Visiting Seattle (Fall 2015 Update)

it's anecdotal evidence, for what it's worth. my experience has been fresh hops add a mouthfeel and flavor profile that cuts the bitterness similar to a more malt-forward IPA. it's obviously still bitter, but it's not nearly as one-dimensional as some classic IPAs have been.

i'd like to know what most brewers do as well, but my guess is that most brewers add regular additions for bitterness (not fresh), then hop-burst like crazy with fresh hops.

 

Like you, I have had fresh hop beers that were plenty bitter, and find that characterization puzzling. I'm trying to confirm with each brewery whether they are using 100% fresh hops or any dried products (whether cones, pellets, or extract) in their fresh hop beers. I've been surprised at the number of beers with 100% fresh hop bills, considering the extra volume necessary due to moisture content. I believe Cowiche is 100% fresh hops, but most of my other favorites save the fresh hops for late addition or wet hopping.

 

I am heading to Seattle the first week in November for work, flying in Sunday morning. Any good suggestions for the best beer bar/brewery that will have NFL on the boob tubes?

 

After all the great advice I got from this thread (and the previous one) I figured it would be appropriate to report back.

We flew in on Thursday and after we had dinner (picked up some local takeout - amazing take-out btw, chili sesame korean something'er'other? and a bottle of Black Raven Trickster at a nearby market - it was good, met my needs for dinner) and settled into the airbnb apartment I took an Uber over to Holy Mountain to hopefully meet my cousin - well they close at 9pm on Thursdays and he couldn't make it down by then, so I sat at the bar myself for the last hour of the day, and all I can say about the experience is that my very high expectations were exceeded. Sat at the bar, the service was excellent, the bartenders friendly and informative, and it wasn't crowded - had 4 6oz tasters, Citra Extra, Ox, BBA Kings Head and Ritual….4 different styles, and very well might have been the 4 best beers of the trip. Maybe it's just some confirmation bias, but all of them were amazing. Picked up a bottle of Seer to-go and drank it later on in the weekend, also one of my top beers. Bummed I didn't make it back at least once again considering they released 3 bottles the next day...

Anyway, Friday I had a Georgetown Pale Ale at the top of the Space Needle - I liked it. Had another beer at Serious Pie for dinner, but my god that pizza was amazing, overshadowed whatever beer I had.

Saturday was the big brewery day - and it was pouring rain. Had brunch at a place called Tilikum Cafe, I'd recommend it, it served it's brunch purpose. Took a bus to the first stop at Reuben's Brews - loved the vibe and atmosphere of the place, bartender was super cool and friendly - they had 24 beers on tap so it was difficult to chose a few tasters, I'll be honest I was a tiny bit disappointed nothing jumped out at me, none of them were sour or barrel-aged - having said that everything we had was solid and good, just nothing particularly "exotic" for lack of a better word - favorite for both myself and my wife was the Expat IPA. Got to chatting with a local couple trying really hard to convince us to go to Peddler's Brewery (never heard of it….) over Stoup next - Bartender confirmed I was on the right track with Stoup.

Walked over to Stoup, timing worked out since it started pouring once we got in. The beers impressed me, the service didn't, but to be fair it was pretty busy and rainy. The IPA's were all right on point and I could see why people liked this place. At this point we had a bit of extra time so we stopped at Lucky Envelope based on the "recommendation" of both my cousin and the bartender at RB - I put it in quotes because it was only recommended as a third option, if we had time, after RB and Stoup. At this point I'm a bit hazy, but there was a Peanut Butter stout I found pretty enjoyable.

After that we bussed over to Fremont, where I really liked the vibe and atmosphere of the place - lots of little kids running around (we did have our one year old…), plenty of seating, bartenders were cool and helpful. Really enjoyed the beers - then again 2 of my 5 tasters were '14 and '15 bba Dark Star…I preferred '15, my wife preferred '14, go figure….can't recall the others I was just enjoying the place at that point. Picked up a bottle of BA Dark Star that I shared with my cousin the following night and it was even better then if you ask me. We actually did end up having dinner at Joule, food was great, service was great…can't recommend it enough.

