Dor & Bob’s Reviews

Dor & Bob’s Reviews

DorAndBob  //  Dor and Bob live in the Pacific Northwest and are enthusiastic supporters of the Craft Beer Industry.
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Aug 10 / 3:21pm

Review of Old Schoolhouse Brewery, Winthrop, WA

by Bob

Old Schoolhouse Brewery
155 Riverside
Winthrop, WA 98862
United States
(509) 996-3183
oldschoolhousebrewery.com


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Overall Score: 81.7
Selection: 4.0 | Service: 4.0 | Atmosphere: 4.3 | Food: 4.0

The Old Schoolhouse Brewery is right in the center of the old west themed town of Winthrop in the scenic Methow valley in eastern Washington. Both locals and tourists are customers, however, and we had a very friendly reception.

The pub is in a very odd, apparently two story, red wood-sided building with a belfry and weathervane on top. The building is extremely narrow in the front, deceptively as it happens, as you enter the interior soon widens into the dining area and bar. There are rough, worn, but classy light wood floors with wide planks, a white textured plaster ceiling, and windows all along the right side. Colored, opaque, glass pendant light fixtures help to create a very comfortable pub/restaurant feel. 

The dining area is in the front and along the right side of the room. The dining tables are made of light colored, thick, and fairly rough hewn wood, and have wooden chairs. The bar area is towards the back on the left. The bar itself is an amazing wooden beam, at least 5 inches thick and 2 feet wide. Opposite the bar, defining the border with the dining section, is a similar beam, if not as thick, or as wide. Both are lined with wooden stools.

At the back there is a deck, and after descending a wooden staircase, you reach a large outdoor patio overlooking the fast moving river. The patio is a great place to be on a warm summer afternoon or evening. Wood topped tables and white plastic chairs fill the patio. Many of the tables have green market umbrellas. A stage at one end of the patio hosts live music on occasion.

The brewery is a the very back, and looks very small and simple/basic. Some of the lack of sophistication of the brewing equipment is evident in the beers, but the pub is still a worthy visit. The beers available are: Double-D Blonde, Epiphany Pale Ale, Blazing Amber Ale, Ruud Awakening IPA, Uncle Big’s Brown Ale, Hooligan Stout, Backcountry Coffee Stout, and the Brewer’s special (an Imperial IPA, on our visit).

Food is wraps, salads, and burgers, including a “create your own style” burger. The fish taco wrap we had was good, if not the world’s definitive version. 

Beers we reviewed:
  • Ruud Awakening IPA: Light copper, hazy. Minimal aroma. Citrus, fresh, biscuit flavor. Very bitter, citrus, grainy, dry finish. Score: 3.25
  • Imperial IPA: Amber color. Citrus and some butterscotch aroma. Citrus, sweet biscuit, and some butterscotch flavor. Quite bitter, dry, citrus finish with some butterscotch. Score: 3.25
                 

 

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Aug 8 / 2:25pm

Review of Skookum Brewery, Arlington, WA

by Bob

Skookum Brewery
19529 17th Dr NE
Arlington, WA 98223
United States
(360) 652-4917
skookumbrewing.com

Overall Score: 90.0
Selection: 4.5 | Service: 4.5 | Atmosphere: 4.5 | Food: N/A

On a good sized piece of land at the end of a gravel road, Skookum serves up good beer as well as growlers to go in a comfortable outdoor setting. There were nine beers on tap during our visit, representing a large range of ales from pale ale to imperial stout, including two IPA’s and a wood-aged beer. The Jackass IPA is quite good. The atmosphere is very friendly and local. There is no food served except for a generous supply of pretzels.

The brewery and tasting room are in a large barn-like stained wooden building. A large roll-up garage door provides a great view into the brewery, which has a wood-clad mash tun and kettle and several stainless steel fermenters. A large rusted round saw blade with the brewery’s name hangs on the outside of the building and adds to the overall impression of an old fashioned sawmill.

A good number of black metal open mesh tables and chairs (a couple with umbrellas) are distributed on the patio around the brewery and taproom.  At one end a heavy wooden picnic table and some benches surround a metal outdoor fire pit. On the other side of the building a beautiful wooden structure supports a clear corrugated plastic roof. This area is decorated with strings of lights and has several propane heaters. Several more picnic tables are available out back in the woods.

Parking is plentiful, if somewhat ad-hoc, on the side of the drive or in the back.

