On a chilly and blustery Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, a few hundred beer geeks gathered at the BAMM.TV studios to celebrate the fifth anniversary of City Beer Store. Obligations at home necessitated a quick trip to the City but we couldn’t miss celebrating five years of this San Francisco beer institution.
Merideth with Beth and Craig
Despite the less than stellar weather, the crowd mainly mingled outside in the large ‘courtyard’ where most of the beer was located. Joined by our friend Renee and one of her friends, Merideth and I did likewise, grabbing one of the few bistro tables still free. Looking around, every face seemed familiar. Then, we realized why. This was a gathering of the City Beer regulars, people we had seen over the years on one our of our frequent stops at 1168 Folsom. Because of the larger venue, they all were gathered in one place at one time.
Midnight Sun Open Container
For the occasion, special beers were served including five that were brewed just for the event. Probably the most anticipated beer was Midnight Sun Open Container, a Wild Ale that was put in the Alaskan wilderness to get that wild element. Luckily, no bears or moose found the open container. Expecting more musty and earthy wildness, I found the beer surprisingly subtle, light and refreshing.
Some of the other special brews...
The SF Brewers Guild produced “Agent Orange,” a 7.7% ABV Imperial IPA with orange peel. A nice brew, but I had some problem finding the orange notes. I think my tongue was still a bit puckered from the Open Container.
The third of the five anniversary beers that I tried was Cascade’s Figaro, a Sour Ale with Figs. Where Open Container was subtle, Figaro was brash and bold, full of sour goodness. Merideth described it best as “young and juicy.” Looking forward to purchasing some bottles when they are available in the future.
Other notable brews at the event were Triple Rock Hop Grenade, a sessionable IPA at 4.8% ABV, Marin Brewing Witty Monk, Lagunitas Waldo’s Special Imperial IPA, Russian River Erudition and 2008 “The Dissident” from Deschutes.
It was a short visit to the City for us. But well worth the effort to celebrate the achievement of two of our favorite people in the beer community. Cheers to Craig and Beth for five great years. Good luck with the expansion of not only the store but their family as well.
Our tenth visit to Portland was also a first for us. This trip to the Rose City was our first not during Oregon Brewers Festival. Those sunny and warm July days were our only reference point for Portland weather. But we’d heard that it can be quite rainy other times of year, especially in Spring. With an urban beer hike planned for the Saturday of Easter weekend, we traveled prepared for non-July conditions.
A beautiful morning in Portland
Thankfully, Mother Nature was smiling upon on Easter Eve. We left our downtown hotel on a gloriously sunny Saturday morning and were down to t-shirts before we reached the Burnside Bridge, our gateway to the East side of the Willamette River. The first leg of our beer hike was the longest, almost 3.5 miles. After crossing the bridge and a few slight lefts, we were strolling up East Sandy Blvd. destined for the Hollywood district.
Columbia River Brewing
The journey up East Sandy wasn’t that memorable except for passing a Voodoo Donuts shop. We wanted to try a one of their doughnuts but the long line inside discouraged us. We continued on. If I won’t stand in line for over-hyped beer, I certainly won’t stand in line for over-hyped doughnuts.
We reached Columbia River Brewing, just off East Sandy, in about an hour. Merideth immediately recognized the building as the Laurelwood we visited several years back, a fact later confirmed. There were only two other customers in the brewpub and we joined them at the bar. As further proof that it’s a small world, they were a Bay Area couple we met several years ago at a SF Beer Week event.
A well-deserved taster set at Columbia River Brewing
While we chatted with the couple and the bartender, we enjoyed our fourth straight nine beer sampler set of the trip. Merideth continued her search for the perfect Peep-beer pairing. Put to the test was Rose City Wheat, a raspberry Wheat, and Ground “N” Pound Double IPA. Of course the Peep went well with the IPA, as the super hoppy and sickly sweet balanced nicely. It didn’t go as well with the wheat, however. A prime example of fruit beer done right, the Rose City Wheat had a subtle, dry raspberry flavor; something the Peep’s sweetness completely overwhelmed.
For me, the Oatmeal Stout was really nice, but Hop Heaven, their 78 IBU, 7.5% ABV IPA was really heaven after a long walk. The real treat was getting to enjoy a pint of Hop Heaven since we were on foot.
