Beer Blotter: Seattle based. World focused.

Today we racked a 5 gallon keg of a new beer that Timperial and I brewed together. Our Imperial Cranberry Saison is not completely done yet, but with Thanksgiving making an appearance in less than 48 hours, we needed to pull a young version to compliment our Turducken.

As I tasted the young, incredibly sweet saison, I couldn’t help but wonder what this beer would taste like after sitting in a white wine or zinfandel barrel. Barrel-aged beers are all the rage these days. Adding a woody, boozy, tart flavor to your beer makes a rather simple beer more complex. I became intrigued.

To my computer I ran. I did a little searching for barrels and found that it takes a sizable investment to grab a wine or whiskey barrel. Online merchants often charge upwards of $200-$300.00 for wine barrels. Used whiskey barrels often come cheaper, but must be purchased in large volume. There are options to get newly crafted white oak barrels at reasonable prices, but you would have to condition the barrel yourself.

A solution: tap into Washington’s booze producing neighborhood. Take a look for instance at Seattle’s backyard wine country – Woodinville.

Woodinville is about 20 minutes from Seattle and houses more than 50 different wineries. From massive Chateau Ste. Michelle to tiny Mark Ryan (our favorite, by the way), there is something for everyone. Remember, you can even grab a beer (or many) during a quick tour of RedHook.

But, it was the distilling that got me giddy. Imagine, no trip to Bourbon County is required! I have whiskey in my backyard.

Distillers starting popping up in 2007, when laws made it possible. By 2010, regulations had been loosened to allow distillers to finally sell their own product, making tasting rooms a possibility. Now, we finally have a craft distilling industry.

While I don’t expect any distillers to be willing to hand off a barrel to me (most whiskey requires several years of aging – and these guys are young), I do hope to start seeing more of this amazing addition to the wonderful Washington craft booze industry.

We are starting to see a few pop up on the streets of Seattle (Sound Spirits is really good!) But, Woodinville already has a collective worth discussing.

Here are 5 distilleries that grace the streets of Woodinville. Check them out, next time you have a holiday weekend (oh wait, thats this weekend!):

 

Soft Tail Spirits

 

Soft Tail has been making grappa for some time. Now, they are producing vodka – and doing a damn good job. Soft Tail recently won a  medal at the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco.

 

12280 NE Woodinville Dr. Suite C.

Woodinville WA, 98072

Tasting Room Hours: Mon. – Sun. 12-5pm

 

Woodinville Whiskey Co.

 

Yes, Yes & Yes. Woodinville Whiskey Co. – thank you.

I have dreamed of consuming Washington sourced whiskey for quite some time. Oregon has been producing barley whiskey for some time – now we have one of our own.

NW whiskey is starting to carve its own niche. Typically, un-aged and un-oaked, the clear version of whiskey served by WWC is the base for a wood-aged bourbon that will sit in barrels for 4 years. They are also producing a vodka made from Washington wheat. This place is first on my visit list.

 

16110 Woodinville Redmond Rd. NE, Ste. 3

Woodinville, WA, 98072

Wednesday—Sunday

Noon—5:00pm

Tours at 4pm or by appointment

 

 

Pacific Distillery

 

Would I joke about Washington made absinthe? Hell no. Its true. Just visit Pacific.

One night we were drinking bourbon at Zig Zag Cafe when legendary bartender, Murray Stenson, told me about Pacific. He poured me a whole drink of straight Pacific Absinthe and told me – its the best I can get. It was.

Pacific is also making a dry gin, which I am eager to get to try. Check them out, but make sure to e-mail first (no regular hours).

 

18808 142nd Ave. NE #4B
Woodinville, WA 98072

mbernhard@pacificdistillery.com

 

Project V Distillery & Sausage Company

 

Sausage. Thats about all I needed to know.

There is only one other booze and sausage place that I know of – and I’m in love with it. If you have ever been to Dick’s Brewing’s NW Sausage & Deli, you know what I am talking about. Smoked meats and craft booze is just plan good.

These guys are making vodka from Washington wheat. Check out their website (its a facebook page) for more information on when they are open. For now, it appears that they do not have hours.

 

19495 44th Avenue NE

Ste A130

Woodinville, WA 98072

206-947-3667

 

 

JP Trodden Distilling

 

These guys are just off to the races, but about to do something amazing. JP Trodden will be making bourbon. The owner has clarified that the bourbon style can be distilled and aged anywhere, not just in Kentucky. Excited to see their first batch!

They are still a few years away from pouring their first batch in 2012. I’ll be waiting.

