Travel in North America – Page 3

July 8, 2013

Halifax Urban Beer Hike

Not all Urban Beer Hikes are created equal. Some include numerous breweries, making great contributions to The List. Others offer length, contributing much to our health. Our recent Halifax Urban Beer Hike added a little bit of everything, including six breweries to The List, a pinch of exercise, and a great way to see the city.

We started our UBH with a warm up from our hotel to Propeller Brewing. Well, it wasn’t so much a “warm up” as it was a very hot and humid 15-minute walk. I was so looking forward to an air-conditioned tasting room and a pint, but alas, that was not to be. Sweating away, we tried Propeller’s standard line up of beers (Pale Ale, Bitter, Porter, Honey Wheat, Pilsner, IPA) plus a special seasonal Double IPA. All of the beers were cleanly brewed and tasted great. In a rare moment of beer agreement, Chris and I both especially liked the Bitter. Having the classic malt backbone of the style and a bit of hop kick, the beer was refreshing. As the brewery likes to say, “Our most popular brew is not really a bitter beer, it’s a better Bitter!”

Propeller is a tasting room and bottle shop, no full pints for sale. So, if you aren’t lucky enough to attend one of their special catered events in the banquet room, plan on tasting and picking up your favorite bottles to go. Which is exactly what we did.

A short distance away (if you don’t get lost) on the touristy Waterfront Boardwalk, we found Hart & Thistle Gastropub & Brewery. We sat outside on the patio shaded by a brightly colored Budweiser Lime-a-Rita umbrella. The weather had yet to break, so while we were happy to be in the shade, we continued to sweat bullets. Once again, I was looking forward to a refreshing brew to cool off with. Unfortunately, my choices were Columbus Double IPA (9.1%) and Ironhead Smoked Porter (7.2%). They don’t offer tastes, so we both went for the DIPA. Yes, even I did.

I admit that between the touristy location and the forest of lime green Bud umbrellas on the patio, I wasn’t holding out much hope. We were pleasantly surprised, however, and the DIPA was very nice. More specifically, it was nice for Chris. I enjoyed one bitter sip, enough to appreciate it as a well-brewed beer. Chris was very happy, indeed, but a 9.1% beer was not exactly what he planned on for only the second stop on our UBH.

The service was friendly and attentive, the view was nice and the beer done well. We also enjoyed our lobster salad and 3-dip plate.

Hart & Thistle’s limited beer choice left me a bit deflated. So, with the recommendation from a friend, we hit Cow’s Ice Cream. So cool and creamy, it really hit the spot! I was now ready for our next brewery–-Alexander Keith’s, North America’s oldest brewery and now part of the Anheuser–Busch InBev dynasty.

You may be asking why we bothered visiting a macro-brewery. Well, there are several reasons. 1) We’re completists and it would be hard to know the brewery was there and not visit. 2) This was the original brewery and therefore historic. (We’ve also been to Coors in Golden, CO). And 3) Several people told us we HAD to do the brewery tour; that we’d love it!

Chris blames me for making him go on the tour, but the fact is, we were both a little curious. Here’s why: the tour is conducted by actors in period costumes and takes place in the year 1863. Luckily they stuck to the script and didn’t really expect too much audience participation as we learned the brewing process, played period pub games, listened to singing and watched dancing. I’m thinking of two particular friends who would totally love working this gig! (Let me know if you think I’m talking about you. I would love to see if you can guess…)

The tour lasted about 45 minutes and also included two small beers. I enjoyed (as much as one can) the Dark and Chris the Cascade Ale. Not sure it was worth the $19.95 each we paid for it, but as Chris says, at least we supported a few local actors.

Walking further down Lower Water Street, we struggled to wrap our heads around what we had just witnessed. A beer was definitely in order. Fortunately, we were heading in the direction of Garrison Brewing.

The longest leg of our UBH, our journey to Garrison Brewing gave us an opportunity to walk along the water and enjoy the view. The brewery was located at the end port where a cruise ship was docked.

