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What’s 605 feet tall and 50 years old? The Space Needle, that’s what. Built for the 1962 World’s Fair, the Space Needle opened on April 21th of that year. The people who operate the Space Needle are planning some cool stuff to celebrate the milestone. For instance, they’ve giving away a trip into space. For real. Like, outer space. (Sorry, contest is closed.) Contestants were asked to send in videos of themselves explaining why they want to experience space travel. From what I’ve heard, some of the contestants are exactly what you’d imagine: nerds dressed up like Spock and Yoda.

It’s not all about fantasy. Some of it is much more earthbound. Among the things the Space Needle has planned for its 50th Anniversary is a special beer. One of our local brewers will produce a 50th Anniversary beer exclusively for the Space Needle. The beer will be available at the Space Needle and at the anniversary events. Also, the plan is to make it available in bottles and on tap around town.

To create the 50th Anniversary Beer, the Space Needle contacted 11 local breweries and asked them to each design a special beer for the occasion. Last night, a group of lucky people sampled all of the beers, judged the beers based on some subjective criteria, and picked a winner.

UPDATED 1/31 7:45 pm:

The participating breweries included Hale Ales, Diamond Knot, Anacortes Brewing,, 7 Seas Brewing, Fish Brewing, Schooner Exact Brewing, Scuttlebutt Brewing, Pike Brewing, Elysian Brewing, and Boundary Bay Brewing.

And the winner is Pike Brewing. There golden anniversary IPA took the prize. Here are some photos from tonight’s event at the Space Needle. More details coming.