American Craft Beer: Scuttlebutt Brewing Company

Today being Monday, I made my weekly pilgrimage to the Sogo in Tienmu to pick up Din Tai Fung’s Xiao Long Bao for take-out dinner.  While waiting for our order to be ready, I stopped into City Super to pick up some items for tomorrow’s dinner, and decided to take a quick peek in the beer aisle.  I’m quickly realizing that City Super is THE place to go to find some interesting selections of craft beer to try!

This past winter, City Super was my source for Abbaye des Rocs Bruin and Speciale Noel, as well as the 2007 Golden Carolus Cuvee van de Keizer and a number of other beers that are not typically found in Taiwan.  They also occasionally carry offerings from smaller breweries from Asia, Europe and North America.  Today, I found three offerings from Scuttlebutt Brewing Company of Everett, Washington.

Scuttlebutt Brewing Company has been around since 1996, with their roots on the Everett waterfront.  Founded by Phil and Cynthia “Scuttle” Barrett, their initial production was 170 barrels of three styles of beer, growing to production of over 20 different styles and almost 5000 barrels!  In 2007, they moved from the waterfront to their current brewing location in Everett.  In the spirit of sustainability, all of their ingredients come from Washington and Oregon, and their spent grain goes back into the local agriculture to feed cattle in Washington.

Scuttlebutt, under head brewer Matt Stromberg, currently has six beers in their everyday repertoire; Homeport Blonde (Ale), Hefe Weizen, Amber Ale, Tell Tale Red, Gale Force IPA, and Porter.  They also offer a selection from fourteen different seasonal beers, including Weizenbock (doppelbock), Tripel 7 Belgian Style Ale, and 10 Below Ale (imperiel dunkelweiss).  My visit to City Super today netted us the Homeport Blonde, Amber Ale and Gale Force IPA.  In the spirit of American Craft Beer Week, we just had to give these a try!

Since our dinner tonight included a couple of spicy dishes as well, we opted to crack open the two lighter offerings, the Homeport Blonde and the Gale Force IPA.  The Homeport Blonde Ale is 4.6% alcohol, with a fruity nose and a clean, lemony taste.  The Gale Force IPA is 5.6% alcohol, with a hoppier smell and a malty flavor.  Both of these went surprisingly well with our dinner.

Scuttlebutt also has a restaurant known for their fish & chips, clam chowder and homemade root beer, along with a full menu of other traditional options, and of course, their beers!  Eleven of their offerings are on tap at the restaurant right now, so there’s surely something for everyone!  Note: The restaurant has very recently (April, 2011) moved from their original location, which was the location of their original 20-barrel brewery, to a new location two blocks north and three blocks west of the old pub.

According to their website, Scuttlebutt beers are available in thirteen states.  I’m not sure how these made it to Taiwan, but I’m very happy they did!