It’s been a busy six months for new parents Craig and Beth Wathen, proprietors of San Francisco’s beloved City Beer Store. Their latest milestone was the store expansion, taking over the space next door. Prior to the Cal football game yesterday, Merideth and I had the pleasure of taking a quick visit to the new and improved City Beer.
The Pliny Fridge
The new City Beer Store isn’t quite complete, but it’s already a stunning place to drink beer. Fortunately, the expansion has maintained the intimacy of the original, especially with the throng of beer geeks who were there for the soft re-opening. The expanded draft offerings (15 taps!) and beautiful wooden bar are located in the new space. Bottles, refrigerated and shelved, occupy what was the old City Beer, with the focal point definitely being the “Pliny Fridge.” Just as the name implies, it is a fridge full of Pliny!
Congrats once again to Craig and Beth! Merideth and I look forward to being able to spend more than 20 minutes on our next visit to the new City Beer Store.
People often ask me how I stay so slim drinking as much beer as I do. After LMAO at the idea of being considered “slim,” I generally answer something about not eating fast food, watching what I eat, and exercising. Admittedly, that last part is often a challenging routine to maintain, but we’ve developed something we like to call “Hike-n-Beer.” Basically, it’s a hike followed by a session of beer drinking. During the summer Chris and I hike with the dogs and drink beer afterwards almost every weekend, but it doesn’t really become Hike-n-Beer unless we’re joined by friends.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
We try to maintain this routine even while on our trips and hiking is one of the easiest forms of exercise while traveling. Our Western North Carolina itinerary included a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with our friends and fellow beer trekkers, Matt and Michelle.
The morning after Wednesday’s Urban Beer Hike in Asheville, we were all moving a little slow. Even so, we managed to pile ourselves in the car and drive over an hour to the park. Driving in Western North Carolina is a beautiful sight–clean, fresh air, lots of green grass, and loads of trees lining the road. It was also an interesting experience to drive through Cherokee, a town at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the headquarters of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Interspersed with vintage motels we passed shops that sold “1,000 styles of moccasins,” “authentic Indian crafts,” and “rat cheese.” We had no idea what that last thing was, but it just didn’t sound right to us.
Merideth crossing the Bradley Fork
We started our 6-mile hike at a trail head located in a campground. It started out slow and we meandered on a path along the river. Leaves frequently fell from the canopy of trees above, a sign that fall had arrived. Before we knew it, however, the terrain turned steep and the uphill climb seemed to go on forever. The tree cover was beautiful, but even at the top, we could only get slight glimpses of the mountains and valley below because the trees blocked the view. From what I could see, the mountains were covered in green with patches of rust here and there. Give it another few weeks and the mountain sides will be an amazing display of bright red fall foliage. The lack of full view was okay, though, because by the time we reached the top, we all had beer on the brain. It wasn’t lingering we had in mind, but rather getting to the beer part of Hike-n-Beer.
After two and a half hours, we were back at the car and a short time after that, we arrived at our first stop: Heinzelmännchen Brewery in Sylva, North Carolina.
Definitely a gnome theme at Heinzelmännchen
Sylva is a small historic town of around 3,000 people; the perfect location for a quaint brewery with a gnome for a logo and “Your Gnometown Brewery” for a motto. Heinzelmännchen had several beers available to taste, including the Weise Gnome Hefeweizen (described as a “clear wheat ale”), Middleworld Brown Ale (a light-bodied malty brew), and the Black Forest Stout, which was a Schwarzbier.
We enjoyed our samples while wandering around the brewery (Chris especially liked the flag that read “Chillin’ with my gnomies”) and chatting with Deiter, the bräumeister. He even suggested a tasty little cafe for lunch where we could get the brewery’s Gnarly Gnome, a Black IPA not available at the brewery for tasting.
