US beer tour

[Oliver]

Day 6: Napa Valley
It was a quiet day on the beer front. After visiting some wineries earlier in the day, we headed to the north of the Napa Valley and called in at the Calistoga Inn, home of Napa Valley Brewing, in the quaint town of Calistoga.



I had a half-pint of Czech-Style Pilsner (left) and the little lady had an American Wheat Ale.



Both were excellent beers. The pilsner was nice and crisp with a bit of graininess.

From there it was back to Silverado Brewing in St Helena for a Pale Ale (5.92% and a reasonable beer) and St Lucifer's Potion (8.84%, on the left), a tasty Belgian ale. I was driving so mine was the Pale Ale.



Here's a pic of the brewery, taken from the bar.



A Portugese beer -- Sagres Bohemia "amber beer" (6.2%) -- with dinner and an Anderson Valley Imperial IPA (8.7%) while I finished this post completed the day. The Imperial IPA is, according to the label, "loaded with excessive amounts of malts to balance 20 separate additions of the finest Pacific Northwest hops". I'm not sure there are excessive amounts of malts, but there are lots. It is a big beer in every respect, and it's bloody delicious.

Tomorrow: A return to Russian River (sadly to swap my Pliny shirt for a smaller one, not to drink beer), Lagunitas in Petaluma and Marin Brewing in Larkspur.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Bum]

Tomorrow: A return to Russian River (sadly to swap my Pliny shirt for a smaller one, not to drink beer)

It would be rude not to.

I found the sizing on my Pliny shirt was on the small side too - not something that happens very often in the US.

[EDIT: just realised I got that backwards.]

[bullfrog]

Day 6: Napa Valley
It was a quiet day on the beer front. After visiting some wineries earlier in the day, we headed to the north of the Napa Valley and called in at the Calistoga Inn, home of Napa Valley Brewing, in the quaint town of Calistoga.

That's the place where I got up them because the head brewer told me that "beer isn't like wine; it shouldn't be aged. Beer is best drunk as young as possible," when I told them that their red ale had promise but would've benefitted from at least a week's worth of settling!

...would be arrogant to think it, but I'm hoping that my advice was heeded and that's why your pictures don't look like the glasses are full of mud.

Food was great there, though.

Calistoga is a great little town. We stayed there for close to a week and I'd go back in a heart-beat, given the opportunity.

[rotten]

I am so jealous.

Can you send me your itinerary and the persons details that helped you organise that tour?
Truly magnificent.
Lucky Boy.

I have never seen paddles like that before, my mrs would probably say nah hah, you ain't drinking all that

[Bum]

I have never seen paddles like that before, my mrs would probably say nah hah, you ain't drinking all that

When I had mine I was with people who don't like beer and had two babies with them. Got a great many dirty looks as I worked my way through the flight - taking detailed tasting notes all the while.

[Oliver]

Can you send me your itinerary and the persons details that helped you organise that tour?

We just planned it on the internet. I'll post the entire itinerary, including the brewery addresses, distances and where we stayed, when I get home in a few weeks.

I'm a couple of days behind in posting, but stay tuned for the Lagunitas report. Gotta go now though because we're off to the "beerunch" in San Francisco

Cheers,

Oliver

[lob]

Google maps is probably good also. Just type 'breweries' and the pins will pop up around where you are.

Quick someone post some pics of a NSW Woolies owned pub showing a sample tray of VB, New, Carlton, XXXX and type up extensive tasting notes to make Oliver jealous...

[Oliver]

Can you send me your itinerary and the persons details that helped you organise that tour?

We just planned it on the internet ...

My better half has pointed out that a friend of a friend, Tom, who works in sales at Mountain Goat in Melbourne contributed some suggestions when I was chatting to him at the Great Northern in North Carlton recently. So, Tom, thanks for the tips!

[earle]

I can hardly post I'm so jealous. But thanks for posting Oliver, Gives us something to daydream about.

[Oliver]

Day 7: Lagunitas (Petaluma, California)
The first beer-related activity of the day was retracing our steps from Sonoma to Russian River in Santa Rosa so that I could replace my large Pliny the Younger shirt, which looked more like a dress on me, with a smaller size. We arrived about 1.30 and there was already a massive line to get in to sample "Younger".



In hindsight going on the Wednesday and arriving at 11.30am was a stroke of genius because we hadn't had to line up and while things were busy they weren't as crazy as they clearly were on Friday, as the end of the "Fourteen Days of Younger 2012" approaches.

