After long permitting delays that pushed back the opening by more than six months, Chuck’s Hop Shop is now open for business in Seattle’s Central District at 20th and Union. They currently have 19 taps flowing for pints and growler fills, but eventually they plan to have 50 beers and ciders on tap in total. They have somewhere close to 500 different beers in stock already, but owner Chuck Shin plans to have more than 1,000 bottled/canned offerings available once all is said and done. The Chuck’s Hop Shop location in Greenwood has become one of the more popular neighborhood beer spots in the city, and Chuck thinks that the family and dog-friendly atmosphere will be a hit in the Central District as well.
They are currently open 2pm to 10pm M-Th, 3pm to 1am on Friday, 11am to 1am on Saturday and 11am to Midnight on Sunday. They have also started a rotation of food trucks on Thursday through Sunday.
This Saturday will be a perfect time to stop by and visit when they will host neighborhood brewery Standard Brewing for an event from 5pm to 9pm.
We are hosting Standard Brewing from 5:00-9:00pm this Saturday. We will be pouring Standard’s Imperial IPA, West Coast IPA, CDA and their Biere De Garde. Justin from Standard will be hanging out. This is the perfect time to drink great beer, support the CD and get to know your neighbors. Let’s show Justin how much we value his contribution to the culture of the Central District.
The spot is still a work in progress, but the doors are open, the coolers are (at least partially) stocked and the beer is flowing. Oh, and the ice cream cooler is stocked, too. They also have a perfect area on the side of the building near the street that Chuck plans to level and turn into a patio once nicer weather approaches. There will be a grand opening at some point, so watch their FaceBook page for updates.
I dropped by to check out Chuck’s CD on Saturday, Jan 11th. It was hopping (sorry) due to the Seahawk’s playoff game, but the staff seemed calm and relaxed, and happy to offer several tastes before I decided on a nice pint of Anacortes Rain Shadow CDA. I chased that with a delicious pulled pork-heaped biscuit from Seattle Biscuit Company’s food truck.
If I had to offer any criticism, it would be to feel that the growler fill prices are a little inflated. At 64oz, a baseline of $12 (I believe Georgetown’s Lucille was one of these) to fill your own container seems high, and prices quickly climb from there for the rarer brews, up to $30 at the moment for Lost Abbey’s Merry Taj IPA. Georgetown Brewing charges $8 for a growler fill of Lucille, by way of comparison, but of course avoids the middleman.
Overall, it’s a really nice addition to the neighborhood!
The growler prices may seem high, but take into consideration the amount of choices you have to bring home 64 oz of fresh beer. Thirty bucks for Lost Abbey, if you like it, is a lot cheaper than flying to San Marcos for your fix.
Yep, I agree that $12 for a standard growler fill is a couple bucks too high. That said, I’m sure I’ll be taking advantage of the convenience factor and selection fairly often. Too easy to stop by for a pint and talk myself into a growler…
I don’t think $12 for a growler is that high. The usual price of an IPA growlers is about 12-17 in Seattle depending on the beer. I think some people have an unreal expectation of growler prices because of Super Deli’s model and getting BASIC fills directly from Fremont or Gtown. Shockingly, better stronger beer costs a little more. That lost Abbey is like 350 a keg wholesale.
For cheaper growlers I often visit Dawgpound in the U-District. They have 6 beers on tap for a good selection. Mostly between $9 – $11 dollars.