Sauced

Urban Family Readies a Ballard Beer Garden

Twenty-five taps, plus outdoor real estate in one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods? It all happens this weekend.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on May 04, 2012 at 09:30AM 1 Comments

Starting this weekend, Urban Family’s beermosas are best enjoyed in the backyard beer garden. Photo via Facebook.

Remember that one weekend of glorious sunshine? The one that got your sandals out and your hopes up? Urban Family remembers. And the Ballard temple to Belgian beers is preparing for the elusive return of outdoor drinking weather by transforming its rear patio area into a beer garden. The wood-walled outdoor space’s proximity to both stupendous beers and the Ballard Farmers Market means seats will go fast on sunny Sundays.

Urban Family owner Tim Czarnetzki says the finished patio will be ready this weekend, weather permitting. It will be open whenever the bar is—again, weather permitting. For now it seats about 22 people at 12- and 8-foot picnic tables, but a forthcoming bar top will add eight more seats by next weekend. The pub also has a new sandwich menu, as of last night.

Urban Family has also begun a Friday night raffle, with each weekly winner receiving a bottle of incredibly rare beer; last week’s winner took home a Westvleteren 12, a trappist beer made by actual monks that’s all but unattainable in the U.S. (we won’t ask). Being eligible for this windfall is simply a matter of coming in between 4 and 5:30 on a Friday night—you get a raffle ticket with each beer purchased in this time frame. The winner is drawn at 6pm, and this week’s giveaway is a gueuze from Belgian brewery Cantillon.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Beer, Outdoor Drinking, Urban Family Public House

Upcoming Drinking Events: PBR Art Mobile, Oktoberfest on Whidbey Island

Also: October 8 is the date to celebrate a new cocktail book from prolific local A. J. Rathbun.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 26, 2011 at 02:24PM 0 Comments

The town of Langley celebrates Oktoberfest on the first.

Photo: Gonorthwest.com

To begin, a save the date. Local cocktail writer A. J. Rathbun has a new coming book out called Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz: A Cocktail Lover’s Guide to Mixing Drinks Using New and Classic Liqueurs, the release date is October 4. On Saturday, October 8 from 2 to 4pm, Rob Roy will host a celebratory event featuring cocktails from the book. Rob Roy’s Andrew Bohrer will mix drinks.

On to the week at hand:

Wednesday is the Craft Beer and Wine wingding over at the Yacht Club on Fairview Avenue, but that event appears to have sold out. Instead, you could go to Full Throttle Bottles to taste Yoho Beers from Japan. Yeah, not quite the same. Sorry about that. But still, Yoho!

The Pabst Blue Ribbon Art Mobile, a promotion on wheels that aims to take advantage of the beer brand’s self-consciously lowbrow hipster customer base, rolls into town this Thursday, September 29. There’s more information on this website.

Saturday, October 1 head to Whidbey Island for Langley’s Otoberfest, featuring beer, brats, games, and pretty views of water. Oh and hey, here are some more out-of-town Oktoberfests from the Tripster blog.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Drinking Events, Outdoor Drinking, Oktoberfest

Upcoming Drinking Events: Outdoor movies with Booze, New Belgium in Georgetown, Wines Under $10

Plus: An outdoor concert and a biochemistry lesson in a pub.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 25, 2011 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

This is your wake up call: King’s Hardware screens the great Point Break.

Photo: IMDB

“That’s Bodhi. They call him the Bodhisattva.”

“You’re sayin’ the FBI’s gonna pay me to learn to surf?”

“Found one of your passports to Sumatra, I missed you by about a week in Fiji. But, I knew you wouldn’t miss the fifty year storm, Bodhi.”

Kathryn Bigelow’s eternally quotable Point Break will be screened tonight, Monday, July 25, on the deck at King’s Hardware. Free popcorn, cheap wings, and drink specials are part of the package. Get there around nine.

Also tonight, nerd alert: Science on Tap (drink beer, talk about science) has invited UW biochemist Dana L. Miller to discuss genes and the environment. That starts at 7pm at the Pub at Third Place in Ravenna.

