Urban Family Brewing

Urban Family 09Sep2016

I walked a short distance from Figurehead Brewing through the warehouse area of lower Magnolia to Urban Family (http://www.urbanfamilybrewing.com/). Urban Family is near Fisherman’s Terminal and the Ballard Locks. The setup is a pretty standard brewery warehouse layout with some tables outside in front and the taproom inside the spacious warehouse area with more tables. The welcome was friendly and accommodating. Because I arrived at opening time I didn't see many people inside.

Urban Family is a well established brewery at its current location having moved from a more hipster Ballard Avenue location. I didn’t snap a picture, but they have recently added a foudre (a large oak tun) for brewing wood aged beers.

I bought tasters of 2, 4, and 6 – check out the descriptions in the picture above.

Tasting Notes:

Delicious Ambiguity (5% left above): Pale pink, cloudy, raspberry and subtle sourness, light body, no bitterness. I wasn’t able to pick out the basil.

Blackberry Harvest (5% middle above): Snowcone blackberry pop aroma, sweet berry and sour, light body. Thirst quenching Berliner Weisse style beer. Delightful beer from the foudre.

Hoppy Magnolia (6.6% right above): Big hop aroma, farmhouse ale with complex, hoppy taste. Taste is more lactobacillus than brettanomyces.

I lost concentration and forgot to snap a picture of the beers before I consumed the Delicious Ambiguity. The picture above captures the remaining beers and the charm of a table that looks right into the restroom. The warehouse space is large without much character. It looks right into the brewery where you can see the crew working its magic on malt, hops, and sundries. A food truck sits right outside the brewery entrance; this day a guy was cooking hot dogs. Urban Family is tucked away out of sight and can take some work to find. You will be glad you sought it.