All posts tagged california

The Beach Chalet

The plan for Day Three of my Bay Area trip was to visit three breweries more or less along the N-Judah MUNI line. I got off at the end of the line at Ocean Beach and walked to the northwestern corner of Golden Gate Park to The Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant for lunch and a set of samplers. I felt a little out of place — I was one of the younger customers there, by myself, had eight little beers in front of me, and my daypack on the other chair — but nobody seemed to mind.

Beautiful spot for a beer (or eight) at The Beach Chalet — San Francisco, CA

V.F.W. Light – 4.8% – Blonde. Very light and quite bready. Touch of lemon and honey. Decent herbal hop finish.
Presidio IPA – 6.5% – Herbal and floral hops. Light honey and caramel malt. Some underlying bitterness that blends back in well.
Riptide Red – 5.8% – Big caramel and light honey malt. Very light hops (herbal?). Bit of dryness. Pretty easy drinking.
Fogtown Brown – 5.3% – For the malt lovers. Big caramel and some honey malt, with some coffee flavor. Light bitterness on the finish.
Rye Porter – 4.8% – Dark Side Series. Not very dark in color, maybe dark amber. Light rye aspect, coffee/chocolate flavors, and touch of honey. Some dryness and light lingering bitterness.

Weizenbock – 6.5% – Bready, with big banana and medium clove flavors.
Playland Pale Ale – 5.5% – Floral hops. Caramel and biscuity maltiness. Good balance but the floral aspect didn’t do it for me.
Pumpkin Ale – 5.3% – With cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and clove. Big aroma with all those spices. Pretty decent mix of spices, pumpkin, and herbal hops. Some honey, too. A taster was enough for me, though.

If you can get a window table (reservations might be helpful), then sipping a beer or two while watching the waves crash onto the beach would be a fine way to spend an hour or two. Seemed like the folks sitting by the windows were enjoying it.

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by brewerytreks on August 24, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in california

Tagged brewpub, california, san francisco

Posted by brewerytreks on August 24, 2014

https://brewerytreks.com/2014/08/24/the-beach-chalet/

Russian River

Day 2 of my Bay Area trip started with brunch with cousins, then a scenic drive to a short coastal hike, before reaching the main event: the visit to Russian River Brewing. For some reason I hadn’t had much of their beer before they pulled distribution out of Washington state at the end of 2012. Guess you never know what you’re missing until it’s gone, right? Anyway, we showed up Sunday evening, and it was pretty crowded. That weekend was the Beatification release, so that might’ve had something to do with it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re just always crowded. We put our names down, wandered the main street and found some mediocre pizza, and made it back a few minutes before our table came up. I did my usual taster tray thing, and by the time I’d made my way through, I wanted to order a second one and repeat the experience. Instead I had a glass of the Beatification, which I’d decided was my new favorite sour.

Successful pilgrimage to Russian River Brewing — Santa Rosa, CA

Yvan the Great – 6.3% – Beer Camp Across America collaboration with Sierra Nevada Brewing. Belgian-style Blonde. Light clove aroma. Great start with fun spiciness on the tongue and clove/banana flavors, to light breadiness, and great lingering flavors. Wonderful mix.
O.V.L. Stout – 4.15% – Dry and creamy. Big coffee and chocolate flavors and light tobacco.
Row 2, Hill 56 – 5.8% – Biscuity and light bready malt, with citrus and tropical fruit hop flavors. Good light lingering bitterness.
Hop 2 It – 5.79% – Single hop with hop 291. Creamy, with citrus and tropical fruit hops to a light honey finish.
Blind Pig IPA – 6.25% – Great mix of citrus and tropical fruit hop flavors with caramel maltiness. Light spiciness, too.
Pliny the Elder – 8% – Big smooth piney hops with touch of spiciness and light citrus. Solid caramel and light biscuity malt.
Noble Experiment – 3.88% – Bready, spicy, with great bitter mix and very light funk.
Perdition – 6.1% – Biere de Sonoma. Caramel malt, some spiciness, and bit of a horsey funk edge.
Temptation – 7.5% – Medium sourness, light funk, and good white wine flavors.
Supplication – 7% – Big sourness, red wine flavors, and very light funk.
Consecration – 10% – More big sourness. Darker, heavier red wine aspect than Supplication. Subtle raisin.
Beatification – 6% – Spontaneously fermented. Wonderfully sour. Very subtle funk, but with a sweet edge, too, and some smooth white wine notes.
Pliny the Younger – 10.5% – Strong piney aroma. Great initial bubbliness and spiciness. Strong piney and hoppy flavors. Lovely malty undertones. Long finish — grapefruit citrus flavor that mixes well with subtle caramel and slight alcohol edge. [This one’s from my 2012 post.]

