My five year plan is to visit, and thereby sample the wares of, every microbrewery in the state of California. I include the ‘big boy” craft brewers since the goal is drinking beer not business profiling. That being said, if they have multiple breweries, I consider one stop at one brewery a fulfillment of my goal.*

These are my personal ramblings about beer and should, in no way, be construed as the last word on either the subject or locations mentioned. And, since we are in the disclaimer business, let me just say two things... one, it is a lot easier to start up a webpage than an actual brewery and, two, when you are going headfirst into Chapter 11 the last thing you worry about is closing out your website. Combine that with the general uncertainty of the information highway and you won’t be overly dismayed when you track down a brewery and find it either DOA or something completely different as they say.

All these dire warnings and disclaimers will, of course, fall by the wayside every time you find that cozy little brewpub in some out-of-the-way burg where the food is good and the beer is great…

*See the amendment to this plan at the bottom of the February 26,2012 blog post...

Friday, August 13, 2010

IT'S A DIRTY JOB, BUT...


I decided that I’d had enough of the bachelor life and fired up the ol’ Subaru for a road trip from Quincy to Santa Cruz. Needless to say, I had taken a moment days before and mapped out a list of possible brewery stops along the way.
My first stop was in beautiful downtown Yuba City where I attempted to track down the Sutter Buttes Brewing Co. easy enough to find with googlemaps but I failed to notice at the bottom of their webpage that the phone number said, “This is where your phone number will go.” Woulda been a good clue that they may still be in the womb as it were. No sign on the building yet and tools scattered from hell to breakfast… you shrug your shoulders and drive on.
Pacing myself I lay low until I hit San Jose which my list says is home to a long line of taps. No luck at the first place, The Hermitage Brewery… found the address (and only the address…). No odor of spelt, no hint of beer and damn I’m getting hungry. Next stop was much more successful… Not really in San Jose but I defy you to tell me where it ends and Campbell begins and, besides, the other one in San Jose (Shizmo Brewing Co.) had the decency to post an “opening soon” line on their website.
The Rock Bottom Brewery is in the back of a mall complex and is a full-blown restaurant with a brewery in house. I polished off a pint of Raccoon Red and a nice big bowl of chicken noodle soup. I chatted up the brewmeister (who had never heard of Hermitage Brewery either…) and got another brewery to add to my list.
The Sonoma Chicken Coop which will soon be known as the Campbell Brewing Co. is another big brewery/restaurant. Being a diehard fan of an honest to God English Style Bitter I ordered up their ESB. The bad news for the wandering sampler… they only serve a 22 oz. glass (three bucks!) so, since I also had a short sampler of their Scotch Ale, I ordered a plate of chicken tacos. 50% off because it was just before 2:00 pm, they were good (but not seasoned) and loaded (seemed like tortillas were more expensive than chicken or avocado?) Gotta say though, a good ESB with the right amount of hop and a tasty, malty finish.
To avoid the unpleasantness of getting plowed with miles to go still, I left nearby Sunnyvale for another time and moved toward Santa Cruz on highway 17 to Los Gatos. Downtown and around to The Los Gatos Brewing Co. Yet another big, local restaurant & Brewery. I sampled their cheese stuffed roasted red peppers while I sucked down a pint of delicious Dog Tale Pale Ale. Good to the last drop and definitely time to switch to water and get on down the road to meet up with my lovely wife.
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