Holy Mountain Brewing

Holy Mountain Brewing  28Oct2016

I saw the posting on Facebook for Holy Mountain’s Lush Land, a murky looking pale ale and I knew I had to reacquaint myself with the brewery. I caught the D-Line, the beginning and sometimes the end, of many a brewery hunting expedition. A short ride later I was at the front door of Holy Mountain, which is tucked away from the major arterial, Elliott Ave.

The substantial looking black door is set back from the street. Note the sandwich board to the left.

As you enter the front door you are confronted with a long hallway that leads you past the bike rack and the bathrooms into the tap room. 

The hallway

The bike rack

The bar patrons face the brewery equipment and the taproom forms an L around the bar. A large loading dock door opens to provide a view of the Burlington Northern train tracks running along Elliott Bay. You can’t see the bay because of all the train cars idling on the tracks.

The taproom is light and open but appears dark due to inexpert camera work. Note the loading dock door to the left.

The beer list is visible from both sides of the L and it is available in print from one of the friendly serving people at the bar. 

The beer list.

In the past I have had the Black Beer and it is one of my favorites (you may notice I have a lot of favorites), so I ventured off into unknown territory and ordered the Lush Land and some Saisons. I have not listed any bitterness. The brewers don’t have the beer tested for IBU and they don’t make their guess available. None of the beers I sampled were overpoweringly bitter.

Tasting Notes:

Lush Land (5% ABV): Cloudy pale gold. Citrus nose. Light to medium body with citrus hops and malt backing. Hops are mostly present in the aroma and finish. Dry balanced finish.

Covenant (4.7% ABV): Slightly cloudy pale gold. Lactic, sour nose. Mildly sour good body. Sweet sour finish. Restrained bitterness.

Somnium (5.4% ABV): Clear pale gold. Fruity musty aroma. Sour rotting fruit flavor. Meaty Brettanomyces character.

Transfiguration (6.1% ABV): Clear dark gold. Wood and rotting fruit aroma. Minty hops and sturdy malt backing. Bitter finish. Has an herbal character I can’t place.

Left to right: Lush Land, Covenant, Somnium, and Transfiguration

Holy Mountain is on the brewing edge with its experimentation with wild yeast and wood-aided fermentations. I applaud their efforts and my favorite beers are the non-sour beers lacking Brettanomyces. But that’s just me. I am sure that someone has experimented with Brettanomyces treated porter, stout or stock ale to produce what the English called stale. After all, that is the style of beer from which the wild yeast was first isolated. I am just not aware of such a beer locally. I leisurely finished my beers as the trains rumbled by outside the loading dock door, and then I grabbed a D-Line back home.

Floating Bridge Brewing

Floating Bridge Brewing  21Oct2016

I walked the relatively short distance from Big Time to Floating Bridge Brewing (http://floatingbridgebrewing.com/) to get my steps in, don’t you know. I walked past the first apartment, in which I lived when I moved to Seattle, and where I met my wife. The building is still standing in the beautiful setting of a surrounding parking lot and an adjacent gas station.

I tried to get a picture from across 45th but traffic was too heavy.

Floating Bridge (open in 2016) is located in a retail space right next door to the historic Blue Moon Tavern. 

The historic Blue Moon is right next door. I should go in some day.

The address is on NE 45^th a few blocks from I-5 with the attendant traffic and traffic noise (seemingly many honking drivers were impatient to get somewhere on a Friday evening). The brewery and the tap room are all in one large open space, which is the fashion for recent breweries.

The bar and the taps are readily visible upon initial entry.

You make a 90° turn to the right to see the brewery

I bought a taster, a generous pouring of 5 by 5 oz. samples picked from a list of nine choices from Floating Bridge excluding the guest beer (from Urban Family – a touch of class). The choices were tough because they all looked interesting.

