Beer Blotter: Seattle based. World focused.

Get on down to Latona and celebrate Earth Week!

Its Earth Week, so lets applaud those keeping beer as organic as can be. For the second straight year (more?), Latona is celebrating Earth Week with human powered keg delivery!

Latona Pub, one of the 3 Pubs collection around Seattle, will only be serving beer from kegs that were transported to the bar by human powered devices – thus anything without a combustion engine.

You can check out photos of how breweries like New Belgium Brewing (nice work, Todd), Elysian Brewing, Big Time Brewing, Two Beers, Fremont Brewing, Naked City Brewing and Hales Ales have each delivered their kegs to Latona. Each one has been delivered by way of hand truck (sometimes by relay).

It will be interesting to see if anyone finds some other alternative way to deliver their beer to the pub. Wheel barrow, bicycle, canoe (i know someone wants to go across green lake)?

At this moment, you can keep up with what brewers are on tap by following Latona on Twitter. We’ll be there tonight to check out the haul. Literally.

Fremont Brewing Co.- take note of the tricycle. Pic courtesy of flickr.com.

Giving up beer for 9 months is one thing. I am happy to do so for the health and well-being of my child. Giving up beer bars and brewery visits scared me. Life after a child isn’t the end, it is just the beginning of family outings and showing our baby boy the things we love in this life.

We began to rigorously research places in Seattle were we could take the little tike and enjoy a beer. So for you beer loving parents, here is what we came up with:

Fremont Brewing Co.

Fremont Brewing Co. is loved by bb.com for many, many reasons. Reasons like the grassroots feel of the taproom, the thought of grabbing a killer sandwich from Homegrown or Paseo’s, heading to Fremont for a beer and hanging out with the warmth of a Seattle summer day streaming through the open garage door, the dry hopped IPAs that you can only get at the taproom and the fact that Fremont is starting to can and gives a damn about the environment. This wide open space is the perfect place for a family to enjoy time together, enjoy the weather and enjoy a good brew.

Elysian Brewing Co.

This gives us three choices for a kid-friendly place to enjoy some craft brews. All Elysian locations offer a long line of taps, a full menu and it doesn’t have that family-friendly feel- which trust me, although I am about to be a parent, I prefer to avoid those places, generally speaking. This is a place where you can still have that hip, adult atmosphere but teach your little one how to say Great Pumpkin.

The Dray

Another place that bb.com just fawns over. This small, quirky beer bar is my favorite spot to snuggle up and grab a brew. Lately, its been hot chocolate for me as I gaze at the various fermented beverages scattered across the bar. I have to keep other beer drinkers in mind, so parents, consider the size of this place and the mood of your child. A tantrum is bound to disturb more people here and they are enjoying good beer, damnit!

Elliot Bay Brewing Co.

We had to throw a West Seattle joint up here for our dear friends who are also expecting. Located right at the junction, this brewery has the vibe of a bustling restaurant. There is always a crowd and plenty of seating. This is great for a large group with kids in tow.

Naked City Brewery and Taphouse

This is another place I breathed a sigh of relief when we found out we could still take trip here without finding a sitter. Kids/people under 21 are allowed to enjoy the food and atmosphere at Naked City until 10PM every night. So beer loving parents, stop by for dinner and relax with an amazing tap list. Naked City’s taplist is guaranteed to have some house brewed favorites and note-worthy guest beers.

Hales Brewing Co.

Hales is one of the bigger breweries in Seattle and a staple in the Ballard/Fremont craft beer scene. This is a great lunch and/or dinner spot to treat the family to a night out and treat yourself to a beer!

Although some of the greats are going to be a bit harder for us to visit on a more or less regular basis (Brouwers, Maritime Pacific) I am so thankful for the above mentioned. Being a parent is hard work and getting out to enjoy some beer is well-deserved in so long as you remain responsible and aware of your kids. Cheers!

I guess.

As many of our readers now know, I am with child. I have gone from brewer to baker. During this journey of creation, I have given up my other love, beer.

A sip here and there doesn’t justify the thirst I have for my beverage of choice. The tolerance I have been building for years is now a distant memory. I can only assume my first full pint of imperial stout (if served in such a vessel) will get me pretty tipsy.

Although I cannot indulge in my old beer drinking ways, I still participate in other’s drinking by accompanying friends to beer bars and breweries. I normally order water, so boring, but here and there I find craft root beer on tap (a non-caffeinated beverage). Scuttlebutt’s root beer is on the sweet side, where Gallagher’s Where U-Brew’s root beer was bitter with a kick. Maybe I could analyze the taste of root beer like I did with beer….

Wiki knowledge coming at you!

Root beer is originally made using the root of a sassafras plant (or the bark of a sassafras tree) as the primary flavor. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer, in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content. Although roots are used as the source of many soft drinks in many countries throughout the world (and even alcoholic beverages/beers), the name root beer is rarely used outside North America, Britain, Ireland and the Philippines.

 

What ingredients go into root beer? How do you brew root beer?

