Beer O'Clock in Fort Bragg
Redwoods Road Trip blog #9
Sunday, 25 Sep 2016. 3:00pm.
So, after a stupendous visit to a state park on the coast, what to do next? It's time for a drink! Or better yet, 14 drinks! That's exactly what I did in Fort Bragg.
[Editor's note: No, I didn't take a crazy turn from my North Coast California road trip and wind up in Toronto. It's just that my blogs from the road trip are backlogged (backblogged?) enough that I'm only finishing them while on a business trip to Toronto.]
Mendocino County is home to a few breweries and tap rooms, so I decided to have a liquid late lunch at the North Coast Brewery in town.
Now, there's a certain quandary to be faced when visiting a brewery for the first time. With lots of unique and unfamiliar choices on the menu it's preposterous to think that you can choose the right one just by reading a list of names or even brief description. Thus I'm always a fan of sampler platters. North Coast's sampler was an intimidating one, though: 14 beers!
"How big are the samples?" I asked the bartender, trying to convey that I was more worried about my health than trying to get falling-down drunk.
"2.5 ounces each, and some are high alcohol, so it's like having 3 pints."
My eyes widened but I decided to take the plunge. Though I'm on a road trip Hawk already pre-agreed to drive after this stop.
The beers spanned the gamut from a pilsener and a wheat at the light end, through a few pale ales and IPAs, to a few high-alcohol brews such as the brewery's most famous product, Old Rasputin Russian imperial stout at 9%, Brother Thelonius Belgian Style Abbey Ale (Thelonius Monk, get it?) at 9.4%, and Old Stock Ale at a whopping 11.8%. That's wine territory right there.
By the time all was said and done I took away a few learnings.
1. I still don't like IPAs. Most current US IPAs are too hoppy. At best they're tolerable.
2. Lighter beers like the wheat are great for drinking by themselves, especially on a warm day, but they're not up to pairing with rich food such as cream artichoke dip and chips I ordered to help wash down all that beer.
3. I was surprised that I like North Coast's heavier beers a lot. The one exception is the widely popular Old Rasputin; to me the flavor is just too harsh. But drinking the other high-ABV beers like wines, i.e., sipping them slowly and savoring them, made them very enjoyable. And once the food came they tasted even better.
Sunday, 25 Sep 2016. 3:00pm.
So, after a stupendous visit to a state park on the coast, what to do next? It's time for a drink! Or better yet, 14 drinks! That's exactly what I did in Fort Bragg.
[Editor's note: No, I didn't take a crazy turn from my North Coast California road trip and wind up in Toronto. It's just that my blogs from the road trip are backlogged (backblogged?) enough that I'm only finishing them while on a business trip to Toronto.]
Mendocino County is home to a few breweries and tap rooms, so I decided to have a liquid late lunch at the North Coast Brewery in town.
Now, there's a certain quandary to be faced when visiting a brewery for the first time. With lots of unique and unfamiliar choices on the menu it's preposterous to think that you can choose the right one just by reading a list of names or even brief description. Thus I'm always a fan of sampler platters. North Coast's sampler was an intimidating one, though: 14 beers!
"How big are the samples?" I asked the bartender, trying to convey that I was more worried about my health than trying to get falling-down drunk.
"2.5 ounces each, and some are high alcohol, so it's like having 3 pints."
My eyes widened but I decided to take the plunge. Though I'm on a road trip Hawk already pre-agreed to drive after this stop.
The beers spanned the gamut from a pilsener and a wheat at the light end, through a few pale ales and IPAs, to a few high-alcohol brews such as the brewery's most famous product, Old Rasputin Russian imperial stout at 9%, Brother Thelonius Belgian Style Abbey Ale (Thelonius Monk, get it?) at 9.4%, and Old Stock Ale at a whopping 11.8%. That's wine territory right there.
By the time all was said and done I took away a few learnings.
1. I still don't like IPAs. Most current US IPAs are too hoppy. At best they're tolerable.
2. Lighter beers like the wheat are great for drinking by themselves, especially on a warm day, but they're not up to pairing with rich food such as cream artichoke dip and chips I ordered to help wash down all that beer.
3. I was surprised that I like North Coast's heavier beers a lot. The one exception is the widely popular Old Rasputin; to me the flavor is just too harsh. But drinking the other high-ABV beers like wines, i.e., sipping them slowly and savoring them, made them very enjoyable. And once the food came they tasted even better.