Fueled By Beer

Hi, my name is Paul Rayner, aka Mr Fueled by Beer. I originally started this blog in Bellevue, Washington, USA when I found myself living the life of “that kid in the candy store” people always talk about.

You see, back in the summer of 2008, I moved my family from the craft beer wasteland of south Florida to the Pacific Northwest without knowing anything about the region’s historic brewing heritage and its leading role in the present craft brewing revolution.

Being an ex-pat Brit I grew up with an appreciation for warm, flat English-style beer, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that I had come to one of the few places on Uncle Sam’s side of the pond where draft and cask-conditioned ales rule over everything else – especially over the disgusting  yellow brews that pass for beer everywhere else in America.

By 2010 I was naively embarked on a quest to uncover Puget’s Perfect Pint: I say naively because initially I set out to find the single best beer. Later, after discovering there were simply too many amazing beers there, my quest morphed into finding the best brewery. Six months and 50+ brewery visits later, in January 2011, I announced my original choice: Seattle’s Elysian Brewing Co.

But what does all this have to do with alternative energy you may be asking? Well, as each new ‘discovery’ in my quest to find Puget’s Perfect Pint motivated further ‘exploration’ – which I conducted exclusively on foot and by public transit – I had less and less need for a gasoline-fueled automobile – in other words I was Fueled By Beer - get it?

Throughout 2011 and 2012 I ventured further and further afield, posting about new brewery openings with special emphasis on what was happening on the other side of Puget Sound. Nowhere was this more evident than in Poulsbo, which for Mr & Mrs Fueled by Beer developed into a love affair for the funky little Norwegian town.

Besides the exciting West Sound scene there were many other noteworthy events. Along the way I announced a new choice for the Puget’s Perfect Pint award: Seattle’s Elliott Bay Brewing Co. There was much to talk about in Seattle’s Fremont/Ballard corridor. And I also wrote a four-part series on Woodinville Wine Country’s exploding brewery scene.

However, in January 2013, it all came to an end: Mr & Mrs Fueled by Beer and The Daughter bade farewell to Seattle and all of its hoppy greatness. Fast forward to the present: we have relocated back to the UK and are now settled in my hometown of Reading; a new chapter in the Fueled by Beer saga is about to open…

Reading, UK, March 2013.