Migration Brewing
After the hits and misses of the previous day, it was great to start our beer hike with a real winner in Columbia River Brewing. Our friend Mike joined us at Columbia River and accompanied us for the rest of the afternoon. Since we had more ground to cover, we reluctantly finished our brews and moved on.
Returning to East Sandy Blvd., we headed back the way we came, towards downtown Portland. After a little over a mile, we reached Migration Brewing.
Enjoying the sun and a Lupulin IPA at Migration
Planning an urban beer hike is more than just picking all the beer stops. The key to successful beer hike is building in pee stops at just the right intervals. We visited Migration on a beer hike during our visit to Portland last summer. We really liked the beer and atmosphere during our first visit, so we were happy to return. It’s location between point A (Columbia River Brewing) and point B (Burnside Brewing) was perfect for a quick toilet break and beer stop.
While the majority of customers were inside watching the Trail Blazers playoff game, our trio enjoyed the beautiful Portland weather outside on their patio. Merideth put the Migration Pale Ale to the Peep test, while Mike and I split a pitcher of the citrusy and delicious Lupulin IPA.
Merideth being difficult at Burnside
Business taken care of and beer finished, we could now move on to point B, Burnside Brewing. We continued in the general direction we had been heading and after another mile we were sitting outside at Burnside Brewing pouring over the their menu.
I have to admit, I was a bit worried at first. While Burnside looked like just another casual, former industrial space Portland brewery, seeing the word ‘confit’ on the food menu had my douche radar going off. We’re just not confit people. But once the taster set was in front of us, my fears were disappeared.
The taster set at Burnside Brewing
While only five beers, the lineup was eclectic. There was an interesting Oatmeal Pale Ale, probably the first I had ever tried. Chili beers still seem to be alive and well in Portland and Burnside’s entry was Sweet Heat, an Apricot and Scotch Bonnet Wheat. The apricot was wonderfully subtle. Unfortunately, the Scotch Bonnet wasn’t. The star for me and Merideth was ‘Le Bas et Lumiere”, their session Belgian-style table beer. A perfect brew for the weather and timely as we needed to start pacing.
Sour heaven, Cascade Barrel House
The out and back portion of our hike was done as we left Burnside and headed south. Crossing into Southeast Portland, it was only a short half mile before we were at our next stop, Cascade Barrel House, the “House of Sour.” Arriving late afternoon, the Barrel House was packed with Trail Blazer fans with their eyes glued to the television. We grabbed a few seats at one of the non-prime TV viewing tables.
Now that is a taster set
The taster set was an overwhelming 17 beers. Remarkably, that was not the most ever. In 2008, we ordered an 18 beer sampler set at Moose’s Tooth in Anchorage. When we did the 18, we had the advantage of Moose’s Tooth being the first stop of the day. Well into our beer hike, I have to confess that we weren’t in the condition to truly enjoy the bounty in front of us. But we liked the pretty colors. When we return to Portland, we’ll have to pay the Barrel House another visit and make it our first stop.
Merideth did get a new angle in her search for the Peep-beer pairing. Would the contrasting sour flavors of the Cascade beers match well with the sweetness of the candy?
Several of the beers stood out for different reasons. The Gose was very salty, much saltier than the one we had in Germany. I loved the Vine, a blend of soured Tripel, Blonde and Golden ales with white wine grapes. But the ‘WOW’ beer for me was Barrel #2 Live Kriek. Already a huge fan of the style, I have to say now say Cascade makes on of my favorites.
Merideth enjoying a Peep and Ginger Beer
Luckily, the next leg of our hike only took us around the corner because I was almost done and dusted. We stopped at Green Dragon to try their house beers brewed next door at Buckman Village Brewery. After the diverse collection of beers at Cascade, we didn’t bat an eye at Chamomellow, their chamomile brew, or the Ginger Beer.
Our Portland beer hike finished at Green Dragon. Over the course of a half day, we walked approximately six miles and visited five beer spots. The weather was great, the beer excellent and the company enjoyable. Had we wanted to extend our beer hike, we would have had many choices in the area surrounding Green Dragon, but we’d already had a big day and were ready to settle down to watch the Timbers FC match. Beer and Football; there ain’t no pity in the Rose City!
