Apres Brewski - Take 4 Lake Tahoe

Breathtaking view of Lake Tahoe from Heavenly Resort

Getting waxed up for next morning's ride w/ Acer Quercus! 

One of the few things that gets me as giddy as driving to a new brewery is driving to a ski mountain after fresh snow, or in the case of Lake Tahoe, several of them. Add to this reconnecting with old friends and you have a key stop on my already fantastical journey. It was dark with a few flakes softly dancing across my windshield as I drove into Lake Tahoe. I wasn't greeted with the same breathtaking view of the lake that I got last summer but it didn't matter, I would have plenty of those in the days to come. The next four days would be relatively relaxing after several weeks of driving and beer tasting. With big plans for the next morning I rolled in, and went straight to bed. The next day I woke and stepped outside into the cool air with Tahoe's famous bluebird skies and the warm sunshine beating down on my face. Ahhh... it was so good to be here.

Yeti sighting at Kirkwood...
When you can't wait to get off the slopes

Lake Tahoe is famous for its natural beauty and fantastic skiing. Squaw Valley, on the west side of the lake, played host to the 1960 Winter Olympics and the area's mountains host thousands of skiers every day. Of course after burning up the legs all day its necessary to cool off with some quality brew. And for all its popularity you would think that would help put them on the beer map as well, but you just don't hear Lake Tahoe and beer in the same sentence. You can buy great beer everywhere around the lake, as California and the West Coast are home to lots of great craft brewers. Most bars and stores have Sierra Nevada, New Belgium or Deschutes available. Being on the Nevada/California border also gives you the best of both worlds when it comes to price and selection, Nevada is less expensive but California has a bigger range of beers available. So drinking great beer isn't a problem if you want to just bring it with you. But where do you go for a beer MADE here? Well the good news is there are a few small brew pubs in the region to quench your local Apres ski desires. So no matter where you take your turns you can be sipping a local brew in no time.

 South Lake Tahoe

Spring snow and a setting sun at The Brewery in South Lake Tahoe  

After a day on the mountains near the south end of the lake my friend Mike and I stopped in The Brewery in South Lake Tahoe. We tramped in with our snowboard boots on, with legs of rubber and thirsty palates. Full of transplants like any ski town, we were greeted by Chris, an Aussie from Victoria (also on my near future beerventure list, as it's the recent hotbed of craft brewing in Australia). He was keen to hear about my trip to NZ and my plans to return to Oz as well. But before we let the small talk distract us too much from our thirst we ordered a tasting flight and got down to sampling the beers. The Brewery has been around since 1992 and pretty much feels like you would imagine an old ski town brewpub to feel.

My favorite accent is the snowboard chalk board w/ the beer list  

Whiteout Wit - 5% Lager yeast wit beer... in place of their popular Washoe Wheat, Stateline and Anchorage breweries also have a Wit beer by this name so not sure if it was a test batch, clone or what. Regardless I loved it, dry finish and just a bit of citrus

Needle Peak Pale Ale - 6.5% Nice Pale, Great hoppy nose but more malt comes through on the taste

Indian Pale Ale - 7%, traditional IPA, nicely balanced, just a bit hoppier than Needle Peak

Bad Ass Ale - 9.2% Dark and balanced, its their signature beer which they use to make their Bad Ass Ale Pizza Dough, the high ABV doesn't hurt either

Alpine Amber - 6%, Nice malty amber, right down the middle, Mikes go to beer here (he just ordered a full pint straight off, while I tasted)

Paramount Porter - 6%, On the lighter side for porters, they make two batches, one for Summer and one for winter. I experienced the Summer batch and missed the roastier Winter batch that would have been more to my preference... I'll have to just go back someday!

Star Lake Stout - 7%, Quite boozy, semi smooth stout

Pumpkin Ale - 6%, just a hint of pumpkin and spice... nice desert beer!