The wonderful Gnarly Gnome at City Lights
Heinzelmännchen Brewery bills itself as the “beer brewed for food” and they offer a cookbook of their favorite recipes for sale, as well as offer monthly food and beer pairing events. While the beers weren’t quite as authentically German as we were expecting (and I hoping), they were solid and tasted refreshing after our hike.
The large quonset hut was easy to spot
After lunch at the City Lights Cafe up the street, we were back on the road and headed to Bryson City and Nantahala Brewing. Located on across from the Great Smoky Mountain railroad stop, Nantahala is housed in a large quonset hut that is divided into several businesses, including the brewery, a bar, and a kayak rental company.
Inside, Nantahala was huge with the feel of an airplane hangar. With more than enough floor space, a long bar and a large projector television, the bartender assured us that during football games, the place is packed. The tourist season is almost over, however, and having been open only since March, the bartender wasn’t sure what business would look like in the slow season.
Winner of tap handle of the trip
Nantahala had all three of their year-round brews available for tasting. Chris especially liked their flagship beer, Noon Day IPA, a 6% brew with a piney hop flavor. In addition to the Dirty Girl Blonde Ale and Summer Wheat seasonal offerings, they served a Belgian Extra Pale Ale, their App Trail Extra Pale ale fermented with Belgian yeast. This was a popular one with our group.
The beers at Nantahala were tasty and the atmosphere fun and playful, but we were losing steam fast. The hike, sun, and beer had all caught up with us. During the ride back to Asheville, I thought it might be time to add an a new part to our Hike-n-Beer: Hike-n-Beer-n-Sleep.
It was our first full day in Asheville and what better way to introduce ourselves to its beer scene than an Urban Beer Hike. With six breweries located in the downtown area, Asheville is perfect for a walking brew tour.
A beautiful day for an Urban Beer Hike in Asheville
We began our hike just past noon in the heart of downtown Asheville at Lexington Avenue Brewery. We never like starting a beer hike with a glitch but glitches happen. LAB was debuting a new menu on this day and their opening was delayed to 1pm. Despite ruining my planned 6-mile loop route and causing a double back-track, we quickly reconfigured the hike and headed to our new first stop a short five minute walk away.
Asheville Brewing's downtown location
Asheville reminded me a lot of Portland, OR and Asheville Brewing was the first indication of the similarity. It wasn’t only the hipster crowd, but the eclectic former industrial-looking building converted into a brewpub that had me thinking of the Rose City.The ample space was dominated by a huge covered outdoor seating area filled with a mish-mash of reclaimed chairs.
The sampler at Asheville Brewing
Armed with an eight beer sampler selection, our quartet grabbed one of the available tables outside. If I had to guess, I would say our chairs, which were tandem, came from the Greyhound bus depot that was by our hotel.
Rocket Girl, a Kölsch-style brew, was a perfect beer for a day that pushed 80 degrees. Escape Artist ESP was a middle of the road Pale Ale, especially in comparison to it’s brother Fire Escape Pale Ale. Finding out the hard way, I grabbed the Fire Escape and took a big gulp. I quickly realized the “fire” portion of the name was provided by a healthy dose of chili pepper. Asheville’s flagship brew, Shiva IPA, was probably my favorite beer in the lineup.
Merideth, Matt and Michelle at LAB
Finished at Asheville, it was now time to backtrack to Lexington Avenue Brewing. LAB was quite a different vibe from the hippie-ish first stop. A large and open space, the brewpub was very modern. The brew kit shined in the back of the room behind glass walls and a 92 foot curved bar dominated the room. Given the gorgeous weather, we sat in the bright front room that was open to the street.
A very nice four hummus dish
Given that LAB messed up my brilliantly conceived Urban Beer Hike route with the new menu delay, I declared that the food better be darn good or I would be angry. Fortunately, the food was quite delicious. Merideth enjoyed the Flatbread pizza while I had the Hummus Quartet, a plate with four different flavors.
From the six beer sampler, three of our group had the GABF bronze medal winning Porter. Merideth, the odd person out, ordered their Oktoberfest.