We relaxed at an outside table while drinking our taster set and watching people return to the boat. We tried 7 beers at Garrison, including all of their year-round brews (Wheat, Amber, Pale Ale, Irish Red, Nut Brown, American Red, and Imperial IPA).

All of the beers were well-brewed, but of course, Chris liked the citrusy Imperial IPA (7% ABV, 81 ABV) best. I actually don’t remember which beer I liked best, but we did buy a few bottles of the Irish Red and the Hop Yard Pale Ale, so I imagine it was one of those.

Walking all the way back to where we started earlier in the day, our next stop was Rock Bottom Brewing, right around the corner from our hotel. And no. Not that Rock Bottom.

The cellar-level pub was a little dark and we weren’t sure what to expect from Rock Bottom’s beer. We sat at a cool booth-style table at the end of the bar. The first thing I liked was the logo, a mermaid with a pint. So much so that I think it may be my next tattoo. Then they had a Happy Hour boneless chicken wing special ($4 for 10 Thai chili wings). So far so good. Next came our 6-beer sample set…all I can say is that the beer was great!

We tried the Wheat, Stout, IPA, and Brown, plus two seasonals: The Rookie and Broken Down SOB (Special Old Bitter). The Rookie was a hoppy American-style mild. Chris went wild for this Citra/Simcoe hop bomb, especially since it came in at a sessionable 3.3% ABV! I enjoyed the malty, biscuity SOB with our boneless wings.

After 2 baskets of wings and a few beers, it was time for us to move on. We had one last stop to complete our halifax UBH.

For our final stop of the day, we went a few blocks further from our hotel to Rogue’s Roost. A bit drained from the heat and humidity of the day, we decided to have a quick taster set and call it a night. It included their five regulars: Red, Brown, Raspberry Wheat, Cream Ale, and IPA. The nautical themed atmosphere was pleasant and the other customers mellow, making it the perfect ending to a long day.

In spite of the humidity, our Halifax Urban Beer Hike was exactly what a UBH should be. We experienced the breadth of Halifax breweries, saw different parts of the beautiful city, exercised a bit, and added breweries to The List. All in all, another great beer travel adventure.

View all the Halifax images…

July 4, 2013July 4, 2013

tidegeek.com

Sometimes our beer travels and visiting the Earth’s cool quirks mesh just perfectly. In mapping out our first ever trip to Nova Scotia, I found two breweries on the northwest shore of the peninsula along the Bay of Fundy. Two breweries AND the opportunity to see the world’s highest tides was too much to pass up.

We left Bangor very early on Sunday morning geared up for a long drive to Nova Scotia. We pride ourselves on being seasoned travelers but sometimes even Merideth and I can act like rookies. Crossing into New Brunswick, we saw a sign that said entering the Atlantic Time Zone. Merideth and I looked at each other puzzled. We had never heard of such an animal. I figured that it was just the goofy Canadian way of saying the Eastern Time Zone.

After what seemed like an eternity of driving (it had been years since we did such a long haul in one shot) we finally saw a sign saying that our destination, Wolfville, was 20 kilometers away. But we were confused, our GPS gave us an arrival time of 3:30pm but the clock displayed just past 2:00. At that point, I had the epiphany. That sign at the border was trying to tell us we lost an hour!

The Port Pub is a perfect place to watch the tide

We pretty much laughed at ourselves for that final 20 kilometers. Arriving at our B&B we sorted ourselves out. A long walk to our first ever Nova Scotian brewery was scrapped due to the heavy rain in the area. Reluctantly, we hopped back in the car and drove over to Port Williams.

Nestled along one of the many finger-like channels that dot the coast, the Port Pub in Port Williams was a beacon of hospitality for the weary beer travelers. More important, it was also the home of Sea Level Brewing. Despite the recent downpour that sent other customers scrambling inside, Merideth and I chose to sit outside on the covered patio. Not only for the view but after eight plus hours in the car, we needed the fresh air.

