2011 A Beer Odyssey

The question I have been constantly asked since returning from our epic beer odyssey across the U.S. is "What was your favourite?"" 

Now I must admit that I have never had an instant answer as it is so subjective, and also dependant on what perspective you are asking from.  For example are you asking what was the pub or brewery with the highest quality of beers which is an entirely different question compared to asking what pub or brewery did we have the best time at.  An example of this was the Gingerman bar in Manhattan which had possibly one the best beer lists of the trip and a bar that was exquisitely furbished but our experience there was not enjoyable because we weren’t comfortable there at the end of the day when we were tired and just wanted to chill and relax.  This results in what was one of the highest quality establishments we visited not being included or even considered as one of our favourites.

With a little bit of fond reviewing over the blogs later I was able to come up with a list of what I would loosely consider my top ten pubs and top five breweries from our odyssey. 

Places that did not make the list, such as Dempseys Irish bar and St Andrews were great pubs in Manhattan where we had some of our greatest nights and are still strongly recommended.  Other pubs such as McSorleys Ale house and the Great Jones Cafe are places that are certainly must visit destinations although once again not making the final list.

Without further ado, I rate the top ten pubs as follows:

1. Rattle n Hum - Manhattan.  This is a pub that has an awesome tap list and good bottle selection set within a comfortable relaxed atmosphere that celebrates beer culture from wall to wall. They are constantly incorporating beer events and tap takeovers and most importantly will welcome everyone even if the world is about to end thanks to a hurricane.

2. The Toronado - San Fransisco.  This pub was grungy, small and a bit of a hike but it was chocked full of character and a sense of real earthiness.  More importantly the beer list, whilst not being the largest, was in my opinion the most dynamic, with an amazingly diverse selection of full flavour high quality beers sourced from throughout the West Coast. 

3. Rogues Ale House - Newport Oregon. This pub was undoubtedly where we had the best of times and the place that many of us will return to at the soonest opportunity.  At the Rogues Alehouse we experienced exceptionally friendly service and had at our disposal a great range of beers on tap (all from Rogues.)  The apartments above the bar come with our highest recommendation.

4. Venice Ale house - Venice Beach L.A.  This pub is located on the boardwalk looking out over the beach and made it up this high in the list due not just because of the great afternoon we had there but also thanks to great service and a really impressive beer list.

5. The Pub - Vegas baby Vegas.  Unfortunately there aren’t many good places on the strip to find quality craft beer but this pub completely atones for it with one of the biggest ranges of beers encountered, trying the 17 different IPAs was enough to convince me.  It was certainly the best sports bar we encountered throughout the trip with big LCD screens everywhere and flatbread that was outstanding.

6. The Freakin Frog - Vegas.  This place is off the strip in Vegas and has probably the best cool room with racks and racks of bottles from all over the world.

7. The Blind Tiger - Manhattan.  One of the greatest ale houses New York has to offer with an ever changing and exciting tap list.  Definitely a must visit pub if you are ever in New York.

8. Hop Devil Grill - Manhattan.  This was another cool pub on the trendy east side with an exciting beer list and a ridiculous all you can drink Sunday brunch special.

9. The Pony - Manhattan.  Just another of Manhattans great bars offering great beers that also provides high quality food to match.  Many New York bars (and I mean awesome bars) missed out but the line had to be drawn somewhere, it must be said that the overall quality and range of bars in New York was a dream.

10. Doyles - Boston and Kellys - Portland.  I feel compelled to include an Irish pub and I couldn't split the difference between these two deserved Irish bars - they both had great ranges of beer and the quintessential Irish drinking atmosphere to compliment the always appreciated well poured Guinness.  Furthermore I would love to have either of them as my local. 

Now as for the breweries I wish I had got to more but is what turned out to be an obvious top five;

1. Russian River - California.  The most amazing beers were tasted here with great IPAs such as the famous Pliny the Elder, and beers cask-conditioned in oak wine barrels.  Simply amazing.

2. Bear Republic - California.  These guys have my favourite branding by using the old Speed Racer style theme.  More importantly, the beers are fantastic and once again provided diversity at the top end with Barley wines, IPAs and oak aged beers.  They are truly one of Americas greatest breweries, the good news is that The Wheaty has just received a shipment and have some in stock.

