Specialty Winter Seasonal Bottles

Specialty Seasonal

Bottles

St. Bernardus

2010 Christmas Ale

750ml bottle

ABV 10%???

$12

Delirium Noel

Belgian Strong Dark Ale

750ml bottle

ABV 10%

$12

Gouden Carolus Noel

1 of 4 Cases in

Western Washington!!!!

Belgian Strong Dark Ale

750ml bottle

ABV 10%

$12

T’Gaverhopke

Belgian Quadrupel 12%

11.5oz bottle

$8

Dogfish Head

90 minute IPA

12oz bottle

$6

(Yeah, it’s not a seasonal but we could

only get a case, so drink up!)

St Peter’s

Sorghum Ale (Gluten Free)

16.9oz bottle

$7

Full Sail

Session Fest

Red Lager

11oz bottle

$2.5

Treehouse Event for Charity

Duck Island Proudly Presents:

Charity Event for Treehouse!

Sunday December 11^th 7pm

Toy and Clothing Drive = Cool Stuff for Kids in Need

Raffle = Cool Stuff for You

Bring in unwrapped toys and clothing with your receipt and for every $2 you spend get a raffle ticket.

Buy raffle tickets $2 each or 6 for $10.

The night of the event for every $2 you spend on drinks you get a ticket.

Raffle stuff:

tri-pack of Westvleteren Bottles

(the 8, the 12 and the Blond)

Shwagg baskets from:

Brower/polska Distributors

New Belgium

Snoqualmie Falls Brewing

Sound Brewing

other beer merchandise from

alpha Distributors

anacortes Brewing

...just to name a few

Keep an eye out for more cool stuff as the donations roll in!

also

To top it all off… half of the proceeds for the night will go straight to Treehouse!

In these tough economic times, let us not forget our most vulnerable…

The 3 T's

Hello all you Duck Islanders... Just a quick blog to catch you all up on happenings at the Duck in the coming week:

T-1 Trivia!!!  Tonight and every Tuesday night at 8pm.  Here are a couple of examples of topics from last week's bout:
One round was a map of Seattle with the neighborhoods marked off and people had to fill-in as many of the names of the neighborhoods and they could. 
Another round was picture matching with tv cast members matched up with the bar or restaurant they hung out in.  Extra points for coming up with the correct name, as well.
The "major award" for third place was...  A Salad Shooter!  And a can of Pringles!!  Hooray!

T-2 Tacos!!!  Tomorrow night and every Wednesday at 5pm we have dollar tacos at the Duck.  Especially important to remember on the day before Thanksgiving because who wants to cook?  Also, tacos are about as far away from roasted turkey as you can get.  I'm sure you will be getting your fill of left-overs for the next week or so.  Dollar taco and a PBR.  Dinner is done!

T-3 Thanksgiving!!!  We will be opening at 8pm on Thanksgiving night.  So when you are done with the family and are ready to blow off some steam and celebrate the long weekend with a pint, come down and join all the other like-minded individuals.  It's always lots of fun.  Oh, not to mention $4 pints of Oakshire Harvest!  Can't beat that price anywhere.  Let us give thanks for beer and all thing alcoholic!  Amen.

DUCK TRIVIA!!!

Matt "Fatty" Meuller approached me a few weeks ago about wanting to host a Trivia night at the Duck.  With all the incredibly intelligent and competitive people that frequent our little dive bar I thought that this could be challenging and full of hilarity.  Having done his research around town at many successful trivia nights, Matt is just the right person for the job.  The topics will promise to be varied, fun and quirky, just like our customers.

Here's the facts:
Tuesdays at 8pm
$2.00 buy-in to seed the pot.
No more than 5 people on a team.
1st place wins the pot (cash money, baby!).
2nd place wins a pitcher of beer.
3rd place wins consolation prize.

The more people come to play, the more money you can win... so spread the word and bring your friends.  Also, a major award will be given to the team with the best name.  Ooooooh, a "Major Award??"  Could be... 
"Fr-aa-gee-lay...  Hmm, it must be Italian!!!"

