Brewsmith

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For the last 10 days I have been on vacation traveling with the wife and 5 y/o from Los Angeles up to Seattle and back. Although the trip was not planned officially as a beer trip, we managed to cram in as much beer related places as possible and still have me sober enough to drive. In the ten day trip we managed to hit eight different breweries/brewpubs and I had some awesome beer. I'll post some photos of the beers (at least the pics I remembered to take) and give a description of the places and the food/beer and environment. In order we went to:

21st Ammentment Brewery - San Francisco, CA
Eel River Brewing Company - Fortuna, CA
Rogue Ales Brewery - Newport, OR
Red Hook Ales Brewery - Woodinville, WA
Naked City Taphouse and Brewery - Seattle, WA
Standing Stone Brewing Company - Ashland, OR
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Chico, CA
Russian River Brewing Company - Santa Rosa, CA

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Fermenting:#151 Fortissimo IPA, #152 Porter
Kegged:#150 Fat Tuba Pale Ale, #149 Dim-Wit, #148 Dead Bee Wit
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david_42

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A fairly good selection, although I'm not fond of Eel River.

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McKBrew

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All that way and you couldn't swing over to the Kitsap Peninsula.

J/K sounds like a great trip.

Brewsmith

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I needed about a week more in Washington alone. I didn't even get to go fishing! When my wife gets back with the camera, I'll post some pics.

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Fermenting:#151 Fortissimo IPA, #152 Porter
Kegged:#150 Fat Tuba Pale Ale, #149 Dim-Wit, #148 Dead Bee Wit
Up Next:Barleywine
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Tuba Sonata
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Brewsmith

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Day 1 Wednesday, August 5 - LA to Oakland via Monterey. Good aquarium, no beer

My son, Ethan behind a swirling tank of anchovies.


Day 2 Thursday, August 6 - to San Francisco, see Exploritoruim

Me and Ethan playing together


meet friends for lunch at...

21st Ammentment Brewery

Knowing I'm driving later that day I stick to the Bitter American. I've heard good things about this beer, and it didn't disappoint. Dark golden, it's listed as an Extra Pale Ale. For being under 4% abv, the 40+ IBUs stand out. It's like a sessionable IPA.

My friends try the Hell Or High Watermelon Wheat. Also very good. Refreshing and light, and hints of the watermelon. Not sweet. A bonus, eat the watermelon wedge after dipping it into the beer. The fruit sparkles in your mouth. No pics of the beer, sorry.

The restaurant is nice with the downstairs open with the bar up front and the open kitchen in the back. Upstairs in a smaller seating area and another bar, and a small window to the brewery. They have a ton of equipment and kegs piled into that little space. Also note the case of watermelons.



Notice something on the top of the box of bottles?


A copy of Brewing Classic Styles

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Fermenting:#151 Fortissimo IPA, #152 Porter
Kegged:#150 Fat Tuba Pale Ale, #149 Dim-Wit, #148 Dead Bee Wit
Up Next:Barleywine
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Tuba Sonata
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Brewsmith

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Day 2 continued San Francisco to Fortuna, CA

Golden Gate Bridge


Giant Redwoods, Leggett, CA




...where Ethan was stung by Yellow Jackets



We found out he's not allergic...


Here's the fortunate accident on the trip, in Fortuna... ha!
We planned on getting to Eureka to stop for the night and drove up the 101 through the mountains along the Eel River. I mentioned to my wife that I thought that there was an Eel River Brewing company, but I didn't know where it was. Coming to Fortuna we saw the hotels there and figured they would be cheaper than 20 minutes further into Eureka so we pulled off. We drive past the hotels and turn into a driveway to turn around, only to roll right into... you guessed it, Eel River Brewing Company.

Being the logging town that it is, the restaurant looks exactly like a place truckers and lumberjacks would be rolling into, only that it has a brewery, beer garden, feral cats, and organic everything. I notice on the beer menu a Belgian beer, also odd for the location, so I have to try it. It's amber red, malty, a little sweet, and all the classic Belgian fruitiness and esters. Pretty good, somewhere close to a Dubbel.

The food comes, and my wife still claims that her Mushroom and Brie burger with garlic cheese fries is the best meal she ate on the whole trip. I get an IPA with my dinner, a barbecue bacon burger. IPA was great, curing my hop craving for the night. The food was great, and the best part about the beer, Thursday night is happy hour prices all night. No pics, sorry. It was late, I was tired, and it was the only brewery "accident" on the trip.

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Fermenting:#151 Fortissimo IPA, #152 Porter
Kegged:#150 Fat Tuba Pale Ale, #149 Dim-Wit, #148 Dead Bee Wit
Up Next:Barleywine
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Tuba Sonata
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Brewsmith

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Day 3 Friday, August 7 - Fortuna, CA to Seattle WA

The longest day of driving on the trip, mostly because the 101 on the Oregon Coast sucks. The view is great. The towns are scenic. The 20 mph speed limit in town bites.