With the new shirt on board we set course for Lagunitas in Petaluma, about 75km north of San Francisco. Strangely, the tap room doesn't open until 2pm so we sought out some food at a local mall and arrived not long after 2.



On the label of the beer called "Censored" we could almost make out the original name of the beer, but had to confirm with one of the bar staff. Apparently it was originally called Kronik, but beer names (in California at least) have to be submitted for approval and at the last minute someone clicked that "kronik" was a slang term for high-grade marijuana. As a result the name was rejected, so Lagunitas' owner left the label as it was and slapped "CENSORED" across it. According to our tour guide, the word CENSORED gets smaller every year!

We only had time for a small tasting flight before the tour started at 3pm.



Neither of us were fans of the pilsner (6.2% ABV). It had a touch -- and I mean a touch -- of the dirty Aussie lagers about it and was just a bit ordinary. I described it in my tasting notes as NQR and said it didn't have a clean nose/smell. The pale (6.2) was a great beer with lots of hop aroma and a good bitterness. The IPA (you guessed it, also 6.2%) was darker and more malty than the pale ale and appeared less bitter, probably because of the extra malt character. The Imperial Red Ale (7.8% ABV) was quite similar to the IPA, and also a pretty good beer.

My favourite was the pale, and 'er indoors liked the IPA.

Then it was time for the (free) tour. There would have been 35 or 40 on the tour. First stop was a bar looking over the brewery, where everyone sat at the bar or on couches. Everyone in the picture below was on the tour.



The guide, Lewis, told a few stories and poured everyone a pilsner, pale, IPA, Hop Stoopid Ale and Capuccino Stout.

I've already talked about the first three; the last two were absolutely tremendous beers. Hop Stoopid really was, and the Capuccino Stout was a great stout, with noticeable coffee notes.

This is the back of Lewis's T-shirt, which is pretty funny. (Geoff, if you're reading this, one of these is coming your way.)



Lagunitas' capacity is currently restricted because a team of Germans is on site installing a 250-barrel (roughly 30,000-litre) brewhouse to supplement the existing 80-barrel (9400-litre) brewhouse.



Unfortunately for the Germans, it doesn't seem like one of them was driving the crane when the new equipment was being lifted into place. As a result several bits got damaged. All were repairable, except this extremely dented bit, which from memory was the cover of a lauter tun.



In contrast to Sierra Nevada, which only uses whole hops, Lagunitas uses cones (only for finishing), pellets and concentrate. Lewis reckons that they use pellets because it is easier to get a consistent result. Here are some pellets awaiting their fate.



Don't say you weren't warned.



Last stop was the bottling plant. Those who had travelled furthest got a stubby of IPA. There's not much further from Petaluma, California, than Melbourne, Australia, so we got a stubby, as did someone who'd come from Alaska.



Lagunitas brews some great beers. If you don't like hops, don't go there.

Next stop, TBA but somewhere in San Francisco.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Bum]

If you see their Sumpin' Sumpin', Dogtown or Christmas Sucks on your travels, check them out. Probably their best beers. Very nice.

Oh! And Hairy Eyeball too - huge dark fruit flavours. Like a glass of Christmas cake.

[Oliver]

Day 8: Marin Brewing (Larkspur, California)
Not too much beer action this day, but plenty of shopping action by 'er indoors in San Francisco.

Then it was onto the ferry to Larkspur, home of Marin Brewing. It's a big brewpub.



We're staying with my second cousin in Tiburon, on San Francisco Bay, and her husband is a part owner of the brewery. Kevin "does your dad own a brewery" Bloody Wilson, anyone? Evidently the brewery doesn't have the space to use bulk grain, so it's all brought in and stored in bags.

They had 10 beers on tap when we were there.



But they have far more on rotation throughout the year.



First up was the Mt Tam Pale Ale for me, and Witty Monk (yep, a wheat beer) for the lady.



The pale ale (5.8% ABV) was copper-coloured and malty, and had the most subdued hop character of any pale ale that we've had on our travels so far. It seemed to be more of an English-style pale ale made with US hops than a big, ballsy, incredibly hoppy US-style pale ale.

'Er indoors described Witty Monk as refreshing but "a bit watery", although conceded that was compared with the big beers that we've been having. I thought it was wheaty and cloudy and a pretty nice beer.