The Craggie Brewing Tasting Room
Having a nice buzz going, I was able to ignore the fact that we passed by Asheville Brewing again on our way to our third stop. Craggie Brewing was in a smallish industrial space just around the corner from our first stop. Thanks to Zaq in the tasting room for letting us in a few minutes before opening so we could get out of the heat.
A beer, a girl and a squash
Six breweries into our North Carolina trip, Craggie Brewing was the first “WOW” stop. Three of the six beers really stood out. Toubab Brewe, a 4.2% ABV Bavarian-style Zwickelbier, was probably Merideth’s favorite beer of the trip. Cherry Belafonte, a Belgian-style brew with Sweet and sour cherries might have been the best fruit beer we tried all week and Yo La Mango IPA, a wonderfully hopped brew with a slight Mango taste, was one of my candidates for beer of trip.
Craggie was Merideth’s 650th brewery and one of the brewers honored the occasion by giving her an acorn squash. We liked Craggie so much that we returned two more times (and no, our repeat visits were not influenced by the hopes for more gifts of squash).
Two of the many Green Man decorations
Just down the street and around the corner was our next stop, the soccer and dog-friendly Green Man Brewery. With a big rolling door for a main entrance, I was again cognizant of how much Asheville reminded me of Portlandia.
Walking into the tasting room which fronted the brewery, the first thing I noticed was the plethora of green men, the mythical deity (not the silly guys in the green suit), decorations on the wall. OK, maybe I noticed them after I saw there was soccer showing on both TVs.
The four beers at Green Man Brewery
The four beer samples, IPA, ESB, Porter and Stout were all well-made and very English in their makeup. The IPA was my favorite of the four but quite a departure from the previous hop bomb that I enjoyed at Craggie. Despite it being my favorite, the pint I ordered was the nutty ESB on cask.
Look for this sign....
From Green Man, we embarked on the longest leg of the day’s Urban Beer Hike. It was a little over a mile to the River Arts District and Wedge Brewing.
Our foursome had some trouble finding the brewery. After locating the street address, we could hear people but couldn’t figure out where to go. Turns out, Wedge was on the opposite side of the building down some stairs.
The hoppin' Wedge Brewery
Given the district’s name, I was hoping for a river view, but instead we got a train track view. Of the 660 breweries I have visited, Wedge had one of the more unique settings. It’s bustling beer garden was quite spacious, basically being the dirt open space between the building and the tracks. The multitude of happy customers were spread far and wide, enjoying the Wedge brews and watching the trains pass by.
Merideth enjoying the Wedge Witbier sans orange slice
After grabbing some beers, we plopped ourselves around a table in front of a semi trailer painted with a stage on the side. Hillbilly Hawaiian music provided by a local band played in the background while we enjoyed the beers and played with dogs. Both Merideth’s beer, the Wit, and mine, the IPA, were very nice.
Oyster House Brewing in the Lobster Trap
In the dimming light of the Asheville evening, we returned to the downtown area for our final stop. Oyster House Brewing is a half-barrel brewery, located in the Lobster Trap restaurant, the “Best Seafood Restaurant in Western North Carolina.”
We were there for only one beer, their Moonestone Stout, an Oyster Stout brewed with five pounds of the crustacean in each batch. This was the third Oyster Stout I have had and it was just as good as the others. Especially when paired with a dozen raw oysters.
Our feet a little sore, we took a taxi back to our hotel. Beautiful day, wonderful beer and good friends was a recipe for an amazing day and the Urban Beer Hike was a great way to acquaint ourselves with Asheville beer scene.
We began our latest beer adventure by landing in Greensboro, North Carolina, several hours east of our final destination. While not the most convenient, flying into Greensboro did give us the opportunity to visit a few breweries on the road to Asheville, North Carolina’s beer mecca.
