Rubicon Brewing Company

The best part about making the journey home on a beer roadtrip from San Francisco is having some stellar brewpubs to visit on the “return flight.” California’s capital city, Sacramento is not the first place that comes to mind when devising a California beer venture, but overlooking it could prove to be a grave error.

Rubicon Brewing Company in Midtown has been producing some of the best beers in Northern California for over twenty years.  About 50 miles east of San Francisco near the I-80 and I-5 interchange, we arrived with our friend Erik who was to catch a bus back to his home in the Bay while we headed on North towards our home in Portland.

(L to R) 2006 Oaked Weizenbock, 2007 Oaked Noel, 2008 Noel

Corey Blodgett

Thank goodness for Facebook…kinda. I heard about McMenamins 2008 Biere de Noel release tasting at the Roadhouse at Cornelius Pass from a group invite sent by brewer Corey Blodgett on the social networking site.  The event was scheduled, according to the invite, to last from 5-10PM. I was happy to figure that if I scurried across the rivers, I could make it to the depths of Hillsboro in time.  After the long drives. we arrived at the Roadhouse at around 9:30PM.  Super duper.  We followed the tasting signs to the octagonal barn.  The doors were locked and the lights were out.  Damnit!  We went to the smoking shack next door and were informed by a friendly man that the tasting ended early for a lack of people left.  Apparently things were hopping at the beginning, but a dying down of the crowd had them shut down earlier than scheduled.  I was utterly disappointed with the seemingly fruitless results of my rush to get here on time.

City Beer Store in San Francisco

City Beer Store

It had been four days since we’d left Gold Beach and already we had already visited fourteen California breweries.  We packed up our belongings at Erik’s place in the Presidio after a beer filled night on the town in San Francisco and headed back to the lower mission for one last San Francisco hurrah.  Our first stop was the City Beer Store on Folsom Street. The place was a little cubby hole filled wall to wall with craft and imported beers.  I am guessing there must have been about 300 in all.  They also featured an assortment of beers on their six taps.  Many of the bottled beers were not in coolers and randomly hanging out on a tall shelf in the back of the shop.  This is where I discovered some hard to find bottles for Oregonians like Drakes Imperial Stout, Port Imperial Pilsner, as well as a can of 8.5% Belgian-style fruit beer from Santa Cruz..  I also noticed that they had the 2008 Deschutes Abyss available, but decided to try my luck with it upon returning to the Rose City.  I purchased three different 750ML bottles of beers from the Bruery, only to discover they had become available for distribution in Oregon while I was on the road.  Still, some excellent beers including the Black Orchid, the White Orchid and the Autumn Maple brew were worth discovering.  Being from Oregon and working at a beer store in Washington, I wasn’t blown away by the selection, but being a beer lover, I can appreciate what this place is attempting to do for the people of San Francisco.  Outside of BevMo and larger supermarkets, SF doesn’t really have a place like Belmont Station, the Bier Stein, or By the Bottle.  City Beer Store is an oasis of sorts.

By Margaret Lut

With the holiday season here, it is time to prepare for festive family gatherings. While for some this means basting the turkey, mashing and seasoning potatoes, and braising the greens for dinner, for the beer enthusiast this means pairing your much loved desserts with your some of your favorite beers.

Beer, by far, is the superior beverage for which to pair desserts. The malty profile of seasonally available brews perfectly complements and balances the sweetness that rich holiday desserts offer. With the variety of malt profiles available in a spectrum of beers and the variety of spices that are often added to some, the flavor of a dessert can be dramatically enhanced or harmonized with an adequate pairing. Also, with this being the season of “big” beers, such as barleywines and old ales, some brews can definitely stand on there own as a dessert. You may simply wish to kick back by the fireplace with your loved ones while sipping on a fulfilling nightcap.

Here are just a few examples of delicious dessert beer pairings that are recommended:

Arctic Devil Barleywine with Pumpkin or Pecan Pie

This big brew (10% ABV) has a flavor that is half way between brown sugar and caramel. The smooth sweetness that this beer offers can only complement the flavor of the pie while accentuating the underlying flavors it has to offer. For the pumpkin pie, the Arctic Devil would bring the spicy cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger flavor to the forefront of your tasting experience. As for the pecan pie, this barleywine would help bring out the nutty pecan taste. Don’t worry about this dessert pairing being too sweet to handle, since this is a barleywine, the malt presence that this beer has will actually stabilize the sweetness.