Aud Blonde – 4.5% – Very bready, kind of creamy, but pretty light on the tongue. Light honey sweetness, with some bitterness on the finish.
Defenestration – 7.25% – Bready and biscuit maltiness, with some bitterness and horse blanket funk.

If I’d skipped the brunch and the hike I would’ve had time to visit Lagunitas and perhaps Bear Republic, as well, but that’s okay. Gotta maintain that healthy beer/life balance, right? Also gives me a reason not to wait so long until my next Bay Area visit. Oh, one beer missing from this post is their Damnation. I’ve had it a few times, but it was a while ago and didn’t take notes. See what happens when I don’t take notes? I’m sure there are still a few bottles of it floating around Washington somewhere, though.

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by brewerytreks on August 16, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in california

Tagged brewpub, california, santa rosa

Posted by brewerytreks on August 16, 2014

https://brewerytreks.com/2014/08/16/russian-river/

Sierra Nevada

Way back in 2004 I was on a road trip in California and made a point of spending a night in Chico so I could visit Sierra Nevada Brewing. I did the tour, bought a glass, then had dinner at their restaurant, where I ordered their taster tray. I didn’t realize just how many beers they had on tap until the tray showed up with 18 little sampler glasses. It was a bit of a surprise, and I stayed there quite a while in order to make my way through them all. This was well before I started scribbling down my tasting notes, unfortunately, and for some reason I didn’t take any photos of the brewery even though it was an impressive place. (I visited several other breweries on that road trip, as well, but didn’t take a single picture of any of them, or take notes. Ah, the naivete of youth.) So, with no picture and no notes, I just assumed I’d never do a Sierra Nevada post, until I heard in 2013 that they were building a taproom in Berkeley. That would totally satisfy my strict BreweryTreks criteria, and so I started doing the note-taking thing on their beers in anticipation of the inevitable visit, and also dug up all my old fresh hop fever tasting notes which included several Sierra Nevada fresh/wet hop beers. The Torpedo Room opened a couple weeks before I flew down to the Bay Area, conveniently enough, and I made Marcus take me there after the first two stops in San Francisco. It’s a pretty cool spot, and I’ll happily re-visit the next time I’m in the East Bay. And hopefully a more leisurely visit, because I was meeting a couple other friends somewhere else later that evening, and so my notes were pretty rushed. Oh well. My blogging procrastination then delayed me from working through my brewery backlog until Sierra Nevada released the impressively put together Beer Camp Across America (BCAA), and that’s added another 12 beers to the mix. So now you get this huge post. Enjoy!

