San Luis Obispo - It takes a lot of beer to make good wine!

Daou Vineyards

Enjoying the views at sunset with vinyard manager Michael Accurso at Daou Vinyards outside San Luis Obispo

Time to fine tune the wine pallete!

As I headed out the door from Aunt Carol and Uncle Brian's to drive north Aunt Carol slipped me $40, "to buy yourself a bottle at the vineyard". Now what is The Beer Less Traveled doing at a vineyard you might ask?! Well as the old saying goes, "it takes a lot of beer to make good wine" so naturally I was going to find some good beer here.  I also should note I don't discriminate too much when it comes to wine... every 20th drink or so ends up being a glass of fermented grape juice and I enjoy the artisanship that goes into wine making. I've even made a few batches of fruit wine from our family acres in Upstate New York. I also can not resist the opportunity to stay on the vineyard overnight with the workers and see how it's all made.  Luckily my cousin BJ worked at Daou Vineyards over the past year and hooked me up with Michael Accurso the vineyard manager and Amy Kolberg who works in the lab at the winery. They opened the doors and showed me around and taught me a little more about the world of wine.  The newly expanded tasting room is gorgeous and is only rivaled by the views. Thanks to Jill in the tasting room for the wine tour as well. ...and Aunt Carol, your $40 was well spent on a bottle of Celestus!

Chardonnay '10 - 14.5%, 15 months in Oak, not too oaky

Grenache Blanc - 13.9% , Fruitier, a touch sweeter

Chemin de Fleurs '10 - 14.2% "Trail of Flowers" Semi dry, light tropical fruitiness

Celestus '09 - 61% Syrah, 28% Cabernet Savignon, 11% Petit Verdot, My pick!

Cabernet Savingion '07 - 82% Cabernet Savignon, 12% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot 

Awakening to a patchwork of olives and grapevines at Daou Vineyards, hard work and isolation has its rewards

Firestone Walker

Even though Mike makes his living on wine he is also a big beer fan.  Like I said it takes a lot of beer

to make good wine and there is living proof all over wine country.  Luckily for the vintners of

California's Central Coast they have one of America's most respected craft brewers right in their back yard. Being from the east coast Firestone Walker Brewing Co. wasn't really on my beer radar until recently. I had heard them mentioned for winning some medals but that was about it. Then at the 2009 Craft Brewers Conference in Boston I found myself in one of those moments where it felt like I was in the eye of the craft beer storm that had been sweeping America that last couple of decades. I was seated next to Dan Kenary from Harpoon Brewery and Nick Matt from FX Matt/Saranac Brewing (lobbying for Harpoon cans that coming Summer!) The panel was about the future of craft beer and included Larry Bell from Bells, Kim Jordan from New Belgium, Sam Caligione from Dogfish Head and David Walker from Firestone Walker. He was well spoken and I liked his insight and story. Then seeing their beer reach New York soon after they crept onto my must see list. Firestone Walker brewed its first beer in 1996 and hasn't looked back. 

I phoned ahead and set up a tour once I knew my eta. Mike was all in when I asked if he wanted to join me for some samples and a tour of the brewery. We arrived and had a few minutes to kill so we had a few samples while waiting. Laurie took care of us and got us through their session beers which were somewhat new to me since most of the far distributed beers are bigger flavored, higher alcohol brews. I like the fact that they don't try to sell the lighter beers 3,000 miles away as they don't travel as well as barrel aged porters might. Keeping it local and keeping it fresh, gets my vote. As we finished our samples Sara came out and outfitted us with some snazzy eye protection and took us out back for a tour.

Sara, our Cicerone Certified Tour Guide, showing off the kettle

We timed our visit perfectly or awfully depending on your perspective. It was the last day to see the "old" tour room as it was being renovated to make room for the brewery and moving across the street to a new visitors center and restaurant the next day. A week or two later I would have been one of the first to see the new layout but it was nice to see the old one in hopes I can compare it to the new one on my next visit. With the new addition they are hoping to brew 180K barrels in 2012, now that is some serious beer! They also were in the planning stages of a new beer fest. The region is used to seeing many wine festivals but lacks a good old craft beer fest.  Another item to add to my craft beer "to do" list.  