Tasting Paddle at The Brewery 

The process at The Brewery is unique to brewpubs as well. Limited on space they don't have a mash tun and just do a partial mash which is what many home brewers do as the intermediary step between all extract and all grain brewing. The beers were good so it works for them. Their 5 Barrel system keeps cranking out a big variety of beers for their thirsty locals and tourists alike. I look forward to returning to South Lake soon, for more turns and more beers.

Also on the Southside of the lake on the California-Nevada border is the aptly named Stateline Brewery. Its prime location at the base of Heavenly Resort's Gondola makes it ideal for an Apres brewski. Unfortunately I'll have to check it out on my next trip as we ran out of time to make it there this time.

North Lake Tahoe

Fifty Fifty Tasting Flight 

If you are working on your dirty faced goggle tan on the north end of the lake you aren't too far from Truckee, CA, which is about as ski bum of a town as it gets and home to Fifty Fifty Brewing. This was my second trip here as I had stopped by quickly on my August cross country beerventure. I met up with Amanda who had moved here from our hometown in NY years ago to take advantage of the bigger mountains. She was happy to show me around the local brew scene. Julie was our bartender and set us up with a tasting flight. Todd the owner/headbrewer wasn't around (again, darn the luck and lack of planning ahead) but his time I got a peek into the brewhouse with assistant brewer Alyssa. They have a nice copper clad brewhouse in tight quarters but definitely much bigger than The Brewery at South Lake. Fifty Fifty is now distributing their beers as well and are getting aclaim for their barrel aged beers, know as the Eclipse series. If you are in the area in early December, and lucky enough to get a ticket, you can attend the Eclipse release party! Also keep your eyes open for their in the works expansion down the road. Amanda and I went through the beers and then headed back down to the lake for one more little treat on the Tahoe beer... err... bar scene.

Nice copper clad brewhouse at Fifty Fifty 

Base Camp Golden - 4.2%, 18 IBUs Nice refresher, touch of citrus from hops

Manifesto Pale Ale 5.4%, 32 IBUs standard pale ale,

Rockslide IPA - 6.7%, 70 IBU, West Coast IPA

Donner Party Porter - 6.7%, 30 IBUs, easy drinking porter, a touch sweet

Trifecta - 10.5%, 20 IBUs Belgian Triple, barrel aged and slightly sour, very nice

Totality Imperial Stout - 9.5%, 75 IBUs Great roasty stout, its the base beer for the Eclipse Barrel Aged beers

Farmhouse - 5.8%, 28 IBUs, Saison style w/ no spices added, great Spring session beer

2011 Eclipse - 300 gallons, once a year... one of seven barrel aged Imperial Stouts, not sure which one though!

Foggy Goggle Wit - 5.3%, 19 IBU, Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, Rosehip, Coriander and Rosemary

Consecrated Evil - 10% Dark Belgian, dark fruity sipper, gets better as it warms

Hot Dog! ...last stop in Tahoe

Ski porn: its how you warm up for the ski season every fall... these classic low budget films starring hot moves on and off the mountain get you revved up for the coming season year after year. One of the best is Hot Dog ...The Movie. So it would be just shameful to not stop in for a beer at the famous watering hole in the movie, Le Chamois at the base of Squaw Valley. I didn't get to ski Squaw this trip but its close to Amanda's house and was worth the small detour. It was a mellow midweek evening but I could see enough to get the feel for how it would be rocking out on a busy snowy night after a long day on the mountain. A frame exposed painted beams, photos of the who's who of skiing on the walls and that buzz you get from being in an Olympic village. Classic! As far as the beer goes you could get a shot Jaegermeister and Budweiser or PBR like most locals do but they also had some New Belgium Fat Tire for us beer folk looking for a little more flavor out of our beer. The warm Sake is also a local favorite!

