The late March brewery bike ride, which started with lunch at the Airways Bistro and Taproom in Kent followed by a late afternoon tasting at M.T. Head in Graham, finally reached its third and final destination in Puyallup at the Puyallup River Alehouse. Puyallup River Brewing itself isn’t open to the public, but everything they make is on tap at their Alehouse, along with a good selection of other beers (24 taps total). Would’ve been nice to have had a relaxing tasting here, but we only had about 20 minutes to try seven beers (six from Puyallup River and one from M.T. Head) and stuff our faces with free popcorn before hopping on the bikes again to reach Tacoma in time for a late night bus back to Seattle.

Puyallup River Brewing tasters at Puyallup River Alehouse — Puyallup, WA

Rob’s Picks
• Electron IPA – 7.3% – Great citrusy hop flavor and fairly assertive malt base. Excellent balance.
• Lahar Imperial IPA – 10% – Really smooth. Bit of floral hop flavor with well-balanced malt to a somewhat bitter finish. Doesn’t taste 10%.
• Point Success Porter – 6.4% – Coffee aroma and flavor. Subtle banana/clove flavor, as well. Interesting mix. Kinda dry finish.
• St. Paddy’s Day Stout – 5.8% – Pretty solid dry stout with good coffee flavor. Very drinkable.

The Rest
• Frying Pan Cascadian Red – 7.4% – Light and crisp. Caramel maltiness to bitter finish.
• Paradise Blonde Saison – 5.5% – Strong banana/clove start. Smooth, almost creamy. Bit of barnyard on finish.

I don’t get to Puyallup much, but it’s good to know they have a quality beer bar there. Next time I’m passing through (still need to visit Elk Head in Buckley), I’ll definitely stop in for a less rushed sampling session, knock on wood.