Week in Beer … ending March 15th, 2009

A 'Pirate' invades Greenwood

(Seattle, WA) Last Friday (March 13th) saw the opening of a pirate themed pub in the Greenwood neighborhood owned and operated by Baron's Jeff Smiley. Using a more relaxed festival style seating to better utilize the space (previously occupied by a Tully's, evident by the still operating gas fireplace in the center of the room) you can sense that this place is welcome to both adults and children alike. Entering you immediately feel drawn in by the dark textures of stained wood paneling, complimented with reds and indigos throughout. On the western wall a mural is featured prominently like the nude women of old.

     It is worth mentioning that no advertising was purchased by the brewery, and yet those in the industry as well as a radio station did their fair share of getting the word out, kudos

Pillager's Pub is managed by former Duck's Bar overseer Jeremiah Harrison, who no doubt as he did there will be bring in some great guest beers to offer on top of the current award-winning lineup from Baron and Three Skulls. The menu reads like a traditional pub and no doubt much like their neighbor down the street Naked City, they will be making changes to the list as they better grasp what their customers are looking for. I had a chance to sample the chicken wings featured in their Appetizer section.

     Sampling from Appetizer menu I started with the Buffalo (wings) from which I detected a homemade recipe as the amount of vinegar was not as evident. After those (Buffalo) I tried the Jerk style and found much like the previous sampling a nice home made quality that didn't offend and left you wanting more.

     In keeping with being a Baron / Three Skulls owned pub the draft menu features such favorites as their Rauch, Uberweiss, Liberator, as well as the recent Cutthroat Red, Black Bonney Porter, and Pillager's Pale.  The current line up of guest beers includes locals from nearby Big Horn (aka Ram) Brewing and I predict as this location grows, you will start to see more local brands rotated throughout the year. During my trip they had the Saison from Ram as well as a beer which regrettably I did not record its origin.

     As I was leaving I reviewed the current number of customers and noticed a nice diversity of families with both adult and children alike and I feel that this place will do well in the currently growing neighborhood of Greenwood, yo ho.

There's Gold in thar kegs

(Seattle, WA) On Thursday I paid a visit after many weeks of avoidance to Beveridge Place Pub and with it had a chance to kill two birds with one beer. Meeting up with Gary (Sink) we spoke about the ongoing University of Washington conference tournament (note, Gary went to UW) as well as how he fared during his Bacchanal. All in all a good conversation that was followed up with a sit down with one of the bartenders (Rob Farris). During my time there I had a chance to sample both the cask-conditioned Black Gold Imperial Stout (fed through the CO2 draft line) as well as the Full Sail IPA fed through the 'Randall the Enamel'.

     Both beers were very tasty and in between the conversation, with Rob at the table, the bar with Full Sail brewer John Harris, and eating a hot dog from outside, I managed to win a free hat. A good visit and I look forward to potentially avoiding the usual hang outs for St. Patrick's Day by swinging by BPP later this week for some free Pizza and some Irish Stouts or maybe one of the many dinners happening around Seattle.

Elliot Bay is honored by the Chamber

(Seattle, WA) Earlier it was posted on both the West Seattle Blog and EB's own blog of the pending award from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce in recognition of their contribution to the community. The award ceremony is scheduled for April 8th, 2009 at Salty's (Alki) and tickets are currently being sold for this event. [previous story]

Dog and Pony host Chuckanut
(Renton, WA) A quick mention to 'The' Kemper's continued expansion of awareness for Chuckanut beers with last week's Renton visit at the Dog & Pony Alehouse. Although I already have had a chance to sample their beers at both Naked City and Beveridge Place Pub (see, Brewer's Night) I wish them well in their continued expansion into the palettes of those in Washington. Hopefully in the coming weeks I will have more stories from both myself and others on what is to consume a Chuckanut beer. Cheers

Snoqualmie’s Haystack is best in ID

This was found in my inbox in the monthly newsletter from Snoqualmie Falls Brewing, congratulations guys (and Janelle).

“We are delighted to report that our Haystack Hefeweizen brought home the Gold Medal in the "Wheat" Category at the 13th Annual Wine, Stein and Dine held on March 7th in Post Falls, ID. Haystack beat out some very formidable competition including Hefe powerhouses Pyramid and Widmer.

Wine, Stein and Dine is a fundraiser for the Post Falls Education Foundation.” –source, Snoqualmie Falls Newsletter

Ongoing Changes to NWBG (aka Pickled Liver)

(online) In keeping with listening to those who have an opinion with this space I am taking a look at changing some of the information posted on the left and right of my posts. Some of the ideas I am playing with is including an embedded calendar as well as maybe a ticker of sorts with posts from various WA/OR/ID related websites. Please feel free to indicate if something is missing or if you feel the layout might do well completely overhauled.
     So far I have decided in regards to my weekly posts, rather than post a list of what festivals had occurred to point you back to that weeks (upcoming) post. I understand that depending on what medium you use to review this you might feel that the length a bit much. Hopefully this will help you farm the information you need and move on with the rest of your day.

Cheers

Corrections:

Washington … Newsflash (see boil over). Previously for whatever reason I failed to include Elliot Bay in the list of those bringing a cask version of this to the event, for that I am sorry. If anyone knows if a brewery representative will be there, please feel free to notify me.

References

Seattle, WA

Pillager’s Pub
8551 Greenwood Ave Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 706-2779