Our first Nova Scotian beer and lobster roll

Parched and famished, we quickly ordered a sample flight and some food. With the important stuff taken care of, we could now stare at the water. We had missed the afternoon’s high tide – we would have had to leave Bangor in the middle of the night to see that – so we were about halfway to the next low tide. Being a day with a full moon, it was an extra special tide with a 36 foot difference between the previous high and the next low. It was fascinating watching the water drain out of the channel somewhat akin to watching a large bathtub emptying.

If we don’t count way too many Alexander Keith’s IPAs on Canada Day 2000 in Victoria, the Sea Level beers were our very first brews from Nova Scotia (those Keith’s IPAs in Victoria probably weren’t brewed in Nova Scotia anyway). There were six beers in the flight ranging from a Summer Blonde and Raspberry Wheat on the lighter end to a roasty Porter with a big creamy head on the dark side. All were very welcome as our first real introduction to Nova Scotian brews with the aforementioned Blonde and Porter being Merideth’s favorites. Mine was Sea Level’s self-proclaimed hop head brew, Blue Heron ESB, a beer that put a smile on this hop head’s face.

The food was excellent. Being both lunch and dinner for us, we treated ourselves to an appetizer of local scallops wrapped in bacon. That was followed up with each of us getting a lobster roll. The non-traditional bun threw us off at first, but the Nova Scotian lobster was sweet and delicious.

Driving back towards Wolfville I rued our bad weather luck. I had conceived a cool little two brewery walk that would have culminated in Wolfville’s quaint downtown. Driving instead of walking down the quiet Main Street (it wasn’t tourist season yet), we found Paddy’s Brew Pub.

Originally, I envisioned a long evening playing scrabble and drinking beer but we were too wiped out from our exertions of the weekend. Our Paddy’s stop morphed into a sample flight and a few pints while chatting with the friendly staff and fellow customers.

The flight ranged from the light Acadian Cream Ale and ubiquitous Blueberry Ale to a dark, dark, smoky Chimney Swift Stout. The star for me was the Annapolis Valley Ale, the most hop forward of Paddy’s brews.

After Paddy’s we went back along the causeway that joined Wolfville and Port Williams to a vantage point to see the low tide in full effect. Seeing the channel completely empty that had been half full a few hours before was pretty impressive. Being kind of a geek, it reminded me of the Doctor Who episode The Runaway Bride where the Doctor drained the Thames.

We frequently came back to one theme on this trip… it’s just amazing some of the places beer travel brings us. Adding our first Nova Scotian breweries to The List was great. Seeing the tides along the Bay of Fundy was a great bonus.

View all the images from Wolfville and Port Williams…

July 1, 2013July 1, 2013

First Time in Bangor

Last fall, we heard from my cousin Kerrie. She wondered if Merideth and I wanted to be involved in an inaugural beer festival that her organization, the Greater Bangor CVB, was putting on in June 2013. Already planning to be in Maine around that time, we readily agreed to be part of the first “Tap Into Summer”.

It was an jarring early start to Friday’s activities. At 6:30am, Merideth and I found ourselves outside Portland’s NBC TV station, one of Maine’s biggest, trying to find the buzzer on the door that was right in front of us. As we waited in the lobby for what would be our first ever live TV appearance, I regretted those last beers at Novare Res the night before.

Early morning TV in Portland promoting Tap Into Summer!

At the appointed time, we were ushered into the studio, put around the Bistro table set and mic’d up. Sensing a bit of nervousness on our part, the host was cheery and helpful. And like the pros were are, Merideth and I banged out a pretty darn good interview! [Watch it here] Despite not feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, it felt great being on TV not only promoting the festival but talking about the joys of beer travel.

If an early morning TV show appearance had one upside, it got us up and going. After a quick return to our hotel room to do a radio interview and organize ourselves, we were on the road to Bangor. Of course, we planned a few brewery visits along the way.

