I just found out I had never written about my visit to the Pike Brewing Company in Seattle. A truly massive brewpub in the heart of Seattle just of the Pike Public Market. We planned to have dinner and a few beers there on the first day of our vacation in the USA. Things went differently.

We only planned to go there at the end of the afternoon, because I wanted to visit the ZigZag Cafe first. Apparently that is supposed to be one of the 25 best cocktail bars in the States, so a visit was more or less mandatory. Unfortunately, the ‘drinks all day’ thing doesn’t mean they’re open during the daytime, but that they pour alcohol as soon as they are open. We arrived and they were still closed, and would be for several hours.

A simple swap in the plan was made and Pike moved forward, ZigZag moved back on the schedule. I started off at Pike’s with the tasting platter. Six of their beers in small glasses varying from light ales to thick stout. Anneke had a dry mead, to try something different.

Unfortunately, we got talking with all kinds of people around us and after the six small glasses I had an IPA, and another IPA, and another, and another. Then the barman hooked me up with a Double IPA: “You might like this one too”, and I did, and I had a few. That meant that at about 5.30 PM, instead of having dinner at Pike’s and visiting a cocktail bar later on the night, we were completely hammered and almost fell out of the bar. On a Wednesday, with a jetlag.

A quick burger and an early night got us prepped for the next days of our trip, but I never saw food at Pike’s and not even the menu at ZigZag. Bummer…

Naughty Nelly
Crisp with citrus fruits and not too much hops. Quite some cereal and a long finish with herbs like thyme.

Pike Pale Ale
A little hard to pin down. It tries to go in a lot of different directions. Nutty, and some ginger. Didn’t like this one too much.

IPA
Loads of hops and quite the ‘in your face’ attitude. Some acidity and fruits as well.

Kilt Lifter
Sweeter but very light. Quite some cereal again. A lot of flavour is present, but it feels very thin, watered down almost.

Tripel
Massive cereals and old citrus fruits. Not very yeasty which is very nice.

XXXXX Stout
Heavy, thick and dark. Coffee and chocolate. I really liked this one. On the menu it is recommended with quite some desserts and I can see why. Rather sweet too, but in a good way.

Dry Mead
First quite winey but with a cereal and apple undertone. There is some honey present as well.

Double IPA
Even more bitter than the IPA, and a lot dryer too. Old barley. My notes are a bit off for this one, but I really liked it!