So it’s been almost a year since I managed to have time to get back to the blog.  I took a full time job that requires a lot of nights and, frankly, makes me feel like i don’t want to do anything that resembles work on the weekends. However, I really miss the blog and putting my thoughts out there for the world.

So in June, I joined the Washington Association of Beer Lovers (WABL).  I went to the big beer festival at Marymoor Park in Bellevue sponsored by the group and it seemed to make sense. I think membership was about $30. I got a free t-shirt, which I never wear, and a passport to get stamped at breweries around the state.  So far, I am at 35 stamps.

Although I have pictures and notes from all 35 breweries, I am not sure it would be productive to try to put all that out there now. At this point, there are a few places that I don’t remember well.

Thirty five breweries in about 6 months is quite a feat, if I do say so myself. You might wonder how I was able to do that as that is pretty much a brewery a week. Well some things helped– I had relatives in town and we took them to Bainbridge (so there’s Bainbridge Brewery) and I had a couple of business trips to Spokane which got me NoLi, Iron Goat, Black Label, and River City. I am hoping to go back and hit a few more. I need to get back down to Olympia and hit Fish again. I also haven’t been back to the Ballard or Freemont areas of Seattle since I got the passport. I think with those areas alone, I will hit my 50 mark.

So now you wonder, why do I want to get 50 stamps? Well, if I get 50 stamps, I get a new membership for free with another t-shirt. This means I get to start all over again!

I promise to get back into blogging and keep you much more in the loop about my adventures get those last 15 stamps.

 

 

 

 

 

So I just read an article today saying that Des Voigne Cellars and B Side Brewing are the first combined winery/brewery in the state of Washington. Well, I can only hope that this is just the first in a new model.  As some of you know, this blog really started out about wine. I used to be a huge wine drinker then I started travelling to states where beer was in demand as much as wine. Then I became a huge beer aficionado. Now, I drink a little of both– probably a bit more beer but who is counting.

Anyway, I was glad to see that someone else in this world appreciates both beer and wine. I think it is becoming more and more common, but it is still a rarity to find good wine and good beer in the same place. Doing so gives you so many more options and allows everyone, even those with different tastes, to enjoy an experience at a winery/brewery.

I have to mention the wines, as it would be odd not to do so, the wines were generally good. There was nothing that stood out as great to me, but I did enjoy the tasting. I even bought a bottle of the red blend to take home with me.

However, this blog is about beer, so I need to spend my time talking about the beer. I was told the brewer here was a long time home brewer and I can imagine that he did a great job on his homebrew system. The scale up to a larger system didn’t seem to hurt the quality and style of the beers served. As they have recently started brewing, there were only three beers to try: a pale ale, an IPA, and a porter.

The great thing about these beers is that they were very true to style. Nothing was spectacular but when you ordered a pale ale– you got a pale ale. The pale ale was a bit on the hoppy side but I like a pale ale with flavor. It was nice and light with well balanced flavors. The nose did reflect the hoppiness, but it still maintained the pale ale label.

The IPA also had a hoppy nose but much more so and with the scents of grass and citrus. This had a good hoppy flavor but was not overwhelming. It did have bitter flavors but they were still in check with other malty flavors in the beer.

The porter was, again, true to style. It had a nice coffee nose with a hint of sugar. The flavors here were very traditional but there was a just and underlying hint of smokiness.

I am looking forward to returning to B Side when they have more styles and tastes available. I really appreciate when brewers aren’t doing fancy but are doing right.

For those of you who know me, you know that my family is originally from the great (really not) state of West Virginia. My ancestors were there before the state even existed and played various important roles throughout the state’s history.  My father recently passed and had wished to be buried up the road from his family’s home in the mountains of West Virginia. Of course, this meant a trip to Charleston, the state capital.

I didn’t really intend on ending up at the only brewery right in town, but, of course, it called to me. A fellow beer lover and I tried to go to the Charleston Brewing Company on New Year’s Day but the establishment was closed. Therefore, I had to make it a point to get back a couple of days later.  I am glad that I did. I was really impressed by the quality of beers coming out of this brewery. While as my friend pointed out, they are not always true to style, the beers are overall of high quality and quite tasty.

