Tag Archives: Pyramid Brewing

Seattle Beer Culture

I was in Seattle this past weekend for yet another stag.  I am always impressed by the beer selection that almost everywhere in Seattle seems to have.  We did actively seek out some fine purveyors of beer, but we also visited a few places we were surprised to find had an excellent selection of craft beer.  And yet even some among our group of Canadians held onto the notion that Canadian beer is superior to American, a notion I’ve refuted as a myth on this blog.  I hope that Vancouver can one day match the availability, not to mention affordability, of excellent craft beer that we came across in Seattle.

On Friday we began our weekend with a few pints in the Pyramid Brewing beer garden across from Safeco Field.  The beer garden was packed full of the Mariners pregame crowd and provided a very festive atmosphere.  Pyramid had five beers for sale in the beer garden, including an amber, a blonde, an IPA, a hefeweizen, and their famous apricot ale.  I thoroughly enjoyed the beer garden at Pyramid, an experience enhanced by my soon to be married friend dressed in a beaver suit.  If only the Mariners game could have measured up to the pregame.  This was my first live baseball game and I found it even more boring than baseball on TV.  I may have loudly expressed my opinion to anyone nearby, and for that I apologize.  The few too many pints at Pyramid beforehand may have contributed to my rudeness.  The best part of the Mariners game was the members of the crowd who stopped by to gawk at my poor friend the bachelor.  Seriously though, if you’ve ever seen hockey, how can you like baseball?  Anyway, I was very impressed by the beer selection at Safeco, which is funny because this Washington beer blogger doesn’t share my opinion.  He’d be sorely disappointed with the beer on offer at GM Place.

After the game, or maybe before the game ended, we went to a bar called Cowgirls, which is a wonderful place to a take a bachelor.  Think Coyote Ugly with better looking staff.  After Cowgirls, we bypassed the next morning and headed straight out for lunch a little worse for wear.  We found a pub called the Fox Sports Grill right beside our hotel.  By the way, we stayed at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle for a mere $94 a night thanks to Hotwire.com.  The Fox had twenty odd craft beers on tap and also afforded me my first crack at an undercooked burger.  In Canada, burgers must be cooked well done, whereas I was able to enjoy my burger cooked medium.  It is official, burgers cooked less than well done are delicious.  We are too paranoid up here.

After lunch, we headed to West Seattle Golf Course for a round.  Being a public facility, the course was very affordable, but also very crowded.  How do you spice up a six hour round?  You try to run over your buddies golf balls with your cart, accidentally flipping it with yourself still inside.  That hurt.  And no, I was not inebriated from consuming some of the excellent beers for sale at the course.  I am just stupid.  Even public golf courses in Seattle have solid beer selections.  I’m starting to get bitter here.

For dinner we headed to the Taphouse and Grill, also very near to our hotel. The Taphouse has 160 taps of interesting beer with samplers of four available for $9.50.  This place was heaven for me and I wish I could have spent a lot of time at the bar, but maybe another time.  I didn’t even know how you could fit 160 taps into an establishment, but they had them all in there, wall to wall and staggered at two levels.  I tried to take a picture, but my crappy iPhone camera failed me in the dim light.  When you consider that our top beer bar, the Alibi Room, has only 19 taps, it puts 160 taps into perspective.  Wow.  That evening took us too a few more bars and pubs, none of particular interest to beer enthusiasts.  The last day, we headed straight for lunch again, this time stopping at the Pike Brewing Brewpub, another fine establishment.

It was another succesful stag, one where we enjoyed far too much excellent beer.  Seattle really is a great beer destination.  I can only hope to say the same about Vancouver in a few years.

Cheers,

Chris

Jake’s Steakhouse and Piano Lounge

I went out for dinner last night with a few friends and visited one of CAMRA Vancouver’s newest corporate member’s, Jake’s Steakhouse and Piano Lounge.  I found out a few weeks ago that any business can join CAMRA Vancouver as a corporate member. Dedication to quality beer is not a requirement for corporate membership, so long as the membership fee is paid they are in.  But CAMRA membership is much different than CAMRA recommended, where a good beer experience can be expected.

I was a bit hesitant recommending Jake’s to our friends, an unproven restaurant in the heart of Whalley is not all that enticing.  For those familiar with Vancouver’s Skytrain system, Jake’s Steakhouse is found at the  Skytrain’s last stop in Surrey in the Compass Point Inn, not exactly the nicest part of town.  But our friends live in Whalley, so I figured their expectations wouldn’t be too high?

I was completely blown away by Jake’s Steakhouse.  Who knew a restaurant in Surrey offering a great selection of beer existed, and further yet that they make food and beer pairing suggestions.  This almost makes me think that this whole craft beer thing is beginning to catch on.   On top of the impressive beer list, the menu was also great, featuring an array of classic steakhouse dishes with a local and seasonal influence.  Unlike many restaurants offering a seasonal vegetable side, Jake’s seasonal veg was actually seasonal, and  included fiddleheads, asparagus and other early spring vegetables.  Fiddleheads – in Surrey – really?

Although my steak was cooked well past medium rare and into medium territory, an almost unforgivable offense, we had a great evening.  For once I was able to enjoy a steak alongside a full flavored ale – Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter to be exact.  Something about Whalley makes me think of Hunter S. Thompson. Gonzo Imperial Porter, brewed as a tribute to the late Hunter S. Thompson, seemed an obvious choice.

Jake’s Beer Menu includes the following:

Draught

Bottles

Standard imports and domestic beer is also available.  All of the beer mentioned above comes complete with food pairing recommendations.

Jake’s Steakhouse and Piano Lounge is a great restaurant where beer and wine enthusiasts can can both sit down and enjoy a well prepared meal.  And if a meal is not in the cards during a visit, they also happen to have a great piano lounge to relax in.  I am sure Jake’s would be happy to receive support from the local beer community.  Don’t let the Whalley neighborhood or the long skytrain ride scare you away – Jake’s is a great place for great food and beer.

Cheers,

Erik