Sierra Nevada taster tray at the Torpedo Room — Berkeley, CA

Electric Ray India Pale Lager – 8.5% – BCAA collaboration with Ballast Point Brewing. Citrus and floral with crisp alcohol aroma and flavor. Smooth but with some hop and alcohol sharpness, and good biscuity, caramel malt balance. Some bitterness on the finish that blends back in well.
Torpedo Pilsner – 5.2% – BCAA collaboration with Firestone Walker Brewing. Bit of a lemony aroma. Light and crisp, with fairly strong citrus and floral hop flavors, to a bready and somewhat bitter finish.
Yvan the Great – 6.3% – BCAA collaboration with Russian River Brewing. Belgian-style Blonde. Light clove aroma. Great start with fun spiciness on the tongue and clove/banana flavors, to light breadiness, and great lingering flavors. Wonderful mix.
Myron’s Walk – 5.3% – BCAA collaboration with Allagash Brewing. Belgian-style pale ale brewed with coriander. Fruity clove aroma. Nice mix of flavors: coriander, clove, citrus, with light underlying breadiness. Lingering flavors, especially the coriander, and some bitterness on the finish.
Alt Route – 6.6% – BCAA collaboration with Victory Brewing. Sweet malt and touch of citrus in the aroma. Very malt-forward, sweet with a bit of nuttiness. Underlying citrus hop edge that becomes more prominent on the finish.
Chico King Pale Ale – 6.5% – BCAA collaboration with 3 Floyds Brewing. Malt-forward, with caramel and a good mix of other malts. Citrus hop edge. Pretty nice balance.
Tater Ridge – 7% – BCAA collaboration with Asheville Brewers Alliance. Scottish Ale brewed with sweet potatoes. Big malts. Caramel, brown sugar, toast. Little bit of a zing at the end. Whatever sweet potato is in there just blends in with the malts. Easy drinking.
Yonder Bock – 7.7% – BCAA collaboration with Cigar City Brewing. Tropical Maibock. Smooth, easy drinking. Mostly caramel malt start to light tropical fruit hop flavor finish. Very slight alcohol edge.
CANfusion – 7.2% – BCAA collaboration with Oskar Blues Brewery. Rye bock. Malty, floral aroma. Malty start with light floral and citrus hops to light rye spice and decent lingering flavors.
Maillard’s Odyssey – 8.5% – BCAA collaboration with Bell’s Brewery. Imperial Dark Ale. Big roasty, chocolate, coffee aroma and flavor. Rich, lightly creamy, but not too thick. Long lingering flavors. Really good.
Double Latte – 7.6% – BCAA collaboration with Ninkasi Brewing. Coffee milk stout. Coffee, roasty aroma. Good strong coffee flavor (it’s made with cold-press Stumptown coffee), some roastiness and chocolate, and a sweet milky edge. Flavors linger on and on.
Kellerweiss – 4.8% – Bready, mellow light clove flavor, fairly crisp and smooth. Very drinkable.
French Style Saison – 8% – Little bit of funk aroma and flavor. Some sweetness. Pretty nice.
Christmas Jam Session Ale 2013 – 4.2% – Biscuity maltiness with herbal and spicy hops. Not watery like some other session ales.
Weizenbock – 7% – Light banana/clove aroma and flavors. Light caramel maltiness. Smooth.
Beer Camp Imperial Red Ale – 8.5% – Solid biscuit and caramel maltiness, with an alcohol edge and good amount of herbal hops to balance it out.
Barrel-Aged Torpedo Extra IPA – 10.3% – Floral, oaky aroma. Oaky, spicy, and floral flavors. Smooth.
Celebration Ale 2013 – 6.8% – Floral aroma and flavor with a good malt base.
Knightro – 4.6% – Very smooth. Light chocolate malt. Easy drinking.
Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale 2014 – Mainly herbal with light floral hop flavors. Solid caramel and biscuit malt base. Good lingering flavors.
Ovila Abbey Quad with Plums – 10.4% – The 2014 vintage — I didn’t take notes on the previous year’s to compare, unfortunately. Sweet, with raisin and dark fruit flavors (the plum, I guess…), and a subtle hint of alcohol. Would go great paired with a dessert.
Ruthless Rye – 6.6% – Fairly solid floral and herbal hop flavors, rye spice, and biscuit malt mix. Little bit of lingering bitterness. Not exceptional but solid.
DevESTATEtion – 6.7% – 2013 Fresh Hop Black IPA. Light floral aroma. Big roasty chocolate malt start that slowly transitions to a good hop edge on the finish. Great lingering flavors.
Ovila Abbey Saison with Mandarin Oranges and Peppercorns – 7.5% – Funk aroma with hint of pepper. Fairly sweet but well-balanced by the saison funk. Subtle mandarin. Subtle pepper on finish that blends well with the coriander.
Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale 2012 – 6.7% – Citrus and piney aroma. Fairly strong citrus and light piney hoppiness tempered with a healthy dose of roasty caramel maltiness. Some bitterness on the finish. Very drinkable.
Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale 2012 – 6.7% – Made with mostly New Zealand Nelson Sauvin hops. Fairly heavy mix of malt and floral and citrus hop flavors. Definitely fits the “harvest” label — like autumn in a glass.

There and Back – 5.6% – BCAA collaboration with New Glarus Brewing. English-Style Bitter. Fruity aroma. Smooth, with caramel malt, light nuttiness, and a bit of bubblegum sweetness. Fruity finish.
Old Chico Crystal Wheat – 4.8% – Light and crisp. Bready. Pretty refreshing. Would be good after a bike ride.
Steady As She Gose – Light funk and light, almost bubblegum-like sweetness. Touch of floral. Light saltiness on the finish. Pretty good but I’d prefer a little more tartness.
Narwhal Imperial Stout 2013 – 10.2% – Dark chocolate and phenolic band-aid aroma. Big chocolate, some coffee, molasses, alcohol, and band-aid flavors. Not too thick. Would be great if not for the band-aid aspect.
Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale 2013 – 6.7% – Good balance of floral and spicy hops with fairly big caramel biscuit malt. Lingering bitterness but at least it blends back in well.
Estate Homegrown Fresh Hop 2012 – 6.7% – Floral and citrus aroma. Good strong floral and citrus hop flavors with some malty balance. Somewhat bitter, with a tiny touch of sweetness on the finish. Pretty good, but I liked their 2012 Hemispheres more.

