beer – Page 12 – thebeergeek.com

June 28, 2012July 30, 2012

Beyond Victoria

Sunday’s adventure took us further north on Vancouver Island; the first time we’d explored beyond Victoria. And what an adventure it was!

We picked up a rental car at the Victoria Airport and followed the instructions of Canuck Karen, our endearing nickname for our GPS, towards Nanaimo. We dodged packs of bicycles participating in the Tour de Victoria as Karen led us through scenic back roads and graveled private roads. Chris had assumed that our route would be down and around the Saanich Inlet, staying firmly on dry land throughout the journey. However, Karen led us to the ferry crossing where we waited 30 minutes for the ferry and took 25 minutes to cross. Once back on land, it took us under a half-hour to reach the town of Duncan. This quaint town is the home to 80 totem poles created by First Nations artists, as well as Craig St. Brew Pub, our first brewery of the day.

Craig St. felt simultaneously spacious and cozy. The dining room, complete with a fireplace, on the left was separated from the antique bar by a large entry way with a high ceiling. There was also an upstairs deck, but we chose to sit at the bar.

The young staff was friendly and attentive as they brought us our “toolbox” sampler set. The wooden box held five beers (Lager, Hefeweizen, Irish Ale, Pale Ale, and a Porter) plus pretzels, which I thought was a nice touch. The seasonal Hefeweizen was a tad too lemony tasting for me, but the Shawnigan Irish Ale, Arbutus Ale, and Mt. Prevost Porter were all solid and paired well with my Asian Cole Slaw with Prawns and Chris’ Chicken Sandwich.

While at Craig St., we made a few adjustments to our schedule and headed straight for Nanaimo. With just one more brewery to visit before we checked into our B&B, we had plenty of time to look around this harbor city. The weather was warm and intermittently sunny, so we opted to walk along the waterfront starting at Maffeo Sutton Park, a busy, family-oriented place that serves as Nanaimo’s signature park.

By late afternoon we stopped at our second and last brewery of the day, Longwood Brew Pub. Situated in an upscale strip mall, the large silo makes it easy to locate. We walked in on the second floor, which is the restaurant. Downstairs, the pub is equally elegant with its dark wood features and black-clad waitstaff. As usual, we chose to join a handful of others sitting at the bar. As we soon discovered, Longwood is very much a locals place. During the 90 minutes or so that we stayed, there was a steady stream of locals stopping by for a beer. I think we were the only ones the bartender didn’t address by name and a confirmation of the usual drink order.

A friendly lot, we thoroughly enjoyed chatting with our bartender and barmates about everything from the virtues of being bi-lingual and hiking opportunities on Vancouver’s west coast to the beauty of golf at Pebble Beach.

Longwood had several beers to sample, all solid and many brewed with British influence. The Hefeweizen, Irish Ale, and ESB were tasty brews, but my favorite was the Dunkleweizen and unsurprisingly, Chris favored the IPA. Before we left, we purchased a bottle of their Framboise (a refreshing dry brew with just the right amount of raspberry flavor), which we later drank on the deck of our B&B.

Enjoying the view at MGM Seashore Bed & Breakfast

Speaking of which, I would be incredibly remiss if I didn’t mention our lodgings for the night–MGM Seashore Bed & Breakfast. With absolutely stunning views, it was quite affordable and our hosts, Marilyn and Glenn McKnight, were very gracious. They even grow hops used by the Longwood Brew Pub.

With their help, we ended a somewhat stressful day that didn’t go to plan by sharing great local craft beer and wonderful conversation all while overlooking the most spectacular view possible.

View all the images from our day…

June 27, 2012June 27, 2012

Wandering Around Victoria

With its concentration of breweries and easy walk-ability, Victoria screamed out for an Urban Beer Hike. I even had one envisioned in my head, a circular route that hit all the new breweries plus some old favorites in the British Columbia capital. But, prior to our trip, I was too immersed in working on promoting Merideth’s book to get one properly organized and planned. Our one full day in Victoria morphed into more of an Urban Beer Wander.