3. Stone Brewing - San Diego.  Simply one of the best breweries in the world and I was disspointed not to have the time to take the tour.  I was however able to sample some of their outstanding range of beers from a list that once again providing high end options with oaked ales, barley wines and quality IPAs.  The brewery is a must visit destination for a meal, just make sure you give yourself time to sample more than one or two beers to do it justice.

4. Rogues HQ, Brewers on the Bay - Newport Oregon.  Rogue Headquarters....what can I say about a personal favourite, it’s worth a brewery tour for sure, then take a quick visit to the gift shop before settling in to try their beers pint by pint.  It's the XS range (their premium limited issue beers) such as imperial IPAs and stouts that are particularly of interest.  It appears that every Rogue pub (including the ale house over the bridge) have different XS kegs and bottles allocated to them so don't think for a minute that once you have visited one site that you should leave it at that.

5. Lagunitas Brewing, California.  A great spot to spend a Sunday arvo in their beer garden sampling their hoppy beery goodness.

 Now it must be said that every one of us on the tour may have slightly different answers as to what their favourite drinking hole would have been.  But isn’t this the whole point, that we get off our butts, get out there to explore this new found diverse beer world in which we all can find our own personal mecca.  It's this process that is the adventure during which memories are created to last a life time.  The bonus side effect is that we may just find our own new next favourite drinking spot or favourite beer and then be able to sit down with mates and share either the beer or the story.

Thanks again for the support of Lavina Estate wines and the Wheatsheaf Hotel.

Cheers all, see you at a bar somewhere soon.

So after accomplishing the 60 pubs and breweries in 60 days I felt like I needed to celebrate the achievement in style.  I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way than by taking on the challenge of a Portland microbrewery walking tour.  I had found a neat little app for the iphone prior to leaving Australia that gave history and info on the tour sights as well as excellent directions.  So off I trekked to the train to get myself downtown to sample some more quality beers.

61. Widmer Brewery

Whilst catching the train to the city on previous trips from our hotel I had espied the Widmer Brewery.  It was on old brick corner building sitting opposite the rail line, in the heart of an industrial area on the other side of the river to downtown Portland.  It looked old, it looked cool, I wanted in.

So on my way into town this was the first and most obvious destination for me, and it was a good decision if I do say so myself.  I found my way to the bar, asked for and subsequently received a taster tray of beers.  This was absolutely necessary because following a precursory review of the beer menu it was clear that there were 7 or so beers that I really had to try.  The list was a dream come true for a hop head such as me but I was realistic, this was my first stop and I didn’t want to make it my last for the day.

First on the list was the Hefferweizen which had won many a gold medal, so even though it wasn’t by any stretch my favourite style of beer I felt obliged to give it a go.  After that it was all hop territory with two different single hopped Rotator Falconers IPAs followed by an O’ryely IPA with three ryes married together with familiar Nelson Sauvin and Galaxy hops all the way from down under and the land of the long white cloud.  Then came the Nelson imperial IPA followed by my favourite the Pitch Black IPA.  Next on the list was the Timber imperial red ale that was slid in sneakily by the bartender who knew that it was a must try for a beer nut such as me.  A freshly baked salted pretzel with a cheese fondue for dipping was an outstanding accompaniment with beer tasting and good value for under $5.  I was so close to settling here for the day that it wasn’t funny, but reluctantly I dragged myself out of there by the scruff of my own neck.

62. Bridgeport Brewpub

So it was back onto the train for me, a quick ride over the bridge and there I was enjoying a nice little walk to try some famous Bridgeport brews.  The walk was through an old industrial area that had been revitalized and transformed into a cafe district, it was an absolute pleasure and insight into the priorities of this city.  There were cool cafes everywhere you looked sitting on what used to be old loading bays at the front of warehouses.  Throughout the length of the walk I was being teased and enticed with magnificent aromas of bbq marinades and sizzling sauces emanating from different corners, crevices and warehouses and they aroused pangs of hunger and desire I knew were entirely unreasonable and fictional yet real. It was at the end of this district that the brewpub sat embracing the identity of this cool area.

I found my way upstairs past the restaurant to the bar area and sat down looking up at a large screen with a football game on (NFL and college games are always on btw.)  I selected the biggest and baddest beer on the board which was the Knuckelhead bourban barrel-aged barleywine, holy cow its a big flavoured strong yummo beer but not for the faint hearted.  They also have the Hop Czar IPA which was a favourite of mine and one I often picked up throughout my time in Oregon and amazingly was it was under $10 a six pack from most service stations and convenience stores, sigh... I miss America so much already.  Still, no time to dwell or linger, it’s off to the next brewery just up the road.

