keithmo bikes: Brewvet #1 - Blue Moon Belgian at Swannie's

As mentioned earlier, Brewvet Season is upon us. Wednesday 2013/06/05 was my first official Brewvet, and it almost didn't happen.

It was one of those days where everything seemed to go wrong. I had a day-long work meeting at The Hub in Seattle, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to make a Brewvet out of it. The plan:

Drive from home to the Woodinville Park & Ride.
Ride to The Hub.
Meet with my coworkers all day.
Grab a beer after meetings, either in downtown Seattle or somewhere on the way home.

Piece-o-cake, yes?

Not so much. The reality:

Drove from home to the Woodinville Park & Ride.
Got the bike out of the truck, assembled it (attached front wheel, seat/seat post, etc).
Noticed that I forgot my cycling shoes.
Disassembled the bike, put it back in the truck.
Drove home.
Got my shoes.
Drove back to the Woodinville Park & Ride.
Got the bike out of the truck, assembled it.
Hopped on the bike, rode to the trail, started heading towards Seattle.
Realized I didn't have my backpack containing my laptop, notebooks, etc.
Rode back to the truck.
Disassembled the bike, put it back in the truck.
Drove home.
Got backpack.
Drove back to the Woodinville Park & Ride.
Got the bike out of the truck, assembled it.
Hopped on the bike, rode to the trail, started heading towards Seattle.
Finally made it to The Hub about an hour late.

Oh well, it could have been worse. At least the weather was perfect, and I had no flats along the way.

After our meetings, we set out on a quest for beer. We walked past a number of places, and they were all completely packed. Eventually we stumbled across Swannie's on Pioneer Square. The place looked kinda sketchy -- in a sea of overcrowded bars, Swannie's was completely empty. We had a choice of outdoor seating (with a lovely view of the drug addicts hanging out in Pioneer Square) or an inside table. We decided to sit inside. Thankfully, they allowed me to bring my bike inside as well. I didn't even have to ask, they proactively offered. The gesture was greatly appreciated!

Once inside, the service was great and the beer was cold. They had Blue Moon Belgian on tap, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to knock category #5 off the Brewvet list. In general I'm not a big fan of Belgian-style beer, but I was pleasantly surprised by the Blue Moon. It had a refreshing citrus taste which nicely balanced the typical Belgian "yeastiness".