In the far northern region of California, in the heart of the Siskiyou Mountains, is a small town named Weed. I stop in Weed several times a year as I travel to my folks’ place in Southern Oregon, the people are great and there’s quite a nice ‘homey’ feel to the downtown area – this, by the way, is not a big city, it’s barely a small town. Anyway, Weed is home to a nice little brewery, Mount Shasta Brewing Company, that recently was granted permits for an outdoor beer garden, a place for tourists and locals to enjoy a pint (or sampler) of beer when the weather is nice (and it can be down-right beautiful).
Not surprisingly a few town-folk got mad about this new development. After all, the brewery was ‘near’ a park and a public swimming pool where youngsters could be corrupted by the view of adults enjoying a beer. Petitions were filed and an appeal was made to revoke the license, for the kids’ sake of course. Finally, the city council convened over the matter and a shocking clarity of opinion was expressed by none other than the Mayor of Weed. But first, let’s get an idea of what the city was fighting here (this is from the Mt. Shasta Herald).
“Children use the swimming pool all the time,” said Gubetta, “this is too close to the park, it’s not right.”
Well, that’s almost logical, right? I mean, what if a kid accidentally mistakes the beer garden for the park and then gets his hands on a few pints of beer – don’t you care about poor Johnny, you know he gets confused… and garden, park… they’re so similar sounding. I may be a bit mean there, but come on.
The mayor had this to say in response.
“in regards to the park, people can go to the park with a keg of beer and cook, and get drunk. So, being next to the park, as far as I’m concerned, is a little insignificant.”
Whoa, seems the only logical thing to do now is ban alcohol in the park, lest the kids be forever endangered by the evils of beer.
In all seriousness, I am impressed with the logic expressed here by the mayor. I’m even more impressed with his next comment.
“I don’t think some people understand what a beer garden is. It’s not a bar or a party house, it’s a place where people go to taste beer and have a sandwich or a hot dog. It’s not a place where people typically go to get drunk and party, that’s not what a microbrewery is.”
How do you like that? I couldn’t agree more with this rational statement expressed in a meeting where it seemed some lacked reason. Wouldn’t it be great if all city representatives had the same reasoning ability, to be able to look at the world around them and realize that it isn’t black and white? I love that this mayor understands the business of his town, that he can distinguish a beer garden from a frat house. Score of for Mayor Sutton.
Here in Denver, the night before the 2007 GABF, and all I can think is “WOW”. The day started off simple enough, getting my bearings on a city I don’t know and then going to the airport with my uncle to pick up my step dad. I just have this to say about that – Denver International is huge!
From the aiport we drove to Fort Collins for our private tour of New Belgium Brewing Co. There I met a lifelong friend, her newborn son and her father-in-law as we all had an extensive tour of the NB facility. Along the way we chatted about their sustainability practices and sampled their beers, even the ones not on the menu. We also got to see their “barrels” used to age La Follie and Le Terroir, barrels like I’d never seen before. Hell, we even got a few samples from these larger-than-life barrels, and I must say that in itself was an incredible thing. In all, I’d say that Sierra Nevada is doing more for sustainability, but NB is certainly doing all they can… Great place.
From NB we all headed down the street to another Ft Collins brewery, Coopersmith. If ever you’re in the area, you need to find this place, they simply serve wonderful beer. I had a Kriek here that was wonderful, dry and clean finish with a fantastic tartness up front. They also were pouring an English Bitter that was wonderful in every way, served proper of course. Their chile beer was astounding, with wallop of fresh peppers in the aroma and a mild heat – this was right up there with the Great Basin Jalepeno beer I had at the California Brewers Festival.
While at Coopersmith we got a chance to sit with the head brewer, Dwight Hall, who told us the story of the place and described a bit of the process they use to create the beers we were enjoying. They opened in 1989, a few years before New Belgium, and have enjoyed a great relationship with the locals ever since. They do small batch brewing, using a 10 barrel system, and still do the brewing the hard way – by hand, with much sweat and frustration put into the great beers you’ll find there. Dwight mentioned the Kriek I loved so much was fermented with only the organisms found in the oak barrel that once housed wine from Napa Valley. He’d keep the beer in the barrel for 18 months, allowing it to fully mature 
before releasing it. Dwight (pictured) rations the beer a bit so you have a good chance of finding it year round, you just won’t be getting any to go.
Leaving Fort Collins we all headed to Twisted Pine Brewery in Boulder, just 30 minutes south. Twisted Pine is a production facility with a tasting room and the only food you’ll find is the peanuts they give you when you order your beer. Here, they had just put on their Bourbon Barrel Red, a beer aged in Buffalo Trace barrels for a year and a half. Wow. The beer was full of wonderful oak and bourbon flavors and aromas, a delight to drink. Sitting outside there, we were surrounded by the locals, those folks just getting off work and finding their way to their favorite watering hole – it was great to see. The brewers too were enjoying the nice weather, gathered together for a few pints of their own after a long work day with the constant interuptions by folks in town for the fest.