Calling All Veterans!!

Friday the 11th is Veterans Day.  Bring in your military id, past or present, and receive a dollar off all drinks and a heartfelt "thank you" for your service.  We are humbled by your sacrifice. 

Beer Busters!!!

Despite our diminutive size, the Duck always tries to fill up it's 24 taps with delicious beers for every palate, offering something for everyone.  Even those who say they 'don't like beer.'  Because of this we sometimes get caught up in a little keg constipation in the walk-in cooler.  Our interest in having a constantly rotating beer menu that is fresh and up-to-date with the latest offerings is now going to work in your favor.

Introducing Beer Buster Thursdays:
We will be offering $4.00 pints of a specific keg all night long, until it's gone.  Our tap list is always quality, so you know that you will be getting a good beer at a great price.  With our wonderful double-dip recession, it is also nice to be able to give our loyal patrons a little deal to soften the financial crunch we are all in.  Cheers!

Pumpkin Pictures!!!

  Here are some pictures from our pumpkin carve last night.

  A blast was had by all!  I really mean it... It was fun!!!

Special thanks to Samantha Lu for donating all the awesome pumpkin carving tools and stencils!
Also, kuddos go to Adam, for thinking up this great idea!

Don't forget about our Halloween party tonight!

Costume Contest

Prizes

Drink Specials

Festivities start at 8:30pm!

Last Pumpkin Standing...

I broke down and ordered one last pumpkin beer for all you fans and whiners! Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale. Nicely spiced and blended with organic pumpkin mash made from pumpkins grown in Rogue's own pumpkin patch. These bottles sold out of stock at Bottleworks in a day. Nice finisher to the array of pumpkin beers we had at the duck this year.

http://seattle.taplister.com/
Reminder: Keep up with our latest draft line-up at the taplister website.

Carve that Pumpkin!!!

This sunday, the 30th, we will be doing a little pumpkin carving at the Duck.

The details:
7:00pm
BYOP (Bring your own pumpkin)
If you can't get a pumpkin to the duck, let me know (in advance) and I can provide one for you.
We will supply the utensils and buckets.
The best pumpkin gets a free drink... They may even share it with their creator.
If you have a pumpkin that you've already carved... bring it down and show it off.  It could win you a free drink!

I know, I know... drunk people with knives.  It'll be fine.  We've got a first aid kit and all you have to do is apply pressure, right?  Oh, and put all appendages on ice until they get to the hospital.  Totally got it under control.

RIP Uncle Bernie

One-sided phone conversation:

...I know, I know...   It was really so sad what happened to my Uncle Bernie last year.  What a terrible way to die... All alone.  No one to comfort him in his final hours. 
...No, there was no way to ever know what finally caused his heart to give out. 
...Yeah, he WAS pretty young! 
...What do I think did it?  Well, we'll never know for sure but there was all that excitement at the Halloween Party at the Duck the night before.  You know, with the costume contest, drink specials and $3.50 pints of Hopgoblin Ale by Big Time and $4 pints of Dead Guy Ale by Rogue.  Yep, the Dead Guy might have actually made Bernie a dead guy.  Tragic.
...Anyway, I think the revelry may have done him in.  Poor, poor man... 
... I know, it's SERIOUSLY CRAZY...
...And THEN to have that kooky guy Larry and his nutty friend Richard try to manually reanimate his corpse in order to party in his house, get chicks and escape the mob?  Well, the whole thing is just so hard to believe, if you ask me.  Not even Hollywood could make up a story this ridiculous...
...Yes, it's almost been a year to the day and I'll tell you one thing for sure.  There is no way I'm going to be at the Duck Island this year.  I'm sure there is going to be an insane amount of fun and I hear that those heart defects can run in the family...

Halloween Party at the Duck!

Monday, October 31st

Costume contest:

Judging at 9:30pm

Prizes awarded 10:30pm

1st place-50.00 bar tab

2nd place-25.00 bar tab

3rd place-bar shwag and a free pint

It will be a spooktacular good time!

