Washington series #1 - Anacortes Brewery

I just got back from a long, wonderful trip to northern Washington, and Vancouver Island. Three cideries, and four breweries later, I am back in town, and ready to report. Up first, Anacortes Brewery, in Anacortes, WA.
Anacortes Brewery is located right on the little, cutesy main street area in Anacortes. Surrounded by antique and curio stores, it is a nice little place to spend some time waiting for the next ferry to the San Juan Islands. It is not, however, a destination place to swirve off of I-5 and go to.
I had two beers, and their version of fish and chips. I first ordered the Beligian. After ordering it, the waitress asked if I wanted a sample, I told her no, that was ok, she then nearly insisted I tried it first, saying it is pretty sweet. Sweet? So I tried a little sample, thank the beer gods I did. It was very sweet, flat, and unlike any other Belgian I have ever had. I was dissapointed, and then ordered their Vienna beer. It was quite good. It was a dark amber, well balanced, a little bit of a spicy aftertaste, slightly smokey, and even had hints of orange. Good, and nicely cleansed my pallete of the lack-luster fish and chips. When at a stones throw from salt water, I expect fish and chips to be better than the average Portland bar. Sorry.
The bar itself is bright yellow inside, covered with blues and jazz posters, with the middle defined by tons of hanging merchandise, a pet peeve of mine. If you want to pimp out your logo covered wares, make it subtle, not a dominate design factor in your space.
So, long story short, go if you just missed your ferry, and are waiting for the next one, check it out, some of the beer is pretty good. When not to go? If you have a short wait, are speeding down I-5, or are seeking killer seafood.
Next up in my Washington series..Skagit Brewing in Mt. Vernon.

Trip

So, for about a week, I am going up north to attend a cider making class in Mt. Vernon, WA. So, of course, I won't be able to blog, as I don't have a laptop. But, I will come back with pictures, and stories from what I learn, and find out. I will go to the most excellent Skagit Brewing, which I have enjoyed before, and may make it over to Anacortes to the Rock Fish Grill. Hopefully, a bar or two will have a dart board, and I can get a game in. But, I will be in class everyday, plus fitting in a day trip to Vancouver Island, BC. Wish me luck, and throw a bull for me.

Saraveza

After a enjoyable game of disc golf up at Pier Park in North Portland, we decided to give Belmont Station's distant cousin, Saraveza, a try. I have been wanting to have a go at it for awhile now, but, damned if I could come up with a proper reason to head up that far north, and leave my beloved SE behind.
I liked Saraveza, except for a few gripes. They did have a nice selection of bottles, but, of course, no where near the selection of Belmont Station. Although, I will say, the snacks were considiberly better, more creative, and more pickled-tastic (a new word I made up after this visit). While we didn't have any of the pasties, we saw a few go out, and they looked amazing.
The taps availiable is small, but the selctions were interesting. I had a Great Divide Belgian IPA, which, tasted exactly like the name implies. Erin had a pint of Black Ale from 10 Barrels Brewing in Bend. Erin liked it a lot, and the beertender described it as a easier to drink Stout for the summer time, and it was.
So, I do have to point out a few things that I was annoyed, ever so slightly, by. They do, obviously sell bottles. But, the bottles have no price anywhere near, or on them. For the price, you have to pick up a seperate, price menu and walk around with it. That is one less hand I could be carrying bottles with. Also, I am a big fan of the honest pint project, although, Saraveza must not be.
I guess I am spoiled by Horse brass and Belmont Station, but now, I am dissapointed in a establishment, especially a bottle shop, that does not serve a proper pint.
The low down, if you are in North Portland, this is a nice little shop, with tasty food, that is worth a visit. If you are anywhere south of 84, head to Belmont Station for your rare, beer nerd tastes.

Horse Brass

After a successful beer buying trip from Belmont Station, a trip down the street to Horse Brass to play some darts was in order. Of late, I have been changing my drinking preferences. I used to be a die hard, hard drinking, IPA devotee. Well, now, for some unknown reason, I have switched to Belgian style ales. The flavors, and complexity I have found, has really been amazing. I can close my eyes, and taste the centuries of honing this style in every bottle. So, if you , too, are a IPA fan, try a Belgian, then try two, you will discover a whole new range of taste.
Of course, I rant this long to delay the news, I barely won our first game, and got slaughtered on our second. I had a Helles Lager from Caldera that softened the blow, followed by a Duvel. Erin was on fire, and I was throwing like a blind man.
So, I have an open question, dart board etiquette, I am claiming ignorance. Is it proper to play one game, then sit down, or can you play as long as you see fit, until interrupted? Or, if you want the board, what is a polite way of getting it if others are playing? While in the middle of our second game, someone came up, and asked if he could have the board after us, which, was fine, though I was hoping for a 2 out of 3 kind of situation. Is there any rule, as in pool, you put quarters down, or, your darts down? Can you offer to play for control?
If anyone has any insight, let me know.

