beernesday

i had a lovely weekend in seattle a weekend is never long enough so there wasn't a whole lot of beer tourism on my part but i got in as much as i could! saturday: pike brewing: i was looking for breakfast at 11:00 but they just have a lunch and dinner menu so i made do with a pretzel and xxxxx stout mustard, with a cup of their crab chowder which were quite delightful - yay oyster crackers! (deschutes' pretzel is better though...) i started with the seasonal space needle ipa pike beat out the competition to win the rights to brew the beer for the space needle's 50th anniversary dry-hopped to heck, it features centennial, cascade, columbus, chinook and summit shockingly enough for seattle the sun disappeared and it started to torentially downpour what else to do but stay and have a few more beers?? next up, the imperial ipa which at 8% is served in a 12oz pour the space needle ipa is supposed to be golden, but i didn't really see a colour...

by gum, its yellow! that was my first thought as i vigourously poured green flash 's imperial ipa into my glass yellow, like its label okay, so maybe its a very light caramel colour definite hoppy nose good head and lovely cascading action incredibly bitter hoppy taste that just won't leave my mouth not that i'm complaining, i am a fan of the bitter hoppiness 9.4% 101 ibus i'm pairing it with my latest pizza concoction, broccoli, basil and goat cheese the bitter cuts right on through the goatiness bitter goat, a lovely pairing! i'm definitely enjoying this beer but i think i might like the west coast ipa better... the bottle says:  "san diego-style ipa, at it has come to be known by many, is super-hoppy, high gravity, yet highly quaffable ale.  our imperial ipa is created in this new tradition with intense hop flavors and aromas from a unique blend of summit and nugget hops.  it's all about the hops!" quaffable yes, session beer?...