More California Beer Prospecting

Brewpublic continues to move forth in pursuit of our goal to seek out more craft beer spots in Northern California.  After spending the night in Fort Bragg, we awoke to discover sunny warm conditions and beautiful ocean views during low tide.  A nice picnic on the beach and a stroll along rolling green oceanic cliffs that made me feel like I was in Ireland, we headed back into town to visit a brewery I had long awaited visiting.

North Coast

North Coast Brewery and gift shop sat on the Route 1 right across the street from the pub and restaurant.  The impression of Fort Bragg was that of a working class yet rather affluent community with lots of attractive houses and copious views of the Pacific.  North Coast was set in from the sea a few blocks.  The brewery was a tall concrete industrial building emitting the mouthwatering smell of brewing beer.  Unfortunately tours for the brewery are only offered on Saturdays, so we were out of luck on this day, but did manage to poke our heads in the doorway and catch glimpses of the brewers doing their thing.  We first went inside the gift shop which was adjoined to the brewing facility.  The array of North Coast beers I had grown accustomed to over the years sat for sale in a shallow cooler alongside one I hadn’t previously encountered.  I had to buy this one.  It was a Silver (25th) Anniversary Belgian Farmhouse ale.  We never found out why it was a 25th (1980-2005) anniversary beer since 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of the brewery (and there were signs and t-shirts for sale all around to mark this).  The gift shop had everything conceivable for sale related to the line of NC brews.  Hats, bottle openers, post cards, mustards made with the beer, posters, you name it.  The kind lady behind the counter even offered us of samples peanut brittle made with Red Seal Ale, the breweries sessionable flagship.  Other beers for sale included their Blue Star Wheat, Scrimshaw Pils, Old Rasputin Stout (a cult favorite), and two organic beers.  The lady told us that Old Rasputin XI and a 20th Anniversary beer would be released around Thanksgiving.  We are still trying to figure out how a 20th anniversary brew comes out after a 25th anniversary beer.  Anyhow, we were off across the street for a pint.

At the tap house across from the brewery, the atmosphere was that of doldrums.  Quite quiet considering it was not quite noon and we were up for our first of the day.  A barkeep named Stephen welcomed us before a beautiful wood bar.  In fact, the entire pub featured handsome woodwork and had a warm traditional English pub feel to it.  All the beers on tap were beers I’d had before, so I opted for a nice breakfast ale, the Red Seal poured from one of the two beer engines stationed beside the others.  A cascading rich amber body with a thick off-white head that foamed up and beckoned a delicious quaffing.  Fresh as the morning dew, the aroma of citrus hops effervesced from this brew.  It was very enjoyable.  I commented on the appeal of the traditional bar back to Stephen, as he informed me that it was salvaged from an old pub in Ukiah where it was hidden behind a wall.  It was a shame anyone would want to hide such beauty.  If it could talk, bet this old bar had a thousand stories to tell.

On our way into the warm autumn day, we headed back on the Shoreline Highway north betwixt curves and more breath taking precipiced views of the mighty ocean.  This was no doubt God’s country, and I could only imaging what the early white settlers must have thought of this wonderland upon first arriving.  Through the the roads that twisted and turned, but didn’t come close to being as snaking as the previous drive down the 1 into Fort Bragg, we made our way into a thick grove of Redwoods along Highway 128.  A tunneled road of giant cypress beauty cast a heavy cloud from the tight canopy .  I believe this is where the Endor shots for Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were filmed.  It certainly felt like another planet, however, we did not spot any Ewoks.

Anderson Valley

Out from the Redwoods about 30 miles up the way, we made our way into Anderson Valley, home of the storied bear with antlers.  Past scenic grape fields and apple farms and past rows of noble oak trees, the sky opened to rolling hills and farmlands.  The 128 met up with the 253 less than 20 miles from Ukiah and right at Anderson Valley’s Cerveza Ranch.  Through a gateway where several carvings of antlered bears greated us, we came up the large square building that beset the giant copper brew kettles.  To the right was an employee parking lot covered by an enormous row of thermal panels.  This was a power source for this famed solar powered brewery.  Next to the panels were late-season barren hop trellises. To our left, lied the tasting room:  a wide open, sunny gift shop with more schwag for sale than I have ever seen at a brewery.  Medals from past beer festivals hung next to a cooler filled with beers and soft drinks for sale to go.  An old bottling machine stood across the hall and in the corner, the master of all the wooden antlered bears stood on his hind legs overseeing the bar.  The bartender, a middle aged gal with long black hair and glasses slapped down beer menus as we approached the bar stools made of old tractor seats.  “Here’s the list of beers and the prices” she muttered without a hello.  Like the last stop, there was nothing special to the brewery that I hadn’t sampled before so I opted for a beer that helped to cultivate my passion for craft beers – Boont Amber.  A rich copper body filled the glass with a thick enticing, creamy off-white head and a floral caramel nose.  The sweet caramel cream flavor and spicy hops finish was much more pronounced on tap at the source.  Margaret ordered a glass of the Winter Solstice seasonal ale which possessed a similar hue as the amber but with a more biscuity and creamy profile.  The flavor of this particular brew was reminiscent of cream soda – sugary caramel and malts.

