My Beer Travels On Vacation

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

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

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

J/K sounds like a great trip.

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.

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

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.

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???

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.

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

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!

LA to Oakland via Monterey. Good aquarium, no beer

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I stayed in Monterey at the Portola Hotel a few months back, and they have an on-premises microbrewery. Of course, if I had a choice between staying in Monterey and heading to Oakland to drink beer, I'd do the latter.

Very nice trip! How was Russian River and Sierra Nevada?

bierhaus15 said:

Very nice trip! How was Russian River and Sierra Nevada?

Click to expand...

I'm getting there, those were the last 2 days. I ran out of time last night. I'll try to get the rest posted tonight.

Day 6 Monday, August 10 - Seattle, WA

The morning and afternoon are spent at the usual places in Seattle. We start at the EMP and then have lunch in the Seattle center before taking the monorail downtown to hit the Pike Market before they close.



We stop at Beecher's to get some cheese and also stop at a nearby tea shop.



We then hit the Monorail back to the Seattle Center to hit the Science Center before heading for dinner to...

Naked City Taphouse and Brewery

I arrive with my firends already there and already met Don. I have a very detailed description of my visit to Naked City here in another thread. After talking with Don for a little and a tour of the place we get down to beer and food. My friend Mike and I order the Naked City Dubbel. Mike's wife, Candace, orders a 21st Ammendment Watermelon Wheat. After explaining to Mike what a Dubbel is the beers arrive and the beer is spot on, exactly what I had been trying to describe to Mike.

For food I order the Ham and Gruyere with the Hop Shoots for an appetizer (where else have you seen hops on the menu?). The beer and food is great. After looking at the beer list, I see a Cantillon lambic beer, Saint Lamvinus, fermented with wine grapes, so I have to try it. We all share the glass. It is like a Flanders Red, sour, but has a wine character from the grapes. What a fantastic beer.

After, again needing a hop fix, I order a local IPA, the Schooner Exact 3-Grid IPA. Wonderfully done and hits the hop spot. Mike orders a Russian River Blind Pig IPA and Candace, a Hale's Cream Ale. About this time Don comes around with samples of his Flanders Red, the one that he had in fermenting in the barrel in his living room. Again the beer is fantastic. My wife, who only seems to like Flanders Red beers, loves it.

By far this was my favorite place on the trip, for several reasons. It was great to finally meet Don and see his place. Second, the restaurant/brewery is beautiful and the vibe is great. Third, the menu is fantastic and all of the food we tried exceeded all of my expectations. It was prepared perfectly and paired well with the beer. Fourth, the beer list is diverse and has something on it for everyone, while representing just about all of craft beer, while having a great slice of the Pacific NW featured. Fifth, even though I only tried one Naked City beer (two if you count the off-the-menu Flanders Red) it was a fantastic beer and I can see that Don knows what he's doing and when his system is finally running, there is going to be a number of fantastic beers coming out of that place. I can't wait to go back as soon as I can. If anyone does make it up to Seattle, make it a point to get there. You won't be disappointed.

I close out the night by heading to Malt and Vine in Redmond to stock up on everything local before I leave Seattle. I'll post my stash after the rest of the trip.

Day 7 Tuesday, August 11 - Seattle, WA to Mt. Rainier, WA

A planned camping trip. It is cloudy and drizzly all day. We get to Mt. Rainier and it is cloudy and just as drizzly, but we decide to tough it out. We can't see the mountain through the thick clouds, but we check out Paradise and see a few waterfalls before "camping." I get a sorry looking fire going, just long enough to get a couple hot dogs warm before it starts raining. It's in the tent for the rest of the night, which we then find out leaks.

Setting up camp



A meadow near Paradise



Narada Falls



Log bridge over Christine Falls



Cold S'mores in the tent

Day 8 Wednesday, August 12 - Mt. Rainier, WA to Salem, OR

We pack up first thing because it rained all night. We finish packing and the rain stops. We drive down south through the state instead of going back west to I-5. We stop at a fish hatchery about 15 minutes from the Columbia River for a bathroom stop, but find out it's one of the three days they spawn the salmon, so we stop for a half hour.

