I fortuitously gave you the best drinking spots in Pittsburgh earlier in the season. It only seems fair that I should come back and give you the best spots in the other Super Bowl-contesting burg, Seattle. Actually, given that I'm an eighth-generation Pennsylvanian and a former resident of Da Burgh, I think it's more than fair, it's downright generous ... but I'll try to leave that out of it. Besides, drinking in Seattle is downright wonderful.

 

At least, that's what I'm told. See, Seattle is the only one of the top 10 beer towns in America I've missed. The closest I've come is pounding a few Alaskan Ambers at the SeaTac Airport on a layover eight years ago – not really the same thing as being there. So, as a pro, I called in a favor to another pro and got you the lowdown, inside skinny on the best beer and bars in Seattle.

 

Meet Don Scheidt, a guy I've known for maybe 10 years, who writes about beer for the Seattle Weekly and the estimable Celebrator Beer News. Don not only lives in Seattle and knows a lot about the thriving beer scene in the Pacific Northwest, he probably knows more about German beer than the Chief Angry Troll and I put together, which is just unnatural. We bring you the best. I'm going to put together Don's advice with what I do know about Seattle: when it's direct from his mouth, I'll quote him.

 

First, a word about where you'll be going. Seattle is a beautiful city, sitting on hills by the Puget Sound. (It really is; I have been there, just not when I was drinking.) The people there are nuts about coffee, beer and fish – my kind of folks. The microbrewery revolution got off to an early start here, with Redhook in the early 1980s, Hale's Ales and a number of others soon to follow. Seattle is also home to beer importer Charles Finkel, whose Merchant du Vin import company brought in some of the first exotic Belgian and English beers. (MDV's beers routinely find themselves on the Cold, Hard Football Facts "beer of the week" list.) Folks in Seattle, like most people in the Pacific Northwest, like very hoppy beers, but tend to be broader in their beer appreciation than those in other western cities.

 

This is a town with a serious rep when it comes to beer, and not just micros, either. Seattle was long home to Rainier, an old regional beer factory that brewed a strong Rainier Ale that was lovingly known as "The Green Death." Rainier clung on stubbornly against the big breweries but finally expired in 1999.

 

For those of you not familiar with the usages in the Northwest, there are "taverns," "ale houses," and "bars." There are actually different meanings. A tavern has a license that allows only fermented drinks: beer, wine, cider and, I suppose, wacky shit like kvass, a fermented mare's milk that's popular in ... no, maybe not kvass. Anyway, an ale house is a tavern that specializes in micros – more a choice for a name, while the term "tavern" is a legal thing. A bar serves fermented and distilled booze with an "all-alcohol" license. Just so you know what you're getting into. Also, all bars and taverns (and restaurants) in Washington are non-smoking.

 

Let's get down to it.

 

The Beveridge Place Pub (6451 California Ave SW) – and with a name like that, you've got to love it, even if they can't spell – was voted Best Pub in Washington in a survey of beer geeks, and as Don says, "deserved it." It's popular with area brewers, so you'll find fresh, new beers on draft to go with the Belgian-heavy bottle list. "No kitchen," Don notes, "but a notebook of menus from nearby places that deliver, including a good little Italian pizza and pasta joint."

 

Here's a tip: if a bar has a name that makes a reference to churches, gnomes or monks, chances are good that there's a Belgian bent to the beer selection. Case in point: the Stumbling Monk (1635 E. Olive Way). Don describes the Monk as "easy to walk right by" with its unassuming exterior – and the interior isn't much more exciting – but as beer guys know, the look ain't important. It's what's in the coolers that count. The Monk has 11 taps, all Belgian or American-brewed Belgian styles.

 

Don pulled three pubs out of his hat next, all owned by the same folks and all with a similar look and feel, draft selections ("heavy on local craft brews, plus a couple of imports"), and menus of "better-than-average pub food." So you can go to the 74th Street Ale House (pictured here) in the northern part of town (7401 Greenwood Ave N), the Hilltop Ale House at he top of Queen Anne Hill (2129 Queen Anne Avenue N, just north of downtown), or the Columbia City Ale House in South Seattle (4914 Rainier Avenue S.); all are recommended.

