On Day 2 of my January 2015 Bay Area trip, three of us took a road trip to Santa Cruz to check out the town and then visit Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in neighboring Capitola. We’d all been to the boardwalk and the beach before, so we wandered around Santa Cruz’s town center, had a really nice lunch, and then took a very scenic but excruciatingly slow drive to SARA. The other two didn’t seem to mind the leisurely pace, almost like they weren’t nearly as fanatical about visiting breweries as I am. Weird. But we finally did arrive, and, contrary to its pastoral name, the brewery’s located in a low-rise business park.

Bit of a challenge to take notes like this at Sante Adairius Rustic Ales — Capitola, CA

Rob’s Picks
• Anais – 6.5% – House saison. Lemongrass and coriander, with light funk. Lightly spicy on the tongue. Light bitter finish.
• Luxury of Youth – 5.7% – Belgian pale ale. Light caramel, big herbal hops, bit of clove and spiciness. Dry, tannic finish with some bitterness.
• 831 IPA – 7.2% – Citrus and tropical fruit flavors. Some rye astringency and spiciness. Nice lingering hop flavors and bitterness.
• I See a Darkness (Batch 2) – 8.2% – Collaboration with Tired Hands Brewing. Imperial porter with honey and Verve coffee. Sweet coffee aroma. Very smooth. big coffee and chocolate flavors with light honey sweetness.
• A Door Ajar – 5.9% – Stout. Chewy with chocolate, coffee, and touch of molasses. Underlying dark chocolate bitterness. Smooth, creamy goodness.

The Rest
• Simpleton – 6.5% – IPA with Simcoe and Galaxy hops. Grapefruit and other citrus aroma and flavor. Some tropical fruit flavor, too. Light underlying caramel. A bit too much lingering bitterness for me.
• Zuur Cafe #3 – 8.2% – Barrel-aged dark sour with Verve coffee. Coffee aroma. Coffee and sour start, then coffee fades to sour finish. Bit of vinegar in the sour profile. Odd mix.

Didn’t get to try as many as I would’ve liked. The friend driving bought his own beer and nursed it throughout the whole visit, and my other friend was a little picky and only helped drink two of the seven half-pours. Ah well. Will just have to make it down there again on my next Bay Area trip.