My last entry, about my trip to the Russian River Brewing Company, was such an inspiration that I'm going to revisit the topic of beer today. As you may have figured out, I love beer. If it were up to me, beer would join the 5 food groups (can it displace 'legumes,' please?). There are, of course, terrible beers out there. These beers taste at best like river water and at worst like a dog's rear end. I shall not speak further of this swill outside of the context of drinking games, for these beers are generally without value unless distributed and consumed in a competitive environment.
That brings us to excellent beers, of which there are many available in the Valley. Just check your local Bevmo or Whole Foods, and you can find a smorgasbord of outstanding microbrews (also referred to as 'craft beers' here). But where should you start if you're clueless about beers that actually taste good? Here are five great introductory beers for Silicon Valley beer drinkers looking to move from 'crappy' to 'good but accessible' beers (this list is certainly not exhaustive):
1) Lagunitas IPA- An excellent IPA for drinkers becoming acquainted with the joys of bitter beers. One of the most accessible IPAs I've ever had. Props to my friend NI for introducing me to this beer and writing about it on his blog (mamacoke.blogspot.com, and search for entries tagged 'beer'). It's a local Bay Area beer as well, so buy a 6-pack and support an outstanding local brewer.
2) Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout- A British stout, the Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout is one of my all-time favorite beers, and it is certainly my favorite specialty stout. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I like the Sam Smith so much around my beer snob friends, largely because its flavor is so accessible to novice beer drinkers. If you get to sample the Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout and other commonly available oatmeal stouts (like Young's or Anderson Valley's Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout), you'll notice that the Sam Smith's oatmeal flavor is particularly pronounced compared to the other options, giving it a richer flavor and more pleasing aftertaste (at least, in my opinion). And, of course, if you don't like the Sam Smith's because it's too oatmealy, just downgrade the oatmeal flavor intensity by turning to Young's or Anderson Valley's instead, which are both great too.
3) Rogue Dead Guy Ale- You can't go wrong with most Rogue brews, and the Dead Guy Ale is one of Rogue's classic beers. The Dead Guy Ale is a lighter, honey-colored ale with moderate bitterness that will intrigue newer beer drinkers. More advanced hop-heads will likely prefer other Rogue offerings, like the Shakespeare Stout, Imperial IPA, Brutal Bitter, Chocolate Stout, or Santa's Private Reserve, but the Dead Guy Ale is a West Coast signature beer (from Oregon) that can't be missed.
4) Moylan's Brewery Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale- A strong beer at 8% ABV, the Kilt Lifter is a copper-colored, sweet brew from the Bay Area. The Kilt Lifter's sweetness and thinness makes it more palatable for newer drinkers who may have trouble with bitter, dry, highly hoppy, or thick beers. It's really only a slightly-above-average scotch ale when compared to the many scotch ale offerings one can find across the country, but it's the best one I've had in the Valley. If anybody knows any better scotch ales available in the Valley, I'm all ears.
5) Deschutes Black Butte Porter: Sweet, rich, and malty, the Deschutes Black Butte Porter is a chocolatey beer that's so good you can't put it down until it's done. A popular favorite with A-level ratings on beer review sites like Beer Advocate, nearly everyone who likes dark beer will like Deschutes Black Butte Porter. Even if you think you don't like dark beer, you will probably like it. Even if you don't like beer at all, you will probably like it. Honestly, if you don't like Deschutes Black Butte Porter, there may be something seriously wrong with you. If you don't like it, you may or may not be able to find love in this lifetime. Just kidding. Maybe. Anyway, just drink the Deschutes porter, try anything else by Deschutes afterward, and be angry that Bend, Oregon (the home of Deschutes Brewery) is so far from Silicon Valley.
Although serious hop-heads may look at this list and say, "What about more complex beers? No Dogfish Head 90 or 120 Minute IPA? No trappist beers like Westmalle or even Chimay? No sour beers like Rodenbach Sour Ale? Boo. Boo on you, Valley Jester. You are a bad man, and I don't like you," it's still worth discussing beers that can bring joy to your life even if you aren't a dedicated beer nut. So, to readers who have not yet joined the beer fanatic ranks, I recommend that you save that Bud, Coors, or Keystone for 'college night'-style nostalgic drinking games with your friends. For non-competitive drinking, you'll be much better served by the options above and their alcoholic brethren. You can also see the beer experts at Beer Advocate, mamacoke.blogspot.com, or at your local Bevmo for more personalized help. And, of course, if you want my opinions on any particular beers, want any other recommendations, or want to point me in the direction of a great beer you've had and I haven't mentioned, feel free to leave me a note in the comments section. For now, though, I'm signing off.
I'm gonna blog you softly/I'm gonna blog you gently/I'm gonna blog you sweetly/I'm gonna blog you discreetly . . . And then, I'm gonna blog you hard/Hard/Hard,
Valley J
Monday, June 2, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
My Russian River Journey
Yesterday, as promised, I traveled with two friends to Russian River Brewing Company (RRBC) in Santa Rosa, CA (near Sonoma). I have made the trip several times before, but yesterday's journey may have been the best. For those of you with attention span issues, I'll quickly list some of the things that made my trip to Santa Rosa great: fantastic beers of all kinds, sleeping in public, excellent historical accounts of World War II, buffalo wings, pesto pizza, tipsy ambling through town, A&W root beer floats, folk covers of rock songs, and $0.75/hour parking.