The primary ingredient, artificial sassafras flavoring, is complemented with other flavors, common ones being vanilla, wintergreen, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, acacia, anise, molasses, cinnamon, clove and honey. I’d like to use some of these ingredients in beer!

Check out wiki-how to learn how to make root beer at home!

With 5 more months left of abstaining, I am comforted to know there is a handful of Washington breweries that brew their own root beer and the Washington Brewer’s Festival (my favorite WA beer fest) even has a root beer garden.

The following breweries all brew root beer

- Boundary Bay Brewery
- Lazy Boy Brewing Co.
- Rock Bottom Brewery
- Silver City Brewery
- Scuttlebutt Brewery

If anyone knows of any other breweries that brew root beer- please share! I plan on becoming a root beer expert over the next 5 months.

This was originally posted by bb.com back in 2009. Damn time flies. All of these places are worth a second post. So check ‘em out, if you haven’t before!

The inviting inside of Black Raven Brewing Company in Redmond, WA (photo by Lee Killough)

Sunday, November 29, 2009 marked Beer Blotter’s adventure to beer bars unknown and a brewery worth the trip. This trip refers to a 25 minute drive from downtown Seattle to Redmond, Washington. “What is there besides Microsoft in Redmond?” Well, that is why we are here, to stimulate your brain and your taste buds.

Stop #1 Black Raven Brewing Company

Known for their Trickster IPA (which won Beverage Place Pub‘s year round IPA tap spot), Black Raven Brewing Company’s brew pub is part of a commercial park. Inside, the space is warming and welcoming. We immediately walk up to the bar, order the sampler (and an extra Wisdom Seeker Double IPA) and take a seat at a wooden top table. Sunlight, well what Seattleites consider sunlight, streamed through the windows. The bartender and bar regulars were very passionate about beer and Black Raven. Beer blotter would like to thank Lee Killough for the pictures and insider facts about the brewery. Aside from the two IPAs, the Brown Porter and Second Sight Scotch Ale come highly recommended. The porter is surprising light for the style and is nutty with caramel undertones. This brew was an experimental recipe when the brewery first opened and they got it right the first time around!

Black Raven is located at 14687 NE 95th Street, Redmond, WA 98052. Beware: This brewery might have great brewing equipment (which you can sit near in the back room) but they do not serve food. Menus are placed at every table for delivery option to the brewery.

Stop #2 Malt and Vine Bottle Shop

After a great time at Black Raven, we decide to stick around Redmond for a little while longer. This provides us with a great opportunity to visit the local bottle shop, Malt and Vine. Like so many establishments in Redmond, Malt and Vine is located in a strip mall off of Redmond Way and my dear beer lovers, it is worth the stop in every way, shape and form. Not only does this bottle shop have approximately 15 taps flowing at any given time, (Lets take a moment for some name dropping: New Belgium Love, Lost Abbey Angel Share) their bottle selection is amazing and the refrigerators are organized by brewery, not by style. This approach to organizing your beer coolers, in our humble opinion, makes bottle shopping easier and that much more enjoyable. The only negative about this bottle shop is that the area in which one might enjoy one of these profound beers is not very welcoming and is reminiscent of a high school cafeteria. If only high school cafeterias sold rare beer and had an amazing tap list…the world would be a better place….or not… But during our time spent at Malt and Vine, the world did seem a bit better or at least bearable.

Malt and Vine is located at 16851 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA 98052. Less than 5 miles from Black Raven Brewery.

Stop #3 Wedgewood Ale House

We had heard such great things, had such high expectations. Maybe that was our problem. A cold November day, we were looking for a place to walk into, to warm our hearts and fill our souls. The only thing warm about the Wedgewood Ale House was the Boundary Bay Brewing Cabin Fever and Port Townsend Winter Ale on nitro. Although it was too cold and the wings were too small, Wedgewood Ale House has the quintessential bar menu and they support Washington breweries. With only Washington breweries on tap, the BB Cabin Fever is perfect for the winter/holiday season. It tantalizes your taste buds and tickles the back of your throat with hops and vanilla. The Port Townsend Winter Ale was inviting and spiced well with a malt balance.

The Wedgewood Ale House is located at 8515 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115

Stop #4 Fiddler’s Inn

Fiddler’s Inn has a hidden rustic quality upon first sight with a comfortable, “home for the holidays” atmosphere inside. Stuffed from our previous stops, no food was ordered, but the menu boasted pizzas and what we would call Italian fare. But food isn’t really why were are hear as the tap list and wall mounted taps prove their passion for the punch. A taste of this so-called “punch” included New Belgium Wild Ale, Anchor Steam Christmas Ale and Fremont Brewing Co. Little Woody Pale Ale. A quick side note about New Belgium Wild Ale, it is brewed with schisandra berries. WAIT! Keep reading. This berry is known as the “5 flavored berry” presenting notes of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter. This beer is all that rolled into one.

Fiddler’s Inn is located at 9219 35th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98115.