63. Deschuttes Brewery

Busy busy busy, we are talking about large space with a quality looking restaurant and a seriously large bar that still left me waiting three deep.  Lots of DeschuttesDue to the stoopidly busy state of play here I eventually ordered a Hoptrip IPA, downed it, loved it and left it. That’s how I roll baby!

64. Rogue Distillery and Public House

The Rogue Pub was similar to the Newport pub except busier, omg was it way too busy just like Deschuttes, I guess it was a gorgeous Saturday arvo and weren’t the people of Portland soaking it up downtown in style.  The pub had the same stuff adorning the walls as the Newport pub but on a larger and more dense scale, it was clear that Rogue is has a corporate side and with that comes a defined framework that they apply to their establishments.  This is quite in contrast to their revolutionary philosophy but hey, it still works.  They even had the toilets named Barley and Hops the same as in Newport and just so that you know the difference, Hops is for men and Barley is for ladies, don’t ask me why because I’ve usually found women to be much more bitter as a rule, ouch!  That’s going to hurt me later.  But back to the confusing names, it was many a time that we had to yell out instructions to newbies back in Newport as they stood helplessly between the two scratching their heads and holding their bladders.  Anyways, a quick Yellow Snow IPA for me, a visit to the Hops room and I was outa there.

65. Henrys 12th Street Tavern

Henrys came with high recommendations and the reality did not let me down with gorgeous styling and exposed bricks and candles setting the mood inside, even the toilets deserve a mention with glossy black tiles that normally would appear massively sleazy but they just work to the other extreme and look all class in what comes together to make the entire place somewhere that Sherlock Holmes would be comfortable sitting down investigating the mystery as to what beer on the list may just be the favourite.

That beer list was again huge with a myriad of options, the bar staff were also helpful and knowledgeable, before long I had consumed a couple of Ninkasi belters in the form of a Total Domination IPA and a Tricerahops double IPA, thank you very much.

Sitting at the bar revealed an impressive icy cold strip across the bar where you can rest your beer to keep it cool, I have no idea how it works or why it is there but is mega cool in my books.  I got talking to some local lady who had just flown back from Mexico and was tired but wanted a beer or two before settling into her home for the evening, I like the way these people think in Portland.  It turned out she was heavily into all the natural wellness stuff that would suit the populace back home in Nimbim,  further chatting revealed semi interesting facts such as that Sante Fe, New Mexico has more acupuncturists per capita than any place on earth.  Of course they do and good on them.  This is small glimpse of the sort of people that seem to dominate the population of Portland, it is best exemplified by a T-shirt I saw at the airport that simply said in bold lettering “KEEP PORTLAND WIERD” and what a grand job they are doing of it, with lumberjack style beards dominating the man folk and tats and those crazy loopy earings (called flesh tunnels I am reliably informed), and don’t even get me started on the crazy fur hats with bear ears.  I wouldn’t wear all this stuff, but I have grown my lumberjack beard in my own small tribute to this cool laid back culture.  Once again I avoided the temptation to settle in and moved on a block or two towards the Tugboat Brewery.

66. Baileys tap room

Well the Tugboat Brewery was closed, on a Saturday arvo, are you kidding me.  Not a drama because my final destination was just over the road at the Baileys tap room.   I had to wait 20 minutes for it to open so a quick stroll around a couple of blocks cleared the head nicely and re-invigorated my enthusiasm for more beer.  The little corner cafe style bar was way cool with an electronic LCD display replacing the usual chalkboard as the beer list.  The list was ridiculously long and chocked full of quality.  To honest I can’t even remember what I chose, only that it was a new big hopped IPA from Oregon somewhere.  I do remember taking my beer outside (straight past a huge rack of board games for customers to amuse themselves with, nice) and found myself out the front on the sidewalk sitting at a bench and table (eventually shared with some other friendly patrons) watching the weird world that is Portland wander by.

The city of Portland and in fact the State of Oregon has totally embraced the craft beer revolution, this may be due to the alternative acceptance that they willingly accept without reservation.  Without a doubt this is somewhere where you can be whoever you want to be or more likely what other people generally don’t want you to be, being weird is certainly a motto they have adopted and with that comes diversity and tolerance.