Evan Rail in his Good Beer Guide to Prague and the Czech Republic puts forth the idea of the beer traveling “completist” – someone who needs to go to EVERY brewery in a city to feel mission accomplished. With a brewery list to continually add to, this concept perfectly describes me and Merideth. Always visiting Portland during Oregon Brewers Festival, we were never left with enough free time to indulge this need. Our first Spring trip to Portland finally gave us the free time to fulfill our completist desires and add some outlying breweries to the List.
An early beer stop in Southeast Portland
Landing at Portland International Airport shortly before 8am, we needed an early opening brewery to get our day started on the right track. Located in the bottom portion of Southeast Portland, Philadelphia’s Steaks & Hoagies fit our needs perfectly. We were sitting at the bar ordering a nine beer taster set at the prime beer-drinking hour of 9am.
A beer traveler's breakfast
Merideth and I split the taster set as we each enjoyed a hoagie, the Italian Special for myself and Ham and Eggs for Merideth. I would be lying if I didn’t say that a few of the beers were kind of odd. There seemed to be a ‘house flavor’ permeating a number of the brews. With that said, we did enjoy several of the beers including Two Street Stout and the Belgian-style Golden Ale.
While we were finishing up our taster set and breakfast/lunch, we stumbled upon our theme for the Easter holiday episode of beergeek.TV. One of the morning TV shows was doing a segment on Peeps, those neon yellow sugar bombs in the form of a squishy chick-shaped confection. I wondered what beer pairs best with Peeps?
Enjoying the sun at Max's Fanno Creek
Armed with a meaning and purpose for our trip (plus a soon to be gotten box of Peeps) we were off to the Portland suburb of Tigard and our second destination of the morning. Located on Main St. in what I assume was ‘old town’ Tigard, Max’s Fanno Creek Brewpub was doing a bit of a brisk business at 11am on a Friday. Despite there still being a chill in the air, I was surprised to hear Merideth wanting to sit outside.
Today is brought to you by the number 9
Nine was the number of the day as the taster set at Max’s was also nine brews. Not sure that Merideth truly got to taste and enjoy the beers because she was sampling them with the Peeps. She paired the sugary treat with the Golden Ale, Vanilla Porter, Raspberry Stout and Imperial IPA. The results will be revealed in the beergeek.TV episode.
I felt sick after one nibble of Peep, so I sampled all the beers unencumbered by the pairing question. Of the nine, the Dry Hopped Red, Reverend’s Daughter, a Belgian-style Golden Ale and the IPA stood out for me.
Chris with his first Scotch Egg
A highlight of our stop at Max’s was eating my first Scotch Egg. Our Irish friends always go on about them and despite not knowing what it was, I was curious to try one. [It’s a hard-boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, then deep fried] Despite the “fancy-ass chi-chi” presentation, it was quite tasty as most deep fried food tends to be when served with beer. I will admit, I did remove the yoke.
If you do make make it to Max’s Fanno Creek Brewpub, be sure to check out the bar top made from crow’s foot hemlock. The wood is 600 years old and spent 200 years at the bottom of the Columbia River.
A roadhouse in Portland
Our final stop on Friday’s completist brewery tour was Old Market Pub & Brewery. At the junction of two roads, Old Market had a real roadhouse feel, both inside and out. The rambling building had an expansive wood-paneled interior with a large dining room and a pool room in the back. With the warmth of the day finally showing, we took a seat in the beer garden out front.
A beer / food pairing conundrum
And yes, the sampler was nine beers again! For me, the star of their brews was Hop On, a hopped-up Amber Ale. Big surprise that I would pick the hoppiest beer as my favorite. Merideth continued her Peep/beer pairing quest putting Mr. Slate’s Gravelberry Ale, a raspberry Wheat Beer and Hop On to the test.
Enjoying the sunny Portland weather in their beer garden, we managed to squeeze in a game of Scrabble. Given the massive beating I took, Merideth won 340-310, I’ll think twice next time before suggesting to get a quick game in.
