The Great American Ale Trail (Revised Edition) Read online

  PHILOSOPHY

  Big beers with big feet. Higher-than-usual alcohol and hopping rates define most of the Walking Man beers, which vary in drinkability. The brewery also hosts the Sasquatch Legacy Project, a yearly charity brew by recipients of the Glen Hay Falconer Scholarship named in honor of the late influential Oregon brewer.

  KEY BEER

  Knuckle Dragger, an American Pale Ale of 6.5% ABV, is a malty, hoppy citrus bomb that would send Big Foot into nap-time in no time.

  BEST of the REST: WASHINGTON

  THE MASONRY

  20 Roy St. • Seattle, WA 98109 • (206) 453-4375 • themasonryseattle.com

  Launched in August 2013, the Masonry is affable founder Matt Storm’s wood-fired, charred crust Neopolitan pizza oasis, with fourteen well-chosen taps (plus wine and cider, too). It’s one of Uptown Seattle’s most popular spots thanks to that pizza—and frequent brewery dinners with the likes of Anchorage Brewing Co., Jolly Pumpkin, and Belgian cult favorite De Struise, plus an outstanding annual farmhouse beer fest.

  THE PINE BOX

  1600 Melrose Ave. • Seattle, WA 98122 • (206) 588-0375 • pineboxbar.com

  Opening in 2012 with more than thirty beers on tap, founder Ian Roberts (a veteran of Seattle Beer Week and Brouwer’s Café) brought Capitol Hill a thoroughly modern beer hall, albeit one constructed in a former mortuary with lots of hardwood and leaded glass. The creative food list gets high marks, and the list is peppered with new-school faves like Almanac, St. Petersburg, Florida’s surging Green Bench, and Seattle’s own Black Raven. Mondays are often dedicated to sour beer, a nice touch.

  BLACK RAVEN BREWING CO.

  14679 NE 95th St. • Redmond, WA 98052 • (425) 881-3020 • blackravenbrewing.com

  Opened in 2009, Black Raven is a production-minded brewery (read: no restaurant inside) that has marched confidently into the Seattle and Washington beer scenes over the past five years. With a 15bbl system and an ambitious barrel-aging program (using bourbon, rye, red, white, and cognac barrels), Black Raven has a huge following these days, thanks to beers like Trickster IPA, as well as Pour les Oiseaux, a viognier barrel-aged saison, and Splinters, a 10.8% ABV Scotch Ale. Wednesday is cask night, allowing brewers to present their latest one-offs and experiments.

  FREMONT BREWING

  1050 N. 34th St. • Seattle, WA 98103 • (206) 420-2407 • fremontbrewing.com

  An oasis in Fremont, an industrial/artist enclave, this eco-minded brewery and beer garden (founded in 2009) is a must-hit sunny day stop when visiting Seattle. Founder Matt Lincecum and his team take a classic approach, focusing mainly on sessionable pale ales and IPAs like Interurban, but plenty of bigger and even sour beers have graced the taps. The addition of a canning line threw fat on the fire; crowds are common, but don’t let it keep you from a visit.

  THE BURGUNDIAN

  2253 N. 56th St. • Seattle, WA 98103 • (206) 420-8943 • burgundianbar.com

  Matt Bonney, owner of Bottleworks (a bottle shop in Wallingford that offers over 950 mostly Belgian bottles) and the famed Brouwer’s Café (sixty-four taps), opened Burgundian in early 2012, in Tangletown. On offer: a solid array of acclaimed beers, plus cocktails, and a comfort-food menu of much-loved chicken and waffles, biscuits and gravy, and fluffy egg dishes served all day long.

  THE BEER JUNCTION

  4511 California Ave. SW • Seattle, WA 98116 • (206) 938-2337 • thebeerjunction.com

  Every city needs a great bottle shop. This is one of Seattle’s top stops. Opened in 2010 and moved to this new, busy, central west Seattle location in early 2012, you’ll find 1,300-plus beers, sixteen rotating taps, and a good variety of beer-related gifts. The goods are well organized, the service is good, and there’s even a small parking lot. Just don’t expect to have the place to yourself when you arrive.

  REUBEN’S BREWS

  5010 14th Ave. NW • Seattle WA 98107 • (206) 784-2859 • reubensbrews.com

  This Ballard taproom is the new outpost for much-loved local home brewer turned pro Adam Robbings, who, with his family, has gone from strength to strength since opening in the summer of 2012. Sample up to twenty-four house brews on tap. Start with the award-winning cream ale and work your way through a huge variety of beer styles, from strong porter to IPA and a highly-ranked gose.

