Heads Up Brewing

Ok, I admit it, Heads Up is kind of an odd place. Mostly a brew your own place, with a small bar, a couch and a couple tables/chairs, and an outside balcony.

What Heads Up has going for it, besides the brew your own setup, is that it is the only place west of Seattle in Washington with any decent Belgian beers on tap. They have 6-8 taps of their own beers, many of which are quite interesting, and another 2-4 taps of some rotating, fine Belgians. The Belgian selection varies, but on my visits has always been unusual, and worthwhile. Proper glassware is used. Prices are reasonable.

They also have a couple of coolers of bottles, mostly Belgians and a few rarities, to carry out, or consume on premises.

The owner and his son are great people, who really know, and care about the beers they make/carry. The crowd at Heads Up is mostly local, and have always been very friendly.

No food is served, but you can carry in anything you like to eat.

All in all, a fun place to visit, and knock back a couple of quality brews.

Highly recommended for the Belgian lover from the Kitsap/Olympic Peninsula.(or anywhere else for that matter)

Walk into Heads Up Brewing and chances are you’ll quickly be greeted by the mesmerizing smell of active brew kettles, and by someone asking if you’ve been there before. If you haven’t, you’ll be treated to an inclusive tour of their distinctive brew-on-premises facility. Sitting in the front window are six copper kettles, an accommodating array of brewing ingredients, and a menu book of 90-some house recipes – mostly clones of popular beer brands. For a cost averaging about $100 per 15-gallon batch, you can brew your own beer or make wine, cider, mead, or soda. Bring your own bottles to clean and sanitize on site, or purchase bottles from Heads Up. You can also keg your beer and rent a tap.

Though not much of a “brewpub” in the customary sense, Heads Up also serves 6-8 draught house beers and several thoughtful guest beers, usually from Belgium. The atmosphere is peculiar to say the least. You’ll find Heads Up in a shopping center near Safeway. The front end of the store houses active brewing equipment and several refrigerated cases offering an array of bottled beers for off-sale or in-house consumption. These trend towards Belgian ales, often of uncommon vintage, as well as some German, Czech, and bombers of Heads Up house beers. The selection was once quite impressive but has dropped off considerably in recent months.

Step past the brewing area and the mid-section resembles an internet café with seating, a house computer, and Wi-Fi access. The bar here seats perhaps five people. Free pretzels are the only food. In the rear are the bottling area, cold storage, and a sequestered lounge oddly resembling someone’s living room. This area comes stocked with a TV and reclining chair and reading materials on the subjects of beer, apocalyptic messianism, and right-wing politics.

The brew-on-premises operation is set up to brew with liquid malt extract with partial mashes and bagged adjuncts. Though fine beers can be brewed with extracted malt sugars, a number of Heads Up beers I tasted lacked body and character. Since the house often splits brewing sessions with its customers, your draught or bottled “Heads Up” beer may actually have been brewed by a party of amateur guests, and while the staff offers plenty of supervision and advice, product quality can vary widely. Two beers worth seeking though are the Hose Gaarten, a non-spiced Belgian-style wheat wine, and 9mm Ale – a 12% ABV specialty beer that beat out Sam Adams’ Utopia in a national competition. No word yet on what the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has to say about that last beer, but they’ve been known to lose their sense of humor when it comes to naming a beer after a gun or depicting firearms on a beer bottle label.

Friday is kilt day – 10% off all purchases if you wear a kilt.

BOP (brew on premises). This is the first I've heard of it and this is one of the greatest ideas for any beer lover (even the Bud and Miller guys) to experience. The forementioned categories require explanation. Atmosphere: Good only because this is a working environment. Not your average Sports Bar. The atmosphere is the clientelle. You go there to sit down and talk about a great beer, whether you want to swirl or swig. Quality: is exceptional for the people that run the place (Ted and crew), and the people that will offer you a sample of their own brew as their bottling it. Service: Of course Ted and his crew are the most hospitable and welcoming folks. Selection besides the 10-15 brews on tap, there are the exceptional bottles that frequently change like his taps. Just check out the website to see some of his bottle selections. The food is depending on who comes in for what event. Its potluck and the pretzels never run out. For the quality beer your getting, you will not get a better dollars worth anywhere else.

I have gone there frequently with my wife and have always stopped in with friends just to admire the selection. Samichlaus ON TAP!...OMG!!! Ted's selections have always had something to surprise you each time. I rustled up four friends interested in doing a brew with me and I just bottled it up on the 18th of February. "Five Guys Brewing" and their "Champion Trippel" were pretty happy that day. I had a large going away party that night for a good friend and we offered a great deal of our Trippel for those that were daring enough for the 8.2%ABV. I also attended one of Ted's special Trappist Tastings. I had already experienced most of the trappists, however in that atmosphere with that many people there for the same reason, made the experience two thumbs up.
-Adam

Not quite sure why there is no 'atmosphere' rating on this one, but there you go. Head's Up is a funky place in Silverdale (U-Brew, beer bar and quasi-brewpub), one that requires a bit of tolerance as it's got all the charm of a 7-11, and a love of Belgians (oh, and Belgian beers also, as those are typically the only guest beers that Ted Farmer carries on tap). You walk in, and are greeted with brew kettles, a couple of coolers, some flourescent lights and a buttload of very happy, Utili-Kilt-wearing brewers. There's a couch and a chair in the corner by the fireplace where a band plays from time to time, and some tables and chairs on the floor in front of the bar. Kind of reminds me of my bedroom, really. No real sense of order, but still comfortable even with the flourescent lighting.

Head's Up typically has about 10-15 beers on tap at any given time. Most of them are the house beers, brewed either by Ted or one of the many people who come in to brew there. I gave a quality rating of 3.5, simply because a lot of the beers are extract based and taste like it. I don't really care for that flavor, unless it's something I've made myself and am drinking at home. HOWEVER, if I could bifurcate my quality rating for guest beers and house beers, I'd give a 5 for Ted's choices with the guest beers (Tripel Karmeleit, DFH 90 Minute, Duchesse de Bourgenonne(sic), etc.) and a 3 for the house beers. The downward weighting is due to the fact that there are far more house beers on tap than guest. And once again, please understand that the house beers are just fine. Never any infection/oxidization/quality problems of any kind. Just not my style at all.

Service: Everyone there is always friendly, and willing to talk beer, and always willing to help Ted and his customers out whenever necessary. Ted has done a great job of spreading the gospel of Belgians in Kitsap, and his place is almost the only place to go if you want a Belgian of any kind at a bar or restaurant). Speaking of restaurants, there is no food. They'll give you all the pretzels you can choke down, but if you want anything else you'll have to bring it yourself (and that is always welcome).

Selection: Again, his guest tap selection is always small, but of very high quality. You simply cannot go wrong with any of the guests he has pouring, and the prices just cannot be beat anywhere. His bottle selection is also quite good. It's small, tends to focus primarily on imports, but it's a very well thought out selection of beers, and always properly cared for.

Like I said, Head's Up is weird. But it's unique charms will get ahold of you and keep you coming back. At least they have with me.