 

18646 142nd Ave

Woodinville, WA, 98072

206-399-6231

 

If anyone makes the trip to enjoy these fines beverages – please let us know by emailing us at jess@beerblotter.com or by commenting below!

 

We had a hectic weekend, bouncing from wondrous beer excursion to the next. San Diego had its way with us. We will need some recovery time to get over having to leave that beautiful place.

But quickly, I wanted to check in and thank those of you that followed us during our excursions, via Facebook and Twitter. I realize that the updates trickled off by Sunday. That’s for good reason, as our energy had faded.

San Diego Beer Week was a smashing success, according to most of the bartenders, brewers and owners that we spoke with during our trip. But, I’m fairly sure the 10 day event wore them thin, and they were pleased to see it end.

We met some pretty amazing people, including Marin Brewing’s Arnie Johnson, Allagash Brewing’s Rob Todd, and the wonderful bar staff duo of Steph and Bob at Alpine Beer Co. During the next week, we hope to discuss more about where and what to do next time you visit San Diego.

For now, my favorites from our visit:

 

Coolest Place to Have a Pint –  Hamilton’s Tavern – Awesome atmosphere, excellent grub and just an amazingly cool place.

 

Best Staff to Cure a Hangover -  Alpine Beer Co. Brewpub – Steph and Bob helped us out of our slumber, thanks to amazing sour beer, the best IPAs and some smoked chicken wings.

 

Best Bar Experience –  Blind Lady Alehouse – Serving flights via amazing bartenders will hook you everytime.

 

The Full Day –  Stone World Bistro – The first place I have visited (since Water Street – RIP) where I could spend 12 hours. Not the hippest place, but a world of its own.

 

Best Brewery to Visit –  Port Brewing/Lost Abbey – No food, little culture – all brewing. Check out the barrel room and die.

 

Best Place to Eat (and drink beer) –  Small Bar – Something called Pork Desayuno (eh?) rocked my world.

 

Stay tuned for more on San Diego Beer Week 2010.

 

We finally located over 60 videos of our time in Belgium. During our March visit, we did some pretty goddamned amazing things. Its great to remember (duh, we forgot) that we captured it on video.

So, its time to kick out the vids and see if we can make something from them. I am excited to see Flaming Trappists at De Gans, super rare lambics at Paters Vaetje, and a mess of imperial stouts under a windmill at De Molen. What else will we stumble upon? Hopefully, forgotten treasures of late night!

We located ours – find yours! As part of our transition to the new, more media hefty, website, we are starting to utilize much more video on BeerBlotter.com.

If you have videos of you drinking in Belgium – please send them our way! We would love to share you amazing experiences with the beer public and maybe help someone find their way to an incredible venue.

Feel free to email everything over to jess@beerblotter.com. We cannot wait to see what you found!

-  DSR

 

Week 39 of 52

Abita Brewing Company & Tasting Room

166 Barbee Rd.
Abita Springs, LA

Wed,Thurs & Fri: 2pm – 3pm
Tour Time: 2pm
Sat: 10am – 3pm
Tour Times: 11am, 12pm, 1pm & 2pm

———————————————-

Rank: 4/5

Type of Establishment: Brewery & Tasting Room

Visit: After a incredible week of consumption in the French Quarter, it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. We headed West to the Bayou to have some frog legs and catfish and embarked north to Abita Springs, home of Abita Brewing. It was about 85 degrees with 100% humidity on a late October day. We were thirsty, but severely full. The beer beckoned, we did not back down.

 

Beers on Tap (at time of visit):

 

Amber

Turbodog Brown Ale

Christmas Ale

Purple Haze Raspberry Ale

Pecan Harvest

Satsuma Wit

Jockamo IPA

Restoration Pale

Select Rye Pale

Save Our Shores Imperial Pilsner

Light

Golden

Fall Fest

AndyGator

 

Bottle List:

 

Its a brewery, you drink from the taps. You cannot get any bottles here.

But you can obtain Abita Brewing’s bottled beer at almost any store selling beer in Louisiana. They also distribute in 48 states, including Washington.

You can most reliably find some Abita down at Full Throttle Bottles in Seattle. Next time you have a fish fry, crawfish/shrimp boil, or a Mardi Gras party – head down there to get your Turbodog.

 

Food Options:

 

Again, my comments are limited. If you brought a bag of peanuts or chips – I think you can eat them here. But, this is purely a brewery visit. They are focused one thing: letting you drink the beer and see where it came from.

