A Beer Discovery in Issaquah

Every summer, I go to Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast with friends from college. One tradition—among many—is to visit the Rogue brewery in Newport. I’ve been to the brewery every year for the past four years, and I always look forward to the same things – a smooth IPA, strong hoppy smells wafting through the maze of giant steel cylinders full of beer in the making and fish and chips.  It’s all lovely.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered Rogue has an Issaquah location. I SERIOUSLY did not know it existed, even though I’ve tasted the Issaquah Bullfrog Ale many times. I never drew the connection.

What did I do? I headed over to Issaquah of course. I took the same group of friends I travel to the coast with each year. We wanted to compare the Rogue headquarters to the Issaquah location. Conclusion: Rogue Issaquah is just as good, and almost better, than the original Newport brewery.

Rogue Issaquah seat hundreds of people, where the Newport brewery is quite small. Service at the Issaquah location was quicker and friendlier. The menu is same, so it’s 1:1 on that end. The beer tastes just as excellent, but we found Issaquah has a larger selection of specialty Rogue brews. This year, Rogue in Newport was out of its famous root beer and wasn’t offering the beer sampler (this isn’t normal and probably had something to do with the timing of our visit). In Issaquah, root beer was fully stocked and we enjoyed plenty of beer samplers. They even offered us extra samples for free!

I highly recommend Rogue Issaquah. It is a great neighborhood brewery. It’s also clean and offers a family-friendly restaurant. Additionally, if you like gin, its award-winning spruce gin is worth the $7.50 for a martini.

Here are directions.