In contrast to the previous day, the weather on Saturday in Victoria was a bit more encouraging for a walk. Clouds were breaking up mid morning as Merideth and I left Spinnakers, our brewery-hotel, for the short walk to the Inner Harbor. By the time we reached the center of town, both Merideth and I had our fleeces off.

After doing a Clark Griswold on the downtown tourist sights, Merideth and I headed up Government Street to the industrial part of town. The blocks around Government and Bay Streets have become Victoria’s ‘brewery gulch’, the location for most of the new breweries in town.

Our first beer stop was Vancouver Island Brewing. To illustrate my distracted state prior to our trip, I had the island’s oldest craft brewery on our target list despite having already visited the brewery on our last visit to Victoria in 2001. Even though we’d already been there, nothing looked familiar to me or Merideth. I certainly hope a remodel was the explanation.

In the end, a few beer samples can’t hurt, even if the brewery was already on The List. Hermann’s Dark and the seasonal Hefeweizen Beachcomber Summer Ale were pleasant starts to the beer portion of the day.

The one brewpub in the industrial part of town

We continued walking up Government and hung a left on Bay to reach our second destination, Moon Under Water, a brewery that did count on The List. The name comes from a George Orwell essay of the same title where he describes Moon Under Water, his fictitious ideal pub.

Not quite sure of how many more stops there would be on the day, Merideth and I only split the six beer sampler. In a rare moment, we agreed on the our favorites of the lot, Moonlight Blonde, Lunar Pale Ale and the seasonal Stout. The overall star for me was the 4.2% ABV Blonde ale. Made with a bit of wheat and hopped with Saaz, the brew had a really nice bite to accompany its light body.

From Moon Under Water, it was only a short walk around the corner to Hoyne Brewing on Bridge St. To illustrate that this neighborhood is brewery gulch, Driftwood Brewing was located next door. But unfortunately, it is not currently open to the public.

Located in a blue-roofed industrial building on the corner, Hoyne has been only open since December. For being such a newcomer, they have already developed quite a following as evidenced by the steady stream of customers coming it to fill growlers.

We sampled five beers, all quite nice especially given the youth of the brewery. Starting on the lighter end with Summer Haze Honey Hefe and Hoyner Pilsner, we moved on to Merideth’s favorite, Dark Matter. Technically classified a Brown Ale, Dark Matter had a wonderful nutty and roast character. Moving on to my end of the spectrum, we finished with Down Easy Pale Ale and Devil’s Dream IPA. Both were excellent, though I preferred the Pale Ale.

Returning back the way we came, Merideth and I headed back down Government Street to our third and last new brewery of the day, Phillips Brewing. Just like Hoyne, but even more so, Phillips enjoyed a very steady stream of growler-fill customers. We grabbed a corner of the tasting bar, trying to stay out of the way, while we worked our way through the Phillips lineup.

Merideth enjoying herself at Phillips Brewing

We sampled numerous brews beginning with the light-bodied Phoenix Gold. An early highlight was Service 1904 Scotch Ale, a 5% ABV stone-fired beer with a flavorful caramel malt profile. Hop Circle IPA not only was a great hop-pun, but a well-crafted hopbomb. Longboat Chocolate Porter was a favorite of both Merideth and I. It’s deep chocolate flavor cried out for a big bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Once back in the center part of Victoria, we headed to Canoe Brewpub. Though we had been there before, Merideth and I had visions of playing scrabble in the sunshine overlooking the water on the brewpub’s patio. Grabbing the only available outside table, Merideth and I dove into the six beer sample tray.

Then the weather turned for the worse. The wind picked up, dark clouds rolled in and the sunshine was gone. The wind was so strong it even picked up an open umbrella from the table next to us and hurled it over the glass wall onto a walkway. By the time we decided to pack it in, the rain had started to fall.

Driftwood’s Fat Tug IPA at Garrick’s Head Pub

Trying to wait out the rain, Merideth and I next went to Garrick’s Head Pub in Bastion Square. A Victoria fixture since 1867, Garrick’s Head came recommended by several people for being a good place to find local craft beer. I took the opportunity to try Driftwood Brewing Fat Tug IPA. At 7% ABV and 80 IBU, it was very West Coast style and one of my favorite beers I drank in Victoria. It definitely made we wish they had a tasting room to try the rest of their offerings.

