Seattle’s Cloudburst Brewing opens second outpost in Ballard

Known for pouring out craft suds to beer connoisseurs in the Belltown neighborhood for the past five years, Cloudburst Brewing has officially opened up a second watering hole in Ballard’s neck of the woods.

“It’s been a long, wild, long, exciting, stressful, long ride,” the brewery posted to Instagram. “We need to give some shout outs, as this 19+ month project is nearing an end. There’s an old saying ‘It takes a village ...’ and in our case, this is abundantly true.”

Nestled along Shilshole Avenue, Cloudburst Brewing is doling out to-go brews from their garage daily, 11 a.m.-8 p.m, with the hopes of opening a beer garden in the coming weeks.

“As you know, we make beer. That’s pretty much the only thing we legit know how to do,” Cloudburst stated. “Everything else after that is not our expertise.”

The brewery gave thanks to numerous supporters in jumpstarting the second outpost, closing the post with “… all the LOVE to our team, our family, our friends, and our customers — without you, this project wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

Of course, Cloudburst’s production facility and original taproom will remain in Belltown.

With the hope for an upcoming beer garden in Ballard, Sichuan restaurant Plenty of Clouds, has signed to dish out grub, according to Eater.

Founder Steve Luke formerly operated as an experimental brewer alongside Seattle’s famed Elysian Brewing until he later began pouring out beloved seasonal IPAs at his own Cloudburst Brewing, bringing his beers into cans for the first time this year.

“Luke says the canned effort will continue, even post-pandemic, as the brewery now owns its own canning line,” Eater reported. “Most of the same selection of beers will be available in both Belltown and Ballard for curbside pickup, and eventually there will be some fermentation happening in the newer spot.”

Under Seattle’s “Safe Start” plan in the midst of the novel coronavirus, breweries are permitted to continue to-go orders and indoor seating given the brewery hosts an accompanying full food menu. But for now, Luke says he plans to stick with outdoor seating only.

“I don’t think our current tasting room [in Belltown] will ever be as crowded as B.P. (before pandemic), and honestly, it’s irresponsible on our part if it is,” he told Eater. “That means, we need to figure out a way to sell as much beer as we did in a future we can’t predict, but can assume that it’ll be slower and harder to do so. Thus, every smallish brewery is going to need to evolve, and quickly.”

RELATED:

• New Seattle cider brand and bar debuts on Phinney Ridge
• New rules: What you can and can't do in Seattle
• Seattle offers free sidewalk permits for small businesses
• 12 U-pick Washington berry farms to visit this summer