Upon reflection  I also think that it’s quite intersting that every time we come to a new city we start thinking that we could live here or that maybe it’s our favourite.  I’m not sure that Portland is my favourite city but I did absolutely love it and could happily live there and drink there for extended periods of my life.  There is much to like here and much other parts of the world including Australia that we can learn to improve our own quality of life.

60. Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub

It was entirely appropriate for our particular group of nomadic drinkers that the 60th pub on the 60th day of the odyssey across the USA would culminate in a gathering at an Irish pub.  Just as suitably is the fact that this pub had been rated America’s number 1 Irish pub (Tim Horans top ten) in the entire country. 

From the outside the pub looks old and that's because it is, the interior appears to have lasted well through many St Patrick day celebrations and consists of the typical decor that the best Irish pubs around the world have.  I wonder if there is a supermarket for Irish pub wares and decor.  I feel compelled to also confess a personally appreciation for the Manchester United shrine on one part of the wall.  It was clear that this was a popular home to many people and too easily could become a local pub to me and my friends if we ever lived near it or it moved to near us.

Of course we all started with pints of Guinness and they poured a bloody good one at that.  It was certainly a group consensus that Guinness in the States has a much better flavour than our Aussie version, a shame for us.  There was importantly also a quality selection on draught thanks to the local breweries in the area being utilised with offerings such as Ninkasi Total Domination IPA from down the road at Eugene, the award winning Widmer Hefferweizen from just across the river and a Mt Hood Multoporter (which sounds more like a time machine than a beer.)  I find it important to acknowledge that finding good local craft beers in Irish pubs to compliment the standard Irish and English beers on offer has been a reasonably common and refreshing occurrence during our trip.  This is a practice we can only hope that our local pubs (Irish or otherwise) can learn to embrace.

By the way if you had ever wondered why a brewery in America would be called Ninkasi it is because Ninkasi was the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer.  As we all know the Sumerians in ancient Persia (aka Iraq) were the founders and inventors of beer.  It was the Egyptians who then took the beer to another level which included paying the slaves for their work with beer and that my friends is how miracles like the pyramids get built.  Beer, the answer to everything!  Now you can stop wondering hey.

Anyways enough ancient history, back here in the 21st century we found that it wasn’t too long before the afternoon sun had vanished, copious pints had been consumed (the beauty of being on holiday and using public transport) and we were getting hungry.  A couple of plates of shepherds pie and a Thai chicken curry later and we found ourselves admitting that these were possibly the best pub meals that we had enjoyed throughout the entire trip.  No mean feat that.  Not only that, about halfway through our dining experience we were treated to a local Irish dance troupe putting on a world class Irish dancing show to an extremely packed pub, we and the rest of the pub were extremely appreciative of the show.  Later that night and the next night some World Cup rugby games were shown live late into the night and life was good for the boys and the expected tradition of drinking excessively in Irish pub was met and then some.

This was a great Irish pub with all our expectations being met and I can tell you that our group knows Irish pubs and have spent many a night and day experiencing Irish pubs all over the world, for example St Patricks day is considered our own personal public holidays which we have celebrated for many a year now, a few of us were also Hall of Famers and 100 pint members of the sadly demised Shenanigans in Adelaide. 

So, is it the time to reflect on the 60 breweries and pubs in 60 day Odyssey now that the big 60 has been reached?  No, because this was not the end.  The next day it was time to tour the city of Portland with a mini tribute to the 60 in 60 theme with a 6 in 6 hour plan.  It just seems to make sense to me and that is what counts.  It was once again an experience well worth it, standby for details.

59. Rogue Ales Public House - Newport

Now where do I start describing the experiences at one of my favourite pubs of the trip, possibly with the setting and not with the incriminating stories of intoxicating times.  Newport is now one of my favourite little fishing towns, they have a 75 year old bridge, some wild surf beaches, an endless supply of seagulls and sea lions as well as some art deco buildings.  It is down in the historic bay front area that you will however find several things such as the extensive fishing and yachting fleet and over a dozen large fishing boat themed murals dominating the streetscape continuing the fishing theme.  This is backed up by a strong smell of fish bits but amongst all of this also can be found a little pub called the Rogue Ales Public House. 

