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October 7, 2011

The Road to Asheville

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

View all the images on the road to Asheville

October 1, 2011

Following Aussies Around the North Bay

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

View all the images from our day…

September 7, 2011September 7, 2011

Monterey Peninsula Urban Beer Hike

For whatever reason, the section of California’s Central Coast that Merideth and I call home has always been immune to the beer revolution happening all over the country. Of course this has been a great disappointment to us. Luckily, the craft beer revolution appears to have finally come to our little beer backwater. While the Monterey Peninsula won’t be in the running for “America’s Best Beer City” anytime soon, the progress in our beer scene over the last year has been very encouraging. Wanting to highlight this positive development, Merideth and I planned a Monterey Peninsula Urban Beer Hike.

On a foggy Sunday morning, Merideth and I got off the bus in downtown Monterey and headed to the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail. Stretching 18 miles from Pacific Grove to Castroville, one of the nice features of our Urban Beer Hike route was that 75%-80% of it would be done on this paved recreation path. Joining the throng of Labor Day weekend tourists, we headed towards Cannery Row and our first destination.

We rendezvoused with our fellow hikers, Dave, Kevin and Corrie at Trailside Cafe, conveniently located off the recreation trail. Owned by our friend Sean, Trailside is mostly known as a breakfast/brunch/lunch establishment. However, Sean caught the craft beer bug several years ago and his restaurant features a small but nice selection of domestic and international craft beer.

With over five miles to cover and five stops planned, a proper brunch was a key to our Urban Beer Hike. Merideth went for scrambled eggs with bacon paired with Paulaner’s Hefeweizen, a traditional German breakfast beer. I started with “Seanie’s Delight,” an egg, cheese and bacon breakfast sandwich. Knowing it was going to be a long day, I began my Urban Beer Hike with a lower ABV brew, Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewing. As we enjoyed our delicious food, our group chatted about our upcoming adventure.

The second stop of the day was located only a hundred or so yards up the recreation trail. Cannery Row Brewing Company, which celebrated it’s first anniversary a few months back, was unexpectedly quiet when we arrived around noon. I guess the hordes of tourists weren’t quite ready for a beer. We, on the other hand, were very ready for beer!

CRBC was just a quick beer stop in our day’s schedule. Our quintet ordered a variety of beers from their selection of 70 plus brews on tap. Since it was a rarity in our area, I went with the Rodenbach Grand Cru. Merideth drank North Coast’s Le Merle, with a New Belgium 1554, Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere and El Toro’s Poppy Jasper rounding our group’s beers.

Peter B's Brewpub at the Portola Plaza Hotel

The sun finally made an appearance as we set out on our first long leg of the Urban Beer Hike. It was a little over a mile to Peter B’s Brewpub. I have talked a lot about Peter B’s in recent months. While there are a number of positive things going on in our beer community, in my estimation, the rebirth of Peter B’s was the most important development of all.

Squeezing our five-some into the only available outside table, we settled into trying some of the latest creations from Kevin, Peter B’s brewer. A bevy of the house brews, including the Blonde, Amber and IPA were eagerly consumed after the mile-long walk. Then several of us indulged in Kevin’s newest seasonal: Dark Side. A 5.5% ABV jet black ale, Dark Side was bold and assertive, the closest thing to a shot a espresso I have ever had in a beer.

Having Peter B’s brewer on our beer hike had it’s advantages. Kevin disappeared for a short time and reappeared with a beaker of his Belgian-style Witbier that he had brewed the previous day. It still had the malt-sweet taste of wort, but there were definitely hints that this brew is going to be a winner.

It was very relaxing on Peter B’s patio, as we enjoyed Kevin’s beer and hospitality, chatted and listened to the Greek music from a nearby festival. But as with all beer hikes, there is a time to move on and we needed to move on. Upcoming was the biggest leg of the day, almost three miles to Post No Bills.

Heading north along the recreation trail, we passed the beach crowds lounging in the sun. The last few hundred yards of this leg, we finally departed the pedestrian path for the city streets. In just under an hour, we were sitting at Post No Bills’ stainless steel bar.

Merideth enjoying the Almanac at Post No Bills

Some thirst quenching brews were ordered first. Several of us started with the Weihenstephan Hefeweizen with Drake’s 1500 Pale Ale being another popular choice.

With our thirst quenched it was time to drink something REALLY special. I grabbed the last bottle of Almanac Summer 2010 that Post No Bills had in stock. What an amazing brew to finish up the fourth stop!

The last planned stop of the day was the wonderful German restaurant, Stammtisch, in Seaside. Our group was really looking forward to some good German food and beer to end the day. In fact, we had talked about it all day long.

I called Stammtisch the previous day to confirm their opening time. Finishing the call with “See you tomorrow evening,” I never thought we would need reservations. We have never had to make reservations at Stammtisch. Unfortunately, we needed them on this night. We could have had a table if we came back two hours later, but that wasn’t very convenient. Even the collective look of disappointment on each Urban Beer Hiker’s face wasn’t enough to get us squeezed in.