Sunday we had some drinks at Rachel's Ginger Beer - love that stuff (it has the word beer in it so I'm considering it worth mentioning). Also stopped at Pike Brewing….I enjoyed watching the football that was on the tv, that's all I have to say positively about that….oh and they had some really cool merchandise but I couldn't bring myself to buy any. Also stopped at Pear Delicatessen and drank a Black Raven session pale ale at a table - definitely a cool spot to chill with a good beer.

Monday we missed the flight back to LA - as I was resigned to drinking GI IPA at the sports bar in the Alaska terminal for the next 4 hours, I walked the entire thing and found a nice little place called Seattle Taproom and had a couple beers from local breweries I wasn't able to visit during the trip. If you end up with time at the airport, check it out - there are worse options.

Anyway - I wrote a fucking book, but we had a blast and a lot of it was thanks to the help from this thread, so thanks! If anyone's planning a trip down to Los Angeles I'd be happy to return the favor with some advice or pointers. Thanks again!

 

Glad you had fun in our fair city. Don't tell your friends.

 

What area are you staying in? Many places will have football on so your area will help to narrow down suggestions more relevant for you.

 

Not sure what the name of the area is, but I am staying at the Waterfront Hotel, looks to be a couple blocks from Pike's Place Market.

 

There's no "S" in the name of the market. That'll put ya right downtown, so ya might as well hit up Pike. I don't remember if they have TVs or not. You won't have any trouble finding a place, unless there is a specific game you want to watch while the Seacows are playing. Just south of downtown is Pioneer Square, with a very high density of bars. enjoy your visit!

 

Lol, I thought about keep it at "Pike", but I always order it "Pike's" when I am at Starbucks - typical tourist stuff I guess.

Thanks for the advice @beertunes. The Eagles aren't playing so I will concentrate a little more on the quality of places I visit, while sprinkling in a little pigskin. Altstadt looks pretty solid...

 

Just remember: In Seattle, Pike is a street (Place). Not a person.

 

One of my pre game pre funk favorites when I am in the mood for German grub. I believe they source their sausages from Uli's. Which is right up the street from you. They got beer too. They close at 6 though.

You are right next to a neighborhood called 'Belltown'. Been a while since I frequented that area but I am pretty sure there is beer still there.

I 'heard' the bar at the Marriot has a decent beer selection. Can't confirm this personally though.........

 

Many thanks @chinochino. Solid avatar too.

 

Probably depends on how many options you want. If you're OK with just one TV and want to stay in your area I'd probably go with Collin's Pub. I very respectfully disagree with beertunes and would suggest not spending much time at all at Pike Pub. Their beers do nothing at all for me and with limited time in Seattle I wouldn't waste precious minutes there!

 

If you can post up at the bar, you'll have good views of two TV's. Both TV's were playing the red zone network today (at least before the Seahawks game) - kind of a strange taplist, probably the worst I've seen at Collins (which generally has a taplist that appeals to me)

I've been to Pike once in my life. No.

 

Well, my thought was that since he's staying right there, and he'll probably swing by the Market at least once, and he'll probably drop into Pear Market to grab some bottles, might as well stop by Pike. I know it's touristy, and not our greatest brewery, but I'm yet to have a bad experience there. Which is something I can't say about some of our most highly rated places.

 

Hey all, great reading thus far. In town and staying at Hyatt Regency Bellevue and literally in town for 36 hours as I fly out tomorrow on the red eye. Planning to hit Freemont to hopefully get KDS and coffee KDS. If I strike out, any suggestions near the brewery or in Bellevue I can hit a shop to bring a few bottles home? I'm going to need the strong stuff if the Cubs keep this crap up. Thanks in advance, can't wait to drink some good local beers tonight! And feel free to BM me if you don't wanna share too many honey holes :-)

 

My friend has a welding business, and today he posted a pic on FB of some work he's doing at Cloudburst. Hopefully, they'll be brewing soon.


Yes, this is my beer related reason to bump the thread.

 

If anyone is having a hard time finding Coffee KDS, I saw a ton at my corner pharmacy tonight while getting Gatorade for my sick kid. Shocked me.

I mean, it's still available at PCC, but buying one at a mom and pop pharmacy is pretty random. And cool.