Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Great state of Seattle

Rick Bonino

Yes, we’re aware that these ubiquitous best-of lists littering the Internet generally aren’t worth the, um, pixels they’re printed on.

But we still got a chuckle out of Thrillist’s ranking of the “13 Best Breweries in Washington State,” considering that the easternmost mention was Bellevue Brewing. Beyond Bellingham’s Chuckanut and Redmond’s Black Raven, the other 10 were squarely in Seattle city limits.

Of course, that could have had a little something to do with the fact that all six judges hailed from the Emerald City (and apparently don’t get out much).

Several commenters were quick to question the absence of such further-flung operations as Ellensburg’s Iron Horse, Yakima’s Bale Breaker, Winthrop’s Old Schoolhouse and Spokane’s No-Li and River City.

To his credit, one panelist – Steve Body, who blogs as The Pour Fool – pointed out that his ballot had Old Schoolhouse tied for first and No-Li seventh.

“I find this notion that many, many people in Seattle have of All Things Seattle being inherently superior to Everywhere Else ridiculous and indicative of the sort of rampant homerism I see here all the time,” he wrote.

“I love Seattle and wouldn’t live anywhere else, but that doesn’t cancel out the value of the rest of the world or of Washington.”