Our first stop, Penobscot Bay Brewing, was in the coastal town of Winterport. Arriving a few minutes before their 11am opening time, we were greeted very warmly as we stepped out of our car. Turns out Mike Anderson, owner and one of the organizers of the festival, recognized us, probably from the festival poster up in the tasting room. [An amusing aspect of the day would be seeing the festival poster everywhere which had our picture. Nothing boosts the ego like seeing your picture in the toilet. Someone even tore out our picture as a keepsake. Or they were tired of seeing us]

While Merideth was mesmerized by the shopping possibilities, I focused on tasting the Penobscot Bay beers. We started out with one of the best beers of trip, Humble B, a light-bodied lager made with local honey and ginger (soon to be made with local ginger as well). It was the perfect beer for the warm, somewhat humid day. Other highlights were the Sorachi Ace Pilsner and Mountain Man Double IPA. Mountain Man, a 2nd anniversary beer for Nocternum Drafthaus in Bangor, had a powerful hop nose but a wonderful subtle flavor that even non-Hop-Head Merideth appreciated.

Thanks to Mike showing us around the impressive operation. Brewing, winemaking, baking, catering; they do it all in Winterport. Be sure to try the Stout ice cream if you visit!

From the coast, we turned inland towards Skowhegan. Oak Pond Brewing, located down a country lane off a country road, was housed in a converted chicken barn. The original Oak Pond dated from the mid-1990s with the current owners, the Chandler family, purchasing the then defunct brewery in 2003.

To fit into our somewhat busy schedule, we had arranged with brewer Adam Chandler an earlier visit than their normal tasting room hours. After quick introductions, including meeting owner / employee / mother Nancy, Adam poured us through his Oak Pond lineup.

There were six beers to try and Merideth appreciated that the flight included two lagers. Our favorite of the two was the Laughing Loon Lager, Oak Pond’s interpretation of a Munich-style Dunkel. On the ale side of things, White Fox Ale, a spritzy brew with nice hop notes was my star. Merideth liked the Nut Brown Ale with its subtle toasted character.

Towards the end of our Oak Pond visit, we got a message from Kerrie asking if we could be at Geaghan’s Pub in 45 minutes to tape a TV interview. Already our planned next stop, we wrapped up our visit, thanked Adam and Nancy for their hospitality and headed towards Bangor.

Need to make a quick choice before the TV interview…

Geaghan’s Pub had been a Bangor institution for years. Two years ago, they added a brewery to the mix, Geaghan Brothers Brewing. Located right at the edge of downtown Bangor, the pub/brewery was very easy to find.

This was a hectic stop. We finally met up with Kerrie who we hadn’t seen in four years. While the TV guy was setting up, we chatted with Andy Geaghan, Kerrie and Dan, the festival PR person. No time for a sample flight, I ordered Smiling Irish Bastard, a 6.00% ABV very West Coast-style Pale Ale. Merideth went with Pub Ale, their 4.35% ABV English-style Pale. I have to admit I was pretty skeptical about an Irish pub adding a brewery but the Geaghan brews were excellent, one of the highlight breweries of the whole trip.

This TV interview was taped so we felt less pressure. Any flubs hopefully would be edited out. I ended the interview encouraging the festival attendees to come chat with us about beer travel. Adding we would even talk hockey as long as it was about the San Jose Sharks elicited a somewhat condescending, ‘our team is in the Stanley Cup final’ chuckle from the bar crowd watching.

TV interview complete, quick brewery tour (Thanks Jason!) and our pints done, we quickly moved on to our next stop.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s Gettysburg sword…

Some amazing things have happened to us through beer travel. I think we have a new number one experience. Knowing that I was a Civil War history buff, Kerrie had arranged a visit to the Bangor Museum and History Center where Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s Gettysburg sword is on display. Not only did I get to see the sword that the colonel of the 20th Maine used on Little Round Top on July 2, 1863, I was able to hold it. Rubbing my finger on the spot of the scabbard where a Confederate bullet struck it 150 years ago was a powerful moment. Tears came to my eyes. I can’t thank my cousin enough for that special experience.