View from old brew house of new brew house at Firestone Walker

Sara was a great guide and as fellow Cicerone (aka Beer Sommelier) we were able to "geek out" as we went through the process and all the equipment.  It was also cool having a winemaker on the tour since Mike's knowledge of fermentation from a different angle brought out new questions on the process. Expansion was in full swing while we were there with the foundation for the new brewhouse being poured that week. I also got a close up of their unique barrel aged fermentation and blending process. Something born out of the Firestone connection with wine and the brewery's location in one of California's bigger wine regions.

Up up and away... running out of room at Firestone Walker 

About 20% of Firestone's DBA is fermented in oak barrels and then blended with the same beer that fermented in stainless steel. These guys focused on mostly one small range of beers when they started allowing them to fine tune their beers.  The payoff was owning that category at beer festivals raking in heeps of rewards. They are branching out these days more but their pale ale and barrel aging roots are well intact. Head brewer Matt Bryndilson has been named America's best brewer twice in a row now, and three times all together. A serious accolade considering the field of talented brewers across the nation and world.

James racking beer out of barrels... part of Firestone's unique brewing process

Hefeweizen - 4.7%, Light and easy drinking. Bavarian yeast lends a bunch of banana and clove flavor

Pale 31 - 4.8%, Fuggle, Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops in great balanced pale, my pick!

DBA - 5%, British Pale style flagship brew, mellow by design w/ Kent and Styrian Goldings with 20% oak barrel and 80% stainless steel fermentation (see photo above)

Union Jack IPA - 7.5%, drier IPA with 6 hop varieties

Double Jack 2xIPA - 9.5%, on the maltier side

Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout - 5.5%, Balance w/ Chocolate and Coffee notes

Velvet Nitro Merlin Oatmeal Stout - 5.5%, same but more velvety mouthfeel

Velvet Merkin - 8.5%, Sweet Vanilla and tropical flavors from barrel aging Merlin

I can't decide if I like the original Merlin or the Merkin better... both fantastic, Pale 31 also got top marks!

Ain't No Party Like a Wine Coast Party

How could a day at a brewery and a winery get any better?  A house party with the winemakers! We ended the evening with some good homemade eats and all sorts of beverages. I shared a few of the beers from my travels and they opened up some wine. I can't say too much as notes are bit thin at this point but I know we cracked open a bunch of beers from my travels including New Belgium's 1554 and a Belgo IPA, a Funkwerks Saison and few others. I also have to look more into Tri-tip cut beef, Nara '05 & '07 wines, Left Coast Cellars, Chateau Margene and The Murder City Devils... there might have been some home brew, champagne and a few shots too! A big thank you to everyone in SLO for hosting and sharing their knowledge and appreciation for wine and beer, I learned a lot. I hope to return someday soon. Cheers! 

Beautiful wine, properly decanted

Great Beer in the O.C.

Dozens of beers to try and even more cheeses and charcuterie to pair with it!

As you drive north out of San Diego County and Highway 101 merges into the San Diego Freeway (I-5) your next stop is Orange County, California.  Know more for beaches, surfing and Disneyland, beer tourism is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of southern CA's smallest county, but that is changing. Founded in 2008, The Bruery is grabbing headlines and turning heads with their creative ingredients, barrel ageing and collaboration brews.

"Special Flight" for $8 at The Bruery Provisie

My first stop was The Bruery Provisions in the cute little city of Orange. As you drive into town Orange brings you back to the days of old with soda fountains churning out milkshakes for a nickle. Orange didn't level its downtown for condos in the 60s like most California towns and its center retains a lot of its good old day charm and is frequently used for filming by nearby Hollywood. Driving around the traffic circle and large fountain at the center and past the palm trees into the shopping district I found a parking spot right in front of the store, got out and turned on my taste buds. The deli-like storefront is a fromagerie, charcuterie and craft beer store rolled into one. One part California, one part Europe... and delicious on all fronts! A nice tasting tray means you get to try about a third of the beers they are putting out at any one time.  Most of them barrel aged, some sour, some light, others dark.  The tray was a beautiful pallete of color and really showcased the range of flavors you can find in beer these days.  Pairing food and beer really gives you a large and ever expanding range of options. Their large bottle selection of Bruery offerings accompanied by other regional craft brews lets you take home anything you liked or couldn't try during your visit. I was pleasantly surprised to find some Acer Quercus, which is a collaboration brew with Lawson's Finest Liquids out of Warren in Vermont's Mad River Valley where I get most of my turns in every winter.