We had just one more stop to make the day before GABF, Falling Rock Taphouse in downtown Denver. If you’ve never been to Falling Rock, find a way to do so. We met people from around the world, in town for the GABF, who were all too eager to enjoy the fine beers poured at Falling Rock. In attendance this night were brewers and publicans from around the country, those we all know and respect. The festivities ramped up when Hildegard, of Belgium’s Urthel brewery, walked up in somewhat of a rock star fashion, with people asking for pictures and gushing about their love of her beers and her status as a female brewer. It was good to see her again, last time she was out PBN helped organize an Urthel night in the Sacramento area, and tonight again would be her night.
Hildegard was here to put on a very special beer, at treat for the GABF – the Samaranth aged in oak. What a treat, for those fortunate enough to get a glass, a wonderful Beligan Quad with more than a hint of oak in the
flavor. They went through the first of two kegs in about 9 minutes I’d guess, and the other keg wasn’t going to last long either.
Yes, it was a good way to usher in the 2007 GABF. In about an hour we’ll pack into the car again and make another trip to Boulder, but this time to check out the famed Redstone Meadery. Our tour is slated for 11AM, then it is time for all things beer.
Pictures:
Step-dad and Uncle in New Belgium
New Belgium Barrels
Dwight at Coopersmith
Inside Falling Rock
I had planned on taking advantage of the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend by making my quarterly trek to Bear Republic, Russian River and Moylan’s, the best way 40 miles in brewing I can think of. In fact, once I heard from Chris Devlin that he’d be in Santa Rosa, my plans were all but solidified. Then something strange happened, something I’m not used to. I woke up that morning and realized that I was stuck in a rut with my brewery visits. As first I wanted to ignore this revelation, but the nagging voices in my head weren’t going away, it was clear a change of plans was in order.
Upon realizing I wouldn’t be doing the 101 corridor trip, I logged on to BeerMapping.com to chart my course. Bear Republic is about two hours from my home, so my rule was to find a brewery within two hours in another direction. I first looked east, thinking a trip to Tahoe might be a good escape, but realized I’d been to Fifty Fifty, Auburn Alehouse, Silver Peak and Great Basin. With this in mind I looked north, only to realize quickly I had no desire to drive north. Finally, I looked south and found my my route: start in Stockton for a visit at Valley Brewing, then on to Manteca to sample the Kelly Brothers Brewery, finally stopping in at Sacramento Brewing Company for good measure.
Valley Brewing
I love old buildings, especially old brick buildings, and Valley Brewing is found in a building that is a remnant of years forgotten, apparently built in the late 19th century (according to the server who was eager to share). The exterior of the building included a well used patio and old styled paintings dating back to who-knows-when. With high ceilings, old glass and beer memrobelia spanning the last 50 years, the inside of the brewery certainly feels like a fixture in the community. This is further evidenced by the kindred service provided to patrons, often by first name with a smile that isn’t forced.
I ordered the 10 beer sampler, for six bucks, and a prime rib sandwich. The beer sampler included a guest Pomegranite Cider, made by Vince at Two Rivers in Sacramento, and a Root Beer that is apparently made on location. The rest of the sampler included: Black Cat Stout, Hitman Gold Ale, Indian Red Ale, Cobra Hood India Pale Ale, Valley Brew Pale Wheat, Port’s Pale Ale, Apricot Ale, Valley Berry Wheat.
The fruit beers just didn’t do it for me, sorry. I just don’t understand the need to add fruit extract to a decent base beer, but seeing pint after pint of these leave the bar I understood, yet again, that not everyone agrees with me. The Berry Wheat wasn’t bad, mind you, if you’re so inclined. The apricot beer, well, one sip was enough. Again though, popular beers with the ladies.
The Black Cat Stout was a deceiving beer. At around 6% ABV I didn’t expect much in the way of body and warmth, but there it w
as. I suppose this is a technical flaw, the fusel alochol, and the cherry-like flavor, but I found the beer very easy to enjoy.
Easily, the big hitter in this lineup is the Indian Red Ale, which also boasted the coolest looking logo for my taste. I’ve taken a liking to good red ales in the last few years, and this satisfied my beer requirements and complimented well the prime rib sandwich I ordered off the specials menu. The beer was deep golden in color, displayed a nice American hop character in the aroma and was just easy to enjoy.
Valley Brewing seems to pride their “Family” friendly focus, and it was easy to see why. While there weren’t a lot of families downing beer and eating lunch, the place certainly had the friendly staff, quality food and family restaurant ambiance you’d find at Applebee’s. When the food was gone and my visit complete, I was happy to have made the trip, you’ll be happy as well I suspect.
