Latest reviews from Kirkland

“It's a Flatstick Pub (these are a local chain - craft beer and mini golf with pub food). Beer list is solid but unspectacular; mini golf course is similar, but when you have a toddler who likes minigolf, this place is a gem. For all others, a perfectly fine place to end up, but nothing worth going out of your way for.“

WestCoastHawkeye 491 days ago

“14 beers on tap, including a nice barrel aged imperial stout and a cherry Kolsch, and a cider. Everything is well made. Located in beautiful forest Kirkland suburbs of Seattle. Easy street parking. Just off the freeway. Very good.“

wetherel 627 days ago

“Stopped by while I was waiting for my car to be serviced. Very close but not very impressive. Decent diversity of styles, nothing stood out that much one way or the other. Relatively average brewery for me.“

WestCoastHawkeye 782 days ago

“In a really nice shopping center (same complex as the best QFC I've ever been to). Brewery itself had a large outdoor space and focused on Czech-style beers. Only standout for me was a fresh-hopped Marzen which I kind of want more of. Nothing to sneeze at, but nothing worth going out of your way for (thankfully I didn't go far out of my way).“

WestCoastHawkeye 987 days ago

“Swung by on a Saturday afternoon. Place was pretty empty. Spacious bar, small beer garden. Food was pretty good, around 20 taps, heavy on the hoppy stuff, but it was fresh hop season. Not worth going out of one's way for but a perfectly good beer bar in a bit of a dry spot for them.“

WestCoastHawkeye 997 days ago

“Cool new addition to the growing Kirkland brewery scene. Once upon a time, it was the lull in the greater Seattle area as far as breweries are concerned. 13 house beers on tap, plus a house root beer. 2 ciders on tap as well. Cozy taproom. $2 5 oz sample pours, or 4 for $7. Very tight, little taproom, but comfortable. Small patio out front. A nice projector TV to show the game if it's a local or important one. Bring your own food, or they serve hot soft pretzels. Always a good conversation with the staff. Beers have been good overall. A fun place to stop when cruising through the area. Recommended.“

andrewje41 2306 days ago

“Located in a strip mall, it can be easy to miss the turn-in up the hill to the parking lot. Tasting room is small and comfy. Super friendly guy managing the tasting room who chatted us up and was obviously enthusiastic about the craft beer scene. They had 7 beers on tap -- flights available for all for barely over $1 / sample, which was appreciated. Unfortunately, the beer quality was very weak -- ranging from barely drinkable to flawed. Due to this, can’t recommend it.“

mcberko 2683 days ago

“Located within a strip mall, once you enter, you have to walk through the whole facility to get to the back where the actual tasting room is. Individual samplers of all beers available for $2. Service is friendly and quick. Unfortunately, the beers are rather weak, with some strange notes in a lot of them. Wasn’t very impressed due to these issues.“

mcberko 2709 days ago

“Visited with the family. Fun to play mini golf while drinking beer. It’s a gimmick, but a cool one. Uncrowded on an early Sunday afternoon; golf might not be such fun during peak hours. Sort of silly course; compacted due to space issues with ridiculous angles and without good lines, strange indented dry "water traps" everywhere. Don’t come here to play golf, come to drink lots of semi-interesting local beers and play golf to have something to do. Beers were a great deal (happy hour?) but they made it up on the golf tickets for the four of us.“

OldMrCrow 2886 days ago

“After hearing about this place a dozen times, I still never made it in. For no reason at all. I live about 4 miles away. Anyway, they had Cloudburst brew them an exclusive beer. I went. Cool spot, though a little weird to find. In the middle of traffic hell in old Town Kirkland, in the basement of an office business that complains about the noise. What do you expect? I say Flatstick starts complaining about the quiet, paired with the sound of keys tapping that makes me want to spike my glass on the floor. This place is really cool though, once you are here and have a beer in hand. 24 beers on tap, all Washington brewed craft, which I love. Drink local. Crowlers: yes. Growlers: yes. Flights: yes. Dogs: I saw one here, so I assume yes. Putt golf: yes. Good beer: yes. Corporate party reserved the golf while I was here, so that part was closed. As a response, I considered throwing my beers on their company card that clearly had no limit. Never would have noticed. Unless one of these suits is on RateBeer. Good beer, good service. What else can you ask for? Most importantly, i enjoyed this visit.“

andrewje41 2898 days ago

“Somewhat isolated in Kirkland, it’s a good stop if you are only hitting one place. Cool entrance to the place, as it is practically a self guided tour of their brewing facility. Everything is bike themed. I don’t own a bike, but they still accepted me. 8 beers on tap that are theirs, and cider is available as well. Dog friendly makes it a huge plus. Kid friendly as well. Good beer. Offers beer in 20, 12, and 5 oz pours at good prices. I enjoy this place.“

