About Those Beers

How do I not talk about beers in WA? It's everywhere and they're so good! Watching my beer belly like a hawk. In case it pops out. Too much fantastic beer. Winter ales out in force!!! Even the pilsners and pale ales are done darker with more hops. Pretty cool.

We are glad for friends who made time to come out for drinks with us. Don't need them to 'take us out' in the sense of ferrying us here and there. We kinda know where everything is. Kekekeke. All we need is an address and we turn up. Unless it's like 90 minutes out of Seattle, then we catch a ride with the friends. Drinks are our appetizers and desserts combined. Haven't really seen the friends quaffing desserts after a huge meal.

That beautiful deep amber of
Elysian's 'Elk Frost' 

I love Elysian for its all-round offerings and stouts. For a slightly lighter all-day version, so far, I'm really fond of its ale of the season- the 'Elk Frost'. Doesn't hurt that its food is good. A proper gastro-pub. The manila clams done with white wine are tasty. Perhaps the bacon helps.

We've also been hanging out at loads of beer halls- Ballard Beer Company, Fremont Brewing, etc. Vibes are casual and cool. Just another regular night out. The best part- you could BYOF (bring your own food). Most people bring along whatever tickles their fancy.

This pizza thing is very popular. Convenient, I suppose. I'm just not a fan of pizzas at all, regardless of which version it comes in. ARRRGH. Pies and quiches, yes. But they need to be like... English- a steak and Guinness pie proper or a Quiche Lorraine. Luckily, there'll be restaurants around the corner I can grab take-outs from, or they do delivery within the hour. Perfect. There're fewer gigs now as we get closer to Christmas, so many evenings are spent at noisy beer halls. Heeeheeehee. We don't stay out late. We usually get back by latest 10pm. Bedtime has to be before midnight because we wake up early.

Optimism Brewing Co properly opened on the corner of Broadway and Union on December 5th. After swinging by Skillet Diner to satisfy the man's craving for biscuits and gravy, we wandered info more carbs and calories. It was another cold grey day. OMG. The huge space is awesome. 16,000 square foot. Woah. These Seattle rains are great for beer afternoons.

Such a huge space and they don't offer food, but took the clever option of having rotating food trucks parked out at the back. Check their Facebook page for listings. We had Nosh The Truck that night for really satisfying English fish and chips using Pacific cod fillet, and a ridiculously sinful roasted bone marrow. My gawwwd. A heart attack in a box.

Tried all seven of their beers. My vote goes to 'Yellow', 'One', 'Unicorn' and '...Before the Dawn'. I really like 'Yellow' for its refreshing citrus notes. Such an easy drink that went so well with fish and chips. '...Before the Dawn' is brewed in the style of imperial stouts, but come across lighter, making it really easy to have a second pint of it. My dessert.