So I had been hearing that there were several good breweries in Woodinville. However, I had never found them up until a couple of weeks ago because they are all located right next to one another. Once you find one, you have found them all.

My big complaint with the breweries was not the beer but the lack of good food trucks. The Seahawks were playing and it was a Sunday afternoon so I would have expected every brewery to be packed and be offering some great food options. The food trucks were pathetic though– hotdogs and disgusting looking sandwiches. Come on– this is Seattle which is known as a foodie town. None of the ones that I saw even offered any vegetarian or healthy options.

Well enough about the sad state of the food. We ended up driving down the street to Panera to get something to bring back. Let’s move on to the beers.

We started at Triplehorn as it was located furthest up the street. We did a fixed sampler– which I always hate  to do as they pick beers that are their year rounds but not necessarily the best. I wish breweries would concentrate on highlighting their best brews in their flights.

The flight started with the Falcon Cloak Blonde. This beer didn’t have much nose up front, but what was there was sweet. The taste had too much hop up front and ended with a very weird taste that we couldn’t really define.

The Landwink IPA, on the other hand, was a good beer. The grassy and citrus hoppy flavors were well balanced giving a good overall brew.

Folkvang Red Ale is one that I have tried at a local gastropub, Levitate. I am not really a fan of reds but am trying. I also think I know a good one when I find one. This one had smoky flavors up front but an off finish that was quite off putting. Again, the finish was really hard to categorize.

The Enabler IPA had a nice grassy nose and good balance. This was a much more sessionable IPA than the Landwink.

Symbol Blackberry Wheat was another that I had tried locally. When I first tried it, I didn’t really like it. However, I found that it was a bit better at the brewery. The nose was very good with a subtle blackberry aroma. However, the nose is a bit deceptive as the taste is still a hint too Kool-Aidy.

The Outstanding Porter was a very good porter– the name was true for this one. The nose was a bit smoky but it was nice and subtle to the more forward coffee aromas.

The second stop was Blue Lightening which was literally walking distance.  Again this was my kind of brewery, located in an industrial park and filled with unpretentious people enjoying a good beer.

This was a flight I got to select which is always preferable– this way the customer gets to taste and try the styles of beer that suit their tastes and desires.

I started this flight with the Bullseye Bourbon Barrel Double Ott Stout. It had a slightly chocolate nose and you could get a hint of bourbon there too. The bourbon flavor was not overpowering in this beer as in the case of many bourbon barrel beers. I had to get a pint of this one before I left.

The Papa Gay Gay IPA had a slight hop nose but good light hop flavors. This was another well balanced IPA.

The Scotchie Scotchie Scotch Ale had a slight smoked nose and good flavors of caramel and smoke. Although not generally a fan of Scotch Ales, I would drink this beer.

Just the Tip ISA had little nose or flavor. Overall this beer was just malty. Not really true to the style of an ISA.

Not sure I am spelling this one correctly as I took notes with my phone and I absolutely hate autocorrect.  The Pate Betrunken Oktoberfest was a good true to style beer with a malty nose. The taste was sweet up front but finished with good caramel notes.

Dark Persuasion German Chocolate Cake was a dessert in a pint glass. This brew is actually from Icicle Brewing and based on this beer I have to find this brewery. This beer was fantastic with tastes of chocolate and coconut. The name of this beer tells you exactly what you are going to get!

Last stop was the Dirty Bucket, again walking distance from all the rest. This was another preselected flight but encompassed everything available on draft that day.

It started with the Naughty Auntie ESB.  This beer had a slightly sweet nose. Overall, the beer was a bit too hoppy for a good ESB and had a bit too much of an herbal flavor. From what I understand, a good ESB is hard to make and this one, unfortunately, didn’t make the cut.

Black Lab Stout had a nice coffee nose and good coffee tastes. This was overall a very good stout.

Dirty Blonde Kolsch was very light with a very light citrus flavor. It didn’t have that typical Kolsch flavor which to me is a bit like tar. Very easy to drink this would be a good one for a hot day.

