Jillian's in Seattle - A New Focus On Craft Beer

Not long ago Mrs. Beer Blog and I were invited to join some friends for an afternoon of gaming and appetizers at Jillian’s, the sports bar and billiards parlor on Westlake Avenue in Seattle. Apparently someone had won a VIP party package at a silent auction. We had a great time. I’m not sure what we were expecting, but we were happy with what we found. We wished they had a better selection of beer, but understood their need to appeal to the sports bar crowd with a limited number of taps.

Since then, things have changed at Jillian’s. And it is good news. They have a new focus on craft beer and they want to embrace the local craft beer scene. When a bar like Jillian’s decides to do that, they can expect a big shout out from the Washington Beer Blog. Attaway Jillians, attaway!

I have just learned of an upcoming event at Jillian’s which has me licking my lips. Next Friday (October 15th) Jillian’s will host Micros and Music, an event featuring beer from some of our favorite local breweries. There are a limited number of tickets available so you should act quickly. You can reserve your tickets by calling Jillian’s (206) 223-0300. Some of the breweries involved also have tickets. Event details are below.

A New Attitude

“We have 10 breweries bringing in interesting, creative beers for this event,” said Caitee McCormick, Marketing and Promotions Director for Jillian’s. “The people attending the event will actually be voting for their favorite. The brewery that gets the most votes will get a tap handle through the end of the year.”

“We want to appeal to the local craft beer crowd,” said McCormick. “We’ve added more taps so we can be flexible and have more craft beer. We want to be a part of Seattle’s great craft beer scene. People think of us as more corporate and less local. We want that to change.”

The new approach to beer is largely due to a change in management at Jillians. “Our new General Manager (Tom Balcom) came in and decided that he wanted to increase the number of taps so that we could offer a wider selection of beer, specifically craft beer,” says McCormick. “We now have 20 tap handles. The taps were added specifically for the purpose of providing craft beer, with the goal of being flexible about what we offer.”

Click here to read the entire story and get all the event details.