{"id":5006,"date":"2012-05-15T11:07:56","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T18:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=5006"},"modified":"2012-05-15T11:52:42","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T18:52:42","slug":"still-time-to-catch-seattles-beer-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2012\/05\/15\/still-time-to-catch-seattles-beer-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Still Time to Catch Seattle’s Beer Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest Blog\/By Tom Basinski<\/p>\n

If you happen to be heading to Seattle this week there are plenty of sights to see, including the 4th<\/sup> Annual Seattle Beer Week<\/a> (May 10-20), which coincides well with American Craft Beer Week<\/a> (May 14-20). Many attractions are within walking distance of the historic Pioneer Square area. The Best Western Hotel at Pioneer Square is an historic refurbished lodging establishment that has modern amenities, but with a vintage appearance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Pioneer Square Saloon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Best of all, at least to me, was the Pioneer Square Saloon (77 Yesler Way, 206-628-6444), right next door to the hotel (Western Ave. & Post Ave). The saloon only serves beer and wine, but oh boy, what beer they sell. There were several brands of microbrews on tap, and an unusual but poignant bar motto that’s stuck with me: \u201cWelcome to the Pioneer Square Saloon\u2014Try not to be an asshole.\u201d Definitely a locals spot (until this blog came out).<\/p>\n

I was in the bar two of the three days we were there. On a Saturday the local professional soccer team played, and their replica jersey-donning fans were in full voice the whole match. Alas, most of them ignored great Northwest craft beer (in the middle of Seattle\u2019s Beer Week\u2014for Pete\u2019s sake), drinking Bud Light instead. Had they been less rambunctious I may have made a few suggestions.<\/p>\n

We saw the Space Needle \u2013 big deal, I know \u2013 as well as the Pike Street Market, which is a really neat place. It has tons of souvenir gifts, if you want one. The foodstuffs are out of this world; my top pick was a cheese shop where I had the best macaroni and cheese one could imagine. Okay, you might think if I have macaroni and cheese that I\u2019m not very imaginative. You are wrong. This was great.\u00a0There’s also a piroshki place (Russian buns packed with a variety of fillings) that will have your mouth watering with all the options. Basically, you name it, and the Pike Street Market has it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Pike Brewing Company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a buildup to my favorite spot in all of Seattle \u2013\u00a0Pike Brewing Company<\/a>. The brewpub features a half-dozen Pike Brewing signature beers, plus seasonals, but unless you know what you want I suggest ordering the sampler. I used to say I was the Will Rogers of beer drinking\u2014I\u2019ve never met one I didn\u2019t like. That\u2019s no longer true. There are pumpkin beers and other fruity beers that will make someone, but not me, happy.<\/p>\n

In addition to house-brewed beers, Pike Brewing has a rotating selection of California beers to choose from, plus select Trappist, German and English ales. There’s also a selection of rotating Northwest artisan ciders. Oh yes, the food: it’s top-notch, and not just \u201cbar food.\u201d My wife was afraid it would be and I always love it when she\u2019s wrong (about once a decade, if you ask her). Pike Brewing is definitely a worthwhile stop on your trip to Seattle. The brewery is located at 1415 1st<\/sup> Ave., Seattle, 98101-2107.<\/p>\n

Tom Basinski has written for <\/em>West Coaster before. He\u2019s an ex-seminary student; ex-cop; ex-DA Investigator and ex-light beer drinker. Currently, a travel writer and true crime writer: \u201cNo Good Deed\u201d and \u201cCross-Country Rapist\u201d for Berkley True Crime publishers.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest Blog\/By Tom Basinski If you happen to be heading to Seattle this week there are plenty of sights to see, including the 4th Annual Seattle Beer Week (May 10-20), which coincides well with American Craft Beer Week (May 14-20). Many attractions are within walking distance of the historic Pioneer Square area. The Best Western […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[739,741,740,738],"class_list":{"0":"post-5006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","7":"tag-american-craft-beer-week","8":"tag-pike-brewing-company","9":"tag-pioneer-square-saloon","10":"tag-seattle-beer-week","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-1iK","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5006\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}