Tag Archives: beer

Last beer on earth: Outer Planet Brewing marks last days in Capitol Hill’s shrinking craft beer universe

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Outer Planet’s final creation: the Golden Record DIPA with Peach (Image: Outer Planet)

The days of craft brewing Seattle beer in the core of the city on Capitol Hill are probably done. This week, tiny Outer Planet Brewing is marking its final rotations on 12th Ave.

“It’s hardly viable to run a craft brewery when the costs are what they are on the Hill,” co-owner Gabriel Villenave tells CHS. ”

Smaller breweries closing, consolidation of larger breweries taking over,” Villenave says is the general trend in the industry anyhow.

Outer Planet is set to close for good Saturday after giving neighbors and patrons a few weeks to say goodbye. Continue reading →

Fostering communities and open mics, Capitol Hill’s Hopvine Pub is turning 30

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Summer will end on Capitol Hill with one of the neighborhood’s most enduring beer institutions preparing to mark a significant milestone. In September, Hopvine Pub will celebrate 30 years of pouring craft beers, serving comfort food, and fostering communities and open mics at its 15th Ave location.

The story of the Hopvine is fully linked to Seattle’s craft beer revolution. When owner Bob Brenlin first opened the doors in 1995, the city’s beer landscape looked dramatically different.

“Back in ’95, we were one of the first places focusing exclusively on local microbrews,” Brenlin recalls, leaning against the well-worn bar that has borne witness to three decades of stories. Continue reading →

A rare mix of mixed-use and beer-making, Capitol Hill Redhook brewery and taproom to close

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(Image: Redhook Brewlab)

It took a few marvels of engineering to squeeze it in there but the Redhook microbrewery below Capitol Hill’s Pike Motorworks mixed-use development is shutting down after eight years of beer making on E Pike.

Tilray, the “leading global cannabis-lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company” that acquired the brewery and taproom along with the Redhook brand in a $85 million deal with industry giant Anheuser-Busch in the summer of 2023, says it is looking for a new location but did not provide an explanation for the shutdown. Continue reading →

Chuck’s Hop Shop CD has lots a beer, a new ‘crappy food’ menu, and still room for food trucks — including Jackson’s Catfish Corner

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(Image: Chuck’s CD)


 

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Chuck’s Hop Shop CD is mostly about beers on tap and refrigerated cases of brews from across the region and nation. After 11 years on E Union, it is ready to move beyond the glizzy when it comes to the food it serves to help soak up all those hops. It is upgrading its pretzels, too.

“We’re thrilled to announce that we’re leaving behind our outdated crappy food and bringing you some exciting changes!,” the Chuck’s CD announcement reads.

The new Chuck’s CD menu now includes a French Dip Sandwich with “Mama Lil’s Peppers, Boar’s Head roast beef, havarti, creamy horseradish, and a side of hot au jus” and two versions of the classic Reuben Sandwich. “For those who love meat, we have a corned beef version, while our veggie-friendly option features a pickled beet Reuben,” Chuck’s says. Continue reading →

As Capitol Hill’s smallest brewery turns 10, the search for new ownership to pilot Outer Planet begins

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(Image: Outer Planet)

By Matt Dowell

Outer Planet Brewing’s next trip around the sun may be an interesting one.

As Capitol Hill’s smallest brewery marks its 10th anniversary this week, ownership has decided not to renew Outer Planet’s 12th Ave lease which is coming to an end this summer. The decision adds a wobble to the neighborhood beer community’s orbit.

“This place, from the start, has been a neighborhood spot. It’s small, it’s cozy, it’s unpretentious. People, especially within a few blocks radius, have been coming here since the beginning,” co-owner Gabriel Villenave said. “We have a very strong regular community. Some were here on opening day ten years ago.”

The ownership recipe at the Capitol Hill nanobrewery squeezed in a 12th Ave micro-apartment building has changed before with new owners joining co-founder Renato Martins over the years.

There are a few factors at play in the search for new brewers to captain the Outer Planet ship including one well known black hole.

“The pandemic really fucked things up,” said Martins. Continue reading →

With Georgetown shutdown, Elysian Brewing doubling down on overhaul of its ‘beloved’ Capitol Hill original — UPDATE

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It appears there might be some smoke and mirrors involved in the news Elysian Brewing is shutting down its Georgetown facility and taproom to focus on its original Capitol Hill location.