Wednesday, Full Throttle Bottles is tasting through New Belgium Brewing’s delectable brewskies. The tasting costs $3 ($2 if you bring your own reusable container). That’s from 5 to 7pm.

Outdoor film fans who always enjoy a beer should head to the South Lake Union Discovery Center this Friday, July 29 to watch Kick-Ass. The Brave Horse Tavern will set up a beer garden with brews and food. See the event website for details.

From 1 to 4pm on Saturday, July 30, the Whiskey Gaels Celtic Band will perform on the lawn at Soft Tail Spirits’ new tasting room in Woodinville. Wines from Challenger Ridge and Patit Creek will be on offer, as will Soft Tail products. Bring your own lawn chair, picnic blanket, etc.

Also on Saturday: Esquin is doing a tasting of suggested wines under $10; it lasts from 2 to 5pm. If you can’t make it, check out Sauced’s own list of under $10 recs from Esquin’s Jameson Fink.

Bonus: Here’s a full list of outdoor movies in Seattle this summer. Fair warning: they don’t all serve beer.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Beer, Drinking Events, Ballard, Outdoor Drinking, Drinking Culture, Outdoor Movies

Upcoming Drinking Events: More Bastille Day, Murray Stenson Back Behind the Bar

Plus: Kirkland Uncorked, beers in Phinney Ridge, and a very cool herbal infusion class.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 11, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Roadhouse and chicken wings come together tonight at King’s Hardware.

Happy Monday, Seattle drinkers. We’re in the ides of July and you know what that means—lots of drinking events for celebrating summertime.

Here’s what is on tap and tasty this week.

Monday, July 11 it’s movie night at King’s Hardware in Ballard. Drink specials, free popcorn, and 28 cent wings are among the attractions. Tonight’s movie is Roadhouse, the magic begins around 9pm.

Attention aspiring craft cocktailers and soda jerks: On Wednesday the 13th, Herban Wellness is offering a very cool class in herbal syrups, honeys, and infusions. The lesson includes how-tos on making your own ginger ale and root beer bases along with syrups and infusions to mix into mixed drinks. That’s $20, register on the website.

Thursday, July 14 is of course Bastille Day. Last week I rounded up promising parties but, as Allecia Vermillion over at Eater Seattle points out, I forgot the ever-important Corson Building fete. There will be live music and games and, most importantly, food—food not only from the Corson Building but also Nettletown and Walrus and the Carpenter.

Also wanted to follow up on that petanque (bocce ball) tournament at Bastille. The tourney is sponsored by Rhum JM and Rhum Clement and will happen on a swatch of lawn across the street from the restaurant. Registration is $10 per team and includes a t-shirt. Sign up starting at noon; games begin at 1pm.

Friday, July 15 through Sunday the 17th is Kirkland Uncorked: an outdoor wine tasting event along the lake’s edge in Kirkland. Very pretty. The website has the details.

The Phinney Neighborhood Association’s Summer Beer Taste (or Beervana) happens on Saturday, July 16. Non-member admission is $30 and for that you get 10 local beer samples plus snacks. The PNA website has details and a list of participating breweries.

Looking forward to next week:

On Monday, July 18 the Bookstore Bar is hosting a Canadian whiskey tasting. It’s $30 and includes snacks plus a chance to try Rich and Rare Reserve, Royal Canadian Small Batch, Forty Creek, and Caribou Crossing. Reserve by emailing bookstorebarevents@alexishotel.com, or calling the bar.

Also, don’t forget that Monday, July 18 is the benefit auction for Kristal Lana at Bluwater Bistro. One night only: bartender of bartenders Murray Stenson will take a hiatus from his hiatus to support his friend. Don’t worry about Stenson’s hurt shoulder—the occasional stint behind the stick isn’t a problem, he told me. “Besides,” said Murray, “[Toulouse Petit bar manager] Joe Jeannot will be there to do all the hard work. I’m just the pretty face.”

Add a Comment »

Tags: Kirkland, Wine, Beer, Drinking Events, Ballard, Murray Stenson, Outdoor Drinking, Bastille Day

Outdoor Seating at The Five Point Café!

Dive-barring en plein aire at a favorite Seattle pitcher place.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jun 13, 2011 at 04:30PM 0 Comments

Five Points, now with outdoor seating.