After we finished our brews, we I asked noticed a beer engine at the bar.  I asked the bartender what was on cask.  “Nothing” she barked before I finished my sentence.  “Could you tell me about the Beer Guy IPA in your cooler” I questioned.  “It’s not on tap” she retorted.  “I realize that I said, but what is it like?”   “It’s contract brewed” she said.  It was obvious that she was being very curt with me.  “Is it the same as the Hop Ottin’ IPA?” I said in one last desperate hope for some clarity.  “I don’t know” she said and turned her back to me.  I felt like she was quite rude towards me.  Margaret and I had planned on buying gifts for our friends here.  We were very excited about being at one of our favorite brewpubs for the first time, and this “lady” had ruined it for us with her lack of customer service skills.  I slapped down my credit card, paid the bill, and we were on our way feeling dejected by our experience, almost heart broken.

Ukiah Brewing

Still, the daylight hours were short and we had other breweries to visit.  Down the 253 back to the US-101 we drove into the shiretown of Mendocino County, Ukiah.  A little city with its own attitude, Ukiah was a haven for hippies and yuppies, but everyone we passed on the street was friendly and cordial and smiled or said hello as we passed.  We easily found the Ukian Brewing Company on South State next to the Mendocino Court House.  Inside a bunch of dread-locked patron lingered about the bar.  Set in a historic old masonry building, signs indicated that the place was historic and not fit for shelter in the event of an earthquake.  Four beers resided on tap.  After coming from a place with what we perceived to be terrible customer service, we were happy to meet Ukiah’s barkeep, Amber who was quite friendly and personable.  Asking her for a sample tray, Amber said “There’s just the four beers on tap, I’ll give you them for free.” Very cool.

Pilsner Ukiah: This extremely light, almost white straw-bodied lager hid a very bitter presence.  The piquancy of the sharp Saaz hops lingered on the tongue much like a West Coast IPA.  At 5.4% it was crisp, clean and refreshing, and bitttter.

Sunshine Amber: A copper bodied 4.0% ABV beer with a prominent phenolic nose.  Was this supposed to be Belgian.   As friendly as Amber (the bartender, not the beer) was, she admittedly didn’t know a whole lot about the beer. She said the head brewer Scott Jones who was not there at the time had spent some time in the Netherlands, and I have to wonder if he brought back a little the stylings from there. The Sunshine also possessed a sharp bitter finish from copious amounts bittering hops.

Liberator Bock: Amber said this beer marked at 7% ABV was actually 11% ABV.  After a taste and a whiff of this deep copper-ambered brew, I believe she was mistaken.  It was closer to 7% if anything.  A sweet yet mild doppelbock with a thin, unimpressive finish. 

Lunar Harvest Ale: A copper-golden bodied beer with a thick white head.  Soft nutty, sweet malt presence, but again, a bit dull and watered down in flavor.  I was not particularly in love with any of the Ukiah beers at this time. However, we did grab a six pack of Pilsner in cans to go.  You just gotta love craft beer in cans.  Amber showed us the brewing set-up in the back.  It was a modest set up with four ten gallon fermenters.

Mendocino Brewing Co.

Back on the 101 southbound, our next stop was less than 15 miles away in a town whose name alone made me thirsty.  Hopland, California is the home of the state’s first brewpub. Mendocino Brewing Company was founded in 1985. The main production plant was moved recently to Ukiah to a state of the art system, while the brewpub remains right on 101 in an old brick building.  The barkeep Sharon gave us some history on the pub over a $7 sampler of seven Mendo brews. She showed us an old black and white photo she says was taken by a customer’s ancestor in the late Nineteenth Century.  The building that now houses ales and lagers was originally a slaughter house.

Red Tail Ale: Light copper, bitter crisp ale with a sharp hop bitterness that lingers.

Red Tail Lager: Same color as ale but with even more crispness.  Another highly sessionable brew.

Blue Heron Pale Ale: Much like the Portland Blue Heron from BridgePort, this beer was a pale straw hue, lighter than the Red Tails, also with a pronounces bitterness, but with more citrus punch.  Clean and easy drinking.

Eye of the Hawk: Yet another copper colored ale with a creamy malty nose and a bold malt-sweetened tang.  Boozy, gritty, and mildly cloying.  Reminiscent of Old E. At 8% ABV, this beer will “get the job done.”

