Obec Brewing

Tall ceiling, modern, dark woods and polished concrete flooring. Their specialty is Czech style beers, and there are some standard styles as well. Some cushioned booth benches along with the wooden high topped and varnished picnic tables. The stainless brew equipment visible from the taproom. There are a lot of places to linger outdoors and pooches are on the premises. There is a weekly Dungeons & Dragons session there, for those interested.

 

I visited Obec while tooling around Ballard this weekend; I have been in many times but never got around to a review. On this visit, they had 11 beers on tap plus a guest cider. There's a focus on Czech beers here, as well as a few more typical American styles.

The Czech Pilsner is quite good - plenty of bite but plenty refreshing too. Czech dark lager malty and delicious. English pale ale a good example of the style. The IPA I had was perfectly decent, if not super wow-ing. Overall though the beer is very good, especially the European styles.

Nice clean, gray-and-wood industrial taproom with some communal tables along with regular tables; the brewhouse is in full view of the taproom, which I always love. There's also a really nice outdoor area with a ton of seating. Ordering is streamlined, so it's quick and efficient, and the staff are nice and welcoming.

 

2021-09-18
Stopped here for a beer with @jonphisher.

I've thought of them as primarily a German style brewery. Their menu is probably about half German/Czech style stuff, and some other stuff. Their fourth anniversary beer (which I didn't try) is an "imperial pilsner." I had a dunkel weiss today, and it was pretty good.

Bar service. Staff seems to know what they're talking about. I would say their selection is better than average, just because they range farther into the traditional lager spectrum, but still have at least an IPA or two.

 

One of the better breweries on the Ballard/Fremont beer crawl. Vary open and spacious, modern, minimalistic and clean. Large interior seating area and a outdoor seating area that's nice during the summer months. There's a large glass wall that allows viewing of their brewing area. Always cool to be able to see the magic happen. Dog friendly.

Beers are geared toward a European theme and pretty tasty. Very fairly priced compared to some of the other breweries in the area. Food is generally BYO but they do have food trucks that come through. Staff are generally friendly and knowledgeable of their products.

One of the definite must stops in the Ballard area.

a neat brewery that from what i gather is relatively new to the neighborhood here, which seems to be able to support a near infinite amount of breweries, there is a great little walkable tour up here now! i like the space a lot, set back from the road a little bit and with a big patio out front and some tables and chairs going up the walkway too, where we sat, a good place to drink and people watch and enjoy a late summer evening! inside it feels like a working brewery but has nice high ceilings and plenty more seating, mellow lighting, an urban feel, and relaxed energy. they had a good selection of beers here, including a darker for the style czech pils, a couple of hoppy ones, and a red rye saison, among others. i objectively liked everything i had here, but they all had a little something about them that kind of set me back a little bit, like the pils was too dark and malty, the big ipa grossy alcohol, even for what it was, and the red rye saison a bit weird on the fermentation side. none of it was bad, not even close, it was all fresh and pretty well made, but none of it popped in terms of recipe or execution, and the beers we have before and after this at reubens and stoup respectively, stood above these in my mind when i reflect on all of it. service was just a guys doing a job it seemed like, wasnt mean or lazy or anything, just didnt seem real enthusiastic or keen to chat beer at all. had fun sitting outside, sipping, and conversing, and will check them out again in the future. worth popping in for a beer and to hang on the patio, great spot.

 

 

 

 

Space is nice with a unique sitting area of palates with pillows. Good outside seating available as well. Beers tend to cover a good range of styles and tend to be tasty, with the occasional beer a bit sub par. Servers were helpful and pleasant.