Life After Bottleworks

Time was, the #16 bus would drop me off on 45th Street near my apartment in Wallingford. Between the bus stop and my place, I was forced to walk past Bottleworks, Seattle's finest specialty beer shop. Often sapped of my energies from a day's work, I had little choice but to stop in and buy a six-pack of something fancy. Then, I'd take that lovely sixer home and wallow in self-pity while spinning Merle Haggard records (well, not really, but I did listen to Merle Haggard and drink heavily). Recently, however, I relocated to West Seattle and found myself wondering where the hell I could go for a hop fix? The answer presented itself as I rounded the corner of Fauntleroy heading north on California Avenue Southwest. There it stood: Beveridge Place Pub. I walked inside and saw a spacious, cool, and cozy drinking room akin to those I saw in Europe (a mix of tables, couches, coffee tables, bookshelves, etc.). Facing me head-on was the grand and ominous wood bar, with 22 taps boasting regional goodness such as Boundary Bay IPA, Maritime Pacific Skull Creek Lager, and Baron Pilsner. You can imagine my delight when I noticed the graying longhairs (I swear the same dudes I always bumped elbows with at Bottleworks) walking in with their big, brown growlers and getting them filled. "How much are them growlers?" I asked. The bartender informed me they were $14 for the first fill-up, $10 each time after that. Not bad, thought I. So I bought two—one filled with Manny's Pale Ale, the other with Boundary Bay IPA—and lugged those suckers back to my place east of Delridge Way, where much beer was consumed and much Merle Haggard was spun. Where there's a will, there's a way, right?