Road to the Craft Brewers Conference in San Francisco – Part 1

Brewpublic arrived on the scene at the 2011 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America on Thursday March 24, one day after some of the initial events had taken place. After an early departure on Wednesday from Portland, Oregon by car, we soon came to be reminded how far away this great city was from us.

In good conditions, and without excessive traffic, the drive typically takes between ten-and-a-half and eleven hours to complete (and obviously longer if you stop to eat, fuel-up, and take in the sights).

The first stop was for breakfast in Eugene. Here, a favorite stop for us has always been the Morning Glory Cafe. A sign out front indicates that the establishment is a “hate free zone.” We really couldn’t see anyone objecting to this declaration. the food inside was just what we needed. A nice filling breakfast that included biscuits, gravy, fresh veggies, and a warm cup of go get ’em.

More than three hours later, we were passing Ashland, the last Oregon town along Interstate-5 before entering the Golden State, we caught a fleeting glimpse of Caldera Brewing’s grain silo. This was just enough to get us again pumped up for the adventure that would lie ahead. It would also remind us that we were only about half way there. San Francisco is about 650 miles from Portland if you follow the most direct routes. This distance is about as far as one should attempt in a single day by car. More than this can really mess with your sanity.

Shortly after crossing the border into California (and being questioned if any fruits or plants were in tow), we received telephone communication from Breakside brewer Ben Edmunds who was about an hour ahead of us and traveling with Upright Brewing taptender and label designer Ezra Johnson-Greenough. The two were to orchestrate a few Upright events in the Bay Area and Ben was to himself attend the CBC. They were excited to inspect the novel Dunsmuir Brewery Works about 30 miles south of Weed in the snowy Siskiyou Mountains betwixt the Klamath National Forest. Still anticipating making check-in at the CBC before 5:30PM, we persistently pushed forth. By now it was already past noon. Onward we headed through the winding roads pelted with snow and rain and cluttered with downshifting tractor trailer rigs who plugged up the roadway as they attempted to manage the fraught and august hills. It wasn’t until we had passed Shasta Lake and reached Redding  that we had managed to extricated ourselves of the tumultuous mountainous pass which we traded for the contrastingly level terrain of wine country that reiterated a sense of sameness. In the distance on both sides, glorious snow-speckled hills of the Mendocino and Plumas National Forests hemmed in our part of the world.

By the time we were approaching Woodland near Sacramento, we finally began to feel that Bay Area was soon reachable, yet, we  made a decision that battling city rush hour traffic into San Francisco just wasn’t a good bookend to an already long trip south. So, with a fair share of aboveboard beer options throughout this region, we opted for one of the best in the country, Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma. Through towns like Winters, Vacaville, and Napa, the surreal green moguls that extended themselves bountifully in each direction offered some sedation to our anxieties.

After passing through seemingly infinite farmland in one of American’s most beautiful sectors, we at last reached Lagunitas. It was as if we were stepping off the Mayflower and garnering a first glimpse of Plymouth Rock, except there was beer, great beer, and lots of it at that.