Sauced

Two Beers Brewing Will Begin Pouring at CenturyLink

And if that’s not enough for you, the SoDo brewery has launched a mug club as well.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Mar 02, 2012 at 09:25AM 0 Comments

You can get Two Beers in cans these days, but the SoDo brewery will be on tap at CenturyLink Field starting March 17. Photo via Facebook.

The delightful brews from Two Beers are everywhere these days. Bars, grocery stores, cans, the state of Oregon —you name it. Now the SoDo brewery is also pouring its wares at Qwest, er, CenturyLink Field.

Three of Two Beers’ most popular offerings, SoDo Brown, Evolutionary IPA, and Immersion Amber, will be on draft at several locations throughout the stadium during Seahawks and Sounders games (though apparently Sounders fans have their own dedicated beer these days).

The beers make their official debut March 17 at the Sounders season opener. And as a reluctant viewer of athletic endeavors, I can testify that nothing makes the cold-ass spring stadium weather more tolerable like beer. Good beer. Lots of good beer.

Should you need a SoDo destination for pre-game consumption, Two Beers has also launched a mug club at its taproom. A one-year membership is $75, and only 50 are available, so they will likely disappear in the near future. Membership gets you a personalized mug (21 ounces), special discounts and tastings, the envy of your friends, and a T-shirt. Annual membership begins March 1 and runs through February 28 of the next year, so each day you delay joining means less beer for you.

The official announcement promises the club is “a whole lot of hoot and quite a bit of nanny,” lofty words indeed.

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Tags: Beer, Seattle Beer, Seattle Beer News, Two Beers Brewing, Stadium Fare

Urban Family Public House Opens

This weekend raise a glass at Ballard’s newest beer bar.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 13, 2012 at 02:59PM 1 Comments

Urban Family Public House opens at 5329 Ballard Ave NW. Photo: Allecia Vermillion

Happy Friday, here’s a new bar for your weekend carousing.

Timothy Czarnetzki says Urban Family Public House will unleash its arsenal of craft beer tonight. The brewhouse at 5329 Ballard Ave NW is equipped with 25 Belgian and American taps. (Curious which ones? They’re listed on the Urban Family website.)

Eventually Czarnetzki and co-owners/pals David Powell and Sean Bowman will start producing their own ales under the Urban Family Brewing label. Will they be in rotation at the Ballard bar? You bet.

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Tags: Ballard, Seattle Beer, Seattle Beer News, New Ballard Bars, Urban Family Public House

The Weekend in Beer Bar News

The Publican’s opening is semi-imminent, Uber Tavern will close..temporarily.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Dec 27, 2011 at 01:30PM 0 Comments

This most comprehensive Green Lake beer emporium is classing up the joint. Photo: Uber Tavern via Facebook.

A long and hopefully booze-laden holiday weekend has given way to some notable tavern updates. First, new Brouwer’s Cafe sibling the Publican planned to open today, December 27. The establishment then toyed with our collective hearts/livers by announcing to Washington Beer Blog this morning that the opening has been postponed (we kid about the toying; the process of opening a bar is obviously fraught with uncertainty, issues and generally aggravating delays). But once the Publican does open its doors in the former Bandolero space in Tangletown, beer lovers will no doubt flock here for the 21 taps. Lest you doubt this place’s beer bona fides, early reports from the soft opening say that Publican serves zero bottled beers. Your only non-draft option is cans, which are enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days thanks to their ability to fend off light and oxygen better than a bottle.

Meanwhile, Green Lake’s Uber Tavern announced to the beer blog world it will close January 22 for a remodel and will reopen February 10. The five-year-old tavern (and dispenser of kegs) has established itself as a reliable destination for a beer selection that’s both jaw-droppingly vast and very well curated. Owner Rick Carpenter says the remodel means a major upgrade of the layout, the actual bar, and all the seating and tables, including inlaid board games on the bar and some table tops. This is cool: A slick 12-foot-long digital menu board will keep patrons updated as to what’s on tap. However the establishment’s bottle cooler, tableside fire pit and the rafters plastered with beer labels will stay.

The bar will reopen with a shiny new keg affixed to each of its 17 taps. There is, however, the small matter of killing the existing kegs before the doors close. Hence January 21 will be dedicated to highly discounted, extremely legit beers. That day will also be the final shift for Uber’s beloved bartender, Niko McNeil. One especially noteworthy keg will be making its way here in his honor from Portland’s Cascade Brewery. And yes, it will be served up at the same discounted prices.

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Tags: Beer, Seattle Bar News, Seattle Beer News, The Publican, Uber Tavern

Reuben’s Brews Plans Taproom, Microbrewery for Ballard

Yet another local brewer north of Ship Canal, this one family friendly.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Dec 07, 2011 at 08:40AM 2 Comments

Adam Robbings of Reuben’s Brews, destined for NW 53rd Street. Photo courtesy reubensbrews.com.

Ballard is becoming ground zero for craft beermen. The latest to enter the fray is husband-wife team Adam and Grace Robbings. They just signed a lease at 1406 NW 53rd Street, and in June 2012 plan to open Reuben’s Brews.