Oktoberfest: Here was the one seasonal offereing at the pub – a copper-orange bodied ale with a whitish head and mildly nutty, sweet caramel body.  Another “eh” beer from Mendocino.

White Hawk IPA: Perhaps my favorite Mendo brew – poured a copper-yellow body with minimal head and a mild onionly sticky hops aroma.  Well balanced, carbonic, and smooth.

Black Hawk Stout: Deep opaque black-brown bodied brew with hints of red around the corners.  Slick, carbonic, with a slight crisp hops finish.  Hints of coffee and chocolate malts in an easy to drink finish.

Sharon set a bowl of pretzels on the table with some Mendocino mustard for dipping.  Very nice.  The mustard was a sweet stone ground blend with only mustard seed, sugar and vinegar. She showed us a list of several beer blend the brewery offers including the most famous Black Eye, a mix of the Black Hawk Stout and the Eye of the Hawk.  With the last few sips of my sampler, I made my own Black Eye.  Another blend was called the S&M, a meshing of the Blue Heron and the Black Hawk.

Like Joe Cocker once sang “life is a highway” but at this rate, we definitely didn’t want to ride it all night long.  We needed to make it to our final destination for the night in Santa Rosa, but first, we felt obliged to make a pit stop at one of the best breweries in the United States.

Bear Republic

After getting turned around for a spell, we found the brewpub on 345 Healdsburg Avenue in Healdsburg, CA (the main production plant is located in Cloverdale). Healdsburg appeared to be an affluent town with lots of upscale shops and swanky looking middle aged folks walkiing the streets with designer handbags in tote.  The brewpub at Bear Republic felt festive and homey inside. A jovial bartender named Kevin gave me a hard time about my Boston Red Sox hat (he sadly is a fan of the Oakland A’s) before taking my order. On tap at the bar that stood before a brewery set-up in back were 16 craft beers all from BR.  All of the beers I had had from BR in the past were excellent – beers like Racer 5 IPA, Red Rocket, and the Hop Rod Rye – so I opted to go off the beaten path and get a sampler of beers new to me.  I check off the beers on a paper Kevin provided and he soonafter returned with a handsome tray of beers.  Upon setting the sample tray down, Kevin returned with three shots of beer for the two of us and himself.  “Here’s a shot of the Racer X” he said. “This one is free.” We all toasted and gulped our beer shots.  If only Anderson Valley was this cool.

Green House Lager: A Bohemian lager at 5.2% ABV that poured a pale golden body with a small spotty white head.  Crisp, spicy skunkish lager nose.  Creamy and well-balanced finish.  A well built lager.

Wine County Wheat: A Northwest style wheat ale with a hazy golden body, thin white head and a fruity yeastiness.  At 4.2% ABV it maintained a pleasant snap of biscuit malts.  A great example of a style I don’t often lean toward.

Crystal Wit: 5% ABV. Belgian wit style brew with a thick, soapy orange-yellow body and a blanketing white head.  The nose was of spicy, fruity candy from the yeast and wheat play. Creamy delicious and with a great floral hops profile.  Yeah!

G’Ma’s Home Grown: Homegrown hops and Chinook hops from Yakima Valley.  This 5.4% ABV beer was an orange-copper hue with a gentle white head.  The nose was of an in-your-face wet, tropical fruit, oniony, cheesy (yes cheese-esque), chive-like hops.  Quite bold.

Late Harvest Lager: 6.2% ABV. German Noble malts married with Munich and Pils hops  made this a marzen straight through. A glowing orange-sienna body indicated a mildly cloying, creamy lager.

Easy Rider: Made with 100% rye malt, this smooth 5% ABV brew was smooth with a bitter bite and sharp peppery up-front presence.  The spiciness lingered and the flavor was quite unique and would probably be an excellent complement to a chili or bean stew.

Heritage Ale: This 7.9% ABV titan boasts a gold medal at the 2000 Cali state fair.  Deep copper-chestnut in color with a tan head, the nose of this beer is fragrant scotch whisky malt and smoked peat. Perhaps my favorite beer of the flight.  It was killer!

Big Bear Ale: This 8.1% specialty ale had a deep sugary “it” quality in the nose.  Great marriage of hops and malts.  Abysmal chestnut core with a thick beige head.  Bubblegum, caramel, and candy sugar notes emitted from my glass. I know I’ve had this in bottles before, but this fresh-on-tap flavor was like no other. Excellent balance for a big and bold brew.

