Ultimate list: Here are the top 15 beers of Snohomish County

Published 1:30 am Saturday, April 21, 2018

When it comes to beer lists, “best of” lists are bunk.

Who can say what beer is truly best? What does that even mean anyway? Best tasting? Most drinkable? Most interesting? And how do you rate beers that aren’t in production against beers on tap now?

The whole thing is a fool’s errand. So, of course, I offered to write one.

Craft beer enthusiasts are a fickle bunch. One minute dank, bitter bomb Northwest-style IPAs are en vogue, the next it’s hazy, juicy New England-style IPAs that everyone’s drinking. Styles come (farmhouse ale, anyone?) and styles go (buh-bye, ESB). What folks are drinking today will likely be collecting dust on the back of a shelf in a few months.

In making this list, I tried to look at the entire oeuvre of the 30-plus breweries that have called Snohomish County home since Scuttlebutt and Diamond Knot started brewing in the late 1990s.

It wasn’t an easy task. Scuttlebutt and Diamond Knot were the pioneers of an industry that has mushroomed to include not only dozens of breweries in the county, but also one of the best home brewer’s clubs in the state, the Greater Everett Brewer’s League. Trying to collect all of the beers those breweries have brewed over the years is a job for Sisyphus.

Attempting to then pick beers from that list is a downright quixotic enterprise.

I decided to call this list the “ultimate” beers of Snohomish County rather than the best. I think “the best” is too subjective and really fairly flat. It seems to take in only one characteristic of the beer: taste.

In making this list, I wanted to encapsulate more about these beers than just taste. I wanted to factor in their history and how they represent our region’s beer culture. How iconic is the beer to Snohomish County? When you think of a style, does that particular beer spring to mind? I felt it was important to think about the creativity that went into making the beer as well as the craftsmanship. Oh, and, of course, taste.

There are up-andcoming brewers on this list and brewers that have been brewing in the county for 20-plus years. There are beers that just came out this year as well as beers that have been gracing grocery store shelves for decades. I tried to remain objective and take out recency bias. I can’t say I completely succeeded at that, but I tried.

To create the lists, I pored over tap lists, social media posts and Untappd listings. I asked brewers, bottle shop owners and friends in craft beer for their favorite beers. I took those beers and separated them into styles and got down to work choosing which ones I felt were the “ultimate” beers of any style. My picks were made using a number of factors, including feedback from brewers and friends, beer awards and rankings, and, ultimately, my own history with craft beer in the county.

So grab a pint of your ultimate beer and read about the Ultimate Beers of Snohomish County.

ULTIMATE: AMERICAN ALE

Traction Control Cream Ale, Whitewall Brewing

This is a deep and wide category, but this simple and flavorful cream ale from Marysville’s Whitewall takes it for nailing an easy-to-miss style. This cream ale was one of the first beers this brewery put on tap when it opened in 2013 and it won a gold at last year’s Washington Beer Awards, an honor brewers Sean Wallner and Aaron Wight were particularly proud. “You can’t hide anything in that beer,” Wallner said.

Find it: On tap at the brewery.

Honorable mention: Coconut Blonde, Scrappy Punk; Amber’s Hot Friend, Skookum; You’re My Boy, Blue Amber Ale, Middleton

ULTIMATE: HAZY IPA

Double Citra Jack, Skookum Brewing

Half of the list of hazy IPAs was made up of Skookum beers, most of them brewed this year. There were too many to choose from, so I listened to the crowd, including Skookum head brewer Hollis Wood, and went with the consensus. Double Citra Jack is a love letter to the hop that helps create the big tropical juicy notes in many of the hazy IPAs. Double Citra Jack is everything you want from a hazy IPA: lush, notes of tropical fruit in the nose and mouth, and a small bitter punch at the end. Though hazy IPAs, or New England IPAs, were the trendy beers of 2017, Wood has been brewing them since 2015. He’s brewed more than 100 of them, and the style has replaced more Northwest- or West Coast-style IPAs as the brewery’s default IPA style. “Haze is the result of our process of providing the most flavor, aromatics and mouthfeel we can pack into an IPA,” Wood said. Mission accomplished. Also check out Skookum’s Image of Objects, Glow Inc. and Gene Pool.

Find it: On tap at the brewery at select times.

Honorable mention: The Chicago Typewriter, At Large; Juice Groove, 5 Rights; Gypsywolf, Dreadnought

ULTIMATE: STOUT

Putin Out Stout, Crucible Brewing

I love a lot of things this Everett brewery does, but nothing as much as this Russian imperial stout. Smooth and roasty, with a slight sweetness, this beer is as deep and dark as a winter in St. Petersburg. Get it on nitro if you can, or better yet, in its barrel-aged form.