We finished the afternoon with one more live TV interview. Our busy first day in Bangor concluded with a lobster and mussel dinner at Kerrie’s house (thanks to Kerrie’s husband Andy for the excellent food!). Exhausted from our red eye flight, little sleep and so far always-on-the-go trip, we retired to our hotel room pretty early to rest up for festival day.

Breakfast in an important meal on beer festival day

Saturday morning donned overcast as we headed back to Geaghan’s Pub for breakfast and a few pre-festival brews. There seemed to be a few other groups pre-gaming at Geaghan’s plus a number of families out on a Saturday morning. I half expected someone to come up to us and exclaim “I recognize you from the toilet!” but Merideth and I were able to enjoy our breakfast in peace.

I think the beer gods, realizing that I had a long day ahead, made sure the higher ABV Smiling Irish Bastard was out. I joined Merideth and ordered the session Pub Ale.

A huge plate of food, eggs, ham, bacon, toast and potatoes plus a couple of beers later, Merideth and I were ready to tackle the inaugural Tap Into Summer.

The festival was held right along the waterfront in two expansive tents. Fifteen Maine breweries were on hand to pour beer in a VIP and regular session. Food, from a local BBQ outfit, was included during the VIP session and for purchase after. There was even free ice cream with donations requested going to a local charity.

The Bangor Festival really lucked out with the weather. A few drops of rain at opening time didn’t deter the eager beer drinkers. This was the only rain on the day. Apparently, at the Whoopee Pie Festival (Yes, you read that correctly) about 40 miles west of Bangor, it rained heavily.

A great crowd for the first ever Tap Into Summer!

We had our own table where Merideth signed copies of her book, Teachings from the Tap. It was an enjoyable afternoon talking beer travel with the Mainers and even a few Canadians who made the journey across the border. Most pleasing to us were the people who came up just to thank us for our support of Maine beer and the Bangor festival.

There were several breweries we were familiar with like Baxter, Geary’s, Sebago and Gritty’s, plus the ones we visited the previous day. Others, like Andrew’s Brewing, Sheepscot Valley and Kennebec River were brand new to us. Merideth’s first beer of the day was her favorite from our travels from the day before, Humble B from Penobscot Bay. I went with Geaghan Brothers Glide, a 6.5% ABV Single Hop IPA making its debut during the VIP Session. An all Columbus brew, Glide would be my go-to beer on the day and my vote for beer of the festival.

Other beers that caught my fancy:

Mountain Man – Penobscot Bay Brewing
Cask IPA – Sea Dog Brewing
Frye’s Leap IPA – Sebago Brewing
Bear Naked Black Lager – Kennebec River Brewing

Post-festival, we ended up at the nearby Sea Dog brewpub with Kerrie, her husband Andy, some co-workers plus a few volunteers to wind down and celebrate. In the end, this portion of our trip wasn’t just about seeing family and helping out. For two days, we felt part of the greater Bangor beer community, doing all we could to make the inaugural beer festival a success. Congratulations to everyone who worked much harder than we did to make Tap Into Summer! a great celebration of Maine beer.

View all our Bangor and Festival images…

June 27, 2013June 27, 2013

Quick Stop in Portland

“So you’re going to Portland?! I LOVE Oregon!”

“Yeah, we do too, but we’re not going to THAT Portland…”

This trip, we headed to the East Coast. And our first day’s agenda had us doing a quick afternoon in one of our favorite cities. Yes, THAT Portland.

We started things off with a bite of lunch at J’s Oysterhouse in the Old Port area. A bit touristy perhaps, but no trip to Portland would be complete for us without it. We prefer sitting outside, but on this nice sunny day, everyone else did, too. Nothing could deter us from getting our afternoon off right, though, so seats at the bar suited us just fine. Besides, there could be nothing better than a lobster roll and Allagash White to get us ready for our walking beer tour of the city.

From J’s, Bunker Brewing was only a 20-minute walk into the East Bayside area of the city. Housed in a small red brick building, Bunker is a hidden gem. On the day we went, they had 3 beers to sample. However, our host informed us that they have brewed around 30(!) different beers in the 17 months since they opened.

