Drink Your Way Through Seattle's Neighborhoods, One Beer at a Time

In Seattle, a person can stroll from Capitol Hill to downtown in a matter of minutes, or zip by car from Madison Park to the International District in the blink of an eye. Even more diverse than Seattle's numerous neighborhoods are the beers that represent them. Pull up a bar stool and see which beer best typifies yours:

1. Pioneer Square: The loophole-laden beer ban in Pioneer Square is insubstantial, to say the least, much like taste of O'Doul's.

2. Ballard: Is there a beer out there with the flavor of gentrification? Depending on whom you talk to, several beers seem indicative of Ballard--Kokanee for the fishermen, Maritime's Nightwatch for condo-dwellers--but we're sure that Ballardites will drink anything that goes with plaid.

3. Capitol Hill: The Elysian Brewing Co.'s "Loser." The tasting notes read "...street smart but not athletic," and the beer's slogan is, "Corporate Beer Sucks."

4. SODO: The slogan for Elysian's Bifröst Winter Ale--"bold and lively"--aptly describes the crowds of Sounders fans who pack Elysian Fields in SODO to watch soccer matches.

5. Fremont: Lest you ever forget that Fremont is "the center of the known universe," take a sip of the Fremont Brewing Co.'s "Universale Ale" and you'll know what they're talking about. Better still, knock back two or three quick, and hopefully you'll be mellow enough to not punch the Fremontoid on the next stool over when he starts spouting off about the wonderfulness of living La Vida Fremont.

6. Downtown: The Pike Brewing Company's "Naughty Nellie" is named for Nellie Curtis, Seattle's infamous madam, a woman whose beloved brothel once had sailors lining up down the block.

7. Lower Queen Anne: Lower Queen Anne's denizens love Schooner Exact Brewing Co.'s King St. Brown. Ozzies, T.S. McHugh's, the Great Nabob, Spectator, and Buckley's all have the beer on tap, so in this case, we're going with the law of large numbers.