Ghostfish Brewing Company

Ghostfish Brewing Company 24Nov2017

Ghostfish brews gluten free beer and is located in SODO. I rode the D-Line and when downtown caught a 21. I walked a few blocks to find Ghostfish and ruefully noted a bus stop right across the street. My last visit to this brewery was in July of 2015.

The brewery is housed in a former night club with the brew kit installed in what was a ginormous dance floor. The building sits at Hanford and 1^st Avenue South with the front entrance on 1^st. 

Ghostfish Brewing on 1st Ave South

As you enter the front door you see a few tables in front of you and to the left is a bar and beyond is more seating and the brew house. 

The view as you enter the front door with tables, the bar, and a hint of the brewing area.

As you approach the bar you can see the tap list posted near the ceiling. If you are nearsighted like I am, don’t fret, the beer list is available in printed form at the bar. 

The beer list above the bar

The greeting at the bar is friendly and polite. Flights of 5 x 4 ounce samples, pints, growlers, and limited selections of canned and bottled product are also available. I studied the beer list and ordered my five tasters. 

From l to r: Shrouded Summit, Vanishing Point, Ghost Pepper Saison, Kick Step IPA, and Watchstander Stout

Then I settled in to watch Iowa dismantle the Nebraska football team.

Tasting Notes:

Shrouded Summit (Wit style) (4%, 20IBU): Clear pale yellow. Spicy, grain, and ester aroma. Full body, orange, wit beer yeast profile, corriander. Faint bitterness and fruit. Medium sweet finish with a slight sourness. Refreshing. I know that calling a beer without any wheat a wit is a misnomer, but the entire taste profile is that of a wit beer.

Vanishing Point (5.3%, 40 IBU): Pale clear gold. Ester aroma. Tastes of rich grain, hop bitterness, C-hops with touch of hop perfume. Bitter-sweet finish.

Ghost Pepper Saison (6%, 20 IBU): Slightly hazy yellow-gold. Fruity and peppery aroma. Heat, esters, some smoky phenols, low bitterness. Sweet and hot finish.

Kick Step IPA (5.5%, 60 IBU): Hazy yellow. Piney and citrus hop aroma. Sweet grains, hop bitterness, citrus and pine hop flavors. Bitter finish. A proper IPA.

Watchstander Stout (6.5%, 30 IBU): Dark red brown with red highlights. Roast (not burnt) grain aroma. Sweet grain, roast (more toward chocolate than coffee). Bitter sweet finish. This is a complex beer.

When they opened in 2015, Ghostfish was the only dedicated gluten free brewery in Seattle. They still are and I suppose they could have relied on that status to keep customers coming back. But like most of the breweries I have revisited tin the last two years, Ghostfish has continued to improve and refine their beers and experiment with new styles and variations. All of the beers I sampled were uniformly drinkable. They all tasted like beer in that the grains, hops, and yeast were all playing a role in the flavor profile. The grain flavors were interesting and had me wondering, “Now what does barley malt taste like exactly and how is this different?” A person could spend some time drinking Ghostfish beer while trying to answer that question.

A limited food menu is available stocked with gluten free items as you would expect. The menu has expanded since 2015 when the only selection was gluten free pizza. I didn’t try any of the food but the guy next to me at the bar reported that the food is good. Since the taproom is in SODO, they draw people in on game days and because the competition is fierce in that area, the food has to be good enough to bring people in. The taproom crowd on this Black Friday was not what I would expect on game day, but was still of a respectable size.

The brewery building is modern steel and glass construction. The taproom atmosphere is warmed by the wood laminate floors and abundance of wood furniture. The crowd is typical for a Seattle beer crowd – polite and friendly as well. I rarely have difficulty striking up a conversation with other patrons and Ghostfish was no exception. If you find yourself at Ghostfish with a friend who is gluten intolerant or suffers from celiac, don’t despair. Keep an open mind, drink the beer, and eat the food – I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

The buses were running on a normal weekday schedule and, since fewer people were at work, less crowded. I grabbed the 21 back into downtown where I watched wall to wall buses try to navigate 3^rd Ave shopping traffic. Lastly I caught the 15 Express – along with about 5 other people instead of the normal standing room only crowd - back home.