Multiple outlets including the Washington Beer Blog have reported on beer giant Anheuser-Busch’s to shutter the Georgetown facility and cut up to 90 jobs as 2024 draws to an end. Reportedly, AB InBev is spinning the shutdown as a renewal of investment in its original E Pike brewery.

“We opened the doors of our Capitol Hill Brewery & Pub in 1996, and since then, it’s been the heart and soul of Elysian,” an Elysian spokesperson is reportedly telling media. “This $1.7 million investment — the largest we’ve ever made in our flagship location — will ensure that our Capitol Hill Brewery & Pub continues to be a gathering place for beer lovers into the future and we’re proud to continue brewing locally and serving our beloved Capitol Hill community.”

It appears that Elysian’s $1.7 million has already been spent. UPDATE: An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson assures CHS that its investment will be a additional spend beyond the overhaul of the Capitol Hill facility. Continue reading →

With Bok a Bok-Stoup link, you can now order Korean fried chicken to your Capitol Hill beer hall table

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(Image: Bok a Bok)

You can now order food that will be brought to your table inside one of the great hangout spaces on Capitol Hill.

Yes, Stoup Brewing Capitol Hill has invented… the restaurant.

It’s more fun than that.

Thanks to the new partnership, you can order from nearby Bok a Bok and have your Korean fried chicken delivered to you at the E Union beer hall with QR codes with promised “secret deals” on the Stoup tables.

As an added bonus, according to this post to the CHS Facebook group, the food will be brought over to the brewery across the couple blocks of Pike/Pine by a Bok a Bok employee and not a delivery driver. Meanwhile, Stoup Capitol Hill’s schedule of food trucks including Birrieria Pepe El Toro, Bella M’Briana, El Gran Taco, MexiCuban, and Tummy Yummy Thai is still in rotation.

Meanwhile, you can also still order Bok a Bok at its 10th Ave counter or inside The Runaway bar.

The pairing marks a new connection for Bok a Bok which moved into the neighborhood next to Neumos in 2017. Stoup, meanwhile, celebrated its 2023 move into the neighborhood by releasing its first Capitol Hill-brewed IPA earlier this winter.

Stoup Capitol Hill is located at 1158 Broadway.

 

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The Last Drop: One of Capitol Hill’s favorite coffee spaces is now dedicated to beer

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A popular Pike/Pine cafe space has cracked open a new life as a Capitol Hill beer hall and bottle shop.

The Last Drop has expanded from its Maple Leaf neighborhood roots and is now open on E Pike in the former home of Alaska-based coffee company Kaladi Brothers.

The new beer venue includes plenty of tables and chairs with creations from multiple breweries on tap plus bottles and cans for purchase. It fits into the area’s beer community just a little more bottle shop than the Pine Box on the Chuck’s end of the beer bar spectrum. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Stoup Brewing celebrates Capitol Hill Magic Hazy IPA, its first brew at Broadway and Union

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Stoup Brewing has made its first Capitol Hill beer.. The decade-old Seattle microbrewery that expanded onto the Hill last year with its acquisition of the neighborhood’s Optimism Brewing held a party Thursday marking the release of its new Capitol Hill Magic Hazy IPA.

“We went through a whole lot of it last night which we must say felt pretty damn good,” Stoup posted about the fun. Continue reading →

The Last Drop opening new beer shop and tap hall on Capitol Hill

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(Image: The Last Drop)

The Maple Leaf original (Image: The Last Drop)

With plans for a preservation minded redevelopment of the block now fully paused, Seattle bottle shop and beer hall The Last Drop is growing onto Capitol Hill after years serving the Roosevelt, Ravenna, and Maple Leaf neighborhoods.

The new Last Drop expansion from Seattle beer and pub entrepreneur Seth Howard is set to open soon in the 500 block of E Pike taking over the two-level cafe space left empty by Kaladi Brothers Coffee’s 2023 exit.

The Last Drop opened in the Maple Leaf neighborhood in 2011 and features beer on tap as well as a bottle shop featuring local craft brewers and imports. Howard is also part of ownership behind 2nd Ave’s Collins Pub and the College Inn Pub in the U District. Continue reading →