Ramblings of Beer Travelers
“500!” is the latest episode of One Pint at a Time.
Our trip to Maine in October was the last of three successive quickie beer trips. Focusing on Portland, Maine’s largest city and brewing center, our goal was try a bunch of local beer, eat a lot of lobster and to reach the 500 brewery milestone. In our two day trip, we visited Maine’s craft beer pioneers as well as some of the newcomers.
So enjoy our first adventure in Maine…
For all the episodes of One Pint at a Time go to beergeekTV.
The year is over and it’s time to look back and reflect on 2009. Over the course of year, we made two trips to Europe and one to Australia. Closer to home, we participated in the first SF Beer Week, hosted Monterey Beer Festival and attended the eighth Sierra Nevada Beer Camp. We also managed to squeeze in our first trips to New York City and Maine. Adding 74 breweries to “the List” in 2009, the highlight of our beer year was both of us reaching 500 on our trip to Maine in October.
In compiling my ‘best of the year list’, I’m taking a little different tack for 2009. Following is a list of my ten favorite beer places of the year that were new for us.
Auburn Ale House – Auburn, CA: We visited Auburn Ale House on my birthday trip to Sacramento. Quoting myself from the blog about the trip… “I will admit that it takes a lot for a brewpub to ‘WOW’ us these days but Auburn Alehouse managed to do just that.” Great food (order the Asian Nachos with Ahi Tuna), great beer and good friends made Auburn Ale House one of the memorable breweries of 2009.
Avery Brewing – Boulder, CO: Avery had been on my list of ‘must visit’ breweries for some time. We finally got there on our trip to Colorado in February for Beerdrinker of the Year contest. Beer travel is about drinking beers at the source and to finally have beers like Maharaja and Salvation at the brewery was a wonderful experience. We also got to meet Adam Avery.
The Palace – Dublin, Ireland: Proof that craft beer is on the rise in Ireland, mainstream pubs are featuring the likes of Galway Hooker and Carlow Brewing. The Palace Bar, a cozy boozer in Temple Bar, is one such pub. Long noted as the bar for writers and journalists, the Palace is also a pub where I get to enjoy a pint of Galway Hooker in Dublin.
Cwellyn Arms – Rhys Ddu, Wales: It is always nice to find a beer place by chance. After a day of driving around Snowdonia National Park, we took the long route back to our B&B. Driving through a small village, Merideth spotted a sign that said “9 Real Ales 9 Days a Week.” We had to stop. Turns out Cwellyn Arms is a CAMRA award winning pub, catering to hikers, bikers and others enjoying the natural beauty of that part of Wales. A great place to spend the afternoon…
Königlicher Hirschgarten – Munich, Germany: The plan for our day in Munich was to visit three or four beer gardens that we hadn’t been to yet. We made it to just one, the Hirschgarten, the former royal hunting lodge just outside the city center. Our visit coincided with a Trachtentag, a day when locals showed up in traditional dress. We spent the afternoon in Munich’s largest beer garden people watching, playing scrabble and drinking liters of Augustiner.
Brauerei Schumacher – Düsseldorf, Germany: This is an acknowledgment of what a wonderful time we spent in Düsseldorf and the four Alt breweries we visited. My favorite of the four was Brauerei Schumacher, located a short ten minute walk from the Altstadt. Loved the food, the beer garden and their Altbier had a nice hop bite.
Brooklyn Brewery – Brooklyn, NY: Never a huge fan of Brooklyn’s beers, I became a huge fan of their Friday night brewery party during our August visit. Friends gather around large tables, drink Brooklyn beer, play games, and chat. Delivery pizza can be ordered from a number of nearby pizzerias. Despite saying that I am not a fan, I really enjoyed Local 1, Local 2, and Blast, their Double IPA.
Novare Res Bier Café – Portland, ME: Over the past few years, we have had the opportunity to visit some of best beer bars in the United States. I would now include Novare Res in that grouping. Besides the comprehensive, Ringwood-free beer list, Novare Res has a friendly and knowledgeable staff in a setting that made me feel like I was in Belgium. I can’t wait to visit during the summer to take advantage of their beer garden.