This is where we played.  We only had one more night in our by now despised R.V. and as we had done more travelling in the last few days than drinking or pretty much anything else we of course woke up thirsty.  Our first decision of the day was to walk across the famous (in their parts) Yaquina bridge and grab ourselves some lunch (also known as a very late breakfast, which was becoming a common event these days.)  We walked in and found the expected Rogue paraphernalia on the walls and a picture of an old naked lady in a bath tub.  Apparently the lease agreement included a clause that the picture (of the previous owner) always remain on the wall and that the pub was always to look after the local fishermen during hard times.  But disregarding those quirks we were to also notice bottles of 16oz Rogue beers displayed prominently for sale and a restaurant with a bar that looked well used.  Behind that bar was also 36 taps, with all Rogue beers apart from one Coors light tap (which appears to be used almost exclusively for the deserved humiliation of those that may dare drink such a watery lager.)

Our barman Richard (Richard is long for Dick apparently) sized us up pretty quickly, I was to later find out why as he recalled our first ordering of a beer quite vividly.  It was quite simple really, when asked what I was going to drink I immediately asked one of my comrades how long we were going to be there, the answer was “forvever” but that wasn’t what concerned him, it was that I then said öh good” and ordered an I2PA which is their strongest and a rather potent double IPA, he was right to be concerned!

Now the beer list is similar to the Brewer’s on the Bay (Bobs) whichof course was outstanding, but both have a few different beers to each other such as the double chocolate stout which was only on tap at Bobs but available exclusively in that gorgeous red bottle at the Ale house.  It was vice versa with the distinctively pink bottled Voodoo Doughnut which is a bacon maple ale and well worth trying.  In fact I took one with me to a Tailgate party at the Oregon Ducks game and it was absolutely perfect for that occasion, smelling like maple syrup but tasting like bacon, and as for that bright pink bottle, well it attracted so much attention from people passing and tailgating in the vicinity that I ended up feeling like a Rogue ambassador giving out information and tasters and the like. 

But I digress, back to the other beers, most of the boys stuck with the Brutal Bitter which is the most popular beer in the pub by far although the Dead Guy Ale makes up the highest percentage by far of Rogue sales.  The Brutal however is an IPA that has been around for 15 years now, yup it was bitter back in the day before anyone could comprehend how anyone could handle what is nowadays considered a reasonnably paltry 60 ibus.  As for me I enjoyed the yellow snow IPA and the I2PA as my regulars but on alternate nights I happily found myself switching to the dark side and enjoying  ales such as the chocolate stout, the double mocha porter as well as a scrummy 7 year old barleywine, delicious guys, I loved them all.

From then on (certainly well into that night and many more) we loved the little pub and the pub was certainly friendly to us. The guys n girls behind the bar were always friendly, very knowledgeable and thankfully tolerant, just how it should be everywhere.  Later on that first day we even got to swear our Rogue allegiance with the President leading the chant at the front bar, fabulous stuff.  Much later that night I know for a fact that two of us ran back across the impressive but evil Yaquina bridge, I had forgotten but my shin splints reminded me for the next few days.  The other drunken stories need not repeating but I can tell you now that they were all harmless but great fun.

We had so much fun in the place on the first two nights we actually returned the next week for an extra 5 or 6 days and yes most nights (if not all) where spent at the Rogue Ales house.  If you ever travel there I highly recommend this place for its beers, its charm and also the great value apartments immediately above the bar.  I also suggest our carry a Hawaiian shirt as I was devastated to not have one with me for Tuesday nights where by wearing it you will get you our first beer free.  Now those who know me know these fun loving shirts are kind of my signature, half of my wardrobe attests to that and I hereby vow that I will never travel without one again.  They also hold a weekly bingo which made for another great night that was laden with bad jokes, dancing, drinking from frisbees, new friends and good times. 

The locals were great, the staff were outstanding and the Sea lions never ever stopped barking.

58. Brewer’s on the Bay - Rogue Headquarters

What a magnificent surprise to end a long day on the road, driving into an R.V. park immediately and conveniently located next to a brewery that just happened to be Rogues headquarters.  Now this was not a pre-planned coincidence, I had long ago given up any sort of influence of the immediate destiny of our group, in a nutshell, they had been to enough breweries and brewpubs to just about last a lifetime. Well one more was about to kick em the guts while they were down but they are tough guys and they took it like men. 