 

You know I love a German place – because that's the kind of lager-loving, tuba-playing kraut-head I am – and even Seattle, one of the absolute epicenters of the rocking Pacific Northwest hoppy ale scene, recognizes that you gotta have some lager in your life. So hit Seattle's two Teutonic tonsil tonic parlors, Die Bierstube (6106 Roosevelt Way NE) or Prost! for your Deutsche fix (Prost! is conveniently located a short walk from the 74th Street Ale House at 7311 Greenwood Ave. N.; I feel a pub crawl coming on...). Both feature taps like Spaten/Franziskaner, Paulaner, Diebels, Dinkelacker, Ayinger, and "Seattle's own Baron Brewing, a micro that specializes in German-inspired styles." Got that German-beer thirst on? Good, 'cause "both these places will serve liter mugs on request." And that is something you'd better be ready for!

 

Lucky scheduling brings you to the Collins Pub (526 2nd Ave.) just in time for a "Belgian-style American beer festival" that runs for five days, ending on Super Bowl Sunday: could you ask for more? Yes? Well, stop, this is enough! The Collins will have bundles of beers from American brewers known for their Belgian tribute beers: Allagash, New Belgium, local favorite (and national award-winning) Elysian and more. Don says it's "an excellent stop for those looking for a place near downtown Seattle" for the outstanding beer selection and "well-executed upscale-ish pub menu."

 

That's the bars...which sound great, eh? But what Seattle is really known for in beer circles is its brewpubs.

 

A quick run-through: Elysian Brewing (1221 E. Pike St.) and its sister brewpub, Elysian TangleTown (2106 N. 55th St., a part of Seattle, the Wallingford neighborhood, where the street grid pinches and "tangles") are hugely well-known – we've had Elysian beer dinners here in Philadelphia – and for good reason: the beer's phenomenal. Take a tip from me: it's tough to beat The Wise ESB.

 

Another landmark, and going strong at 18 years, is Big Time Brewery & Alehouse (4133 University Way NE, owned by the same folks who own the wholly excellent Triple Rock brewpub in Berkeley, CA). Modest in design, but immodest in beers: Big Time is aptly named, and the beers they brew and serve are, as Don understates, "assertive and interesting." I have been lucky enough to sample some, and they are knockouts.

 

The Jolly Roger Taproom at Maritime Pacific Brewing Co. (1514 NW Leary Way) serves "really good food, well worth seeking out," according to Don. It's particularly impressive because of where that food originates: "Take a peek inside the microscopic kitchen if you can," Don says. "The ratio of food quality to kitchen size here approaches infinity." Maritime Pacific is a kick-ass PacNorthwest classic brewery – plenty of hops here.

 

I've had the pleasure to sample the beers from Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub (4301 Leary Way NW) a number of times, and find them extremely nice. They're one of the oldest micros, over 20 years old, with over ten years in the brewpub business. Look for some beers that defy the PacNorthWest "balls-out bitter" approach to brewing, a contrarian approach I love from Hale's. "Not too far down the road from the Jolly Roger Taproom," Don notes, setting you up for your follow-on shot.

 

I don't know a damned thing about the Elliott Bay Brewing Co. (4720 California Ave. SW), so I'll let Don handle it: "Proof that a good brewpub can thrive in a neighborhood environment. The brewery was recently expanded to allow for more beer volume and variety – always five or six house brews on tap, plus guest beers too, including a guest cask ale. Decent menu of pub food helps fill up the empty spaces." Okay, sounds good. 

 

A classic that I do know about is the Pike Pub and Brewery (1415 First Ave.), owned by the same folks that own Merchant du Vin, so you might find imports like Lindemans Framboise or Ayinger Jahrhundert on tap beside Pike's own ales. The pub is located at just south of, and takes its name from, Seattle's famous Pike Place Market. Two last bits of lagniappe: the Virginia Inn Tavern (1937 1st Ave.) is close by, and Don says it's well worth a stop for the draft selection; and the White Horse Trading Co. (1908 Post Alley) is a tiny little gem of a bar – "get there early," Don cautions, citing the small size.

Thanks again to Don, and I hope to fill this terrible hole in my beer knowledge as soon as possible – maybe once I get the '66 Impala running. Anyone know if I can get a government grant for Bondo research?