Pints and Puddles: North Seattle Rainy Day Respites

With Seattle noted as one of the top ten vacation cities for beer lovers, it doesn't come as a surprise that there might be a few breweries nearby.  In a ten mile radius of Wallingford, a north central Seattle neighborhood, there are seventeen to be exact.  What better way to spend a rainy afternoon than tooling around with the locals enjoying some brew.  

Best place to keep your dog dry:  Fremont Brewing

Since 2008, Fremont has been brewing up small batch beer with fresh local ingredients.  Just a few short months ago, they opened the doors to their taproom expansion.  Long tables line the front of the building, while stadium seating, benched tables, and cozy half moon cushioned seats grace the indoors.  An impressive ten beer taplist adorns the wall, including their Abominable Winter Ale and Dark Star Imperial Oatmeal Stout.  A table by the front has a bowl full of dog biscuits, apples, and a cooler full of water.  Whether your kids are actual kids, or just well loved dogs, both are welcome at Fremont.  

Best place to small talk with the brewer:  NW Peaks Brewing

On the corner of 17th and 50th in Ballard sits a relatively new nano-brewery.  Pictures of mountaintops line the walls.  Brewing equipment, taps, and a few seats welcome drinkers from the rain.  Kevin Klein, brewer and avid mountain climber, bops around the brewery, chatting with newcomers and old friends about beer, climbing, and the rain.  With every beer of NW Peaks being named after a peak that Kevin has personally summited, one quickly gains admiration for the guy.  Besides that, the brews are spot on, being true to style with both malt and hop structure.  

Best place for groups: Hillard's Brewery

Around the corner from NW Peaks, Hillard's warehouse-chic brewery is bustling with noise.  Plenty of seating, beers available in cans and on tap, a well used pool table, and spontaneous brewery tours are all held in this open space.  Hillard's is definitely the place to see and be seen.  Beer lovers young and old mingle and stare in awe at all the shiny brewing equipment, while enjoying a freshly made pint.


Since we are well into our six month rainy season, brew seekers take heed.  Put on your Gore Tex, slip on your galoshes, and go enjoy a local pint.


www.fremontbrewing.com                    www.nwpeaksbrewery.com                   hillardsbeer.com