Saturday night a few pals, my wife and I found cause to celebrate. One Joe Tynan had gotten a job (about damn time). For our celebration I decided it was about damn time we went to the Taphouse. I had been there once before and had recommended it to several people as THE PLACE to try beer. Some of those people are now regulars and I had only been once. Shame on me.

[So before we went, I was reading an article on Realbeer.com about an ad in Southwest airlines spirit magazine that listed the ten top places to drink beer in the US, on the list was THE TAPHOUSE in Bellevue WA.]

So off we trekked to drink in a few of the 160 beers they have on tap. Having chosen my tastes carefully I was a little disconcerted when two of my four choices were seasonal and not available. Oh, well, always have back up. I and two of my compatriots took copious notes on the beers we tasted for publishing here, but unfortunately I don't have them here. Look for them later.

Suffice it to say that I was impressed with the selection and the fact (appreciated by beer snobs everywhere) that you can get your beer in the glassware appropriate to the style. We also all signed up for their beer club cards (a free service) that keep track of all the different beers you have tasted while at the Taproom. They claim that the more beers you taste (ie, the more you spend) the more likely you are to be invited to special events and brewers dinners etc. We all decided to give it a shot.

Also discovered today, a great site for the beer drinker seeking more beer knowledge. Michael Jackson the beer hunter has a website published by realbeer.com that is composed of several articles by the consumate beer afficianado as he travels around the world tasting beers. Worth a look or two.

Notes from tasting at the Taphouse coming soon as well as Joe's notes from beers in England and John's notes from the Freemont Oktoberfest in Seattle.