We stop at the Bonneville Dam and see the fish ladder and the Steelhead are running. Man I wish I went fishing on that trip! A few more minutes down the road and we're at Multnomah Falls. After a stop there we get into Portland and visit OMSI, another science center (Our membership at the Discovery Science Center in Orange County, CA got us into the Exploritorium in San Francisco, the Science Center in Seattle and OMSI in Portland for free). Ethan loves these places and its a good place for him to run around and burn off some energy after a long car ride. Plus I'm a big nerd. After a quick stop for dinner it's 45 more minutes to Salem to visit family and stay the night.

No beer, but fun family time.

Ethan at the fish hatchery



Bonneville Dam fish ladder



Multnomah Falls

right on


& on for 10

Day 9 Thursday, August 13 - Salem, OR to Chico, CA

We leave Salem to begin the rest of the drive home with stops for food and sleep, with plans to work in beer at both places. We leave Salem at about 8:45 am which puts us perfectly in Ashland, OR for lunch at...

Standing Stone Brewing Company

We sit outside on the back patio since it's a nice day. The place is a beautiful restaurant with the brewery prominently displayed at the entrance, bar and front seating. As you enter the mash tun and kettle are on the right a few steps up from the floor. The bar is on the left with seating inbetween. Above the seating area is a mezzanine where the fermentation tanks are. Standing Stone is about as green as it comes, even by hippie standards. Wherever possible they source organic and local. The to-go containers are compostable, even the drink cup. The hand soap in the bathroom is even made next door from olive oil at a soap shop.

Not being able to decide on which beer to order, I get the sampler.



It comes, but as you can see from the photo, it is bright and sunny. In just a couple minutes all of the pale beers have a slight skunk to them. They are all good, the Cream Ale, Seasonal Rye Pale Ale, Amber, IPA, Double IPA, and Stout. The Cream Ale is dry and grainy, very little sweetness, but still malty. Like a good German pilsner with less hop bitterness and aroma. The Rye Pale Ale is good with a noticeable rye flavor that works well with the hop profile. The Amber is straight forward with some caramel, toast and a slight roasty flavor. The IPA and Double IPA are similar, bitter and hoppy with the hop character from the Pacific NW you would expect with neither of them being over-the-top. I prefer the double. The stout is like a Dry Irish Stout, only a little bigger. Any bigger and it wouldn't work on such a hot day. One of the better American examples of Dry Irish Stout that I've tried.

I decide to order a full pint, and again, knowing I'm driving, I go for the IPA and not the double. This one I keep in the shade and it is free from the skunk. Much better than the sample.

As for the food, it was all fantastic. I had the burger special or the day with the red lentil soup (with handmade pasta!) yum. My wife had a chicken wrap that ranked high on her trip meal list. My son had the hot dogs (they come bunless with homemade ketchup). He then noted that food at breweries is better because he can taste the spices in the hot dog. He is 5 years old!
We load up again and hit the road climbing up the big hill and out of the state, into California.

Mt. Shasta



By my estimate we can arrive at our rest destination in plenty of time for relaxation and dinner. We pull into Chico at 5:45 with plenty of time to check in, hit the pool and get to dinner at 7 at...

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

It is a Thursday night and the place is packed. The restaurant reminds me of a Claim Jumper style place, only attached to the second largest craft brewery in the country. The tours and gift shop closed at 6, so dinner is all that we get. As we wait for our table I take a stroll around, inside and out. The restaurant has a view into the brewhouse with giant copper kettles visible. The outside parking is underneath solar panels, and is adjacent to the Estate Hop Yard. Is has recently been harvested because no hops are growing. Visible from the brewery are massive fermentation vessels sticking up out of the roof, and over near the dining facilities, hydrogen fuel cells.

While I would classify Standing Stone in Ashland as a bunch of hippies, the folks at Sierra Nevada are just plain smart business people. They generate 80% of their power needs themselves through the solar panels and fuel cells. Even the treatment of waste water produces methane which is captured and used in the fuel cells. CO2 from fermentation is retrieved and used in the brewing and carbonation of their beers that aren't bottle conditioned. I can only imagine the amount of cost savings that they have in power and fuel.

We are seated and I immediately order the sampler on it's reputation alone. The beer list is huge anyways. No way I'm narrowing down this one. It comes and it is the Mother Of All Samplers - 15 different beers!