To give some context, Saturday was the 4th anniversary of the RRBC brewpub, so my friends (I'll call them CM and AT, which will make them virtually anonymous to anybody who doesn't know me personally) decided that we should plan to get to the brewpub for its 11:00 AM opening in order to beat the crowd. Given our distance from Santa Rosa and anticipated difficulties finding parking, we were on the road heading north by 9:00 AM. As it turned out, we got into Santa Rosa, found parking easily, and made it to the brewpub right as it was opening. Instead of finding a line of people waiting to get in, however, we found the establishment almost empty. We took seats at the bar next to the only other patrons there, an older couple who seemed intent on carrying several gallons of beer home in growlers. Having no objections to the empty environment, CM, AT, and I sat down and began drinking shortly after 11:00 AM. I understand that the concept of drinking at 11:00 AM on a Saturday might be unsettling to some people, but I assure you that with the right beer in hand, those people would think differently.
For those of you who have never had a RRBC beer, RRBC brews are generally outstanding. RRBC India Pale Ales (IPAs) are fantastic, ranging from the relatively mellow Russian River IPA to the citrus-laden Blind Pig IPA to the bitter and hoppy powerhouse Pliny the Elder IPA. I started the day off right with a Pliny the Elder, which packs a punch at about 9% alcohol by volume (ABV). Then, I moved on to the Blind Pig, taking the intensity down a notch in order to prepare myself for the impending arrival of buffalo chicken wings, pizza, and beer bites. Once I completed my food consumption, I capped off the midday's drinking with an OVL Stout, a thick nitrogenated Irish stout that tasted like an alcoholic milkshake, another Pliny the Elder, and a dark, Belgian-style, limited-edition Rejection ale, which tasted like a drier version of Dogfish Head Brewing's Raison D'Etre (if you've never had a Dogfish Head beer, you should reexamine your commitment to living a fulfilling life, because based on the information available, you seem to be falling short).
By 2:30 PM, I had ingested a mere five beers. However, two factors conspired against my sobriety: each beer had between 6% and 9% ABV (crappy mass-distributed American beer tends to run in the 3%-4.5% ABV range), and I recently lost 41 pounds following my discovery late last year that I had become a big fat guy. As a result, by the early afternoon, I was hammered. CM, our driver, was faring only marginally better, so we decided to depart from the brewpub and kill some time while we sobered up.
The first stop was a Barnes & Noble bookstore, where I found myself a foot stool, sat down, and read about Nazi military organization in WWII for an hour or so. I know, I bet you read the same book in college after playing one-too-many drinking games. Or maybe alcohol-laden intellectualism isn't your bag, in which case, I encourage you to find another suitable drunken hobby. In this case, though, my ability to absorb Luftwaffe deployment strategies after the equivalent of 8-10 Bud Lites was slightly impaired, so my friends and I walked across the street to the 'Sober Park.' The 'Sober Park' isn't much of a park, but it has park basics like a fountain, a few benches, and tiny patches of grass just large enough for the smurfs to play a rousing game of football. Luckily, there was enough room for me to lay down in the grass and promptly take a 'rage nap,' leaving me feeling rested, considerably more sober, and extremely dehydrated.
CM had also recovered well during that time, and we all agreed that he was fit to drive. We retrieved CM's car from the garage, hit the road after paying a whopping $5 in parking fees, and made our way back toward Silicon Valley. We listened to CM's obscure artsy music in the car, blabbering about our professional and personal lives, and generally enjoying each other's company until we came to Marinwood, a city south of Vallejo. Two miles past Marinwood heading south from Santa Rosa, there is an A&W restaurant, one of the few in the Bay Area. When we got to the right exit, we pulled off the highway and into the A&W parking lot, turned off the car, and meandered inside to get root beer floats. The root beer floats were, in a word, heavenly. The frosty mugs, fresh and frothy A&W root beer, and thick vanilla ice cream combined to make for an outstanding experience. I swear I've never had a root beer float that good in my entire life. If A&W opened up a restaurant in the Valley, I'm quite confident that the place would rake in a fortune, particularly over the summer months. If anybody knows of an A&W establishment closer to the Valley than Marin County, please share in the comments section (and for that matter, if anybody knows of a Sonic or Chick-fil-a within driving distance of the Valley, I would be interested in hearing about that too, since I've never had the privilege of dining at either of those well-reputed establishments).
After indulging in our root beer and ice cream treats, CM, AT, and I got back into the car and continued south, getting back to the Valley by 6:30 or so. It was quite a day. In two weeks, we may be heading to Boonville to visit the Anderson Valley Brewery, where one can get the delicious Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, among other tasty beers. It takes twice as long to drive there, but if I have even half as much fun as I did at RRBC, I'll go home a happy man.
