Floating Bridge Brewing

 

A local brewery that keeps me coming back thanks to a fantastic tasting room and excellent beer.

 

A great local spot, and one that should hopefully continue to do well as more people come to know about the place. Clean, industrial sorta vibe, with brewing equipment out in an open floor plan, that has potential to grow as a place with more character. Dog-friendly, and while there isn't any hot food available they do let you bring in whatever food you want. Also a few packaged snacks. Nice toilets. And the best feature: a new shuffleboard table. Visitors should find the best free parking along 7th Ave next to I-5, between 45th and 50th street.

The beer selection of around 10 beers on tap is much better than most surrounding bars, and they often have a guest beer. They seem to specialize in malt-forward brews: the house IPA that doesn't kick your tastebuds' ass (a refreshing change in Seattle), the Cascadian Dark Ale, and the bitter are my favorites, in addition to their excellent nitro-tapped dry stout, which should continue as a standby IMO. A couple flavored selections (e.g., black currant stout, a berry-flavored IPA, a chai IPA) aren't my favorite, but I can understand how they might be appealing to other clientele.

The flights--selection of 5--is the best way to go on your first visit, or thereafter. It's both fun and aesthetically pleasing, and only $13, including tip and tax.

Floating bridge has only been open a couple of months, but they are already making some pretty good beer. They had 9 of their beers on tap, plus a guest tap. They do a fair number of unconventional beers: a blackcurrant stout, a juniper bitter, a chai pale ale and others. I particularly liked the blackcurrant stout, but on average the beers were pretty good. The atmosphere of the place is a little minimalist for my taste, but the space is decently-sized; service was decent enough. I will definitely be returning to see what new beers they come up with as the brewery matures.