Beers we reviewed:

  • Skookum Jackass IPA: Amber/cloudy. Citrus/floral aroma. Citrus & slightly sweet biscuit flavor. Intense citrus, bitter, semi-dry finish. Score: 4.0
             

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Aug 7 / 3:14pm

Review of Horse Heaven Hills Brewery, Prosser, WA

by Bob

Horse Heaven Hills Brewery
1118 Meade Ave
Prosser, WA 99350
United States
(509) 781-6400

horseheavenhillsbrewery.com


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Overall Score: 90.0
Selection: 4.5 | Service: 5.0 | Atmosphere: 4.0 | Food: N/A

"Live Long in Prosser"

Horse Heaven Hills in Prosser, WA, has unexpectedly good beers for such a young and small brewery. We tried Live Long Lager (authentic tasting Czech Pilsner), Stallion Stout (dry stout), the Dark Cherry Stout (same stout but with cherries), and the Buck Off IPA, and all were well made and tasty. Also available on our visit were Honey Girl, Apricot Honey Light, Horse Heaven Wheat, Mustang Red, and Ruby Spear (amber). The specific beers vary, but they tend to stick with the styles represented.

It’s a bit hard to find, as it’s behind another building and you only see the sign if you are rigorously looking down each side alley and peering into every parking lot. However, you are welcomed as soon as you enter. The atmosphere is comfortable, local, and welcoming. We were made to feel quite at home and even got a sample off the zwickel of the new lager.

The building is made of cinder blocks and used to be a dry cleaners for many years. The space is one large room with yellow and brown walls and a gray painted concrete floor. Running along the left side of the room is the compact brewery and the refrigeration room. The mash tun, kettle, and fermentors are copper. Moveable metal fences separate the brewery from the tasting room which has five assorted tables and chairs, three throw rugs, a large piano, a ceiling fan, and a large screen TV.  Lighting is provided by florescent tubes, as well as some natural light from a few windows along one wall.

At the back is a dark wooden bar with tall padded dark wood chairs. There is no distinctive bar back, but there is a nice hanging wood carving of three horses. The beer taps come directly out of the side of the refrigeration room. Paintings and photographs of horses decorate the rest of the walls. There’s also a small covered outdoor area with old tables and padded metal chairs. And there is a small room at the back more like a living room with couches, throw rugs, and a coffee table.

There is no food besides pretzels, but you’re welcome to bring your own or to order from nearby restaurants.

Beers we reviewed:

  • Live Long Lager: Dark gold color. Cider aroma. Crisp, tart, slightly sweet cracker flavor. Fairly bitter, lemon, dry finish. Score: 4.25
  • Buck Off IPA: Amber color. Lemon, floral aroma. Floral, lemon, sweet biscuit flavor. Lemony, bitter, fairly dry finish. Score: 4.5

               

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Jul 10 / 8:12pm

Review of Methow Valley Brewing/Twisp River Pub, Twisp, WA

by Bob

Methow Valley Brewing Company/Twisp River Pub
209 East 2nd Ave
Twisp, WA 98856
United States
(509) 997-6822 
methowbrewing.com


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Overall Score: 88.3
Selection: 4.8 | Service: 4.0 | Atmosphere: 4.5 | Food: 4.5

The pub is on the highway in the town of Twisp, WA, just south of the Twisp River. A long covered veranda separates the pub from the parking strip (and there is more parking in back). Inside you traverse a hallway/waiting area (the brewery itself can be glimpsed through a door to the left), then enter a large room with high ceilings and full windows on two sides. The bar area is directly to the left. The ceiling is supported by a couple of large wooden beams, and is equipped with a few ceiling fans, and several interesting hanging burlap quilts, presumably to provide some noise baffling.

The bar consists of a long curved brown concrete top with dark metal below, a dark metal foot rail, and is lined with tall dark metal chairs with wooden seats and backs. The “bar back” is simply windows looking into the brewery cool room and shelves full of chilling bottles and kegs. Also in the bar area is a tall wooden bench with tall tables and the same tall chairs as at the bar. The bench separates the bar section from the restaurant section. The restaurant area has black metal tables with dark wooden tops and shorter versions of the same chairs as are in the bar area. One corner of the restaurant has a music stage.

At the back of the building, adjacent to the river, is an extensive patio covered with concrete pavers and furnished with numerous wooden tables and plastic chairs. A fence constructed of wooden blocks and aluminum rails marks the edge beyond which the ground descends fairly steeply to the river. In late spring, at least, the roar of the river provides some great white noise! Along one side of the patio is a trellis supporting a wall of growing hop plants.

