Maybe you’ve seen Michelle Obama’s plate-shaped replacement for the food pyramid, and maybe you’re worried that you aren’t getting enough fruit to fill up that red wedge. A good place was yesterday’s Bremerton Summer BrewFest. The Washington Beer Commission hosted 32 Washington state craft breweries to convince you that fruit beer doesn’t have to taste like Blue Moon. A lot of the breweries created one-off concoctions specifically for this event, such as Top Rung Brewing’s Lacey Lager ran through a Randall full of coffee and raspberries, Fremont Brewing’s Interurban IPA Randalled with grapefruit and Rosemary, and Dirty Bucket Brewing’s Hefen’ Pineapple Randalled through homemade fruit cocktail. I mention these three tastes as they my high points of the afternoon.

After standing in a long line and ascending down the cement stairs to the Bremerton Boardwalk I was greeted by Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Reasons” on the loudspeaker. There were many reasons why I attended this annual July event. Sweating in 90-degree blazing sun in a packed crowd wasn’t one of them, but like my fellow beer drinkers, I grabbed shade where I could and drank one delicious beer after another.

A highlight of new tastes for me were the beers from Twelve Bar Brews of Woodinville. Their C# Pentatonic Pale Golden Ale was brewed with rye, oats, wheat and two kinds of barley for a light malt base with an explosion of flavor from lemongrass and ginger. Delicious.

I had also not yet tasted the Walking Man Ramblin’ Raspberry, a solid American Wheat that is certainly worth seeking out.

Valholl Brewing’s Brew Bitch IPA is damn tasty, with terrific bitter and dry finish. Yesterday the brewery put it on nitro. Crazy delicious.

Sound Brewery’s Monk’s Indiscretion Belgian Specialty Ale was scary drinkable for such a strong beer, with an intense tropical hoppy aroma.

Two Beers Brewing’s Señor Joel con limon was a refreshing craft Mexican lager. I had two.

Fish Brewing’s Blackbird Island Hopfenweizen was dessert, with floral, spice, citrus and sweet vanilla.

Among the beers that I had that still amaze me were Georgetown Brewing’s Johnny Utah, Fremont’s Dreamsicle, Odd Otter Brewing’s Strawberry Nom Nom, No-Li Brewhouse’s Poser, Rainy Daze Brewing’s Wheat Daze, Silver City Brewery’s Liquid Sunshine Belgian Style Tripel, Slaughter County Brewing’s Luna Negra Blackberry Wit and Slippery Pig Brewing’s Mojito Wit. All of these are highly recommended for any beer aficionado.

In the end, I left sunburned and happy.