December 30 was supposed to be mostly sunny — a good enough reason to end 2012 with one last (cold) brewery bike ride. The forecast apparently confused “mostly” with “minimally,” however, but at least it didn’t rain. The long-gestating Bellevue Brewing Company had finally opened earlier that month, and so a friend and I pedaled across the I-90 bridge and up through Bellevue to this welcoming new brewpub in the middle of a nondescript office park. There was a fairly lively crowd in the BBC watching a Seahawks game, but we left before half-time — after fueling up with a hot lunch and some cold beer, we felt optimistic enough to take the long way home via the 520, Sammamish River and Burke-Gilman trails over the north end of Lake Washington and wanted to get as much daylight as possible.

Bellevue Brewing samplers — Bellevue, WA

Rob’s Picks
• ESB – 5.6% – Sweet caramel start, then smooth maltiness, to nice balancing floral finish.
• Scotch Ale – 7.7% – Sweet, sweet caramel. Somewhat creamy on the tongue. Some “cashew/toffee” flavors (borrowing from their description), and slight herbal hoppy edge. Quite drinkable.
• IPA – 7.2% – Floral/piney aroma. Smooth, with prominent and lingering piney/grapefruit/floral hop flavor mix. Not too bitter. Subtle but good malty backbone.
• Oatmeal Stout – 5.8% – Coffee/chocolate aroma. Roasty coffee/chocolate and sweet caramel flavors. Very subtle sour mash undertone. Alcohol edge, too. Very flavorful but not over the top.

I’m looking forward to more from the BBC, but if I go by bike again I’ll make sure it’s a warmer, sunnier day.