Brouwer’s Cafe returns to celebrate 21st anniversary
Late-great Seattle, Washington beer bar and gastropub Brouwer’s Cafe closed in June 2024 but that isn’t stopping the Washington beer community from celebrating what would have been their 21st anniversary.
Brouwer’s Cafe
Brouwer’s Cafe will celebrate their 21st anniversary on Tuesday, March 24th at the equally iconic Seattle bar the Latona Pub. The Greenlake neighborhood beer bar has been a staple of the beer community and their neighborhood since 1987. The location was once the Latona Tavern but had long since closed and was boarded up when publican Robert Brenlin and an investor group reopened it nearly 40 years ago. The Seattle Met called the Latona Pub “epicenter for local craft beer” and the Seattle Times said it was “one of the earliest champions of the local-beer movement.”
Brouwer’s Cafe was arguably the premiere craft beer bar in Seattle and host of some of Seattle’s top events like the Hard liver Barleywine Festival, Big Wood festival of barrel-aged beers, and Seattle Beer Week events like Sour Fest and Back in Black Stout Fest. Brouwer’s was loved for a vast curated list of 64 craft beers on draft, a selection of over 400 bottles, a great whiskey selection, and a Belgian-inspired atmosphere and gastropub food menu, not to mention the legendary staff that have become important fixtures of the craft beer scene.
Longtime Brouwer’s Cafe manager Nathaniel Pellman and Latona Pub manager Matt Carter have teamed-up to host this nostalgic event that will bring back some of the favorite food dishes, breweries, and people from Brouwer’s Cafe.
“Matt Carter and I have been friends for a while, and he floated the idea after Brouwer’s closed,” explains Pellman. “I didn’t think it could be done because Latona doesn’t have a fryer, and Brouwer’s frites are the thing. I also didn’t think the atmosphere or feel of Brouwer’s could be re-created. They have been putting together great beer/food events for awhile. We kept discussing the idea, critical pieces came together and we decided to just go for it.”
Thanks to Brouwer’s owner Matt “Vern” VandenBerghe for sharing his blessings on the anniversary party, and Brouwer’s prior chef for sharing original recipes for their Stoofvlees, the Lamb Burger, Steak Frites, and Mussels will be recreated for the party on March 24th.
“The core staff, people who were there a long time and worked there before or even during Covid, have definitely stayed in contact with each other. Some even helped when we were so busy the month before the closure,” says Pellman of the tight knit old Brouwer’s Crew, some of whom are expected to make appearances at Latona Pub for the event.
Brouwer’s Cafe 21st Anniversary Special Taplist:
Veltins Pilsener
Fort George Beta 3-way IPA
Structures Fuzz IPA
St. Bernardus Abt 12 Belgian Quad
Floodlands Brewing 2023 Incantation
Pfriem Family Brewers Spontanee Lambic
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Hair of the Dog 2014 Adam from the Wood
Holy Mountain White Lodge Wit
North Fork #13 Baby Sour (Brouwers 13th Anniversary Beer)
Machinehouse Cambridge Bitter on Cask
Doors open at 2pm on Tuesday March 24th. Pellman confirms that there are no plans to permanently revive Brouwer’s Cafe but the door is open to making this pop-up style anniversary party a new annual tradition: “As far as an annual event, well let’s see how this one goes!” adds Pellman.
Brouwer’s 21st Anniversary at Latona Pub
Tuesday, March 24th from 2pm - ?
Latona Pub, 6423 Latona Ave NE Seattle, WA 98115