After picking up some food at a nearby noodle house, we returned to Post No Bills to finish out the night. With the added mileage of going to Stammtisch and back to Post No Bills, we covered close to seven miles. We had a good day with our friends and enjoyed some wonderful beer. Thanks to Sean at Trailside and Kevin at Peter B’s for their hospitality.

View all the images from our Monterey Peninsula Urban Beer Hike…

Map of the five stops

View Monterey Urban Beer Hike in a larger map

August 30, 2011May 24, 2013

New beergeek.TV Episode – Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine

“Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine” is the latest episode of One Pint at a Time.

Our trip from Burlington, VT to Portland, ME was not only a celebration of our 22nd wedding anniversary, but also a milestone for beergeek.TV. When we started chronicling our beer adventures on video back in 2007, I am not sure we thought four years later we would be releasing our 50th episode of One Pint of a Time. But here we are!

So enjoy the 50th episode of One Pint of a Time…

For all the episodes of One Pint at a Time go to beergeekTV.

August 26, 2011August 26, 2011

Walking Among Giants

It’s not everyday that I have a chance to tap into my inner-hippie/tree hugging self, but on the second full day of our trip, I had the perfect opportunity to do just that. Having made the bulk of our additions to “The List” on Friday, Saturday was about communing with the stunning and majestic nature of California’s North Coast.

We started our trek south by taking a drive on the Avenue of the Giants, a scenic 31-mile stretch of the old Highway 101 which runs through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park and parallels the modern-day highway. The winding road was shrouded in the shade of the Redwood forest, which reminded me a lot of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It wasn’t until we stopped at Founder’s Grove that I realized just how much bigger and taller these trees were in comparison.

Founder’s Grove is a half-mile guided loop that offers a quick and easy way to get a real sense of California’s famed Redwoods. It was there that we got our first up-close and personal look at these “giants,” including the still standing Founder’s Tree (which was the first of many trees to get a hug) and the fallen Dyerville Giant. Measuring 370 ft. after it fell in 1991, the Dyerville Giant’s fall registered as a small quake on the Richter Scale and reports stated that it sounded like a train wreck. Words can’t convey what it was like to stand next to it. This tree was amazingly huge! That was just the warm-up, though, and we soon got back in the car and headed for the Rockefeller Forest.

The giant redwood is sprouting giant redwoods

Off of the Rockefeller Loop, Chris and I started our hike on the Bull Creek Flats North trail where 3.7 miles later we crossed the river and returned via the Bull Creek Flats South trail. The adventure was more of a strenuous walk, but it was long and tiring nonetheless. Along the way we wandered through the largest remaining old growth Redwood forest in the world, alongside Bull Creek , and around the base of a hill. Simply amazing! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

View all the Avenue of the Giants images

Enjoying an evening at North Coast Brewing

Afterwards we drove an hour and a half to Fort Bragg on the coast. Our day’s adventure surely deserved a giant-sized reward and North Coast Brewing fit the bill perfectly. Our quaint motel was a short walk down Main Street from the brewery and its Taproom & Grill across the street.

The Taproom & Grill seemed to be Fort Bragg’s hot spot. We were lucky enough to get a small table in the bar, while the crowd continued to grow around the hostess station. We eventually moved up to the bar and the number of people waiting to be seated in the dining room remained steady throughout our whole visit.

Chris is really enjoying his cask Red Seal

Scrimshaw Pilsner is one of my favorite beers, but I opted to drink something different and instead chose Acme Pale Ale. Chris was excited to find Red Seal on cask and he showed little hesitation in ordering one. Both went well with our popcorn shrimp starter. Despite the busy dining room, the service in the bar was efficient and friendly, which meant Chris downed several pints before I had a chance to finish my first one. Luckily our motel was walking distance away.

Our first pint or two (or four in Chris’s case) took the edge off and our tired bodies started to relax. It was time for dinner. My Carolina pulled pork was full of tangy goodness and was accompanied by a yummy jalapeño-spiked corn cake. Chris thoroughly enjoyed his thin-sliced pork chop with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was a good-sized portion but Chris still wished there was more of it.

Brother Thelonius ice cream with beer brittle

The crowning glory of our North Coast Brewing visit was dessert. It didn’t take me long to down my large bowl of Brother Thelonius ice cream with beer brittle and Chris had to act quick in order to get a taste of it. Rather than pair it with Brother Thelonius, however, I finished up my pint of Pale Ale before moving on to Le Merle, a tasty high alcohol saison. Chris went dark and ordered mud cake a la mode, which he appropriately paired with Old No. 38 Stout, an ingredient used in the cake. We were so absorbed in our respective desserts that we barely spoke until they were finished.

We concluded our night with a competitive game of Scrabble, which I lost. However, after a day of walking among giants and an evening at one of my favorite breweries, I’d say we were both winners.

View all the Fort Bragg images…