In another sign that the beer scene on the Monterey Peninsula is moving in the right direction, Peter B’s Brewpub tapped their very first firkin on Wednesday night.
Dark Side Ale
Brewer Kevin Clark did the honors of tapping the firkin and I had the honor of getting the first (and last) pint. The beer was the wonderfully aggressive, espresso-bomb Dark Side Ale. In the firkin, Dark Side morphed into a tasty mellow brew with strong notes of mocha and coffee. A huge hit amongst the many gathered at Peter B’s, the firkin was dry in less than three hours.
I look forward to the next firkin, a dry-hopped IPA.
For whatever reason, the section of California’s Central Coast that Merideth and I call home has always been immune to the beer revolution happening all over the country. Of course this has been a great disappointment to us. Luckily, the craft beer revolution appears to have finally come to our little beer backwater. While the Monterey Peninsula won’t be in the running for “America’s Best Beer City” anytime soon, the progress in our beer scene over the last year has been very encouraging. Wanting to highlight this positive development, Merideth and I planned a Monterey Peninsula Urban Beer Hike.
A foggy Sunday morning in Monterey
On a foggy Sunday morning, Merideth and I got off the bus in downtown Monterey and headed to the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail. Stretching 18 miles from Pacific Grove to Castroville, one of the nice features of our Urban Beer Hike route was that 75%-80% of it would be done on this paved recreation path. Joining the throng of Labor Day weekend tourists, we headed towards Cannery Row and our first destination.
The aptly named Trailside Cafe
We rendezvoused with our fellow hikers, Dave, Kevin and Corrie at Trailside Cafe, conveniently located off the recreation trail. Owned by our friend Sean, Trailside is mostly known as a breakfast/brunch/lunch establishment. However, Sean caught the craft beer bug several years ago and his restaurant features a small but nice selection of domestic and international craft beer.
Brunch at Trailside Cafe
With over five miles to cover and five stops planned, a proper brunch was a key to our Urban Beer Hike. Merideth went for scrambled eggs with bacon paired with Paulaner’s Hefeweizen, a traditional German breakfast beer. I started with “Seanie’s Delight,” an egg, cheese and bacon breakfast sandwich. Knowing it was going to be a long day, I began my Urban Beer Hike with a lower ABV brew, Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewing. As we enjoyed our delicious food, our group chatted about our upcoming adventure.
Cannery Row Brewing Company
The second stop of the day was located only a hundred or so yards up the recreation trail. Cannery Row Brewing Company, which celebrated it’s first anniversary a few months back, was unexpectedly quiet when we arrived around noon. I guess the hordes of tourists weren’t quite ready for a beer. We, on the other hand, were very ready for beer!
CRBC was just a quick beer stop in our day’s schedule. Our quintet ordered a variety of beers from their selection of 70 plus brews on tap. Since it was a rarity in our area, I went with the Rodenbach Grand Cru. Merideth drank North Coast’s Le Merle, with a New Belgium 1554, Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere and El Toro’s Poppy Jasper rounding our group’s beers.
Peter B's Brewpub at the Portola Plaza Hotel
The sun finally made an appearance as we set out on our first long leg of the Urban Beer Hike. It was a little over a mile to Peter B’s Brewpub. I have talked a lot about Peter B’s in recent months. While there are a number of positive things going on in our beer community, in my estimation, the rebirth of Peter B’s was the most important development of all.
A day-old Belgian-style Witbier
Squeezing our five-some into the only available outside table, we settled into trying some of the latest creations from Kevin, Peter B’s brewer. A bevy of the house brews, including the Blonde, Amber and IPA were eagerly consumed after the mile-long walk. Then several of us indulged in Kevin’s newest seasonal: Dark Side. A 5.5% ABV jet black ale, Dark Side was bold and assertive, the closest thing to a shot a espresso I have ever had in a beer.
Having Peter B’s brewer on our beer hike had it’s advantages. Kevin disappeared for a short time and reappeared with a beaker of his Belgian-style Witbier that he had brewed the previous day. It still had the malt-sweet taste of wort, but there were definitely hints that this brew is going to be a winner.
Three miles deserves a beer
It was very relaxing on Peter B’s patio, as we enjoyed Kevin’s beer and hospitality, chatted and listened to the Greek music from a nearby festival. But as with all beer hikes, there is a time to move on and we needed to move on. Upcoming was the biggest leg of the day, almost three miles to Post No Bills.
Heading north along the recreation trail, we passed the beach crowds lounging in the sun. The last few hundred yards of this leg, we finally departed the pedestrian path for the city streets. In just under an hour, we were sitting at Post No Bills’ stainless steel bar.
Merideth enjoying the Almanac at Post No Bills
Some thirst quenching brews were ordered first. Several of us started with the Weihenstephan Hefeweizen with Drake’s 1500 Pale Ale being another popular choice.
With our thirst quenched it was time to drink something REALLY special. I grabbed the last bottle of Almanac Summer 2010 that Post No Bills had in stock. What an amazing brew to finish up the fourth stop!
The last planned stop of the day was the wonderful German restaurant, Stammtisch, in Seaside. Our group was really looking forward to some good German food and beer to end the day. In fact, we had talked about it all day long.
Beer can soothe any disappointment...
I called Stammtisch the previous day to confirm their opening time. Finishing the call with “See you tomorrow evening,” I never thought we would need reservations. We have never had to make reservations at Stammtisch. Unfortunately, we needed them on this night. We could have had a table if we came back two hours later, but that wasn’t very convenient. Even the collective look of disappointment on each Urban Beer Hiker’s face wasn’t enough to get us squeezed in.