The thing I found interesting about the Marin Brewing beers was that they weren't all about hops. After more than a week of most beers at all the breweries we'd visited being about hops, hops, hops, it was refreshing to find some beers that were a bit more subdued on the hop front and let the malt character shine through.

A pre-dinner Anderson Valley Pale Ale and a nightcap of my first ever Dogfish Head beer -- 90 Minute Imperial IPA -- completed the day.



I was expecting a lot more hop aroma and flavour from the Dogfish Head. But like the Marin Brewing beers it was the malt flavour that was front and centre. What a great beer.

Tomorrow: Beerunch, part of San Francisco Beer Week.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Guru]

I used to think, "why would anyone want to go to the US?". Well, I think Oliver has answered my question

[Oliver]

Day 9: Beerunch in San Francisco
Whitney Houston put a bit of a dampener on proceedings. Not because she died, but because they played her music non-stop pretty much the whole time we were at today's San Francisco Beer Week event at Public House, part of AT&T/Giants Stadium on the San Francisco waterfront.

We'd bought our tickets back in Australia and there was a bit of a queue to process the 150 or so people that were there (in the US you have to show your ID pretty much any time you enter a venue where you'll be consuming alcohol, regardless of how young or old you look).



Beerunch paired seven beers with seven dishes. Instead of trying to explain it further, here's the front of the program.



Here are the pairings, in order of consumption.

Pairing 1
Beer: Morpho Herbal Ale, aged with Lactobacillus (6.0% ABV) - MateVeza & Mill Valley Beerworks in Ukiah, California
* There were hints of tropical fruit in this beer, which was slightly tart, had quite a light body and went down fairly easily. I could have drunk a few of these.
Food: El Porteno Pollo Empanadas (i.e. chicken empanadas)



Pairing 2
Beer: Toast (Slightly Burnt) Malt Liquor (6.2% ABV) - Moonlight Brewing in Santa Rosa, California
* Toasty. Perhaps the perfect breakfast beer. I wonder if anyone has ever brewed a Vegemite beer.
Food: Chicken Waffles with Salsa Verde
* I don't quite get the attraction to waffles, but these were pretty nice. The chicken was in the waffle batter. Even the maple syrup on top worked well.



Pairing 3
Beer: Curieux (11.0% ABV) - Allagash in Portland, Maine
* A Belgian triple aged in bourbon barrels. For me, this was the standout of the day and possibly the trip so far. There was a lot going on, with hints of vanilla and a distinctive bourbon taste. And so smooth.
Food: Pigs in a Puff-Pastry Blanket with Spicy Honey Mustard



Beerunch was well attended, mostly by hip youngish things.



Pairing 4
Beer: Three Flowers IPA (Cask) (6.6% ABV) - Marin Brewing in Larkspur, California
* Like the beers that we drank at Marin Brewing the previous day this was quite a subdued beer, but very nice.
Food: Potato-Chip-Crusted Fried Mac & Cheese
* Deep-fried macaroni and cheese pretty much says it all. We were in heaven.



Pairing 5
Beer: Just Outstanding IPA (6.8% ABV) - Kern River Brewing in Kernville, California
* It was, well, outstanding. The guy in the photo was the lucky guy who is responsible for buying all the beer for Public House.
Food: California Devilled Egg with Crispy Bacon
* I'm not usually one for devilled egg but these were, as they say in the US, "something else".



Pairing 6
Beer: Apricot Ale (8.5% ABV) - Cascade Brewing in Portland, Oregon
* A very sour, yet refreshing beer. Was too much for the lady.
Food: Pear and Kumquat Salad with Taragon Vinaigrette
* OK, but probably my least-favourite dish of the day.



Pairing 7
Beer: Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter (10.0% ABV) - Ballast Point Brewing in San Diego, California
* Sensational. Chocolatey and lovely.
Food: Churro Dusted in Mexican Truffle
* Not really my cup of tea, but a nice way to wrap up proceedings on the food front.



The beer below, MateVeza Black Lager, was not paired with food. It was quite an interesting beer, in that it smelt sweet, like unfermented wort, but tasted roasty and bitter. A nice beer.



Back in Tiburon we went to the supermarket and were confronted with a fridge full of mostly excellent beers. In case you can't make out the labels, the selection included beers from New Belgium (Fat Tire), Anderson Valley, Full Sail, Bear Republic, Lagunitas, Marin and Moylan's, along with the usual suspects.