Rogue was certainly on my radar big time and was always going to be the one brewpub or brewery that I fully intended to visit in Portland even if it did require a solo visit.  Rogues have a great history in the brewing world and they have a great attitude to go with that history but what’s more is they have great beers and they have had them for a long time now. I know this because there are two pubs back in Adelaide that stock their product (yup only two, sad isn’t it) and I am ever so grateful for them, they are of course the magnificent Wheatsheaf Hotel who proudly hang the Rogue flag in the front bar and the other is the Earl of Leicester that is more like an old friend in the way it feels familiar with its comfort and friendliness.  In these places I had already tried the magnificent Yellow Snow IPA, Brutal IPA, the Dead Guy Ale and even an XS Imperial Stout.  You can start to see why I was so excited to unexpectedly land in our R.V. next to Rogue Headquarters.

Well it didn’t take long to park the R.V., lock it up and just about run across the car park to the brewery.  I had already snuck in a couple of warm up beers on the way there and they did nothing to curb my enthusiasm for more beer.  So through the big red tower we entered and we wormed our way through a narrow roped off track that twisted through the very real and working brewery floor.  We found ourselves at the top of a flight of stairs at a bar and restaurant area.  Cool stuff adorned the walls apart from some big fat windows that either gave views over the bay of Newport or looked over large vats in the brewery currently brewing the next batch of Rogue beery goodness.

We were each handed some Hazelnut brown samples upon sitting down, immediately we knew we were going to get to taste some different stuff here.  It turned out that they have 50 taps there with a hugely diverse range of Rogue beers including smoked ales, Japanese saki type beers, awesome IPAs and the best range of dark beers that I have come across from one brewer yet.  Hell you could even get ales flavoured with pumpkin, hazelnut, juniper, chocolate, coffee or even bacon and maple.  Yes, the choice is nuts, luckily for us we found the quality was just as outstanding as it was extensive (as I had already been expecting.)  So a few beers later, some clam chowder and a quick visit to the Rogues distillery and we were back sated in our R.V. counting our luck and loving our new location.

But not to take these things for granted I can promise you all that over the next couple of weeks we went to ridiculous lengths tasting and testing their beers, no stone was left unturned and the result was a resounding approval for Rogues.

57. Lagunitas

My daughter loves the dog and I love the beer so it’s a done deal, Lagunitas is a favourite in our family.  This was thanks to Beermasons back in Australia and their membership  beer mail out which meant that I was fortunate enough to have had tried a decent range from these guys.  In fact the bottom row of my fridge is dedicated entirely to their range at the minute.  But visiting the brewery was always going to give the opportunity for some cool speciality beers that are just not available anywhere else let alone in Australia. 

This proved to be the case with all of the four beers I tried, the first was a wild version of a lil sumpin wheat ale that had extra wheat and the regular yeast was replaced with a Belgian yeast, the result was a full flavoured beer and in my opinion a change up from the original which was already good.  Next on the list was a cask conditioned censored ale which even more so transformed the beer, my favourite however was the third beer I tried the Fusion 7 which was a fresh well balanced IPA-ish type of beer that was loaded with hops and very scrummy.  I couldn’t see anywhere what type of beer it actually was, I just know that I loved it.  The fourth beer was the Gnarly which another excellent Barley-wine style of beer with a beautiful honey finish, once again another beer that is rare that I could drink happily all day if I could.  As for the brewpub at the back of the brewery it was obvious that sessions could be held easily a relaxed casual area with solid wooden picnic tables under umbrellas.  Perfect for a Sunday session in fact.

55. Russian River

At the start of this trip there were 5 breweries that I had on my ‘must do list’ this was one of them.

We had arrived in Santa Rosa in the Sonoma County at lunch time on a Saturday, this of course resulted in a 20 minute wait for a table, popular place you see.  The wait gave me the opportunity to try a sampler of their amazing Belgian style beers and what a cool trip that was.  One of the boys commented that I was like a little kid at Christmas, probably a fair analogy.  My favourites from the Belgian line up were the Defenestation with is a hoppy golden ale and the three sour beers which were the Temptation (a sour blonde out of a Chardonnay cask), the Supplication (a sour brown out of a Pinot Noir cask) and my favourite was the Consecration (a sour dark ale out of a Cabernet cask.)  The boys soaked up some Russian River IPA and some Blind Pig IPA and there is of course the wonderful Pliny the Elder double IPA which is credited with starting the double IPA phenom that continues today.  This is what cutting edge brew lists should look like, thanks for the amazing adventure for my palate, oh yeah and thanks for the bottle opener in my new phone cover, handy stuff that.

