I feel a little guilty about writing a post on Urban Family Brewery and Public House because I haven’t done my usual gung-ho outdoorsy whatevers when visiting them. One of these days I’ll have to put the blinders on when biking to Ballard and not get distracted by the dozen or so other breweries en route. Life is hard sometimes. Anyway, like Naked City, Urban Family opened a pretty cool alehouse while planning the brewery side of the business. Unlike Naked City, they first focused more on non-PNW beers, although now there’s more of a balance between local and European offerings. After what seemed like forever, they finally got the brewery going. First beer was a saison, so yeah, they’re ambitious.

Urban Family’s first born, Le Vagabond — Seattle, WA

Rob’s Picks
• Paint It Black – 5.6% – Color is pretty darn black. Citrusy aroma with a hint of roastiness. Roasty malt forward, with some citrus hop flavor throughout. Light on the tongue, but fairly rich. Great lingering flavors.
• Muscles from Brussels – 5.5% – Belgian pale ale. Banana/clove and earthy aroma. Good mix of banana/clove flavors with biscuity maltiness, with underlying and lingering earthiness that balances other flavors well.
• Low Hangin’ Fruit IPA – 6.9% – Golden amber color, unfiltered. Made with Belgian yeast, so not your usual IPA. Interesting mix of citrus (mainly grapefruit), funk, and bitterness — same goes for the aroma.
• Lee Road Pale Ale – 5% – Floral aroma, but not as strong in flavor. Nice toasty maltiness that balances light floral hoppiness nicely. Bit of a dry finish, with a little bitterness but not too much.
• Red Derby Porter – 5% – Creamy, with strong coffee flavor, some honey/caramel sweetness, and a touch of dryness on the finish. Really drinkable.
• Le Vagabond Saison – 5.75% – Nice little saison, especially for a first beer. Banana/clove in the aroma. Lots of subtle flavors: clove (not so much banana, interestingly enough), bit of coriander, slight dry rye-ness, bit of alcohol edge.

The Rest
• 1885 – 5% – Scottish pale ale. Toasty aroma with a bit of sharpness to it. Very toasty flavor, sweet, with an herbal hoppiness. Interesting mix of flavors. Some lingering bitterness that builds up.

Last couple of their beers I’ve had were on tap elsewhere, so it’s good to see they’re continuing to expand. At one point I heard they were thinking of moving the brewing side of things to a separate location from the alehouse. Maybe I should put on those blinders, bike out there, and find out.