Visiting Seattle (Spring 2015 Update)

Wanted to give thanks to the folks who added ideas to this thread as well as the creator. It was very helpful. Just returned Monday from 5 nights there, here's the summary which I posted on the road trip epicness thread but which might help here:
Just spent 5 days and nights in Seattle during the start of their beer week with a buddy (wife and kids at home). Our airbnb was less than a block from Pine Box, Joe Joes pinball and bar, and 6 Arms brewery (McMennamins) in Capitol Hill (so we got to the first two almost nightly). At various times we hit Reuben's, Stoups, Fremont, Outlander, Naked City for nanofest and for barrel aged fest, Brouwer's for stout fest, Six Gill for farmhouse/funk/sour fest, Standard, Two Beers, Schooner's Exact, Gastropod, Gordon Biersch (chain but lets their great brewer have free reign), Pike, Holy Mountain, both Chuck's Hop Spots, Elysian Capitol Hill, plus great food, the final show of Sleater Kinney's tour at Showbox, Experience Music Project, etc. (I know I'm forgetting some as I don't have my notes). My buddy even hit a Mariner's game and 6 more places in Ballard beyond what I listed.

We did all this without a car but we are both good walkers and we figured out public transit pretty well. The overall quality of the beers, food, and people was very high. And we had amazing sunny weather with blue skies which was a nice surprise too.

 

The brewer at the Seattle Gordon Biersch is my buddy, Kevin Davie. I met him when he brewed here in Bellingham, at Chuckanut. He left Cnut to take a position with Firestone Walker, where he was pivotal in getting their lager program rolling. And yes, he's making some very fine brews at GB. Thanks for the trip report, sounds like you had a blast!

 

As far as availability, how are my chances of finding things like Cascade, Allagash, Cantillon, etc? I'm coming up from OK in June and looking to take a pretty good haul home with me.

 

Cascade will be easy to find. The last Cantillon shipment was a month ago so you won't find any around town.

And unless things have changed recently, we don't get Allagash in WA.

 

Cascade is pretty easy to find depending on which ones you're after. Allagash is unavailable. Cantillon dropped about 6 weeks ago and disappeared within about 24 hours, Lou Pepe and Gueuze. There are Almanac sours around, Trinity, Crooked Stave, lots of Belgians too, Enjoy the trip!

 

Looking mainly for sours, also the Ninsaki space beer, but I feel like that will be easy to find.

 

Where? We're talking Seattle, not Bellingham.

 

Also, I meant Almanac, not Allagash, I'm a moron.

 

Almanac is at most good grocery stores and almost all bottle shops.

I was at Chuck's Greenwood earlier this evening and they must have had 8 to 10 different Cascade beers, including Sang Royal and Noyaux, which I don't recall ever seeing before. Also Gingerbread, Elderberry, Strawberry and a bunch of others.

 

Haven't been down to Seattle since the day prior to its release in Bellingham. If you want some I could meet you half way and do an IP Trade.

 

you got the only good week of weather this year!!! nice.

but hey, seriously, way to go strong on your visit. there's places on your recap i still haven't visited. seattle beer scene has some serious depth.

 

Yeah, at $20 a bottle, you'll probably be tripping over that Ninkasi.

 

Ground Control? It's even at Whole Foods.

 

Coming next week for ICRA (any BA robotics nerds on here?) and I appreciate this thread being made.

I won't have a car and am staying downtown. I'm pretty okay walking a couple of miles around downtown and have already bookmarked some places to go around there (not Yard House) but for the places that are further away like the Freemont and/or Ballard neighborhoods am I better off with public transit or uber? Any recommended apps for public transit?

As far as bringing beer home - will I find plenty of canned/bottled options or should I bring a couple of small growlers along with me?

 

Bring growlers. Plenty of good stuff in bottles and cans, but often the best stuff is draft only.

 

The bus can you get you to Ballard and back pretty easily. The 28 will get you to both Fremont and Ballard, and Rapid Line D can get you to the west side of Ballard.

http://metro.kingcounty.gov/schedules/028/n0.html
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/travel-options/bus/rapidride/d-line/

As far as apps, Google maps can suggest bus routes pretty well. For tracking buses and checking wait times at stops, use OneBusAway:
http://onebusaway.org/

And there are plenty of bottle and cans around for you to buy.

 

Good info, guys. Thanks! I'm looking forward to coming up. Looks like it'll be a beautiful week of weather too. Last time I was there it was sunny and beautiful the whole time as well. Are you sure it rains up there?