Bridge Road Brewers – Beechworth, Australia: It was a three brewery race between Sweetwater Brewing, Bright Brewery and Bridge Road Brewers for my favorite on the High Country Brewery Trail. I loved all three but if I had to pick just one for this list it would be Bridge Road. Loved the beer… loved the setting… I just wish they were open more during our stay in Beechworth.
Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel – Sydney, Australia: We love brewery/hotels and the Lordie had everything we look for in man’s greatest invention. Good beer, very nice accommodations in a historic setting made for a wonderful experience. And I can’t forget to mention the working WiFi, a rarity in our time Down Under. The Lord Nelson was an excellent home base for our past few days in Australia.
Now it is time to look forward to 2010 and what great beer experiences the coming year has to offer… stay tuned.
The eve of Christmas Eve was the last serious day of beer travel on our Australian trip. We had three breweries to visit and then we were done. Almost as important, we had been putting off Christmas shopping (“Let’s just do it in Sydney…”) so we still had a number of Christmas presents to purchase. We hadn’t seen much of Sydney besides Circular Quay plus what we saw outside the taxi window. Thus, we decided a walking tour was in order.
The starting point of our day-long walk was our hotel, the Lord Nelson. Unfortunately, we left before the pub opened so we couldn’t fortify ourselves with a few pints of liquid bread. Crossing over to George St., we headed up towards the city center. Merideth popped in and out of a few stores while I dreamt about that first beer of the day. At Market St., we took a left and headed towards Hyde Park.
For those who started the walking tour with a few refreshments at the Lordie and now need to pee, there are plenty of pay toilets in Hyde Park. The cost is 50 cents.
To prove we are not complete beer heathens, I did plan our route to the first brewery so we could visit a couple of normal tourist spots. First stop was Hyde Park Barracks on the northern end of Hyde Park. The building was designed by Francis Greenway, the same gentleman who designed the complex that houses the Goulburn Brewery we visited on our second day of the trip [see “CanBEERa“]. Today, this 1819 building houses an excellent museum documenting the convict/transportation era of Australia’s history.
Walking to the southern end of Hyde Park brought us to the ANZAC Memorial. Built in 1934, the memorial is dedicated to the 120,000 men and women who served in the Australian New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in the First World War. War memorials and cemeteries are one of the my favorite things to visit when traveling. With a degree in History, I find such monuments not only interesting but also powerful and moving. And I have to say, the ANZAC memorial was all three.
Strolling out the end of Hyde Park, the educational portion of the walk was over. And only blocks away was our first brewery of the day.
Located in the Macquarie Hotel, we only learned about the Schwartz Brewery from the beermen.tv guys the night before. Somewhat an embarrassing revelation for the master planner (There is a brewery in Sydney I don’t know about?), I guess Schwartz Brewery likes to fly under the radar.
There were five beers to try at Macquarie Hotel including a never heard of before Bavarian Red Lager. It was an interesting beer. But my highlight at Schwartz was the Pale Ale, made with cascade hops. Maybe I was entering the ‘ready to go home’ phase of the trip, but what reminds a California beer geek of home more than cascade hops?
Walking back towards George St., we were at Red Oak Boutique Beer Cafe, our second brewery of the day, in 20 minutes. As always, Merideth found us a seat outside, while I went inside to get our sample tray. But, there was a hitch in the plan, the brewer at Red Oak doesn’t believe in sample trays. Hmmmm… interesting… For beer travelers, this was somewhat unwelcome news as Red Oak had almost a dozen beers on draft. Perplexed, I ordered a Hefeweizen for myself and a Honey Ale for Merideth.
In place of a sample tray, Red Oak did have food and beer Tasting Boards. Costing 20 AUD, there were five to choose from: cheese, meat, vegetarian, seafood and dessert. Each board had a nibble of food paired with a beer. Merideth first ordered the cheese and followed it with the dessert. The dessert board was delicious. A nice concept but with one slight flaw; there were overlapping beers on the boards that Merideth ordered.
Red Oak was another brewery with a holiday beer. Christmas Cheer, available in 250ml bottles, had a light body perfect for summer combined with a nice amount of holiday spice. Well done.
A short walk from Red Oak had us at the bustling King Street Wharf. James Squire Brewhouse is a chain of brewpubs with locations in Sydney and Melbourne. I had received conflicting information whether they actually brewed at each location or the beer came from their production brewery.
