Ravenna Brewing

Ravenna Brewing  05Mar2017

Ravenna Brewing is poorly served by Metro. I braved the rain and snow mix to catch the D-Line to Market Street and then caught the 44 to the U district. From there I walked 1.1 miles because the bus I thought I was going to take me to the brewery front door only runs at week day commute times. Even with the optimal bus route I would have wound up walking 0.6 miles. Ravenna Brewing is just a few blocks from the first apartment my wife and I rented as a young married couple. That building is now long gone.

The brewery entrance is off 26^th Ave NE and not really apparent from the street. 

The entrance tucked away from 26th Ave NE with the outdoor seating area to the right.

Just outside the door, slightly below grade, is the outdoor seating area, which is not much in use in the winter when days such as today are cool in the low 40s. As you walk in the door you see the seating area in front of you and the brew kit to the right. 

The view from just inside the front door. Brew kit to the right and bar to the back.

My feeling once inside was warm and cozy. The bar is in the back and the beer list is chalked above the bar. 

The beer list is extensive.

Flights of tasters are available as well as pints, crowlers and growlers. I picked six tastes and settled in to see what I liked.

From r to l Lion Tamer Bourbon Vanilla Porter, Sauvin Deadly Sins IPA, Farmhouse Saison, Cascadian Dark Ale, Triumph Mosaic Extra Pale Ale, Raspberry Wheat.

Tasting Notes:

Raspberry Wheat (5.6%): Yeast, malt and fruit aroma. Pale yellow, slightly pink appearance. Initial sip is fruity raspberry with some astringency. Dry. Some bubble gum. Dry finish. Adding raspberries to beer almost always turns out well.

Triumph Mosaic Extra Pale (5.8%): Fruity citrus hop aroma. Gold with a slight haze. Taste is sweet malt, late bitterness, citrus. Bitter-sweet finish.

Farmhouse Saison (7.2%): Fruity peppery aroma. Pale yellow gold and clear. Sweet, phenolic black pepper flavor with a very slight sourness. Sweet finish.

Lion Tamer Bourbon Vanilla Porter (9%): Roast malt, almost coffee aroma. Black with red highlights. Roast malt, low bitterness, some vanilla and bourbon. Sweet finish.

Sauvin Deadly Sins IPA (6.3%): Fruity hop aroma. Pale gold appearance with slight haze. Fruity sweet malt with hoppy flavor. Strong bitterness. Bitter finish that lingers.

Cascadian Dark Ale (6.5%): Roast malt aroma. Black with red highlights. Roast malt, bracing hop bitterness, very low hop aroma. Roast and bitter finish which lingers.

Ravenna Brewing is a cozy, neighborhood place. As my friend and I sipped our tasters the place filled up with young families with kids and dogs. The vibe is friendly and low key making for a good atmosphere in which to linger over a beer or three. The beers were well brewed with no clunkers in the lot. I could have drunk a lot more of the Raspberry Wheat or Lion Tamer Bourbon Vanilla Porter although the latter would quickly push me to my limit. The IPAs I tried were both well-made and good examples of the style. The saison was pretty good too.

I made the long hike – uphill - back to the U-district to catch the 44 home thinking how lucky I am to have so many breweries near me in Ballard. A long walk after a couple of beers should lead home not to a long bus ride.

Powerhouse Restaurant and Brewery

Powerhouse Restaurant and Brewery  02Mar2017

We made our annual trek down to Puyallup for the Sewing and Stitchery Expo. I spent the time marveling at the sophisticated machinery and all the marvelous fabrics. My reward for squiring my wife through the show was a stop at the Powerhouse. We drove a few blocks from the Fairgrounds to the restaurant and found a space in the small parking lot. We climbed the steps and went in the front door.

The picturesque brick building that houses Powerhouse

 From the brewery website, “The Puyallup Substation where the Powerhouse now resides was constructed for the Puget Sound Electric Railroad in 1907, supplying the current for the southern leg of the Interurban Electric Trolley that ran from Seattle to Olympia.” The restaurant is a lovely old brick building filled with heavy duty electrical equipment. When you walk in the front door, you see the bar and beyond that the seating area filled with booths. 

Inside the front door you see the bar and beyond that the restaurant seating. Above you can see underside of the floor for the second level seating.

You have to pause in front of the bar to view the beer list but a beer list is also present at each table. 

The beer list.

I looked at the beer list and ordered a flight of tasters, and then we looked at the menu to order dinner. I washed down the fish tacos with a variety of beer.