I wish Breakside was in my neighborhood
On Easter Sunday, we visited another of the outlying breweries on our target list. Conveniently located ten minutes from the airport, Breakside Brewery was an easy stop before our flight home. Located down a residential street, we thought that my douchephone directions had led us astray until we came upon a grouping of businesses amidst the homes.
The taster set at Breakside Brewery
Between the beer and food, Breakside Brewery was one of the highlights of the weekend. We sampled eight beers with three hoppy beers, Hoppy Amber, IPA, and IPA Jr., being the stars. Merideth even enjoyed IPA Jr. which could be an excellent session IPA if the brewers knocked the ABV down a bit. However, the most intriguing brew was the Kölsch-style Ale made with Rye. Light and refreshing with that Rye bite and spiciness, it would be the perfect brew for a Portland summer day.
Lovely Pork Belly Sandwich
I had looked at the Breakside food menu online before our trip and knew exactly what I wanted for Easter lunch, the Pork Belly Sandwich. Merideth ordered one as well. It was to die for! The pork was cooked to perfection and fennel slaw was a delicious accompaniment.
Lunch and beers at Breakside with our nephew and his significant other was the perfect way to spend Easter Sunday and to end our trip on a high note. While we are not ready to declare ‘mission accomplished’ the completist in us were very satisfied with our progress over the Easter weekend in Portand.
Back at the Great Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival
“Return to Alaska” is the latest episode of One Pint at a Time.
Ever since our first visit to Anchorage three years ago, we’ve talked about returning. Despite all those conversations centering on a summer visit, the lure of Alaska in January to relive our first Year in Beer trip was too strong to resist.
Braving frigid temperatures, we immersed ourselves again in the welcoming Alaskan beer community. We revisited our favorite Anchorage beer spots and also ventured into the frozen tundra for the first time. Thanks to our Alaskan friends for making it another great time!
So enjoy our return to Alaska…
For all the episodes of One Pint at a Time go to beergeekTV.
I have admit that I don’t get to Sonoma County nearly enough. Merideth regularly travels to the North Bay for work and I have accompanied her on a few occasions. But my house-husband duties usually keep me from spending more time in one of the the true gems of the US beer scene.
Another one of my moments of brilliant inspiration had the planning wheels in my head spinning. I would have Merideth drop me off in Santa Rosa and I would bike the 20 plus miles to Guerneville while she was working. When Merideth was finished, she would meet me there. Like all great plans, mine had one flaw — the weather. When the day of the trip finally arrived, biblical amounts of rain scuttled any idea of a bike ride. I spent the day hanging out at places such as the Santa Rosa library waiting for Merideth to finish work.
Merideth in front of Sonoma Springs Brewing Co.
Our first stop of the day was Sonoma Springs Brewing Co., located along the main drag in Sonoma. Being mid-day on a rainy Thursday in March, we were the only customers when we entered the quaint brewery and tasting room. Bellying up to the bar, we greeted the brewer/bartender/owner and his tiny assistant — his young son. A long day ahead, we ordered a taster set of beers to share.
The tasters at Sonoma Springs
The brews fell mostly into two categories: German-style beers and hopped up California ales. The two German-style Wheats, Divine Harvest Dunkelweiss and Mission Bell Sour Wheat, were both sour despite only one having ‘sour’ in its name. Merideth and I both found them very strange, though I found the Sour Wheat more acceptable. Maybe because it was appropriately named. I did like the New Bavaria Roggenbier.
On the other hand, the two California hop bombs Lil Chief Pale Ale and Noma Coma Double IPA were excellent. My favorite, Lil Chief, was redolent of running naked through a pine forest after a summer downpour. [Did I just plagiarize Chris Devlin?]
After finishing our taster set, we bade farewell to our hosts and headed north towards Guerneville. The drive down River Road was reminiscent of the Santa Cruz Mountains, except the hippies were much more menacing looking. The last time we were in Guerneville was in 1997 when we visited the original location of Russian River Brewing at Korbel. Thirteen years later, we ventured another mile down the road to visit our second new brewery of the day, Stumptown Brewery and Smokehouse.