The Raj was recommended to me by my beer loving friend and was classified by him as their best flagship beer. I did enjoy this IPA. It had a very nice citrus nose with good hop flavors that were a bit bold. Overall, however, this was a good solid IPA.

The Montpelier was touted as an east coast style IPA. It had a very light nose. The taste was a bit odd at the end, like a slightly sour candy; however, the bitter flavors of the hops still prevailed. The beer was also very light in color. Overall, an interesting beer.

Europa was touted as a pale ale but I found it to be a bit on the malty side. It had very caramel flavors up front and those malty flavors prevailed through each sip. Overall, this beer was way too malty to be considered a pale ale and I really didn’t get much of any hop flavors.

Sweet Pot was the pumpkin ale. Pumpkin ales are generally either very good or very bad in my opinion. This one was a bit too sweet for my taste. The beer didn’t have much nose but had good pumpkin spice flavors that were unfortunately hidden a bit behind the sweetness.

The Citra IPA was my favorite beer here. This was a light colored IPA that exploded with the grassy and citrus flavors of the Citra hop. My favorite hop, I rarely come across a Citra IPA that I don’t like.

A surprising find here was the Grisette. Touted as a farmhouse ale, it really wasn’t but did have a great combination of flavors.  A friend absolutely could not get enough of this beer! It had a nice spice nose with a lot of citrus, the beer also was largely sour, citrus flavored. There were light herbal undertones but the citrus and sour prevailed.

As a testament to the quality of the beers (and food) here, this was the only place with a substantial crowd on a Saturday night in downtown Charleston. We went looking for another place to go, but found empty bar after empty bar. When we left this place, it was still hopping.  Let’s quickly mention the food, the burritos and sandwiches are huge and quite tasty but reasonably priced. This is a must stop if you should find yourself in Charleston, WV.

 

Dru Bru has a lot potential. Although, I don’t generally like European style beers, Dru Bru has never really let me down. I am lucky enough that they regularly provide their beers around my town, even their specialty ones. If you follow me on Facebook, you have probably seen that I have been lucky enough to try most of them– including an impromptu tasting flight at the local Zeke’s pizza, which happened to have been visited recently by the Dru Bru rep.

I just really wish my experience at the brewery had been a little better.  Granted I did choose to go to the brewery, which is located right next to the Snoqualmie ski area, during a period of high ski volume. I knew it would be crowded and this is my fault.  However, I don’t expect as a paying customer to have a group of children, who are not paying customers, be using the majority of seats in a brewery. I am sorry, I don’t really understand taking children to a brewery. There is nothing for kids to do in a brewery and drinking then driving  your kids down a snowy mountain is not a good idea in any way, shape or form. Dru Bru does offer a limited menu but there is no kids menu and many of these parents had brought outside food and drink for their kids to enjoy.  I really think brewery management need to consider this, especially during peak times. Paying customers walk out the door.  Because of the lack of seating, I drank my flight and left. Next time I visit it will be summer.

Now on to the beers, which were the saving grace of my experience–

Hop Session had a light grassy nose. It was lightly grassy in flavor and slightly bitter. A good run of the mill session style beer.

The IPA has less nose than the Hop Session and was very bitter up front. I didn’t find that it was a very well balanced beer.

Oktoberfest had a slightly malty nose, less than other similar style beers. It was very sweet up front but finished more malty. In fact, I found that it ended a bit too malty.

The Pumpkin Ale had a very cinnamon nose and was very cinnamon upfront in taste. However, it finished like a cinnamon candy and was overall a bit too sweet.

The Winter German Sticke Alt did not have much nose but had good coffee flavors up front.

The Schwartzbier was not much different than the Winter (in fact they were almost the same beer). However, the Schwartzbier was a bit more coffee in flavor.

In addition to these beers, I have had their Alt and Kolsch while around town. Again, they tend to make European style beers, which are generally not my favorite, but overall they are fairly true to style and decent beers.  If I see them on a local menu, I will grab one to support my local brewery.

 

I found myself having to go to a meeting downtown the other night and thought it would be a great opportunity to check out a new brewery. I was just up the street from the University of Washington and I did some googling to find Big Time Brewery and Alehouse, which was located very close to campus.

