Visiting Seattle... What/where should I drink??

[rcbridge]

I'm going up to Seattle (from San Diego) next week and am hoping to visit some tasting rooms and pick up some bottles to bring back home.

Which tasting rooms in the city would you recommend? I'll likely be limited to public transportation, but I'm willing to travel a bit if it will be worth the trip. I'm looking for tasting rooms with a pretty big selection, belgians/sours & rare/seasonals would be a big plus.

What bottles should I pick up to bring home? Is there anything in particular that's on shelves right now that I absolutely need to try? I'm open to lots of suggestions (my GF recommended Rainier beer for the experience), as my family will be consuming a good amount of beer on the trip, on top of what I'll be bringing back.

Any and all local Seattle beer advice is welcome and much appreciated!

Cheers

 

[logdrum]

Don't have any suggestions, but I'm interested as we're headed out there in a couple of weeks!


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[Cyclman]

I loved Elysian and Widmer. Pike isn't bad, either.

 

[UWDawg13]

Sodo district (south of downtown) has a couple good breweries like Two Beers, Schooner Exact, and Georgetown (try the Manny's and Chopper from here). Ballard area (NW of downtown) has a ton of breweries that I haven't had the pleasure of trying yet. Elysian is a really good brewery (try the Loser, Dayglow, and any of their other IPAs)

Edit:
If you're doing Pikes place market, definitely go into Pike Brewing, not too shabby.

 

[Talgrath]

Oh so many choices. First, if you happen to make your way to Redmond (slightly east of Seattle) stop by Black Raven Brewing, in my opinion they are the best brewery in the state hands-down; while you there you can stop by Hi-Fi which is just down the street, they do good lagers and dark beers (you're out of season for most of the dark stuff though).

As far as breweries in Seattle, I highly recommend Elysian at a minimum, they have several locations about the city and their beer is excellent, whatever your favorite style. Odin brewing has some great stuff too, I recommend their Belgian beers if you can get one. I really enjoy Big Al's when I can get it, just solid stuff all around and they have an imperial stout that I love. Fremont makes some good pale ales and you're just in time to get their summer ale on top, stop by if you can and Hale's Ales is nearby too, they're okay, Rooftop is also in the Fremont area and they're a tasty up and comer. Hilliard's is one of the local favorites, though I haven't been hugely impressed with their beers. Naked City is great and they have a very chill atmosphere, much more of a family place. Finally, no visit is complete with a trip to Maritime Brewing's Jolly Roger taphouse, they're one of the oldest breweries in Seattle (after Redhook, which is now in Woodinville, and Pyramid, which I'm not a fan of).

I'm sure I've missed some great breweries, but that gives you a nice list to start with. Really you could spend a whole week here doing nothing but breweries in the Seattle area.

 

[EJay]

Oh so many choices. First, if you happen to make your way to Redmond (slightly east of Seattle) stop by Black Raven Brewing,

If you get to Redmond, might as well swing by Mack and Jack's and pick up a growler of African Amber.... then spend the rest of your life complaining that its not available outside the NW and not in bottles anywhere You won't have any trouble finding it on tap locally here though.

Finally, no visit is complete with a trip to Maritime Brewing's Jolly Roger taphouse, they're one of the oldest breweries in Seattle (after Redhook, which is now in Woodinville, and Pyramid, which I'm not a fan of).

If you do make it to Woodinville, Redhook has a nice pub and tour. Thursday nights they have a thing where they play movies outdoors and admission is pretty cheap. My only gripe is they make me move my car - I work for a nearby winery and we lease some office space from Redhook. I'm writing from within their building now.

 

[stru]

Liked Pike when I lived there. They had a pretty good Scottish Ale called Kilt Lifter.

 

[rcbridge]

thanks for the tips everyone. I'm definitely going to make it to Elysian, and I'll try to make it to at least another one or two.

 

[Talgrath]

If you get to Redmond, might as well swing by Mack and Jack's and pick up a growler of African Amber.... then spend the rest of your life complaining that its not available outside the NW and not in bottles anywhere You won't have any trouble finding it on tap locally here though.




If you do make it to Woodinville, Redhook has a nice pub and tour. Thursday nights they have a thing where they play movies outdoors and admission is pretty cheap. My only gripe is they make me move my car - I work for a nearby winery and we lease some office space from Redhook. I'm writing from within their building now.

Certain Mack and Jack's is great, if you don't have a growler though there is no tasting room so I left it off as the OP is traveling. Redhook in Woodinville is a very cool brewery to visit, there's some good food in their tap room too; worth the trip if you're heading out to Woodinville.

 

[teleplucker]

I used to travel to Seattle on business frequently. I always made time to have a pint (or more ) of Manny's which is one of the best pale ales anywhere, IMO. If I checked bags, I usually threw in a bottle or two of Fremont Summer Ale or Interurban IPA (not a fan of their regular Pale Ale). I was usually in south downtown and visited The Lodge, Collins Pub, and the Elysium brew pub for the selection on the taps. But, Seattle is great for having good bars with really good beer. I miss the beer selection and coffee...(NOT Starbucks - tons of great local shops). Pike is worth a visit too....and, of course, in close proximity to a tourist destination you are likely to be visiting. Aside from south downtown, I was able to find plenty of beer to try in the Fremont and Ballard neighborhoods....good food too. There is a good bottle shop in Wallingford, but I can't recall the name.

 

[Renoun]

We've got great breweries all over the place. Seattle is big and has not so great traffic, knowing where you are staying would be helpful.

Unless you are going to a true dive bar most places with have a few decent craft taps. Chuck's Hop Shop is a bottle shop with 38 taps in one location and 50 taps in a new second location.

As far as the Belgian and sour end of the spectrum there aren't as many options. Look for bottles from Sound Brewery, Logsdon Farmhouse , Pfrem, and Black Raven.

 

[petey_c]

Not a tasting room, but the Taphouse Grill (http://taphousegrill.com/) in downtown has 160 beers on tap. I'm not from Seattle, but was just there recently (3 days ago). The Schooner exact IPA is great. If you're in the mood for great pizza, there's "Serious Pie" http://tomdouglas.com/index.php?page=serious-pie. I stayed out in Sultan, Wa. for a few days with my BIL, what a great selection of "Unavailable on the East Coast" beers there was, even in the local "Quicky Mart".

 

[davehenry]

When we visit our buddy in Washington we always hit Redmond and go to Black Raven. Hi Fi was good last time as well. We also go to Malt and Vine to purchase local brews and sample what's on tap. We also try to stop at Browers (not sure if I spelled it right) Cafe if we have time. Our friend has taken us to several tiny breweries in the area that I can't remember the names of. Lots of great beer in Washington state! If you can get further north, chukanut makes the best lagers on the west coast IMO.


Brewing up a storm in Langley, British Columbia

 

[DanH]

Elysian has good beer and food but the brewpub is kinda dumpy.


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[trailrider]

Here are two links that will provide some info, hope they help. https://www.facebook.com/washingtonbeerblog?fref=nf
http://washingtonbeer.com/breweries/