There is nothing like a good Top 10 list to get people’s attention. My recent list of the Top 10 Seattle Beer Spots for 2012 was posted over a two-week period that generated some of the highest traffic I have seen on the site and 83 total comments. I just wanted to follow up with a few thoughts and lessons learned from this year’s list.

• You’re definitely not going to make everyone happy. And, in fact, Top 10 lists are more than likely to piss off quite a few people. As long as people remember that this is my list of Seattle’s Top 10 beer spots, they are welcome to think whatever and comment whatever they’d like.
• As I said at the beginning of every post, many great places didn’t make the list. We live in one of the best beer cities in the country and we are lucky enough to have a ridiculous amount of options for drinking great craft beer. I thought about calling out a few honorable mentions that were very close to making the list, but I decided against it. I’d probably then just have to comment on places that didn’t get an honorable mention.
• Chuck’s Hop Shop and Super Deli Mart both received quite a few votes for inclusion from readers. Both are fantastic spots with great selections of bottles, cans, and draft beer, but both also have all the atmosphere of, well, convenience stores. I love both places and hit them up from time-to-time when in their area. While maybe I didn’t state this, my intention was for this list to be a Top 10 of places where you want to go enjoy beer on premise. While you can do that at both Chuck’s and Super Deli Mart, both shine as retailers in my opinion. I’d put Beer Junction in over either of those places, as I think it has the best combo of on-premise bar with off-premise retail in the city. Their bar area is a spot that I could actually see myself enjoying hanging out in for a period of time. As for someone’s comment that I need to reconsider Chuck’s if I “want to remain relevant”, I got a great laugh out of that one. I love that people are so passionate about their favorite places.
• Another comment that got my blood going a little was one regarding Beveridge Place Pub (BPP; my #1 spot) being “a place that people who dont really care/love about beer go” and that “It is an okay atmosphere, but its more centered around groups and dog people than beer people.” The patrons sure do drink a lot of great beer and support many awesome events for “people who don’t really care about beer”. I love that BPP has a non-beer geek vibe. When I go out on an average night I intend to hang out with friends while drinking great beer. Sure we talk about beer, among other things, but I really have very little desire to go to a bar full of beer geeks and have nothing but “in depth convo about beer” on a regular basis. I like hanging out with normal people, although calling my friends normal might be a stretch. There are plenty of events and festivals where I can geek out with other beer people. And as for the dogs, I guess I underestimate how much some people really dislike the fact that BPP allows them. The comments make it sound like there is a dog at every table and that they run around with no leashes and no control. I’m not especially a dog person, and I’ve really only seen one or two instances that made me scratch my head involving a dog. The positives at BPP still heavily outweigh any negatives from the inclusion of dogs in my book. Regarding someone’s comment that “the beer list has never really impressed me here”, you must be hard to please. I’ve sure never had a problem finding something awesome to drink at BPP. I think they do a fantastic job of pouring the best from the northwest and beyond.
• Someone requested a Top 10 Breweries list. Sounds like a good idea to me. I’ll probably do one featuring the Top 10 Breweries to Visit in Western WA, though. No promise on timing…
• A few people commented about Elliot Bay Pizza & Pub in Mill Creek. This place wasn’t on my radar at all, and I plan to go check it out one of these days. Thanks for the heads up.
• Some people mentioned a few places I’ve still either never been in and need to check out (Locol) as well as places I just haven’t been to in a while and need to revisit (Old Town, Mulleady’s). I appreciate the comments!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Top 10 Seattle Beer Spots list. I enjoy putting it together, and it will return next year or the year after for sure.