After picking up some food at a nearby noodle house, we returned to Post No Bills to finish out the night. With the added mileage of going to Stammtisch and back to Post No Bills, we covered close to seven miles. We had a good day with our friends and enjoyed some wonderful beer. Thanks to Sean at Trailside and Kevin at Peter B’s for their hospitality.
View all the images from our Monterey Peninsula Urban Beer Hike…
We planted Cascade hops in our yard the first Spring we lived here in 2003. But fickle winter rainfall and summer lack of attention on our part lead to less than impressive results.
Heavy spring rains in 2010 reminded us that we had hop plants in our yard. Impressive vine growth and budding through the early summer, however, was tempered by a 100 degree plus heat wave in later summer that turned our happy little hop cones an unappealing brown color.
More impressive Spring rains in 2011 had one of our vines reaching for the sky by late May. Vowing to be better parents, we were attentive to this one hop plant, watering it regularly and looking after it’s welfare. By early August, the cones, though small, were very fragrant. Not wanting to risk another cone destroying heat wave, Merideth and I decided it was time to harvest. A friend and home brewer, Steve, came over to help with the harvest and take the crop home. Our efforts were rewarded with a nice little lupulin bounty and we’re confident Steve will make a nice brew from them.
Next year, we hope to have the whole front wall covered in hops.
Not even the gray skies could dampen the revelry of the crowd at today’s 10th annual Monterey Beer Festival.
Merideth with Mike Pitsker of the Celebrator Beer News
As our local fest, the MBF gives us an opportunity to see Bay Area beer friends on our own turf. From the vantage point of our beer craft merchandise table, we watched as Matt Sallie with Big Sky Brewing kept busy with a steady stream of thirsty festival goers. Mike Pitsker from the Celebrator Beer News and his wife Lisa were all smiles as they stopped by to chat.
To our left we had two breweries make their inaugural visit to the fest. Highwater Brewing poured the very popular Hop Riot, helping to introduce the Monterey Peninsula to one of the hottest new breweries around.
Though he didn’t bring Hops on Rye, it was good to see our friend Steve Donohue from Firehouse Grill & Brewery make the trip down to Monterey. His Hall and Oatmeal Stout was perfect for the overcast and blustery day. We were definitely in good company and it was nice to see familiar faces serving great beer.
But of course there is more to MBF than just seeing our friends and this year we were treated to two special brews. First was Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp #8 beer: California Common on draft. By now you guys are well aware that we took part in creating it, so I won’t bore you with more gushing about how great of a beer it is, but…surprise!
Peter B's brewer Kevin Clark pours the collaboration Single Hop IPA
We also had a hand in creating the day’s second highlight beer: Peter B’s Columbus Single Hop IPA served through a hop rocket filled with Summit hops. Brewer Kevin Clark worked his magic to turn our collaborative idea into an amazing brew that even this avowed non-hophead could enjoy. Bits of fresh hops floated in the head atop my glass of this flavorful 5% ABV, 80 IBU session IPA. Big props go out to Kevin for all his hard work!
We made an easy day of it, as a red eye flight to the east coast now awaits us. Even so, it was a fun day meeting new people, catching up with old friends, and drinking great beer.
View all the images from the 2011 Monterey Beer Festival
Disclaimer: Merideth and I helped with the opening of Post No Bills.
Ever since the demise of Ol’ Factory Cafe, local beer geeks have waited for a replacement beer haven. What drew many people to OFC was not only the best beer selection on the Monterey Peninsula but the relaxed, casual atmosphere in which to enjoy these brews. A little over eighteen months later, Post No Bills opened this week down the street from the old OFC location. Situated on the ground floor of the Design Center Monterey Peninsula, Post No Bills made a positive showing Monday night toward filling that missing niche.
Post No Bills on opening afternoon
Post No Bills is a taphouse/bottle shop along the City Beer Store model. Customers can choose from a draft selection of 14 beers or an extensive array of bottled/canned brews in the coolers. The packaged selections can be consumed on premise or taken home.
The theme of Post No Bills is graffiti art and two colorful works dominate the room. The stainless steel covered bar centers the cozy space with most of the seating at high tables made from reclaimed redwood. For more relaxation, a couple of couches and a lounge chair rest in the corner. The Beer coolers fill the wall by the entrance.
First time behind the bar in 17 years for Merideth. photo by Richard Herbert
Both Merideth and I were behind the bar opening night. The trickle of people at 3pm turned into a deluge of customers within a few hours. It was quite chaotic as Merideth and I, along with manager Paul kept the beer flowing. Neither a wonky dishwasher nor learning how to use the cash register (thanks Marcus) could stop us. Nothing like learning on the fly under pressure. Big thanks to all the customers who displayed the utmost patience.
A few of the opening night selections
First night customers were treated to wonderful brews on draft, including Magnolia Kalifornia Kölsch, Ninkasi Spring Reign, Uncommon Brewers Golden State, Lagunitas Wilco Tang Foxtrot, Firestone Double Jack and Drakes 1500. The big crowd pleaser (and my personal favorite) was Highwater Hop Riot IPA, making it’s Monterey Peninsula debut.
Perhaps due to the limited bottle selection at opening, it took people time to embrace browsing the coolers. Half way through the evening, though, an increasing number of customers came up to the bar with bottles in hand to drink right away. Over the coming weeks, as the coolers get filled with more beery treats, I’m sure that customers will spend more time perusing the non-draft selection.
Obviously, Post No Bills is a work in progress, but the positive feedback from the crazy opening night is encouraging for good things in the future.