Filmishmish - 5.8%, Arabic for "when the apricots bloom", sour blond 

w/ Apricot jam and wood shavings 

BeRazzeled - 5%, Raspberry, bright red color, very fruity but tart

Rub a Dub Dubbel - 7.4%, Abbey brown, med body, full flavor, estery w/ a nutty dry finish

Sour in the Rye - 8.7%, 40% rye malt, aged 1yr in oak, complex, sour dry finish

Chocosaurous Rye - 7%, Collaboration w/ Bootleggers, dark rye lager w/ cocoa nibs and vanilla bean

Rare and delicious, Acer Quecus
from The Bruery/Lawson's Finest Liquids

Sean Lawson and I first met a few years ago to exchange beers at my family's little ski condo in Warren, VT.  His generous samples all had handwritten bottle numbers (#12 of 80, etc). Most of the dozen beers were hop bomb IPAs or Maple beers in various strenths, highlighting his two favorite ingredients. This beer is a big malty beer with maple syrup, maplewood smoked malt, conditioned over oak and clocks in at a warming 9.5%. I bought a bottle for later since it was time to shove off to meet some family at Newport Beach Brew Co.

It was sunset when I drove past the brewpub in Newport Beach. Unfortunately running a bit late there was no time to catch the beach or the sunset as I parked and strolled into the brewery to meet Aunt Carol and my cousin Brian Jr. True to Orange County style all three of Aunt Carol's sons are blond water polo players.  "BJ" is also a homebrewer and winemaker and works at a vineyard in Paso Robles but was home recovering from a broken leg. Newly 21, he had been contacting me regularly for brewing tips as he dove full on into making beer. Honey wheat is his specialty so far.  It was nice to catch up with family and even nicer that they catered to my craft beer passion by scheduling almost all of my short visit inside of breweries!

Newport Beach Brew Co. - Husband Care Center, outdoor seating, surfboards, tacos... sounds like Southern California

Newport Brew Co. listed a nice range of beers on their board, which started with the necessary light beers for the non-geeky regulars and tourists and threw in a few more adventurous styles at the end to keep the likes of me interested and coming back. We flew through two tasting paddles split between all of us before skipping out the door to meet my uncle for dinner at their local BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse chain location in nearby Tustin.

Newport Beach Blond - 4.5%, Very light flavor and body, intro beer, baby step 1...

Pelican Pale - 5.5%, Mild light but a little more flavor than the blond, baby step 2...

Brisbee's ESB - 6.5%, A nice roasty redish ale, good step up into flavorful craft beer!

Dubble Trouble - 6.3% Sweet, dark and fruity belgian

Clash w/ RYEality IPA - 7.8%, Light aroma but good bitterness

Cuba Libre Sour - 6%, A nice limited different style, just a touch sour

Sweet Chai o' Mine Stout - 5.5%, Dark, minty, spicy, really liked it!

Disorder IPA on cask - 7% Nice traditional IPA with a kick, mellow flavors mixed well together

Sir Perry Pear Cider - Very fruity, pretty sweet

A full range of craft beers to choose from at Newport Brew Co

Uncle Brian is full-on Irish, born in the US but 100% otherwise.  He enjoys a pint or three and is always jolly.  A hardworking doctor, he rolled in late and thirsty just as we were getting our appetizers. I had a tasting tray and was working my way through it.  True to Irish form he went with Guinness to start but as we got caught up and switched to beer talk I found he also enjoys BJs Jeremiah's Red, though at 7.3% he figured it was best to stick with his 4% Guinness on a Tuesday night.  I have to say this was my first BJs experience and while the restaurant was run with all the flash and flair of a good chain and had an extensive wine and spirit collection, they did give a good amount of focus on their beers too. And they must be doing something right because this place was packed!  I enjoyed the food and finished the tasting tray and got a half pint of BJs Tatonka Imperial Stout (to tip my hat to Uncle Brian's Irish heritage) which went well with our chocolate dessert. Another positive chain brewery experience (see previous "Chain Brewery" post)! Off for a good night's rest for the next day -- a bonus day, leap day! Not one to waste a day, I'll travel to San Luis Obispo County for wine and beer. Cheers!

Adios San Diego!

This weekend marks the kickoff of the 2012 Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego. This is the second time in only 5 years that the conference has chosen the self titled "America's Finest City" for the premier gathering of all of craft brewers large and small. I am sure many could argue that it is because its "America's Finest (Craft Beer) City". With just one more day left in San Diego, before it was time to head north and back to the mountains, I thought what better time to check back in with some classics: Stone Brewing Co. and San Diego Brewing Co.

