Headed to the San Juan Islands for a full week in about 10 days. We will stock up for the rental house at Beer Junction before heading to the islands. But, any spots on San Juan Island or Orcas island with good tap lists? Certainly not a big deal, but figured I would ask since I couldn't find any previous info with the search bar.
There is Island Hoppin' on Orcas in Eastsound, that's the only brewery that I know of. They had improved last time I was up there.
Good to hear. I saw that brewery and have it on the list. I also read that Hogstone Wood Oven restaurant on Orcas serves their beer on tap.
Island Hoppin' is the only brewery I know out there. They have some consistency issues, I've had some pretty nice brews from them, as well as some real clunkers (I wonder if maybe there's a water issue. IIRC, that was one of the big problems the gone-but-not-forgotten San Juan Brewing in Friday Harbor had, especially in summer). If you'll have a boat, a day trip over to Port Townsend isn't out of the question. Depending on how you're getting out there, check out Anacortes Brewing/Rockfish Grill in A-town, Farmstrong in Mount Vernon, and Flyers (two locations, Oak Harbor & at the Skagit county airport in Burlington) either coming or going. Also, Whidbey Beer Works in Oak Harbor is a neat little beer store. Not a huge place, but they generally have some interesting stuff kicking around.
I got the impression he was equally interested in finding a good place to grab some good pints as much as going to a local brewery. Any good watering holes on the San Juans that you know of? As for bars on the way, I'd give a shout out to one in Mt. Vernon called the Porterhouse, iirc, along with several options up in Bellingham that @beertunes can recommend.
Not really, but, I've heard the resort on Orcas Island (I'm spacing on the name) has a decent tap list at their bar. Friday Harbor, being somewhat touristy, probably has a couple bars, but nothing particularly beer0oriented that I can recall. PT has PT Brewing, Propolis Brewing, The Pourhouse, and Sirens. I agree, Porterhouse is worth a stop.
Thanks for all of the input. Will swing by the brewery on Orcas and keep an eye out for taps in Friday Harbor. Cheers.
Rumor Mill on Friday Harbor has a pretty good taplist, kind of expensive...but that's everything on the island really. http://www.rumor-millsanjuan.com/
In Friday Harbor, the Cask and Schooner has always had a good tap list when ive been there. And I second Island Hoppin Brewery.
A million years later I finally respond: @woemad is correct, I did grow up in the islands. Honestly though, Friday Harbor and Orcas I'm less familiar with as I grew up on Lopez. Island Hoppin' reportedly has a pretty neat space and they do some live events (or at least did until noise complaints intervened), and Doe Bay is a beautiful spot with a decent but small taplist (way out on the very far end of the island though). Friday Harbor I'd second the suggestion of Rumor Mill: they also often have good live music. That was the first place I ever tried The Abyss, for example. As has been suggested everything is going to be a bit more expensive on the islands. When I've gotten bottles in FH it's usually just at King's, and it's about what you'd expect for a PNW grocery store. Lopez recently opened a brewery, and they've been bottling their Pale Ale for a couple of months now. As with any teeny one man operation the consistency is not always there from batch to batch, but in my experience it's ranged from OK to really really good. YMMV. I know Mike's been talking about trying to expand that lineup, and I know he's done some other draft only stuff, not sure if it's made it to any of the other islands, though. If you DO make it to Lopez, the Southender (I think that's the most recent name) always had the best selection as far as carry out, though the place has changed hands a couple of times, and I know the super-beer-enthusiast owner was a couple of iterations ago, so not entirely sure how much it has carried over. Anacortes/Rockfish is a solid option before you get to the ferry, and there's a new beer bar that opened recently whose name eludes me... quick google later: H2O. Haven't been, but the few rumblings I've heard through the grapevine seemed positive, so do with that information what you will. Wherever you end up though, I hope you enjoy our little slice of paradise and it looks like you picked the perfect time for weather!
H2O used to be a neighborhood bar, but ABC/Rockfish bought it a couple years ago, and now operate it as kind of a night club. Fun fact, ABC has a bunch of barrels of aging away throughout H2O. I'm something of an ABC fanboy, so I highly recommend stopping by either coming or going out to the islands.
