Elysian Taproom

Elysian Taproom 11Feb2018

Elysian has a production scale brewery in Georgetown to which they have added a taproom. I took the D-Line downtown and caught the 124 to get to the Lucile bus stop just across Airport Way from the joint.

Elysian Taproom inhabits a part of huge building that is in two parts. The anonymous looking street front is pedestrian unfriendly and the taproom entrance is tucked behind the bridge to Georgetown where Airport way crosses the railroad tracks.

The nearly hidden taproom

The production brewery is at one end and walled off from the warehouse part. The warehouse holds barrels and fouders, ingredients, and the taproom. As you enter the front door you see barrels and seating,

The view as you step through the front entrance

and to your left is a continuation of the seating plus the bar.

Plenty of seating, more barrels, and the bar

Above the bar are banners proclaiming the beers on offer and representative samples of merch.

Beers available to drink

A list of beers offered along with brewing details and tasting notes is available at the bar as well. Tasters, pints, growler fills, and some bottles-to-go are available. Sunday is happy hour prices all day, so my flight of 5 tasters was $10. I chose 5 and retired to a tall table to sip and write.

l to r: Zephyrus Pilsner, Prometheus IPA, Oak Aged Ambrosia, Barrel Aged Avatar, and Perseus Porter.

Tasting Notes:

Zephyrus Pilsner (4.7%, 38 IBU): Hazy gold. Combined noble hop and pils malt aroma. Sweet malt, bitterness, and noble hop flavor. Bitter sweet finish. The beer list gives a Starting Gravity 1.050, which with a stated ABV of 4.7% back-calculates to a finishing gravity of 1.016. No wonder the beer is sweet.

Prometheus IPA (7.8%, 71 IBU): Slightly hazy amber. Perfumey fruit-pine hop aroma with some dank. Piney fruity hops, bitter, malt presence in the flavors. Bitterness is restrained. Bitter-sweet finish.

Oak Aged Ambrosia (5.9%): Clear bronze. Honey, malt, alcohol, and barrel aromas. Sweet malt, vanilla barrel, late bitterness. Slightly astringent sweet finish. The beer list gives a Starting Gravity 1.068, which with a stated ABV of 5.9% back-calculates to a finishing gravity of 1.024. The beer is very sweet.

Barrel Aged Avatar (9.9%): (Avatar Jasmine IPA aged in gin barrels) Hazy orange. Herbal, barrel, and phenolic aromas. Sweet malt, juniper, late bitterness, citrus. Sweet finish.

Perseus Porter (5.4%, 25 IBU): Opaque black with red-brown highlights. Burnt malt, almost coffee aroma. Flavors of sweet malt, roast malt, and bitterness. Bitter sweet finish.

If you look at my reviews of Elysian Tangletown and Elysian Fields (but why would you?), you can see that I have sampled Zephyrus Pilsner at all three spots. And, my tasting notes are pretty similar. I hope that means that the beer quality control leads to consistency and that my taster is reliable. There are alternative scenarios I care not to consider. The samples I tasted were all well made with no apparent flaws. Whether the reviewer liked the beers is purely subjective. In my subjective opinion I really liked the Oak Aged Ambrosia and the Prometheus IPA.

A handful of drinkers were in the taproom today but the crowd thinned during the time I finished my flight. The experience of drinking in a true warehouse space unmitigated by lowered ceilings or fake walls is a bit cold. On a summer day when the patio is accessible through the garage doors, drinking would be much more attractive.

The greeting from behind the bar was friendly and the bartender was knowledgeable and helpful. The crowd was typically Seattle in its insularity.

After I finished my flight I took a short walk to Machine House to have a half pint of real ale. Then I flagged down a 124 back to town and on to the D-Line home to dinner.