Up up and away... running out of room for more tanks at Stone,
America's 11th largest craft brewery in 2011

I first visited Stone's Escondido location 6 years ago while attending my friend Jason's wedding in La Jolla. It was my last stop in San Diego County before getting dropped off at the airport. It was to be my second to last stop this time! "This is becoming a tradition", said Jay as we walked up to the doors.

Last time we had planned ahead and were able to meet up with Mitch Steele, the head of brewing operations at Stone. He is genuinely regarded as one of the friendliest, most welcoming people in an industry filled with good-natured people, and he definitely lived up to that reputation. Last visit included a tour around the brewery and trading of beer goodies in the lab cooler, followed by a few pints in Stone's World Bistro and Gardens. This time Mitch was out of town (but kindly returned my call with his condolences) and I was out of beer to trade anyway so we ended up taking the regular tour followed by the obligatory pints at the pub.

Our knowledgeable guide (who I unfortunately forgot to write down his name) showed us around Southern California's largest brewery. Lots had changed in six years as Stone has been growing at or ahead of the craft brew pace. The 120 barrel brewhouse was the same but there was a lot more of everything else; fermenters, cold storage and packaging equipment. I also learned they use a hop back instead of dry hopping to get extra hop aroma in their beers. It was nice to see all the expansion that had taken place and the tasting room folks were very friendly. We tried all kinds of Stone offerings. Stone is available in 36 states and it's not hard to get many of their beers.  I had no objection to trying them again, always better when fresh at the brewery, along with some more limited releases.

In addition to their own large selection Stone features many other
beer selections from various breweries

Stone Pale Ale - 5.4% A hoppy Pale and my favorite year round beer from them

Smoked Porter - 5.9% Very dark and smoky and also a favorite of mine

IPA - 6.9% very hoppy IPA... they are not ashamed of using a lot of hops here

Arrogant Bastard - 7.2% A bit bigger, a bit darker, and a bit hoppier, and a rounder flavor than the IPA and a classic favorite in beer circles, the name doesn't hurt either

Oaked Bastard - 7.7% Just a hint of oak cuts through all the other flavors, nice balancing act

Levitation Ale - 4.4% I love this flavorful session beer, I can drink it all night. 

Brown? Red? You decide!

Self Righteous Black IPA - 8.7% Very hoppy with a little of the roasty flavor coming through

15th Anniversary Black IPA 10.8% ...just a bit bigger, why not, its your birthday!

TBA - Bear Republic/Firestone Walker/Stone Collaboration brew

Cali-Belgique IPA - Fruity from the yeast, hoppy as Stone likes it

Keep and eye out for their Point Loma brewhouse opening soon, which will feature a 10 barrel brewhouse.  I would not be surprised to see a lot more innovations coming out of Stone once its up and going.

Tucked into a strip mall, my last San Diego County stop

Determined to cross one more brewery off my list I made a quick stop into San Diego Brewing Company on my drive out of town. It was close to where one of my New York friends, Victoria was staying at her brother's, so a nice place to meet for a pint, or sample paddle in this case. The brewery was struggling to keep up with the demand from two restaurants that had been busy and unfortunately just a couple of their 40 taps featured their own beers but I heard they are in the middle of an off site expansion that will allow them to keep up with demand and get more creative with their own brews. I tried what they had on tap though and look forward to stopping in on my next trip to see how the new brewery shapes up.

Nicole guided us through the beers available at San Diego Brewing Co.

El Hefe - Hefeweizen - 4.5%, light golden wheat beer

Grantville Gold - 4.5% Another light beer for those not ready for bigger flavors

San Diego Amber - 4.5%  

80 Shilling Scotch Ale - 5.5% and my favorite

Choco Latte Porter on Nitro - 7% hint of chocolate, med body, sweet boozy porter

Callahan's (sister restaurant) Blueberry Wheat - Light and spritzy, a touch sweet and quite fruity

Driving north was sad and exciting. Goodbyes to a great brew scene, friends and sunny beaches to see some family, more breweries, the sunny mountains and more friends... ok that does not sound that bad, here we go!

Update from the road

So I am sitting here in Christchurch, New Zealand at Pomeroy's Old Brewery Inn enjoying my after work beer and getting geared up to do some writing and I know I am really far behind chronologically with the blog.  I only intended to do an entry or two per week but I have over a dozen entries in the pipeline and basically the website is 4-5 weeks behind real time. The idea here is to just give a little update on where I am at the moment and where I have been as a bit of a teaser of whats to come on the blog.

