microbrewery

Silver City Brewery Wins Luxist Awards Readers' Choice Award for Best Brew Pub

Silver City Brewery Wins the Readers' Choice Award for Best Brew Pub

Though Silverdale, Wa. is about 20 miles from downtown Seattle as the crow flies, the body of water that lies between the two towns makes the trip a bit more complicated than one might expect. The journey from Seattle takes you down around the southern boundary of Puget Sound – 70 miles by car – but it's worth the time if you're headed to Silver City Brewery, the Luxist Awards Readers' Choice Winner in the best brew pub category.

The Silver City story starts long before the brewpub's 1996 debut. Steve and Scott Houmes first went into business together in 1990, opening a restaurant called Top Notch Burger. Six years later, feeling squeezed by the big burger chains, they decided to regroup and try a new approach by entering the brew pub business. They remodeled their Silverdale location into its modern form, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Gallery: Silver City Brewery

Silver City brews its beers on premises. Some favorites include Clear Creek Pale Ale, a blend of three lightly roasted British malts and hints of caramel; Panther Lake Porter, a dark, chocolatey ale; and Fat Scotch Ale, a malty and whiskey-esque brew that clocks with a hefty 9.2% alcohol content. Silver City sells beer by the glass at its bar and restaurant, but for those who want to take home a larger quantity, the microbrewery sells kegs as well.

The food at Silver City's restaurant makes for a great accompaniment to the delicious brews. The menu includes a variety of salads, appetizers, main courses and desserts – and of course, the Houmes' specialty: a good, old-fashioned cheeseburger.

Tags: awards-main, beer, brew pub, luxist-awards, microbrewery, Silver City Brewery, Silverdale, winners-entertainment

Spuyten Duyvil: World's Finest Beer in Brookyln

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

Spuyten Duyvil is nominated for best brew pub award by Luxist

Plan a night out at the Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, NY and you might miss the very attraction for which you came. The brew pub, whose storefront is encased in red wrought-iron bars and includes scant mention of its own title, is among the best in the Big Apple, if not the world. All of this makes it an obvious choice for a Luxist nomination in the best brew pub category.

Located in the shadow of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and between the Lorimer and Bedford Avenue stops of New York's L subway line, Spuyten Duyvil is just the sort of unassuming hotspot that would be a favorite in Brooklyn's Williamsburg district. Just a few feet from an ultra-hip concert venue called The Knitting Factory, it's a place you've probably been invited for an after-party if you went to college in the Northeast over the past decade and had a friend in a band.

Gallery: Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, New York

Stride through the front door, past hipsters with more flannel than a Seattle lumberjack convention, and you'll be transported to an old-style Belgian kitchen with a Brooklyn twist. Mismatched chairs dot the bar's seating areas, while a host of maps depicting historical Canada and Chicago dot the walls. Enjoy one of Spuyten Duyvil's dozens of obscure beers, and don't be disheartened if Lagunitas is the only one with which you're familiar.

On a pleasant spring or summer afternoon, head outside to the back porch to enjoy your drink (just be prepared for the cigarette smoke emanating from the European tourists camped out there). Most of all, don't be afraid to ask the laid-back bartenders for beer selection advice – you won't be the first person bewildered by their expansive selection.

Vote for the brew pub that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through April 30 and winners will be announced on May 1.

Tags: awards-main, beer, best brew pub, best brew pubs, best microbreweries, brooklyn, luxist-awards, microbreweries, microbrewery, Spuyten Duyvil