Maritime Pacific
Brewing 11Dec2016
In the Ballard area Redhook predates Maritime Pacific
Brewing. Redhook moved to Fremont then to Woodinville and sold a piece of themselves to Anheuser
Busch while Maritime stayed independent and grew in Ballard. Maritime had the place all
alone until a bunch of upstarts like NW Peaks, Reuben’s, and Stoup set up shop.
Maritime has not been getting a lot of love lately but retains
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| In the summer the outdoor seating area is active and the tress create some intimacy. |
a place in my heart. I walked down to the taproom to see what was on offer. The brewery is on the same block as the Cash and Carry, Office Max and Captain’s Nautical Supply.
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| Today the indoors was the place to be and the place began to fill as the game got started. |
As you enter the taproom the kitchen is visible in front of
you and to the right you can see the chalk board tap list, the bar, and the
seating area. I stepped up to the bar as the Seahawks’ game was starting and
ordered a taster of mostly dark beers. They offer a few lagers but the hopping
rate is low, which makes them unattractive to me.
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| The tap list. Look for it as you enter the restaurant. Plenty of IPAs but I went for the dark beers. |
Tasting Notes:
Flagship Red Ale (5.5%, 28 IBU): Clear red
appearance. Slight hop aroma. Dry, bitter, rich mouthfeel (hop oil?) and some
esters. Dry bitter finish.
Night Watch Porter (5.5%, 23 IBU): Clear black with
red highlights. Roast aroma. Rich mouthfeel, dry and balanced taste. Roast and
dry finish.
Bosun’s Black Porter (5.5%, 23 IBU): Roast malt
aroma. Opaque black with red highlights. Smooth, dry, malty with black malt
flavor. Dry bitter finish.
Navigator Dunkelweizen Bock (7.0%, 26 IBU): Ester
nose. Hazy red appearance. Layered flavor with esters in front, spice, then
bitterness. Rich mostly dry bitter sweet finish. Typical weizen yeast profile.
Bourbon Barrel Aged Jolly Roger (9.5%, 52 IBU): Clear
deep red appearance. Whiskey and barrel aroma. Dry, bitter, oaky, rich flavor
followed by alcoholic strength. Dry, bitter, bourbon finish. A very nice
example of a true Christmas beer in that it’s an amped up version of Flagship.
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| From l to r (back) Bosun's, (front) Flagship, Nightwatch, (back) Navigator, and (front) Jolly. |
In their own way Maritime is keeping up with the times and
trying to compete with the newcomers in the Ballard Brewery District. They have
always used a smidge of wheat in all of their beers, which may be why I have
always perceived the Flagship to be more bitter than its 28 IBU. I like that
all of the beers are dry and well brewed. Because they are dry, most of the
beers are more-ish and pair well with the pub food that Maritime does so well. As
the Seahawks sank slowly into Lambeau Field I polished off my tasters, a
generous 5 by 5 ounces and headed out to walk back up the slight hill to my
home. When you visit Ballard, don’t overlook Maritime.