Five 1/3rd pint tasters: Bitter, Blackberry IPA, Black Current Stout, Chai Pale, and Cross Country IPA

Tasting notes:

Chai Pale Ale (5.0%, 31 IBU): Nitro pour cleared to a transparent gold. Spicy aromatics. The beer tasted of pumpkin pie spices with, maybe, some cardamom but not tea (no tea was added – I asked the brewer) and it was dry and malty. The finish was bitter and spicy.

Bitter (5.2%, 45 IBU): Clear red. Yeast aroma. Dry and bitter flavor with some low ester presence. I could drink a lot of this.

Black Current Stout (4.5%, 37 IBU): Black and opaque. Dark malt aroma and some fruit. Fruity richness and slightly sour (from the fruit) with some roast and bitterness. Nice.

Blackberry IPA (6.5%, 65 IBU): Reddish purple and clear. Fruity hop aroma. Restrained fruit and sweet malt and forward hop bitterness. Bitter finish.

Cross Country IPA (5.6%, 65 IBU): Slightly cloudy gold. Standard NW hop aroma. Very bitter, malty, and good body. I was suffering tasting fatigue at this point so I’ll just say it’s a well-made IPA.

The tasting room at Floating Bridge is not homey and yet I feel right at home surrounded by brewery equipment. The scale is such that it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Beers are well made and the English style beers are not overly sweet, which I can’t say for some other breweries.

After I polished off my tasters I hopped the 44 to roll on back to Ballard – I’ve got a dinner to prepare, man.

Big Time Brewery

Big Time Brewery  21Oct2016

I haven’t been to the U district for some time so I hopped the 44 and jumped off at The Ave (University Way) to wander the nearly 4 blocks down to Big Time Brewery (http://bigtimebrewery.com/). Big Time has been in place since 1988 making it one of the long time breweries in town. This is not my first visit.

The brick facade gives Big Time a warm, welcoming presentation

The place has a nice saloon feel with the old school configuration of the brew kit walled off behind glass beside the seating area. 

Where's the brewer? We want a show!

The establishment is near the University of Washington making it a handy to Udub students, who seem to make up a large part of the clientele.

When you enter, you are confronted with the beer list and the food ordering window

I studied the beer list at the bar and ordered a sampler tray, which didn’t include the Baghwan’s Best IPA as it was tapped out. 

Left to right: porter, mild, IPA, Octoberfest

Tasting notes:

Rockhill Mild (5.1% ABV ?IBU): Clear dark amber. Sweet malty aroma. Some diacetyl, with malty sweetness but then a bitter finish. Good body. It’s a bit filling for a mild.

Octoberfest Marzen (6.5% ?IBU): Clear light amber with no aroma. Malty with slight sweetness and dry finish. Seems a bit hot for Octoberfest. Thin body.

Coal Creek Porter (5.4% ?IBU): Dark brown to black and nearly opaque. Sweet roasty aroma. Malty roasty flavor with balanced bitterness.

Galactigasm IPA (6.5% 55IBU): Clear dark gold. Sweaty hop aroma, malt body with hop oil richness. Mixed hop flavor. Fruity lingering bitterness and sweetness. Brewer’s notes give Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo, and Citra hops in the recipe.

  

Big Time is a brewpub that doesn’t do a lot of production scale work, so most of its sales are food and drink to the local customers. I like the mix of old farts and students in a wood paneled, well used room. The beer is well made and reasonably priced. I can’t say anything about the quality of the food, as usual.

Old Stove Brewing

Old Stove Brewing 7Oct2016

Restaurants along 1st Ave have sidewalk space.

I was on my way down to the market (Pike Place Market) to get myself some Appenzeller cheese. I had my eye on a newish (opened in May) brewery called Old Stove to try out. So the D line deposited me on 3^rd Avenue to make a short walk to the Sanitary Market where the cheese shop resides and then an even shorter walk to the brewpub.

Looking into the opening from the sidewalk. Note the mural.

