Seattle Brewery Tour: Capitol Hill

By now you probably know we are working our way around the city to taste all that our local breweries have to offer. Here are the results from our trek around Capitol Hill. 

Optimism Brewing 

Quote by the bar at Optimism Brewing

Optimism is an intriguing new addition to Capitol Hill breweries. This open beer hall is the creation of a Microsoft/tech power couple who were tired of software. Naturally, they decided the next step in their lives would be to open a humble, 16,000 sq ft. brewery in one of Seattle's hottest neighborhoods. 

When you walk into Optimism you feel the openness of the massive space, their brewing operation is front and center and they have communal seating. The yellow paint and large windows give off a light feeling. Perfect for drinking a beer with some friends. 

Many beer enthusiasts will pause in confusion when reaching the bar to order though. Optimism's owners have been clear they want to bring beer drinking back to the "every day (wo)man." So instead of calling it a Stout, they describe and label their beers with more general names (Ex. Black: bold, coffee, nutmeg). 

They state beer is "not something that should be intimidating, pretentious or expensive. For this reason, we try to make beer approachable to everyone by describing our beers in ways that everyone can understand without beer-geek jargon."  

It's a nice thought. Not sure if it really works though.

Regardless of how they name the beers, we've found that they do indeed know how to create beer that tastes good, which is more important than anything else. Dive into a sampler and you'll agree with us.

Sampler at Optimism Brewing

In addition to the good beer, the no-cash checkout is speedy which means you'll never wait in a long line and the food truck pod in the back brings delicious food to their door. You can also bring your own food in to enjoy with their beers. 

And can we just get on a soapbox for a minute and say that the way they've done their bathrooms is how EVERYONE should be doing bathrooms. Seems so obvious. Thank you, Optimism.

Our favorites? Amplify and Zest

Elysian Brewing Company

Night Owl Pumpkin Beer at Elysian 

Elysian. Ohhhhhh Elysian. We used to all love you without question. You made great beer. You were Seattle's pride and joy. Then you sold to Anheuser-Busch. You went corporate. And now we are all confused. 

We will try to put on our unbiased reporting hat for this review though.

Capitol Hill is Elysian Brewing's original location, which opened in 1996. For the most part, it's your classic brewpub (their food is decent). There isn't any trendy logo or minimalist design like these hot new kids on the block. It's a more traditional atmosphere with exposed timber and dark, heavy curtains hanging in the windows. 

As for the beer. It's delicious. They might have sold out, but they didn't change the recipes that have made them big enough to gain interest from the largest beer company in the world. Right now they have their famous pumpkin beers on tap, which go well with the rainy, chilly weather!

Our favorites? Space Dust and Super Fuzz

Outer Planet Brewing

A "One of Everything" sampler at Outer Planet 

Another new brewery to Capitol Hill! Outer Planet opened in 2015 and is a small operation, but it has a great vibe and some good beers. With their live music performances and huge pile of card and board games you can always bank on entertainment while you drink. 

Their taps are also fun to say, with names like The Meddling Monk and Galaxy Girl it will make you spark up a conversation with the brewery owner to find out what inspired them. 

Oh, and did we mention they just recently started serving pizza? I mean why wouldn't you go check this place out? 

Our favorites? Kumbaya Supernova IPA and Spacetrucker Brown

Standard Brewing

Photo from Instagram by @nathaniel.stott

This small brewery up on Jackson St. is wonderful. It might technically be the Central District, but we wanted to include it here because it's not too far and you gotta know about this place!

With what seems like a million breweries opening up around the city it's hard to accomplish a unique vibe. So many are starting to blend together in look and feel. We think Standard's ability to do something a little different is what drew us in. And fortunately for us they are doing a pretty good job on the beer front too. 

With 12 beers on tap you'll have plenty of options, regardless of what you like you'll find something good here. If you need help choosing a truly exceptional one though, they have two award winners from the WA Beer Awards this year, the Imperial IPA (bomb.com people) and the Brett Earl. They don't serve food but allow you to bring it with you, so hit up a food truck and head on over. 

Our favorites? Imperial IPA and West Coast IPA (We like IPA's okay?)

Your Complete Guide to Halloween in Seattle

Halloween. The beginning of the holiday season. We here at Rain or Shine love Halloween. We dress up in ridiculous costumes, get stares on public transportation, and eat way too much candy corn (what is that stuff anyways? sugar and corn starch? probably going to kill us one day...). And we do it all for nothing other than a good time.

Halloween in Seattle is always a bit of a risk because of that pesky thing we all know and love so much here, rain. Face paint doesn't do so well in the rain. Elaborate hair-dos don't either. But when has the rain ever stopped us? We are Seattleites and we WILL do Halloween right. Check out our list to find all the things you need to have a spook-tacular week (yep, we just said spook-tacular and we aren't ashamed at all)! 

Costume shops

Display and Costume 

Display and Costume is home to all of your party planning needs, but they really go all out at Halloween time. The store is filled with already-made costumes including a wide selection of masks, wigs, outfits, and accessories. On top of all that they also have everything for the do-it-yourselfer, the store is filled with all sorts of items to create your perfect look including fabric, sequins, buttons, felt and much, much more.