Photo Courtesy: Five Points Cafe

Ah, this is something.

The Five Point Café now has two little corrals of tables out front, so that you can drink beer and eat greasy-delicious junk food in the sunshine and/or while being lightly drizzled with a relentless misty rain.

The image just arrived in an email from owner David Meinert, who adds: “Our full food and drink menu will be served from 9am to 10pm daily, along with a view of the historic Chief Seattle statue, the monorail, Space Needle and some of Seattle’s more interesting people.”

Outdoor seating was gained via a permit that, at the end of 2010, was appealed by Five Point neighbor Tilikum Place Cafe and some nearby condo dwellers. The move to end service at 10 was part of the compromise with the neighbors, according to an earlier email from Meinert.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Dive Bars, Outdoor Dining, Outdoor Eating, Outdoor Drinking

Outdoor Drinking Guide: Ziggy Zoggy Summer Lager

A brand-new summer brew from Silver City hits stores this week.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 25, 2011 at 01:25PM 0 Comments

Coming soon

It feels weird to be talking about outdoor drinking, seeing as a cruel inky rain is currently soaking the windows of my office. But we must persevere, musn’t we?

Also, I want to tell you about the new lager from Silver City Brewery in Silverdale. The brewery sent me a sample of it the other week, I had only just heard about it from Rich Coffey—chef at Madison Park Cafe and contributor to Seattlest. (He offered up some of his summer beer picks for an article, more on that later.)

Good suggestion, Coffey! Ziggy Zoggy is such an easy-drinking, tasty beer for summer. Brewed in the Bavarian tradition of kellerbier or zwickelbier, it’s unfiltered and has great malt flavor but enough bitter hop character to satisfy a Northwest palate.

I called Kurt Larson of Silver City to find out when we can get our hands on some more, turns out it’s being bottled tomorrow and should start trickling into the market later this week with full distribution by mid-May. Ballard Market will carry it, as will all Whole Foods stores.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Beer, Outdoor Drinking, Seasonal Beers

Outdoor Drinking Guide: More Mead!

The sun’s out, let’s get into some honey wine.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 08, 2011 at 12:00AM 0 Comments

Here I went for a Corona, but what the situation really called for was mead.

Just saw this on Fresh-Picked Seattle (an excellently maintained resource for local food and drink events, by the way): 99 Bottles, a store in Federal Way, is having a mead tasting with the meadmaker from Adytum Cellars in Woodinville. So if you happen to be out that way Saturday, April 9 between 4 and 6pm, you should stop in and see how you like it.

Because I was thinking, we don’t talk about—or drink—mead nearly enough. At least those of us who don’t dress up like Friar Tuck on weekends and dance around May poles with like-minded folk. Ren fair people are probably drinking plenty of mead, come to think of it.

Maybe this lack of mead consumption among the rest of us stems from the fact that honey wine doesn’t sound like it would taste all that good. Thing is, some honey wine really does. Last year I traveled to Sultan where I got very lost but eventually found Sky River meadery. There I had a chance to taste the three types of mead that the meadmaker—her name is Denice Ingalls—makes. They struck me as the most perfect picnic wines—easy-drinking, food-friendly, subtle. Not at all cloying. You can buy Sky River mead at Madison Market.

Happy weekend.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Outdoor Drinking, Mead

Mapped: Bars for Outdoor Drinking

Sun’s out. So should you be.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 06, 2010 at 02:36PM 0 Comments

Sip sidewalk-side while you can at Balmar in Ballard.

Optimistic people are walking around saying stuff about how today—“no, but really, truly this time”—summer has started.

Personally, I’m taking it one day at a time.

Today, for instance, it’s sunny outside. So it’s okay to think about outdoor drinking. You know, like people do during summer. Here’s a map of 25 bars that have been tantalizing us for months now with their patios and their umbrella-topped tables ready to shade us from the sunlight, should some sunlight decide to stop by.

Well, it finally has. The list of bars is by no means exhaustive, but there are some good ones on here that may not be among your usual suspects.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Alfresco Dining, Maps, Outdoor Drinking