Seattle brews

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lexuschris
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Seattle brews

Post by lexuschris »

Hey all,

I am visiting Seattle for a few days with the family. Definitely plan to visit the Red hook brewery. Anyone know of some local brews I should seek out?

I just tried Manny's Pale Ale.. Tasty!
-LexusChris
"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields
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brahn
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Re: Seattle brews

Post by brahn »

Definitely try Pike and Elysian. I couldn't make it to either brewery/pub, but I grabbed a bunch of local stuff from a beer/wine store up there. Pike has a bunch of pubs around town though, I'm not sure about Elysian. They both make really good beer.

Brent
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BadSaxx
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Re: Seattle brews

Post by BadSaxx »

If you are going to the Eastside (Woodinville) to visit Redhook, you should make a few stops while you're there:
(1) Mac and Jack's African Amber, the finest amber ale in the area (similar to Manny's) -- a warehouse brewery in Redmond;
(2) Black Raven Brewing in Redmond -- a pub;
(3) Malt and Vine in Redmond -- the biggest bottle shop you'll ever see -- Doug and Lizzie really know their beer. If you can, go on Friday night for their $1 tastings.

If you're downtown Seattle for a drink, try these pubs:
(1) Collins Pub in Pioneer Square;
(2) Brouwer's Cafe (a most excellent Belgian pub) in the Fremont District of Seattle -- if you can only stop one place in Seattle or Redmond, this is the place to go;
(3) Hale's in Fremont;
(4) Pike's in the Market.

-if you can find it on draft, try anything from Big Al's, Baron's, Mac and Jack's or Pike's -- all are better on draft than their bottled versions, and not one of their beers, regardless of style, is bad. Pike's particularly has an extraordinary line up of beer -- the family who owns it is responsible for the craft beer movement in Seattle, opened one of the first homebrew shops in the NW, and is the importer for most of the best European beer we get in the US (Merchant Du Vin).

For bottled beer, try any of the following HIGHLY RECOMMENDED beers:
-Elysian's Avatar Jasmine IPA
-Pike's IPA, Pale Ale, or Double Tandem
-Hale's Pale Ale
-Diamond Knot IPA, Hefeweizen
-Laughing Buddha Pandan Brown -- I can guarantee you've never had a beer like this one (Pandan leaves).
-Black Raven Oostkant
-Baron Swarzbier, Uberweisse or Helles Bock
-Deschutes Cider Cone Red or Abyss
-Full Sail Amber Ale
-Lazy Boy IPA
-Pyramid Snowcap

Notice that there's almost nothing from Pyramid or Redhook on the list. Why? Because although both breweries put out good beer, and I drink them often, they are not the finest examples of Seattle brewing. Also, Elysian is mostly overrated -- okay beer, but they use the same 1056 yeast for EVERY beer they do, regardless of style -- the Avatar Jasmine IPA, however, is extraordinary. There are 100s of beers in Seattle -- the list above represent some of the best brews in the region. Of course, I would drink any style beer from any of the breweries listed above -- these are just some of their best.
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sprout
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Re: Seattle brews

Post by sprout »

John and I took a road trip up the 5 and Seattle was one of our detinations. When are you going?

Red Hook is a blast!! The tour guide is pretty funny - you get bonus tasters for knowing answers to trivia such as where they don't distribute - Utah and Oklahoma (john probably knows the other state).
Pyramid is in downtown Seattle but watch out for game day as thr brewery is across from the stadium and the bus won't stop during game time traffic. Yes! We did find this out the hard way and when it was raining. Let me check the Beer & Travel Scapbook and get back to some of our other finds there. The Space Needle is a must see! :cheers:
I may not brew, but I sure can cook the books!
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lexuschris
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Re: Seattle brews

Post by lexuschris »

Thanks for the great suggestions all!

Seattle was a blast! My entire family really enjoyed the trip! It was a nice change to find someplace that appealed to everyone in the clan!

Gotta say that we had amazing seafood up there! Oysters, clams, mussels, lobster, halibut, etc. Also, the Sci-Fi musem at the Space Needle was especially cool!

But on to the beers! :happybeer:

With my wife & 3 girls in tow, I really was not able to try out a lot of the pub suggestions. However, I did endeavor to sample as many different kinds of local beer that I could find. Brahn's and BadSaxx's suggestions were an excellent guide. Here is a list on what I found.. and sampled. :cheers:

Pike's Pale Ale
Hale's Pale Ale
Manny's Pale Ale
Pike's African Amber Ale
Pike's Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale
Elysian Dragontooth Stout
Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA
Issaquah White Frog Ale
Molsen Dry
RedHook Rye Ale
Pike's Tripel
Pike's Tandem Double Ale

Not bad for 4 days in Seattle (and 1 day in Vancover).. K:-)

My favorite was Pike's Tandem Double Ale. That beer was cool refreshing malty goodness with an excellent hop character and balance. After that one, I threw my 'drink one of each' agenda out the door and ordered a 2nd pint!

Pike's African Amber Ale was also really good and got a second pint from me after my brace of oysters and a giant dungeness crab.

Hale's Pale Ale was very tasty, as was Pike's Pale Ale.

The Molsen Dry was at my dinner in Vancover, and reminded me a lot of Ki'rin or Sapporo. For a yellow fizzy beer .. it was actually very good! :twisted:

Anyways, again thanks for pointing me to some great beers! Next time, I'll have to take some buds up to do a pub tour as well!
--LexusChris
"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields
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gromitdj
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Re: Seattle brews

Post by gromitdj »

1 day in Vancouver, so what did you think of the beer prices in Canada. :shock:

I almost shat myself when a 12'er of the "cheap stuff" in Whistler was north of $25.00.
Donnie
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