Last meal in San Francisco before catching my plane!

After a month of driving across America, visiting over 40 breweries, including countless beer samples, I flew to New Zealand and continued on my beer tour's feverish pace.  In the next couple of weeks my writings will drive us up the west coast of the states, fly across the Pacific and introduce us to the beer scene in Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch, which filled up my first 3 weeks in Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud, the Maori name for New Zealand. Highlights include the New Zealand Beer Festival and Marchfest in Nelson, which I caught at the tail end of the hop harvest.

Founders Brewery was ready for Marchfest with
their "Envy of the Empire" IPA

Marchfest in Nelson, land of NZ Hops

My initial goal was to get a job as an assistant brewer here, roll up my sleeves and get dirty in the brew house. Brewery work is not as glamorous as it sounds from the outside, it generally involves long hot sweaty days and nights, mostly cleaning. I met a lot of craft beer folks the first few weeks in New Zealand. At first look the craft beer scene here is a good 10-15 years behind the States but it's on fire as we speak and it won't take more than a couple more years until its just as diverse and exciting. Most of the craft breweries, in this country of just over four million, are one or two homebrewers that "go pro" in their garage or contract brew. Hence, there aren't a bunch of medium to large craft breweries that have jobs to fill. The number of craft breweries over 10,000 barrels a year (Harpoon is 200K BBLs and Sierra Nevada almost one million barrels) is probably less than a dozen.

Huge turnout for the NZ Beer Festival in Auckland

 In total there are about 60 breweries at this time and a lot of them contract brew.  In the end I went to plan B, or I'll call it B+, beer bar work, and got a job at Pomeroy's in Christchurch. Its one of the most respected craft beer bars in New Zealand.  Almost all beers and special releases come through here.  Its a great spot to keep my finger on the pulse of the New Zealand beer scene.  I'll try to go to as many as I can but the rest will naturally come to me, or really to Pomeroy's.  There are other great beer bars in New Zealand and more opening all the time but from what I have seen and heard this is one of the top 5 in the country. Now the plus I mention is because as we speak there is a brewery on a boat headed for Pomeroy's and I'll be here for the install and the subsequent batches of beer that come out of it. B plus indeed!

Cafe culture in NZ. Kiwi's love it
And I need it to keep going!

Its not all beer 24-7

Hot springs, cold Kiwi beer

One of the few cheap foods in NZ:
Green lipped mussels, nom!

Brew day at Harrington's... sunrise in the shadows of the damaged Ami Stadium

Christchurch isn't the epicenter (terrible earthquake reference, I know) of New Zealand craft beer but they are home to Harrington's Brewery which is one of the oldest craft breweries in kiwiland. Newcomers Three Boys Brewery and Cassels & Sons Brewery are also putting out great beers, and out at an old airfield Wigram Brewing is part of the craft beer party too. As the second busiest airport in the country Christchurch will be a good launch pad to other beer destinations in the country... and maybe Australia and beyond. I hear they are opening a new craft brewery in Fiji soon, wink wink!



This is also last call to submit you home pub photos for the Beer SWAG From the Road contest. Feel free to leave comments or send me feeback at beerlesstraveled@gmail.com. You can also stay up to date with my travels at beerlesstraveld on Twitter (drop the last "E", ran out of characters) and for more beer eyecandy there are extra photos on The Beer Less Traveled facebook fanpage. I've gotta run and help nail up the new ceiling in the pub before they open in 8 hours. That's a long time to think about what my shift pint will be... Cheers!

San Diego - Challenging my Craft Brew Biases

Cramming my surfboard and snowboard into my car...
ready to take on the California Coast!

The world of craft brewing is growing fast and that is what makes it extremely exciting although noisy. I've said before there is never a lack of material, its choosing what to write about that is difficult.  Everyday new breweries are opening up and existing breweries are putting out new beers.  No one person can keep up with it all.  Another thing I realize as I talk to craft brew fans and producers around the world is all the different opinions on what craft beer is and how it should be made.  The conversations often get heated, though a good beer usually calms everyone down. Some of it is semantics, some of it process or political. One thing is for sure some opinions are strong in favor of one philosophy or another.  As I travel around absorbing differing view points in the beer world, I find myself questioning some of my craft brew biases.

