Arrived here to the Beveridge place don’t ask me about the spelling I did not do it even my spell check goes nuts. They where having a Barley wine festival and wow it was kick ass. 12 tasters that my friend and I split and they where tasty. The bar is impressive and wow you can look at that 100 year old wood and just be amazed who might have drank on this bar. The look was something old, new and just plain awesome. The brews where old ’05 vintages all the way up to new ’09. We found some to be super with flavor, and great finishes. And well you have to have a few that fall flat. That’s up to each to find these out. A great festival and a great place this was a super time. If you are a dog owner and want to bring the pooch for a drink this is the place. Almost every local had there dog with them. We even saw a small horse or huge Misfit. I will say the Beveridge place goes all out had the proper glass wear and they even had great notes on each brew. This is a must stop in the West Seattle beer arena. Usual tap handles are numbered at 22 with a great list and over 200 rare to not so rare brews in the bottle. No food here but you can order in or bring it with you.

reviewed on: 2009-03-11 20:23:39

There exist some places that when you enter, seem to fit. That on some subconscious level, call out to you as if to say, "here. This is the place. Look no further."

For more than a year now, wife Persimmon and I have traveled the Evergreen State, visiting every brewpub and sampling their wares. Upon occasion, we've altered our mission stopping instead in a tavern or pub to sit and sip.

Only recently (while the weather has been brutal; icy, snowy and all-in-all completely inhospitable for Pacific N'westers you thrive in warm rain) have we dropped in to several local pubs; places we have heard spoken of in glowing terms.

Beveridge Place was always mentioned and so, on a rare sunny Saturday we drove to West Seattle and discovered a crown jewel.

We arrived about 1:30, too early for opening we walked a bit killing time and then were the first customers of the day greeted by the biggest smile from Devrim, the pork-eating bartender (more on that in a minute) who waved us in and told us to "sit here" at the bar so we could converse.

The nearby chalkboard read like a who's who of local breweries and their products; IPA's (of course - this is the NW remember), Belgians, Stouts, Ambers, Wheats, Browns living alongside red and white wines. Then she pushed the menu toward us offering 6 more pages of bottled beers, familiar and not-so brands both American and international.

We ordered up a Scotch (for Persimmon who has never met a Scotch she hasn't liked) while I tried on a beer from local brewer Big Al called "Local Hero" - a receipe provided by a home-brewer that Big Al cooked up in larger quantities for the community at large. This was a delicious beer, mahogany-colored with a smidge of red, full caramel head with some molasses and toffee flavors at the front and enough of a bitter finish to satisfy the hop taste (something I'm not crazy about) but had me ordering a second.

Then there was the food...there isn't any. Now I didn't think that would shoot Beveridge Place Pub into my Top 5 Picks to Click; after all, one walks into a pub they expect burgers and fries and cherry pie (old 80's C&W song) but not here. Here you get what goes best with why you're in a pub in the first place; peanuts, popcorn, chips. Snacks. Finger-foods. The only complaint? Couldn't throw the shells on the floor. But the TV was on some football game; the sound was down so it didn't interfere with conversation; the peanuts were salty; the beer outstanding and Devrim, Persimmon, Matt (who walked in after us) and I talked the afternoon away about everything. Our mutual love of beer; Devrim's first day on the job when, upon closing, invited the remaining 9 people over to her apartment for pork chops (I told you I'd explain); her colleague Lorraine who has the uncanny ability (one might say magical) to know exactly what beer you'll drink without having to order; Matt's mother (don't ask!) and of course, the state of the world (getting a lot better...this is the week before Obama's inauguration).

Now I ask you to ask yourself -- what do you look for in a tavern / brewpub / inn?
Isn't it all of the above? Isn't THAT what all the coffee shops, big and small, want to be? Isn't THAT how want you to be treated daily?

Yes, it would be nice if they brewed their own beer but, as we walked away, I realized how closed minded I had been. Over the past year (+) in our efforts to find the perfect brewpub, we had limited our scope. To focus strictly on those that brew their own can take the fun out of finding that spot tucked away in the shadows; experiencing the excitement of different choices that, because of the shear amount of beer in all the breweries, you might never get a chance to taste. Inhale a Boundary Bay IPA at Elysian Brewery? No. Not to judge the merits of either, only to point out both those brewpubs (and brewpubs in general) lack the diversity a tavern can offer. If the bartender is knowledgeable as they should be (and as Devrim was!) one could return on a weekly basis and sample every type of beer the NW has to offer and quite possibly, from every brewery in -- and out of -- the state.

In other words: do not/DO NOT miss Beveridge Place Pub. Grab a seat at the bar or on the sofa (no, at the bar!) and become a instant neighbor...and no, Devrim didn't invite us over for pork chops only because she still had 9 hours on her shift.

But I know where she is and one day...one day...

reviewed on: 2009-01-24 13:26:51