Beer Fridge on the Road - Seattle Part Duex

After getting some great food and beers at Emmett Watson's, we headed down Pike Street Market and eventually landed at Pike Brewing Company. I love going to this place - the atmosphere is unique (so much crap on the walls, it's not funny) and the beer & food are excellent. If you happen to be there for grub, try the Pike's Ale Braised Bratwurst with Sauerkraut. It's made with the beer that I tried there, the Pike Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale.

The Kilt Lifter is not a robust of a Scotch ale as its Southwestern brother - the Four Peaks Kilt Lifter. That said, this is a really good Scotch ale. There was a lightly sour, smoky taste to it, with a lot of bold malt. The color is perfection - a nice ruby/caramel color, which is very fitting for a Scotch ale. Like I said, not as "rough" as the Four Peaks, but the different flavor was really appreciated and the ABV is a bit higher than Four Peaks (6.6% ABV vs. 6.0% ABV), so it can creep up on ya.

And as a parting note, these were the delicious oysters we got at Emmett Watson's...so good.

Beer Fridge on the Road - Seattle Part Uno

Gah, I love Seattle. I don't get to go there as often as I like, but when I do, I just have a blast. This trip, we had a great lunch over at Emmett Watson's Oyster Bar. And having gotten stuck in traffic on the way to Pike Street Market, this sign hit me just right. I think "traffic" in ABQ ends up costing you about 10 minutes...not an hour. Anyway, all that freeway traffic made me hungry and thirsty.

The first offering of the day was the Maritime Pacific Nightwatch Dark Amber Ale. This brew was a really dark, tasty beer. Even with the sharp malt taste, the beer doesn't have a strong scent (if any smell at all!). The Nightwatch is really smooth and crisp, with no after-taste at all. It's at 5.5% ABV, so a good sturdy beer. And boy, did it taste good with the oysters we had.

The Hales Mongoose IPA was...different. I expect an IPA to have certain characteristics - hops, bitterness, dark golden color. The Mongoose IPA didn't really have any of these features. The hops were really understated...too subdued for my taste. The bitter taste wasn't there either and the color was almost a dark amber, not an IPA. This wasn't a bad beer...just really disappointing as an IPA.

Later this week, we'll check out another brewery in Seattle, then we'll head north to Alaska and Canada...eh?