Come down if you DARE!!!

Duck... Duck... Geuze!

Hello Sour-o-philes!!!

This one is for you!  It's one of our new featured bottles...

Oude- Gueuze Tilquin

Oude Gueuze Tilquin à l’Ancienne is a spontaneous fermentation beer, produced from the blending of 1, 2 and 3 years old lambics. It is unfiltered and unpasteurized, and refermented in the bottle for at least 6 months. The lambics used were fermented and oak aged in our installations. These lambics are coming from worts brewed by Boon, Lindemans, Girardin and Cantillon breweries.

Only recently available in Washington.  If you are a fan of Cantillon, you must give this beer a try.  It's full of tangy, refreshing flavor with that signature hint of farmyard funk and a lip-smakin' sour finish of deliciousness!  Yummm!

2010-2011 Belgian Import
ABV 6%

12.7oz bottle

$11

The Mighty Aphrodite

Ommegang Brewing is located in Cooperstown, NY and they specialize in belgian style brewing right here in the US.  The Aphrodite is a very unique offering from a brewery that specializes in unique.  This beer is fragrant and fruity and DRY.  As an 8.9% fruit beer it blows away most comparable beers in this category for ABV.  This one won't be for everyone, but it's certainly worth a pint, just to say you tried it.  And for some, they'll be enamoured with this Goddess of Love.  She's a one and done, so get your fill while you can... for soon she will be gone... never to return.  Sweet sips and dreams, my lovely.

Some notes from Ommegang:
 

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite rises from the foam of the
 waves of the sea, enchanting all who see her, and inciting thoughts of love and lust where ever she goes.
We could hardly say it more eloquently. Our Limited Edition Aphrodite Ale is ethereal, intriguing and mysterious – as the Goddess Aphrodite
 must have been. Aphrodite has champagne-like carbonation, much as the foam of the waves of the sea. Plus enchanting flavors with whispers of raspberry and pear, and hints of funk and tartness created by the Brett yeast. The refreshing dryness comes from the unusual combination of Ommegang and Brett yeasts, and incites feelings of love and thirst, though we don’t know about lust. Grains of paradise are infused into the nectar, and when poured Aphrodite is crowned with a luxuriously shimmering rose-pink head.
Ommegang
Aphrodite: Ommegang Limited Edition Ale
Belgian-style
fruit beer with Brett yeast
Malts: Pils
and carapils
Hops: Celeia
Fermentation:
Ommegang house & Brett yeasts
Spices:
Grains of paradise
Fruit:
Natural raspberry & pear juices
OG: 14.5
Plato
FG: 2.8
Plato
ABV: 8.9%
IBU: 19

Nancy Brew and the Case of the Tricky Cask Task

You know, you'd think with the prolific number of beer geeks in this internet rich area I would have been able to find explicit instructions on how to tap a cask beer using a beer engine. 
You'd think. 
Ahhh, such was not the case, my friends.  I had to throw in the towel after a couple of failed attempts and hours wasted and call in the cavalry...
Dum-dadum-dummm...
Enter Kenny, our Odom Distributor Rep.
"How may I help you, Miss?"
"Kenny, Kenny, help!  Our beer engine has fallen into a well and if we can't get it out, our ability to tap a cask conditioned beer (which is a beer that has been specially prepared to be tapped and drawn without the use of CO2 and therefore is considered to be a more traditional and flavorful way to serve a draught) in the time honored tradition of manually drawing a beer by hand will be gone...  Lost to us... FOREVERRRRR!" Insert much wailing and hand waving here....
"Never fear, Miss!  I know just the one to call!  Our draught tech, Dave!  Dave?  Oh, Da-ve?"
Enter Dave, coveralls blowing in the wind as he leaps gracefully from his work van, which is full of many solutions and wonderful things, and so is he!
"Here I am to save the day!  I will use my many skills to rescue that beer engine from the well and restore it to it's former shining glory!  But I will not stop there, oh no, for that is not my way.  I will show you how to tap this man-made machine of beer dispensing awesomeness, for your use now and for future generations of casks to come!"
"Oh, super draught tech Dave!  How may we ever thank you?"
"Just pour that cask conditioned Skagit Valley Scullers IPA as it was meant to be.  Serve that beer and you're serving up a taste of man's history and tradition.  Spread the word about cask conditioned ales.  That's all the thanks I need."
"Wow!  We'll do it, I swear!  Thanks super Dave!  You are a man among men, and a tech among techs!  Thanks, again!"
"You're welcome.  And now, I'm off to draught parts unknown.  There are gas leaks to be discovered and tap handles to be delivered.  Bye, Duck Island Ale House!  Happy pouring!!!!"
"Our hero!!!!"

