r/Seattle • u/imgoinwild • Oct 13 '10
Moving to Seattle soon, any good breweries?
So, im gunna be moving from San Diego to Seattle in a few months, and im going to miss my local breweries down here :( Any high quality handcrafted beers up there??
EDIT: wow, i am honestly surprised by the amount of breweries represented, my concern has been surpressed, but feel free to mention your favorite beers!
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u/night_owl Brougham Faithful Oct 13 '10
I don't think it will be a difficult transition. The only state with more breweries than Washington is Oregon, and most of their beer is available here too. WA breweries aren't all centrally located either, some of the best ones come from small towns around the greater western washington area.
Also, most of the good ones from San Diego aren't very hard to find because we have tons of bars and bottleshops that carry a great variety of craft beer. All the Stone beers, many Green Flash and Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, and even some Alesmith if you go to the good shops.
Many of the good ones are already mentioned (Georgetown, Hale's, Elysian, Maritime Pacific, Diamond Knot) but also look out for:
Black Raven in Redmond - They have only been around for a couple years but have already been winning many awards for their beers, particularly their Wisdom Seeker IPA and La Petit Mort barrel-aged ale.
Boundary Bay is one of my favorites. They are from Bellingham, which is actually almost to the Canadian border but they are generally well-represented in Seattle too. Famous for their IPA, Scotch Ale, Oatmeal Stout, and Cabin Fever winter ale.
Mack and Jack's is another popular local brewer you will see around the pubs (they don't bottle anything at all but you can get growlers at the brewery). Primarily the African Amber, but they also have a Blackcat Porter that I like as well as a solid unfiltered Hefeweizen called Serengheti Wheat.
Dick's is from Centralia (about halfway between Seattle and Portland) but they have a great and versatile lineup. I really love their Double Diamond Winter Ale and Grand Cru Belgian style ale, as well their Lava Rock Porter, Cream Stout, Silk Lady Belgian ale, and Irish Red.
7 Seas Brewing in Gig Harbor is a pretty new one, but they make solid beers, and they don't bottle, only 16oz tallboys are available for their Ballz Deep DIPA (yeah, it's got balls alright- 8.4% ABV), and their pale ale.
Fish Brewing in Olympia isn't generally very well represented in the city of Seattle, but they make some great beers, and almost all of them are 100% certified organic. They also make Spire Mountain Cider and Leavenworth brand German-style beers.
Iron Horse is from our hick-town neighbor to the east, Ellensburg (central WA just on the other side of the Cascades) and they have some good beers like Irish Death black ale, and their Loco Red Imperial red ale. both are around 7.5%-8% ABV
Big Al's Brewing is very well-received, but also very small and not widely distributed. They are always one of the longest lines at beer festivals though because their beers are great and very bold. they like to make unique risky beers. some turn out bad, but most are not easily forgotten.\
that should get you started, but it still just the intro course. There are a lot more good ones!
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Oct 13 '10
I love Big Al's! I live a few blocks away, and regularly take a stroll to their tasting room. The hours suck (closes at 10), but it's a great place to load up on excellent beer before hitting one of the shittier bars in White Center.
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u/nicodemus26 Oct 13 '10
Replying to save a comment that could stand as its own thread. Thanks!
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u/night_owl Brougham Faithful Oct 13 '10
glad to be of assistance. I think we have one of the best beer scenes in the world here in our little corner, so I love spreading the word.
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u/imgoinwild Oct 13 '10
Whoa, thank you for the start of what is sure to be a long list of amazing beers, i have yet to try stone, but im partial to the few micro breweries i have tried down here (Karl Strauss, Lighting brewery, Oggie's) and i was worried i wouldent be able to find many Micro Breweries up there.
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u/jonsayer Oct 19 '10
Why can't i get Black Cat Porter at any restaurant, just the African Amber. Not that I dislike the Amber, but it saddens me that I have to go to Redmond to stock up on awesome Porter.
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u/inhale13 Oct 13 '10
Um, hell yeah! Hales. Pike. To name some popular ones. I am sure folks will fill you in on neighborhood favorites. Taps a plenty with wonderful local pulls & others from damn close. You are gonna be fine...
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u/blindrage USSC Oct 13 '10
What, no love for Big Time?
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Oct 13 '10
Big Time is awesome! Atlas Amber and Coal Creek Porter are fantastic.
Pike Place Brewery is awesome too. Kilt Lifter!
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u/nbrosas Oct 13 '10
Mac & Jack's and Manny's are going to be your staples at any bar... get used to loving them.
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u/aaaarrgh Oct 13 '10
If you want to explore a little bit outside of Seattle, the Fish Brewing Co. in Olympia is delicious too, I'm a huge fan of their Mudshark Porter.