Stop #5 Pub at Pipers Creek

The space is awkwardly open and if you decide to take a seat that is not at the bar, your very far away from the only light that brightly shines. Taps form a crescent shape in the middle of the bar. At this point, food was the last thing on our minds, so we are sticking to what we know and love, beer. Big Al Brewing Winter Warmer had stout like qualities and was spicy, somewhat creamy and delicious. We were all pleasantly surprised by Elysian’s BiFrost which has an undeniable hop presence as well as Dick’s Brewing’s, Silk Lady.

Pub at Pipers Creek is located at 10527 Greenwood Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98133

We met some friends along the way, tried some great beers, bought some bottles and beat the Sunday blues. Let us know if there are other Seattle or Washington State beer bars for us to try. Hell, we will even leave the state or the country if need be.

Leave a comment or email your bar idea to beerblotter@gmail.com.

Photo credit: yelp.com

I might as well stick with it.  Let’s call it a trend.  Today I hit up 2 Seattle area bottle shops [sic] that I have never visited before.  One is very new, the other is newish, mostly “under new management”, or so I understand.

First up was Chuck’s 85th St. Market.  I have been following these guys for a little while now via Twitter (am I obsessed?).  They go by @chucks85th in case you’d like to follow.  I noticed that they have been having a lot of tastings lately and that they seem to get most of the coveted releases, though often a bit later than the big(er) guys.  They just tweeted that they got Firestone Walker Double Jack in and I have been in need of that ever since it hit the Seattle market.  I had seen the place on many occasions, but never really believed that it would be worth a damn as a bottle shop.  In fact, I used to run past it on a daily basis when I lived on Cleopatra Place NW, one block north of The Dray.

Speaking of The Dray, please check out this article at Seattle Beer News about the soon to be opened bar called The Yard by the same owners.  I’m super excited!

Back to the bottles.  Chuck’s is oddly similar to the Lake Stevens place that I posted about yesterday.  It’s a god damn convenience store with a more than normal bottle collection.  In this case, unlike that of Norm’s, the selection is, as Tim Webb may say, “smart”.  There’s significantly less refrigerators at Chuck’s that are designated to beer as are at Norms, but there is much, much more excitement.  Yes, you will find six packs of your standard, slightly cheaper micro varieties, but you will find almost equal parts eye poppers and “trendy” offerings.  I walked away with a North Coast Twentieth Anniversary, a HOD Blue Dot and 2 Double Jacks.  Great Success!

After a brief stop at 74th St. Alehouse to grab a pint of Two Beers cask Evo IPA dry hopped and infused with D’anjou pears and Pink Lady Apples (drool) I headed over to Seth’s (of Collins Pub/Hudson New American Public House fame) new bottle shop, The Last Drop.

I must admit that I’m massively jealous of what Seth has created here.  From the first moment that I walked through the doors of Belmont Station in Portland I knew that pubs and bottle shops were meant to live in harmony, side by side.  I promised myself that my bar/brewpub would have an adjoining bottle shop.  I stand by that, and you know what, fuck it, you should do it too.  The more options the better.  Let us beer nerds take over the world…of commerce.

I digress.  The Last Drop is a bit stark at the moment, but I have a strong feeling that Seth has made it this way to allow for it to grow organically with time.  He was a lot of space to work with, which excites me.  I want to work for him and help fill the voids, both figuratively and literally.  There is a lot of potential there.

TLD has about 7 (I forgot to count) beers on tap behind the register for growler fills.  Some solid offerings, no doubt.  There’s a few wine options available as well, but beer is clearly the motif here.  If it’s not clear by now, I’m a cranky old snob when it comes to bottle shops.  If I want something cheap I’ll go to Safeway and buy a 12er of Rainier.  When I go to a bottle shop I want the newest releases and I plan to spend $50.  I want to build my cellar or I want to get something that I have never had before.  I also work for a living and find it very challenging to arrive on the doorsteps of Bottleworks when this shit gets released.  The Last Drop, at least as of now in its infantile stage, fucking rules my life.

It’s clear that Seth was buying/cellaring beers for his bottle shop long before the doors opened. I love him for that.  Though some of the rarer offerings have been sicken with an up-charge, it’s to be expected, and honestly, it excites me because it inadvertently offers monetary fortitude to what I’ve cellared in the past 6 months.  This is far different from offering horrible out of season beers like Norm’s does.  This is offering a virtual get out of jail free card to the lazy or the busy (like myself).  If I didn’t already have a 2010 Black Xanthus I’d have picked one up.  If you don’t have one, get over to Last Drop now!

Allow me to state, for the record, that I know I can sound highly narcissistic at times when I write these articles.  Please understand that that is my role here at beerblottter.com.  I’m the uber-nerd that plays to the sensibilities of the Northwest beer connoisseur.  For those that are not connoisseurs, please feel free to mock me, mostly for spending nearly all of my meager earnings on beer that I horde away and rarely actually drink.  One day, most likely very soon, I’ll die and leave a god-awful amount of amazing beer to some lo-life that has zero respect/understanding for what I have and it’ll be all for naught.  I repeat, mock at will.