La Conner Brewing

   Three quality micros sit along the majestic Skagit River: Birdsview up where the river flows out of the North Cascades National Park, the eponymous Skagit River Brewery in downtown Mt. Vernon along I-5, and then this one in the town of La Conner, where the river meets the sea after a series of serpentine loops.  La Conner is a picturesque, artsy town with a thriving tourist trade, and the brewery/restaurant sits in a new building designed to blend in well with its older neighbors along the dock.
   The brewery bottles product in 12-oz. six-packs, contracting this work to a mobile bottling service.  They also have kegs in some retail locations.  The usual selection is six constant beers (wheat, pilsner, pale, IPA, brown and ESB) and one rotating seasonal.This last was a nice doppelbock the day I stopped by.  The walls were given over to paintings by one artist, who was Bellingham's Ben Mann when I was there. Pizza from a wood-fired oven seems to be the menu mainstay, and my choice there, chicken Gorgonzola, was delicious.
   Back to La Conner during tulip time in mid-April.  The fields are soggy with all the rain of late, and the lack of sunshine has definitely kept the tulips back. They had rotated back to the dopplebock again and had some nice tulips in vases on the bar.  Here's a pic of one with the doppel....

(Visited 9/12/10; 4/15/11)