Search Results for:

jackie dodd

Seattle Lite

Seattle Brings Back Light Beer with Seattle Lite Brewing

written and photographed by Jackie Dodd Close your eyes for a second. Imagine you’re in 1970s Seattle. Imagine you’re boating on Lake Washington in late July, clad in cut-off Levis and a concert T-shirt. You reach into a red-and-white Coleman ice chest and pull out a beer. What is it? Even if you weren’t alive in the 1970s, let alone of beer drinking age, that tableau conjures an image and you already have a beer in mind. It’s a beer that makes you happy, a beer that predates industry snobbery, awards and billion-dollar buyouts. That refreshing, low ABV, compulsively drinkable…

Skål Beer Hall in Ballard is an Authentic Viking Experience

written and photographed by Jackie Dodd In the heart of Ballard is a heavy wooden door, fashioned from planks salvaged from an old horse stable. Pulling it open, you step into the past—not just the 70-year-old building, or the beers made to resemble those of yesteryear, or even the dishes expertly crafted to mirror what was available to Nordic tribes centuries ago. It’s the space — Skål Beer Hall. The idea behind Skål Beer Hall was to create a modern take on Viking gathering spaces of centuries ago. Nailed it. It’s not kitschy, it’s not Disney for Vikings, it’s not…

Hop Shopping with Founders Brewing Brewmaster

Founders Brewing brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki selects centennial hops for next year’s beers. written and photographed by Jackie Dodd It’s a mecca of sorts for every brewer in the country, hallowed ground that’s been trampled by every important beer maker in the world— and it just so happens to be in our own backyard. Yakima isn’t necessarily a top travel destination for most, but for the true 1 percent of the beer community, it ranks well above Munich during Oktoberfest. Traversing the valley during harvest behind the brewers from Founders Brewing, I felt the indelible weight of touching the bines, smelling…

McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge

McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge honors the Hawaiian heritage of the town’s founder written and photographed by Jackie Dodd Kalama is a small rail town and a shipping port that’s easy to pass without notice. Charming even from a distance but forgettable once you’ve reached your final stop, the small town of Kalama is now officially “destination worthy.” With their signature combination of upcycled antiques and local artisan creations, the McMenamin brothers have brought the familiar stay-and-play hotel chain to a quietly captivating stretch of the Columbia River, just forty-five minutes north of Portland. Kalama Harbor Lodge is absolutely worth any effort…

Rooftop Brewing

Rooftop Brewing Offers Brew with a View written and photographed by Jackie Dodd Craig Christian has a casual answer for why he won’t rent out his taproom for private events. “It would just be about the money, and that’s not why I’m here,” he said. That shows you what his bones are made of. A group of fiercely loyal regulars who form the pulse of the taproom, even on a typical drizzly Seattle day, matter to him in a way that speaks volumes. “All on their own they started a Facebook group called Rooftop Regulars,” he said, smiling like a…