56. Bear Republic

Staff with passion can make all the difference.  Now Bear Republic is again one of the five “must do” breweries on my list and for good reason.  It’s not just the fact that I am a confirmed petrolhead and that they embrace the whole racing hot rod theme that I love, it’s not just that I have the entire speed racer collection at home and they clearly have gone down that path with their labelling and marketing, nor is it the fact that I too look like a bear, no it’s also because they make exciting and interesting beers such as Belgian Imperial black IPAs, Rye beers and Barleywine  beers, that is the main reason why.

Now I believe earlier I mentioned that staff can make a difference, as we walked in a gentleman by the name of Ryan was serving behind the bar, he immediately recognised us as serious beer drinking folk and began telling us about the two aged reserve beers that were currently available but not for much longer.  Now the way he told us was with much style and intrigue as if he was narrating a fairy tale of magic and wonderment.  Well we were already keen as and salivating without even tasting a drop as he laid out some tulip glasses in front of us.  We were walked though step by step on how to drink it and how to appreciate the full nose and colour, it all sounds a bit tossy and maybe it is, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and worth it.  All I can tell you about the beers (thanks to a heavy head and good times note taking forgot itself) is that the first was a 10 year old strong ale of a Belgian type which was from memory called Samuel Strong, it was a vividly gold in colour with a magnificent caramel aroma and taste.  Sublime.  The second was a barleywine beer that once again had bags of delicious flavours that just kept you savouring each single sip.  They were both magnificent and in the words of Ryan ïf the barleywine beer was entered in the Great American Beer Festival it would win the trophy but they can’t enter it as it has sediment in the bottle.  Fair enough, their loss and our gain I say.

One of the guys rated this place his favourite after just those two beers and justifiably so, it was magnificent.  It just makes me want to keep coming back, the list is just so diverse and exciting and like I said before, the marketing and themes they follow is just perfect for my world.  Thankyou Ryan and thankyou Bear Republic.

If you were wondering what the other breweries on my top five list are there was Stone Brewing which we visited last week which leaves only Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada to be ticked off the list.  Fingers crossed we will survive the beer, the R.V. and each other to make it.  Thanks again to Lavina Estate who assisted us with a bit of sponsorship, it's appropriate as now we are in the wine country cruising in a bit of your part of the world, I know you wish you were here too.  Cheers.

54. Stadium Pub

It was the night of the AFL grand final and we had found ourselves in San Francisco looking for a pub to watch Geelong kick the butt of Collingwood in the AFL grand Final (our version of the superbowl.)  A local mate put us onto a place called the Stadium Pub in Walnut Creek and thanks to our gracious taxi driver (who metamorphosized into a tour guide upon arrival) we were shown that Walnut Creek is actually a happening hot spot with extremely popular bars and pubs.  During the impromptu tour I even spied the Pyramid ale house, if I had known that was in the area I would have snuck down that way an hour or so earlier, next time maybe.

One of the first things we noticed inside the Stadium Pub is that they have flat screens everywhere and where there isn’t a flat screen on the wall you will find some piece of sports memorabilia or photo.  Thats all well and good but we needed beer, n o problem because once again we found a huge beer list representing excellent value (especially in pitchers aka jugs.) So of course we got stuck straight into jugs of Anchor Steam ale, Bear Republic no 5 racer IPA, Lagunitas IPA, Full Sail amber ale and one of my favourites Bitch Creek Ale.  Eventually we did run out of desirable options on the draught list (that was 20 strong, c'mon it was the Grand Final we are going to drink a bit) so we moved onto ordering some bottled imported beers (60 to chose from here) and we indulged in the likes of Chimay red and Grimbergen double for around $5 a bottle, like I said the beer list was great value here.

 In fact we were only a week too early for the opening of their new Belgian beer section, luckily for us the owner was on site was already testing out this new area so it was opened up for us anyway.  After a few chats with the owner it was easy to see exactly where the pub had got its character from.  This place had friendly happy staff and yes it was certainly a sports pub but it was a really good one with genuine character and I can confidently recommend it to anyone wishing to watch a game of just about anything.  A short walk to a great pizza joint, a satisfying loss to Collingwood and we were all heading back to our temporary home as happy campers.