As everyone knows by heart now, for it to count on “the List” the beer must be brewed on-site. So, it was with a great sense of relief that when we walked into the pub, we not only saw a brewer at work but also a list of the beers that were brewed there.
Ordering two of the on-site brews, Sundown Lager for Merideth and The Craic for myself, we joined the post work crowd on the patio who were just starting to get their holiday groove on. The Craic, an Irish Stout, was a really nice version of the style. Dry and roasty, the best part was the Craic wasn’t served on nitrogen.
We returned to a very crowded Lord Nelson pub. As Christmas Eve is a time to spend with family, it looked like Christmas Eve2 was the evening everyone was going to gather with friends at their favorite pub and celebrate. The Lordie appeared to be the pub of choice for many Sydney-ites. We joined the festive crowd.
It was time to rest on our laurels, relax over a few pints, and play some scrabble. We didn’t get much shopping done on Christmas Eve Eve, but we did visit three new breweries and see some cool Australian history. On Christmas Eve, we finished up our shopping and drank at the Lordie. We deserved a break after all the miles we drove and breweries we visited on our first ever trip to Australia. Christmas Day we jumped on a plane and arrived home in time to spend our second Christmas Day with the family.
Happy holidays to you and yours!
Our fifth day’s drive on the Princes Highway brought us back to Sydney for the final portion of our Australian adventure. We enjoyed our time along the coast but, as they say, all good things must come to an end. We also needed to get back to Sydney to record the holiday episode of beermen.tv.
After a four day drought, we had a brewery to visit in the city of Wollongong, about an hour and a half south of Sydney. Wollongong is the third largest city in New South Wales. After four days of driving on the almost deserted Princes Highway, the busy streets of Wollongong were a bit nerve wracking. After one or two wrong turns, we found Five Islands Brewing Company down by the ocean.
Another gorgeous day in Australia, Merideth found a seat outside while I ordered a sample tray of beers. Of the six brews, we had a first for the trip: a fruit beer. Not my style, I have to admit South Peach was subtly flavored, something not all brewers manage.
The Parkyn’s Shark Oil was a nice effort at an American-style IPA but the star for me was Bulli Black. FIBC describes it as a Dark Ale, but the roasty and chocolate flavors reminded me of a Stout. A favorite dark beer of the trip…
No time to savor the beers or walk the beach, we were quickly back on the road continuing our journey to Sydney.
While no relation to it’s namesake, I proudly share my surname with the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel in Sydney. Conveniently located in the Rocks, the Lordie is one of mankind’s great inventions, the brewery-hotel. It would be our home for the final three nights of out trip. After embarrassingly dragging our three big bags through the crowded pub in search of the reception desk, we returned after checking in to grab a couple pints to bring up to our room.
After checking email and getting settled, we still had a couple of hours before we had to head down to Circular Quay for our beermen.tv gig. Finishing our first pints, we headed downstairs to the pub, grabbed another pint and a seat outside.
The Lordie was very British, being the first place since Wig and Pen in Canberra to serve their beer in imperial pints. Unlike Wig and Pen, Lord Nelson had no cask versions. Their beers were served on draught from the frost encrusted tap housing typical of Australia. Despite no cask, I think I liked Lord Nelson’s brews better than Wig and Pen. Maybe it was the name.
The names of the beers all referred to Lord Nelson or a nautical theme. The exception was Quayle Ale, their Summer Ale, named after former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle. Before we headed down the Circular Quay, we managed to try three of the six brews: the aforementioned Quayle Ale, Trafalgar Pale Ale, an English Bitter, and Victory Bitter, an Extra Special Bitter. All were nice beers especially for the hot and humid summer weather.
We recorded the beermen.tv episode at the Ice Bar Sydney, a short walk from the Lord Nelson. It was somewhat strange to leave the 85 degree temperature outside and enter a world that was 23 degrees; especially while wearing shirts and a t-shirt. I’ll admit I wore a parka during the setup but only wore gloves during filming.
We were in an Ice Bar because the episode was about holiday beers. Since it was summer in Australia, holiday beers were few and far between. We happily provided three California examples: Anchor Christmas, Sierra Nevada Celebration and Alesmith Yulesmith. Watch the episode at beermen.tv.