There are seven regular beers, two seasonals, two guest beers, and two ciders (locally made at an organic orchard from apples and pears; the apple was excellent - fruity and dry). The beers tend to lighter styles, but there is still a decent range.

Food is good and reasonably innovative in execution, if fairly traditional in style. The burgers we had were quite tasty as were the salads.

             

 

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Jun 29 / 10:02am

Review of Muchen Haus Beer Garden, Leavenworth, WA

by Bob

Müchen Haus
709 Front St
Leavenworth, WA 98826
United States
phone: (509) 549-1158 
munchenhaus.com

 
Overall Score: 85.0
Selection: 4.0 | Service: 4.0 | Atmosphere: 4.8 | Food: 3.0
 
The Munchen Haus is a surprisingly authentic German-style beer garden right in the heart of the artificially Bavarian town of Leavenworth. The entire location is outdoors (except for the restrooms). Passing through the gate, walking around the food ordering station, then past the food pick-up/condiments station, you enter a nice paved patio. The patio is filled with light-brown-mustard painted narrow wooden-topped tables and benches on blue-metal supports (like picnic tables but with moveable benches). A Bavarian-style carved wooden hut houses the bar and beer taps and this is where you order and pay for your beer. Numerous German-beer logoed umbrellas shade the tables. One side has a wooden structure providing some protection from weather and with outdoor heaters. Stairs lead up to balcony seating above with more tables and benches as well as great views of the surrounding mountains. Modern Bavarian-styled murals cover the walls. Hanging baskets of flowers and several grape vines add to the decoration. A life-sized metal sculpture of a man with an accordion and a playful dog sits in the center of the space.

Great authentic German beer garden atmosphere - shared tables, no table service, bus your own table - make this a fun and low-key place to hang out with a beer.

There is a decent selection of beer - eight taps of Northwest craft beer and imported German beers. Food consists of quite varied artisanal sausages with sauerkraut and a wide range of mustards. In short, it is a limited menu, but the quality and variety is good.

 
                 

 

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Jun 29 / 9:32am

Review of Gustav's Restaurant and Beer Garden, Leavenworth, WA

by Bob

Gustav's
617 US Highway 2
Leavenworth, WA 98826
United States
phone: (509) 548-4383 
gustavsleavenworth.com

Overall Score: 78.3
Selection: 4.5 | Service: 4.0 | Atmosphere: 3.3 | Food: N/A

Gustav’s is right on the main highway in Leavenworth in a somewhat triangularly-shaped building (due to the shape of the side street leading off highway 2) and features a distinctive black onion-shaped dome. It’s really a restaurant, not a pub, but they have 24 taps. On our visit, there were three beers made by Gustav’s (actually made by Icicle Brewing, founded by the owners of Gustav’s and which will soon open a brewery and tasting room a few blocks away), four German beers, quite a good range of regional craft beers, as well as Guiness and Bud Light.

The main room is fully paneled with light knotty pine on the walls and the tall ceiling which helps lighten up the place as well as give it a vaguely German/Northern European feel. Several huge wooden beams support the ceiling, attached to posts along the walls. Light wooden tables and captains chairs fill the room on top of dark green carpeting. Various historic alpine artifacts decorate the walls (e.g., snow shoes), and there are several big sets of antlers and somewhat odd light fixtures with decorative antlers. There is a second large room with a special wood-enclosed booth that is decorated with a nice wood-inlaid picture of the building. The outdoor area is on the second floor and is shaded by various umbrellas.

The small bar is at the back of the main room and consists of a formica top with wood panelling below and six dark green padded stools. The bar back is fairly generic, in spite of the two glass-fronted cabinets with various ceramic beer steins.

The food menu consists of a few different style burgers with fries, various sandwiches served with potato salad, halibut and chips, soups, several entree salads, German sausages, and a couple of desserts.

