Pike Entire

Thanks for the heads up! I'll definitely be heading down to Pike tomorrow to grab a bottle or two of Entire. It's apparently based on the XXXXX stout, a solid beer that also doesn't get enough attention.

Pike also has brought back their Space Needle IPA. I recall being very pleasantly surprised when the first batch came out for the 50th anniversary last year. I'm not sure this batch was quite as good, or maybe I was just expecting too much this time. But it's still a good beer from, as bifrost17 acknowledges, and often overlooked local brewery.

And speaking of unexpected local gems (and not meaning to threadjack here)... I really enjoyed Hale's barrel-aged imperial stout the other night, more than I was expecting to. It was a little sweet but had a really nice balance and lots of complexity. My bottle was dated February 2013 but I think there are still bottles floating around.

 

I was also very pleasantly surprised by the original Space Needle IPA and enjoyed it. I'm glad I read this post because my eyes had been passing this by, assuming they were very old bottles, although it really has been too long even for the bad grocery stores, so I probably should have looked at them more closely. Kudos to Pike for dating their IPAs, that's another reason to pick one up.

 

The label and name is different too. To their shame, Northgate Bevmo still has some of the old "Space Needle Golden Anniversary 2012 Vintage IPA" bottles with the black labels; the new label is yellow and it's now called something like "Space Needle Golden IPA." And of course, there is some kind of code although I remember not being able to decipher it when I was trying to determine that it was fresh. I actually just asked the guys at Chuck's and they assured me that it was.

 

Thanks again for the heads up on this one, bifrost. I just walked down to Pike and picked up a couple bottles. But God I hate being anywhere near the Market during tourist season. Are people deliberately trying to walk right into me? And then I almost got my eye poked out by somebody's stupid umbrella.

 

Ahhh that is how you know it was a tourist, only tourists use umbrellas in Seattle.

 

The Safeway near my house has both Space Needle bottles sitting on the shelf right next to each other . I also drank the old one on tap about a month ago and it was still delicious.

 

Nice! Instant vertical.

 

Pear Market & Deli is worth the trip down there even during tourist season. They have some amazing finds & the beer guy is very knowledgeable and friendly. Sorry, can't remember the name of the guy who replaced Phil who replaced him in the first place.

 

Just had a pour of Entire this afternoon, and I am impressed as well (thanks for the tip bespin15!). They are on their last keg now so get some soon if you want to try it.

 

Went down to the brewery today and it is $8 for a 12oz pour...No thanks

 

The other thread is locked, so I'll chime in here...$10 for a bomber? No thanks.

Last time I priced out Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (which is widely available where I'm from), it was $22 a four pack. Put this bomber into that format, and it's only 50 cents less a bottle. No offense to Pike, who I visited this summer and tried several flights from, but I doubt those two beers are in the same league.

 

Yeah, what the hell? If a beer isn't as good as BCBS, it should cost less. It's economics or something. And why should I have to make the choice?

I think stores should run some sort of calculation before even putting these $10 bombers on the shelves. Something that takes into account the BA rating and cost per oz, please.

We obviously can't trust brewers to run these calculations first. They're using the wrong variables.

 

This was surprisingly good and had no regrets pricewise. Always happy to support local places. I've spent more money on for lesser beers from further afield (especially if you count shipping).

 

His name is Derek, super good guy and very on top of the scene. Stop in and pick his brain.

 

Thanks for speaking up on Entire. I would have just passed it by every time being another Pike beer, but I just took my first sip and this is delicious. Vanilla, chocolate, and a nice sharp bitter coffee bite in the end. Very nice Pike, very nice.

 

Thanks. Senior moment my apologies to Derek for not remembering his name.

 

Picked up a bottle of Entire today at Whole Foods. Will probably split it with a couple buddies over Labor Day weekend alongside a BBXXIII-XXV vertical.