One of the best things about this area is there are so many wineries and breweries that participate in great Groupon offerings.  I try to take advantage of as many as I can. I don’t often do the breweries that I have already visited as the Groupons almost always include a flight but sometimes the offer is just too good to pass up.

This was the case with Beardslee Public House.  I have only been there once but fondly remember the place– not because of the beer but because of the awesome mushroom soup. This mushroom soup is absolutely fantastic with cream floating on top. You just know by how great it tastes that it is loaded with calories and fat.  However, you have to make the sacrifice. It sounds like I am a great lover of mushroom soup but the truth is, I actually generally hate mushroom soup. Don’t pass up the mushroom soup if you visit!

The beers here are actually quite good too.  I wasn’t impressed the first time I visited  (read the blog here) but they did seem to gain in complexity and flavor profile.  I think my first visit was just a few days after they opened so that does make sense.  The flagship beers are still all there so I am just concentrating this blog on the seasonal and special brews. Even though our Groupon technically meant we should have gotten two of the regular flights, our great bartender Paul, who obviously thoroughly enjoyed his job, offered us one of the seasonals. This was a great bonus so I thought this should be the focus of this blog.

I started with the Widow Maker Wit.  I am not sure if I am redeveloping a taste for Belgian style beers but I am again finding them quite tasty overall. It could be that they are coming more into their own or they are just a welcome change from the Pacific Northwest’s love of IPAs. This beer had a very mild herbal flavor with just a hint of citrus. It was very well balanced and the most beautiful bright yellow color.

The Citra Pale was a very solid pale ale with a nice nose of citra. It was a tad bit on the bitter side but overall the hops were quite balanced.

The Greenleaf IPA on cask was quite a surprise for me. Generally I am a strong advocate of NOT putting IPAs on cask. In general, it kills the hop flavors in the IPA leaving you feeling like you are drinking some sort of tea.  However, this beer actually was better on cask. The lack of carbonation really brought out some of the more subtle grassy and flowery flavors in the hops. Thus the beer goes from a very typical IPA to a much more complex beer on cask.

Four Ginger IPA is only for those who like ginger. The ginger hits you up front and doesn’t let go. There is still a bit of typical hop flavors at the end of each sip. Only order this beer if you like ginger!

The Triple Demon IPA was quite well balanced for a triple. It was a bit on the sweet side but you still got enough hops that it wasn’t unpalatable.

Finally there was the Knotted Porter. This was a great, typical porter with a well balanced coffee and sweet flavor profile..

Along with our flights, we also got a couple of pretzels apparently made from spent grain. Another great use for leftovers and another great reason to visit.  The pretzels came with three dipping sauces– homemade mustard, a sweet honey, and a smoked gouda. All of these were fantastic. Therefore, visit Beardslee for both the food and the beer!