In the world of beer, one word is growing in popular recognition. And, perhaps surprisingly, it’s not a style or a brewery. It is, rather, the title of beer expert: a cicerone.
It’s the beer equivalent of sommelier, or wine expert. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, perhaps you haven’t. But what is a cicerone, exactly? How does a person become one, and what happens after that?
Read MoreBefore the Industrial Revolution, women ruled the beer-brewing world. It’s true. The act, associated with the kitchen primarily, was handled mostly by women, who first brewed beer for their families, then for their communities, and later, when a little money was available, for paying customers in tap houses.
Read MoreIn many ways, the Pacific Northwest is leading the craft beer movement. Washington’s Yakima Valley is the largest producer of hops in the world and the number of craft breweries in the Seattle and Portland areas are growing faster than you can say, “Imperial IPA.”
Read MoreLook around. Seattle is getting more and more sterile with its prefabricated buildings, gentrified neighborhoods, and predictable cement-floor-and-exposed-pipe taphouses. The new wave of hangouts in this city are elaborate but often underwhelming. Where is the unique, the halting, the rugged? If you’re a beer drinker, where can you go to have a frosty pint that’s not out of a glossy magazine? Well, Beer Hunting has you covered with five great local dive bars (all of which also offer live music) where you can feel like you’re in an old-fashioned saloon.
Read MoreThe Old Fashioned is, well, old-fashioned. But it’s also a drink experiencing a resurgence, in part thanks to its role in the dearly departed television series Mad Men. The drink, in a way, is a perfect metaphor for star character Don Draper: Its appearance is handsome, even bright. And it drinks with that edge that only rye whiskey offers, with a touch of well-worn sweetness.
Started by brewmaster Manny Chao 11 years ago, Georgetown Brewing is located in an unassuming industrial building in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. Large yellow and black sliding doors open into the tap room stocked with nine beers on tap, from Chopper's Red Ale to Roger's Pilsner to, yes, Manny's Pale Ale. Plus, a wall full of growlers. Samples here are free, but there are no sit-down pint sales.
Behind the taproom stand tall, pristine silver vats that make the brewing room feel much like a Willy Wonka laboratory. Manny recently showed Eater around the space and answered a few questions in the back office (where Tootsie pops and granola bars litter the shelves).
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