Clockwise from 12 o'clock Up Plum Kriek, Amber, Porter, More Power DIPA, No Fruit, and Powerhouse IPA

Tasting Notes:

Up Plum Kriek (5.5%): Sour and barrel aroma. Red and hazy appearance. Initial sip is sour, followed by cherry, and funk. Sour cherry finish. Delightful.

Tim and Tristans Amber Adventure (6.0%): Hop aroma. Cloudy red-gold. Taste is sweet malt, bitter, hop flavor, all well balanced. Late bitterness. Clean bitter-sweet finish.

Roasted Porter (6.4%): Roast malt and coffee aroma. Opaque black with red highlights. Taste is roast malt and coffee followed by sweet malt. Sweet bitter finish.

More Power DIPA (7.1%): Strong hop aroma, very pine. Hazy red-gold. Sweet malt, bitter hops and piney hop flavor. Bitter finish. Too easily drinkable.

No Fruit Was Harmed IPA (7.5% 90 IBU): Fruity citrus hop aroma. Very cloudy, pale yellow appearance. Fruity sweet malt with hoppy flavor. The bitterness does not present as 90 IBU. Sweet finish.

Powerhouse IPA (6.6%): Flowery hop aroma and maybe some esters. Gold and hazy. Sweet malt, perfumed hops, bitterness. Bitter finish.

The powerhouse has high ceilings and the brick extends to the inner walls. The seating area is cozy and warm, and there is additional seating on an upper level. Occasionally a train roars by on the tracks right outside the building. We ordered and shared a sundae and I sipped to determine which of the above beer s went best with ice cream. 

Vanilla ice cream with caramel and chocolate sauce topped with whipped cream and cherries.

I liked the Up Plum Kriek best while the Powerhouse IPA was a close second. The porter might be a good choice if you like coffee – I don’t. I have been surprised over the years how well pale ale pairs with ice cream.

Bluebird Ice Cream Microcreamery and Brewery

 Bluebird Ice Cream Microcreamery and Brewery  28Feb2017

Bluebird is a tiny place on Phinney Ridge, which is a medium long walk – 1.5 miles – from my house. This afternoon was partly sunny and cool, a good day for an uphill walk with beer and ice cream at the end.

Bluebird on the corner of 74th and Phinney. It's less visible if you are walking on the same side of the street.

Bluebird is right across the street from 74^th Street Ale House and is not primarily a beer producer. Still, they do brew their own beer and have guest beers on tap while most of their business is ice cream. As you walk through the front door you are smack on top of the bar and in the middle of the seating area. 

I stood with my back to the front door to capture this photo.

Tiny. In the summer they open the front to create sidewalk seating, but you can’t take your beer out there. The beer list and the ice cream list are both to the right above the bar. 

Ice cream, pop, and beer list. Ice cream dominates.

The beer list is not lengthy. I took a seat at the bar from which I could see the brewery. 

Bluebird brews here quite often as well as at other locations.

Of the three beers on the list one was a coffee porter, which cut down my tasting list to two beers. I had started out with the intention of getting a float if Theo Chocolate Milk Stout was on the list and I was in luck.

Tasting Notes:

Theo Chocolate Milk Stout (6.1% 20 IBU): I had difficulty separating the beer aroma from the ice cream aroma. I smelled roast grain and chocolate. The beer color was opaque black with some brown highlights. Sweet roasted malt with late low bitter flavor and chocolate. Sweet roast malt finish. The chocolate ice cream (Theo Chocolate Chunk) worked well with the beer and the whole thing went down quickly. So good.

Theo Chocolate Milk Stout with a scoop of Theo Chocolate Chunk ice cream.

Split Personality Stout (6.9% 32 IBU): Fruity bourbon aroma. Opaque black appearance with no highlights. First sip yields bourbon, roast malt, and bitterness. Banana? I detect esters, for sure. Roast bitter finish. Lingering sweetness. I had this beer at the Collaboration Fest in April of 2016; turns out this was the same batch. I don’t really remember how it tasted then, but the aging (cold storage) seems to have served the beer well. It is smooth and the flavors are integrated. The ingredients include vanilla extracted with bourbon then boiled down and banana. No barrel aging.

Split Personality Stout ordered straight up.

As I sat enjoying my beers a steady stream of Phinney neighborhood denizens, mostly teens and young families, stopped in for various ice cream treats. Most people didn’t linger, but in the summer the place tends to fill up and people hang out enjoying the open air warmth. I hung out conversing with the barkeep and trying to pick apart the flavors of my two beers. Bluebird only serves in pints - no schooners or tasting flights. That turned out not to be a problem for me.

The walk back home was downhill, and I welcomed the exercise even if walking fast downhill is cheating.