After descending the clouds of Mt. Erie, the sun started to peek out just as we parked at Bastion Brewing Company just a few miles away from the Anacortes Community Forest Land trails–the location couldn’t have been more convenient. We entered through the doors that actually lead to the restaurant portion of the building, but the brewery was to our right.
We grabbed a table and walked up to the bar to order. I’m a sucker for Irish reds and ambers, so the bartender poured me a sample of each to help me better decide. I preferred the amber slightly, and the boyfriendo went with the double IPA. With this being my first official brewery post, I’m still finding my legs a bit, so a few things about me–While I love beer, I’m not one to talk about the esters I taste or ‘mouthfeel’–if I like it, I’ll drink it again. Also? Merch matters. When my friend Heather and I were in San Fransicso, one brewery was charging $8 for a pint glass with their simple logo on it. When we went to 21st Amendment, it was $1.50 for pint glasses with different designs for their flagship beers. No-brainer where we bought glasses from! [Sidenote: What a trip. Packing all of the glasses we purchased was like playing tetris in a suitcase.] Bastion had the glass pictured below with their logo for sale as well as apparel and even carabiner mugs! Sadly, I have enough pint glasses to last eight lifetimes, so I try to limit myself now to smaller merch like magnets (or even swiping a coaster or two).
In summary (to the best of my knowledge)…
- Full kitchen: Yes
- All-ages: Yes
- Dog friendly: No
- Merch: Yes
- Coasters: No
- Live music: Yes
- Outdoor seating: No
As the boyfriendo had been craving La Conner Brewing’s pizza for weeks, we left after we finished our beers to check in to La Conner. At that point, I had only eaten trail food, so I was more than ready for the time-honored combination of pizza and beer as well.
Unlike the newer Bastion, La Conner Brewing has been around since 1995, and the boyfriendo has been going there since he was a child. We started with a citra IPA, Northwest IPA, and two pizzas. As we worked our way through sampling the rest of their tap list, I admired the local art on the walls around us (La Conner is one of the artsiest towns in the state!). Additionally, they helpfully had the tap list posted in multiple areas, so you didn’t have to get up and read the bar or use a rarely up-to-date paper printout of what was on tap. As memory serves, the northwest IPA and wheat were the standouts for us. I was a bit tempted by some of their ciders as well–nice to see they had choices for the non-beer lovers as well. They also had a wall painted for merch–apparel, hats, glassware, and stickers were on the list.
After we quickly inhaled our food, we opted to move from our table to the bar as the place was filling up. It was there we noticed beautiful daffodils scattered about the bar. While Skagit Valley is best known for the tulips, daffodils are around just before the tulips bloom, so it was nice to see that hint of spring (even if the thermometer disagrees). Once the weather realizes it’s spring, there was a (covered) patio outside as well that even has heaters. I would guess in the summer patio seating here is popular!
In summary (to the best of my knowledge)…
- Full kitchen: Yes
- All-ages: Yes
- Dog friendly: Patio only
- Merch: Yes
- Coasters: No
- Live music: No
- Outdoor seating: Yes
Sounds fun! We need to give this a try next time we are up there 🙂
Thanks! I’m sure by now it’s all tulips in that area, but the beer will still be tasty!