the finest kiss

After having such a great time at this past summer’s Phinney Beer Taste, I decided to check out the fall/winter version of the same event. I have to say how impressed I am with the way the Phinney Neighborhood Association puts this event together. They only sell a finite amount of tickets, have some really great sponsors (74th Street Ale House for this one), put together a great selection of beers and breweries, and hold the event at the historic 1904 John B. Allen Elementary School (Live music and food was also provided).

Quite a few more people showed up for this one compared to the summer tasting, but to compensate there were about 8 more breweries. A lot of the breweries were sporting their winter brews. Winter brews are usually Strong Ales with a bunch of nuts, berries, spices, and you name it thrown in to celebrate the season. To me, many of the winter brews taste like I’m the liquid version of a fruitcake. That said, I did try my fair share of winter ales last night and I actually like a couple of them.

Hands down, the best beer of the night went to Diamond Knot’s Industrial Ho Ho Ale. They were serving it on cask, so they had a leg up on everyone already. But this beer didn’t over do it with any one thing, it was just a solid strong ale with good hops and a bit of malt to smooth it out. I went back for seconds for this one, because finding any Diamond Knot on tap around town can be a difficult endeavor.

First Runner Up was the Anacortes ESB. This was a very nice beer that went down very easy, had a good complex taste and not too much alcohol.

Second Runner up for me was Fish’s Winterfish Seasonal Ale. If I had to compare it, I think Sierra Nevada’s Celebration ale would be a good reference. Good, but not outstanding.

Best costumes for the night went to Baron for their Leiderhosen, their doppelbock was well liked too.

Award for beer that tastes like a port wine went to Harmon’s Strong Seasonal Ale. A little of this went a long way. In fact I challenge anyone to actually sit down a drink a full pint of this stuff. It had strong (and I do mean strong!) undertones of cherries and currants. Good stuff, but I’d call it a desert beer.

One disappointment was Lazy Boy’s Mistletoe Bliss. I was really impressed with their IPA earlier this summer, but their winter brew just didn’t have that much of a bang, in fact it was down right dull. Maybe it was a bad batch, I’ll give ‘em the benefit of the doubt on this one.

A good time seemed to be had by all. Especially since we could walk home from the conveniently located Phinney Center!

Parting Shot: Why can’t any of the live music venues in town serve some decent beer? Seriously, I think only the Tractor in Ballard has a decent selection on tap. Is it really that hard to have a good local IPA, ESP, Porter, etc. from say a Boundary Bay, Diamond Knot, Bottleworks, or Harmon on tap? I for one am tired of having to choose from either the Euro green bottles or the generic pale ale that most places serve. Do they not make a big enough profit from good beer, or do is it not available from their distributor, or do they just have boring taste in beer? It certainly isn’t because Seattle doesn’t have any good beers!

This past Saturday was the Phinney Neighborhood Association beer tasting. I must say it was quite civilized compared to some beer tastings I’ve been to. I remember the first beer tasting I ever went to, I went expecting it to be something like a wine tasting. You know, you go around the room, talk to the vintner/brewer and try their stuff. It ended up being llike a some bad version of a college frat party, where you’re pushing and shoving to get a beer, only to finally get up to the tap and find out that they just kicked the keg. I’m happy to say, the Phinney event is nothing like that
It was one of the hotest days of the year and the upstairs of the Phinney Neighborhood center was a little toasty, but the many IPA’s, Summer Ales, Pilsners and Hefeweizens made it very bearable. The Barking Dog provided an excellent Lobster Bisque and there was a band that consisted of a couple fiddles, a big stand up base and squeeze box. The building is an old restored elementary school overlooking Greenlake, so I felt like I was stepping back in time to a high school dance, only there was tons of beer readily available!

There were 16 breweries represented with my favorites being the Diamond Knot Industrial IPA on cask. Even though it was hot, this one was very refreshing. I was also excited to try the Walking Man Homo-Erectus Imperial IPA. This brewery is way down along the Columbia River, so it’s not every day I get to drink their imperial IPA. I should also mention Lazy Boy’s Hefeweizen and IPA, both were very nice from this new brewery.

Those are the one’s that really stood out. I actually only tasted one that I really did not like, mostly because I’m not a big fan of fruit in my beer. Walking back from the event my neighbor Al and I stopped at Snow Goose for one last beer. After all of those micro brews, we ordered a Pabst Blue Ribbon….refreshing!

The Pacific NW is known for its beer. There definitely are a lot of breweries up here, but quantity does not always mean quality. I’m not dissing NW beer, there is a lot of good stuff produced in the NW, but it’s harder finding the really good stuff because there is so much you have wade through to find it. Yeah, I know, there are a lot worse things you might have to do in your life. Being a beer snob though, there’s nothing worse than having to drink a sub-par IPA. So without any more verbiage, I’ll do the run down of what I’ve found up here that rates in my book.

Boundary Bay

Their IPA is excellent, and their Imperial IPA is even better. Lots of hops and a good amount of residual sugar on these. You can find the IPA in the 32oz bottles, but you either have to travel to the brewery or hope one of decent bars has the Imperial IPA on tap to taste it.

Snoqualmie Falls

Steam Train Porter is one of the few porters that I will drink on a regular basis. It’s not flat and dull like so many porters. It’s got a bit of a bite to it, strong undertones of chocolate and refreshing crisp aftertaste. The Wildcat IPA is well worth a drink too.

Elysian Brewing Co.

I love going to either the Capital Hill or Tangletown pubs to grab whatever they’re serving on Cask. Usually it’s an IPA! There is nothing better than an IPA served on cask. That’s one thing about Seattle pubs, the good ones always have one or two selections on cask.

Silver City

Only recently tried their stuff, which I found at Bottleworks. They have a couple of IPA’s, one being their Whoop Pass Double which is quite tasty and high in alcohol (9%).