travel – Page 12 – thebeergeek.com

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 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…

June 12, 2012June 12, 2012

To Davis and Beyond

The first weekend of June kicked off a busy week of book touring; a portend of what is yet to come for us this Summer.

First up, on June 2 we had the pleasure of participating in the Davis Beer Fest benefiting Citizens Who Care. Held beneath an overpass at Sudwerk Brewing, it was the perfect antidote to a warm day. As we spread the word about beer travel and introduced people to Teachings From The Tap, approximately 1,000 beer lovers enjoyed some amazing brews.

Morgan Cox with Ale Industries served up Orange Kush, a refreshing beverage for the warm weather. Steve Altimari and his wife Barri from Highwater Brewing offered the ever popular Hop Riot and their recent release, Berliner Reisse. Russian River was also present and even donated 2 magnum bottles of Consecration for a silent auction. We kept an eye on those bottles all afternoon, as they were on a table right across from us. At one point, a large beach ball was bouncing around the fest. We watched in horror when the ball hit one of the bottles not once, but twice! Luckily, a volunteer with quick reflexes stepped in to offer protection and a crisis was averted! Good friends, awesome beer, and high drama, what else could you ask for in a beer festival?

We followed that up with two book signings; one at Post No Bills and the other at the Independent Marketplace, both in Sand City. Since the book has been out for several weeks now, people are starting to give me feedback and I am happy to report that it has all been positive. Thanks so much for all the support and encouragement!

Upcoming Meet the Author Events: June 17-Portland,OR, June 21-Seattle, WA, July 6-San Leandro, CA, July 7-Concord, CA, July 22-Oakland, CA, August 25-Papillion, NE. Visit thebeergeek.com to get more information on these events.

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View all the images from the Davis Beer Fest…

May 30, 2012

Our Local Beer Scene – Sante Adairius Rustic Ales

On Memorial Day weekend, Merideth and I took a break from our hectic book lives to celebrate the opening of a new local brewery, Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola.

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola, CA

Like it seems with most brewery openings these days, a myriad of delays pushed back a scheduled January opening to late spring. On a couple of occasions, their Facebook status announced an opening day only to be later cancelled. But the big day finally came Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

A festive occasion at Sante Adairius Rustic Ales

Despite the delay of maps on the douchephone sending us to a nearby mobile home park, we arrived at Sante Adairius’ industrial park location a few minutes early to find the soft opening already in full swing. We joined our Grillin & Chillin friends in the tiny tasting room.

There were six beers to try on opening day and Merideth and I had four of them. I started with 831 IPA, a 7.2% ABV brew with really nice pine and citrus hop character. Merideth went with their Belgian-style Golden Ale, Golden Bell. We followed those up with Sara Loves Brett, a tart, pleasantly bretted brew with nice lemon notes. Merideth and I finished with Saison Bernice, a lightly bretted Farmhouse Ale that shined after it warmed up a bit.

Things are really looking up in our local beer scene. This event was the first of hopefully a string of brewery openings on the northern end of Monterey Bay. Congratulations to the folks at Sante Adairius! Not only did they survive starting a brewery but debuted with a excellent selection of beers.

View all the images from the Sante Adairius opening…

May 27, 2012

Meet the Author at City Beer Store

Six years ago the Bay Area was blessed with the opening of City Beer Store. Since then it has become a hub of the beer community in San Francisco and beyond. Despite no longer living in the Bay Area, Chris and I make a habit of visiting City Beer as often as we can.

Last Thursday, we were lucky enough to spend the evening there drinking beer, chatting with friends, and signing books. Even with all the expansions (shop, staff, and family), Craig and Beth are still the heart of City Beer and it was an honor to have them be part of the launch of Teachings From The Tap.

Big hugs and thanks go to all the friends who came out to support this fledgling author and especially to Craig and Beth for a wonderful evening. Congratulations on celebrating another successful year serving the craft beer community!

Upcoming Meet the Author Events: June 2-Davis and Sacramento, CA, June 5-Sand City, CA, June 7-Sand City, CA, June 9-Monterey, CA, June 21-Seattle, WA, July 6-San Leandro, CA, July 7-Concord, CA, July 22-Oakland, CA. Visit thebeergeek.com to get more information on these events.

Available at beertrekkerpress.com and Amazon.com

View all the images from the City Beer Store…