Bryan Shades Beer Blog: March 2018

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Gordon Biersch Brewing

Gordon Biersch Brewery & Restaurant

Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewing

Location: Seattle, WA

Date: Feb. 28, 2018
Tag Team Partners: None, however the bartender was awesome (See below)

Intro: Getting pumped up for Emerald City Comic-Con 2018, I ventured into the city today to do a ShadesExpress delivery for Rich Bernatovech, one of our artist friends who flew in from New York. If you're in for the con, check him out and pick up some excellent artwork in Artist Alley at Booth W2.

Located high up on the 4th floor of Pacific Place sits Gordon Biersch Brewing's Seattle Restaurant. Personally, I love Pacific Place in terms of how it is set up, and I love the feeling of being way up in the skylines of the city doing the things you love (drinking, eating, movie theaters, etc.)

Gordon Biersch presents itself as a classy restaurant on a top floor of a higher-end shopping mall. I had already eaten, so I did not get a chance to taste the food there, but I was able to grab a Flight of brews before heading into AMC to see a 12:20 showing of The Post.

SOTR1989 Shoutout Moment: The bartender Sarah is new to the Seattle area (Welcome to the Northwest!) She was very kind, awesome to talk to about beer, and various things to do around Seattle, and overall added to the experience. Thank you Sarah for your awesome service! Keep up the Great Work! You get my #SOTR1989 shout-out for "Spreading Awesomeness Worldwide."

The beer was pretty good, and gave a nice variety of the different styles and flavors that they offer. As stated before, the staff was amazing. Even the guy sitting next to me was pretty cool to talk to about different beers and breweries. Even talked about On-Demand TV, and the wintery conditions in London for the Soccer match. I definitely recommend this place, and will have to return to try the food as well. Recommended.

On my Tap for the Evening was:

- Golden Export
Style: Lager
Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewery
Untapped Rating: 3.25/5
Description: "Very nice and smooth for a lager, Golden, crisp, fluid, hint of ginger."
Comments: Nice lager, golden and fluid, but crisp enough to give it a nice effect. There are hints of ginger mixed in to add some extra flavor to the mix. Good beer.

- Märzen
Style: Märzen
Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewery
Untapped Rating: 3/5
Description: "Nice malty smooth and clean Oktoberfest beer, almost caramel-like."
Comments: This malty brew was very smooth and clean. The flavor came across as almost caramel in taste, and was very refreshing. It went down light, and was a good selection.

- Festbier
Style: Festbier
Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewery
Untapped Rating: 3/5
Description: "Smooth fest beer, crisp, golden lager taste, sweet."
Comments: Nice and smooth beer. The golden taste is immediately noticed, and it finishes in a crisp and sweet lager aftertaste. These aren't your typical boring lagers, this is another good choice.

- Belgian Pale Ale
Style: Pale Ale
Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewery
Untapped Rating: 3.5/5
Description: "Very nice pale ale. Slight hop, hint of banana, pale with a great Belgian finish and a dash of spice."
Comments: This was an interesting, and the first one that really jumped out to me as one of their best. It's a refreshing pale ale, with hints of banana that finishes with a great Belgian taste, and a bit of spice to add to the mix. I recommend trying this one. Very good!

- Got Your 6
Style: Pale Ale
Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewery
Untapped Rating: 2.75/5
Description: "Hoppy pale ale, bitter, roasty but light."
Comments: This wasn't bad, but I didn't care for it as much as the Belgian Pale Ale. Perhaps drinking the former first spoiled this one for me, but this was just a regular pale ale with some hops and bitterness mixed in. Credit for making it a light roast flavor, but almost too much going on at once. I recommend trying it, and maybe I'll retry it someday and have different thoughts.

- Imperial Stout
Style: Beer
Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewery
Untapped Rating: 2.75/5
Description: "Good stout, full, rich."
Comments: This was a decent stout. It's nothing out of the ordinary, but makes for a nice dessert beer. The fullness and richness is certainly there. You get what you expect.

- Hefeweizen
Style: Hefeweizen
Brewery: Gordon Biersch Brewery
Untapped Rating: 4/5
Description: "Very sweet beer, almost like white wine, banana taste, clear, smooth, striking taste."
Comments: This was given as an extra sample as the gentleman sitting next to me enjoyed it. It was actually very good. Very much on the sweet side, gave off a taste of banana, and white wine flavors. It was clear and smooth, and the taste strikes you. At the time I could not remember the beer it reminded me of, but now that I recall, it is much like the Scuttlebutt Hefeweizen. For some reason, when I am offered Hefeweizen, I can never recall the taste of the style. Part of me believes this is due to my first Hefe being Widmer Brother's Hefeweizen which carries a stronger citrus taste as opposed to the sweeter more dessert-like versions. This has almost forced my opinion to think of the style as much more bitter like a Pale Ale, but my mistake. Regardless, very nice beer, and much recommended.

Guest Tapping: Special Brews featuring Alesong Brewing & Blending

Guest Tapping: Special Brews

Brewery: Alesong Brewing & Blending

Location: Lynnwood, WA

Date: Feb. 21, 2018
Tag Team Partners: Richard, Tonia and friends

After a long hard day of work, it's awesome to have a friend reach out and recommend a beer event to you. In this case, Richard reached out and suggested Special Brews hosting Alesong for the night, and it was worth it. I took him up on the offer, and despite the snow coming down, my thirst was quenched and satisfied.

While there, I received my "Explore the Store..." Badge. I had heard about this place, but had never actually ventured out there. It's a beer store with a taproom added in. A great place to try and pick up a nice variety of different brews from all over the country.

