Brewery and Mirror Pond, the lake namesake of their pale ale.



Friends, do NOT try this next one at home. John and his skilled team of safari guides were able to get close enough to a relative of the JaegerSquirrel surveying his territory over Crater Lake.






John then headed east for a stop at the Grand Canyon. Extensive measurements here determined that, indeed, it is easier to jump over a camp fire after drinking a JaegerSquirrel Porter.
Next stop, Zion National Park in Utah. John is convinced this is where Squatch comes to vacation during the summer months, but unfortunately we were not able to confirm this with a sighting.

It turns out that there is no better way to recuperate from a long trip of adventuring and drinking than a pristine view of Wyoming Lake... while drinking.

While not quite as tasty as Forbidden Peak, Grand Teton in Wyoming is a pretty respectable mountain. Here is where John collected the actual hair of the Yeti for our inspirational espresso stout.
In the end, it was time for a nice evening at a classy establishment in Deer Lodge, Montana. I mean seriously, who doesn't love to spend time in Deer Lodge?

By the way, John recommends avoiding the "VIP" room at this particular casino...

Thanks John!! We'll catch up with you soon when you head a little farther south for your next adventure!