Seattle had long been on my Brewery Adventures bucket list, and with some friends recently relocating there, my wife and I decided to make the trip. Angie is 5 months pregnant, but she tagged along while we adventured around The Emerald City. The trip wasn’t only for breweries, but we still ended up visiting ten breweries over the four days that we were there.
Before I break down our brewery visits, I want to give a shoutout to my friend Joel Geier aka BreweryTravels. He lived in Seattle for a few months in 2022, and his writeup in Flights Across America was very helpful in planning out our trip.
Also a huge thanks to our hosts Erik and T, who knew all the best food and coffee spots.
Day 1 – Ravenna & Holy Mountain
On our first day we had a great Taiwanese dinner at Din Tai Fung before venturing to Ravenna Brewing Co. in the Ravenna neighborhood. It was a Thursday night, and this place was packed. They’re a great neighborhood brewery, and one of the most respected in Seattle. They are also noted as being one of the few Latino-owned breweries in the area.
They have a decent-sized taproom with multiple rooms. Their bar sits in the back, with the brewhouse visible via windows to the level below. The wood and cinderblock building gives you the feel of a classic brewery. We sat on their large patio and enjoyed a couple of flights. All of their beers were solid from their well-rounded taplist. I particularly enjoyed Formal Jorts, a West Coast double IPA.
After Ravenna we ventured to Holy Mountain Brewing‘s Phinney Ridge taproom. The original brewery opened in 2014 by a group of homebrewers who were experimenting and the project just continued to grow. They quickly became standouts in Seattle for their barrel and oak focused beers. Their philosophy is “brew what we want to drink”, meaning they continually have new and different beers. Their original location is in Interbay, but the location we visited opened in 2023 and has a modern feel with booths and community tables. They featured some of the best beer I had in Seattle, including their The White Lodge Belgian wit.
Day 2 – Pike Place Market & Mariners game
On Day 2 we started in the late morning visiting the famous Pike Place Market, a huge public market and one of the oldest operating in the United States. After browsing around and grabbing some coffee and a quick lunch, we ventured over to Old Stove Brewing Co, which has their original location right in the heart of the market with a huge brewpub right on the waterfront. The brewhouse is right in the open for diners to see, and they also have a large indoor dining room and a huge patio with awesome views of Elliot Bay and the mountains. They feature a wide variety of beers, and I really enjoyed their Hell Hawk stout on my flight.
Right around the corner from Pike Place Market is the original location for Cloudburst Brewing. Opened by a former Elysian brewer in 2016, they’re known for their hop-forward beers and they’ve won multiple major awards including Brewery of the Year at GABF in 2021. Their taproom is a bare-bones industrial space in a 120-year-old building. I tried their pilsner and a DDH West Coast IPA called Too Many Hashtags, and both were delicious.
After a quick break, we visited Fast Fashion Brewing‘s SoDo location prior to heading to T-Mobile Park for a Mariners game. Known for their hop-forward beers and always changing styles (a la the “fast fashion” clothing industry, Fast Fashion started as a nomad brewery before opening a taproom. Their taproom is all 90s nostalgia with multiple rooms. While they specialize in hoppy beers, I really enjoyed the schwarzbier here.
Day 3 – Fremont & Ballard
Day 3 was our biggest planned brewery day. After a great breakfast from Mas Cafe and a visit to the famous Troll sculpture, we checked out Fremont Brewing‘s Urban Beer garden for some early afternoon beers. They have been around since 2009 and it’s a leafy oasis in the middle of a neighborhood. Featuring a huge patio stuffed with plants, it also has ample space inside. Fremont is one of the most respected breweries in Seattle, and their beers have won multiple awards. I really liked the Lush IPA and Dark Star imperial oatmeal stout.
Our final area to visit was the beer mecca that is the Ballard neighborhood. One of the best brewery neighborhoods in the country on par with South Slope in Asheville, River North in Denver, San Diego’s North Park, and Ohio City in Cleveland, Ballard features more than a dozen breweries in a square mile and there is even a Ballard Brewery District.
While we didn’t have the time or stamina to visit all 12, we picked out a good variety and ended up visiting three in one night. There are plenty of food trucks that park at the breweries, so it’s also a bit of a foodie paradise as well.
Our first stop was Stoup Brewing. Founded in 2013 by a former forensic chemist and Washington’s first female cicerone, Stoup is located in a warehouse style space. They’re known for making a wide variety of fantastic beers with a focus on lagers and European styles, and their name comes from the Scottish word for a tankard. Surprisingly, my favorite beer here was the Bavarian Hefeweizen. Seattle seems to be a sneaky haven for hefeweizens in fact, as I tried a few that were all fantastic.
Directly across the street from Stoup sits Urban Family Brewing Co. They originally started in Ballard in 2012, then relocated, before returning to the neighborhood in their current spot in 2020. Known for their inventive styles including fruited sours, they started out brewing on a 15 gallon system after initially featuring beers from other breweries in their Public House. Their taproom features a large patio as well as a reservable second floor event space. I enjoyed their Star Party dark lager and tried a few of their sours that were solid as well.
Our final stop in Ballard was Reuben’s Brews. Founded in Ballard in 2012, they have since expanded to a second location in Fremont. They’re one of the most respected breweries in Seattle and have won awards at GABF and World Beer Cup. The brewery is named after the owners’ son. They focus on a wide variety of styles, and we actually visited during their Seattle Beer Week Haze Fest event. The Dortmunder I had here may have been the best beer I tried in Seattle. Their taproom is an industrial style and also features a large patio and regular food trucks.
Still not ready to be done adventuring, my friend Erik and I made a last stop at Project 9 Brewing while the women went home. A newer brewery, they opened in 2023 on the border of the Maple Leaf and Roosevelt neighborhoods. Their taproom is a former auto repair shop that was vacant for some time. The owners were longtime homebrewers and their name comes from one of their early batches. They have a permanent food truck and feature clean, crushable beers. I had the Mexican Seoul Lager (named after their food truck), and it was very good.
All in all, it was a great trip to Seattle. There’s a lot to do in the Pacific Northwest, and Seattle remains one of the best beer cities in the country.
Check out more Brewery Adventures here.