Tugboat Brewing

After telling people I was going to check out Tugboat Brewing, the unanimous response was, "where/what is that?". Tugboat may be the only brewery in town that, seemingly, no one has heard of. It is tucked neatly, downtown, on a side street just around the corner from Mary's Strip Club. I wanted to try more of their brews, but, out of the four they had on tap, two were sold out, and the other was a porter, which on a warm night, didn't sound too good. So, by default, I tried their Summer Slam. It was a light, low hop beer, with a distant sweetness, that was nice on a warm night. But, I saw no need to order two, if you catch my drift. I instead decided to move on to their nice guest tap selection, which I thought was odd, being it outnumbered their own brews. I digress. I had a pint (not an honest pint mind you) of Klamath Baisn Brewing's 8 Second Ale. Even with all my trips to Green Dragon, Horse Brass, and Belmont Station, I have never seen this on tap, let alone heard of this brewery. Now this was a good beer. Balanced, light , hoppy, and damn tasty. Apparantly, I may have to return to Tugboat just to get more of this beer. I will not be driving to Klamath Falls anytime soon.
So, this cash only place passes muster as a downtown dive-y place, with what seemed to be a nice little food menu. The beer they make, or should I say, the one I had was drinkable, but nothing to write home about. I was tempted, in part, by their claim to make British style strong ales on their website, maybe next time they will actually have some. The British claim also raised my hopes for a proper dart board, of which there was none.
For those who frequent Bailey's Taproom, this is directly across Ankenny. The people in Bailey's looked like they were having more fun then me, but they also looked like a bunch of beautiful people that make me want to start randomly slashing Range Rover tires. And if your possibly purchasing a pint at Bailey's you pretty pussy, then gander over, you may just see my ugly ass staring back at you with a pint of Klamath, a knife with tire rubber dangling from it, and a smaller bar tab.

Quimby Lucky Lab

The NW outpost of the Lucky Lab mini-empire reminds me, yet again, why I enjoy Lucky Lab. The Lab loves the big spaces, the beer is always phenomenal, cheap peanuts, and darts. For some reason,I had never ventured to this location before, but made it a stop on the way back from St. John’s one day. Now, this isn’t a place you may happen upon, it is tucked away on the the fringes of the Pearl, and just far enough away from the NW 21st-23rd crowd to make it..fun. For me, and my neighborhood snobbery, it was an oasis of SE, in NW. They have two dart boards, like the Hawthorne Lab, side by side. The outside seating is ample, and the inside has the same last supper-ish communal tables as the SE location.
We didn’t happen to have our darts with us, but we will definitely go back just to play there.

Hood Canal Brewery

Not many people would make the trip all the way up the Kitsap Peninsula from Portland to try some beer, but, for you, I would do such a thing. I even suffered, for the reading public, through days of salt water kayaking, manly meals of potato chips and peanuts, and an embarrassingly large of amount of Olympia consumption. What did I come away with, besides a soaking wet tent and a two day hangover? Knowledge of some of the best beer I have had here in the Northwest. You probably haven't had it, being that it rarely, if ever, makes it this far south. But the lucky of Northwest Washington get to have this, and you should make the drive to get what they got.
Hood Canal Brewing was started by an ex-teacher, with a dream. Now, the dream had moved from his 800 square foot garage, into a sizably larger industrial building outside the blink-and-you-miss-it town of Kingston. The beer he creates is superb, as you can taste in his tasting room. Supplied with free pretzels and peanuts (take note Full Sail....wankers), you can have pint "tasters", before you leave with a growler, 120z, or 22 0z bottle. Brian and I tried everything they made, even their barleywine, which normally we are not fans of. Even that was good!! I love small breweries, where you can see the brewer/owner/server. You can really feel that they love what they are doing, and they have one of those...what are they called, smiles when they work.
If you ever get a wild hair up your Portland ass for a road trip, make the drive to Kingston, pass Silverdale and the "Olive Garden-esque" Silver City Brewing, and grab a pint or 5 of some quality brew at Hood Canal. No darts, but well worth the trip.

