Evergreens vs. Great Lakes: a brief beer tour of Seattle

SEATTLE — Some time ago, Michigan and Washington were playing against each other in some sports contest or another. Our local paper put out a list pitting Ann Arbor against Seattle to see which was cooler. I love Ann Arbor — I would take a bullet in the face to defend it, and I think it is the greatest city in Michigan — but it’s really no contest: Seattle is bigger, it has a huge technology core, it’s on the Pacific Ocean and it has mountains.

It also has a thriving craft beer scene.

As far as I know, the two cities have never gone head-to-head in beer but as luck would have it, I was out in Seattle last week and decided to do a little brewpub tour to see what the Emerald City had to offer.

Pike Brewing Company

This was the brewpub that many people recommended to us. It reminded me of a bigger, more crowded Grizzly Peak or Arbor Brewing Company in that it was set up like a restaurant and focused on good food.

There were two samplers available: the “standard” beers and a special on

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