Imbibing in Ballard

It used to be if you threw a rock in Ballard it was likely to hit a fisherman.

Now it’s likely to splash down in a pint of craft beer.

The change has been swift. Once dominated by Maritime Pacific and Hale’s Ales, Ballard and neighboring Magnolia have seen nine breweries open their doors over the past four years. Holy Mountain in Magnolia is the latest, opening last month.

So last week when a friend called wanting to get together with some old buddies in Ballard I knew it was a great opportunity to check out some great breweries. We wanted to hit up Holy Mountain, but they were closed. So we started the night at Stoup Brewing.

Started by Brad Benson, Lara Zahaba and Robyn Schumacher, Stoup opened in October, 2013. Benson and Schumacher studied chemistry and biology, respectively, in college and have brought that to their beers, which are clean and well made.

I ordered the T2R Haymaker III IPA. At 10.5 percent, the triple IPA is clean and supremely hoppy (it’s brewed with eight hops) without killing your palate (thankfully since I ordered it first, stupidly). Next up I tried the Mosaic Pale Ale and was impressed with the notes of citrus and fruit and the smooth finish.

In order to try some of their other offerings, I hit up some friends’ beers. The German Pils is crisp and refreshing with a light hop aftertaste. I could picture myself drinking it on my deck in the summer.

But the most interesting beer was Stoup’s Cascadian Dark Ale. Most CDAs, or Black IPAs, I’ve had are more concerned with the hops than the malts. Not here. The roasted malts in Stoup’s CDA really come through in this unfiltered beer. It’s got some definite hop character, but that didn’t seem to be the star.

Next up, we traveled south on Leary to Bad Jimmy’s Brewing. My friend Adam had been raving about the Habanero Amber he’d had the night before so that’s what we ordered first.

It was well-balanced and had a sharp bite of spicy aftertaste. I loved it. Ambers are often run-of-the-mill beers, so spicing it up (literally) is a great idea. The next two beers, a Red IPA and Cocoa Vanilla Porter, were good but not overly memorable.

Since Bad Jimmy’s doesn’t have a kitchen, we sauntered down the street to the Giddy Up Burgers &Greens. I was surprised at how good the beer selection was — they have 24 beers on tap — and found a beer from one of my favorite breweries: Pfriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon. We ordered a pitcher of Pfriem IPA and settled in for one last pint.

One of the best parts of the Ballard craft brewery scene is that it’s easy to navigate. Three of the breweries, NW Peaks, Peddler and Hilliards, are all clustered just blocks away from each other off of Leary Way west of 15th. On the other side of 15th, Populuxe, Stoup and Reuben’s, are all a stone’s throw from each other in the commercial buildings that used to house boat-building businesses in old Ballard.

I know I’ll be heading down again soon to check out the breweries I missed.

Aaron Swaney: 425-339-3430; aswaney@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @swaney_aaron79. Follow the Hops and Sips blog at www.heraldnet.com/hopsandsips.