Fearless Brewing

Fearless Brewing was clearly named after what you have to be to drink, or eat there. I'm sorry, is that harsh?
I went there the other day, simply because it is about the only place in Estacada on a Sunday to grab a pint with a buddy. I was disappointed with the beer, food, menu, service, atmosphere, and, well, that about does it.
The beer.
I started with the Tomahawk Brown, which, at 5.3%, is one of Fearless's biggest beers. The problem with the Brown is that the only thing to wash down the aftertaste of cleaning solution, is another drink of this horrible, pint of hell. It is fizzy, and, god, just bad.
I followed this with a glass (I couldn't handle another pint of anything) of the IPA, which made even Full Sail IPA taste good (Full Sail sucks). I am an IPA freak, and have tasted a lot. I can honestly say this was the worst I have ever had.
Next, I had a glass of the Maibock. You know, it wasn't bad. Slighty sweet, lite, and pleasent. Or maybe I was just happy to wash down the shitty mozzarela sticks.
The food.
Bad. Frozen, boring, over priced, and the menu looks like a 5 year old playing with all the fonts in Word. But, we did get free , housemade potato chips, which was nice. The mozzarela sticks we got were obviously bought from the frozen section of Costco or Safeway. Which, you know, is ok, when I'm at home.
The atmosphere.
Or, the lack there of. They say they have the biggest TV in town, which may be true. But, my friends, a large screen, on mute, playing baseball, when you and your buddy are the only ones in the pub, does not make the beer or food taste any better.
The service.
I don't mind being ID'd, but there are ways to do it without being insulting, or rude. As we were going outside, to enjoy the outside seating, with food on order, the waitress ran after us, insisting we put a credit card down first, in case we decided to leave, and the waitress watched as we signed our recipts, comparing signatures, and watching as we put the tip on the receipt. Am I anal, or does this all add up to bad service??
Also, one last thing, they have two beer pricings. Standard beer pricing, and for an extra .25, premium beer pricing. Please, I have never been to a brewpub where they pull this crap. And , to call anything Fearless makes "premium", is like calling a steaming pile of shit, chocolate cake.
Sorry, but if your in Estacada, you'd be better off drinking from the Clackamas and taking your chances.

Lucky Lab 4-09

During this cold and drizzly Monday, Erin and I decided to hop over to Lucky Lab for some lunch and a pint or two. The match was a lot of fun, and I narrowly won by 16 points. I am writing this to encourage everyone to go and try the beer that I instantly feel in love with, the Quality Rye. The Quality Rye is a light, golden ale, weighing in at a modest 4.5ABV, but it was delicious. It had a subtle Rye aftertaste, and an almost peppery flavor. And of course, being miser monday, it was a dollar off the normal pint price.
As always, the food was perfect, my tuna melt was fantastic. Erin got the bento, which, I had never had before, and was skepitcal of. I mean, the place has sandwiches, and great beer, but bento???
It was fucking dead on, spicy, and very good. Who knew?
Another fun trip to the Lab.

Double Mountain

When Double Mountain was created, I doubt they knew how much they would fulfill my void for a Nirvana in Hood River. I used to be a disciple of Full Sail, until they threw some flat screens on the wall, ripped out the outside grill, and , god dammit, took away the free oyster crackers. It only makes sense I would follow the former Full Sail brewers down the street to a little slice of heaven , called Double Mountain.
We were there this past Sunday, after a hike up to Mitchell Point. First, the beer.
Erin had the Black Irish Stout, which, she didn't like too much, but, as I noticed, drank none the less. I was blown away by my two selections. The first was "Terrible Two". Served in a goblet, it weighs in at an impressive 10% ABV. Man, I wish I had my thesaurus nearby, but all I can come up with, is, it is good. Really, good. Aged in Bourbon Barrel good.
My second beer I got as I stumbled to the bar was a Belgian ale named Inglemunster. Again, strong, goblet sized, and really good. This is apparently a sneak peak of their offering at the upcoming Belgian Beer Fest in Portland.
Ok, food. The food at Double Mountain is very good. I like to call it my inland Ft. George. We got a simple Mezze Platter, for 8.95, and it was amazing. So many places try to do a Mezze Platter, and are lazy with it. Double Mountain's really tastes like they put thought into it, spent time on it, and take pride in it.
The darts.
The dart board is in the side room area, where the tanks and barrels are. The door may be closed, so ask if it is ok to go in. The only bummer is that they don't have any kind of scoring board, so bring a paper and pen.
The Irish must have gotten to Erin, she lost both games. Oh well.
Final thoughts, GO TO DOUBLE MOUNTAIN!! The crew is awesome, the beer, man, the beer! Go.