Old Scoutter’s Barleywine: The biggest and baddest of the bunch (9.6% ABV).  Heavy amber-copper bodied with a swirling and wispy whitish head.  Boozy, barley nose with lots of malts and a big floral hoppiness.  It is obvious from beers such as this that Bear Republic knows how to regularly brew superb beers.  In fact the brewery won best small scale brewer at the 2007 GABF.  This is a sipper with a sharp bourbon bit.  Finishing with tart oak tannins that leave it dry.  This beer could easily age out for a few more years.

Before leaving, Margaret was compelled to speak to a gentleman at the end of the bar with one of the longest beard/mustaches we’d seen in person.  The man called himself Ranger Rick and claims he has been written about all over the world.  Ranger Rick says he occasionally helps out around the bar and has even aided in the brewing process.  He was a friendly man who was fond of Margaret.  Cheers to you, Ranger!

Bear Republic was a place we could have stayed for a week, but we had to journey forth down the freedom highway to our final destination for the night: Santa Rosa.  For those who don’t know, another of the best breweries in North America resides in Santa Rosa.

Russian River

Brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo’s beers are some of the most touted around the West Coast, and for good reason.  Santa Rosa’s hop spot in teh heart of the lively little city features a friendly and knowledgeable staff and a wide range of American and Belgian beer styles to satiate even the most demanding beer snob.  In the pub we spotted a woman wearing a Hopworks t-shirt along with several other brewies’ gear from around the country. The menu of beers features fourteen brews all with IBU and ABV (down to the hundredth of a percent) listings. Further, the joint makes great pizza.  The smell of the pies alone is enough to draw you in.

Defenestration Belgian Style IPA: 6.80% ABV.  A rich, copper body with a soft white head.  Tropical fruity nose and an excellent floral hops and yeast flavor make this a one of a kind hybrid brew.  Finishes with a dry, bitting finish.  Delectable.

Redemption Blonde Ale: A lighter Belgian on the list (5.23% ABV) with a lush copper hue and a wispy white head.  Fruity, apple and grapefruit nose intermingled with fragrant yeast esters.  This beer would pair nicely with a mild cheese or peppery meat slices.

Sanctification: (5.60% ABV) Pale copper-golden straw bodied 100% Brettanomyces beer with a gnarly, sour, sticky, dry profile.  This one was perhaps my favorite of them all.

Perdition:  The road to perdition starts here. A dark copper “Biere de Sonoma” at 6.10% ABV, it possessed an oniony hops profile with a chewy malt spine.

At this point we had almost had our beer fill for the day.  Almost.  We had to make a stop at the Third Street Aleworks that was just around the corner from Russian River.

Third Street Aleworks

We ponied up to the bar ath Third Street and perused the menu of beers for a moment before the barkeep arrived.  I asked for a small taste of the Bodega Head IPA.  She seemed put out to have to give me a sample and stormed away.  Upon returning she forcefully threw the sample at me and walked away neglecting to ask my partner what she wanted to drink.  We shared the sample of the IPA.  It was a light amber-golden bodied ale with a small white head.  Bitter and abrasive was the peppery hops profile.  This was a total hop bomb with little underlying malt presence.  After some wait, I was able to flag down our “server” to get a beer for Margaret.  Still appearing annoyed with us for some reason, she took our next order, which would be our last. Margaret ordered the Badda-Bing Cherry Ale (5.1% ABV).  Margaret said “well, it has cherries in it.  I can’t go wrong.” Right?  The glass poured a musky red body with a thin and spotty white head.  Tart and sweet flavors that finished like a cheap version of cinnamon raisin toast.  The nose of this beer was on the cusp of grotesque and medicinal.  A saccharine cherry wave of vomitous eeriness loomed in the glass.  Perhaps the other beers were worth a go, but after the wonderful beers and service we had experienced at places like Russian River and Bear Republic, our patience was shot, and we paid leaving the beer, the unamiable barkeep, and the brewpub behind.

Okay, so Third Street wasn’t our last stop.  A friendly lady on the phone at Lagunitas earlier recommended that we visit the Sweet Spot Pub and Lounge.  At Sweet Spot, a dimly lit Irish sports bar just up the street, five Lagunitas beers were available on tap: Brown Sugga, IPA, Pale Ale, and Kronik (Censored).  Also, they offered Maximus IIPA, Only In It For the Money, and Capacino Stout in bottles. In addition to these fine brews, Sweet Spot featured Stella Artois, Widmer Hefe, Smithwicks, Harp, and Guiness on tap. We ordered a Brown Sugga to split but only drank about half.  We weren’t really in the mood for more beer, but we figured the ordering of Lagunitas, one of our favorite brews, in this area, was a symbol to the beer gods that we had been paying attention.

After a long exhausting, fun filled day of beer enjoyment, our day was over.  We made our way back to the hotel and crashed.  The next day will include a trip down to San Francisco with more exciting beers to come.

Stay tuned…