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Brewery Review: Stoup Brewing


Our adventure in Ballard continues!  This week we returned to the densest collection of breweries in the city. We sat down at Stoup brewing, and found we didn't want to get up. 

Flagship: multiple
Dogs: yes
Kids: yes
Do they brew there: yes
Food: food trucks and a meat vending machine
Has guest taps: no
Events: yes
Outside seating: large beer garden

I had heard about Stoup long before I started this blog. I'd seen their stickers around, heard them listed in the same breath as other Ballard breweries, even had a pint of their beer at a party. I hadn't been there though. 

As I approach Stoup I hear even more about it. Perhaps it's also because of the great weather finally returning to Seattle, but I can hear that the brewery is packed from a distance. I drew nearer and the shapes of patrons with pints, outdoor chairs, and a food truck came into view. 

There's a casual feel to the place, something that's hard to do with as many people here as they get, but they do it. It's a combination of things that make it happen. The main room has one wall completely devoted to stickers, and not just their own. Here there's also a few tables and chairs but less than would make it crowded. The stools along the bar are also the same my high school used. 

Sitting there with my beer I feel more like I'm drinking in a friend's garage with the big door rolled up. Again, it's not an easy thing to appear so casual when you're a well known brewery but they do it. 

Something that probably helps is the reasonable prices. In an era where the words "craft beer" is justification for a restaurant to charge nine dollars a pint having reasonable prices at the source is commendable. There's options on the size of pours as well, something I've always appreciated. That the beers we had were all good seals the deal. 

Food here is handled in two ways. The first is the most classic for a brewery, the food truck. Seeing different trucks the two times I visited I made an inference. A quick check of the website confirmed that they have a rotation of these trucks lined up. 

The second source of food is an honest to god meat vending machine. When I first saw it I thought I was seeing things. How could something like that exist?  But there it was, sitting quietly along the path to the beer garden. 

The beer garden is extensive. It's comprised of a nice, slightly raised wooden area. There were plenary of seats here and I could see it was clearly the preferred spot to enjoy the beer at. Here dogs and kids sat with  groups large and small as everyone enjoyed the best weather Seattle ever gets. 


I liked Stoup more than I thought I would. That's not saying that I didn't think I'd like it, because I knew I would. It just exceeded my expectations. Not only that, it did so in a very subtle way. Stoup has jumped onto the list of breweries I recommend to people, and I know I'll be back again. 

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