Foothills Brewing in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem
Thanks to a red-eye flight from San Francisco, Merideth and I arrived in North Carolina at noon a bit tired but ready to drink some beer. Our friends, Matt and Michelle, picked us up at Piedmont Triad International Airport and our foursome was quickly headed west to the nearby city of Winston-Salem. Foothills Brewing, our first stop, was located downtown in a beautiful brick 1920s era building that originally housed a car dealership.
The ten beer sampler at Foothills
After I had a quick jolt of coffee, we delved into a sample set of their brews. Their six regular beers were augmented by four seasonals. It’s always great to start a trip with a double-digit sampler.
Our only prior experience with Foothills was drinking a one-ounce sample of Sexual Chocolate at the Great American Beer Festival a few years back, so we weren’t sure what to expect. Their line-up was the typical brewpub range, from the golden-colored Salem Gold to the jet-black People’s Porter. All the beers were clean and well-made with the overwhelming Bourbon barrel-aged People’s Porter being the only brew we didn’t care for. It had too much barrel for only four hours of sleep.
Merideth at Foothills Brewing
While Merideth favored the Torch Pilsner, my highlight was the seasonal India-style Brown Ale. At 7% ABV and 70 IBUs, it was the beer that most satisfied my West Coast palate.
We’re not vegetarians, but kudos also goes to Foothills for their non-meat fare. Merideth really enjoyed the DIPA Glazed Tofu and I thought the Black Bean Cake Sandwich was delicious.
Olde Hickory in Hickory's main square
Heading west on I-40, it was an hour before we reached the second stop of the day in the town of Hickory. Situated in the town’s main square, our destination was easy to spot with it’s large green awning proclaiming “Olde Hickory Tap Room.”
Gazing at the beer list on the chalkboard, two beers immediately caught my fancy. First was Cookville Blonde, a pretty typical Golden Ale but made with local hops. I would like to say that I could taste the North Carolina terroir in the Cookville Blonde, but it was an pleasant, sessionable brew nonetheless.
My second beer at Olde Hickory, Death by Hops, was the winning entry in the brewery’s first Pro-am competition. Brewed with five varieties of West Coast hops, the 7% ABV Death by Hops was a competent West Coast style brew.
Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain
Our final stop before we reached Asheville was Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain. North Carolina’s first certified organic brewery, Pisgah was located at the back of a somewhat dilapidated industrial park a few minutes off I-40. Well, a few minutes if your GPS doesn’t crap out and you get lost, that is.
We joined a crowd of about a half-dozen fellow beer drinkers enjoying the beautiful afternoon weather in the beer garden out front. One of the most anticipated stops of the trip, I quickly ordered a taster set of their beers.
The nine beer sampler at Pisgah
There were nine beers to sample at Pisgah. It was an eclectic mix of brews ranging from an American Wheat and Solstice, a Belgian-style Tripel to Nitro, Coffee and Imperial Stouts.
The Imperial Stout probably was the best of the lot, but given the bright sunshine and warm day, not the best beer for the conditions. The other two that stood out for me were Solstice and the Red Devil, a 9% ABV Belgian-style Pale Ale with cherries and raspberries.
Pisgah was one of those places where we could have spent hours relaxing in their beer garden. The beers were nice and the neo-hippie vibe pretty cool. But Merideth and I were starting to fade a bit and we thought it best to continue on the road to Asheville.
Since it’s our primary mission to add breweries to “The List,” we often overlook old favorites in our efforts to add new ones. So, it’s always nice to beer tour with other people and let them set the agenda. A visit to the North Bay with our Australian friend Todd from beermen.TV and a couple of his friends was a great opportunity to re-experience this beer mecca from a fresh perspective.
Merideth tasting the beers at Elevation 66
Before we hooked up with the Aussies, we couldn’t resist making one quick stop to add a new brewery. Elevation 66 in El Cerrito opened a scant three weeks ago. I’m not sure there is a new brewpub smell, but the long and narrow, bright and shiny space had the distinct feel of being new. The first customers of day, Merideth and I bellied up to the bar for a quick taster set.
