The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [19]
PHILOSOPHY
Affordable gastropub meets private beer bar.
KEY BEER
Dogfish Head Palo Santa Marron (12% ABV), a rich stout aged in Paraguayan wood related to frankincense, crude-oil-black and milkshake creamy.
ELYSIAN BREWING CO.
1221 E. Pike St. • Seattle, WA 98122 • (206) 860-1920 elysianbrewing.com • Established: 1996
SCENE & STORY
Which came first, the age or the wisdom? The original Elysian location represents the paradigmatic brewpub—exposed beams, polished cement floors, high industrial ceilings, and walls lined with gleaming brewing tanks in a ninety-year-old converted warehouse. (There are two other newer locations: Elysian Fields, a large brewpub in the Stadium District, and Tangletown, a smaller location in South Greenlake, with at least one more location in planning stages.) Behind it all is founding brewer Dick Cantwell, born in Germany and raised in the United States, who has led the Seattle firm to scores of awards by doing what he has always done best: brew a massive array of styles with sure-handed skill. With sixteen taps including two guest beers, you can try a serious slice of the Cantwell oeuvre here, from the well known to the obscure.
PHILOSOPHY
Collaborative. In 2008 Elysian began an exchange program of sorts (“collabeerations”) with New Belgium Brewery resulting in the Trip Series of experimental beers like a Black Belgo IPA and a juniper-infused ale, for which brew houses, knowledge, and manpower are exchanged in order to keep things fresh and innovative.
KEY BEER
Like Boston Lager, the Wise ESB (a reference to the Goddess Athena, and Elysian’s first beer) shows a lot of malty backbone, a grain-given sturdiness that’s typical for the style. But alas, ESBs also occasionally suffer from a cloying, fruit-like sweetness. Not so with the Wise: Its drier profile makes it far more quaffable in high volumes, which, frankly, has its own intrinsic wisdom. Even better, there’s an overlay of mellow spiciness derived from three different kinds of tangy Northwest hops, making it perfect for fall’s cool nights (5.9% ABV).
HALE’S ALES
4301 Leary Wy. NW • Seattle, WA 98107 • (206) 706-1544 halesbrewery.com • Established: 1983
SCENE & STORY
Like many Americans, Mike Hale tasted his first old-world craft beer in college while traveling abroad, and studied its curious properties with a deep and abiding conviction. About ten years later, still searching for the flavor and fired up by stories about Jack McAuliffe’s efforts down at New Albion in California, he relocated to southern England in 1982, volunteered at Gale’s Brewery and Guinness, and within a year of returning home to the Seattle area, he’d founded Hale’s Ales.
The new little brewery was immediately hit with demand. After a few expansions in different locations over the years he settled on the current 17,000-square-foot location between Fremont and Ballard (in an old hose manufacturing plant) and opened a brewpub and beer garden to go with his new bigger brew house. It’s got a wide-open feel with views directly into the operations area, complete with mirrors angled for views into the open fermenters.
PHILOSOPHY
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” Hale says, speaking about quality brewing practices. And to keep things running smooth with his accounts across the Pacific Northwest, Hale also restored a beautiful red double-decker bus and outfitted it with a draft bar, hot water, bathrooms, and plush club seating. Don’t be surprised if you see him, Red Baron–style in the cockpit, the engine juddering away and the passengers raising toasts. It’s a beautiful sight, but alas, not one he can legally open to members of the public. It must be used for “educational purposes” only. Isn’t school