Our first cask offering:
Skagit Valley Scullers IPA
Today, Saturday
Tomorrow, Sunday
and
Monday... 
You must try a pint and spread the word.  I promised.

Beer Geeks and Hop Heads... PAY ATTENTION!

Last week my Alpha Distribution Guy, Jeff, calls me on the phone and says that he has a couple different 6th barrels from Boneyard Brewing. 
"What are they called?" I ask.
"Uh, Armored Fist Imperial CDA and Hop Venom" he says.
"Who else has 'em?" I ask. 
"Well, nobody yet..." he replies.
Hmmm... Boneyard has regular offerings that are super worthy, even though I had never heard of these two beers.  The kegs are kinda pricey, but what the hell.
"Gimmee!" I said.
And after I tapped the first keg, I was jumping up and down at my good fortune. 
This beer is called Hop Venom, which is amazingly apropos because it has all of the hop character of an imperial/double IPA, with none, NONE, of the bite. 
It pours a beautiful dark amber color, with a strange but wonderful apricot/orange hop front with a malty, sort of berry-like (I know, it's different) finish.  The 10% ABV is not evident in the mouth, but you can feel it warm the belly almost immediately.  This beer is the Barry White of Imperial IPAs.  Damn Smoooooth Baby.
Experience this beer before it's gone.  I've only got one 6th barrel and it's days on draft are already numbered.  You will not be disappointed, I promise you that.

New Weekend Hours, Menu and Drink Specials

So we took the leap and have decided to open at 9am on Sat and Sun.  Here is our amended morning menu and drink specials:

Duck Island

Limited

Weekend Menu

                       Available 9am – 3pm

Biscuits and Gravy

(sausage gravy or vegetarian)

$5

Hashbrowns, Eggs and Toast

(scrambled eggs, wheat or white toast)

$7

Bacon and Eggs

(hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, wheat or white toast)

$9

Bagel Sandwich and Hashbrowns

( w/ or w/out ham)

$7

Cheese Burger and Fries

$8

Boca Burger and Fries

$8

Due to Volume of Weekend Business

At Beth’s There Can Be

NO SUBSTITUTIONS!

Drink Specials

9am-3pm

Bloody Mary’s…$4       Mimosas…$4

Vodka Wells…$3.75       Irish Coffee…$4.25

Bud/Bud Light Bottles…$2

We will also be having $4.00 pints of Beer Valley Pigskin Pale starting next weekend.

You should come in and bug our new addition to team Duck!  Mike is very laid back and nice and I think he is going to fit in great.  No mean feat, as the regulars all know.  Come in and introduce yourself and have a bloody mary and some bacon.  What a better way to spend a lazy Sunday morning?

The Early Bird Gets the Bacon!

After A LOT of discussion between Beth's General Manager (Janelle), the morning cooks (the amazing Larry and Holly), the FNOG (Chris) and myself we have decided to try to open the bar at 9AM on Sat and Sun mornings.  Holy Canolli!  It's really gonna happen! At least through the end of January...

Things to look forward to:
Drink Specials! Mimosa's and Bloody's and Greyhounds... Oh my!
A Limited Food Menu from Beth's! (Of course there will be bacon.)
FOOTBALL!!!  (NFL Network and an extra 42" flat screen in the back room)
A dry and warm place to wait for your table at Beth's-WITH BOOZE!  Yippee!

