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Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition Nov 20-22
This past weekend turned out to be the perfect time to head to The Methow Valley, which is way out east of North Cascades National Park. The crowds were thin after Memorial Day weekend, the weather was beautiful (but hot) and the drive was amazing.
Any trip Seattlest takes usually involves checking out local brewpubs, and often some wineries (gasp!). With that in mind, we made sure to look up directions to Winthrop Brewing and the Twisp River Pub, our 2 beer destinations for the weekend.
We took Highway 20 through the park and stayed in Winthrop, WA on Saturday night. Much of the 5 hour drive was absolutely beautiful, and the sights alone were worth the trip.
Upon arrival in Winthrop, we wandered into the old school house where Winthrop Brewing is now located. We sat at the bar and confused the bartender a bit when we ordered a sample platter with all 13 of their beers. Most of their beers were very solid, with a few standouts. The 2002 vintage of their Tombstone barley wine was fantastic. The Two Rivers IPA was extremely hoppy and could hold up to any PNW IPA. With 13 of their own beers on tap, it should not be hard to find something you like in here.
This place was definitely a dive, but we loved it. The guy at the bar next to us was drinking off the pain from getting hit with pellet spray from a shotgun in the back of his head at his own bachelor party earlier that day. He was happy as hell to see us sampling all the beers and took a picture with his phone. We really enjoyed the place, but it was nap time after finishing off 13 - 5oz beer samples.
Later that evening we made the short drive to the town of Twisp. The Twisp River Pub (Methow Valley Brewing) is located near the entrance to town and is a great place to stop for dinner and beers. For being out in the middle of nowhere, the pub itself is very nice and has a great patio right on the river. The food was surprisingly good, and the beer was enjoyable. Their Schwarz, a black German lager, was outstanding. It tasted a bit smokey, with hints of chocolate and a little roasted malt. For such a dark beer, it is amazingly refreshing and clean; we could drink this all day long on a hot summer day.
Their IPA was the complete opposite of Winthrop's though; easily one of the worst we have tried in the PNW.
Read about the drive home after the break.
On Sunday, we drove up to the Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop. Instead of paying $200/night for a room, we opted to just come up and have breakfast at their award winning restaurant. After visiting, we understand why a stay is so expensive. The lodge has absolutely beautiful views and looks like a top notch place to stay while in the Methow Valley. We watched a deer eating berries on the mountain side below us while we ate our breakfast....yeah, that's pretty cool.
We opted to drive back to Seattle via Highway 2, so that we could see some different sights on the way home. We stopped in the faux German village of Leavenworth to do some shopping and taste a little wine. Leavenworth was interesting, but a bit scary....
The drive through Steven's Pass was breathtaking and speedy, until we hit stand-still traffic near Mt. Index. While sitting there, we were tempted to break into the growler of Schwarz we were bringing back. We decided that would be a bad idea; damn common sense.
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Looks like an amazing trip. I'm adding it to my calendar. By the way, LOVING the beer posts Geoff!
It was indeed a great trip....I'd love to go back and camp in North Cascades park. What a beautiful place.
Glad you are enjoying the beer posts...I'm enjoying writing them!
There's nothing like a weekend beer adventure, but it can't really qualify unless you hit 3 or more beer destinations on the trip. You were so close too, considering you blew right past Birdsview Brewery just up the hill from Sedro Woolley. Sounds like fun none-the-less.
If you want to see the ultimate beer adventure, I highly recommend the documentary American Beer.
Thanks for the tip on American Beer, Saxtor. It's now at the top of my Netflix queue....
We definitely would have stopped at Birdsview, but we left pretty early for the long drive and it was 9am when we were in the vicinity.
We also wanted to stop at Cashmere Brewery (near Leavenworth), but they were closed on Sunday. Oh well....next time.