Visiting Seattle (Fall 2015 Update)

wanted to say thanks for all the recs and advice (on previous thread), had a great weekend in Seattle. Holy Mountain was probably my favorite spot, went there twice. Also enjoyed Fremont and Reuben's. Made it to the Pine Box, Brouwer's Cafe and Bottleworks too.

 

Glad to see this updated right before my trip - I'll be coming in this Thursday for a long weekend. Got one day set aside (can't decide if Friday or Saturday) for the Fremont to Reubens and Stoup crawl, anyone have a suggestion as to which direction to do it? We'd like to do brunch on one end and dinner on the other if possible, don't necessarily need beer-focused restaurants - and we'll be taking public transit there and back from Belltown. Kinda looking at Giddy Up for a mid-way stop (looks like they have Black Raven on Georgetown beers on, 2 places I likely won't be able to make it to on this trip so their current list caught my attention.)

Beyond that I'll find a time to check out Holy Mountain, and then do the usual touristy stuff.

 

definitely go ballard to fremont. have dinner at joule (2 blocks away from fremont), and if there's a wait, you can go drink at fremont while you wait. i don't have a big opinion on where to brunch, but senor moose, hattie hat's or portage bay are all fine restaurants.

 

For all my issues with the place, I agree, the food is great at Brouwers. Beer selection is also among the best in the city.

 

Thanks of the advice - damn, now I have some thinking to do - was actually already considering Joule for brunch Saturday, then Fremont and onward. What I did not mention before is that we'll have the 1 year old with us so we want to keep the dining casual (while still eating at the great places). Bringing her to a nice restaurant on a Saturday night is fun for nobody, brunches and lunches are much more manageable. This also seems to rule out Brouwers Cafe and Sixgill unfortunately (I'm gonna have to ditch them at some point on the trip to squeeze in a quick Holy Mountain visit and I'll only get to play that card once).

Second question - any recs on decent bottle shops in Belltown? Not looking to fly anything home, just somewhere to grab a bomber and/or six-pack or two of a local brewery for the room…Thanks again for all the help.

 

Brouwers is indeed awesome. However, it is not kid friendly. You can get any food to go and bring it to our UBG with your family and chillax. Many great organic fresh hop and barrel aged beers on now...all hail the Fall when we go to brew and release more sales of beer.

 

Go down to the Pike Place Market and stop by Pear Delicatessen for bottles. They usually have an outstanding selection crammed into a small(ish) space. Often they have beer that has long been sold out elsewhere.

 

I'll throw in for a South of SODO (SoSODO?) brewery crawl: Two Beers, Schooner Exact, Machine House, Epic, and I think a couple more are sorta-ish close together. Might need a driver for it though.

 

epic ales (aka gastropod) is no longer open in sodo. they're starting a new restaurant (mollusk) in SLU.

 

But I thought they were keeping the brew facility open?

 

I've never brought my 3 1/2 year old daughter to Joule (my wife and I always reserve it for date nights), but they do have high chairs and I've seen kids there before.

Revel is Joule's sister restaurant in Fremont (same block as Brouwers) and they're much less "fancy" and kid friendly. Always have a few nice local beers on tap, too.

If you're willing to venture a bit off the beaten North Seattle path, Hudson Public House has really good food, a great tap list and is kid friendly. The Yard Cafe in Greenwood would also be a great kid friendly spot for dinner and beer.

I'll second Pear Delicatessan in the Pike Place Market. Best option in that part of downtown.

 

That was the original plan, but they posted on facebook awhile back that they were closing it and just going to concentrate on the new Mullusk Restaurant & Brewery. So now one less Epic brewery.

 

Epic had a big fire sale of beer at the SoDo location as well. Looked like they didn't want to take bottles with them to SLU.

Speaking of Epic, has their beer quality improved in the last year or so? I like Cody and his vision, but aside from Party Time! Ale I don't really care for his stuff. I know they got a new yeast strain a while back from Upright, but I still wasn't digging the beer.

 

I am coming to seattle of thursday-sunday and am looking for good not bitter IPAs to try!! I am somewhat new to craft beer and have not really had an IPA i liked!! but i have heard seattle makes some good ones!! any suggestions??

 

I tend to like Schooner Exacts 3 Grid IPA as a not too bitter IPA, tends to fall more towards the floral, IMHO. Naked City generally has a variety of IPAs on tap at a given time. Enjoy your visit.

 

this thursday? go to pine box for their fresh hop event. fresh-hopped beers tend to have less bitterness and more flavor/aroma, and you'll have plenty to try.

 

Which of your local IPA's have you tried?

Personally I find our hoppy beers in the NW to be far more bitter than stuff in New England (and my preference is for a good amount of bitterness personally) so if the stuff out there is too hoppy for you, I doubt you'll find what you're looking for here.

Are you going to have access to a car and the time to visit some beer bars or breweries?