I’ve been frequenting Hale’s Ales brewpub for almost ten years. It’s the only place I can walk in and the bartender (typically friendly, red-haired Don) knows not what I’m drinking—remember, I like to mix it up—but in what glass I’ll drink it. I’m a mug club member at Hale’s, so my glass is one of those great big beautiful ones hanging over the bar. It took a few years to go from waitlistee to inductee, but it was well worth the wait. I just wish I made it to Ballard more often.
Another so-so photo taken with the iPhone.
The pub has evolved, for better and worse, since I started visiting. The old motto “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing” has been challenged over the years by repeated menu upgrades, live event hosting—anybody else disturbed by something called the Moisture Festival taking place close to your beer?—and guest taps and tastings, but the house beers still shine brightest. (I’m not knocking the kitchen; the food’s consistently terrific.)
Hale’s O’Brien’s Harvest Ale, one of the brewer’s seasonal staples, was probably the first fresh hop-crop brew that I tried in Seattle. As my 24oz taste this past weekend proved, it’s still one of the best of a dynamic-by-design category. (Okay, I can’t remember if the club mugs are 20, 24, or 900 ounces, and the Google can’t confirm, either. Anybody?) With a caramel-red, amber ale-like hue, it appears heavier than it tastes. It’s IPA-bitter but with a smooth, lightly sweet malt complement and barely-there carbonation. Hale’s uses a different Harvest recipe each year, and the 2009 version might taste familiar (if your palate memory’s miraculous) as it’s the same recipe used two years ago, when the brew garnered a silver medal at the GABF.
Beer/food pairing has always seemed an unnecessary drinking justification to me, but if you find yourself in Ballard with a parched throat and an aching sweet-tooth, an O’Brien’s and a piece of peach cobbler is one contentifying dessert. Get it while you can—before Hale’s potent winter sipper, Wee Heavy, replaces the rotating tap.