andrewje41 2975 days ago

“This is a funny little strip mall up on a shoulder of a parking lot overlooking the 405 business district part of Kirkland--you know, the car dealerships and stuff down the hill from the hospital. There are some bars and some casual restaurants, and now there’s a brewery. GPS was hesitant to show us exactly where the spot was. It was dark, too, and the brewery was a little shy, with tiny little signs, so we drove around for a while. You’re probably smarter than I am, though, so you’ll find it more quickly than I did. It’s a small tasting room, with seating for about 20, maybe a few trusted friends mingling in between, standing up. There’s a little bar with 8 taps, all house-made. The back wall is some very pretty clear wood paneling, stuff that’s either manufactured or reclaimed, because there’s not a knot anywhere on the whole wall. There are restrooms and a brewhouse in back, but this is a small space, so there’s not much else, aside from the flat screen over the bar. They had the game on, and the brewery dog, Madden, came out to look us over and see whether we had any granola bars. He’s not even full grown yet, so he’s no bigger than a Clydesdale--he’s half great dane, half mastiff. He has no fear or anxiety of any kind on the planet where he lives, and happily accepts scratches and pets from all strangers. He never uttered a peep. I couldn’t even hear him sniffing when he put his nose to my hand. He is the most implacable dog I’ve met in a while, and it’s lucky for all concerned that I didn’t dognap him. There’s a little crew of neighborhood regulars grazing over the tap offerings, and people here are about as quiet as Madden is, but they clearly enjoy each other’s company, and have gotten used to one another’s faces. The staff are super nice. At this point, they still have a way to go with dialing in the system and getting the beers just right, but that’s certainly not unheard of for a newer brewery, no matter how talented the brew staff is. I gotta give ’em props for the merch. Very cool logos for the brewery and the beer labels (no bottles--beer labels are framed on the wall), and they have great shirts, hats, glasses, etc.“

after4ever 3068 days ago

“Awesome bottle shop that I discovered just driving by. Extensive selection -- probably 1000 different beers and a bunch on draft for growler fills as well. Decently prices, though maybe a smidgeon higher than Bottleworks and other more prominent shops. Service is friendly and helpful. If you’re going through Kirkland, this is an excellent choice for bottle shopping.“

mcberko 3354 days ago

“Great food. Limited selection of beers. Expensive.“

txspartan 4318 days ago

“A great East Side resource. The shop recently moved into a larger space a couple of doors North of the old location in a Kirkland strip mall. Friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable service. Good base malt selection with a couple of organic versions. extensive specialty malts. Wide selection of extract malts. Some pretty high end brewing equipment and lots of items you’d use regularly: cleaners & sanitizers, liquid and dry yeasts, generally big hop selection, including fresh hop orders in late August, hoses, carboys, etc. They’ve recently started offering weekend classes. And the shop hosts the local homebrew guild’s monthly meetings. As the name implies, the shop also caters to wine makers, including fall orders for fresh grapes from East of the mountains.“

ManvsCity 4621 days ago

“There are four upscale Purple Cafe’s in the area; I haven’t been to the Seattle one yet, but we have a track record in Woodinville, Kirkland, and Bellevue. My wife doesn’t drink beer for medical (so she says) reasons, so we have a constant issue of finding good wine for her and good beer for me. Our current favorite compromise on the Eastside is Cafe Veloce, but if the monthly commission check is generous, then it’s off to Purple Cafe. This is a yuppie place, especially in Bellevue and Kirkland, with the Woodinville location serving a more refined and genteel group of baby boomers (like us). Obviously a great selection of wines at better (sometimes bargain) prices than many of the other wine bars in the area. They have some outstanding Washington wines that may be first (Efeste Final-Final $50) or second label wineries (Amavi -via Pepperbridge -cab from Walla Walla - $50). Let the servers guide you. But what about the beer? When they first opened their Woodinville store, we hounded them regularly to get some decent beer. They responded and now have a small selection that represents some of the best of breed. Only a couple of drafts, with local favorite Mac and Jack’s African Amber and Allagash White. Twelve bottled beers, but some good stuff: Framboise, Orval, Duvel golden. Bad news tonight, there were no stouts on the list. The outstanding thing about this place is that they will have perfect food to pair wtih the beers, and the bartender (and some of the servers) have been educated about what goes with what. At the Bellevue location, the wife had a risotto with chanterelle and marscarpone, and I had the duck special. A bit pricy (good luck getting out of there for less than $120 for two), but it’s nice to have some decent beer choices along with a great wine selection.Go to Costco and buy a gifit card for Purple Cafe for 25% off.“

Packard 5319 days ago

“Located in the Totem Lake area, Cafe Veloce’s parking lot is frequently filled with Ducati, Aprilia, MG, and other sport bikes with their riders having monthly meetings inside. Motocyclists get 10% off the check, and the restaurant itself is a bit of a cafe racer museum. This Italian restaurant maintains a relatively small inventory of both wine and beer, but tries to keep a "best in class" selection for every style. Although their wine dinners and tastings have been going on for years, the recent beer tasing events have been exceptional. October’s event highlighted five German beers (doh!), matched with an outstanding food dish from the kitchen. Among the combinations: Aecht Rauchbier with a bbq chicken pizza and Elysian’s Pumpkin Ale served with a delicious pumpkin cheesecake around a pumpkin mousse center. Yum. Best tips:(1) Get on their mailing list for special events (2) Ask to meet their beer guy..“

Packard 5351 days ago

“Helpful and knowledgeable - prices are comprable to what I can get online - nice selection of recipes. Have had trouble with them stocking the yeast I need, even basic varieties, but not often enough to cause that much worry. Nice store - lots of equipment and ingredients.“

19Ei8hty 5832 days ago

“Prices range from competitive to a bit on the high side, but they’re in high rent district so what are ya gonna do? Helpful and knowledgeable staff.“

bitbucket 6485 days ago

“Nice little shop. When convenient I head here (when heading to Homebrew Heaven in Everett isn’t practical over my lunch break). The prices are a bit higher. I really like the store and the people that work there are friendly and knowledgeable. They seem to have a bit better selection of specialty grains, yeast and hops which can make all the difference to me. If I still lived in the general area I’d continue to shop here.“

Ibrew2or3 6512 days ago

“True, the prices are high, but the ingredient selection is good and the equipment selection is fine as well. An excellent place to stop in and grab something last minute, but I try to make big purchases at humbler stores or online.“

after4ever 6515 days ago

“this is just another overpriced store for the rich eastside yuppie, not for the bluecoller working man.“

Dorf 7017 days ago