Breweries and Games!

This week we're drinking from the top of Snoqualmie Pass. DRU BRU brewery is spitting distance from the ski slopes and though there wasn't any powder to hit, I still had a great time. Flagship: Hop Session Dogs: yes Kids: yes Do they brew there: yes Food: snacks & can order Has guest taps: yes Events: yes Outside seating: yes Best known for the winter activities there, Snoqualmie Pass is also home to a really great brewery that is making the most of the summer sun. As I approach the brewery I can see large windows behind the outdoor seating reflecting the evening sun. Inside I find the place small, but with an open feel. Large high top table run across the center of the room while a few booths sit along the left wall. The right wall is glass and sports a few stools and a thin bartop. Behind the glass you can see the large metal vats where the brewing is taking place. The brewery has maybe a dozen people in it and I head to the bartop along the last wall. ...

I cannot think of no other mobile game which generated more hype or was more anticipated than Pokemon GO. This game swept the nation upon its release. For a time you couldn't go out without seeing someone glued to their phone, making the tell-tale swipes to throw poke balls.  Now a year since the release, and with far less trainers on the street, how is the game? Pokemon GO is a mobile game that simulates the experience of being a trainer in the Pokemon series. Popularized by successful games and TV shows Pokemon has the distinction of being one of the few properties in the world with truly global recognition. In the age of personal, pocket, advanced computers a game that takes advantage of this recognition seems only natural. In a big way, Pokemon GO does this and more. Using the app on your phone you can capture Pokemon, train them, and fight other Pokemon in gyms. From the start, Pokemon GO is a game about getting outside and walking around. The items used to catch the ...

Through the dual benefits of bearing the same name as one of Seattle's biggest tourist attractions and being attached to said attraction The Pike Brewing Company may be one of the most recognizable of all Seattle Breweries. In the same way Fremont was last week Pike also seems knows this.  Flagship: Kilt Lifter Dogs: service animals only Kids: yes Do they brew there: yes Food: Full menu Has guest taps: yes Events: yes Wifi: yes Outside seating: no As I said above, Pike Brewing is located in downtown Seattle next to Pike place market. One can enter  from either the alley which houses the famous Gum Wall or from the street. Either way you led up or down stairs and are treated by a multitude of black metal and red. It is a unique mix that really sets the place apart while also displaying the scale of the brewery. Like Fremont I'd had their beer long before I visited the brewery or even Seattle. In the age of the micro brewery, this is a big accomplishment. The ...

Assassins Creed as a series has been all over the place. One wasn't that great, but two was amazing. Three felt rushed while four was only fun when it wasn't being Assassins Creed. The series has been around for so long now that it each game has its own unique feel. This time the game is set in London during the industrial revolution.  You play both Jacob and Evie Frye, twin assassins coming to London to deal with the Templars there. Each has a slightly different set of final abilities and each is following a slightly different plot, (forming a gang to undermine the Templars and getting an artifact) though you can play most missions as either sibling. Switching between the two is simple and the upgrade system is equally so. Missions vary but assassination missions always have multiple ways of approaching them, often with a harder, but more rewarding option. Most also have s bonus condition or objective which adds a bit of a challenge. The setting itself is fun and the g...

Breweries, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. From small to large, world renown to obscure. In fact, sometimes the only thing that two breweries will have in common is that they both make beer. Recently I went to a brewery that while not that different, is the largest I've been to for this blog. Fremont Brewery is located, in their own words, in "Fremont, Earth". Here's the quick rundown. Flagship: multiple Dogs: yes Kids: yes Do they brew there: yes Food: can order Has guest taps: yes Events: yes Outside seating: yes Also happens to be a Pokestop As I mentioned earlier this brewery is big, both in size and in production.  I'd had Fremont beer even before I'd been to that part of town, and not just in King County. I went to the brewery on a Friday evening during one of those rare weeks when the weather is actually nice in Seattle. As I approach I could see that plenty of other people are enjoying the nice weather too. In fact, if...

The biggest memory I have of the first XCOM is how I nearly failed that semester of university over it. A great merge of turned based squad level strategy and base management made all the more challenging by perma-death of your soldiers and the constant balance of keeping as many regions possible happy. For those new to the series XCOM was about managing an organization tasked with fighting off aliens and had both a base building/management aspect and a squad level turn based strategy element reminiscent of chess. It was tough but fun, harsh but fair and I wasn't the only one in the apartment who can attribute a bad semester to that game. XCOM 2 then seems set to recreate that addictive feeling in me and I remember being very disappointed when soon after it was announced I learned that it wouldn't be coming to consoles. I know RTS games have historically had trouble off the computer but the first one worked out great so what's the issue?  Well time makes fools of us ...

Every UW student, and many of the professors I'd bet, knows about Big Time Brewery. This brewery is located a mere block away from the University of Washington campus and has room for all.  Also there's a T-Rex mounted on the wall. Here's the quick breakdown. Flagship beer: Scarlet Fire IPA Dogs: Service animals only Kids: Until 10 PM Do they brew there: Yes Food: Full menu Has guest taps: Yes Events: Yes! Wi-fi: Yes Outside seating: No This brewery has the largest seating area of any brewery I've yet reviewed here and with a generous amount of wood used on the floor and accents it looks great. The front of the brewery is a mix of tables and chairs with a few very unique booths along one side. Big windows face the side walk and allow a comfortable amount of light into the establishment. Moving further back and to the right is a window for food orders. Did I mention this place has a full menu?  Well this place has a full menu and while I didn't get to t...

Back when I could easily figure out computer gaming I would spend hours on the tycoon games. You know the ones, where you need to balance money, happiness, time, and everything else that goes into the   But the years go by and like the mighty RTS some things just don't work as well on the console. Being a mostly console gamer myself now this means I haven't touched one of my old favorites in years.  All this means that was quite surprised and delighted to find out Punch Club was more in the vein of the old tycoon games than a traditional fighting game. Punch club is then a sort of 2D life simulator where you are out to become a champion fighter and avenge your father in the style 80's and 90's actions films. There's plenty of fighting to be had, but you don't control it the way you do in a traditional fighting game. Instead at the beginning of the fight and between each round you choose a number of moves for your fighter to draw from for the fight. These mo...

Well it's about time this Seattle based brewery blog review a Seattle brewery isn't it?  This week I got out to Floating Bridge Brewing in the Udistrict of Seattle. This place is pretty great but before I get into my nartitive on the place I think we should get a little more structure to this place. This isn't, nor will it ever be, Yelp but I see the need to hit a few standard points with every place every week. So, here's your too long, didn't read run down for Floating Bridge. Flagship beer: none apparently Dogs: yes Kids: yes Do they brew there: yes Food: sandwiches, outside food ok Has guest taps: yes Events :yes Wi-fi: no Outside seating: no There's some structure for ya, I'll try to have the same answers you for everywhere I go.  Now I'll get down to business.  Floating Bridge is in that odd part of the Udistrict right near I-5. No good parking and kind of a pain to walk to. Thing is,  the place is worth the walk. As soon as I s...