As Merideth and I enjoyed our beers at Garrick’s Head, we examined every entering customer to see how wet their jackets were. With a 20-minute walk back to Spinnakers still ahead, we were hoping to minimize how wet we got. Finishing our pints, we decided the rain had sufficiently let up. It was a pleasant, if breezy, walk back to Spinnakers.

Our reward for a good day of beer travel

After two visits to the British Columbia capital, Spinnakers, for us, remains the cream of the crop of the Victoria beer scene.The beer was world-class and the farm to table food quite delicious.

Though I was wanting the long-gone cask Cascadia Ale that I had enjoyed the previous day, Spinnakers India Session Ale was the perfect choice after a day of drinking beer. We finished our Urban Beer Wander with a nice dinner, our evening culminating with a Chocolate Truffle and Beer Pairing. It’s one of the perks of staying in their hotel.

Our day in Victoria wasn’t that organized, but despite that, we discovered again that it’s a great beer town. Next visit, I will be better prepared with a properly planned Urban Beer Hike.

View all of the Victoria images…

June 21, 2012

Happy Anniversary to Us!

As part of promoting Merideth’s book, Teachings from the Tap, we are holding “Meet the Author” events in the seven American cities covered in the book. Portland’s turn came this past Sunday with an event at the Green Dragon. I couldn’t have thought of a better way spend our 23rd Wedding Anniversary.

Doubling down on the Reggie Deluxe at Pine State Biscuits

With time to spare after our early arrival in the Rose City, Merideth and I started the day at Pine State Biscuits. We don’t normally wait in long lines for anything, but I wanted to treat Merideth on our anniversary. The half hour wait was well worth it. While Merideth went with a simple biscuit with ham, egg and cheese, I doubled down on the Reggie Deluxe. A piece of fried chicken, bacon, two eggs & cheese topped with gravy on a flaky biscuit, the moist and juicy fried chicken alone was worth the price.

From Pine State, we took a short walk up Belmont St. to the world-famous Horse Brass Pub to watch the Germany v. Denmark Euro 2012 match. While we viewed the Germans triumph 2-1 and win Group C, Merideth and I enjoyed a number of Pacific Northwest brews. Merideth’s favorite was the Urban Farmhouse Ale from Commons Brewery while I absolutely fell in love with the sublime cask version of Double Mountain’s Hop Lava.

We only had time for one new brewery on the trip, Gigantic Brewing. A familiar Portland sight greeted us as we pulled up to the brewery in our taxi: rolled up industrial doors and a plethora of picnic tables out front.

There were four house beers. The star was Gigantic IPA, a 7.3% ABV brew with delightful citrus and pine notes. Merideth tapped The City Never Sleeps, a Saision as her favorite. The only beer we didn’t care for was Rauchweizen and the Bandit, a smoked Hefeweizen. I love both styles, they just didn’t marry well for me.

From Gigantic, Merideth and I proceeded to the Green Dragon. We still had a few minutes to kill before Merideth’s book event so we popped across the street to my favorite beer stop in Portland, the Cascade Barrel House.

Quickly spying The Vine and Sang Noir on the menu, I ordered each of those as well as samples of the Raspberry and Apricot. The Vine, a soured, blended Ale with white wine grapes, was nicely tart. Sang Noir, aged in Pinot and Whiskey barrels then blended with Bing cherries was brilliant with a wonderful, dry, cherry flavor.

The last night of PDX Beer Week, it was a quiet evening at Green Dragon. Nonetheless, Merideth was able to spread the beer travel word and sell a few books. It was great sharing beers with old friends and new. Thanks to the helpful staff at Green Dragon for making us feel so welcome. And a HUGE thanks to Lisa Morrison for all her help and kind words.

View all the images from our day in Portland…

June 16, 2012

Getting Punchy at MBF

Not even one speck of fog greeted Merideth and I as we arrived at the Monterey County Fairgrounds mid-Saturday morning. With only blue sky above us, it was going to be a glorious day for the 2012 Monterey Beer Festival.

