Seattle is going to require a bank statement and a credit report and at least three really good dinners before she will even consider asking you back to her place.
Portland will follow you to your place for a free drink, but you are going to wanna hide your wallet and anything else that can be carted off before you wake up.
I think I've made my point.
(Although just to extend the metaphor one more step: Las Angeles is the sister that chugs a whole bunch of Smirnoff Ice and vomits on the rug.)
First stop was outside of Seattle proper, but close enough. Trade Routes brewing company might sound familiar. If it does, it's because I wrote about it six months ago or so. It should be noted that there is something pretty amazing about the fact that I can tour breweries in a place like this and only have one repeat review and, frankly, I only stopped here again because it was on our way. In addition to the beers they had from the last time I was here they had a Blood Orange Whit that contained a sweet orange flavor and a creamy mouthfeel. It was a little acidic but overall a very nice summer beer. There was also the blond ale that had a coconut, banana aroma with a smooth tropical fruit flavor that's more reminiscent of a Belgian whit then a blonde.
Our next stop was at George Town Brewing. It should be noted that Georgetown is not a brewpub like basically every other place we stopped at, but a place to pick up a keg for your draft system. There is a tasting room inside the brewery and you can stop in for a free taster flight, however, so it worked out pretty well. We weren't able to taste everything they had available, but out of the ones we did have the Johnny Utah Session IPA and the Super Red were clear standouts. Johnny Utah had a very strong lemony flavor that was almost like a lemon peel. It was still very drinkable with an IPA aftertaste that didn't linger excessively long on the palate living up to its session title. The Super Red shared the same lemony, citrus malty flavors that the Choppers Red had but added some fruity berry flavors off the top.
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| Beer at the Space Needle |
Elysian Brewing Company next up and a lot of really good beer to choose from here. Plus their semi-macabre theme is just fun. This year with the end of the Mayan Calender and almost certain doom looming ahead for us all, Elysian started releasing their '12 Beers of the Apocalypse series. Rapture and Ruin were both on tap during my visit. Ruin had hints of apricot and orange along with floral and spicy hops. The finish was just slightly bitter. Rapture had a lot of citrus and orange flavors with the peppery spice of coriander.
Also worth mentioning was the Mens Room.... no, not the toilet although it was quite nice too as far as used beer disposal systems go. Here it is also a beer with lots of caramel sweetness off the top followed by peppery notes.
For the final stop on our tour it was time for an old Pacific Northwest standby. Mcmenamins has brewpubs up and down Oregon and Washington. If you're anyone close to civilization in those states, chances are you're also close to a Mcmenamins. Normally I'm not a huge fan of macrobreweries, as fellow beer snobs often call them, but this particular one is still kind of cool in it's way. Far from trying to replicate the same experience no matter where you are in the country, each Mcmenamins revels in it's own special character. Each one has their own brewer who brews a regular set of beers, but they are also given some freedom to charge off the well-worn path if the mood strikes them right. At the six-arms pub the special brew on tap was the Proletariat Porter, a caramelly, chocolaty porter with a creamy mouthfeel. They also feature a seasonal ale that was a sweet orange and lemon wheat beer with just a hint of bitterness on the back.
And that was it. I know not much in the way of an ending to a the Great Northwest Brewery tour of 2012, but there you go. Lots of beer was had. 154 different beers by my count. Enough said.
Cheers!
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