Whew! Now all I need to do is set aside some time to do a tasting of all their usual year-round offerings. Maybe on my next visit to the Torpedo Room. Speaking of which, here’s a picture of its snazzy entrance.

Welcome to Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo Room — Berkeley, CA

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by brewerytreks on August 13, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in california

Tagged berkeley, california, chico

Posted by brewerytreks on August 13, 2014

https://brewerytreks.com/2014/08/13/sierra-nevada/

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers

For the second stop on the Bay Area brewery weekend, Marcus took us on the scenic route from the Mission District to Hunters Point via Bernal Heights, zig zagging around hilly streets I’d never been on before and would probably never see again. With some assistance from Google Maps, we eventually made it to Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, where we left behind the sunny December afternoon for the dark, cozy Speakeasy Tap Room. It was fairly crowded, but a couple spots opened up at the bar. We snagged those seats, and I soon had a line of tasters in front of me. The note-taking this time was a bit less awkward — the folks sitting next to Marcus took an interest, and soon they were all joking about my beer geekiness. I got my scribbling done, so I’ll consider it a win.

Gangster-style tasters at Speakeasy Ales & Lagers — San Francisco, CA

Untouchable IPA – 6.2% – Big tropical fruit and light floral hop flavors with plenty of caramel malt.
SF Lager Batch #4 – 5.2% – Light floral hops, crisp, with honey sweetness and a bitter finish.
Scarlett Red Rye – 5.5% – Pretty smooth. Some caramel and biscuit malt and light floral hops. Rye is pretty subtle.
Double Daddy – 8.5% – Imperial IPA. Floral hops and big caramel maltiness, but still pretty crisp.
Payback Porter – 7.5% – Coffee and subtle alcohol flavors. Fairly light on the tongue, and a touch a dryness. Very drinkable.
Scarface Imperial Stout – 9.5% – Big alcohol/bourbon flavor that eventually mellows to some chocolate. Not too thick, and fairly dry.
Butchertown India Black Ale – 8% – Citrus, piney, and light roasty aroma. Citrus and piney hop flavors at the start, then moves to roasty caramel maltiness for the finish, with a touch of bitterness. Light on the tongue.
Big Daddy IPA Wet Hopped – 6.5% – Big citrus aroma and flavor. Grapefruit and orange peel hop flavors with light maltiness and a fairly bitter finish. Bit of airy, frothy mouthfeel. Subtle hint of grassiness.
Blind Tiger – 9.8% – Imperial IPA. Citrus and piney aroma and flavor. Sharp, fairly boozy malty backbone. Good flavor mix on finish with complementary bitterness.

The Witness Belgian Wheat – 5.2% – Light banana/clove flavors, fairly bready, with a hint of lemon. Some bitterness on the finish.
Prohibition Ale – 6.1% – Very floral start to mellow caramel malt finish. Pretty cool but too floral for me.
Big Daddy IPA – 6.5% – Some floral and spicy hop flavors. Light caramel maltiness.
Betrayal IRA – 7.5% – Floral biscuity start to strong caramel finish. Very smooth. Like floral candy.

Got a few extra tasting notes here because, a couple months before my trip, Speakeasy had an event at one of my favorite Seattle bars, The Pine Box. I was pretty sure I’d be visiting the brewery, so I surreptitiously tapped notes into my phone while chatting briefly with the head brewer, Kushal. Seemed like a nice guy.

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by brewerytreks on August 12, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in california

Tagged california, san francisco

Posted by brewerytreks on August 12, 2014

https://brewerytreks.com/2014/08/12/speakeasy-ales-lagers/

Southern Pacific

It had been too long since my last trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, and so when an airfare sale came up I decided to rectify that situation. It would be four days of seeing cousins, hanging out with old friends, and visiting as many breweries as feasible. If I’d been ambitious I might’ve hit twelve or more, but I felt that a more relaxed trip was in order and so instead only went to nine. Yeah, I know, I’m getting soft in my old age. And at more than half of the breweries I was with friends who were not used to my obsessive tasting and scribbling, so those notes are more rushed than usual. Leave it to me to make drinking beer with friends awkward and annoying. Sigh. Anyway, Marcus picked me up Saturday from SFO, and we immediately went to Southern Pacific Brewing in the Mission for lunch and the first taster tray of the weekend. It looked like a cool spot from their web site, and indeed the huge old warehouse was pretty slick. Good crowd for a Saturday afternoon, too. We had to go upstairs to find empty tables.

