going to be in Seattle for a few days
won't have a car, but will be downtown (South lake)
What breweries are must visits
and are any public transit friendly
Sweetcell is probably the man to answer this
actually, i'm probably not the best person for this. i've had limited exposure to the seattle scene, as i'm happy as a clam out here in the mountains. in the 16 months i've been here, i've been into seattle maybe 5 or 6 times (mostly to go to protests). luckily we have Yada here to set us straight.
based on my observations and interactions with other beer geeks, it seems that beer culture is much more laid back here. there isn't an obsession with visiting every single brewery, checking everything in to Untappd, standing in line for bottles, etc... those are things tourists do, not locals. folks seem to talk a lot more about enjoying the location, the vibe, how environmental the brewery is or what causes it supports, etc. i mean, the beer still needs to be good (and, because it's the west coast, super hoppy).
HOWEVER, i might be in a better position to offer an opinion next weekend: i'm (finally) meeting up with stevewizzle and a MD brewing buddy, and we're contemplating bar hopping that saturday night. last time those two hung out, they sung the praises of
the pine box bar.
holy mountain and cloudburst are the two most common recommendations i hear. someday i'll make it there too.
(DC seems to get better Fremont beer than the actually brewery)
if you're talking about their one-off seasonal releases, like Dark Star and Abominable, well of course they're not going to have those on tap 24/7/365 - just like you're not going to get KBS year-round at Founders. did you try Lush?
Pike Place is indeed a tourist trap.
agreed. it's not as bad as times square, and there is an underbelly if you poke around, but there isn't much there that you need to see.