If I had to sum up my preferences for craft brew: I would drink something that was high quality (good balance, not oxidized, no diacetyl butter bombs), fresh (best buy/bottled on dates?), honest about what is in it (ingredients, ABV, IBUs, additives), open about how it was made (organic? pasteurized?) and who makes it (contract brewed? big corporations pretending to be small brewers?). I also prefer access to the brewery and the people crafting it, either through tours, tasting rooms, social media or brewery events. I want the people making my beer to be as excited about making and drinking it as I am. I want to know their story. It will be interesting to watch how my priorities evolve as my travels unfold.

Best seat in the house is one of the bar
stools overlooking the downstairs brewhouse

One bias I held before the trip was against brewpub chains. I would shy away from these back home and when I traveled. Its hard to pinpoint why, maybe lower quality perceptions, perhaps I assumed profit driven motives were driving expansion up and quality down. I might have assumed if they were offering wine and mixed drink features their number one priority wasn't beer. Maybe I had one bad experience 10 years ago. Trying to open up my mind and pallet, I threw aside my preconceived notions of  brewpub chain quality and intentions, and ventured into a few Southern California staples.

Solana Beach is one of the quiet beach towns dotting the Southern Californian Coast as you drive north on Highway 101. Pizza Port Brewing Co, now sporting five locations, has won a ton of awards and has been a staple on the west coast for decades. In fact this coming Sunday is the 25th Anniversary of their first location, which started here. They do two things really well, beer and pizza.  Aileen and I walked in on what we thought was a quiet Sunday evening, just after catching the sunset down at the beach, and were surprised how busy it was. All kinds of people are attracted to the brewpub and they have

Two flights didn't even cover all the beers offered!

something to offer everyone, craft brews, great pizzas, arcade games. We met a mix of families, groups of teenagers and older beer drinkers alike.  The picnic table seating also makes you get to know your neighbors, something that isn't for everyone but I like. We ordered a "make your own" pizza with a mix of veggies and then proceeded to the taps to see what was being poured. There were a lot of beers on tap. Erica, one of the managers walked us through the selection and let us try a few tastes. She also hooked me up with some stickers. (which you can still enter to win, see contest here) Per usual going with flights lets you try more beers than with pints. The advantage of having an "assistant" is you have a little help to finish the beers so you can get two flights! We were halfway through the beers when the pie came out, perfect timing just as we were getting to the heartier beers.

California Honey Ale - 5% Gold color, pretty sweet and light 

Old Bones Barleywine - 9% Semi hoppy dark brown and full bodied 

Pronto West Coast Pale - 6.4% Medium bitterness, dry and balanced

The Road West Coast IPA - 7.8% Medium bitterness, very citrusy

Poor Vato Imperial IPA - 10.3% A maltier Double IPA

Tubby's Robust Porter - 5.9% Roasty Dark and Dry, my favorite

T Grins American IPA - 7.2% Hoppy "West Coast" IPA

Jules Winfield American Stout - 8% A touch sweet and dark

Surfing takes a lot of energy out of you and I had no problem finishing up all the pizza that was put in front of me.  The beers were tasty and had a lot of variety. We grabbed pints of our favorites and a roll of quarters to round out the evening with some arcade games. I then found I am better at real soccer than video soccer! I could get used to this brewpub chain thing. Brewery chains: 1 - Ed: 0 Tomorrow we would try another.

Pizza Port - Quality pints and quality pies!

Brew Kettle

Karl Strauss Brewing Company, named for Karl Martin Strauss a German American brewer who fled Nazi Germany in 1939, is another of Southern California's brewing pioneers. Started in 1989 and now boasting six locations in the region. We went to the original location in downtown San Diego. I had to drop Aileen at the airport and what better way to finish off her trip than another brewpub!

It was busy as we caught the tail end of the business lunch crowd.  Luckily there were a couple of seats at the end of the bar right next to the taps.  Jeff was our bartender and fittingly for SoCal a surfing, wakeboarding laid back local. He was excited to show us the line up and with seven years under his belt at the brewery he knew more than we could take in.  Again going with tastes and small pours to help get through the line up I tried everything I could! It was a short stop but Jeff did very well to squeeze every last beer drop into our San Diego beer adventure.

