With just 32 hours to our short lived vacation to the Emerald city, we have hit 13 new breweries. In an effort to tackle my list of 38 breweries, we dove right in. Going full force once we landed, starting with Elliott Bay Brewing because they were the nearest and served food. We left satisfied and thus started off our Seattle beer trip on the right foot. The next few places were on our list but because I did not have an actual grasp for the area, we relied on the locals to let us know where we should hit next {ALWAYS the best idea!}
Big Al Brewing was a funky little place but right away we walked in and a man at the bar asked if we would like him to move over so we could sit. We ended up chatting with him and his business partner {guess what business?!} they just opened their own little brewery and bought out much of the equipment from Emerald City Brewery who just recently went out of business. The beers were good. The place reminded me of Bootleggers in LA area because of its funkiness, the layout, and outdoor space. The bartender was helpful, she offered us the beer map to use on our adventures. She lit up with joy when we told her we we’re trying to hit so many breweries in 4 days! Lowercase, Reuben’s Brews, and Tin Dog {just opened} were the recommendations from her.
After success at Lowercase and a very quick stop at Tin Dog, we were off to the great Reuben’s Brews. We have heard about this place from everyone we spoke to. Everything was supposed to be fantastic: the people, the vibe, and of course the beer. It was. We had everything we could want when we walked in. It felt like we were at home. It’s a very small place and it was packed. It was a bit of a concern as to how we might do the sampler while standing, once we saw the beer list, I was slightly more concerned but I knew my hubby would hold it :). Then…a really nice couple moved and let us have their table as they were on their way out. It was even the best seat in the house, facing outside, and spacious. We were feeling the luck when the sampler came with one of their just released/tapped triple IPA. All of the beers were great. We met this couple who lived in the Ballard area and gave us some recommendations too. Our trip was continuing the path of awesomeness.
Looking at my list, I had Populuxe and Stoup on there but we went to Peddler first and we were happy we did because the beers were good and they had the whole cycling theme that my husband loves. After that though, we had to have a snack so we ended up close by at Maritime. Maritime is old, dusty, funky, with big chairs and tables, its tough to walk through, and the food is greasy but it did the trick for me and I actually kind of liked the onion rings with the jalapeno aoli. They had an interesting love for jalapeno, it was literally everywhere on the menu!
We went on with happy bellies and headed for our cute little garden studio that I booked on my trusty AirBnb. We were right off Union Street just four blocks from what we would soon find out to be the best craft beer bar and bottle shop in Seattle: Chuck’s Hop Shop.
Settling in to our studio, we got cleaned up and set off for our dinner reservation. I used Open Table {which rarely lets me down, especially when I am starved and have recommendations from friends} to find a cool looking restaurant that was walking distance from our studio: The Red Cow. It reminded me of the Spotted Pig in NYC. A steak and charcuterie place, we ordered a variety of cured meats including the oh so delicious {illegal in California} fois gras. The presentation was lovely and I would totally go back.
After a nice, romantic dinner, we were ready to tackle that dreadful hill again knowing that Chucks was on the other side. Again, we had no idea what were about to get ourselves into. From the outside, it looks cool, the logo is pretty rad. We walk in and the people are nice, the bar is small, and there are several tables scattered throughout the store. We belly up to the bar to find fifty taps with all different kinds of beers and two big screen TV’s with the beers listed and color coded {this is my friend Erin’s kind of place}. The IPA’s are all in yellow, and man was there a lot of yellow! Ryan and Jordan, the two guys behind the bar were nice. Quiet at first but then we started talking and asking them questions, basically trying to suck the information out of them. They loosened up, it was getting later, and they knew their shift was nearing the end so they started sharing samples of cool beers that they enjoy. We hung out there for over three hours and were planning on coming back the next day.
After an incredible night of craft beer and good company we woke up feeling excited about doing it all over again! Elysian was on the top of our list. Next was Fremont, which was great, and super hip. Hales Ales, decent tasting pizzas, very cool inside because you can sit and watch all of the action, but the beer was all pretty similar in flavors. We saw Bad Jimmy Brewing on our nearby search on Untappd so we stopped there. We then hit Big Time Brewing in the university district. It was oddly familiar and the reason was because it’s owned by the same person who opened Triple Rock in Berkeley. Naked City was next on the list. It was a cool spot with an outdoor patio to sip on your beer or a great bar. The beer was good. We enjoyed some mini corn dogs to while we sipped on our sampler and they were fantastic.
Seattle beer is delicious and the people there are fantastic. We had the most memorable trip probably because of the guys we met at Chuck’s Hop Shop. They were fun, they were informative, and they were just awesome down-to-earth guys. I cannot wait to go back to enjoy the rest of the city of Pugent Sound and hang with the boys at Chucks!