That was Lake Tahoe... funny as it was close to the end of my ski season in the US. It feels strangely familiar as I sit here in Christchurch, New Zealand watching the Olympics on TV and the incoming winter storm that should set us up for some good skiing and riding later this week. Good timing ...being behind on the blog has some perks I guess. Back to the mountains again... where to for Apres in NZ?! I love doing research!

Sacramento Beer Week - Drinking with The Beer Wench

There is a pretty good chance if you live in the USA there is a Craft Beer Week near you.  Some are more famous than others such as Philadelphia's which set the pace years ago.  Others are newer as the idea spreads to smaller or less developed craft markets. Unfortunately I had to rush through Arizona and missed their beer week (see previous post).  I was also a week late for San Francisco's famous week of beer events.  However Sacramento Beer Week was scheduled just right.  I was too excited to go skiing and visit old friends in Lake Tahoe to spend the time needed to really dive into the festivities but I wasn't going to totally miss another one! There is probably one near you soon, check out Craftbeer.com's list here.

I also was keeping my ears open for ideas on how to best grow my beer blog.  It worked out that one of the top beer bloggers, Ashley Routson, aka The Beer Wench, was involved in several events that week and lucky for me one that night. A Bison Brewery employee by day and blogger, beer connesiour and beer mixoligist at night, her to the point, lively commentary is followed by over 10,000 folks via Twitter and is a source of knowledge and entertainment in the Bay area and all over the west coast. I tracked her down at a tasting event for Ace Cider and Bison Brewing Co. at Magpie's Cafe in Sacramento's R Street district.

Magpie Cafe's cozy dinning room, standing room only

I ended up arriving ahead of the brewers to a packed dinning room. Magpies is quite small and is well respected for their food, so getting a seat at dinner time isn't easy. I had a full belly already so I had to skip what looked like a delicious menu and got right into the tasting. Jen the manager and the bartender were very friendly and got me started on the beers. Knowing I had to hit the road again in a couple hours, I stuck with a few small pours. As I sipped my first brew the beer folks started to roll in. It was yet another night exhibiting the camaraderie among craft brewers. With Nico from 21st Amendment Brewing Co. (San Francisco) and Peter from Briess Malt stopping by to hang out with Dan, Mark and Ashley of Bison Brewery from (Berkeley, CA) and Nick from Ace Cider (Sebastopol, CA).

Only four taps but all craft along with a nice
bottle selection, focused on local and organic

Having promoted at several beer weeks in Syracuse and Albany, NY, I know they can be a fun but exhausting couple if not several days. A beer sampling at a supermarket followed by a beer dinner followed by a late night promotion really takes it out of you... and that's just one day. Being mid-week these guys looked a bit knackered. I'm pretty sure it wasn't their first event that day either. I introduced myself but let them sit down and eat before pestering too much. I just went ahead and tasted some more, tough I know!

Bison Brewing - Chocolate Stout 5%, Roasty, touch of chocolate and not as thick and heavy as some... you could definitely drink more than one

Ace Cider - Honey Cider, 5%, on the drier side. Earthy w/ a touch of honey flavor, I believe I was told this one had aged a few years

Ace Cider - Perry, 5% pear cider, slightly sweet, tasted like a Jolly Rancher candy

Ace Honey Cider

Not being too packed with beer fans it was great to get some time to chat with Dan about his strong conviction on using organic and sustainable food sources. He also talked about his love of brewing and lack there of while taking care of the business end of running a brewery. It was great to hear The Beer Wench's stories about her beer adventures while growing her blog, especially being a woman in a male dominated beer world. Craft beer draws more women than traditional beer biz but it's still mostly men. And just to show you can never predict which way an evening will go I ended up getting way more into the cider. Maybe I just needed a change after weeks of beer tastings. To accompany this Nick Diamond from Ace spent a lot of time talking over the ciders, the company, the growing market, distribution, etc and as a pleasant surprise his contacts in New Zealand where I would be flying to in just over a week! They were all very nice and we even hinted at getting together for a Sunday Funday brunch when I hit San Francisco before flying out... we'll see if we can make it happen but first back to the mountains to get some Spring skiing in Lake Tahoe!

