Haven't seen a lot of comments about either of these two places. The GF wants to hit up a yarn store near there on our way up to Founders on Friday. Looks like I could hit up both places while she's shopping for yarn. Comments? We also plan on hitting up Tapistry on the way and maybe The Livery.
Pike 51 is really solid, Tapistry and Livery are both spectacular. Went to the White Flame taproom the weekend of the Winter Beer Fest - was not really impressed by any of their brews but honestly don't remember if they had anything special at the Fest that I should have tried.
They had quite a few specialities on tap at WBF, with Black Flame being the best of the day to me. It tasted like CBS only even more maple and bourbon.
White Flame rules. Pike offers constant mediocrity and a horrible ambiance but Bill White knows how to make good beer.
I'd hit Pike rather than White Flame. Hopnosis is fantastic and if they still have Sensual Bean that what my favorite beer from WBF. They have food as well which I think White Flame does not.
I live minutes away from both. I much prefer the atmosphere at White Flame over Pike. I used to prefer White Flame's beers over Pikes, but Pike has been putting out some really good stuff over last several months. For me, it's now a bit of a wash. At White Flame my favorites include black sheep (BIPA), ugly stick (oatmeal stout), and double tap (hoppy pale/session ipa). Their BA stuff is hit or miss for me, but as of late they seem to be doing a better job. At Pike my absolute favorite is Hopnosis (fantastic ipa/dipa). They also have a wild ale and a wild ipa that are both really really good. Last week they had a BA barleywine on tap that was out of this world. As has already been mentioned, Pike serves food and WF is BYOF.