Elevation 66 only had three brews of the planned six available. The almost 7% ABV British IPA was a bit strange, our issue mainly being the alcohol content in a “British” version of an IPA. The standout of the three was Golden Age Ale, a 5.5% ABV Golden Ale that was very refreshing on a soon to be hot day. However, the beer with the most promise might be Esther Vanilla Stout. A true session beer at 3.5% ABV, once they get the recipe dialed in, this Stout could be a real winner.
Given the newness of the brewery, I think it’s best to reserve any sort of judgment. But there was enough there to warrant a return visit in several months. Our visit to Elevation 66 was not the shortest ever, but 20 minutes after sitting down, we were back out the door headed to the other side of the Bay.
Mt. Tam Pale Ale at Marin Brewing Co.
Back in the day, when Merideth and I lived in Oakland, I worked in Point Richmond. A few minutes drive across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was Marin Brewing Company, a place my co-workers and I visited on a regular basis. Those post-work beers sitting on Marin Brewing’s patio were some of my fondest memories of that job.
Until a few days ago, it had been almost 20 years since we visited Marin Brewing. Meeting the Aussie trio a bit past noon, Merideth and I relived those happy afternoons from the last century. While drinking the wonderful Mt. Tam Pale Ale, our group bathed in the sunny Marin weather on the patio. Just like in the old days, our crew joked about the people working out in the gym across the way. There’s nothing like eating fried food and drinking beer while watching someone sweat it out on the stairmaster.
Merideth enjoying Moylan's Kölsch-style beer
Despite its convenient location just off Hwy 101, our one and only visit to Moylan’s Brewery was in 1995. I guess our only defense for not making another visit since is that whenever we pass through Novato, we are always on our way to some place else.
Wednesday I realized what we have been missing. While Merideth drank their very nice Sommer Kolsch Bier, the boys indulged in one of Moylan’s better known and favorite beers, the Hopsickle Triple IPA. It had been several years since I drank the 9.2% ABV well-balanced hop bomb. I think the next time we’re in the North Bay, we just might have to make sure we stop.
I’ll admit that I’m not always the brightest bulb in the firmament. When Todd was planning which breweries to visit this day, I tried to convince him to bypass Lagunitas in favor of Bear Republic, a brewery I like better overall. Luckily Todd didn’t take my advice. Lagunitas was the stop of the day.
The Lagunitas beer garden
Our only prior visit to Lagunitas was in 2008. Back then, the tasting room was in a funky loft above the brewery. I knew they had built a new tasting room but wasn’t prepared for the amazing new setting for enjoying their beer. Despite its industrial park location, the beautiful beer garden was quite idyllic in the California afternoon sun. Throngs of happy beer drinkers were enjoying the Lagunitas brews on what turned out to be a hot day. We opted for a table inside the bright, airy tasting room.
Wet Hop Maximus, the beer of the day
A number of beers were sampled: Czech-Style Pils, Oktoberfest, Hop Stoopid and Fusion VII to name a few. But my favorite beer of the whole day was the wet hop version of Maximus. Wet hop beers the last few years have disappointed me. For the most part, they have been missing that resinous quality that made the beers so special. Wet Hop Maximus harked back to the brews that I fell in love with. I could feel the oily hop resins covering my tongue.
An enjoyable evening at Russian River
The encore stop for our day was, of course, Russian River Brewing Company. As usual, the brewpub was packed and hopping when we arrived mid-evening. We quickly acquired a table and let the fun begin.
After a point, the evening became a blur with beers continuously being ordered and consumed. Pliny the Elder, Defenestration, Supplication, Temptation, Little White Lie were among the great Russian River brews we drank that evening.
With the Aussies catching a morning flight to Denver, the night was ended on the relatively early side. With a full day of drinking fantastic beer, it was probably best that way. An always fun day in the North Bay was made more special hanging out with a few Aussies. Thanks for that, mates!