Last, but not least, our new bartender:  Dat-da-dat-da... Mike George!  More dirt on him at a later date.

So, you are welcome down to the Duck this Sat and Sun for breakfast, booze and football.  Chris will be there buying lots of drinks for people on our maiden voyage and I think that you should definitely take advantage of the fact that we aren't sure exactly how this is going to go.  It's sure to be full of spectacle and hilarity...  Yes, we will be laughing as we go down in flames...  I mean, as we go down with the ship... I mean, as we work out the kinks, of course.

TAPLiSTER!!!

What a friggin' great idea!  Why, oh why, didn't I think of this first!  Another million dollar slippery eel of an idea sliding out of my grasp.  Well, maybe more of a thousand dollar idea, but I will take it and bend it to my evil will.  (Insert spooky Vincent Price a la Thriller laugh here.)  If you haven't heard of it, check it out.  The Duck's continually updated draft list is there and you can find where your favorite beers are being poured, right at that minute.  Cool, huh?

Speaking of quasi-spooky things, it's almost time for Octoberfest and "harvest beers" to be hitting the scene!  Why is this scary?  Because it means our blip of a summer is now over.  *sigh* And I just found my sunglasses.  But, easing us back into shorter days and woodsmoke laced nights are Marzen style beers and Pumpkin ales.  Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin is in the cooler right now, just waiting for it's turn to go on.  Also, look for Silver City Octoberfest and Southern Tier Pumking coming soon. 

Exciting drafts on tap at the moment:
Deschutes Black Butte XXIII:
This imperial porter has been infused with zest from spanish Seville oranges, artisianally crafted chocolate nibs and Pasilla Negra chilies.  Good enough for me right there... but then they take the sucker and 'oak it up', aging it in bourbon barrels.  I wish I would have tried to snag an extra keg to cellar, because although this beer is very good now, it will be a-mazing next summer.  With an ABV at 10.8%, it's no wonder... 

West Coast Brewing Green Flash IPA... enough said.

Tacos, Hops and Chocolate?

Chocolate/coffee stout, that is!  As in Southern Tier's Mokah Stout!  It's our newest addition to the line-up.  This amazing imperial stout clocks in with a hefty 11.2% ABV and is a blend of two of the other Blackwater series beers, Jahvah  and Choklat.  This beer is wonderful sipper, you can definitely pick out the forward flavors of the Jamaican dark roasted coffee and Belgian chocolate in the brew.  These are a few of my favorite things.  Yummmm!

We also tapped another keg of Beer Valley's Delta 9 IPA.  If you haven't had this IPA before it is a nice accompaniment to the other IPA's B.V. has to offer.  Not as Ker-Pow! on the hops as the Leafer Madness, not as malty as the Rosebud.  A real nice solid hop character, dry and thirst quenching.  Perfect for drinking all year long, but especially nice during these warmer days of summer.

Last, but not least, it's Wednesday!  Tacos for a buck!  Starting at 5pm.
*Let me give you a little tip, here...  If you get to the bar before 6pm you can take advantage of our happy hour menu and drink specials.  $1.50 PBRs and $3.00 wells... and half-off our appetizer menu.  Take advantage!

Happy Drinking!!!

Nobody likes change...

... but it's gonna be good.

Pardon our mess of the pool room, at the moment...  Wait, I guess we won't be able to call it the pool room any more...  Aaaack!  Nobody likes change!!!!  Nobody likes change!!!  I don't like change!!! 

Okay, calm yourself down, Jackie...  This was sort of your idea in the first place.  Actually it was our bartender John's idea to get rid of the pool table and offer shuffle board, instead.  I thought that this was a great idea because, let's face it, it wasn't the best space for playing pool in ( much use of the stubby stick, broken pint glasses and all that).

So we decided to take the former pool room and turn it into the shuffleboard room.  We plan on adding a bunch more tables back there to maximize our seating and also give groups of people a place to be.  If you see the owner, Chris, please feel free to tell him how much you would like to have another flat screen tv back there, too...  Especially since football season is right around the corner, and it looks like the NFL package might be coming our way!  Sweet!