Abita Brewing does, however, have a brewpub up the road about 1 mile. In the teeny town of Abita Springs, LA, Abita’s brewpub puts out some interesting food and showcases roughly 20 beers on tap at all times.

More interestingly, the brewpub pours some pub exclusives that cannot be found anywhere else, including Chocolate Stout, Blue (blueberry wheat beer), and Nitro Pale. You can also purchase growlers of these beers, or snag a six pack of some of their packaged ales.

The food at the brewpub provides a nice snapshot of Louisiana cuisine. Its not the best place to get this food, but its serviceable. A collection of po boys with all the fixins, oysters brochette, fried artichokes, blackened shrimp, crawfish cakes and stuffed quail might make you right. For me, I always loved their home recipe meatloaf, which is no longer on the menu – boo.  If you are looking for a recommendation, try the Andygator infused crawfish cakes topped with a Turbodog remoulade sauce. Yum.

 

Bar Opinions:

 

I’ll just get this out of the way: You serve yourself at Abita Brewing. Yep, you heard me – be your own bartender at this tasting room.

The fact stated above was the main reason that I decided to return to Abita. Some six years ago when I was nothing more than a Loyola student, a few friends and I visited the still relatively small Abita brewery. We wanted to see what changed, after some major renovations and upgrades.

 

The Old Brewery & Tour

 

My first visit was back in 2004, before Hurrican Katrina. Abita was producing a lot of beer at the time, but not nearly what they sell these days. At the time, they had just a few beers in their collection and did not produce one hoppy ale.

The brewery was in the same location but remarkably smaller, less efficient and much less attractive. I remember walking into the brewery for a tour and being directed to what had to be a refurbished closet. The “welcome room” was a tiny space with a jockey box setup and about 5 taps. There was a stack of cups and sign that read: “serve yourself.” What!? Of course, I will. Thank you very much.

The mentality at the old brewery was grab as much beer as possible, make sure you try all five styles and then stumble around the brewery tour for 30 minutes, with absolutely zero idea what the brewer was talking about. Except for my buddy Nick asking dumb questions about how they clean the place – we had zero communication with the tour guide. We had no idea how to connect with the guy, because we had such little knowledge of the brewing process.

Regardless, the old brewery tour was a hell of a time.  Not once have I visited a brewery that left you to your own devices in procuring drunkenness. What a world. Would it all change as Abita grew up?

 

All Grown Up – Abita Goes Gorgeous.

 

I had heard a lot of amazing things about Abita in the past few years. First, Abita underwent an incredible transformation right after we visited in 2004. Even before the great storm of 2005, Abita was in the midst of a great growth, increasing brewing capacity, fermenting capacity and brewery technology.

The brewery purchased one of only two Merlin brew kettle systems that are currently being used in the USA (we believe, but their may be more). Their 100 bbl system is only defeated by the 200 bbl system being used over at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO.

The Merlin allows for an extremely clean brewing process, while maximizing heat efficiency (it saves 70% in energy cost) and removing trub. Its a pretty sexy thing to see and you can taste the difference in Abita beer.

Additionally, Abita grabbed a slew of 300 bbl fermenters and built a brand spanking new brewhouse that sparkles with cleanliness. Very impressive.

They also built a new administrative building with a New Orleans flair. This building houses the Tasting Room and patio, where you get to enjoy Abita’s beer – as your own bartender. That’s right, even though they built a gorgeous new bar – you still pour your own beer.

One big difference is that you now have to choose from about 15 beers! But do not fret, the tasting experience is now expanded to roughly an hour. After  a brief introduction, visitors are invited to grab a beer (or two, three, whatever you can carry) and take a seat. The tour begins with an extremely informative and appealing video (on big flat screens) about the brewing process.

The video is perhaps the smartest move that Abita could have made. I was on the tour with my father and his friend, who know very little about brewing. But, Abita’s video showed the brewing process in action; the ingredients, the working parts, and even a life cycle of a beer were all comprehensible and tangible.

At this time, you are finally ready to take a quick (10 minute) peak at the brewery. By now, you understand how all the parts work and this is a great opportunity to ground the images you just saw on screen with the real thing. I love this tour.

 

Going Green.

 

Abita also uses this opportunity to “wow” you with its green initiative. I was utterly shocked to see a Louisiana brewery doing some of the things that Abita is doing.

As the site says:

 

“Conserving energy and water, reusing by-products and waste, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, driving greener vehicles and using recycled materials are some of the ways the Abita Brewing Company is working to keep our part of the world green and clean.”