  STOUP BREWING

  1108 NW 52nd St. • Seattle, WA 98107 • (206) 457-5524 • stoupbrewing.com

  Also in Ballard, this airy little spot (founded by a trio of science majors, named for old English drinking vessels, and launched in 2013) is best enjoyed on a rare sunny afternoon. Sample a variety of styles very much in the Pacific Northwest mold, from IPA to Robust Porter, which took a prestigious silver in the World Beer Cup in 2014, and refuel at food carts parked out front.

  THE STUMBLING MONK

  1635 E. Olive Way • Seattle, WA 98122 • (206) 860-0916 • No website

  This tiny little corner beer bar on Capitol Hill has twelve taps and fifty bottled selections, and better yet, no loud music or TVs. Nor is there a menu of food (unless you count potato chips as food), but you can order in. In classic dive bar fashion, you come here for board games like Scrabble, Connect Four, and Battleship. It gets cramped and sweaty. But this is a dive bar that also happens to boast a great list of beers, from the exotic sours of Portland’s Cascade Barrel House to Belgium’s iconic pale ale with Brettanomyces, Orval (6.2% ABV).

  ÜBER TAVERN

  7517 Aurora Ave. N. • Seattle, WA 98103 • (206) 782-2337 • uberbier.com

  There’s a reason locals talk of the Über warp—time disappears when you step in the door. Opened in 2006 with seventeen taps and 150 bottled brews (heavy on the Belgians and upstart regionals like Black Raven and Beer Valley, of Ontario, Oregon), this idyllic little Green Lake–area beer bar is neither dive nor stuffy, beer-snob perch, with cool neon signage outside and a rapidly rotated beer list within its cobalt-blue walls (and I have to mention the gas-flame fireplace table). Look for Anacortes Brewery’s Locomotive Breath, a bold, barrel-black Imperial Stout (8.5% ABV).

  BOUNDARY BAY BREWERY & BISTRO

  1107 Railroad Ave. • Bellingham, WA 98225 • (360) 647-5593 • bbaybrewery.com

  Bellingham, the college-y “City of Subdued Excitement,” got quite a bit more buzz in 1995 when this standout brewpub came to be. With twelve taps, nine bottles, and two casks at any given time (plus a hearty menu of burgers, beer-barbecued pork, smoked salmon chowder, mac ’n’ cheese, and fish tacos) this large, brick, neighborly hangout located on Railroad Avenue has done well thanks to beers like Inside Passage Ale (an IPA of 6.4% ABV) and the outdoor patio and lawn beer garden, hosting live music and spontaneous hula-hoop contests. Recent chef-driven beer dinners and the Galbraith Mountains series of single hop brews have been heartily embraced.

  EVERYBODY’S BREWING

  151 E. Jewett Blvd. • White Salmon, WA 98672 • (509) 637-2774 • everybodysbrewing.com

  Established in 2009 with sixteen taps (up to nine of their own), Everybody’s has a twenty-six-foot-long handcrafted bar, long wooden banquet tables, and idyllic views of Mount Hood across the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. Remember, you’re in hop country, so order the Country Boy IPA (6.2% ABV) and head out to the porch. Recent projects include the “Tiny Tank” series brews with new-school hops like Mosaic and Citra.

  THE NORTH FORK BREWERY, PIZZERIA, BEER SHRINE & WEDDING CHAPEL

  6186 Mt. Baker Hwy. • Deming, WA 98244 • (360) 599-2337 •northforkbrewery.com

  True to its name, this funky spot (established in 1997) along the Mount Baker Highway about thirty minutes from Bellingham has a whole lot of love going on for one place. With just five taps from a tiny little 3.5bbl system, it may look a little like Navin R. Johnson’s family home from The Jerk, but that’s exactly while you’ll want to make drive. Where else can you hang out in a log house with ninety years’ worth of beer bric-a-brac, drink nano-brewed beer (try the 11% ABV 1000 barley wine to steady those nerves), eat pizza pie, and get hitc
hed?

  IDAHO

  IDAHO, LIKE OH-SO-MANY OTHER STATES IN THE UNITED STATES, USED TO HAVE PRECIOUS few good beer spots. The beer lists were predictable. No longer. From 2011 to 2013 the state’s barrel output fully doubled to over 40,000bbl. Specialty styles and experimentation are taking hold. Now the whole state, especially Boise, is booming with over fifty breweries in 2015, a near $200 million industry. And with new-era taprooms opening up, the state’s overall selection is growing by the minute. The scenery is spectacular, especially in summer. Make a beer-based road trip through “the gem state” and you’ll unearth a trove of hoppy emeralds.

