Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery

Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery  28Apr2017

Friday was such a nice day after the record setting rains that I had to make the longish walk (2 miles) to the Greenwood area to visit Flying Bike. As with Peddler I haven’t visited for some time and on my last visit I thought the beers were too sweet and had some diacetyl, which led me to think the beers were under pitched. Perhaps I have put off visiting again because the walk is too much energy to expend for ordinary beer.

The brewery sits on a shady block of Greenwood  –  the trees forming an inviting setting. The brewery front comprises two large garage-door type openings, which on a nice day like Friday gives the taproom a light airy feeling. 

Flying Bike on Greenwood. Note the tree on the left and the large open doors.

As you walk in the front door you see the bar and the brew kit to the right while a seating area is in front of you. 

The view from the front door looking slightly to the right. The beer list is above the guy with a hat.

View from the front door looking straight right.

The beer list is written in marker on the tiles behind the bar. 

The beer list gives a lot of information about each beer.

The writing is clear but you need to be near to read it easily. I pulled up a stool at the bar and ordered a flight of six five ounce tasters.

Beer number 1, Rainemaker, is to the left side of the list under the six. The rest are listed counterclockwise from 1; Bockanalia, Molly's Bloomers Stout (nitro), Mosaic Sorachi Ace, Tropical Refresher, and Rigmarole.

Tasting Notes:

Bockanalia (6.4%, 34 IBU): Faint aroma of cherries. Clear amber. Sweet malt-forward flavor with some minerality followed by some hop bitterness. Full body. Bitter sweet finish.

Rigmarole Red Rye (5.8%, 40 IBU): Sharp and sweet malt aroma. Clear red amber. Acrid rye malt flavor. Full body and sweet but dry. Bitter finish.

Molly’s Bloomers Irish Dry Stout (3.2%, 50 IBU): Clear black with red highlights. Roast malt aroma and some (Golding?) hops. Thin body, roast malt and restrained bitterness. Dry bitter finish. Drinks like less than 50 IBU.

Tropical Refresher (4.4%, 30 IBU): Clear red-gold. Fruity hop aroma. Malt-hop balance and dry with some slight minerality. Fruity hop flavor. Bitter dry finish.

Rainemaker NW IPA (6.4%, 60 IBU): Fruity dank hop aroma. Clear gold. Fruity hop, sweet malt flavors. Dry – fermented out. Bitter sweet finish.

Mosaic Sorachi Ace (7.3%, 70 IBU): Red gold clear. Onion and manure hop aroma. Very bitter hops (onion and pine) with good malt body. Lingering bitter finish.

The beers were all much better on this visit and I would have no problem recommending a visit if you are in the Greenwood area. Flying Bike is just a few doors up the street from Naked City, and both places benefit from being neighborhood hangouts. Greenwood itself has a lot of retail businesses surrounded by residential areas, so families and couples find their way into Flying Bike. In the winter the décor is a little cold and in the spring, summer, and fall the place is light and inviting when the garage doors are open. I hung out at the bar and finished all my tasters but the Rigmarole and Mosaic Sorachi Ace. I could have stayed longer but needed to get home to thaw out dinner.

The long walk back home was mostly downhill and the sun still shined.