Amber Munich Lager - 4.2% A touch hopper than the German versions, my favorite

Oat Stout - 5%, Pretty dry, roasty, porter like 

Full Suit Belgian Brown Ale - 6.3% Semi sweet, estery, brown ale

Off the Rail - 8.5%, 40 IBU, Imperial Red Trolley Red

Tower 10 IPA - 7% 70 IBU Grapefruity West Coast IPA

Windansea Wheat - 5.1% Cloudy Wheat, Lots of banana, Aileen's Favorite

10th Tap Black's Beach Extra Dk Lager - 4.7% Limited rotating tap, awesome roast flavor, lighter dark

Red Trolley Red - 5.8% 17 IBU Nice Malty, touch of roasty malt flavor, GABF Gold 2012

Lots of variety on tap at Karl Strauss

Brewery Chains: 2 Ed: 0. At the end of the day I would say I was very happy with both of San Diego's established brewpub chains.  They have paved the way for me to visit Rock Bottom, BJs and the other brewpub chains that now dot the American landscape. At the end of the day if your making good beer, we'll drink it. Cheers!

I'm having trouble remembering to
photograph samples BEFORE Idrink them!

First Contest!

SWAG From the Road Contest!

Just a fraction of the beer SWAG up for grabs

My bag of beer SWAG is weighing me down on the road!  I want it to go to a good home so please send a photo of your home bar that needs decorating and one sentence describing why you should win, to beerlesstraveled@gmail.com. I'll post them and the one that gets the most votes wins. I'll send you my collection of coasters, stickers, buttons, etc from my drive west and New Zealand! Good luck!

San Diego - Last Rays of Sunshine

When talking about traveling around the world it’s easy to overlook how big America is and how many treasures there are to discover close to home.  My extended Santa Fe stay (see previous post) left me skipping Flagstaff, Phoenix and Arizona Beer Week (my apologies AZ… next year maybe!) and bee-lining it straight to one of the United States’ most visited and cherished vistas; The Grand Canyon.  I drove to within 2 hours of the park and pulled over for some sleep. After a 4 hour snooze I continued my drive in the early pre-dawn morning. The goal: Sunrise over the south rim.  The clouds were just turning dark purple as I arrived at the National Park gate.  I parked the car and walked along a path in the darkness with eager anticipation. The place is massive and I was the first one to the observation deck. For the next hour I endured the freezing winds while the sun slowly painted the clouds every color of the rainbow.  I probably took over a hundred photos but its just something you can’t fully capture on film. Like a great beer you just have to try it yourself. After another hour hiking along the rim, peaking out from each precarious viewpoint and listening to awed whispers in every language imaginable, I heard the ocean calling me.  Back on the road, craft beer heaven awaits!

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon before heading to San Diego, ahhhh...

San Diego has become one of the hotbeds of the American Craft Beer scene.  I’m not exactly sure why… maybe it’s the laid-back surfing and beach culture or perhaps the large military presence bringing back world beer culture and flavors. Usually places with warm weather beckon only light refreshing styles of beer but San Diego is awash with hoppy beers, dark coffee brews, high alcohol abbey beers and any other combination of things you can throw in a beer. Possibly it’s because a few beer pioneers pushed the flavor envelope so long it just does not seem weird to have super flavorful beers around, regardless of the weather. Whatever it is I knew at best I could only visit a third of the 30-plus San Diego County breweries, but I would do my best.  With the mountains behind me and the ocean calling I started to descend towards sea level to the land of fish tacos and crafty brews. Did I mention yet how much I love fish tacos?

Not just a one trick pony, Ballast Point has
entered the craft distilling movement as well.

Another 8 hours in the car across the desert and Northern Arizona and Southern California… I barely missed reaching the Pacific Ocean for sunset.  You can’t have it perfect every day! I met up with fellow travel buddy Jason Falco and his family at his favorite neighborhood soccer pub. Shakespeare's is an English style pub and basically does Fish and Chips and English Ales as you would expect but they still had some Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA on tap, satisfying my need for a regional craft beer. They also have a craft bottle feature each month. One pint was enough to calm my enthusiasm. After such a long, road weary couple of days, I slept very soundly that night. The sun, sand and hoppy suds of San Diego awaited and I needed all my energy to pursue all its flavors the next few days.

It was good to trade in the mountains and snow for the surf and sand for a few days. I'm always torn when I think about whether I'd rather settle near the ocean or in the mountains.  Some lucky places have it both ways, maybe that's where

If you wait a few more years those aged whiskey
barrels will probably be home to some
barrel aged beers as well

you'll find me someday. I was excited for the San Diego beer scene, stoked to trade my snowboard for a surfboard, and lucky that my girlfriend Aileen had flown out to join me for a long weekend on the beer road. She likes beer enough but tends to let wine and
spirits into the mix more than I do. This made our first stop very fitting as Ballast Point Brewing Co. not only makes great beer but has recently entered into the craft distillation world, a growing trend.

