Area 51 has landed

There are no signs of alien activity at Area 51 Taphouse , much less any Ichiro sightings – just the most taps of anyplace in town.

The remodeled space, which opened Friday at 5:01 p.m. at The Onion Bar & Grill on North Division, is brighter and airier than before. A hanging clock is permanently set to that time, in keeping with the house motto, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere – This Is That Somewhere.”

(Area 51, of course, comes from the Air Force base in Nevada long suspected of secret activities relating to UFOs. Seattle Mariners fans appropriated it to describe right field at Safeco when it was patrolled by Mr. Suzuki, who wore that number.)

The big, brand new concrete bar is warmed in the front, where you rest your arms, and chilled in the middle, where you set your beer.

Behind are the titular taps – up from the previous 19 – mostly pouring a wide array of craft beers, including 20 local and regional offerings among the opening lineup. Almost all will rotate.

There are also a few macros – Bud Light, Coors Light, Blue Moon – for more mass tastes, and a pair of ciders, including the Caramel Cinnamon from One Tree in Spokane Valley.

Five nitrogen taps serve two beers, Guinness and a rotator, along with two wines and A-51 Root Bourbon – a distinctive, keg-conditioned concoction, made with Maker’s Mark, root and cocci, from an 1880s recipe said to cure malaria.

Among the 50 bottled offerings are such specialties as a pair of locally produced imperial stouts, Laughing Dog’s Dogfather and No-Li’s whiskey barrel-aged Blackfill.

You can order 12-ounce schooners, pints, pitchers and flights of four 4-ounce tasters, along with growler and grunt fills. For an annual $30, mug club membership gets you 20-ounce pours for the price of a pint, plus a souvenir growler and T-shirt.

Also in the works are beer dinners and “meet the maker” brewer’s nights.