For now, I'll leave it at that. Until next time, your very own Silicon Valley beer and dim sum nut is signing off.
Here I am/ blog you like a hurricane,
Valley J
To give some context, Saturday was the 4th anniversary of the RRBC brewpub, so my friends (I'll call them CM and AT, which will make them virtually anonymous to anybody who doesn't know me personally) decided that we should plan to get to the brewpub for its 11:00 AM opening in order to beat the crowd. Given our distance from Santa Rosa and anticipated difficulties finding parking, we were on the road heading north by 9:00 AM. As it turned out, we got into Santa Rosa, found parking easily, and made it to the brewpub right as it was opening. Instead of finding a line of people waiting to get in, however, we found the establishment almost empty. We took seats at the bar next to the only other patrons there, an older couple who seemed intent on carrying several gallons of beer home in growlers. Having no objections to the empty environment, CM, AT, and I sat down and began drinking shortly after 11:00 AM. I understand that the concept of drinking at 11:00 AM on a Saturday might be unsettling to some people, but I assure you that with the right beer in hand, those people would think differently.
For those of you who have never had a RRBC beer, RRBC brews are generally outstanding. RRBC India Pale Ales (IPAs) are fantastic, ranging from the relatively mellow Russian River IPA to the citrus-laden Blind Pig IPA to the bitter and hoppy powerhouse Pliny the Elder IPA. I started the day off right with a Pliny the Elder, which packs a punch at about 9% alcohol by volume (ABV). Then, I moved on to the Blind Pig, taking the intensity down a notch in order to prepare myself for the impending arrival of buffalo chicken wings, pizza, and beer bites. Once I completed my food consumption, I capped off the midday's drinking with an OVL Stout, a thick nitrogenated Irish stout that tasted like an alcoholic milkshake, another Pliny the Elder, and a dark, Belgian-style, limited-edition Rejection ale, which tasted like a drier version of Dogfish Head Brewing's Raison D'Etre (if you've never had a Dogfish Head beer, you should reexamine your commitment to living a fulfilling life, because based on the information available, you seem to be falling short).
By 2:30 PM, I had ingested a mere five beers. However, two factors conspired against my sobriety: each beer had between 6% and 9% ABV (crappy mass-distributed American beer tends to run in the 3%-4.5% ABV range), and I recently lost 41 pounds following my discovery late last year that I had become a big fat guy. As a result, by the early afternoon, I was hammered. CM, our driver, was faring only marginally better, so we decided to depart from the brewpub and kill some time while we sobered up.
The first stop was a Barnes & Noble bookstore, where I found myself a foot stool, sat down, and read about Nazi military organization in WWII for an hour or so. I know, I bet you read the same book in college after playing one-too-many drinking games. Or maybe alcohol-laden intellectualism isn't your bag, in which case, I encourage you to find another suitable drunken hobby. In this case, though, my ability to absorb Luftwaffe deployment strategies after the equivalent of 8-10 Bud Lites was slightly impaired, so my friends and I walked across the street to the 'Sober Park.' The 'Sober Park' isn't much of a park, but it has park basics like a fountain, a few benches, and tiny patches of grass just large enough for the smurfs to play a rousing game of football. Luckily, there was enough room for me to lay down in the grass and promptly take a 'rage nap,' leaving me feeling rested, considerably more sober, and extremely dehydrated.
CM had also recovered well during that time, and we all agreed that he was fit to drive. We retrieved CM's car from the garage, hit the road after paying a whopping $5 in parking fees, and made our way back toward Silicon Valley. We listened to CM's obscure artsy music in the car, blabbering about our professional and personal lives, and generally enjoying each other's company until we came to Marinwood, a city south of Vallejo. Two miles past Marinwood heading south from Santa Rosa, there is an A&W restaurant, one of the few in the Bay Area. When we got to the right exit, we pulled off the highway and into the A&W parking lot, turned off the car, and meandered inside to get root beer floats. The root beer floats were, in a word, heavenly. The frosty mugs, fresh and frothy A&W root beer, and thick vanilla ice cream combined to make for an outstanding experience. I swear I've never had a root beer float that good in my entire life. If A&W opened up a restaurant in the Valley, I'm quite confident that the place would rake in a fortune, particularly over the summer months. If anybody knows of an A&W establishment closer to the Valley than Marin County, please share in the comments section (and for that matter, if anybody knows of a Sonic or Chick-fil-a within driving distance of the Valley, I would be interested in hearing about that too, since I've never had the privilege of dining at either of those well-reputed establishments).
After indulging in our root beer and ice cream treats, CM, AT, and I got back into the car and continued south, getting back to the Valley by 6:30 or so. It was quite a day. In two weeks, we may be heading to Boonville to visit the Anderson Valley Brewery, where one can get the delicious Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, among other tasty beers. It takes twice as long to drive there, but if I have even half as much fun as I did at RRBC, I'll go home a happy man.
For now, I'll leave it at that. Until next time, your very own Silicon Valley beer and dim sum nut is signing off.
Here I am/ blog you like a hurricane,
Valley J
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