All aboard the Southern Pacific Brewing taster tray! — San Francisco, CA

Pale Ale – Light floral hops and light biscuity malt. Light on the tongue but pretty nice.
Extra IPA – Herbal and spicy hops. Some biscuit and caramel malt. Bit of lingering bitterness.
Amber – Caramel malt. Herbal and floral hops and some lingering bitterness. Not bad for an amber.
American Strong – Smooth. Caramel malt, lightly boozy, bit of bitterness. Good balance.

Helles Lager – Slightly watery. Hint of lemon to breadiness.
Hefeweizen – Lemony and slightly bready.
California Blonde – Light and lemony. Light biscuit malt. Bit of herbal hops and light bitterness.
IPA – Herbal hops with a touch of floral. Light malts and some bitterness.
Porter – Kind of watery but nice chocolate/coffee flavors, with dark chocolate bitterness. A little too light for me, though.

So, yeah. Most of the beers here were pretty light. If I lived in SF, I could see myself coming here occasionally with a big group of friends more interested in socializing than in analyzing the beer they’re drinking. On a short, beer-focused trip, though, Southern Pacific may not be the best choice. Oh well. At least I was able to catch up with Marcus, after I finished my accelerated note-taking.

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by brewerytreks on July 25, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in california

Tagged california, san francisco

Posted by brewerytreks on July 25, 2014

https://brewerytreks.com/2014/07/25/southern-pacific/

San Francisco Brewing Company

I was flipping through an old Moleskine notebook of mine and came across what looks like my first set of microbrewery tasting notes, from December 30, 2005. Apparently I was in San Francisco at that time and had several free hours to spend in the San Francisco Brewing Company, which closed its doors in November 2009. The notes themselves are about as basic as you can get, but they make me smile, and so writing this post seems like a decent way to say goodbye to the SFBC, even though I didn’t particularly like most of their beers. Ah well.

Logo pint glass from the now-closed San Francisco Brewing Company

Albatross Lager – good
Emperor Norton Lager – good
St Stephens Bock – Yum! Like a brown ale.

Andromeda Wheat – meh, weak
SF Pale Ale – meh, borderline okay
ShanghaIPA – okay, but not so bitter or crisp
Xmas Cheer – pretty good, but nothing creative
Alcatraz Stout – kind of flat-tasting

There are other interesting things in my scribblings in the SF Brewing Co. A snippet of conversation from a nearby table: “I would rather my sister were a stripper than a telemarketer.” I apparently took the picture of two couples at another table (with their camera at their request…), and they were having a “young, meta conversation,” whatever that means. “A strike against the S.F.B.C.: They’re playing Sting.” And as far as the weather went, it was pouring down rain that afternoon.

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by brewerytreks on June 16, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in california

Tagged california, closed, san francisco

Posted by brewerytreks on June 16, 2011

https://brewerytreks.com/2011/06/16/san-francisco-brewing-company/

21st Amendment

I ended up in the Bay Area recently, but only managed to get to one brewpub, 21st Amendment. Pretty cool spot, but the taster set was the most expensive one I’ve had: $14! Could’ve saved $2 if I had asked them to hold the taster of the guest cider on tap, but oh well. Had a “half” salad, as well, that turned out to be huge — a thick mound on a full-size plate. I don’t think I want to know how big the “full” size is. Anyway. They have an odd mix of beers. Can’t say I recommend their banana beer, and I didn’t try their IPA because it only comes in cans (as does their watermelon beer). Hmm.

Artfully arranged 21st Amendment samplers — San Francisco, CA

Back in Black – one of those dark IPAs. Not so crisp but dark and hoppy, which is nice. 7.2%
South Park Blonde – nice, drinkable, fairly light. 5.1%

Autumn Wheat – okay, slight sweet edge
Fat Bavarian – banana wheat. Banana/clove flavor too strong for me.
Bitter American – American extra pale ale – bitter in a bad way. Basically a bad IPA, although it did start to grow on me by the end. Hmm. Only 3.8%, sadly.
Holiday Spice (seasonal) – winter pumpkin ale – ugh. At least it was strong. 7%

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by brewerytreks on December 4, 2008 • Permalink

Posted in california

Tagged california, san francisco

Posted by brewerytreks on December 4, 2008

https://brewerytreks.com/2008/12/04/21st-amendment/