All set up! Our booth with Peter B’s Brewpub

With Merideth’s book to sell, we weren’t at Monterey Beer Festival to make merry, rather to promote Teachings from the Tap. But that doesn’t mean Merideth and I were all business. Setting up next to our friends at Peter B’s Brewpub, we were guaranteed an afternoon of fun and good beer.

The festive crowd at Monterey Beer Festival

The VIP Session was mellow. We chatted with friends and a few book customers. Once that first hour was up, however, the floodgates opened and our relaxing afternoon was over. From our vantage point away from the main area, we could see a large mass of people busily getting into the business of drinking beer.

Keeping the beer flowing at the Peter B’s booth…

We were happy to see that Peter B’s was very, very, busy. With long lines continually in front of the booth, the wonderfully dry and tart Alvarado St. Raspberry Wheat quickly ran out. Our collaboration Bavarian-style Hefeweizen was also very popular, despite it not being served with the banana round with clove mohawk, a garnish I recently invented. Even with the warm weather, the bright and smooth Oatmeal Stout aged in Chardonnay barrels was also a hit. I focused my limited beer drinking on the delicious IPA, both keg and cask versions. Being big proponents of our local brewpub for the last 18 months, Merideth and I were so pleased to see their beers heartily consumed and enjoyed.

A bit of levity during the busy day was provided by Kevin, brewer at Peter B’s and the ‘mature’ one of the group. He had this ‘punch’ sticker which he tried to stick on other people. In the end, Kevin unknowingly sported the sticker the longest, while Petra from Trailside Cafe gave the sticker an extended tour of the festival. Somehow, I was the only one who was actually punched, courtesy of the Celebrator’s Mr. Pitsker.

All and all a great day for us at Monterey Beer Festival. Thanks to Kevin, Carrie, Christian, Sonny, Renee and the Craft Beer Gnome for making it a fun day!

View all the images from the Monterey Beer Fest…

June 13, 2012

Go Bears! and Quakes too.

In the blink of an eye, it was already Saturday morning, the last day of our trip. Having packed a lot of breweries into the first three days, we had a light schedule planned for our finale, a couple of breweries followed up by the San Jose Earthquakes v. Philadelphia Union soccer match.

The idyllic setting for Twin Lakes Brewing

After a quick lunch at Mckenzie Brew House in Chadds Ford, we crossed back into Delaware. Most of our beer travels take us to small brewpubs or industrial park breweries. Rarely, do our brewery visits include a historic 252 acre farm. As we drove up the long driveway to Twin Lakes Brewing, Merideth and I were struck by the beautiful setting. Though, I have to say, I only saw ONE lake.

The brewery was housed in an out building on the farm, the old tractor barn. We entered the upstairs tasting room after the daily tour had already begun. While sipping on Greenville Pale Ale and Tweeds Tavern Stout, we listened to Sam Hobbs, brewery co-founder, talk passionately about his family history (seven generations on the farm!) and the Twin Lakes brews. Sam was particularly emphatic about their ingredients, especially the pure water that comes from the aquifer on the property.

Merideth and I were chatting casually with Sam after his talk. Knowing we were from out of town, he asked us where. Replying California, Sam remarked that he went to university in California, Berkeley to be exact. In another example of beer making the world smaller, turns out that Sam and I graduated from Berkeley the same year (1988) with the same major (Political Science). Twenty four years later, we met for the first time, both deeply involved in the craft beer world.

Sam was a very gracious host and wanted to show us more of the farm. Spending the afternoon drinking beer and walking all over the farm sounded great. But we had to get back to Philadelphia for the soccer match.

We finished our trip on a cold, windy and eventually rainy night at PPL Park along the Delaware River. Sam had given us cans of the very drinkable Greenville Pale Ale for the road. After coaxing her out of the car, Merideth and I tried our best to tailgate in the less than stellar conditions. I think the Tweeds Tavern Stout would have paired with the weather much better.

Our San Jose Earthquakes, behind 2 goals from Steven Lenhart, defeated Philadelphia 2-1. A nice ending to a memorable last day of our trip.

View all the images from our trip…