Sudsy in Seattle: My Seattle Beercation Part 2

Starbucks, The Space Needle, and the birthplace of Grunge are all iconic elements of Seattle’s core identity. Seattle also has a reputation for being one of the premier places to drink fresh craft beer in the United States. I am excited to spend a dedicated amount of time immersing myself in the Seattle craft beer culture.

Back when we were in the planning stages of our Seattle beercation, I was a little worried that Easter Sunday would be a little bit of a bust. In Minnesota, a ton of things are closed on Easter and that is a major buzzkill if you are not a religious person. I did a bit of searching on a Seattle craft beer Reddit page. I was thankful when one Redditor said, “Seattle is full of heathen brewers; you’ll be fine.” So, I knew that we would at least be able to make it to a few breweries to further explore the beer landscape of the city.

Easter Sunday Funday

We start off at an Easter gathering at the household of the lovely couple that is soon to move to Tijuana. I am speaking of the daughter of Jeff and AJ, whom we met yesterday at Georgetown Brewing. I am feeling quite good because I got up and went to the coffee shop. Aaron is moving a little slower and it is clear that he is appreciative this morning that water is a renewable resource in the Pacific Northwest.

As we wait for others to show up, we enjoy snacking on some wonderful cheese and snacks. The ham on the smoker smells delicious and my stomach is growling. Aaron is also reviving with every bite of smoked gouda. Soon a couple walks in with a tray of Arepas, a Colombian corn cake, that appear to be homemade. After some conversation I learn that the woman who made these is the nanny for the daughter of our hosts. Who knew I would not be the only Colombian at this gathering.

After several hours of chatting, eating, and laughing, we order a Lyft and set coordinates for a brewery. We say our goodbyes with full bellies and hearts. Now it is time to get the liver involved in our Sunday Funday.

Sudsy In Seattle: A Few SoDo Breweries

Traveling with a car gives you a lot of freedom to just explore as more of a happy wanderer. When you are limited to public transit and rideshares, you have to be a lot more purposeful about where you go when. One of the great things about traveling with Aaron is that he is very organized about where to go when. He likes to have a plan and that plan is carefully thought out.

We decide to hit a cluster of breweries situated just south of downtown, relatively close to where the Mariners play. We realize that a good place to start is Seapine Brewing because it is located a stone’s throw away from a few other places that get us closer to our place.

Seapine Brewing Company: An Unexpected Gem

On a beercation, there is nothing more exciting than discovering a brewery that does everything well. Our Lyft drops us off and we get out of the Toyota Minivan and into the sun. We walk into the taproom and other than a few people scattered about the taproom at tables, we have the run of the place. Aaron, Jeff, and I secure our seats at the bar and scope out the tap list. Seapine Brewing has a mix of everything with high concentrations of lagers and hoppy beers.

A True Seattle Craft Beer Experience

The taproom looks like a brewery should if it were located close to a harbor. As the brewery namesake says, there is a lot of pine paneling in the taproom that evokes the rustic vibe of a small fishing village. I order up a stein of Helles Lager and make myself comfortable at the bar. I keep expecting the sea captain from The Simpsons to wander out from the back and filet a sturgeon before our eyes. The sun is peaking in the windows casting great rays of light on certain sections of the bar. All of us are in agreement that the beers are tremendous here.

As pleased as I am about the quality of the beers, I’m equally enthusiastic about the variety of styles on tap. I knew that the beers would be quality because we are in Seattle. However, I thought that it might be a stretch to find much other than IPAs on tap give Seattle’s proximity to some of the freshest hops in the world. Yet, Seapine Brewing Company has so many classic styles of beer: helles, pilsner, hefeweizen, doppelbock, and Irish Stout to go along with their 4 IPAs and 2 Pale Ales. I can say with a fair sense of certainty that the craft beer pendulum is swinging away from the glut of hazy IPAs and overly-fruited kettle sours and back to a more balanced tap list with more variety.

As we continue trying different beers, they continue to impress us. The bartender is also incredibly jovial and willing to talk beer with us. I love when a place is not super busy because you get to chat with the bartenders and pick their brains for places to go. When I am done tasting all the lagers I want, I move onto the hoppy offerings.

Pacific Northwest is why!

The Mosaic Pale Ale is an absolute treasure! Most breweries in Minnesota have absolutely no clue how to do a beer like this which makes me incredibly sad. It is bright, juicy, and then finishes with a nice bitter and dry note. A beer like this is so satisfying to me because it checks all the boxes for what my palate craves. The Seapine IPA is also glorious for many of the reasons I love the pale ale.

These two hoppy beers exemplify why the Pacific Northwest is a place everyone needs to go for beer. Yes, they have been doing it longer than a lot of other places in the country. In fact, the Minnesota craft beer scene is an awkward adolescent compared to the Pacific Northwest. Seapine Brewing’s beers are proof that there are not growing pains in existence when it comes to quality here. What also cannot be underscored is the fact that access to quality ingredients make a huge difference in craft beer. While there isn’t an equal playing field when it comes to quality IPAs and pale ales in Minnesota, Seattle is showing that there should be no trepidation about quality when ordering these styles.

Just when I think I am done being wowed by the beers at Seapine Brewing, I try their Doppelbock. Wow. What a great example of the style! I like the how the malts create some nice chocolate flavors in the beer. There is also a nice little leathery note from the malt that gives the beer a great depth. We are just floored by everything here.

