Three Breweries you never heard of (in biking distance of Seattle)
As if on command, winter has struck Seattle hard (is that snow?) right after Halloween. You might think this is the end of biking and brewing season...and you’d be right. There ain’t no way I can convince any of you softies to join me out on the trails through the winter months. Doesn’t matter that all the bike lanes will be clear of all the slows and that traffic on car roads will be as bad as it can get. Doesn’t matter that braving the harsh world of cold for 3 to 15 miles to earn your beer would make it the most gratifying beer you drink. That's a fact, proven by science [1]. In terms of winter biking and drinking, we live in one of the most hospitable climes of them all. With all that said, even my own riding is gonna take a hit, so here is a trio of breweries, one of my favorites, that can be reached via an athletic, refreshingly chilly bike ride if you are bold or a traffic-filled, designated-driver-requiring car ride if you are cold. To Everett, we go!
Yeah you read that right. Everett gets a lot of shit from Seattle. People here have no idea what’s kicking in Everett. No clue that the craft beer scene is blowing up right now and Everett is slowly becoming a beer destination. Without this notoriety as a crutch, brewers in Everett would have to brew the best beer to get people to come around. And they have.
The Route: Everett Triangle
This isn’t really a route. It’s just three breweries arranged in a triangle. They have no particularly direct path between them, so once you get here, you can do them in whatever order you want. The real route is getting there. You can hop in your car and drive there like most people do. There is ample car parking at all three locations. Or, assuming you live in Seattle, you can make the ride on the Interurban Trail. It’ll be a long ride. The longest one you’ll find on this blog so far, but it’s well worth the payoff. The Interurban Trail is a great trail. It mostly follows along the land underneath the powerlines between Seattle and Everett. Mostly a dedicated asphalt bike path, it occasionally breaks into bike lane along roads. It’s a real trip when you get to Everett via bike and realize you didn’t spend a moment in traffic.
At a whopping 25 miles (assuming you’re leaving from somewhere near Seattle. I used Fremont Brewing in the route since that’s a perfectly good place for your to rally with your gang) it’s gonna take around two and a half hours to get there. Then there’s the ride home. That means without even stopping to drink, you are looking at 5 hours of riding. It’s serious and not for the faint of heart, but it is well worth the effort.
Middleton Brewing
Smell: 1/2
Local-ness: 2/2
Eccentricity: 1/2
Beer: 4/5
My favorite of the three. Despite the fact that they have plenty of varieties on tap, these guys revel in their tap blends. Bartenders expertly pour beers of different densities that remain separated in the glass for a tasting experience unlike anything else. The resident dog will probably come up and say hello then retire to his little doghouse built right into the wall with a tap handle for himself. Great food here too. Nachos with real cheese sauce! Can’t pass that up. And reasonably priced too. It’s a little weird getting here because you have to get all the way to the end of the backside of a strip mall, so after a little too long of going where you are sure is the wrong way, you’ll see it’s cute little parking lot patio sticking out of the back of the building. It’s a little cold now to get any use out of it, but oh well.
Lazy Boy Brewing
Smell: 2/2
Local-ness: 2/2
Eccentricity: 1/2
Beer: 4/5
Another weird one to get to. You have to ride past an old taxi cab dispatch lot, so as soon as you are sure you are in the wrong place, keep going. In the very back with the sign lit up is Lazy Boy. It’s in a proper old warehouse, so it’s got the Smell in spades. Free popcorn (donation requested) is available. Friendly dogs are often around. A handful of pinball games are around too. A big projector screen is showing the game making this a great place for chilling out for a while. Come here a few times and you’ll get to know everyone who works here, there really aren’t that many of them and they are great for chatting with. If you don’t want to bother with them, they’ll find someone else to talk to. It creates a very “Cheers” atmosphere, which I love. The beer here is solid. Good enough that you’ll eventually drink your way through the whole menu if you didn’t have to make it to the next place.
Crucible
Smell: 1/2
Local-ness: 1/2
Eccentricity: 1/2
Beer: 4/5
This one is in another strip mall (is there a theme here in Everett?), but don’t let that fool you. The beer here is great. They have a long, long tap list that can make it hard to pick. Never fear, they have “the wheel.” Give it a spin and let it decide for you. I love stuff like that. If you don’t, then you are still sure to find something on the list that fits your mood. Screens on screens on screens in this place make it the go-to sports brewery and you’ll find the place packed when a good MMA fight is on. It keeps the bartenders busy too, who I find are a fair amount less talkative here. It’s got a private room that can be booked for your event and a Wii set up in the back. If you go exploring, you can find the actual brewery tucked away in the back, behind the bar.
There are actually a few more breweries in Everett a little further north including a couple you have probably heard of. If none of these breweries you haven’t heard of meet your needs, or if you just need to hit a couple more places to make your ride worth it, ride a few more miles and explore some more in the town of Everett. Scuttlebutt and At Large Brewing are two of my favorites.
Have you run this route before? Have any thoughts on the Interurban Trail? Wanna ride it with me this winter? I’ll buy you a beer.