My final brewery visit of 2013 was to West Seattle Brewing (their facebook page has a lot more information, such as their address). They had just recently opened in a pretty cool space but were not yet equipped to do taster flights, and so I ended up getting several schooners instead. And, well, unfortunately, three of the five beers I tried had an off flavor, almost a sour mash aspect that should not have been there. Best I could hope for was they’d fix that before my second-chance visit. And I’m very happy to say that they did in fact clean up their act, so to speak, by the time I finally revisited nine months later. They also had an upgraded system, logo glassware for sale, and were doing taster flights. I’d prefer to forget about that first experience, but I’m including the other two beers from that visit, and if anyone reading this also tried them early on and haven’t been back, then I would definitely recommend giving them another shot.

West Seattle Brewing taster flight — Seattle, WA

Rob’s Picks
• Bavarian Lite – Light and lager-y with a slight alcohol edge. Touch of smoke. Bit of clove, almost no banana. Light bitterness on finish. Easy drinking.
• Wheaten Pale Ale – Honey and caramel malts. Herbal hops with underlying citrus. Fairly sweet and pretty drinkable.
• Triangle Tripel – 9.2% – Caramel malt with very light alcohol edge. Citrus hops. Nice sweetness and subtle coriander.
• House IPA – 7.2% – Big tropical fruit, light herbal and earthy hops. Good caramel backbone.
• Dunkelweiss – Big roastiness to light citrusy finish. Light on the tongue. Refreshing.
• Imperial Stout – Coffee/chocolate and roasty malts, with a touch of molasses. Alcohol edge and dark chocolate bitterness. Not too thick and pretty sharp.
• Road Rage Red – Big citrus and earthy hops. Lots of malt to back it up. Some lingering bitterness.
• Wieting Pils – 5.2% – Light. Lighlty bready, bit of honey, light herbal hops, light bitter edge.

The Rest
• American Wheat – Light, lemon-y, some breadiness. Herbal hops. Somewhat tea-like.
• Ratteburg – Sweet bubblegum and banana start to herbal hop finish. Tannic. Light caramel, pretty smooth, and a touch of bitterness. Not bad but not my thing.
• Honey Pale Ale – 5% – Honey and caramel up front. Light herbal hops, with some bitterness on the finish. A little too sweet for me, though.
• W ESB – Pretty well-balanced. Floral, herbal, light citrus hops. Caramel, toast, biscuit malt. Subtle honey/sugar sweetness on finish. Fairly bitter. But not quite my thing.

And there you have it, folks, my last 2013 brewery in my last 2014 post. Next up will be a summary of 2014 and 2015 stuff. So much to look forward to in the new year!