Value Village 

Everyone's favorite thrift store stocks their shelves with ready to wear costumes every October. We love all their cute, little accessories (like witches hats, silly glasses, and colored hair spray!), but it's also the perfect place to find cheap, used clothing to fulfill costume needs. 

Arnie's Vintage Costumers 

Arnie's is going to be the place where you can get REAL costumes. We're not talking about the pre-packaged, cheap stuff from other stores. These babies are elaborate and beautiful and will 100% win you all the costume awards (I mean, maybe, no promises). You rent costumes here vs. buying and it's the place to shop if you want orante costumes from wild west wear to pirates and wenches to wizards. Our personal pick is Dweedle Dum. Please send us photos immediately.

Create your own Halloween masks at MOHAI

If you want something truly unique you have to create your own! For all you creative artists out there, MOHAI is hosting a mask making workshop the Saturday before Halloween. 

Parties/Events

Campout Cinema: Carrie

Watch this epic screening of Carrie at the EMP on Friday, October 28. There will be trivia, giveaways, and drink specials (everyone must be 21+). 

This is Halloween at the Triple Door 

See a scandalous rendition of The Nightmare Before Christmas at The Triple Door. Our favorite dancers at the Can Can will be performing the spooky and sexy show. 

Creepy Crawly Cocktails

Burke Museum at UW is hosting a night where you can look at bats and snakes (don't worry they aren't alive) and drink specialty cocktails. They didn't have us convinced until we read the cocktail creation: Westland Distillery American Single Malt Whiskey, black walnut bitters, orgeat syrup and lime juice. 

7th Annual ER Costume Crawl

This costume party is put on by some seriously players in Seattle. Vito's, Hotel Sorrento, and the Hideout team up to throw the hottest party in town. Plus if your costume rocks you could win $500.00. 

For the kiddos

Trick or Treat at Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market has a ton of stalls that participate in trick-or-treat. Walk around from stall to stall getting to know your local farmers and artists. Oh, and don't miss Orange Dracula, which is the hub of the event, in the lower level with it's photo booth (perfect for capturing those awesome costumes), and Dracula pinball machine! 

University Village Trick or Treat

U-Village goes all out for their trick or treat event. Parents and kids will enjoy it, plus it's safe and some stores even have sales! Mom, we recommend making Dad do a few rounds alone! 

Pumpkin Patches

The Farm at Swan Lake

The Farm is one of the most popular pumpkin patches in the area and for good reason. They literally have it all and they don't half ass anything. 50-acre pumpkin patch, a 12 acre corn maze, and a pick your own apple orchard make it a great day full of good, wholesome, fall fun.

Fall City Farms

Fall City Farms is simply put, a-freaking-dorable. Seriously this place is right out of a fairy tale and is great for photos and as well as all the traditional pumpkin patch-ing activites! 

Places We Love: Cone & Steiner

Story time. There once was a child who used to go to summer camp in Iowa at a wondrous place called Living History Farms, an interactive camp to show kids what life was like back in the 18th and 19th century. This was the coolest summer camp for a number of reasons, but mostly because of the general store. The general store had all sorts of old-timey items you could buy with quarters. 

Obviously, lemon drops were king. Lemon drops were the currency of summer camp. Like cigarettes in prison. Or Bitcoin in Silicon Valley. If you wanted to get picked on the good Capture the Flag team, cough up some lemon drops. Sorry, the lemon drop thing is kind of irrelevant (but cute right?). The point is, the general store was amazing and full of weird and wonderful things.

And now, thanks to Cone and Steiner, we get to relive the happiness of walking into a store with glass jars of candy and bottles of root beer. 

They have two locations in Seattle, one in Pioneer Square and one in Capitol Hill. When you visit you will get to shop their well curated selection of food, beverages, and provisions. Not to mention local beers on tap and goodies like candles, soups, and cards made by local artists/creators. It is a great place to support and it never fails to introduce us to a new product that we end up loving. 

Pop in next time you're in the neighborhood and we promise, whether you have general store summer camp memories or not, you'll become a fan. 

Fresh flowers are available when they are in season. 

They offer a little bit of everything

Local goods

The bar

Candy. In jars! Hallelujah! 

Throwback fonts 

Bettie Page House (now with a friend!)

For the last decade, Seattle commuters have been able to admire the beautiful Bettie Page as they make their way to and from Seattle's downtown and now, we can thank the owners of this Ravenna home for a new addition: Divine. 

Bettie Page (what a hottie, right?!) has been eyeing us for so long she seems like she must have always been painted two stories high on the side of I-5. But, alas, her story only began in 2006 when home owner Chris Brugos asked a friend, John Green, to add a little color to his home, even if it was in black and white. Bettie Page emerged after a lot of hours of work and is now a signature of Seattle, representing the openness of Seattle and the openness Bettie Page represented, far before her time. 

Sadly, in June Bettie was vandalized. The vandals stating feminism as their cause (yes...because that makes sense...vandalize a beautiful woman expressing herself openly...great logic. <---that was sarcasm). But the homeowners were not deterred; they brought Bettie back to her original spender and have given her a friend whose image is equally powerful: Divine. Divine was given the title "Drag Queen of the Century" and has been a powerful figure in the LGBT community. 

These ladies are killing it up there and that is saying something. We're not sure we could pull off the siding look. 

All joking aside, we love this house and hope that the community continues to support this art. It makes our city a better place!