Not too surprisingly, the birthday brewery tour reached the Hood Canal Brewery before we did.  I think we managed to find the hilliest route possible, though, so that slowed us down a little.  But we got a nice warm reception when we finally pedaled into the parking lot.  It looked like the brewery was in the middle of some construction work, but at least the taproom was open and serving beer.  The woman working there was very friendly, and she gave us a bonus taster.  So yeah, I liked this place.

Tasters at the Hood Canal Brewery — Kingston, WA

Rob’s Picks
• Dosewallips Special Ale – 4.8% –  Light and smooth.  Slightly creamy/oily on the tongue.  Great balance.  Sort of Pale Ale-ish.
• Bywater Bay ESB – 4.5% – Nice and light.  Maltier than the Dosewallips.  Slightly more bitter, but not so pronounced.  Kinda toasty flavor, though not bready.
• Dabob Bay IPA – 6% – Good crisp malty IPA.  Nice bitter hoppy finish.
• Big Beef Oatmeal Stout – 5% -Dark in color, but light on the tongue.  Dry coffee flavor.  I don’t think there’s any actual beef in this beer, though.
• Breidablik Barley Wine – 10.1% – Great strong beer.  Caramel and malty flavors.  Figgy finish.  Very drinkable, very dangerous.

The Rest
• Agate Pass Amber – 5.5% – Easy drinking amber. Slightly hoppy start but not too much.  Malty amber-ness.

The birthday brewery tour crew offered to put our bikes in the back of their van and give us a ride to the ferry, but we were still working our way through our tasters.  It was pretty tempting, though.  The Tour de Kitsap eventually continued on, after chugging a bunch of water, and we made it to Kingston in time for the 8:20 pm ferry to Edmonds.