Pecan Pie

Laughing Buddha Purple Yam Porter with Apple Pie

Serving apple pie a la mode or naked, this pairing is sure to please. This porter has an up front, slightly creamy flavor, and finishes with subtle vanilla notes. Along with the use of real yams, there are aromatic whole vanilla beans added to the beer. The cinnamon and fruity essence from this dessert will be nicely balanced with the flavors offered from this Porter. In addition, the big malt profile from this brew won’t overwhelm the pie (due to the creamy flavor given from the yams) and will in fact finish complementing that last bite of flaky pie crust covered with gooey apple pie filling.

Hi Angelo,
Marc Martin here(…)I am president of The Plato Republic Homebrewers of S.W.Washington plus a feature article writer for Brew Your Own Magazine. I am also one of the Green Dragon Founders. For that reason I felt compelled to send an e-mail to Jack Joyce and his son Brett. I didn’t really expect a reply but was pleasantly surprised by the fast and cordial response.
In my e-mail I related some of the information regarding the birth of the Dragon that they may not have been aware of. Specifically, I discussed how there was very little advertising or marketing that took place during the first few months but the place was often jammed by the end of the first quarter of business. I told them how this could be largely traced to the independent “marketing” efforts of the Founders. Those of us who had faith enough in Jim Parker and the concept to pony up money to achieve the needed capital.
Many of us flooded Myspace, Facebook, Blogspots, and e-mailed 100s of friends and family to promote the Dragon. When we were in the place, which was often, we would help novice patrons choose beers and routinely gave up stools at the bar so others could sit together. In effect we became a 20 person marketing team.
The day after I sent the e-mail (Monday) with my cell number I received an e-mail reply from Brett thanking me for the information and saying that he would give me a call. That call came today and we talked for several minutes. So, first I must say that the Joyce’s are definately interested in feedback from the Founders and loyal patrons. It is their intent to retain as much of the original concept and “flavor” of the Dragon as possible. A lot of us were pulling for Lolo to be able to put something together but if that couldn’t work we certainly could have done much worse. The Joyce’s hearts are in the right place and we will not end up with a made over glass and chrome monolith like Bridgeport.
Obviously, one of my major concerns was “what is going to happen to the Founders club”?  I related how beneficial it would be to have the Founders as continuing Green Dragon “ambassadors”. This seemed to make good business sense to him and he is planning to send all of us Founders an e-mail in the next couple of weeks. I had suggested that he schedule a meeting with the Founders and he feels that this would be a good idea also. It appears that the Founders club will remain intact.
So, bottom line - I know that some changes will have to be made. For any business to be successful it must be structured, well managed and customer focused but I don’t think the changes will be radical and should make the Dragon even stronger.

Stay tuned for more info. and Long Live The Dragon !!!

Angelo and Erik enjoy a home brew

Picture it, San Francisco 2008.  (Sorry, we’ve been watching too many Golden Girls reruns on Lifetime).

Driving into San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge never ceases to be a magical experience.  The thought of this bridge being constructed in 1937 and taking four years to build is mind blowing.  Even today, the bridge is quite a spectacle with its emboldened International Orange hue and towering pillar supports.

At Brouwers Cafe in Seattle, the wood pours from Thursday, December 4th through Sunday, December 7th.

Here’s a list of some beer to get you thinking:

Blue House Cafe in Vernonia, OR

Hidden along a winding Nehalem Highway in the western valley of the Northern Oregon Coast Range is the quiet logging town of Vernonia.  Here, more than fifty miles from Portland lies a hidden little brewpub at the Blue House Mediterranean Cafe.  At the Blue House Cafe can be found a variety of tasty Mediterranean offerings ranging from gyro and hummus plates to sweet baklava. Owners Sam and Elinor Sumergian are about hand crafted quality with their Armenian inspired fair…and it doesn’t end with the food.  House brewer Brett Costley keeps three of his beers on tap at the cafe.  When we arrived earlier this month, he had a Raspberry Rye Ale, a Porter, and a Golden Ale on tap.  “I usually have my Blueberry Wheat on tap” said Costley, a native of Georgia.  “That’s the most popular beer I brew. When it was out, a person came in and asked for it and when they found out we didn’t have it on tap, he just left.”

Brett Costley, brewer

After driving in heavy rush hour traffic in the dark with no GPS, we somehow finally came upon Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in Fairfax, California just west of Anselmo about 20 miles from Novato.  We arrived to a bustling Friday night crowd packed to the gills in a small to medium sized brewpub.  Founded by New York native Mike Altman and his wife Anne.  Altman moved to the Bay Area via Colorado and Oregon.  In Portland, Oregon he worked at McMenamins scrubbing kegs and later in Boulder, Colorado, he tested his brewing skills at Mountain Sun Brewery.  In Long Island he spent twelve years as a professional French chef.