Another bike ride, another brewery. This time it was only 50 miles, around the north half of Lake Washington, with a final destination of the Black Raven Brewing taproom. Got the obligatory sampler tray and yet another logo pint glass. I’m starting to run out shelf space with all these pint glasses. Sheesh. They don’t do food, but you can order from the pizza/calzone/etc place next door, and they’ll walk it over to you. The delivery guy shows up every 20 minutes or so with orders, so you have to pay attention or else some other hungry patron might grab your food…

Black Raven Brewing’s stylish taster tray + 2 — Redmond, WA

Rob’s Picks
• Hochzeitbier Pilsner – Small batch. Good. Clean, crisp, and light with a hoppy edge, but not the usual bready pils taste. German for “wedding beer.” 5.7%
• Trickster Northwest IPA – Not quite as crisp as I usually like but good. 6.8%
• Tamerlane Brown Porter – Awesome. Very drinkable. Great finish. 5.8%

The Rest
• Sunthief Kristallweizen – Very light. Maybe too light for me. Filtered. My iPhone tried to correct the spelling of the name to “Kristallnacht.” 4.8%
• Hefeweizen – Sweet. Ok. Drinkable. 4.8%
• Totem Pale Ale – Interesting. Strong hoppy flavor — they say citrusy, I say floral. 5.8%
• La Petite Mort 2010 – Seasonal. Pretty good Belgian, but not nearly as good as Big Al’s. A little light on flavor but it does the job. 8.8%
• Hoppy Fruit Ale Cask – Small batch. Thankfully not quite as fruity as advertised. Strongest flavor is ginger. Sampler is fine, though — a pint would be too much.

All in all, Black Raven’s a cool spot. Makes it tempting to visit the Redmond Vertical World more often because it’s just a block away — convenient for post-climbing beers.