Trade Route, Schooner Exact Say Adios to South Park

Ah, what a sleeper of a Saturday afternoon Northwests brew nerds used to be have in off-the-beaten-track South Park: Visit three breweries in one swoop, maybe even throw in a winery or two. No more. Only Baron Brewing will remain in the South Park office complex that was set to become a fermentation hub for Seattleites.

Trade Route Brewing (formerly Laughing Buddha) has announced it's moving to a bigger space in Auburn. Becoming the only fish in the pond is a smart move -- like taking Australia in RISK. (Just look at the success Black Raven is finding as one of the only microbreweries in Redmond.)

Since Schooner Exact was subletting from Trade Route and was unable to negotiate a lease that worked for them, they're moving, too. Good news: This little-brewery-that-could will be movin' on up to SODO, right next to a new Vespa dealership and the West Seattle bridge -- better to host the pre-funking of hundreds of Mariner fans. I saw brewmaster Marcus Connery at an event last week, where he was pouring the brewery's almost witbier-like hefeweizen. (Seriously, minus the orange note, it was beautiful. Get some.) "We're going to devote as much space to the tasting room as possible, and we're excited to take one more step in the plan." In this case one more step means one step farther away from the nanobrewery they once were, taking care of business after work and on the weekends.