From Valley Brewing I made my way to Manteca, a city I have only associated with waterslides before this day, to stop at Kelley Bros Brewing. The two breweries are maybe thirty minutes apart by freeway, making this an easy trip right up until I turned Right when I needed to turn Left, thus adding fifteen minutes in the car.
Kelley Bros is one of the more beautiful breweries I have been to in the region, high ceilings, well lit, fantastic rustic wood bar with tall mirrors and bottles of liquor stacked three deep. For all its
beauty, the decor in this place seemed disjointed at best, sort of like everything was a bit out of place. I did enjoy their old memorabilia, which included some old beer stuff, as well as vintage collectables for candy, nuts and whatever. I also appreciated their collection of growlers from various breweries that lined the top of their bar, as it reminded me a bit of Big Mike’s house – I wonder who has more growlers?
Overall, I think the beers at KB’s were more drinkable, had richer flavor and just seemed to appeal to my tastes more than Valley Brew. Like Valley Brew, Kelley Bros offered 10 samples in their sampler platter, only this time all ten beers were brewed by Kelley’s. Not surprisingly, my favorite of the extensive lineup was the IPA, with an assertive hop character that didn’t overwhelm or overpower the palate.
I’d be remiss in my duties if I failed to mention the food here. I was not all that hungry, but knew I was only buying the sampler platter and didn’t want to feel cheap (or something), so I ordered their potato wrapped prawns, which was recommended by the barkeep. Oh man, these kicked ass! Thin laces of potato, wrapped like thin shoelaces around prawns and fried to crispy perfection. I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it, but wow.
In all, the day trip was a great idea and if you’re looking for a different kind of trip through the valley, I suggest you give these guys a try. If you do, make sure you let us know what you thought.
Alex Puchner, Senior VP for Brewing Operations for BJ’s Brewhouse, was in town today for a scheduled meeting with local brewers. In advance of this he invited me out to sample the barrel aged beers they’ll be sending off to the GABF and featuring in their inagural Brewers Dinner early next month. I’ve written before about my admiration of BJ’s, the corporate brewery that hasn’t lost their passion for beer, so I won’t get into a lot of detail here. What I want to, however, is highlight what was a wonderful lunch break.
Up First, the Jeremiah Red aged in Syrah barrels for eight months on Plums, then aged an additional four months in steel. This was a thing of beauty, with the oak and plum flavors subtly displaying themselves in the warmth of a moderate alcohol level. The balance of this beer was incredible and I am a bit sorry to say that most of you won’t be finding this in your local BJ’s
location. Puffy, man, this was a wonderful creation.
Beer number two was the Nutty Brewnette, fermented additionally with Brett, aged in Zin barrels for six months and then in steel for another six months. “Is it a Flanders?” Puffy was wondering aloud. Damn close. Sour from the get-go, this beer was a wonderfully refreshing example of a well-made Brett beer. Alex and Puffy felt the beer could have been better balanced, and I won’t say they’re wrong, but I loved the beer the way it was.
Up next was the Owen’s IPA, which is an American IPA with oak additions, aged further in Zin barrels for six months – a fact that Owen may or may not appreciate (apparently Owen is passionate about his beer). Still hoppy after the six months in the barrel with significant bittering and a whole lot of Oak. In fact, the Oak here was almost overwhelming after a few sips. I do think this beer will do well in competition though because right up front the aggressive oaking is pleasant, to say the least.
Then came the mother of all beers at this table, the Weizenator, a wheat monster. You may know by the “ator” suffix that this is a Bock of sorts – a weizenbock for those keeping score at home. “How much wheat is in here?” were the first words to fall out of my mouth, directed toward the beer’s creator, Alex. He estimated the wheat to be about 55-60%, which was no shock at all. What was shocking? The age. “This beer was made six years ago” Puffy explains, “and I’d estimated it to be around 12% alcohol”. Wow. The beer was certainly smooth, with a wheat-like tart character and a sweetness like candy, so upon further inspection I could easily understand the beers age. Yeah, this was my beer of the night…
Which may explain my less-than enthusiastic move to the final beer of the afternoon, a Blackberry Stout. While I appreciate the effort and the flavor, this simply didn’t stand up to the Weizenator. Deep black with a rocky, stiff, brown head, the beer was a beautiful thing to behold. The aroma had clear berry character that balanced well the roasty character of the malt. No, there just wasn’t anything wrong with this beer, but where’s the pitcher of that Brett beer we sampled earlier?
The afternoon was quickly escaping and John and Alex had a plane to catch, so it was time to go. Before heading out, however, Alex took me into the brewery to meet BJ’s newest brewer, William (Will) Erickson. Will comes to BJ’s with years of brewing experience, both at Mammoth Brewing in Mammoth California and Great Divide Brewing in Colorado. He wasn’t around to hear it, but he’s already earned some props in Puffy’s mind, and I know everyone there is excited to see what Will can do. I, personally, look forward to sharing a few pints with the guy, he made a good first impression.
