When I found out that K. and R. were going to be in Seattle this past weekend and that it was supposed to be beautiful I suggested that we check out some of the local breweries in Ballard. I did this without having ever been to a brewery in Seattle—let alone Ballard.

It seemed like a good idea. And it was.

Only in hindsight and in typing up this post, does it seem like this plan could have flopped given the fact that I suggested this activity because I wanted to do it--not because I’d done it and had enjoyed it. But really what can go wrong with a combination like this: friends + beer + food trucks + sunshine in Seattle?!

We started our beer-adventure at Stoup in Ballard.

I walked down from my place north of Market Street and it took me longer than I guessed it would at nearly 30 minutes and I am a quick walker.

Stoup is simple and streamlined. The beers on tap are written out on a chalkboard. You can pick different sizes from a flight to 12oz, 16oz and even a growler. Yeah! I think that there were four or five beers on tap and a couple of people working behind the bar.

There was a line to wait in to order but everyone was in a good mood and the line moved quickly enough. I had an IPA which I thought was hoppy and delicious.

The pint glasses the beer is served in are cute. Look at that logo.

My only complaint about Stoup was that for a beautiful day there wasn’t much “patio” space to sit out front of the garage-like-picnic-table-littered interior space. Out front, a small part of the asphalt area, which I’ve kindly described as patio space, was roped off and people were sitting in chairs and on the ground out there. It was okay but not great. I suspect that it probably has something to do with how the space is zoned or the license to serve beer but I don’t know about that.

All in all, Stoup was a great place to get our beer adventure started and I could easily imagine enjoying a beer inside their industrial-garage-like space on a less beautiful day or even on a drizzly rainy day. Three cheers for Stoup!!