The required photo from the Stumptown Brewery's deck overlooking the Russian River
On this dreary afternoon, we were two of maybe seven or eight customers. The large u-shaped bar wrapped from the inside to the outside which serviced Stumptown’s expansive deck overlooking the Russian River. Despite the weather, I forced Merideth to sit outside, even after she had already expressed her wish by sitting down at the inside bar. I had visions of playing Scrabble on the deck while watching trees flow down the rain-swollen Russian River. In my defense, at least it wasn’t raining.
Merideth much happier in front of a fire
Merideth ordered the Bushwacker Wheat, another oddly sour-ish Wheat beer. My choice, Blimey the Wanker, beside having a great name, was a much better choice. It was was more of an English style, nicely hopped but not an over-the-top enamel-eating brew. By the way, after a few sips of our beers, we moved inside.
Despite the miss on Merideth’s beer, we can’t wait to return in warmer weather to take advantage of Stumptown’s deck. I can see myself enjoying a few Blimey the Wankers out there on a sunny summer day. Plus, I still need to do the Santa Rosa to Guerneville bike ride.
Hop Kiln Winery, California Historical Landmark #893
We took Westside Rd., the scenic route between Guerneville and Healdsburg, to our next stop: Bear Republic Brewing. As we passed flooded vineyards and swollen creeks, we reveled in what we thought was a new back road adventure. Then we came upon Hop Kiln Winery, a stop we made on our first visit to Sonoma County in 1997. Obviously, we had taken the same road between Russian River and Bear Republic back then.
Built in 1905, the building is, according to its California landmark listing, the “most significant surviving example of a stone hop kiln in the North Coast region”. Inside, there are vintage photos and equipment from the era when hops were king. Hop Kiln Winery is a must stop for any beer geek touring the area.
Not the comfiest seat at Bear Republic
A few minutes after leaving Hop Kiln, we were in downtown Healdsburg. Despite being one of my favorite breweries, Bear Republic was mainly a growler fill stop in our busy Thursday schedule. Arriving at happy hour, we finally encountered our first crowds of the day. Grabbing the only two seats at the bar, Merideth ordered a Peter Brown Tribute Ale, a Brown Ale while I performed much needed research.
With only one Bear Republic growler, I needed to choose wisely. My first beer and first choice for the growler was Hop Rod Rye, their amazing IPA brewed with 18% rye malt. At home, our Bear Republic beers tend to be a bit it dated. So, I was in heaven to be drinking fresh Bear Republic beer again. I was pretty satisfied with Hop rod Rye as my growler choice but did have a Racer 5 just to make sure.
Our final stop of the day was Russian River Brewing in downtown Santa Rosa. Riding over from our hotel in the taxi, I thought it was going to be a semi-quiet evening — a few beers, dinner and a game of scrabble. With the Craft Brewers Conference events happening 55 miles to the south, I assumed all the beer geeks were there.
Russian River Brewing packed on a Friday night
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Walking in the back door, we could see that the bar and dining areas were packed all the way to the front door on the opposite side of the building. Luckily, there was a high table by the back door free. Merideth staked that table out while I walked up front to try to satisfy our desire to be closer to the action. Seeing that the table where Merideth sat was the only one free, I returned to her and settled in.
Enjoying a Defenestration at Russian River Brewing
If there was maybe one mistake on the day, it was going to Russian River last. There were a number of new beers I wanted to try but was losing steam quickly. I passed on the three Pale Ales, Gaffers, Segal Select, and Happy Hops, though the last I would bring home in a growler. Moving over to the Belgian-style Ales, I chose the excellent Defenestration, a 7.25% ABV Hoppy Blond in the Houblon Chouffe mold. My second and last beer of the day was their Craft Brewers Conference Collaboration brew with Sierra Nevada, a Sour Brown. A bit on the lighter side, it was probably what I needed. A Pliny probably would have put me under the table.
It was Merideth’s evening. She got to drink her favorite Russian River beer, Damnation, their Belgian-style Strong Golden Ale. She ruled the Scrabble board, destroying me 335 to 265, but most important, she go to spend the afternoon and evening with her wonderful husband. If she had one disappointment, she felt that she should have scored 400 in Scrabble. Maybe next trip…
View all the images from our North Bay Beer-cation
