The original plan for Tour de Kitsap 2 was to visit the Silver City taproom in Bremerton after a brief stop at Slippery Pig, but the brief stop turned into a three hour tasting session — they had six beers on tap that I wanted to sample, and then a friend I hadn’t seen in a few years coincidentally showed up, and, well, the time just disappeared.  Finally refocusing on the bike trip, I pedaled as quickly as I could from Poulsbo straight south to Silverdale, home of the Silver City Brewpub.  For some reason I was dead set on visiting the fairly new taproom at their production brewery in Bremerton, and so I kept on pedaling, but by the time I got close it was 7:40 pm, and they closed at 8:00.  And I was hungry.  Finally resigned to changing my plan, I consulted Google Maps on my phone, and plowed my way through a less-than-bicycle-friendly route across northwest Bremerton until I found a reasonable, though hilly, east-west street, and reached Der Blokken (their facebook page is more up-to-date) at 8:40.  Ferries back to Seattle that night left at 9:05 and 11:40.  Harumph!  I was too hungry to be tempted by the 9:05, and so I convinced myself that the 11:40 wouldn’t be so bad.  I ordered a very tasty and astonishingly filling portobello sandwich and a taster set of Der Blokken beers.  In addition to their own brews, they had a really good selection of other beers on tap.

Update! Made it back for one more beer after Tour de Kitsap 3 in September 2012. Was going to try a different route across Bremerton, but the biking directions app recommended pretty much the same way I’d gone before. Decided to go with the devil I knew. Der Blokken was much more happening this time around, fortunately, even though it was a week night. A bike mechanic sitting at the bar near me nodded his head sadly when I mentioned my sub-optimal trans-Bremerton biking experiences but did say that things were improving. So maybe Tour de Kitsap 4 won’t be quite as exciting. I can only hope.

Taster set of Der Blokken beers — Bremerton, WA

Rob’s Picks
• Pactolian Pale Ale – 5.6% – Citrus aroma. Good strong maltiness with a hoppy complement. Caramel and subtle citrus flavors, too.
• Cast-over Belgian Gold – 8.5% – Pretty light body for such a strong beer.  Banana/clove and caramel flavors, with a bit of an alcohol edge.  A light tripel.
• Sacred Hop Double IPA – 8% – Floral aroma.  Smooth, floral, with a nice malty base, and a bit of caramel, as well.

The Rest
• Mutha Hefe – 5.6% – Strong sweet banana/clove flavor to bready finish.  Little too Bavarian for me.
• Black Porter Stout – 6.5% – Interesting.  Somewhat dry, but not too much.  Bit of sweetness, bit of coffee flavor.
• Autumn Scotch – 6.4% – Fairly sweet, with caramel flavor.  Malty base.  Very smooth, but with an edge that I couldn’t quite place.

The 2+ hours at Der Blokken went by somewhat slowly.  It was not quite how I envisioned the day’s ride would wrap up, with me sitting by myself at a mostly empty bar in Bremerton until 11:00 pm, waiting for a ferry that would eventually get me home at 1:00 am.  I have to admit, the first Tour de Kitsap was way better.  Sigh.  One of these days, however, there’s going to be a third Tour, to bag the elusive Silver City, as well as the brand new Slaughter County Brewing Company in Port Orchard.  It would be nice to include the new 7 Seas taproom down in Gig Harbor, but that probably won’t be open until the end of the year.  Then again, if I limit the number of breweries to two, maybe I’ll actually get home at a reasonable time.  Crazy talk, I know.