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.