Snoqualmie Falls Taproom

It's so easy to keep going to the same places in Seattle over and over again. With the abundance of great places to grab a pint that we can get to from a bus ride and a quick walk, it's tough to hop in a car and go anywhere for a drink. But it is always great fun heading out to the breweries away from town to see what is going on.

Snoqualmie Falls Brewery is located about a mile from the namesake falls in downtown Snoqualmie. It was just about a 20-minute drive after work from the Eastside on a Wednesday, not bad at all. Their 10th anniversary is approaching quickly, but they first opened the doors to their taproom about a year and half ago.

The taproom itself is a large, open area that is perfect for hanging out with a few pints and a bite to eat. The couple of times we've been there, it has been a mix of locals getting a pint and filling their growlers, and visitors like ourselves getting a sampler tray to try a little bit of everything in one visit.

Snoqualmie always does a great job with their brews. While you may have had their exceptional IPA, or some of their other distributed offerings, they do have a few beers poured only in their taproom:

Irish Oatmeal Stout - Served on nitro, this is one of the best interpretations of an oatmeal stout we've ever tried. Not overwhelming, just a nice, smooth stout with good roast. A little bit of coffee and chocolate taste. Very well made and makes for a beautiful pint.

Haystack Hefeweizen - Very nice wheat ale that is light and drinkable. Tastes of light banana with a faint sweetness.

Brewer's Choice - They always have a special beer on tap that changes very often. For our latest visit, it was the Bat Cave Black, an Armenian Imperial Stout. Lots of salty licorice in the taste, with roasted malt and a some coffee. A nice bitter finish. At 9.6% alcohol, a schooner was plenty. We think the next one was going to be an ESB called "Crystal Blue Persuasion"...sounds promising.

Seattlest's advice: Don't wait until your next visit to the waterfall to make it over to the brewery. It is well worth an evening/weekend afternoon drive to come out and drink some good beers.