53. The Toronado

Alrighty, it was time to look for a serious pub because we needed a serious beer, or two, or more.  So thanks to a few personal recommendations and worthy info found through google of to a place called Toronado we ventured.  A long steep walk up a hill and before long we found ourselves staring down the barrel of what looked to be a small dive in the middle of what appeared a reasonably questionable part of San Francisco.  Never the less in we walked in and what I found was an extremely unpretentious and earthy looking bar with beer stickers and paraphernalia randomly covering almost every square inch of the old walls.  Most of us were unsure at this stage and I could see the questioning looks from my pals, my call was fast becoming a bit perilous, these boys don’t forgive or forget easily when it comes to getting their beer on.  I however had noticed immediately the extensive and awesome beer list up on the wall, not only that there was some pretty cool music blaring throughout the joint.  I was quietly confident.

Upon reading the big list on the wall I was immediately excited to see the Russian River Pliny the Elder on tap for a hugely expensive $5.  I ordered one straight away in case they ran out.  I was told later that they always have it there so I need not fear but I wasn’t taking that chance.  Before long I had also tried a High Water hop riot IPA, an Alaskan hop hog IPA, a Port welcome back wipeout IPA and a Moonlight Black Lager (jof which I would find out the next day was quite rare and obscure albeit excellent.)  The boys in the meantime were indulging in some Russian River Blind Pig IPAs and Russian River Damnation ales of the strong Belgium Golden Ale type. 

 Clearly all reservations were dealt with and by know we had come to the conclusion that this is a gutsy and real bar that the locals must love and frequent whenever they can without any fear of wankers or pretentiousness messing with their drinking time.   This is certainly another of the favourite bars from the trip for sure.  Oh yeah and if you go be aware that they don’t serve food (just awesome beer) but next door is a great Sausage place that serves gourmet sausages such as duck and fig in buns that are absolutely perfect to go with good beers.  Cheers Toronado, if only I wasn’t so beered up I would have remembered to grab a souvenir T-shirt, oh well, hopefully there will be a next time.

52. The Franciscan

It was our first day in San Francisco and the plan was very simple, find a pub with a view of the bay so we can chill out with a few cold ones.  So to get to the waterfront we then had to jump on a couple of the famous trolley cable cars.  Not easy when they are full but we managed to either hang off or cram in and eventually find our way to Fishermans Wharf.  Little did we know at the time but we would later find that the ride back would be a much more entertaining venture.  Now finding a bar wasn’t easy as we thought it would be but eventually we were pointed in the direction of the The Franciscan by a staff member of another bar who appeared to close their bar upon seeing us approach them, scaredy cats, we don’t drink much, no really we don’t, meh probably fair enough!

Now the Franciscan is undoubtedly a classy and very famous crab restaurant, this appears obvious form the beautiful furnishing, the waiters in white suit jackets and the black and white photos on the wall at the entrance with many famous faces dating back to the years of Cary Grant and co.  The popularity isn’t surprising at all because once you sit down at the bar and turn around you can see a picturesque outlook over the bay towards the many boats and bridges as well as Alcatraz Island, stunning.

The beers started with ridiculously large glasses of draughts such as Alaskan Amber, Trumer Pilsner and a few other wheaty white type of beers clearly matched for seafood.  I went straight for some bottles of the local Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA and I was a happy camper.  It wasn’t long before a whole bunch of really big beers were consumed and food came onto the agenda.   I was able to fulfil one of my goals and partake in a clam chowder in San Francisco Bay, yummo!  Soon the boys could no longer resist the great seafood menu, some shared one of their famous crabs while others went for the likes of crab pasta or fresh salmon plates.  A bottle of some local Sonoma chardonnay later and life was all good. 

But did we stop there?  Of course not, some probably should have but no, some dastardly strong pink margaritas found their way onto the bar and the night became a different type of interesting.  It began with one of the boys splitting his forehead open by slamming it on the bar, as you do, it continued with a drunken visit to a Burger King by a couple of the lads and one of the most wild and adventurous trolley ride back up the hills with Aussie idiots hanging off the trolley and ....well....the story stops here.  To sum it up, it was a great night with mates that will not be forgotten anytime soon.

One thing I will say is that it is a place that I would love to take my dad and family.