Maritime Pacific Brewing

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

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.

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.

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.

  

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.