After filming the episode, we walked up Circular Quay towards the Opera House to a Chinese restaurant where the beermen.tv guys (they do have names… Damien, Mark and Todd) treated us to dinner. Thanks guys!
The choice was fortuitous as the restaurant had Foster’s in the bottle. We didn’t expect to find Foster’s in Australia but I guess you need to go to a Chinese restaurant that caters to tourists. Still on my macrobrew research project, I dutifully ordered one. I’ll say of the macrobrews I tried, Foster’s was the best.
After dinner, it was back to the Lordie for a nightcap. What a day!
It was time to leave Melbourne for our trek up the Princes Highway back to Sydney. The Princes Highway winds its way along the coast and we were taking five days to traverse its length. While we had a brewery visit on Day 1 and Day 5 of this drive, there was nothing in between. Despite this being the hiking and nature portion of the trip, we were positive we would find more craft beer along the journey.
Exiting the the Princes Highway on our way to Mirboo North, we were treated to a bit of Australian ‘history’. Driving down a country road, we came across the sign that said “Site of World’s Tallest Tree 1km”. My skeptic alarm rang; there were a lot of trees around but nothing that looked like the ‘world’s tallest’. I made the left turn. Finding the site, there was no tree; only two markers and a not-so-tall metal poll with ‘the world’s tallest tree’ at the top. Turns out the tree was cut down in 1884. Once down, it was measured at 375 feet (114 meters). Clearly no “Dog on a Tucker Box”, we hopped back in our car and continued our journey to Mirboo North.
Mirboo North was the home of Grand Ridge Brewery. Once in town, Merideth spotted the big beer that marks its location. It was a bit past 11am, Grand Ridge’s opening time.
Walking in the open door, the only person I could see was the cleaning guy. Shutting off his vacuum when he spotted me, I inquired whether they were open. He said he didn’t know but he thought we could come in. Grabbing Merideth, who was waiting the car, we found some seats at the bar.
There must be a lot of burlwood in region (maybe the locals are still making stuff out of the world’s tallest tree). While we waited for a bartender, we checked out the burlwood bar stools and tables. The stools were really cool, though not very functional. My stool was not made for my butt size and on several occasions, I overshot the landing.
When a bartender appeared, we ordered a sample paddle. Grand Ridge’s paddle was a six beer set. All were well crafted, with the standouts being Gippsland Gold and Yarra Valley Gold. “Gippy” was a Australian Pale brewed with both Tasmanian and New Zealand hops. Yarra Valley gold was billed as a ‘bottle aged real ale’ though our sample was draft. Brewed with Cascade hops, Yarra Valley, like Gippy, had a nice balance of malt and hops.
Two beers we didn’t get to try were both Scotch Ales; Moonshine and it’s grandfather Supershine. Supershine, maybe Australia’s strongest beer at 11.5% ABV, has a two year waiting list we were told.
After lunch at Grand Ridge, we moved on, entering an Aussie craft beer void. For the next three days on the road, we kept our eyes peeled for a craft beer place. I never really expected to find a brewery but running across “Aussie Bob’s Craft Beer Bar” (and exclaiming “Crikey!”) was something I did anticipate at some point. It didn’t happen. We would later learn that Mogo Cellars, an off license in Mogo, NSW, has a good selection of Australian craft beer.
But the scenery of the coast was ample compensation. Spending our days hiking hills and walking beaches, and our evenings drinking our stash of Australian craft beer was the stuff dream vacations are made off. Of particular note were our hikes at Wilson’s Prom, Cape Conran and Genoa Peak and our beach walks at Pebbly Beach and Jervis Bay.
I also found some time to do some “research.” Wanting to know the complete world of the Australian beer drinker, I thought it was important to try some of the macrobrews. Earlier on the trip in Canberra, I drank Victoria Bitter (VB). At dinner on the second night in the void, I tried a bottle of XXXX Bitter and Toohey’s Old. And the night we lawn bowled (which is HUGE in Australia; each town has its own club), we each had a pot of Carlton Draught. In doing this, I learned to appreciate Australian craft beer that much more.
We survived our exile and on the fifth day we returned to a world with craft beer.