  Coeur d’Alene

  CRAFTED TAPHOUSE & KITCHEN

  523 Sherman Ave. • Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 • (208) 292-4813 • craftedtaphouse.com • Established: 2014

  SCENE & STORY

  Flanked by a pair of ski hills (Schweitzer and Silver Mountain), northern Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene, named for the Coeur d’Alene Indians, is a very, very pretty spot. Overlooking the vast Lake Coeur d’Alene, the city has really boomed in recent years. The city is surrounded by mountainous country filled with lakes and campgrounds. All that activity stokes a discerning local crowd, and with its industrial-chic interior, airy patio, ambitious gastropub menu, and supercosmopolitan beer list, local Rob Berger’s beer-focused spot has made a mark in a short time. The burgers are a big draw. And they are big themselves. If you’re not into the huge two-hander style, consider the manageable “#42,” made with local ground beef, cambozola cheese, roasted garlic-bacon jam, arugula, and a house-baked bun.

  PHILOSOPHY

  This is a spacious (3,000-square-foot) modern beer lover’s spot, with fifty taps and bright modern aesthetics that wouldn’t feel out of place in, say, suburban Los Angeles. In the summer, with its Mediterranean climate, this makes a lot of sense. Grab a spot outside, and let the knowledgeable servers guide you into some serious beer and good food. Just to remind you it’s a very small town, the big draw Friday nights is turtle races—featuring actual turtles—treading across a huge white disc.

  KEY BEER

  The list is filled with some pretty hard-to-find brews, but it’s the local and regional specialties that get top billing, like No-Li, out of Spokane, Washington.

  Victor

  GRAND TETON BREWING CO.

  430 Old Jackson Hwy. • Victor, ID 83455 (208) 787-9000 • grandtetonbrewing.com • Established: 1988

  SCENE & STORY

  Grand Teton Brewing Company was actually founded seventeen miles away from Victor, in Wilson, Wyoming, as Otto Brothers’ Brewing in 1988, by Charlie and Ernie Otto. It was the first modern microbrewery in the state, and represented the first malt beverage production permit in Wyoming in thirty-five years. Eventually changing their name and relocating to beautiful Victor in 2000, the brothers have embarked on a few interesting firsts.

  One, they claim to have reintroduced the sixty-four-ounce growler into modern use after an offhand comment by their father, who recalled using lidded tin pails in Germany to transport beer. And more recently, they created an all-Idaho beer, using only ingredients grown or sourced from within the state. The uncommon Zeus and Bravo hops were grown in southwest Idaho, the barley was grown and malted in the southeast, and the water came from a spring in the Tetons. If you’re anywhere near Victor and the Grand Tetons, you can get a taste of this brew (no food, though) at their quaint little taproom seven days a week.

  PHILOSOPHY

  Progressive. The brewery has worked with fifty charities in the area, and the beers keep getting more innovative with each batch.

  KEY BEER

  There are five year-round beers, including the flagship, Bitch Creek Extra Special Brown (6% ABV), which has nutty, cocoa-like flavors mingling with a lightly hoppy finish. But look for the Cellar Reserve brews, like a recent imperial pilsner, Persephone (8.75% ABV).

  BEST of the REST: IDAHO

  CLOUD 9 BREWING

  1750 W. State St. • Boise, ID 83702 • (208) 336-0681 • cloud9brewery.com

  Opened in 2014 in Boise’s North End by locals Maggie and Jake Lake, Cloud 9 is an ambitious nanobrewery with a little four barrel system, based on eco-minded sourcing (read: certified organic ingredients in the brewhouse and kitchen). With eight on draft and rotating specialties, several beers are gaining fans around Boise and beyond. Try the smooth and cocoa-like 9 Grain Porter (6.9% ABV).

  SLATE CREEK BREWING

  1710 N. 4th St., Ste. 115 • Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 • (208) 664-7727 • slatecreekbrewing.com

  A new local favorite opened in 2014 by outdoorsy brothers Jason and Ryan Wing, Slate Creek is named for one of their favorite fishing and boating spots deep in the forest, a tributary of the St. Joe River in Northern Idaho. On the wall: a huge elk head, from a bull Ryan stalked. Try the Norse Nectar juniper pale ale (5.7% ABV), a cross of Finnish sahti (the Wings are Scandinavian by heritage) and American pale ale brewed with juniper and rye malt.

  SELKIRK ABBEY

  6180 E. Seltice Way • Post Falls, ID 83854 • (208) 292-4901 • selkirkabbey.com

  Even in late 2015, it’s still fairly surprising when an American craft brewery hews exclusively to Belgian brewing modes. It’s even more surprising to find such a brewery in a somewhat remote stretch of northern Idaho. Selkirk Abbey, founded in 2013 between Coeur d’Alene and Spokane in Post Falls (population: 29,000) has a cozy, abbey-themed taproom. Start with a low-ABV saison and work up through the amber, spicy Infidel Belgian IPA to much bigger beers like 12°, a well-made Belgian strong dark (9.8% ABV).

  PAYETTE BREWING CO.