Next: There are no firm beer-related plans tomorrow, but some is sure to be drunk.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Guru]

Interesting that the Coors and Bud are stored near the bottom of this fridge and not at eye level like the big names normally are. Was this an independent supermarket?

[lob]

closeup on the price tags would be nice.

...just to make us even more jealous and bitter back home in the Land Of RipOffOz.

[Bum]

Get yourself to a Whole Foods supermarket if you can, Oliver. Blows that selection out of the water (to be fair, that selection isn't terribly different to what can be found at Target).

[Oliver]

Day 10: San Francisco
Not much to report today. My brother and his girlfriend arrived in the US today so we had a few quiet beers, including Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Anderson Valley Pale Ale, Anderson Valley IPA and Marin Brewing IPA. There were only two that I hadn't tried before:

Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Ale, which was a very nice chocalatey ale. My brother and I were fans. The little lady was not.

The other was an Uncommon Brewers Golden State Ale, aka poppy seed ale, that I'd picked up in Sonoma. None of us were fans of this. It was not very pleasant -- sweet and fairly tasteless -- and went down the drain unfortunately.



Cheers,

Oliver

EDIT: Added picture on 2/3/12

[Oliver]

Day 11: Nashville, Tennessee
Today we flew from San Francisco to Nashville. In transit at the American Airlines Admirals Lounge in Dallas we had a Samuel Adams Boston Lager and a Samuel Adams Seasonal Lager, both on tap. The Boston Lager was quite a subdued beer after the big beers of the West Coast. Still nice though, and is quite malty and flavoursome. I'm not sure what the seasonal lager was, but we weren't huge fans.



As much as I hate to say it, I started the evening with four Budweisers. When you're in a strange town and don't know what beers are on offer, ordering a couple of Buds is a pretty safe option. As it turned out, most bars didn't have too much on offer apart from the usual American suspects.

After two Buds at Tootsie's and another two at The Stage, over some beer and some chicken Quaesadilla at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville (I kid you not) I had a Sam Adams Boston Lager and 'er indoors had a Corona.

We then had a final drink at Robert's Western World where I picked up a St Charles Porter.



It was quite a nice beer from what I recall. Drunk out of the stubby because asking for a cup (plastic, of course) didn't strike me as a very manly Nashville thing to do. a subsequent Google search revealed that this was was made just around the corner at the Blackstone Brewery & Restaurant, which is owned by Schlafly in St Louis. Missouri. Pity we didn't have time to get to the brewpub.

Tomorrow: Memphis.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

US Beer Tour - Day 12: Memphis, Tennessee
Who would have thought that six beers could cause a raging hangover, but that they did. I blame the four Buds.

We went for a wander around Nashville and I felt even sicker when I rounded a corner to see just about the biggest trailer of beer in history. Pity it was full of crap beer.



After a four-hour drive we arrived in Memphis and visited Sun Studio, then found the Beale Street Tap Room ("Best Head on Beale"), which has a pretty good selection of beer on tap and in bottles.



We chose a Blue Moon Belgian White (on the left in the picture below, in case the slice of orange didn't give it away) and a Bridgeport IPA.



I preface the notes below with the fact that you can still smoke in bars in Tennessee (although, we were told, only if you're over 21, but you need to be 21 to get into the bar in the first place). Coming from Australia we really noticed that ... affected smell. Bar staff smoke ...

The Blue Moon was a solid beer that was pretty heavy on the coriander, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
The Bridgeport IPA was another good beer. We were told by the barman, Greg, that this was made in Oregon by one of the first US microbreweries. The beer was malty and had strong bitterness but was beautifully balanced. There were a lot of stone-fruit tastes.

Dinner was at the Blues City Cafe, where there was a healthy selection of beers. Five Samuel Smiths, if you don't mind!



We both chose Anchor Steam Beer.



And were both underwhelmed. I think it was the first time I've had it, and I found it quite harsh. I was expecting something fairly smooth but it was far from it.

We returned to Beale Street Tap Room, where I had another pint, this time a Southern Pecan brown ale from Lazy Magnolia. It was an interesting beer, but a little on the sweet side for me. Does it really have Pecans? According to the website, yes it does. Whole roasted pecans, if you dont mind.

Tomorrow: New Orleans, Louisiana.

Oliver