Our three choices were Holdfast Black Ale (nicely brewed with a heavy roast flavor), Black Pearl (a surprisingly mellow yet robust smoked oyster stout) and Machine, a tasty Czech Pils with a pronounced grainy/bready character.

The weather was sunny and pleasant, which made the darker beers tough to choose. We both enjoyed our Pils served in the ever-popular mason jar out on their deck. With such a deep recipe book, chances are you may not taste the same beers twice during a visit to Bunker and you’re bound to find one you like.

We highly anticipated our next stop, Rising Tide Brewing. They had expanded since our last visit to Portland in 2011 and it is now conveniently located right around the corner from Bunker. It’s always nice to see good breweries grow.

Our last visit included watching owner/brewer Nathan Sanborn standing over a large homebrew kit stirring his brew. We couldn’t sample the beer that time, which meant the brewery was not added to The List. We simply chatted with Nathan, bought a few bottles and left. During this visit all that would change!

We walked into the new brewery to see Nathan off in the corner of the good-sized warehouse peering into his kettle. What a difference 2 years can make! Rising tide had 6 beers going, including Daymark and Ishmael, the two beers we were already familiar with. Joining the line-up were Spinnaker (German-style Hefeweizen, 4.5%), Maine Island Trail Ale (American Pale Ale, 4.3%), Thing Two (a new pilot Roggenbier), and Zephyr (IPA, 7.2%).

Tasting room manager, Stasia, was very friendly and helpful as we sampled the beers. I especially enjoyed Spinnaker and Chris, of course, leaned toward Zephyr. The Maine Island Trail Ale was also tasty and we bought a few bottles to bring home. The beer was described as a “hoppy American ale.” I found it to be a refreshing balance of malt backbone with accents of pine and citrus. The other great thing about the beer is that it celebrates the 25^th anniversary of the Maine Island Trail Association, a group dedicated to combining access with stewardship of Maine’s wild islands. A portion of proceeds benefit the Maine Island Trail Association, so you can drink great beer while contributing to a great organization. There were so many exciting things about this visit to Rising Tide, but the most special of all is that it was finally added to The List, #808.

With a music duo and a food truck out front, it was hard to leave Rising Tide, but we scheduled a meet up with the guys from the Maine Brew Bus at In’finiti Fermentation & Distillation back in the Old Port area.

In’finiti is the sister brewery/distillery to Novare Res, the famed awesome beer café in Portland. There we hooked up with Zach and Don from the Maine Brew Bus, the original beer tour company in Portland. We discussed beer growth and politics over pints of In’finiti’s Mar-Gose-Rita (a traditional Gose) and their Belgian table beer. Both were very tasty. They also had the Blk Abt (Belgian Royal Stout), War Dark, and Rauchbier on, but without a taster set available we didn’t get a chance to taste these.

In’finiti feels a bit upscale and pretentious, but is still very comfortable. The décor is beautiful—from the shiny brew kit and distillery to the repurposed furniture. The food was also good. We were told we HAD to try the chicarrones, which, as basically fried pork belly bits, did not disappoint. I also got a taste of a green hummus-type dip with flatbread, which was also very good.

We especially enjoyed talking with the Maine Brew Bus guys and their significant others. Super nice guys, they are very knowledgeable about beer, Maine beer in particular, and Portland beer history, which I thought made for especially good beer tour guides. Be sure to check them out when you visit Portland.

After our time with Zach and Don, we were on the move again to the last stops on our quick trip to Portland.

We swung by J’s again for our second lobster meal of the trip before ending our evening at Novare Res, an absolute must stop during any visit to Portland, Maine. We had yet to drink some Maine Beer Company beer, so a stop at Novare Res guaranteed that we’d be able to do so. We enjoyed a bottle of Another One and Weez, as well as several other tasty beers whose names I cannot recall right now. You know what beer travel is like and this was one of those blurred evenings…

We tried to make an early night of it, as we had come into town on a red eye flight and were operating on only a few hours sleep. With such an amazing beer list, that’s no easy feat at Novare Res, but we did manage to tear ourselves away from the bar at a reasonable hour. Besides, we needed our beauty sleep before our first ever live TV interview the next morning at 6:30am.