As I continue to travel I like planning trips around suggestions. Send along or comment on your favorite beer weeks out there. Hopefully I can visit soon!

Brew U. - Davis CA, USA

Everyone has those days when you are fully into whatever it is you do for a living, yet there you are dreaming of doing something else.  Maybe it's doing what you do already but for yourself instead of someone else. Possibly you want to just take a break and visit that far away place you have only seen in pictures. I suppose some are just waiting on winning the lotto and quitting all together. A lot of successful businesses arise from hobbyists "going pro".  Such is the case with many home brewers.  This is where the craft brewing movement sprouted from a few decades ago. I was one of those people trying to find happiness by doing what I love for work. The problem was I was nervous about investing (or in my case, borrowing) the huge sums of money involved in starting a proper brewery, only to have it fail. One way to shore up your brewing knowledge is going through one of the many brewing courses or books available, or for the lucky ones with the time and money to spend, attend one of the brewing schools sprinkled throughout the world. The two most respected in the US are the Master Brewers Program at the University of California at Davis' Extension (classes full until 2015!) and the Siebel Institute in Chicago (also fills up way in advance but has smaller courses available). My first online course was through UC Davis and it was on my cross country to do list to drop in and see the place in person. 

Welcome to Sudwerks... much more than meets the eye!

Sudwerks beautiful brewhouse that specializes in German style brews

Just outside of Sacramento, Davis is a progressive University town.  The brewing school provides instruction from respected brewing minds, Charles Bamforth, PhD, and Michael Lewis ,PhD.  The students learn the science and technology of brewing in classes and then apply their skills on the brewing systems at Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hubsch, which is a brewpub and distributing brewery in Davis.  

Beers during class break

 Luckily Sacramento and Davis are on the drive between San Luis Obispo and Lake Tahoe and I called up the University office to see if I could sit in on a class.  Melissa was very helpful and as an online alumni they were happy to let me check it out.  The day's topic was packaging and what types of cardboard and aluminium were used for beer thoughout the years and what emerging packages might be encountered in the future.  A topic about as satisfying as a heavily oxidized brew. (one beer geek point if you got the beer pun) And even though Charlie and Michael were not teaching that

Beers after class

day Professor John Krochta was a good host with plenty of knowledge to share. On the upside, being a Friday it was also one of the days the students set up a portable bar in the shipping dock and try out all the experimental batches they have been brewing the last few weeks. It's know as the "Dock Store" and locals can check it out too, Thurs-Sat. Check out the times here: Sudwerk Dock Store. It was a cool but sunny day as we sampled what might be the beginnings of the next creative beers from some of America's emerging brewing talent.  I felt pretty special to be there that day. Another neat thing was the collection of craft beer shirts on the group of students. Some from back home in New York where I started my journey, some from places I had been the last few weeks driving across the US, and others from overseas and far away.  Craft beer is definitely a male dominated field, so it was nice to see two females in the class of 30. There was also a small international contingent, mostly from far flung Heineken breweries in Panama and Russia.  Everyone was warm and welcoming, even though I was a complete stranger just dropping into class... as such things go when you are a traveler and a craft beer fan.

Hidden gem: Sudwerk's Dock Store!

Another pleasent surprise for me was that Sudwerks also distributes beer. They are not just a brewpub as I had thought in the past. Brennen, one of the brewers, walked me through a few of the beers. Trent gave me a tour of the facility which is a full blown brewery with ongoing expansion just like most craft breweries across the country. Add Davis to the growing list of places I need to spend more time in on my next visit.

Sudwerk Dock Store Brews

Marzen - Dry, Semi sweet

33rd St Friends - Vanilla Dunkel, just like it sounds, yum!

Sudwerks Brewhouse

Sudwerks Bottling Line

Unitanks at Sudwerks

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!