The microbrewery and taproom will showcase Adam’s impressive repertoire of decorated ales. Drinkers will find six seasonal potables, which will rotate monthly from an arsenal of forty, and possibly one guest tap “to complement what we have,” according to the Brit. You will also be able to fill growlers, to enjoy there or elsewhere.

In his years of home brewing Adam’s handiwork has included pumpkin suds with molasses and bourbon, a porter and a kolsch, an old-style ale, and a German rye, to name a few. “Most of my beers tend to have rye,” Adam explains before rattling off several more examples, among them the Roasted Rye PA that took the People’s Choice award in the 2010 PNA Winter Beer Taste. (Reuben’s was one of two home brewers allowed to enter.)

Though the Robbins plan to bottle their brews next fall, Adam is dubious of further expansion plans. “I want to stay close to the customer,” something he feels kegging and distribution would only complicate.

As parents of a two-year-old (the operation is named for their son, who as a babe “gave” Adam the home-brewing kit that kick-started his trade) the Robbings say Reuben’s will welcome fellow families. Adam may even conjure up an ale (ginger, of course) just for kids.

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Tags: Craft Brewing, Ballard, Microbrew, Seattle Beer, Seattle Beer News, New Ballard Bars

Urban Family Public House: Ballard Ave’s New Brewpub

The craft beer bar will open in early December.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 22, 2011 at 11:04AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy urbanfamilybrewing.com.

The latest chapter in the Ballard beer boom: Urban Family Brewing.

Behind the operation are three pals—David Powell, Timothy Czarnetzki, and Sean Bowman—who lived together in Washington D.C. where they bonded over home-brewed beer on a “rental house’s ratty sofa.” Eventually their love of suds (and each other—note the brotherly moniker) had them hatching a plan to move cross country and start their own business.

“D.C. is a different culture,” says Czarnetzki, tagging the capitol a microbrew graveyard. “Seattle is a great city for beer.” And Ballard, with its rabid ale enthusiasts and proliferation of brewers, proved a perfect fit for their nascent enterprise. “We really feel at home here.”

In a matter of weeks the trio plans to open Urban Family Public House, a Belgian-American craft beer bar outfitted with 25 taps, at 5329 Ballard Ave NW. A couple months in, says Czarnetzki, the plan is to lend their name to two or three ales, which will be on rotation as well. Eventually they hope to expand production at a second facility, but that’s not likely to happen for a year or two.

The threesome are taking over the former Sutter Home and Hearth space, which Czarnetzki says fortuitously “just fell into our laps.” “There’s so much history,” Czarnetzki coos as he alludes to the century-old brick. The address will accommodate just under 50 but that number will grow once a back patio opens.

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Tags: Ballard, Bar Openings, New Seattle Breweries, Seattle Beer News, New Ballard Bars

Nanobrewery NW Peaks Pouring In Area Bars

It’s getting (somewhat) easier to sample this brewery sans growler.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 07, 2011 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy of NW Peaks Brewery via Facebook.

Part of the fun of drinking the fine beers from NW Peaks Brewery is making your way to the garage-turned-nanobrewery in Ballard where brewer Kevin Klein plies his trade. However the brewery, which marks its first full year next weekend, has upped its production and is creeping into some bars around the city.

Various NW Peaks beers have made appearances recently at Naked City Brewery and Taphouse, Brouwer’s, Chuck’s 85th St. Market, The Noble Fir, The Yard, and Kiss Cafe. Your best bet is Flying Squirrel Pizza Co., which has a permanent tap for NW Peaks at its Seward Park and Maple Leaf locations.

However, finding Klein’s creative-yet-sessionable beers at your local watering hole is an imprecise science. After 12 months of selling largely to members of his growler subscription program, Klein says he puts any surplus in kegs to sell to local bars. He plans to produce a few beers “semiregularly” to supply bars clamoring for his wares. Brews on the semiregular list include the Redoubt Red, English-style Vesper Bitter, and in warmer months the Ingalls Ginger pale ale.

Meanwhile, look for an upcoming anniversary celebration at Naked City, and an anniversary ale due out in December.

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Tags: Beer, Seattle Beer, Seattle Beer News, NW Peaks

Hilliard’s Beer Delays Opening Date

The all-cans-all-the-time Ballard brewery won’t open on the 17th as previously planned.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 05, 2011 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

Hilliard’s Taproom, as of September 1.

Photo: Hilliard’s Beer

It seems that opening-day bumps are not the exclusive purview of restaurants and bars.

Hilliard’s Beer co-owner Adam Merkl wrote Sunday with the news that the opening of the new Ballard Brewery and taproom has been delayed “by at least another week,” and that the party planned for Saturday, September 17 is not to be.

The reason? Merkl and brewer Ryan Hilliard fear they can’t package the beers in time for the 17th. “We felt like having the cans ready to go is important enough for the opening that we don’t want to cut it too close with [the cans] arriving and us having adequate training with our canning line,” says Merkl.

When it opens, Hilliard’s is planning to offer its amber and saison-style beers in tallboy cans, and will do kegs of seasonal and specialty beers. Merkl says some of those keg-only brews are still being tweaked and are not quite ready for public scrutiny.

“We promise we’ll be open shortly with no more false starts,” he wrote.

I’ll keep you updated.

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Tags: Seattle Beer, Opening Delays, Seattle Beer News, Hilliard's Beer