Here's the top view



From left to right, top to bottom:

Draft Pale Ale
Pale Ale (bottle version, but only place it is on tap)
Porter
Stout
Bigfoot Barleywine
Torpedo Extra IPA
Anniversary Ale
Blonde Ale
Crystal Wheat
Vienna Lager
Brown Ale
Brown Saison
Best Bitter
Kellerweiss
Kolsch

While going into description of every single one would be a bit tedious and fairly difficult, let me give a few generals and then some highlights.

All of the beers have a unique, "Sierra Nevada" quality. They are almost all clean, dry, and fairly bitter. They are hoppy, but not over done, with more emphasis on clean malt, firm bitterness, and unique hop flavors without overpowering one or the other. They use and blend several varieties of hops, so almost none of the hop flavors and aromas come out as "citrusy", "west coast" or even picking out single hops like "cascade", yet they are well done. It was very interesting to try them all side-by-side.

Differences between Draft and Bottle Pale Ale - The draft version is very similar but is less bitter and has a more "round" character to it. Think of turning the dial down from 10 to 8.5.

Torpedo and Anniversary IPAs - More different than you would think. The Anniversary beer is an IPA like if you took the Pale Ale and made it bigger, with a crisp, dry, citrus hop finish, while the Torpedo is a west coast style IPA, full of big hop flavor and aroma with lots of citrus and tropical fruity flavors and aromas.

Vienna Lager - What Sierra Nevada would be if Ken Grossman started in Germany. Dry, grainy, crackers with a full maltiness, and a hop bitterness on the top end of the style.

Brown Ale - A darker, nuttier version of the Pale Ale

Brown Saison - One of the few beers that doesn't scream "Sierra Nevada", yet it is well made and quite good. The yeast character comes out while the malt is clean without sweetness to muddy up the fruity, bubblegum yeast flavors.

Kellerweiss - Another not-your-typical Sierra Nevada brew. Very traditional with a clean, bready malt with the traditional balance of banana fruityness and clove spiciness you want in a real German Hefeweizen.

The food was good. Both my wife and I agreed it wasn't our absolute favorite meal on the entire trip, but it was very well done. I had the Thai Chicken Pizza while she had Capelini with Jumbo Prawns. A few items on the daily menu, such as the salmon looked great, but were all out. A few other items on the menu and that we saw go by on other trays looked great as well.

In all I was not disappointed in Sierra Nevada, although I'd love to come back for a tour of the place. Even at the minimum it was a great pilgrimage to one of the pioneers of the craft brew revolution that we drink the benefits from today.

I'l get to the rest tonight. I know everyone wants to know about Russian River.

Day 10 Friday, August 14 - Chico, CA to Los Angeles, CA

While we could take the easy way home and head back to the I-5 and make the boring ride through California's San Joaquin Valley, there's one more, slightly out of the way stop to make. We head west, past the 5, and through the coastal mountains, through the wine country of Napa, and over more mountains before we get to Sonoma County and into...

Russian River Brewing Company

We missed it on the way up when it was actually on the way, but there was no way I was missing it a second time. We roll in about 12:30 for lunch and for my last beer adventure on the trip. I already had planned which beer to have first. I've already had the Pliny, so I have to go the Belgian/funky route. My first beer, made with 100% Brettanomyces, Sanctification.



At first aroma, it was less funky than I had anticipated. Not barnyardy or leathery, but pleasantly fruity, and just a hint of those wild aromas often talked about. The flavor was still malty, with similar fruity yeasty flavors. Fairly dry finishing, this beer was outstanding. I'm definately going full steam into my Brett beer that I already have a culture going for.

Edit - I forgot to mention, when the beer came I took a big smell of the beer before I took a sip. My son, who is 5, had seen me do this on several beers, and stated asking to smell for himself. I let him smell and then asked him what it smelled like to him. His immediate response... apples! He was so right on.

We order lunch and I get a Magnum Calzone, yes named after the hop. About that time I order another beer, and although I wanted another Belgian, but I needed something to stand up to the sausage and spices, so I went with Janet's Imperial Brown

Calzone with Janet's Imperial Brown



The beer, which I assume is the same recipe from Mike McDole and Brewing Classic Styles, lives up to the hype. It is dark brown and chocolaty, but big and hoppy like an IPA. Well balanced, easy drinking, and goes well with the meal.



