Pike Brewing, the Applebee's of brew pubs?

Taking pictures outside of a bathroom is awkward.

The sheer amount of kitsch on the walls was a bit overwhelming as I descended the stairs from 1st Ave in downtown Seattle to the Pike Brewing. There was nary a scrap of wall that didn't have something hanging on it. Granted it was interesting stuff like the rack of tiny beer bottles outside of the bathroom. That, plus No Doubt's Spiderwebs coming across the sound system put me in a different sort of place than I was expecting. Maybe Seattle hasn't given up the 90's.

Sitting down at the bar I ordered a sampler and was greeted by a good variety of beers in tiny glasses on a wooden panel. This looked promising.

Pike Space Needle - The best beer on the tray. You can stop here if that's what you're looking for. Billed as a golden IPA it was darker than expected, but had a wonderful hop bite than lingered.
Pine Derby Lager - A soft lager. I enjoy the crispness of a good lager and this was a totally different, though tasty, experience.
Pike Harlot's Harvest - I don't care for pumpkin beers, but it was on the sample tray so bottoms up. It tasted like pumpkin, not my thing. And harlot? Really? You're not going to call a beer Prostitute Porter, why go with the misogyny?
Pike #4 Alba IPA - Grapefruit. This beer tasted like grapefruits. Hoppy grapefruits, but grapefruits none the less. A dollar of each pint goes to ALS foundations, a very worthy cause. I hope a percent of my sample goes there too.
Pike Wolf of the Woods - On the menu it showed up as a golden single hop IPA with fresh Simcoe hops. That's not what I saw or tasted in the glass. This was a caramel heavy beer with a bit of hops coming though. I found out an old description was used on the menu and this year they had a specialty malt from Skagit Valley. Fair enough, but I don't think a fresh hop ale should be so malt forward. It kind of misses the point of the fresh hops.
Pike Acquaintance - A holiday ale before Thanksgiving? Very good, but with the sun shining (yeah, in Seattle? It was kinda weird) it was a bit out of place. Good think I was in a properly dimly lit pub.

The Space Needle was a great beer. I had to finish off the sampling with a pint.