Ballast Point's brewery is not quite in the top 50 but is growing quickly and I wouldn't be surprised to see them sneak in there when 2011's numbers are released later this month. We were lucky that the Friday noon tour was empty when we walked in 5 minutes late for it. We ended up with a sweet personal tour that showed us all the expansion projects going on. We also got a close up look at the distilling options.  We followed up the tour with a pretty complete sampling of what was available in the tasting room.

Wahoo Wheat - 4% Belgian Wit with orange peel and coriander, hazy yellow and 

full of fruity esters, just how I like it! 

Ballast Point Pale - 5.2% Modeled after a Kolsh but with more hops, kind of light, dry and balanced

Fathom Indian Pale Lager - 7% 70 IBUs, another hoppy version of a traditional style, light but bitter

Sculpin IPA - 7% 70 IBUs Not the hoppiest but the driest of the India Pale series and my favorite

BigEye IPA - 7% 75 IBUs The hops come out more on this one

Piper Down Scottish Ale - 5.2%, Aileen's favorite but probably b/c she likes puns

Black Marlin Porter - 6% 45 IBUs Nice roasty lighter bodied porter, mix with Big Eye to make a delicious Black Eye!

Sea Monster Imperial Stout - 10% Big and chocolaty 
Its funny how your notes get shorter as you work through the beer list

Rule number one: Take notes, because you WILL forget

Rule number two: Don't lose your notebook

A huge thank you to Alex and Justin for showing us around the brewery and Julia for walking us through the beers and sharing their favorite San Diego beer bars. If you can do it get to the early tour. As we were leaving the line up for the Friday afternoon tour was backing up. It would be a shame to have to wait too long for your samples! Next stop Coronado.

Sad but true... a few bottles of deliciousness
leapt to their demise; no fear they will make more

Ah the memories of long days on the bottling line!

Another sunny day shines on Coronado Brewing Co.

One thing Aileen and I had in common was that we had both been to San Diego once before, though
we had been to different parts than each other.  She had never been to La Jolla and I'd never been to Coronado.  The good news is both have breweries! Coronado is known for its sparkly mica infused
beaches, quaint streets, the Sand Diego Coronado Bridge and the Hotel del Coronado.  So famous is the hotel that the tap handles from Coronado Brewing Co. bears a miniature likeness of it on top. I suppose a bridge would be harder to fit. We did stop by the hotel and took in the view and the scene which was nice, especially for Mojitos or sunsets, but if you want a good craft beer on the peninsula (frequently called an island, just a small strip of sand prevents this misnomer from ringing true) you go to the brewery.  The tasting room was lively and served a good mix of pub food with some true to San Diego seafood mixed in. We ordered a sampler tray, some mussels, and the cajun seared ahi on coleslaw, rolled up our sleeves and got into it.

Coronado Golden - 5.4% Light with a touch of Saaz Hops, like a Czech Pilsner 

Orange Ave Wit - 5.2% Hazy wheat with orange peel and coriander 
plus some sweetness from  local orange blossom honey

Mermaids Red - 5.7% A nice roasty red, a great break from the hoppy reds I'd been finding

Islander IPA - 7% A nice balanced IPA

Sweet Charlotte Cream Stout - 6.2% Smooth, roasty stout
Hoppy Daze Belgian IPA - 7.6% Missed this style from back east, Fantastic! Fruity from the Belgian yeast, with medium hop bitterness 

A beautiful copper clad brewhouse pumps
out craft suds for thirsty servicemen,
locals and tourists alike!

They also sport a few guest taps, which while we were there included West Coast favorites, Anchor Steam and Deschutes plus German import Paulaner. Other regional beers such as Sierra Nevada, Stone and our recent friends Ballast Point also make the list from time to time.

If you have time to rent bikes, maybe before too many beers, its a great way to see the rest of what sun soaked Coronado has to offer. Happy from from good eats and suds we headed back to the mainland to plan the next day's activities. Jogging down beaches, surfing and obviously more breweries lay in the future. Oh did I mention fish tacos? Time to check out some of those craft beer bars we heard about, I'm sure they will satisfy both needs! See you soon... Cheers!

A big selection of house beers with a few local and regional craft beers mixed in