For Alesong, I will say they turned in some fine brews, but one thing I caution is the strength. These are true barrel-aged beers, and you can taste it in each one. This by no means is calling it bad, but if you're looking for a simple beer, a few of these (*cough* *cough* Four Pirates) may overdo it for you, so recommend having a DD, or be prepared to hang out a bit and have some water handy to ensure safe passage after the experience.

Overall, pretty solid experience. I will definitely return, especially if they have more guest taps. I also at some point will have to make a special trip down to the Alesong Brewery in Oregon to sample a bigger selection of what they offer. This sampling only gave me a very basic taste, and I feel a visit to the brewery itself, and more knowledge of Alesong and their craft will provide a better understanding of their vision. Big thanks to Special Brews for holding this event, and for Alesong traveling up here to give us a nice taste of their craft.
Both Recommended.

For more information on Alesong Brewing and Blending, click here.

For more information on Special Brews click here.

On my Tap for the Evening was:

- Vanilla Rhino Suit
Style: Stout
Brewery: Alesong Brewing
Untapped Rating: 3.5/5
Description: "Barrel-aged flavor, vanilla, very sweet, smooth."
Comments: When I got there, this is what everyone was sipping on. I opted for the flight, and this was pretty good. You can taste the flavor and strength of the barrel aging. Vanilla aroma and taste abound, and goes down very sweet and smooth. Good choice.

- White
Style: Witbier
Brewery: Alesong Brewing
Untapped Rating: 3/5
Description: "Interesting, peppy mild-sour taste, light."
Comments: Bit of a mild sour taste to it, carries some pep to it, but sips lightly. Good, but different.

- Pêche
Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Alesong Brewing
Untapped Rating: 2.5/5
Description: "Sour Saison."
Comments: Decently sour saison, you can taste the fruits in it, not the greatest taste in the world, but you can tell what they were aiming for.

- Dubbel
Style: Belgian Dubbel
Brewery: Alesong Brewing
Untapped Rating: 2.75/5
Description: "Malty, sweet, light, strongish Belgian Ale."
Comments: Malty brew, carries a sweet taste that goes down light, but hits as a strong Belgian Ale.

- Four Pirates
Style: Belgian Quad
Brewery: Alesong Brewing
Untapped Rating: 3.25/5
Description: "Very strong beer, very strong aroma, almost to paint thinner level, flavorful, very boozy, barrel-aged."
Comments: Want to know why the rum's gone? Drink this. The aroma alone intoxicates you (bartender as well), and it hits strong. If you've had a long day, and you're looking for a brew to do the trick, grab one of these. As Richard pointed out, this drank almost to a paint thinner level. For what it was, it's pretty good, but just the strength stands out. Belgian flavors, with a very boozy barrel-aged flow to it. Recommended...Matey! Arrgh!

- Terroir: Pinot Gris (Barrel-Aged)
Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Alesong Brewing
Untapped Rating: 2.75/5
Description: "White wine/barrel aged flavor, light, sweet."
Comments: Sips like a white wine only with strength due to the barrel aging. It's a lighter beer, and goes down sweet.

Diamondknot Brewing

Brewery Review

Brewery: Diamond Knot Brewery

Location: Mulkilteo, WA

Date: Feb. 13, 2018

Tag Team Partners: None

Next up on my great beer adventure is a place called Diamond Knot Brewery, beautifully located on the banks of the Possession Sound in Mulkilteo. It's an awesome area to go and just relax, followed by hitting up the brewery/pub for some food, beer, and delicious ice cream afterwards.

This particular brewery experience will live on in my mind perpetually because the date I went there coincided with Shaun White's 3rd Gold Medal victory (and the 100th Overall for the United States). The crowd was very lively and cheering for all of the snowboarders, and it really was an awesome moment to experience among other men and women.

Before After

I did the flights in segments of 4. After ordering the first flight, I got a bowl of their Stout Chili. It was pretty good and to stand out a bit, instead of normal complimentary crackers, they give you Goldfish Crackers. This was a really cool touch being so close to the water. I do recommend the Stout Chili. It's pretty good, and a bit on the warmer end of the scale, so if spice doesn't suit you, they have other great things as well.

Yes...I took a picture of the Urinal

I know what you're thinking, what would cause you to take a picture of the urinal in the bathroom for a review on drinking beer. First of all, this was a very unique experience. Out of all the things I've "sprayed the garden hose" with, this seemed like a pretty cool feature. The even better part? The bathroom designer's sense of humor. It's extremely hard to pee straight when you casually glance over, and see that the keg you're "refilling" has the words "Anheuser" on the side. 😆 To all my Bud and Bud Light fans, I'm sorry to be a beer snob, but Anheuser does produce some beer that "tastes like piss." I've had it, others have had it, and face it, whether you come to accept it or not, you have had it too. When you become a Craft Beer Snob, you get a really big kick out of seeing this.

There were 16 beers on tap (Technically 15, if you don't count the non-alcoholic Root Beer, but I do.) While the variety is there, the IPAs tend to be better, and the Brown ale and Root Beer are quite good. The rest have their moments, but don't quite reach the same levels.

Overall, this is a pretty solid place. They have some pretty great pub food, the atmosphere was very friendly, the beer was good, and the ice cream was amazing. They have a sense of humor, and aren't afraid to express it. The Olympic Snowboarding was an added bonus. I recommend this place. For more information, click here

On my Tap for the Evening was:

- Blonde Ale

Style: Blonde Ale