Find it: On tap at the brewery.

Honorable mention: Murder of Crows, Skookum; Blackfish Stout, Scuttlebutt

ULTIMATE: SUMMER BEER

Easy Island Blonde, Naked City Camano

Nothing says summer like spending time on the island. This light, flavorful blonde was brewed as part of Naked City’s Easy Island series when the Seattle brewery opened a new location on Camano Island. Made with pilsner malts from Skagit Valley Malting, this beer has a burst of hops and a strong malt character, while at the same time being refreshing.

Find it: On tap seasonally at the brewery’s Camano location.

Honorable mention: Binnacle Summer Ale, Diamond Knot; Cit-Bay Ale, Sno-Town

ULTIMATE: PORTER

Possession Porter, Diamond Knot Craft Brewing

Look out the front doors of Diamond Knot’s original location in Mukilteo, and you’ll spy Possession Sound. This beer is as deep and dark as its waters. Not sacrificing drinkability for flavor, this porter uses molasses to give it a nice, sweet balance to go with a roasty, dry finish.

Find it: On tap and in 22-ounce bottles.

Honorable mention: Peanut Butter Porter, Lost Canoe Brewery; Truck Nuts Porter, Whitewall; Pilchuck Porter, Lake Stevens Brewing

ULTIMATE: BELGIAN BEER

White & Nerdy, Justice Brewing

Some beers are made in the unlikeliest of places. Justice’s Nate McLaughlin brewed this Belgian witbier, along with a number of barrel-aged sours, in a tiny outbuilding in a north Everett neighborhood for years. Brewed with Citra hops and orange peel, this isn’t your everyday Belgian beer — not that McLaughlin brews anything that could be described as everyday. It is a light-bodied, fruity, hoppy and delicious Belgian beer.

Find it: On tap at Malt and Vine and AFK Tavern for a limited time.

Honorable mention: Celebration Saison, 5 Rights; Raspberry Moeite, Scuttlebutt

ULTIMATE: IPA

Hoppy as a Clam, Sound to Summit Brewing

This had to be the most competitive category. There were IPAs that have been around seemingly forever, like Diamond Knot’s Northwest-style IPA to new IPAs from hop denizens such as Skookum and At Large. So why a West Coast-style IPA from a newcomer like Snohomish’s Sound to Summit? Because nothing says Northwest like IPAs and Ivar’s. Sound to Summit brewer Grady Warnock created this beer at the behest of the iconic Puget Sound seafood restaurant and brewed a fruity and dry IPA with all Washington ingredients. It’s what every IPA should be: drinkable, hoppy and the perfect complement to food.

Find it: On tap at Sound to Summit and select Ivar’s locations.

Honorable mention: Jackass IPA, Skookum; IPA, Diamond Knot; Pocketful of Gold IPA, Decibel; Best Friends IPA, Scrappy Punk; Hitting On All 6, At Large

ULTIMATE: SPICY BEER

Jalapeno Tripel 7, Scuttlebutt Brewing

If they pair some type of spicy element in a beer, most brewers will brew a lighter ale or lager to let the spiciness breathe. Not Matt Stromberg at Scuttlebutt. He turned to the brewery’s Tripel 7 Belgian-style ale to create a spicy beer that has big flavor while also being refreshing. Using jalapeno and serrano peppers, the beer has a dramatic nose of heat, while the sweeter flavor of the Belgian yeast mingles with the spiciness and refreshes the palate. It’s a beer that shows the ingenuity of local brewers and has become a staple for this Everett brewery.

Find it: On tap and in 22-ounce bottles at the brewery and local bottleshops.

Honorable mention: Packing Heat, At Large; Nothing Gose Unpunished, Crucible; Mierda Fuego, Middleton Brewing

ULTIMATE: ENGLISH BEER

Anniversary Ale, Foggy Noggin Brewing

Foggy Noggin owner Jim Jamison has brought a little bit of jolly olde England to his brewery in rural Snohomish County near Bothell. His tiny operation uses only English ingredients like Maris Otter malt and U.K. Golding hops. Even the water’s pH level is dialed in to taste like water from London. His Anniversary Ale is a classic English old ale that has been brewed with the same recipe ever since the brewery opened in 2010. The beer is just what you want from an English ale: a strong malty backbone, earthy hoppiness and a light bready flavor. Thankfully, Jamison makes it every year.

Find it: 22-ounce bottles at the brewery, including past years.