My last beer, after it was already decided that I was not driving, was going to be something that I couldn't get elsewhere, so again I went Belgian, this time sour. I order the Consecration, a Belgian Strong Dark, fermented with Brett, Lacto and Pedio, and aged in wine barrels.



It is similar to the Cantillon that I had at Naked City, only bigger, darker and more sour. If it wasn't 10%, I could drink it all night. The wine character was there, but did not overpower the malt, and the sourness cut through the fullness, and what was left of my meal. What a beautiful beer.

And now for the take home part of the trip, the bottle stash that I brought home. I stopped at Malt and Vine, a specialty wine and beer shop in Redmond, WA. I've been there before about a year and a half ago right after they first opened. They have even more refrigerators now than before, and they have beer on tap, a great selection of American craft beer and Belgian specialties. You can even get growlers to go, yes, even of the St. Bernardus 12! Although they have hundreds of different beers, my mission was go get a great selection of everything local. Here's a photo of the lineup:



A closer view:

Silver City Brewing, Silverdale, WA - Ridge Top Red
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing, Snoqualmie, WA - Steam Train Porter


Lazy Boy Brewing, Everett, WA - Belgian Golden
Fish Brewing Company, Olympia, WA - Monkfish Triple Ale


Diamond Knot Brewing Company, Mukilteo, WA
Industrial IPA
India Pale Ale


Ninkasi Brewing Company, Eugene, OR
Total Domination IPA
Believer Double Red Ale

Dick's Brewing Company, Centralia, WA
Dick's Rye Ale
Dick's Imperial Stout

Steffan's Aldergrove Brewery, Tulalip, WA - Empirical Staught


The Aldergrove Empirical Staught is, just on face value, the most interesting beer that I brought back. After talking with the woman at Malt and Vine, you don't get any more "handcrafted" or "micro"brewrey than this. Steffan was a homebrewer that wanted to start production. He checked into the local laws that said he could do it on his property, if he had a dedicated space 60 or so feet from the house. He built his brewery on his property and brewes his beers, by himself, on a 1/3 barrel system - that's 10 gallons! He gladly takes volunteers on brewing days (Mon-Wed) to help with the process. Basically he is still a homebrewer, but legally selling his beer. On that fact alone I had to buy the entire six-pack. The next time I'm up I'm paying that guy a visit.

Very nice write up on your vacation. That's some nice beers you got to try. Thanks for sharing the experience!

That Janet's Brown sure looked tasty.

I'm drinking the Silver City Ridgetop Red right now.

Silver City Brewing, Silverdale, WA - Ridge Top Red

Aroma - Toasty malt with a little citrus from the hops (9/12)

Appearance - A beautiful brick red that is very clear. Very little head, tan that faded to just a lace around the top of the glass. (2/3)

Flavor - Malty, biscuity/toasty, slightly caramely with a touch of sweetness. Even bitterness balanced well, less hop flavor than the aroma would suggest. Clean yeast character. (16/20)

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, thins out in the finish. The slight caramel fades dry with just a touch of lingering bitterness. Carbonation is a little light. (3/5)

Overall - A solid amber. A little more carbonation would make it even better. The lack of carbonation give a slight watery impression, especially in the finish. Malt and bitterness is in a great balance. The label says it's an Alt, which I can agree with. Drinkable and refreshing. (7/10)

37/50

Right now I'm drinking...

Industrial IPA - Diamond Knot Brewing Company, Mukilteo, WA

Aroma - (8/12) Citrusy, slightly spicy hop aroma with a touch of toasty biscuit in there.

Appearance - (2/3) Slightly hazy orange amber with a nice creamy off-white head

Flavor - Big hop flavor up front with toasty malt coming through. Tastes like Victory malt, in a fair quantity, maybe a bit too much. Not very sweet, only a touch honey-like sweetness that is overcome by the hop bitterness. (13/20)

Mouthfeel - Medium body, maybe a bit too thin, with a very dry finish. A little more fullness would help with the lingering bitterness (3/5)

Overall - (6/10) A very biscuity/toasty version of an IPA. More like a Pale Ale with slightly more bitterness. Maybe a bit like where many homebrewers are pushing the APA catagory. Not quite what I was expecting. For me it needs more clean malt and a little more body to balance the hops, with a little less Victory.

32/50

Looks like a very nice vacation. I love the ERB brewery i try to get over there
every other week. Thanks for the great pics. Makes me think of home.