The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [20]
KEY BEER
Hale’s 5.2% ABV Pale American Ale set a new standard in the Northwest when it was released, but it’s the smooth, sessionable Cream Ale; grassy, grainy Kölsch; and recent spate of double IPAs like Supergoose (7.5% ABV) that are the ones to try.
LATONA PUB
6423 Latona Ave. NE • Seattle, WA 98115 • (206) 525-2238 3pubs.com/Latona.html • Established: 1987
SCENE & STORY
With its corner spot and high, wide windows, the Latona looks inviting from the outside, but it’s the warm service, approachable clientele, and healthy but hearty pub fare (served on classic Fiesta ware plates) that really set this beer bar apart. The menu reaches for a culinary grace note or two without grasping, and the beers (ten on tap, thirty bottled) are fresh thanks to quick rotations and a steady, curious clientele.
PHILOSOPHY
Reverential. “The beer brewed in our own backyard is created by some of the most talented, creative people in the world,” write the owners on the website for the Latona and their two other Seattle pubs, Hopvine and Fiddler’s Inn. “At our pubs, we want to present to you the closest thing to what the brewers create. We take care of the beer we pour.”
KEY BEER
With its light-bodied notes of coffee and bitter chocolate, Big Time Brewery’s Coal Creek Porter (4.5% ABV) would go nicely with the green chile chicken quesadillas.
NAKED CITY BREWERY & TAPHOUSE
8564 Greenwood Ave. North • Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 838-6299 • nakedcitybrewing.com • Established: 2009
SCENE & STORY
Owners Don Webb and Donald Averill were home brewers with a common dream of opening their own breweries when they met and joined forces. Webb is a major film buff, hence the noirish theme running through the signage and art in the place; Naked City came out in 1948 based on the iconic book of New York real-life crime photos of the same name by Arthur Fellig, aka Weegee, in 1945 (check out the big framed movie poster for it). In filmmaking terms, Webb and Averill were thinking in big-budget 70mm Technicolor; in the end, budget constraints were more along the lines of an indie production, though hardly Spartan. They installed a 3.5-barrel system (about a hundred gallons) and a 24-tap bar, curated a vegan-friendly menu with sandwiches and starters like white truffle pâté and landjäger, a dried German sausage. It’s a simple, smart arrangement.
PHILOSOPHY
Respect greatness, in beer or film form. Instead of reality shows and sports, the TVs show iconic old films; the taps are dedicated to craft beers made in small batches.
KEY BEER
Local and regional breweries like Snipes, Chuckanut, and Schooner Exact dominate the list; try Naked City’s the Big Lebrewski, a 12% ABV Imperial Stout with blockbuster levels of roasted malt.
THE PIKE PUB & BREWERY
1415 1st Ave. • Seattle, WA 98101 • (206) 622-6044 pikebrewing.com • Established: 1989
SCENE & STORY
Located in the Pike Place Market area, the pub is a multilevel, brightly painted beer lover’s warren of three bars chockablock with a truly impressive collection of breweriana. The story this collection tells is the story of Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, who founded Pike after helping launch the American craft beer scene through Merchant Du Vin, a gourmet food, wine, and beer importing company they created in 1978. Through that pathbreaking firm, the Finkels introduced American palates to extraordinary beers never before tasted on these shores, including such iconic brands as Orval and Rochefort of Belgium, Samuel Smith’s of Yorkshire, England, and Ayinger of Bavaria, Germany, all of which are considered classics of European brewing traditions.
Along the way, Finkel emerged as a talented graphic artist, designing beer labels for U.S. markets and eventually several books about beer and design. The Finkels opened Pike, their dream brewery, in 1989, and quickly accrued a trove of brewing industry medals and thirsty accounts. By 1997 they sold the brewery and import company to an unnamed investor, but longed to be back in the beer fold, and bought the brewery back in 2006.
PHILOSOPHY
The warm