Floating Bridge Opens to Traffic

Of course, I-90 and Highway 520 have been open for quite some time, so we’re not talking about those bridges. And we’re not talking so much about motor vehicle traffic as we are about foot traffic. Today marks the opening day for Floating Bridge Brewing located at 722 NE 45th St. (Many readers will note that this is a space previously occupied by the notorious Fusion nightclub, and that it is adjacent to the legendary Blue Moon.) While certainly not within the Wallingford neighborhood, it’s darn close, and will be the nearest brewery for many a thirsty Wallingfordian.

Floating Bridge is the dream of husband and wife team Russ Cornell and Dawn Perry. Both bring professional marketing experience to the business in addition to a long history of home brewing. Their website describes this history best:

In 2009, after years of enjoying craft beer and mapping road trips to hit as many breweries as possible, we brewed our first batch on a whim. Like many homebrewers, we started with an 8 gallon stock pot picked up at the local restaurant supply store and a simple plastic bucket. Our first beer – an imperial stout – was good enough that we were emboldened to keep going. 27 more batches brewed on the kitchen stove followed.

In 2012, we relocated to the garage and started brewing on a 20 gallon, semi-automated system and fermenting in a stainless, temperature controlled conical fermenter. The notion of “going pro” (as homebrewers say) was still more daydream than plan. In late 2014, we started focusing on making the dream a reality. After 9 months of location hunting, we signed our lease on a neighborhood location with a storied history.

Before settling on the U District space, Dawn and Russ explored options throughout the Eastlake/ Ravenna / U District/ Wallingford area. Says Russ, “We wanted a place that was part of a neighborhood so people could stroll down and pop in.”  Guiding their vision of what their brewery would be like, Russ and Dawn sought to create “the kind of brewery where we would want to relax with a beer,” a sense formed during “literally hundreds” of visits to breweries around the country. One candidate location in Wallingford was the Golden Motors building at 2220 N Pacific St.. “We liked that it was near the Burke Gilman Trail,” commented Russ. Ultimately, they passed on this location, but it made me wonder why Wallingford currently supports no breweries. Russ suggested that perhaps there simply weren’t enough properties that satisfied three key requirements: a feasible, rental price point; a suitable, physical structure; and zoning on at least the Neighborhood Commercial Three level. While there are examples of breweries that work around all these limitations, the path of least resistance is to locate in Industrial-zoned areas like Ballard and SODO. While the space where they’ve landed lacks ready access to bike paths, it’s easily walkable from many places, not to mention the busy bus stops at the intersection of I-5 and 45th St.

The floorspace is divided into essentially three areas with no walls to disturb the flow. A brewing area allows visitors to get up close and personal with tools of the trade, while at the front is a spacious sitting area. “We love the south facing windows there,” adds Dawn. A third space is home to a shuffleboard table manufactured in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Russ is proud of the fact that, “we tried as much as we could to get stuff made locally or at least in the U.S.”) Dawn and Russ hope that a bookshelf filled with games will encourage customers to “sit and relax;” they don’t envision a television set being installed anytime soon!

“Fine, fine,” you’re saying. “But how does the beer taste?” The Wallyhood staff went that extra mile to sample the wares at Floating Bridge! Floating bridge has four fermenters allowing them to ferment four batches of beer at a time. They will start with 6 beers on tap (plus a guest tap), but hope to quickly expand to 10.

On tap for opening day is an amber, a CDA, an IPA, a wheat and two bitters — one spiced with juniper, cinnamon, coriander, lemon peel and licorice. Wanting to be thorough, I sampled them all. Taste in beer is, ummm, a matter of taste, and mine run toward IPAs and the sweeter porters and stouts. My top picks would be the IPA, the CDA and the juniper-spiced bitter. The CDA has a fuller taste than others I’ve tried, perhaps because of the rye while the juniper-spiced bitter has a lovely aroma I could sniff all day. As for the IPA … well, it’s an IPA. What’s not to like? Dawn and Russ are not big fans of repeats, so expect to see many other beers as time goes on with the darker offerings – porters and stouts – as we move toward fall.

No food is served at Floating Bridge, but guests are welcome to bring their own or have it delivered. For now, distribution is not a focus; the taproom is your sole source for Floating Bridge brews. Hours are 3-9pm Thursday and Friday, 11am-9pm Saturday and Sunday. Like most Seattle breweries, Floating Bridge is family friendly. So bring your kids and dogs. But leave your cash at home: credit and debit only.