Top 5 WA Breweries.

Fremont
Reuben's
Georgetown
Bale Breaker
Skookum

Last two might be negotiable... maybe...

 

Skookum was an easy drop after their Blue Lives Matter issues earlier in the summer.

 

I also like their Dark Persuasion... and I say that as someone who is generally firmly not in the pastry stout fan category.

 

Don’t sleep on Hazy enchantments. I find it to be a solid version of a west coast NE ipa.

 

I’d buy it just for the name. Among my favorite spots to hike in the state (once you get past the arduous climb to the high country). Do you know if it’s in cans/bottles?

 

For awhile I was finding it in 4 packs of 16 ounce cans at my local Costco (Kennewick).

 

At least two versions have been at Costcos on the west side, too. Issaquah for sure, and I think I recall seeing it at Covington and possibly Silverdale. (I go to Costcos all over; weird hobby, I know.) FYI, as of Sunday the Covington store had Head Full of Dynomite 4-packs for a little over $11 (the last version, not the brand-new one). Probably 7-8 cases if I had to guess.

 

that’s why we are passing through, have a permit and spending 5 nights in the enchantments

 

I still hit Costco once a month or so, but theM removing the Polish dog from the menu was pure cardinal sin.

 

When my wife and I did a cross-country road trip years ago, I can't tell you how many cheap lunches we had at random Costcos. Needed to save on food so I could afford to add beers to the giant cooler in the trunk at each stop. (There's a reason we flew somewhere and then drove home instead of the other way around!)

 

Oh, we ate plenty well on that trip, too. But it's kind of fun to look at Costcos in different parts of the country, because they all have different things. I actually didn't even buy the cooler until we had made our way to Lake St. Louis on the way from New Orleans to Seattle (we went north to DC, then turned left, basically). The collection of bottles and cans was getting unwieldy, and I didn't like the idea of keeping them unprotected in a hot trunk. Plus, throwing some ice in there every once in a while meant I could enjoy a couple when we stopped for the night, versus waiting for an underpowered hotel mini-fridge to do its thing.

 

When my daughter was only 13 months, we went to Kauai, and she took her first steps ever.

And there was a Costco.

They had a Kalua pulled pork thing to go, well near two pounds, dirt cheap, and so delicious.

Despite the awesome vacation and delicious pork, I still remember my daughter’s first steps.

(This non-sequitir has been composed on beer #5 of the night, and yes, it’s a barleywine.)

 

The Lihue Costco is the first place we go whenever we land in Kauai.

My wife and I have a thing for Costco in foreign countries. Regularly go to the ones in Vancouver BC and have also been to them in Madrid, Spain and Saitama, Japan.

 

Damn, I’d love to visit a Spanish Costco. (I believe the Kirkland branded manchego is one of the few international exports from other countries’ Costcos.)

I know there’s a Costco outside of Sapporo, so we’ll have to hit that up when we visit again in a year or two.

Thread re-rail: Reuben’s is good, and I had a tallboy of their 2020 Hop Idol last night while watching the Sounders blow the lead twice. It was my first go with Riwaka hops, which perhaps gave a bit of a passion fruit or mango character, but I’ll have to try more to get a better idea. For science, of course.