Elliott Bay Brewery West Seattle

Elliott Bay Brewery West Seattle  27Feb2018

A well-worn path leads from our house in Ballard to the Junction in West Seattle. It used to be called the 15 but lately the route has been broken into the D-Line and the C-Line. I’ve been riding the bus to the Junction and visiting Elliott Bay Brewing in West Seattle since it opened in 1997. That route even played a role in an Annual Pub Crawl.

The C-Line dropped me at SW Alaska Street and California Ave SW from which point the walk was half a block to the Brewery. 

The brewery sits mid-block near a pedestrian cross-walk

As you enter the front doors you see the bar to your left and seating to the right and straight ahead. A stairwell leads up to a second level seating area as well. 

The view as you step inside the front entrance including a suspicious member of the wait-staff

The tap list is high above the bar as well as distributed on menus at every seating spot. I studied the beer list and picked 5 for a flight of 4 ounce tasters. Pints and growler fills are available. I sat at a high table, ordered some food, and enjoyed the beer and food.

l to r: Red Von Boorian, Alembic Pale Ale, Elliott Bay Brewing Dry Hopped IPA, Chocolate Porter, and Opacity Black IPA.

Tasting Notes:

Red Von Boorian (5.3%, 19 IBU): Hazy orange-red. Ester and peppery phenol aromas. Candy sweet, esters, and phenols in the flavor. Sweet and slightly bitter finish.

Alembic Pale (5.3%, 41 IBU): Slightly hazy red-gold. Malt and piney hop aroma. Sweet malt drying to bitterness with piney hop flavor. Bitter dry finish.

Elliott Bay Brewing Dry Hopped IPA (6.0%, 95 IBU): Clear dark gold. Fruity and piney hop aroma. Malt (dry), spicy hops, and bracing bitterness. Bitter finish. An old school IPA

Chocolate Porter (6.8%, 33 IBU): Deep clear brown with red highlights. Roast malt and chocolate aroma. Chocolate, roast malt, ashes, late bitterness. Bitter sweet finish. I paired it with the cup o’ chocolate cake I had for desert.

Opacity Black IPA (5.2%, 30 IBU): Clear brown-black with red highlights; not opaque. Spicy hop aroma. Spicy hop bitterness, dry malt, some roast. Bitter finish.

Elliott Bay Brewing West Seattle has a saloon atmosphere similar to Big Time or The Bergschrund. The wood and brick interior has an old time feel of the Seattle of the mid-20^th century. The greeting from behind the bar is friendly and polite. The service was prompt but it was not tested by any large number of patrons. Attendance was thin but steady. When I asked about one of the beers, the bartender dug out a massive ring binder to look up the information. The food was not fancy but good and filling.

As I was eating a group of Seattle Police came in and I thought maybe some trouble was going down. But nope, they came in for lunch and were sitting peaceably in the back. I didn’t look to see if they were drinking beer and I assumed that they weren’t. I was reminded of a time Renee and I vacationed in Northern California. The forest was burning and masses of fire fighters were in the area to deal with the fires. We stopped at Eel River Brewing to eat when twenty or thirty fire fighters came in for dinner, all sitting at one table. They did not drink any beer because I noted that they were all drinking soda. I think what the two groups, the police and the fire fighters, had in common was a need for non-fussy food that is tasty, filling, and served in large quantities.

Everything I said about the Lake City Elliott Bay Brewing applies to the mother ship in West Seattle. The service is good, the food is tasty, the beer is well made, and the prices are reasonable. I polished off the beer and food and headed out to catch the bus back to town. I just missed the C-Line and so I walked down a few blocks to West Seattle brewing to stop in for a pint. The C-Line also stops near there, so I was able to catch a bus about a block away, ride into downtown, and catch the D-Line back home.