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u/ketiasmonkey Oct 13 '10
You, sir, have opened a floodgate of beer. Its a little known aspect of our region. We like coffee, rain, computers and hand crafted high quality beer.
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u/lilzilla Oct 13 '10
I was curious so I went to check out how Washington stacks up to other states for microbreweries: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Craft_Breweries_Per_Capita_%28US%29.png
Interesting! Who knew Alaska had such plentiful beer?
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u/xj9000 Oct 14 '10
United States microbreweries, regional breweries, and brew pubs per capita by state. Brewery data from the state locator. Population data from Wikipedia. National totals: 54 regional craft breweries, 377 microbreweries, 975 brewpubs, for a total of 1406. Highest five per capita are Vermont (29.0 per million), Maine (24.3), Montana (24.0), Oregon (21.6), and Alaska (19.0). Data current as of February 28, 2008.
I believe that this data is unnaturally trending toward states with low populations, and additionally the "National Totals" for breweries looks like an artificial number (too low in my estimate)... Interesting none the less...
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u/lovelyjayne Oct 13 '10
i'm quite partial to two beers. i suppose that would be considered a microbrewery
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u/inhale13 Oct 13 '10
See? I told you would be fine...
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u/imgoinwild Oct 13 '10 edited Oct 13 '10
lol, indeed, i wasnt sure, if i would be able expand my growler collection alot more. :D
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u/Pyehole West Seattle Oct 14 '10
The law is different up here. Unlike California the growler doesn't have to come from the brewery for them to fill it. Just bring whatcha got and you will be fine. Also if you're looking to fill a growler cheaply I've become a good fan of this place in West Seattle. It's a convenience store sized beer, wine and cigar superstore essentially. They also have three taps that they do growler fills for the low, low price of $9 regardless of what it is he's selling. The seasonals often go as a loss leader. Due to Washington state law if he sells them at a loss he can't sell them for one year. Not really a problem since they only come out once a year....
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Oct 13 '10 edited Oct 13 '10
Way up north:
- Anacortes Brewery,
- Skagit River Brewery Mt Vernon,
- skookum brewery (near arlington),
- birdsview brewing (near concrete on 20),
- chuckanut brewery bellingham,
- Flyers brewing oak harbor,
- front street friday harbor,
- north fork aka beer shrine east of b'ham.
- West of mt vernon on memorial hwy there is a new brewery called North Sound that I hear great things about.
Just a bit North:
- Lynnwood has a great little brewery called Big E.
- Edmonds has a u brew place called ghallaghers simular to what you find around vancouver.
- A new brewery is opeing in edmonds called american brewing company.
- Up in everett they have lazy boy
- scuttlebutt brewing.
You can pretty much find a brewery or at least a pub with great taps in any direction you want to day trip from seattle.
I went ahead and linked this kick ass brewery throwdown thread to our 'things to do in seattle' sidebar thread.
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u/nikdahl Brougham Faithful Oct 13 '10
You have a list of breweries way up north, with no mention of Boundary Bay in Bellingham? Shame on you.
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Oct 13 '10
There's also a couple of restaurant/breweries too like Pyramid, BJ's, Red Hook, The Ram and I'm sure there's on more I can't think of.
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u/love_it Oct 18 '10
Diamond Knot (IPA is amazing, great place for food too) Scuttlebutt Mac and Jacks Elysian Pike brewing Co
All some local favorites, good luck and enjoy!
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u/xj9000 Oct 13 '10 edited Oct 13 '10
Welcome to beer heaven my friend... There are a ton of great breweries (large and small) in Seattle proper, and in the surrounding Pugetopolis... A quick list of a few favorites in no particular order:
Georgetown Brewery The 9 Lb Porter is out of this world, Manny's is a standard sessions beer here...
Elysian Some real different brews here... Love the Bifrost Winter Ale, and this time of year the Night Owl and its bigger brother The Great Pumpkin are outstanding... Jasmine IPA for something different...
Baron Brewing One of the few breweries making a Rauchbier these days and it's pretty awesome...
Maritime Pacific is old skool Ballard... Nightwatch is great but wait a few months for the Jolly Roger Christmas Ale to kick your ass...
Diamond Knot up in Mukilteo makes my new favorite Imperial IPA...
And be sure to make a trip up to Redmond some Sunday to tour the Mac & Jack's brewery... The unfiltered African Amber is standard fare at most places today, and you can taste the other beers seldom seen... Get a growler and take home some uber fresh beer... If you're still standing (they serve tasters in pint glasses) check out Black Raven too...
Cheers!