I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere at Big Time. Generally bars that cater to the college crowd are a little less than appealing visually. However, this bar had nice wood accents and a pleasant homey feel.  Besides, there was a dinosaur holding a beer on the wall– how can you go wrong with that?

As usual, I did a flight. This place let me pick my flight (which I always find amazing that all breweries don’t). By picking my flight, I didn’t have to have the IPA on cask– I am sorry but cask kills hops and ruins IPAs. I am not the only one who feels this way either.

I started with the Scarlet Fire IPA. This was a good middle of the road IPA with 65 IBUs and a 6.3% ABV. There was a slightly floral nose to this beer. For the number of IBUs, it had a remarkably strong bitter taste. However, this bitterness didn’t linger for long.

For those of you who don’t know, citra is my favorite hop and I was so glad to see a Citra SMASH IPA on draft here. This was a nice earthy beer with 60 IBUs and 6% ABV.  The citra was very strong on the nose as were the earthy and citrus flavors in the beer.

Bhagman’s Best IPA was very malty for an IPA, although it was still 60 IBUs. It had very little nose and had almost that kolsch kind of tar-like aftertaste. This definitely wasn’t my favorite beer here.

Cosmic Inflation Pale had an earthy nose and that taste also lingered. If you don’t like earthy flavors then you wouldn’t like this beer. In fact, it was so earthy that it almost had a dirt/tar like flavor that was pretty strong.

Icculus XPA was only 50 IBUs and 5.8% ABV. This beer had no nose and an off-putting almost skunk-like taste. Skip this one too.

Hopgoblin Pumpkin had a nice pumpkin spice nose of cinnamon and nutmeg. It was a bit too cinnamony in taste. I found it kind of reminiscent of a red hot soaked in beer. Overall, I kind of liked it, but I like cinnamon. I am not sure that this would go over well if you didn’t.

Coal Creek Porter didn’t have much nose but had good coffee flavors. Overall, this was a very good porter.

Old Rip Oatmeal Stout had a nice coffee nose and a great smooth mouthfeel. There was just a hint of sweetness to this beer so it was very well rounded. This was another definite try.

Mikulas Imperial Oatmeal Stout didn’t have much nose but a strong coffee flavor. For an imperial stout, it was relatively low in alcohol (8.6%) but it did still have that underlying alcohol flavor with a hint of a burn. This beer also had a very smooth mouth feel.

Finally, I tried the Old Wooly Barley Wine. I’m not really a fan of barley wines but I am trying to give myself the opportunity for them to grow on me. This beer had just a hint of malt on the nose but had a very strong underlying alcohol nose and flavor. There was quite a bit of sweetness up front. Although not my fav, this was not a bad representation of style.

I have decided that next time I am up toward UW, I will make a stop in Big Time again to try anything that might be new. In February, I’m hoping to attend the Washington vs. Arizona basketball game so that might be a good opportunity to swing by on trip #2.

I have quite an odd story about this brewery. Over a year ago, someone sent me a Facebook request to like this brewery’s page. I cannot remember who and/or why– but I generally just go ahead and like any brewery that someone suggests. I never looked to see where the brewery was located or what beers they made. I mindlessly just clicked the like and,over the past year or so, I would see little posts and status updates from Postdoc without even questioning them.

A few weeks after I moved to Washington, I was at a local brewpub that boasts about only serving beers that are made in a 50 mile or so radius. On the board was Postdoc.  I recognized the name and asked the bartender where the brewery was located, as I had been following them on Facebook for over a year.  I discovered that Postdoc is located about 20 minutes away in Redmond.

I think that day I tried their Alpha Factor IPA and was quite impressed. Therefore, I had to try to make it to their brewery to give the other brews a try and to see where this mysterious brewery, of which I had been a fan for over a year, was located.

The day I visited there were 9 beers on draft and I decided to try every one. I had to know what this brewery was all about.

I started with the Pomegranate Kolsch which had a slightly wheaty and sweet nose. The beer tasted a bit like a sweet tart on first sip but then finished very malty. Not really my style of beer, this kolsch was drinkable, even with the fruit, which seemed to enhance the beer instead of overpower it (as is usually the case).

The Weizen Shine was an interesting beer, a red German wheat, which I don’t think I have ever had before. The beer didn’t have much nose but did have the traditional flavors of banana and clove. The darker malts gave it a bit of wheaty and malty finish. A very good alternative for a person who likes a hefeweizen but wants something with a bit more.

