Beers in Seattle

This past weekend I was visiting my girlfriend up in Seattle and I made the usual trip to Top Foods to go beer shopping Saturday evening.  I ended up with a six pack comprised of New Belgium's Cocoa Mole, Rogue's Hazelnut Brown & Chocolate Stout, Elysian's Men's Room Red, Stone's Smoked Porter and Bridgeport's Raven Mad Imperial Porter all in 22 oz. bottles.  Needless to say that this was one of the most expensive six packs I have ever purchased.  It was also one of the most delicious.  I had previously sampled all of these beers except for the Raven Mad which I thought sounded interesting.  If you are a fan of barrel aged big beers I would suggest trying this one if you get a chance.  Overall a really enjoyable mix of beers.

(L-R) Men's Room, Hazelnut Brown, Cocoa Mole, Smoked Porter, Chocolate Stout & Raven Mad

Sunday we decided that we'd head downtown and check out Pike's Place market.  Before we made our way to Pike's we ended up stopping by Bob's Homebrew Store just to see what they had.  We met Bob who is a super nice guy with tons of knowledge and I ended up picking up a carboy dryer, some more Starsan (can't ever have enough Starsan) and the most recent issues of BYO and Zymurgy.

Whiny the Complainer

After leaving Bob's we stopped by Big Time Brewery for some lunch and some brews.  I tried their sampler and enjoyed a Prime Time Pale Ale, Atlas Amber Ale, Coal Creek Porter and a Breakfast Cereal Killer Stout that is brewed with Stumptown coffee, cocoa nibs, oatmeal, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  It was probably the second best beer I had while we were there.  The first being their Whiny the Complainer Triple IPA.  This is what a good IPA should taste like.  The added hops complimented the big grain bill perfectly.  Absolutely delicious! 

After we left Big Town we swung down to Pike's Place and I located a supplier for the Scotch Bonnet peppers that will be needed to make our Apocalypso.  The vendor offered me a taste but I politely declined.  It's good to know where I can find them fresh though for when we do brew our spicy, sweet wheat ale.  All in all it was a great beer drinking weekend in the Emerald City.  I'm looking forward to my return trip to Big Time to sample some more Whiny.