Brew pub: The Pike Brewing Company
Location: In the heart of the market place

Being a complete newbie to the area is quite easy to miss. Its inside a mall like structure and once you walk in, you have to go downstairs to get to the pub.

Thank goodness for some decent signage!

Time of arrival: 5:30pm
The Atmosphere:
Without question, the incredible old tavern beer decore set the stage for a fantastic buzzing atmosphere.

The pub was filled with coroporate warriors, a ton of tourist and a handful of locals.

Pub story:
I usually include the back story from the brewery’s website however Pike’s story is crazy long. So if you want the detailed timeline, go check out, www.pikebrewing.com for details. According to their website they’ve been in business since the 1940s! With longevity like that you bet they are doing something right!

Tonight, I am straying away from my traditional sampler, I decided to go to a specific food and beer pairing approach tonight. I wasn’t feeling 100% and wanted to eat on the “lighter” side and opt’d for seafood dinner tonight. I am going with the brew pubs recommended beer and food pairing. So without further ado, here’s my line-up.

Starter:
Penn Cove Mussels

Taster’s notes:
3/4 lb steamed in a beer/white wine sauce with fresh herbs. I noticed after the fact that there was an option for a spicy coconut broth but my server didn’t even offer. Bad service start!. Despite that fact the plate looks absolutely beautiful. Taste morsels served with fresh baked sour dough which is fantastic with the sopped up broth. The mussels are extremely fresh. I typically don’t add anything extra to the chefs recipe but I decided to squeeze a touch of lemon on the mussels and it really drew out the flavors – I chased it with a swig of the amber.. DLISH!

The recommended pairing is Pike Pale, oddly enough it’s an amber ale

Beer: Pike Pale
Beer Style: Amber Ale
ABV: 4.5% IBU: 32 OG: 1.052
Brewer’s notes: Classic Full body ale with deep cooper color and nutty malt flavor. Well balanced with an herbaceous hop character.

Taster’s notes:
Not quite the classic amber color, good malty flavors balanced by a hop bite at the end. Virtually no head retention and no lacing. Even after aggressive agitation, the carbonation flatten quickly. This isn’t a brew I would order on its own but paired with the mussels, the flavors play very well together.

The second dish I went for is Pike’s ‘Famous’ Dungeness Crab Chowder. Dungeness crab combined with potatoes, celery green and red peppers, spices, cream and Pike Pale. Served with a multigrain dinner role and traditional oyster crackers.

You would think this is just about on par with typical clam chowder but the sweetness of the Dungeness Crab is really sets this apart from your ordinary chowder. I was pleased with the amount of crab in the chowder, definitely something I would order again. The pairing of the Amber ale and the crab chowder worked well. I would think that perhaps a traditional Pale Ale might have suited this combination better.

And now for my next brew….

Name: Pike IPA
Beer Style: India Pale Ale
IBU: 60 ABV: 6.5% og: 1.062
Brewers note: Deep Golden color with an assertive hop character and a delicate floral bouquet. Big and complex like life itself.

Taster’s notes: That’s probably the first brewer’s note that was right on the money with my assessment. I basically had to stick my nose in the beer to pick up on the aromas. I was a bit disappointed w/ the level of carbonation. Good hoppy flavors but not quite the hop blast I was hoping for. I might have to find something hoppier to satisfy my hoppy desires. Clearly not the correct pairing w/ the crab chowder although it opposing flavors work well for my pallet.

Ahhh.. My

entrée

is here: Oven Roasted Wild Salmon

Served with a compound butter, rice and market-fresh organic veggies (broccoli and peppers). The portion was rother small for the price tag of $18.95. The server accidentally goofed up and brought out a second cup of the crab chowder so I guess I’ll take advantage and enjoy it.

I cant quite place my finger on it, it almost reminds me of rice-o-roni back from my poor college days. The rice was poorly prepared; there were some hard grains here and there. I want to say that it was an attempt at a stirred fried rice of some sort.

The salmon is quite delicious. Not fishy at all, good texture with delicious delicate flavors. The veggies weren’t anything special, sure they’re organic but they could have spent a little time seasoning them up. Flash steamed or perhaps blanched, these veggies didn’t do this plate justice. I would have served grilled asparagus or perhaps sautéed mushrooms to compliment.

The IPA wasn’t the quite the right paring so I ordered up the recommended Naughty Nelly – Golden Ale, their house Pale Ale.

Name: Pike Naughty Nelly – Golden Ale
Beer Style: Pale Ale
IBU: 24 ABV: 4.7% OG: 1.048
Brewer’s notes: named for the madam that ran the LA Salle Hotel, light and curvy with plenty of sex appeal.

Taster’s notes: virtually no aroma, about zero head retention, a surprisingly balanced hops and malt flavors. Clean finish with no lingering taste. I had to clean my palette to make sure I gave it a good assessment (taking a sip of water..) Even after aggressive agitation, the head build up was virtually non-existent.

After a few more bites, I began to realize that the salmon wasn’t all that special..like I previously mentioned, im not one to add anything extra to a chef’s recipe, but this salmon really needed help. I squeezed some lemon in hopes that it would help but MEH.. nothing to get excited about.. So overall, it was OKAY but quite honestly the salmon plate wasn’t quite on par. I surely wouldn’t order it again and if you’re visiting Pike’s you shouldn’t either.

I gotta admit that after the 3 brews, I am feeling just a weee bit tipsy. I have roughly 2 miles to walk back so I think I’ll hold off here. I will however, return and give this place a second review. The styling of this pub is off the hook. I love it. From the outside you would never expect this set-up to be here

Overall Impressions:

To me, service can make or break a brew pub. Pike Brew Co is fortunately that they’ve been in business for so long because knuckleheads like my server could totally bring this place to its knees. The brews didn’t knock my socks off (yet), although I probably sampled some of the weakest brews in the house. I am without a doubt, going to come back and give this a place a second chance. My next line up will be a bit more traditional “Sooks” style and I’ll go for a custom sampler of some of the speciality brews along w/ the tradional pub fare.

I caught a decent buzz off the 3 pints I put back so my trip here isn’t a total loss. In terms of a future business, this is a good model to mimic, they atmosphere is kicking, a good buzz and mix of family crowd, happy hour worker bees and perhaps a local or two mixed in.

Stay tuned for Pikes part 2 next week!

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