Drink Socially? Try Locally! by Andrea Wilhelm Page 2

The next stop on my brewery circuit was Hale’s Ales in Fremont. Hale’s has been continuously owned and operated as an independent brewery longer than any other in the Pacific Northwest. They were also the first to introduce seasonal, cask-conditioned and nitrogen-conditioned ales to the region. No matter where you sit in Hale’s, you are within sight of the brewing process. In fact, some seating is close enough to feel the steam coming from the fermentation tanks! Hale’s has six standard brews, three “nitro” cream ales, and five seasonal and specialty brews.
You can sample any one of the beers by ordering a $1.25 taster glass, or you can order the taster wheel, which has five 5 oz. samples for $5.50. Beers are also available in 10 oz., 16 oz., or 20 oz. glasses. I sampled both the Pale Ale and the Cream Stout, but was not adventurous enough to order the Hale’s Stout Float (that’s right, beer and ice cream). Hale’s Pale Ale was the first brew of Hale’s brewery and has since become the standard by which other northwest pale ales are measured. In short, it’s good. For the under 21 crowd, Hale’s also brews their own root beer. Yum.


Finally, it was off to the Diamond Knot Brewery in Mukilteo. This dive bar-esque establishment, complete with peanut shells on the floor, has a wide assortment of beers with many special and seasonal brews. While I enjoyed my Belgian style wit, I was particularly enamored with the “library” corner of the bar, decorated with college-style (i.e. beat to hell) couches, bookshelves and board games. Equally enjoyable are their Stone Grilled menu choices, including fresh seafood and red meat that come out sizzling on a hot granite stone. Drop in Tuesdays after 6 p.m. for $2.00 beers, Thursdays for ‘Cask Conditioned Beer Night,’ or Saturdays for live music. Don’t want to venture north? The ‘Knotheads’ are currently in the process of expanding to a new location in Redmond.

If you were lucky enough to partake in the shenanigans at Seattle’s International Beer Festival this year, then you understand what a huge role beer plays in Seattle’s community. Seattle beer lovers are not only blessed with hundreds of bars, pubs and microbreweries, they are also surrounded with a wealth of beer-related activities other than drinking!

The Puget Sound Beer Meetup Group is one of several local organizations dedicated to the love of local beer. According to organizer John Reiher, the goal of PSBMG is simply to bring beer lovers together to try new and different beers and attend beer events, which they do by socializing at a different pub once a month.

Beer enthusiast Bob Blade moved to Seattle six years ago and was interested in joining a homebrew club. After deciding that the existing groups weren’t for him, he advertised at a homebrew shop and started monthly meetings of the North Seattle Homebrew Club. He now manages the group’s 104 members, alternating meetings between commercial locations, such as breweries or brewpubs, and member’s homes. The focus of their meetings is on tasting and evaluating their homebrews, and attendance varies from 15 to 30 members. The club emphasizes the brews of its members rather than those of breweries, and even contributes to national taste-tests.

A third organization, the Cascade Brewers Guild, is about 15 years old. Originally started by a small group of homebrewing friends, the well-organized club has grown into a veritable ‘beereaucracy,’ complete with dues, by-laws, and annual elections to accompany the monthly meetings and social events. The CBG is well known for its annual homebrew competitions. They recently held their 11th annual competition, ‘ExBEERience,’ with over 200 entries from 17 states. This year, the group built a mini beer festival around the competition with catered food, music, commercial beer samples, beer-judging workshops, and a formal award ceremony. The winners won much desired brewing equipment and two winners will have their beer recipe brewed at commercial breweries.

“We have great fun,” says CBG President John Marioni. “We attend all the beer festivals around the year and support our local brewers and beer scene by volunteering at beer events and frequenting their establishments.”
Members of the CBG also conduct beer study workshops, which culminate in taking the Beer Judge Certification Program exam to become certified beer judges. Marioni explained that many of the CBG members are beer judges, and the club judges the first round of the American Homebrewers Association’s (AHA) national competition each year.

The AHA’s national competition is conducted annually in Denver, and so far only ten people in the world have won. What exactly does one win? Why, a lifetime supply of beer of course! Marioni boasts that two members from his club are former Beer Drinker of the Year Competition winners. Other members of the CBG have also found success with their hobbies. One member hosts a weekly radio program called Beer Radio. Another moved to Australia last year to open his own brewpub. Most of the members grow their own hops and culture their own yeast. In fact, one member is getting his PhD in yeast. Several members also contribute articles to various beer magazines and one member even got on the cover of a major magazine.

If all this clout seems intimidating, Marioni insists that one need not be a master brewer to join.

“Despite the impressive credentials of a good number of our members, some do not even brew beer but just love learning about it and sampling.” In other words, if you know how to drink, then you’re in the club.


So now that you’re in the know about the Seattle brewing scene, there is still one very important question: where should one go for beer? As any home brewer will tell you, discovering what’s good, bad, and amenable to your own personal tastes is a process of trial and error. Fortunately, Seattle has several establishments that provide all the trials and errors your heart desires.

For take-home beer, John Reiher suggests 99 Bottles in Federal Way. This eclectic beer store carries up to 850 (and counting) different beers, with approximately 700 of those currently in stock. Along with her husband Craig, co-owner and founder Tiffany Adamowski caters to all beer enthusiasts. The store offers a selection ranging from macrobrews like Budweiser and Miller to microbrews from around the state, country, and world.

Craig and Tiffany continue to seek out new beers that are available through Washington beer distributors, and act as liaisons between local distributors and breweries in an effort to bring new offerings into the state.

“Our goal is to support in-state breweries by making their beers available to lovers of beer,” said Tiffany. Adamowski says they even carry a handcrafted, saison-style ale from France made on a small farm and brewery, of which only 600 hand-bottled specimens are produced each month.

In addition to inviting breweries and importers into the store to showcase their beers with tastings two to three times a month, the Adamowski’s also hold sample evenings every Wednesday night. On these nights, customers can sample a staff pick of a single high-end beer for one dollar.

Clearly, the couple is willing to put their mouths where their money is.

“Craig and I try a beer or two every night,” said Tiffany. “At this rate, we'll get through the store's inventory in about a year!”

To fully review every brewery, beer club, and beer store in the Seattle area would take a lot of investigating and a lot of drinking. We’d rather stick to the drinking, so it’s fortunate that a lot of the investigating has already been done!
Several websites offer a wealth of information pertaining to beer in Seattle. We highly recommend the beer mapping project (www.beermapping.com), a site that maps the location of every brewpub, brewery, beer bar, beer store and homebrew store in 30 or so American cities (including Seattle). Also noteworthy is Seven Nites (www.sevennites.com), which allows you to search for local happy hours by day of the week, location and other attributes such as the availability of outdoor seating or live music.

For information about Seattle happy hours, Blade suggests Seattle Drinks (www.seattledrinks.com), which features an iDrinks guide of the best bars and happy hour deals that can be downloaded to your iPod. Lastly, check out Ratebeer (www.ratebeer.com) for reviews of local venues.