Honorable mention: Fire Trail Old Ale, Whitewall; The Keeper’s Old Ale, Diamond Knot

ULTIMATE: CANDY BEER

Breakfast First, Middleton Brewing

Who else should win this category but Geoff Middleton? The madman behind Middleton Brewing will confidently put anything in a brite tank and let his beers marinate with it. Case in point is this beer. Forget extracts and fake flavors — Middleton dumped boxes of Cookie Crisp cereal into the brite tank and let his oatmeal stout rest on it. The result is something your 6-year-old self would love.

Find it: On tap at the brewery at select times.

Honorable mention: Butterfinger Brown, Justice; Cease and Desist Skittles IPA, Foggy Noggin

ULTIMATE: SOUR BEER

First Light Apricot Sour, Spada Farmhouse Brewery

Few brewers in the state, never mind the county, are making sours as well as John Spada at one of Snohomish’s newest breweries. This elegant apricot sour is the zenith of his powers. Oak barrel-fermented with Brettanomyces, Pediococcus and Saison yeast, the beer’s funkiness is elevated to give the apricot’s tartness the spotlight it deserves.

Find it: On tap at the brewery.

Honorable mention: Pink Drink Raspberry Sour, Crucible; Didactic, Justice

ULTIMATE: WINTER BEER

Mistletoe Bliss, Lazy Boy Brewing

When the temperature starts to plummet, you can always count on seeing the rotund Santa on Lazy Boy’s green labels gracing shelves around Snohomish County. The beer itself has changed over time, but last year Lazy Boy owner Shawn Loring changed the recipe back to its original conception, from an imperial brown to an English mild ale with a hoppy finish. Unlike most winter ales, Mistletoe Bliss is drinkable and approachable for even the most rookie of craft beer drinkers.

Find it: On tap and in 22-ounce bottles seasonally.

Honorable mention: Ho! Ho! Winter Ale, Diamond Knot; Barren Wood Barleywine, Skookum; 10 Below, Scuttlebutt

ULTIMATE: BARREL-AGED BEER

Barrel-aged Breakfast Stout, Skookum Brewery

This beer is a revelation. Aged in bourbon barrels for a year and finished on cold pressed coffee, this version of the brewery’s Breakfast Stout has notes of oak, bourbon, vanilla and coffee. At 10-plus ABV, this one ain’t for breakfast.

Find it: On tap and in 12-ounce bottles at the brewery.

Honorable mention: Wild Willy Wee Heavy, Sound to Summit; 20th Anniversary Russian Imperial Stout, Scuttlebutt

ULTIMATE: GERMAN BEER

Nellie’s Nectar, 5 Rights Brewing

Traveling the world as a musician earlier in life, 5 Rights’ owner R.J. Whitlow fell in love with real Bavarian hefeweizens: That taste of banana and clove accompanying a crisp German wheat beer. Nellie’s Nectar is his tribute to those authentic Bavarian hefes, and it’s a beautifully full-flavored and refreshing German ale. The beer won back-to-back medals at the Washington Beer Awards, including a gold medal in this year’s competition.

Find it: On tap at the brewery, Brat From Deustchland and Emory’s on Silver Lake.

Honorable mention: Kiteboard Kolsch, Sound to Summit; Arc Furnace Pilsner, Crucible

ULTIMATE: BITTER BOMB

In Charge, At Large Brewing

At Large’s Jim Weisweaver hangs his hat on making delicious, hoppy IPAs that keep craft beer drinkers coming back for more. In truth, there were a number of IIPAs I could have chosen here, but In Charge is the pick because of its subtlety. Double dry-hopped, its big hoppy flavor is balanced with a strong malt foundation. Just don’t let the 9 percent ABV sneak up on you.

Find it: On tap at the brewery.

Honorable mention: Mammoth Jack IIPA, Skookum; Boom City FAB, 5 Rights; Ming the Merciless, Scuttlebutt

Have your say

Don’t agree with this list of ultimate beers? Email Aaron Swaney at thespiltpint@gmail.com to tell our beer aficionado how wrong he is or which beers are your favorite. Swaney loves discovering new beers and is interested in finding out, if he did, where he went wrong or what beer he may have missed in making this list.

Washington North Coast Magazine

This article is featured in the spring issue of Washington North Coast Magazine, a supplement of The Daily Herald. Explore Snohomish and Island counties with each quarterly magazine. Each issue is $3.99. Subscribe to receive all four editions for $14 per year. Call 425-339-3200 or go to www.washingtonnorthcoast.com for more information.