Lake City may not be one of Seattle’s main brewery hubs, but recent years have seen the largely residential neighborhood grow into a unique craft destination of its own. Open since 2015, Hellbent has long been one of the driving forces here. Adventurous beer lovers will find themselves right at home with a wide range of styles to choose from, including an annual experimental IPA with hops so new they’ve yet to be named. The spacious, wood-lined taproom only adds to the experience — we recommend kicking back on a couch in the upstairs loft with a tasting lineup and a snack from one of the food trucks normally parked outside.

Halcyon’s clever creations come highly recommended among Seattle brewhounds, but in 2023 its clout advanced to the national level with a Great American Beer Festival gold medal. The award was for the Only Good Vibes Session IPA, though this small, mural-decked brewery is adept at a diverse range of classic and experimental styles. The pilsner is a perfect example. With a trifecta of hops and lengthy conditioning to crisp perfection, this beer testifies that modern craft doesn’t have to be all about crazy flavors and high ABVs. A bonus? Halcyon’s food menu boasts a myriad of Asian inspirations woven into its hot dogs and chicken plates.

This Maple Leaf brewery has only been open since the spring of 2023, but it’s already a proven itself an emerging Seattle staple. And no, it’s not just the massive back patio area drawing in fans. Here you’ll find an expansive and rotating draft lineup fit to compete with even the oldest local craft breweries. The pale ales are perhaps most prominent, ranging from crisp cold IPAs to juicy haze. Even so, things are still just getting started — the brewers say they “haven’t yet brewed anything twice.” 

This Ballard brewery feels like its own world the moment you walk in the door. With its dark wood and exposed rafters that still somehow feel cozy, the taproom has the atmosphere of a high-end wine tasting room and serves an impressive array of naturally fermented farmhouse ales and fruit-forward tangy saisons. It also now has a Beast and Cleaver outpost inside serving some of the best burgers in Seattle.

In a “bizarre” twist that sets it apart from most of modern American craft beer, this Magnolia brewery is all about low ABVs. And that’s precisely what makes it so worth a stop. While nothing ventures above 6 percent, the small-batch brews here cover a wide range of territory and flavors, from German-style altiber and tropical hopfenweisse to a four-grain best bitter and multiple English milds in between.

Holy Mountain now has a second location in Phinney Ridge that’s well worth visiting, but first-timers should start with the O.G. mainstay in Interbay. Tucked between some train tracks and busy Elliot Avenue, this spot is easy to speed past unless you know what you’re looking for. But awaiting inside is a bevy of old world–style sours, farmhouse ales, and quenching pale ales. Aside from a poster for the trippy 1973 movie Holy Mountain gets its name from, the decor is sparse and whitewashed, allowing for full concentration on the beers’ unique profiles. Chances are, you’ll be so captivated you won’t even notice the trains rumbling right past the open back door.

Belltown has a brewing scene? You betcha, thanks to Cloudburst. This is one of Seattle’s main destination breweries thanks to both its location near the northern end of Pike Place Market and its incredible lineup of hop bombs (plus some lighter fare). Operating out of what was once the loading zone of a 120-year-old building, Cloudburst features juicy and refreshing brews that explore the limits of hops sourced from around the Pacific Northwest and beyond. (It now has a second location in Ballard.)

When Pike Brewing launched in 1989 (then called Pike Place Brewery), it was among one of only a handful of independent craft breweries in Seattle. The rest of the city has since caught up, but Pike is still going strong all these years later. Its cans are frequently spotted at stores around the city, but if you haven’t visited the labyrinthian brewery below street level next to the market yet, you need to. Check out the barrel-aged stouts for the real depths of this brewery’s prowess.

The air always smells enticing in this Beacon Hill neighborhood gem. Co-owned by master brewer Les McAuliffe and talented chef Karin Paulsen, Perihelion brews memorable small-batch beers onsite, rounding them out with unique spices and aging techniques. The food menu is equally impressive, with house-made pickles and meats smoked with black cherrywood. Grab a sunny spot on the patio and pair the barbecue jackfruit sandwich with a fresh IPA or any one of the Belgian ales.

Ghostfish is a decorated SoDo brewery that proves leaving out grain proteins doesn’t mean skimping on quality. As Ghostfish Brewing co-founder Brian Thiel says, “You wouldn’t know any of (our beer or food items) are gluten-free unless we told you.” The brewery’s wide selection of beers — from stouts to lagers — have snagged national awards and drawn crowds in a city that’s normally obsessed with traditional gluten-packed beer recipes. Ghostfish has a full-service kitchen offering gluten-free dishes to match. When you’re washing down spicy chili fries with a delicious grapefruit IPA, it doesn’t feel like there’s anything missing here. 

Pre-pandemic, Seapine was known locally as a cool little brewery serving draft-only West Coast style beers out of a surprisingly cozy SoDo warehouse taproom. Fast-forward a few years, and the beer is now in cans with a strong national following. That time Tony Hawk was spotted sipping Rainbow Suspenders IPA may have helped, but Seapine’s rep comes primarily from the beer just being really well made. IPAs and lighter styles (pilsner and hefeweizen) are its bread and butter, evoking flavors of the Pacific Northwest with local hops and brewing techniques. Give the seasonal releases a chance at the brewery — the Sea Witch Milk Stout is luxurious.

Launched in 2019 as a collaboration project between five master brewers and beer experts, this White Center brewery had clout right from the get-go. Years later, it’s on the destination checklist for visitors and locals alike. Future Primitive excels at beers across a range of styles at both its original taproom and newer bar on Alki Beach, featuring a regular selection of IPAs, stouts, Belgians, and lagers. The real treasures are the more experimental creations, however — oyster stout or smoked lager, anyone?