  111 W. 33rd St. • Boise, ID 83714 • (208) 344-0011 • payettebrewing.com

  Named for a historical French trapper, Payette was founded in 2010 by local former Boeing engineer turned Siebel Institute grad Mike Francis in Boise, quickly capturing the attention of the local beer scene with a range of solid brews (and good food trucks for sustenance). Francis and Co. were soon cranking out over 10,000bbls a year on a 15bbl system—a huge output for the size—much of it in the form of Outlaw IPA in cans. Another brewery pulled trademark rank, so it will be renamed, but Francis isn’t slowing down. In mid-2015 the crew broke ground on a new, $4.5 million, 30,000-square-foot facility with production brewery and tasting room to open in 2016.

  BITTERCREEK ALEHOUSE

  246 N. 8th St. • Boise, ID 83702 • (208) 429-6340 • justeatlocal.com/bittercreek

  Opened in 1996, this Boise standby is plushed out with dark woods and leather and stocked with thirty-nine taps from Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado, and California (and a small selection of regional bottled beers). They rotate the tap list daily, throwing a cask on the bar on occasion, and the pub grub ranges from sandwiches and burgers to fish and- chips, Alaskan salmon, Idaho pork chops, and a barbecue plate. Look for the Terminal Gravity Breakfast Porter (5.7% ABV), especially if you’re in the place for your first meal of the day.

  LAUGHING DOG BREWING

  55 Emerald Industrial Park Rd. • Ponderay, ID 83852 • (208) 263-9222 • laughingdogbrewing.com

  A very dog-friendly brewery with very hoppy beers, Laughing Dog is a chilled-out, hometown, family kind of place. Established in 2005, production is north of 4,500bbls, and the tasting room has twelve taps, with a few goodies stashed away. Look for Dogzilla (6.9% ABV), considered one of the earliest India Black Ales (a.k.a. Black IPA), brewed with Simcoe and Cascade hops, pale and Munich malts, and black barley.

  ALASKA

  LIFE IN ALASKA HAS NEVER BEEN EASY, BUT BEER HELPS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON’T have to import it. Stoked by home brewers who could make beer affordable by brewing it at home rather than paying for cost-prohibitive beer shipments, the craft beer scene in Alaska is hitting a rolling boil. While Alaska’s capital, Juneau, has the state’s oldest bar and first craft brewery, Anchorage is pulling its weight in the beer department with a slew of high-quality brewpubs, beer bars, and the annual Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival, held in the icy depths o
f mid-January. But isn’t it cold at that time of year? Yes. It’s bleakly, face-numbingly, eye-frostingly cold, though locals walk around in Windbreakers and wonder aloud how warm it seems. But it gets dark so early. Yes, all the more reason to make hay while the sun shines and then go drink delicious beer. No matter how you approach it, a beer trip to Alaska will be a great adventure.

  Anchorage

  Fact is, the winter weather in Anchorage doesn’t stop locals from gathering, much less going mountain biking (with snow tires!) along the water with views of Mount McKinley (elevation: 20,320 feet) or even across a frozen lake, with the soaring Chugach peaks behind town. Nor does the drop in the mercury stop brewers from showing up with their best stuff—high-strength, cellar-worthy barley wines are popular up here—especially during the festival. A midwinter visit to Anchorage is all about the camaraderie of the state’s growing brewing scene: for the annual Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival, over fifty breweries band together, including twenty-plus operating in Alaska—and about 2,000 locals a night don their finest going-out-on-the-town clothes, making it fun and unexpected—kind of like mountain biking in January.

  ANCHORAGE BREWING CO.

  148 W. 91st St. • Anchorage, AK 99515 (907) 677-2739 • Established: 2011 • anchoragebrewingcompany.com

  SCENE & STORY

  Alaska’s most remarkable modern brewery is the vision of soft-spoken Gabe Fletcher, formerly the head brewer at Anchorage’s Midnight Sun. Fletcher launched his brand in 2011 with the help of another Anchorage brewer, Sleeping Lady Brewing Company, from whom he sourced wort and gravity-flowed it into his own cellar space below the building for fermentation and aging. The results were nothing short of spectacular, and Fletcher recently moved his entire operation into a massive 8,000-square-foot facility near the intersection of 92nd Avenue and King Street (word to the wise: bring your mapping-enabled phone or GPS unit). There he’s amassed a truly amazing collection of French oak barrels and foudres (huge upright oak fermenters), and other casks for aging, during which time beers accrue interesting acidic angles, tannins, and vanillin from the wine-soaked wood. After a period of time, he blends, then bottles the Belgian-style brews according to the méthode champenoise. It’s a simple, immaculately clean operation with a modest-size tasting room, long wood tables, and garage doors. Outside, plans call for fire pits. For all those who can’t make the trip to Anchorage, Fletcher’s beers became only the third brewery on American soil to be distributed by the Shelton Brothers, America’s most adventurous importers of specialty, small batch, and farmhouse ales from around the world.