The Kilty MacPumpkin Pumpkin Scottish Ale was another interesting and creative beer. This is by far one of the best pumpkin beers I have had all season.  This beer had a nose that smelled slightly of nutmeg but not like a full on pumpkin assault. There was a lot of nutmeg and pumpkin spice up front in this beer, but it was balanced well with the malty flavors. This was a great seasonal beer.

The Pumpdoc Postkin Porter was not a good beer for me. I don’t like spicy beers and this one would have given me a massive case of heartburn. This beer had a really nice nose of coffee, again with hints of nutmeg. However, this beer is very spicy and that spice lingers. There is a nice pumpkin flavor right up front, but then it is drowned out by the spice.

The Cram Session Coffee Porter was just what it was advertised to be– a great coffee porter. This beer tasted more like fresh coffee than many and smelled like coffee that was just brewed. If you are a coffee lover, then this is the beer for you. I took a little and mixed it with the Kilty MacPumpkin and it was fantastic–like an alcoholic pumpkin spice latte.

The Seamus O’Brien Irish Stout was true to style. It didn’t have much of a nose but had a slight bitter taste and just a hint of coffee. If you like Irish stouts, give this one a try.

The Prereq Pale Ale had good hop flavors and nose for a pale ale. There were good flavors of grass and pine. For a pale ale, this was fantastic.

Transverse Wheat IPA had a light hop nose and underlying tastes of flowers. This beer was actually less hoppy than the pale ale and I didn’t get much of the wheat.

As I mentioned earlier, the Alpha Factor IPA is a must try and a great go to beer for any IPA lover. This beer is light and well balanced with underlying flower nose and flavors.

Besides the beers, the atmosphere at Postdoc is also great. The tap room is well appointed without being pretentious. The place is also dog friendly– there were about 8 dogs present by the time we left on a Sunday afternoon. We have one dog that is social enough to make the trip and we are thinking of taking her next time.

So I have actually always wanted to go to a Pyramid brewery location. The last time I tried was a few years back while in Sacramento. The downtown location closed at 7 pm on Sunday night which seemed a bit absurd and we didn’t make it. They were actually latching the door by the time a friend and I got there. Who would ever think that a brewery, no matter where it was located, would close so early?

Well, I finally got my chance to check out the Seattle location after a Sounders game. The brewery is located just a couple of blocks away from the stadium and the game ended around 7 pm, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity.

I am not sure why I have always wanted to check out a Pyramid location. I have only had a couple of their beers and haven’t been impressed. Well, I still wasn’t impressed after finally making the visit.

I did a flight and, because it was a game night, it was a set flight. As you probably know by now, I really hate set flights and it didn’t help at this brewery that I just got to try the standards. Don’t get me wrong, none of the beers were bad– it’s just that none of them were exceptional.

The flight started with the Pyramid Hefeweizen. This is one of the few Pyramid beers I had actually tried before. This beer to me isn’t much of a hefeweizen. The banana and clove flavors are very subdued and the malt is the major aroma/taste. This is a very wheaty beer. If I’m going to go with a mass produced hefeweizen, please give me a Widmer.

The next beer was a seasonal, Sno Cap. This beer was fantastic on first taste and smell. The nose was of chocolate and this beer tasted like a dessert. However, the oddest thing happened with this beer– the more I drank it the less it tasted like chocolate. I am not sure if the taste and aroma were lost by merely being exposed to air or the taste is a one time deal. Anyway, I loved this beer at first and was bored with it by the time I finished a 4 oz glass.

The Apricot Ale was true to name with taste and smell of apricots. This beer had the same problem that most fruit beers do– too much fruit and too little beer. To me, a fruit beer should be a beer that is enhanced by the flavor of the fruit. It should not be an excuse to make beer Kool-Aid.

The Thunderhead IPA didn’t have much nose and was also weak on any hop taste. The taste was more sweet than hoppy. This beer really could use more hops.

The Ale House Amber was the last in the flight. This beer didn’t have much nose but was toasty and caramel in flavor.

So, I am willing to give Pyramid another chance next time I am down by the stadium but I am really hoping for something spectacular next time.

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.