First stop of the day, lunch at...

Rogue Ales Brewery in Newport, OR
Sitting practically under the Newport Bridge, the red silo at the entrance is like a beacon.





Unlike the other brewpubs and breweries that we visited, this one is the only one where the dining facilities are an afterthought, and I mean that in a good way. You walk into the brewery through what looks like a big red silo, into the heart of the brewery. No wait staff, no host, just a brewery with big stainless tanks and brewers with rubber boots walking by



You walk past the fermentation tanks, with temps clearly visible. Some were in the upper 60's. One was at 60 - Dead Guy???, and at least one as at 32. Cold crashing or lagering???

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Fermenting:#151 Fortissimo IPA, #152 Porter
Kegged:#150 Fat Tuba Pale Ale, #149 Dim-Wit, #148 Dead Bee Wit
Up Next:Barleywine
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Brewsmith

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We are seated upstairs in the dining area where stainless parts amputated from kegs serve as light fixtures. The server brings us the free samples, a pale ale made for the Oregon Brewers Festival, a few weeks before. It's good, bitter, almost bordering on an IPA. My wife doesn't like bitter beers, so her sample is all mine



I order the Reuben sandwich and a Brutal Bitter. Although it is available in my area, I have never tried it before. A strong pale ale, amber in color, full of malt and hops. An excellent beer.



As lunch is wrapping up I eye the beer list to see if I can get one more in before we have to leave. I decide on the Chocolate Stout. Black, full rich, bitter with some dark chocolate cocoa without being too heavy or sweet. My dessert.



In the waiting area between the tasting room and the dining area outside there are flyers and other Rogue info. There's a sheet of paper, with the writing mostly in Chinese and the Rogue logos on it. Apparently Rogue and it's trademarks are banned in China. Apparently it is "Detrimental to Socialist Morals". Isn't communism fantastic?

After a brief stop in Depoe Bay for salt water taffy, we stop in Tillamook and visit the cheese factory and get some yummy cheese and ice cream. Big 20 lb blocks of aged cheddar being cut into 2 lb blocks and packaged.



We leave granny driving state of Oregon and enter Washington and arrive safely at our destination outside Seattle in Kirkland, yes the same Kirkland you see on everything at Costco.

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Fermenting:#151 Fortissimo IPA, #152 Porter
Kegged:#150 Fat Tuba Pale Ale, #149 Dim-Wit, #148 Dead Bee Wit
Up Next:Barleywine
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Tuba Sonata
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Brewsmith

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Day 4 Saturday, August 8 - Kirkland, WA

No breweries, but lunch barbecue, homebrew and get together with friends I haven't seen since high school.

Day 5 Sunday, August 9 - Seattle, WA

We go to the Mariners game early afternoon where Seattle beats Tampa Bay 11 to 2. My son gets to run the bases after the game.





Still sporting Dodger Blue...




After a group of us decide to go to...

Red Hook Ales Brewery in Woodinville

Not the most spectacular brewery that we hit on the trip, but it is a local place, 5 minutes from Kirkland, it has a great, family-friendly atmosphere and the prices are reasonable. I've been there before and taken the tour so we just go for the food this time, well food and beer. They usually have at least one beer on cask, and to my delight they have not only the ESB, but the Longhammer IPA on cask. Again, wanting a hop fix I order the cask IPA. Not my favorite IPA of all time, but well made, not over the top and refreshing. The cask version is softer, less carbonated and the malt comes through a little more.



A pitcher of the Sunrye is ordered for others at the table. I haven't tried it in a few years. I have a taste and come up with a recipe off the top of my head, 85% 2-row, 15% rye malt and say about 15 IBU's of bittering. The rye flavor is very subtle and the beer has a nice grainy malt character. If you weren't paying attention, you'd call it a blonde ale. I just checked their website and I have the IBUs nailed, but they also use wheat, so here's my modified recipe

70% 2-row
15% Rye malt
15% Wheat malt

1.040 OG

Mt. Hood bittering addition only for 15 IBUs

Single Infusion Mash at 152 and ferment with clean ale yeast (White Labs 001 or Wyeast 1056) at 67-68

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Fermenting:#151 Fortissimo IPA, #152 Porter
Kegged:#150 Fat Tuba Pale Ale, #149 Dim-Wit, #148 Dead Bee Wit
Up Next:Barleywine
My Recipes
Tuba Sonata
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r2eng

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Looks like a great trip!

We hit the Oregon coast every year and I always forget the camera. Thanks for sharing the pics!

My favorite stop is Pacific City, Pelican Brewery. I love the beer and everyone loves the food!

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