 

This brewer is recycling cooling water into their liquor tanks, using a kettle that saves 70% in energy cost, capturing vapor to reuse steam, reusing waste water to produce energy, capturing bio-gas to fuel boilers, using snub bottles to reduce glass, and using recycled cartons that use 50% less paper. These are just a few of the things that Abita is doing to improve the way brewing damages the environment. If you ever brewed a batch of beer, you know how wasteful it can be; its nice to see someone doing something about it.

 

The Beer & Result

 

All in all – I was floored with the improvements at this place. That includes improvements to the beer.

I never have been a huge fan of Abita Brewing, but their beer is noticeably improved. Additions to the family include: Jockamo IPA, a 6.5% IPA generously hopped with Willamette and Columbus hops; Restoration Pale, a nice malty pale dry-hopped with Cascade, which was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and started as a fund raiser; and last but certainly not least – SOS.

SOS stands for Save Our Shores. Abita has always got involved with helping out Louisiana during times of disaster. This time, Abita put together a charity to help out families that were impacted by the BP oil spill. Abita brewed this Imperial Pilsner (its marketed as just a Pils, but its big as hell) with the intention of raising .75 cents per bottle sold for its charity – and its doing a heck of a job.

SOS is easily Abita’s most desirable beer. The wheat malts blend perfectly with the Perle and Sterling hops that are packed in the bottle gratuitously. While the beer has a subtle malt backbone, its sharp and packs a delightful hoppiness. Get this beer – and help save Louisiana shores. You can also contribute by going to their website here.

All in all, I still love New Orleans and I’m beginning to love Abita, more and more. I was blown away with what the brewery has become and how great this tour is for visitors. If you are in New Orleans, there is no justification for missing this trip.

Been to Abita – Let us know what you thought below!

 

- DSR

I have been on leave from BeerBlotter.com in order to peruse the alleyways, taverns, and sound of the mighty New Orleans. And so I apologize to my fellow Blotter brethren/sistern (made up) for having to pull all the weight of this hefty machine. Kudos to them for keeping it running.

But alas, I miss the daily musings of musty bottles and bitter pints. The Blotter has become a reflection of what we all are: loose lipped, eager to share, legend seeking beer drinkers.

So, I decided to chime in this morning and share a snapshot of my adventures through the dirty. This will only be a peak of what is to come on the Blotter in the coming week.

 

Loving Me Some NOLA.

 

Last year, we visited a fledgling operation along New Orleans’ historic tongue twister of a street – Tchoupitoulas. The newcomer to the Louisiana beer scene (and really the only true brewery in New Orleans since Katrina sank Dixie Brewing), NOLA Brewing hit the market in early 2009 with two products: Brown and Blonde. They grabbed instant success and imminent growth could be smelled from a mile away.

We were not wrong. NOLA Brewing has grown in production size, quality, distribution, and of course – their lineup. Now brewing 4 year round beers and several seasonals, they are all grown up.

I decided to pop in, unannounced (sorry Dylan), and grab a taste of the new, the recreated and the “whats to come.” Luckily, I was able to siphon off a taste of the new Irish Channel Stout before its release. I was floored. Much more to come on these guys. Don’t miss that write up.

 

Holy Crap – What Happened Here?

 

6 years ago, craft beer was just a scant curiosity for me. I knew nothing, cared little and grabbed Schlitz cans without a second thought. But living in New Orleans, you had to notice the Abita Brewing stranglehold of 25 years. So, we took a little trip to the brewery.

6 years ago, the trip was just a hoot – now its an experience. Abita Brewing has undergone a dramatic face lift, expanding to an almost 50,000 square foot facility. Whats more is that they added a 100 barrel Merlin brewing system, a plethora of 300 barrel fermenters and a shiny new tasting room. Luckily for us they didn’t change the “be your own bartender in the tasting room” rule, which makes this the best brewery visit around.

 

Still On Top. Zero Challengers.

 

Last time I waxed poetic about New Orleans beer, we sat Avenue Pub right at the top. There is nothing that can change my mind about this choice.

Avenue Pub has all the factors: amazing taps, great bottles, phenomenal food, incredible aura and mind-boggling comfort/location (balcony over St. Charles!). With a direct line to Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Brewing’s top of the line beers, I am always surprised. With the new commitment to Belgian beer, my jaw drops with each visit.

Kudos to Avenue Pub’s Polly for keeping this one on top.

For now, I must rest as I embark on my final journey through New Orleans, tomorrow. I am going to peg gater and eggs, oysters on the half shell and some Liuzza’s gumbo for the day. How will I wash it all down? We’ll see what NOLA has to offer.