View all the images from our day in Portland

June 9, 2013June 9, 2013

Kicking Off Festival Season in Paso

Due to a beer schedule conflict, we missed the inaugural Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival last year. Hearing many good reports from the first edition, Merideth and I didn’t want to miss the second installment. Mainly because we would never hear the end of it from Fran.

On a very warm early Saturday afternoon, Merideth and I, plus our friend Carlo, climbed out of our comfortable, air-condtioned vehicle at the Paso Robles Event Center. As we walked the length of the long line to find our spot at the back, we stopped and chatted with a few friends along the way. Despite the heat, the crowd was animated and chipper, patiently waiting for the opening bell.

These days, Merideth and I appreciate more and more a well-run, well-organized festival. For us, a hallmark of such a festival is how quickly the eager beer drinkers get to drink beer. About a half-hour before opening, the gates were opened, tickets were checked, programs and glasses were handed out. Once through we were held in a pen waiting for the top of the hour.

Like many people, we perused the program while waiting to be freed. With the heat, Merideth and I knew we were going to drink as much session beer as possible. Flipping the pages, we identified all the sub 5% ABV beers we might want to try.

A few minutes early, the festival opened. Like Christmas shopping mothers after cabbage patch dolls at Walmart, the crowd surged towards the Three Floyd’s booth at the back of the festival grounds. OK. I exaggerate a bit. It was more of a calm rush with an orderly queue forming. By the time we walked in, it stretched across the festival grounds.

I have to admit, I don’t get the Dark Lord mania (Yes, I have tried it). With so many great beers to drink, waiting in a long line in 100° heat for close to a fifth of the festival for one beer doesn’t make sense to me. There was one positive aspect of the Dark Lord craze for the rest of the festival goers. It kept a large number of people out of circulation. Once it blew, queues appeared for food and breweries that didn’t exist previously.

A lot good beer at
the Firestone Walker Invitational…

While in the pen, we also identified our first beer, Nebraska Brewing’s Apricot au Poivre Saison. Conveniently one of first booths, we quickly each had a pour of what would be my beer of the day. I love beers brewed with black pepper and spiciness of the Saison played very well with the pepper bite.

We spent the next couple of hours doing laps in the expansive festival grounds, coveting shade, misters and the big vineyard fans. Eating and drinking along the way, we would occasionally halt our wanderings to talk with friends. Recommendations for food and beer were usually exchanged and the typical response was “Is there a line?”

Here are some of my favorites beers at the festival:

Apricot au Poivre Saison / Nebraska Brewing
Zwickelbier / Trumer Brauerei
Paradise Road Pilsner /Figueroa Mountain Brewing
Saison / Funkwerks
Cabrillo Kölsch / Golden Road Brewing
Small Talk / Triple Rock Brewery

The food maybe was the highlight of the day. Included in the price, the fare wasn’t your normal festival deep-fried and sugar-laden food. Local restaurants and caterers provided a cornucopia of wonderful small plates to enjoy while sampling the beers. Highlights included avocado ice cream, pull-porked sandwich, beer-infused gelato, Moroccan chicken lettuce wraps, and a yummy Paella. But the stars were the beer cupcakes, four flavors to choose from. Merideth and I tried all four, several times each I think.

A little past the half way point of the festival, we decided to call it a day. We were enjoying the beers, the food and seeing friends, but the heat was getting to us a bit. Admittedly, I was also tired of rubbing elbows with so many sweaty people. We traded the bustle of festival for the cool and quiet Barrelhouse Brewery tasting room.

We heard a lot of hype about the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival and kudos to Firestone Walker for living up to it.

View all the images from our day in Paso Robles…