The Rusty Pail Ale was a pretty well rounded pale ale. It had a nice hop nose but the taste of hops was not heavy. It was a little sweet and a little hoppy.

The Filthy Hoppin IPA had a good balance but needed a bit more hops to make it a true IPA.

Dirty Jack Pumpkin was the best pumpkin beer I have had done locally. This beer had a nice cinnamon nose but the pumpkin spice flavors were not overwhelming in the beer. In fact, these were nicely balanced with a bit of hops.

Overall, I found this experience a bit reminiscent of Asheville, NC, where breweries are literally stacked on top of one another and the next is just a door or two away. I find this gives a more community feel and always makes it easy for everyone to find a beer that they like. These breweries all had their strengths and weaknesses, so you got a range of styles and experiences.

I really wasn’t impressed with the beers at Beardslee Public House, but I am definitely going back for the mushroom soup. This had to be the best mushroom soup I had ever had in my entire life. Yes, this blog is not about food, but this soup is so memorable it has to be mentioned.  And, without the soup, there is not much reason to make a trip up to Bothell to visit this brewery.

The beers here were overall– average. I did a pre-determined flight and started with the Beaver Bait Blonde. This beer had a very slight citrus nose. The taste was a hint of sweetness but a bit sour up front and a bit too malty at the end. It was not well balanced and there was a odd candy like taste that was underlying to the sour.

The Widow Maker Wit tasted more like a hefeweizen than a traditional wit. It was very banana and clove in both nose and taste. However, the beer was very clear for a wheat beer.

Bastard Grain Pale Ale had a slight caramel nose. The taste was hops up front and finished a bit bitter. The beer had a very nice caramel color.

Green Leaf IPA didn’t have much nose and was very bitter on the finish. It needed a bit more sweet to balance.

Knotted Porter was the best beer here. It had a very nice nose of coffee with a hint of sweetness behind it. It also tasted like a nicely sweetened coffee.

Sasquatch CDA (Cascadian Dark Ale) should have been from the description a sort of black IPA.  It did have a slight coffee nose. However, the upfront taste was that of stale coffee and it finishes with a bit of bitter. The two tastes don’t seem to go together, but are two separate distinct tastes that should be in two different styles of beer– the tastes don’t meld together.

So what is my take– go for the mushroom soup!

I am always very hesitant about brewery chains. Generally, they don’t experiment and make adequate beer that is for the masses. I found that McMenamins Six Arms was just such a place.

The McManamins group apparently has brew pubs, restaurants, wineries, hotels and even entertainment complexes across Washington and Oregon. Good for them, but bad for the beer.

I did the standard flight here which started with a beer called Ruby. This is a raspberry ale that some how comes out tasting a bit more like grapefruit than it does raspberries. The nose is sickeningly sweet, like beer candy, which makes it hard to drink. Not sure that this beer is for the serious beer drinker.

Hammerhead Pale Ale has no nose and not much taste up front. It finishes bitter, but not in a good way– it is like a delayed reaction.

Hill Top IPA smells like vanilla and caramel to me, but my husband got definite notes of vinegar. Despite the sweet nose, the beer has very little sweet taste except right at the beginning where you get some caramel. The beer finishes way too bitter and overall leads to the beer appearing to be two beers in one. It is definitely not well balanced.

Thundercone IPA also didn’t have much nose. It was strongly bitter and had a difficult to describe gagging taste at the end. There were also notes of chlorine in this beer.

I would suggest that these brewers stick with the stouts and porters and these were the best beers of the lot.  The Terminator Stout had a good coffee nose and was slightly sweet in taste. The sweetness did balance well with the coffee flavors making a very drinkable beer.

Paeters Porter was very much like the stout just a bit more smooth on the mouthfeel. It appeared to have been served on nitro but our server didn’t express that it was.

So what do I say about this place? I wouldn’t go back for the beers when there are some many good breweries in the city. However, I would be interested to visit some of their other locations. They recently purchased an old school which now hosts a bowling alley and movie theatre. This might make an interesting trip.