Welcome to Sip Northwest’s Beer Hall of Fame: a twice-monthly induction into a list of essential Northwest beers that have made their mark on the field and region.
Craft beer has been around in its current form for more than 30 years and beer itself has been a part of human existence for thousands — before cities even existed, ever since that forgetful farmer left a basket of grain out in the rain to be fermented by some errant air yeast. As such, it’s about time there was a Beer Hall of Fame in the region that’s defining and shaping the craft beer scene every day.
But first, let’s set a few ground rules. For a beer to be inducted into the Beer Hall of Fame (BHOF), it has to be:
1) At least five-years-old.
2) Produced and sold in the Pacific Northwest (which, for our purposes, includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana and British Columbia).
3) Damn good: meaning unique, important to the craft beer scene and something we’d recommend to our close friends and family.
For our first installment, we’re going to induct the very first beer into the BHOF. Without further ado: Georgetown Brewing Co. Lucille India Pale Ale.
Georgetown Brewing, located in the south Seattle neighborhood that bears the same name, sold its first keg in 2003. That beer? Manny’s Pale Ale, a full-bodied, sunset-hued pale with a mild hop backbone and sweet, floral overtones. When the beer came out, it was considered hoppy for a pale ale, says Georgetown co-owner Manny Chao, for whom Manny’s is named. But it helped to lay the groundwork — along with California and other Northwest floral, hoppy brews — for an India pale ale renaissance in the region. The style, which originated in the U.K. with a maltier and rounder flavor profile, now is defined by on the Left Coast with edged hops and an aromatic taste.
Many now consider Lucille the quintessential Northwest IPA. Boasting an ABV of 7 percent and 85 IBUs, it’s big, bold, hoppy, sharp and floral. It’s more aggressive than Manny’s but not overbearing like some newer, thicker IPAs or even imperial IPAs. Lucille, which uses a number of Northwest hops like Cascade and Centennial, maintains a crisp flavor profile and is one of the most satisfying pints in the region.
“My own palate was starting to change,” Chao says, referring to the process of first producing Lucille. “I was enjoying IPAs and there was a lot of pressure to make a really good one — it better be good! We wanted to get it right. We made batch after batch of it at the brewery, and the people who came into the tasting room got most of the samples.”
The result? A Hall of Fame pint that has graced the lips of many beer lovers in pubs and taverns all over the area.
So, thank you, Georgetown. Here’s to you, your Lucille IPA and the brand-spanking-new Sip Northwest Beer Hall of Fame. Cheers!