The brewery is well presented in a nicely upgraded space in one of the old buildings that comprise the Public Market complex. The brewery has a large entrance onto the street with seating on the sidewalk. I am sure that when the weather turns, the large opening will be closed off to create a warmer space in which to imbibe.

One side of the printed beer list. Check both sides!

The beer list was printed on paper and plenty of lists were presented on the counter where people order beer. Food was available, but I didn’t look at the list because I had dinner to prepare when I got home. When I looked at the beer list I was surprised at the range of beers on offer. I ordered six 4 oz. tasters and retired to a small table to sample away.

Tasters and the beer list (from left to right).

Tasting Notes:

Pilsner (5.4% 35 IBU): Clear gold, with a malty, beery aroma. Rich, sweet, malt and hop initial flavor. Dry bitter finish.

Ivy’s Extra Special Bitter (6.2% 43 IBU): Dark red with a slight haze. Not much aroma. Sweet malt, with a bitter finish. Might be similar to Fuller’s.

Rake Breaker Fresh Hop Pale Ale (7% 52 IBU): Beer list says Cascades were used for the fresh hops. Hazy gold, Cascade aroma. Sweet malt with a bright Cascade flavor and an increasingly bitter finish. Late mint hint.

Rake Breaker Fresh Hop Pale Ale (7% 52 IBU): Beer list says El Dorado hops were used for this fresh hop ale. Hazy gold, with a very hoppy fruity aroma. Sweet malt with a bitter finish. Lingering flavor of melons.

IPA (6.6% 70 IBU): Mostly clear dark gold with general hop aroma. Graham cracker, sweet malt and mixed NW hop profile with restrained bitterness. Bitter, oily finish.

Manatee Grove Imperial Stout (9% 66 IBU): Black, opaque, with some red highlights. Malt aroma. Roasty malt flavor and pronounced bitterness. Dry finish.

A view through the front opening toward 1st and Pine.

Old Stove is a well laid out and nicely presented brewpub. I was skeptical that the beer would match the presentation. I was pleased that the beer was well made and interesting. I recommend it if you are in the neighborhood. Old Stove is good competition for Pike Brewing and Cloudburst. After I polished off the beers (all high octane) I staggered back to the D Line and made the short ride back home in time to prepare dinner.

Skagit River Brewing

Skagit River Brewing 30Sep2016

Skagit River Brewing (http://www.skagitbrew.com/) is not in Seattle; in fact it’s in Mount Vernon, an hour drive away from Ballard. We made the trip to La Conner to the Fiber Festival and finished the day at Skagit River for Lunch-Dinner. Skagit River is a few blocks from I-5 right next to an active railroad line.

 

The brewery as seen from the side. Note the helpful civic pointer that, indeed, food can be found nearby.

The inviting entrance

 

The entrance takes you right past the restrooms (good for orientation) and kitchen toward the bar. The greeting is a standard restaurant hello-let-me-show-you-to-your-table.

Bar to the right and dining to the left

The cozy dining area. Note the brewery equipment in the back window

The dining area is a cozy, warm space featuring wood and brick with a view through glass of the brewing area. I didn’t get a picture of the beer board, but nothing exotic was on offer. So, I ordered a porter then an IPA.

Muddy Highwater Porter

Skullers IPA and the remains of Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

Tasting Notes:

Highwater Porter (6.5%, 45IBU): Muddy, opaque brown with a light tan head. Beery and ester aroma. Rich, roasty, bitter, and sweet with a bitter finish. The muddy appearance didn’t seem to affect the taste.

Skuller’s IPA (6.9%, >100 IBU): Clear copper with a white head. Low aroma. Bitter, rich beer with some malt sweetness. This is an old school IPA where the Chinook hops add some citrus but not the heightened citrus of more recent examples of the style. As the beer warmed a nice perfumed hop aroma emerged.

Skagit River is worth a visit if you are in the Mount Vernon area. I thought the food was decent, but, again, I am not much of a food enthusiast except that I like to eat. On the other hand I have always found their beers to be well executed and served in top notch condition.