 
               

 

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Jun 25 / 10:19am

Review of McGlinn's Public House, Wenatchee, WA

by Bob

McGlinn's Public House
111 Orondo Avenue
Wenatchee, WA 98801
United States
phone: (509) 663-9073 
mcglinns.com

Overall Score: 81.7
 Selection: 4.5 | Service: 4.3 | Atmosphere: 3.5 | Food: 4.5
 
This pub is housed in an historic multi-story building (used to house minor-league baseball players!) in old-town Wenatchee. The street presence is narrow but the space extends back from the entrance quite a distance. Inside, the side walls are exposed brick, the front is all windows, and the back is a mostly open kitchen with a prominent wood-fired pizza oven. In the front is a raised section with several light wood pedestal tables and straight-back wooden chairs and a short bar section with tall chairs. The main length of the copper-topped bar runs back from here on the left side of the space and has more tall chairs flanking it. Quite a few more tables run throughout the right side of the space.
The floor is old worn diagonal wooden boards and the tall ceiling has exposed floor joists, ceiling fans, and attractive colored blown glass hanging light fixtures. The bar back consists of attractive old oak cabinets with glass fronts, outlined on top with yellow neon. An old toboggan and old skis also decorate the space above the cabinets. Historic photos of baseball and old Wenatchee, period paintings, the occasional mural and a couple neon signs are the remaining decorations.

Overall, it feels more like a restaurant than a pub, but the beer selection is quite good - 14 taps, all craft beers on our visit, except Guiness. Several custom-made beers are on the list from Pyramid, Roslyn, and Boundary Bay, as well as some reasonably local options.

Good wood-fired pizza plus burgers, salads, and some intriguing sounding appetizers constitute the menu.

                 

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Jun 25 / 9:58am

Review of Sailfish Bar and Grill / Twin Rivers Brewing Co., Monroe, WA

by Bob

Sailfish Bar and Grill / Twin Rivers Brewing Co.
104 N. Lewis Street
Monroe, WA 98272
United States
phone: (360) 794-4056

Overall Score: 88.3
Selection: 4.3 | Service: 4.8 | Atmosphere: 4.3 | Food: 5.0

The Sailfish Bar & Grill/Twin Rivers Brewing is in an unlikely location in small town western Washington, but it’s very definitely worth visiting. The Sailfish Bar & Grill is in a one story red brick building right in the center of old town Monroe, and it is really a smartly appointed restaurant, rather than a pub. But, they serve eight different good quality craft beers from Twin Rivers. The Twin Rivers Brewery (very tiny, from what you can see through the front window), is right next door in a flagstone and glass storefront. The beers are traditional both in style and in execution and are expertly made. The British-style IPA and the Russian Imperial Stout were both top-notch. There’s also quite a respectable wine list.

The bar itself is in an arched alcove and has a black painted wood surface and is flanked by tall black chairs with padded seats (black with a line of red piping trim). The bar area also has several booths with similar padded dark blue with red accent decor. And it is OK to come in here just for a beer.

The dining area has black wooden tables and chairs and is separated from the bar area by a low wall and the bar-area booths. The carpet throughout is an attractive dark charcoal grey with colored triangles and an accent stained-glass window style pattern. Walls are dark green and the ceiling is a dark red with ceiling fans, cream-colored beams, and a skylight in the middle. Good-sized windows line the front of the space. The open kitchen at the back has beautiful pots and pans on display. A mounted swordfish also decorates the back wall.

The food is superb. Seafood (calamari, mussels, shrimp, salmon) and steak in innovative and delicious plates dominate. The style covers the map from Italian to Asian. Our tempura prawns and the sauteed calamari with capers, olives, and tomatoes appetizers were wonderful, as was the caesar salad with cold-smoked salmon.

 
                 

 

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May 14 / 12:53pm

Some photos from Seattle Beer Week Kickoff Event at Hale's Ales

by Bob

The official cask was tapped a little late, but Hale's hosted a lively and enthusiastic opening event for this year's Seattle Beer Week. Cheers!

                                 

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Apr 9 / 7:36pm

The 8th Annual IPA Festival at Cooper's Alehouse (@CoopersAlehouse) in Seattle starts today.

by Bob
Cooper's Alehouse
8065 Lake City Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115
United States
phone: (206) 522-2923

The IPA Festival at Cooper's Alehouse runs from April 9th-30th. Over 50 IPA's are planned to be offered this year. The first week of the festival concentrates on IPA's from Washington state. The chalk board lists the beers expected to be on hand during the first week. In addition to those listed, we also found Anacortes IPA on tap today. They offer sampler trays of four 8oz servings, and have a special food menu with items designed to complement the flavor of IPA's. They also recently expanded their hours, and now open at 11:30AM daily. Cooper's Alehouse was the first Seattle tavern to concentrate on offering microbrewery beer, and this festival which is in its 8th year is well worth attending.

       
Click here to download:
The_8th_Annual_IPA_Festival_at.zip (552 KB)

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