So, for now the shuffleboard is in a temporary spot in the 'back' room and the pool table is still there, waiting to be picked up and things are in somewhat of a state of disarray.  To the point that one of our regulars, Sam, put a sign on the lady's room door, on the inside, reminding you to watch your step because there is a POOL TABLE right outside the door.  So funny...  Things will be put back together soon and it will be so cool back there. 

Change can be good.  It will be good.  It better be good!  No, it will... it will...  You'll see...

Sour Fest and Current Draft List

We will be featuring our current sours for a few more days before I pull a couple to round out our draft list again.
Drafts to date are:
*New Old Lompoc-Sour Willy
*Petrus Aged Pale
*Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge
*La Folie that has been cellared for a year
*Dutchess
Timmermans Strawberry Lambic
La Mort Subite White Lambic
Tieton Apricot Cider
Maritime Jolly Roger Christmas
Hoegaarden Wit
Maritime Oatmeal Pale
Ninkasi Vanilla Oatis
Boneyard Black 13
Double Mountain IRA (India Rye Ale)
Beer Valley Delta 9 IPA
Anderson Valley Pranqster Belgian-Style Golden Ale
New Belgium Lips of Faith Abbey Grand Cru
Lucifer Belgian Golden Ale
Hales Super Goose Imp. IPA
Fremont Wandering Wheat
Bitburger German Pilsner
Firestone Walker Solace
Old Speckled Hen English Ale (Nitro)
PBR
*featured sours

Thank you everyone for coming out to celebrate the triple threat birthday on Monday.  Sean, Sam and especially Adam had a great time and can't wait to do it all again next year.  It will probably take them that long to recover...

And thank you to Sour fest'ers!  It was quite a pucker filled weekend.  My personal favorites were the Petrus/Strawberry Lambic blend and the Tieton Apricot Cider.  Oh, and the La Folie!  A year makes this beer a little more thick in the body and way deliver on the sour factor.  I heard one of our regulars say that this beer was so sour it "made his face hurt".  Hahaha...  That's a sour that delivers!

Stay tuned for important draft updates and info about the expansion of hours this fall...  Yes, the rumors may be true...

Thanks for the Reviews

We really appreciate your feedback on Duck Island Ale House online, including at Yelp, Google and Bing.

Their second living room - I love that.  Thanks!

We call this place our second living room.  Awesome beer selection, knowledgeable and friendly bartenders, great regulars, and you can order food from Beth's if they aren't slammed over there.  What more could you want from a neighborhood hangout?

Great Beers in Seattle on Tap

Here at Duck Island Ale House Bar - located right next to Green Lake - and even closer to Beth's Cafe Restaurant - we serve a 'killer' rotation of beers.  25 beers on tap, all the time!  A lot of rotation and fresh beers coming in weekly so you can come in and continue to educate your pallet on what is happening in the amazing beer culture we are right in the midst of in the Great Pacific Northwest. 

 Some of the great beers we have on tap right now - these are just a few as we have 25 in rotation currently:

21st Amendment Brewery:

Monks Blood Abbey Ale :  21st Amendment founders Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan traveled to Belgium to develop the recipe for this special beer, visiting small, traditional breweries in the hop fields of west Flanders, not far from the famous Trappist abbey of Westvletren. Monk’s Blood is designed to pair beautifully with rich winter stews, creamy cheeses, unctuous desserts or just by itself, in a Belgian tulip glass, with a good book by the fire.

We're here to tell you that of course, Monk's Blood also goes really well with Beth's Cafe Menu as well. 

Skagit River Gospel IPA :

We'll list other beers in rotation shortly.  Come on in and enjoy

Thanks for Visiting

Thank you for visiting the Duck Island Ale House in Greenlake - on Aurora - next to Beth's Cafe!  We serve food daily - late night menu available.  We have a ton of beers on tap, rotating on a very regular basis.  Come play pool or fooseball - but our primary objective is to serve some of the best beers on tap in Seattle, WA.  Come on in.