If your impression of BJ’s is anything less than admirable, I hope my notes help correct that. As said in my previous story, you simply must sample their seasonal and one-off beers because this is where their brewers shine.
Thank you Alex, John and Puffy for a great afternoon.
Pictured (from Top to Bottom): Alex, John, John and Puffy, Will
Written by Mike Sober
There seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life that I wish I would do away with once and for all. And that would be the annoying propensity to categorize, stereotype or just simply misjudge, mislabel or ignore certain breweries or beer destinations despite the obvious stupidity of ever entertaining such an idea in the first place. I seemingly do this despite several episodes that should have utterly slapped this occasional annoying habit clear of my conscience forever. And hopefully E. J. Phair in Concord California has once and for all driven this point home and accomplished this feat during my visits this past weekend.
EJ Phair is located in old town Concord California a couple three miles East of Highway 680. I travel the Highway regularly throughout the year to my youngest son’s house but have never bothered to stop mainly due to the presence of Hop Yard Ale House in nearby San Ramon. Hop Yard features their own Hop Town brews from their facility in Pleasanton as well as a couple dozen revolving quest taps of fine West Coast craft brews.
My wife and I decided that our latest trip from Roseville was going to take us straight to Concord for a visit to EJ Phair, figuring that even if we didn’t find any beers hoppy enough to satisfy our hophead cravings we could always stop off at Hop Yard for a Pint of Pliny the Elder.
I have to admit I hedged my bet a little right before we left town and did a quick check of EJP’s website. I was happy to see that their were two IPA’s listed under the heading of “E.J. Phair Brews”, including an entry in this years single hop IPA competition called “Johnny Bravo”. What really took my breath away was the “Guest Brews” which included Green Flash ‘West Coast IPA’, Bombay by Boat IPA from Moonlight Brewing, Bear Republic’s Racer 5, Drakes I.P.A. and Pliny the Elder from Russian River.
Despite of love of the hops I decided to forgo jumping straight into the India Pale Ale and went with some tasters of their American Wheat, Pale Ale, Pilsner and English style IPA. My son Zack joined me in trying the samples and we both agreed that all four were solid representations of the styles, very refreshing and worthy beverages.
By that time I was anxious to try some of the ‘Johnny Bravo’ which was EJP’s entry into Drake’s Brewing annual single Hop duplicate festival. As soon as I ordered a pint our friendly and efficient Beer Wench reminded us that there was also a beer available that wasn’t listed on the board. A new IPA (could there really be another IPA here?) called “Hop on Board”. Naturally we also requested a pint and went to tasting the two seasonal head to head. The Bravo IPA was a solid and drinkable beer with a lot of grapefruit and piney notes but a less than stellar mouth feel that was unfairly matched against the greatness of the HOB. The HOB was light in color, huge on aroma and a pure joy to behold.
Despite the presence of Racer 5 and arguably my favorite beer of all time Russian Rivers ‘Pliny the Elder’, I stuck with the HOB for the rest of my evening; and of course filled up a growler to take home as well.
We also had dinner that evening and the food was almost as good as the beer selection. I highly recommend PJ Phair’s as a great beer destination. Whether you’re a hop head or not….. don’t wait as long to stop in as we did…. you will not be disappointed.
MSober
E.J.Phair Brewing Company
2151 Salvio Street
Concord, CA 94520
925-691-4253
Planning a trip to North Lake Tahoe anytime soon? Well, you’ll want to add a stop to your list, as Fifty Fifty Brewing Company is opening their doors today, May 24! Yes, the much anticipated brewery has everything in place and 4 of their 7 house made beers ready to pour beginning at 5:00 this afternoon. The other 3 beers will be ready within the week, I have been assured.
Todd Ashman is the head brewer at Fifty Fifty, and comes to Northern California with some impressive credentials: 11 GABF medals, including honors as top Small Brewpub in the country while at Flossmoor Station.
The beers? Some standard, some not so much… keep in mind I haven’t tried any of these, but have read their grain bill and hopping varieties.
- Golden Ale** | 18 IBU / 4.9% ABV
- Belgian Wit | 19 IBU / 5.3% ABV
- Pale Ale** | 29 IBU / 5.3% ABV
- IPA** | 65 IBU / 6.7% ABV
- Belgian Trippel | 23 IBU / 8.1% ABV
- Porter | 30 IBU / 6.7% ABV
- Oatmeal Stout** | 30 IBU / 6.0% ABV
** denotes on tap now
About Fifty Fifty
Address:
11197 Brockway Road, Truckee, CA
Hours
11 AM to 2 AM, 7 days a week
Lew Bryson Interview with Todd Ashman
Look for more on this soon, as we’ll be up as soon as we can make it.
