Thanks to Yuek Hahn on Flickr.

I’ve been living in the Beacon Hill neighborhood now for over two years, but we have always avoided the Beacon Pub, which is located just south of the core retail district of North Beacon Hill. We’d occasionally give it a skeptical glance as we passed it while going to our neighborhood coffee shop of choice, Victrola, but we had never ventured in. The main reason for this was the fact that not too long after moving into our place on the hill, there was a shooting inside the pub that scared us off pretty good. That’s not exactly the type of thing you read about in your new neighborhood and then go running to check a place out. Over time, we never really revisited the idea of going to check the place out. Yet, some of my friends may know that I sometimes complain that there is really nowhere in my neighborhood to grab a good beer (other than Beacon Hill Brewing…).

So, when a few friends and I finally decided to stop in and check it out this past weekend, I was ecstatic to find that they actually have several taps of good beer! Upon walking in I first noticed a couple of taps from Three Skulls Ales, then a tap from Snoqualmie. At that point, I said to a friend, “Wow, I wasn’t expecting them to have much of anything interesting to drink. This rocks.” But then, we noticed that the taps at the back of  the bar also had a selection from Iron Horse Brewery. That’s when I saw the gem that’s got me so excited about the place: Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA. This has become one of my favorite IPAs available, and having it at a bar that close to me makes me a happy man. Their cheap lager tap of choice was Olympia, which is nice to see over Bud Light, Coors Light, or Miller Light. There may have been a couple more taps, but I’m not sure…but I’ll be going back to find out!

I realize a place like this doesnt’ mean much to most people, but having a place close by that you can walk or ride your bike to easily to grab a beer is a fantastic thing. We get around the city to other places for beer via public transportation and driving the majority of the time, and that won’t change. But, I can see plenty of times in the future when we just want a quiet beer and we now might throw out the idea of checking out what’s on tap at the Beacon.

As far as the non-beer aspects of the place, it’s a perfectly fine neighborhood bar. The crowd was friendly the night we were there, and it seemed like a mix of older regulars and younger residents of the neighborhood. There is a pool table in back, and an older big screen TV for watching games. It was also karaoke night (Saturday), which was entertaining I suppose…but I’ll look forward to a non-karaoke night.