We did some good work at Seapine Brewing and I would absolutely come back here again to drink more. Amidst some of the more well known breweries in Seattle, Seapine Brewing belongs in your must-visit list. The epic combo of quality beers as well as sensational service made this a great beercation find.

fast fashion brewing

Sometimes a brewery visit is all about timing. Fast Fashion Brewing is just a short walk that heads towards T-Mobile Field. If Seapine Brewing falls under the umbrella of a classic style brewery, then Fast Fashion Brewing is definitely more along the lines of a trendy place. I guess I tend to enjoy the former over the latter, but I am sure that Fast Fashion is going to be great.

This is Fast Fashion’s brewery and tasting room location. They also have a location in the Queen Anne neighborhood. Upon entry, I immediately enjoy the vibe. The taproom is compartmentalized into little seating areas that mimic different design motifs. The place to get beers is all the way back in a makeshift counter where beers are poured off a giant cooler. The beer list is comprised of magnets and it looks like a preschool meets hipster happy hour. I know after 5 minutes that I am not cool enough to be a regular so it is a good thing I am just visiting.

Rooms with Style & Substance

After exploring all the different rooms, we settled for a seat in the main area by the entrance. While the beers are good, I definitely think that we are already missing the variety of Seapine Brewing. I order the Sunday Gravy, an Italian Pilsner and it is fine, but I was hoping for more crispness. Jeff and Aaron each enjoyed their beers more and I feel like I chose poorly. They went the hoppy route and had hazy IPAs. My second beer, Birding, a German-style Pilsner, is way better.

The Sunday Gravy Italian Pilsner

I think that I would come back to Fast Fashion Brewing another time. It is a fun place to gather. I just think that it probably got short shrift from us because we just had so much fun at Seapine Brewing. While we are still raring to go, we are also cognizant of the fact that a beercation is a marathon and not a sprint. We tee up one more beer stop before we will have to find some dinner.

Reuben’s Brews-Ballard

Our rideshare jaunt is an efficient and uneventful affair. We arrive at Reuben’s Brews under a welcome blanket of late-afternoon sunshine. The tap list is mighty, and I already am stressing out about how many beers I can try before I turn into a glass bottle. We grab a spot at a table out on the patio. It is quite windy, so despite the sunshine, there is a bit of a chill in the air.

Aaron and Jeff have been here before and they point out the various differences and expansions that have happened here over the years. Reuben’s Brews has grown a lot. Reuben’s Brews has a sprawling and vast outdoor space. While it is on the cooler side, there is definitely a lot of sunshine. I am happy to enjoy beers in an outdoor setting given that I spend the majority of my waking hours in a state the closely resembles Planet Hoth from Empire Strikes Back.

While the beers are good, there is conversation at the table that Reuben’s Brews is no longer the new and small engine that could. Reuben’s Brews has grown immensely. As we all know, when a brewery grows, it changes. I am happy to see that that Reuben’s Brews have maintained a good level of quality as they have grown and I would happily return.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

The wind gets the best of us and we retreat into the taproom. As we are finishing up our beers, our attention turns to dinner. We agree that it is time to head for some seafood. I suggest one of the places that Bradley Zimmerman, the Head Brewer at Dual Citizen suggested. Bradley spend a ton of time out in Seattle and knows his stuff. In fact, he gave us an list of places to visit that would have kept us busy well past the advent of flying cars. Among the plethora of places he suggested we visit, The Walrus and The Carpenter is near the top of the list.

Oyster Time!

While I have many favorite foods, shellfish are easily in my top five things I love to eat. After looking at the online menu for The Walrus and The Carpenter, I could not close my tab at Reuben’s Brews fast enough. It was a short walk from the brewery and so we hoofed it there.

The restaurant is in a building with a few other things. To find the restaurant, you have to go down a few corridors of twists and turns. Eventually, the murmur of diners and aromas of delicious food finds its way to my nostrils. The dining room is not huge. Luckily, there are three spots at the bar and we claim them as our own. Directly in front of us is the oyster shucking stations. Bowls of oysters sit atop mountains of crushed ice as a young man feverishly shucks the briny bedeviling bivalves to fill orders that come crashing in like waters at high tide.

My First Rainier Beer!

When I sit down at the bar, I realize how hungry I am. There is a festival of things that are stimulate my senses. I realize that this is the perfect place for dinner. I peruse the drink menu and order a tallboy of Rainier Beer. Rainier Beer has been brewed “Mountain Fresh Since 1878” according to its website. For me, when it comes to seafood, I like a simple lager because it does not overshadow the food.

There are so many delicious things on the menu! We decide to start with the bread and whipped butter, a roasted beet salad with aged balsamic and burrata, and one of each of the seven oysters they have on the menu (Wildcat Cove, Sapphire, Wolf Beach, Pickering Passage, Aphrodite, Westcott Bay, and Cliff Point). For my entree, I go with steamed mussels and clams in a white wine broth with toasted bread for sopping up the broth.

This dining experience is everything I was hoping that Seattle would be when it came to seafood. The energy of the place is high, yet, there is an old-school feel to the simplicity of the dishes. Of course, it can’t be a beercation dinner without a cocktail. After crushing a few cans of Rainier Beer, I elevate to the Old Fashioned towards the end of the meal. We wind up closing the place down and order a Lyft to get back to our Airbnb. This day was a nice mix of socializing with new people and discovering the beercation wonders that Seattle has to offer. It is hard to believe that this was only our first full day.