Russian River Brewery-Pliny the Younger

As Hoppy Beer Girl mentioned in a recent post...we are here to bring you all things “West Coast”! Just to give you a little background on “Beatnik and McMatherson”, we are a husband and wife team residing in the Northern California region. We were taken with the story behind HBG, and what it means to experience the pure artistry in beer making, as well making memories together with your loved one. So while we may not be 100% girl, we are elated to bring you new and exciting beers as the "Team HBG West Coast"...Our locale is 1.5 hours from Tahoe, 1.5 hours from San Fran, right in the heart of food and wine region near Napa Valley. Our hopes: To introduce you to new beers not often received east of the Rockies, as well as show you the exciting journey getting to these places. So let us begin with the grand fashion!

Speaking of journeys! We've all heard many times that it's not the destination but the journey getting there. Well earlier this month we were treated to both a journey and destination when we set off to sample what is regarded by many in the beer drinking community as “the best beer in theworld.” I'm talking about the unveiling of the 2013 batch of "Pliny theYounger." Pliny the Younger is a unique and heralded Triple IPA (by the by...anything hoppy is revered out here) brewed once a year by the gang at Russian River brewers in Santa Rosa, California. Santa Rosa is about an hour north of San Francisco up "the 101" [side-note: Google "SNLCalifornians" for a skit highly accurate of how Californians talk about their highway system]. Rolling hills and marshy wetlands line the highway framed by mountains on both sides north of San Francisco making for a beautifully scenic view. We had run off on a Tuesday morning, just so that drive would be mellow. We didn't sight-see much on the way up due to anticipating a crowd at the brewery (yes even on a Tuesday morning). We did however get to drive through the winding Sonoma area on the way back, stopping for some Fro-yo in Napa (but that's another story). When you arrive in Santa Rosa, it has the classic old town feel. Russian River brewery holds a prime spot right in the middle of it all.

 

Approaching RR we could already see the line formed for the establishment. We arrived right at 11am when the Brew-Pub opened and waited roughly 30 minutes to get a chance to stand at the bar. The people were diverse ranging from Mohawk to Business suit, from newly minted drinker to wise sage of all things hops. 

The Pub itself is a comfy and lively venue, offering food, swag, and a plethora of intricate brewed creations. 

We were compelled to order, and received two 10oz glasses of the enshrined brew. You could smell the floral hops wafting from the glass, even held at a comfortable distance. Color PTY was a nice rich golden hue. As for flavor, complexity is an understatement. This is considered a Triple IPA, yet the hops are controlled, floral, milky, and smooth. Unquestionably this beer has mammoth flavor and a commands respect while drinking (imagine that part in any movie when the stud or babe walk into the room and all eyes are on them). We aren't usually one to jump on the hops train, but this is one fine beer...by far the best IPA we've ever had. As for being the best beer in the world? There is no doubt that it is great beer, deserving of all of it's accolades. And there is no doubt it reigns in the top 5 beers I've personally experienced. I personally feel fortunate, to have had the opportunity to be within a short drive to an amazing experience. If the rest of our tenure goes like this, it's going to be one great journey...with several wonderful destinations.

Revolution Brewing, Brewery Tour

Last weekend, I had the fortune to be able to go to Revolution Brewing with my friends, sister, and husband. We had an amazing time. The food was AMAZING (you have to check it out), and of course, the beer was fantastic. Since we made it to Revolution Brewing early, we were able to sign up for their Saturday Brewery Tour. They do have a larger brewing and bottling facility that you can tour throughout the week, but only the brewpub is available for tours on Saturday.

View of the brewery from our table

Almost immediately after we finished eating our brunch, we were called to go on the tour. I can only say that our timing couldn't have been more perfect. After being instructed to head up a flight of stairs, and past the upstairs dining area, we arrived at the beginning of the brewery tour, with tasty beer samples waiting for us (The Rye IPA if you are curious).

Terrible picture of the brewer/tour guide

Most brewery tours are similar, you listen to the guide talk about how they choose the ingredients, how the brewing process works, and then you get to walk around and look at the equipment. What I thought was really cool and different was that we got to actually handle (and taste) some of the ingredients that are used. Not everyone wanted to handle the goods so to speak, but I thought it was great.

Cool copper boiler

Heading into the basement, looking into the dinning room

We got to walk around the building quite a bit, as part of the brewery in in the basement of the building, which of course meant Blake and Matt had to duck down to avoid being scalped by the ceiling.

Basement/kegs

Beer aging in whiskey barrels. Can you see the beer?

There is a bung in the bunghole!

After the tour, we decided to sit and have another drink. Revolution Brewing has quite an array of beers that they make. I decided to have their Coup D'Etat Saison (you can check the availability here).

Here we are sitting

If you have read my blog really at all, you know that I love a good saison. This one is quite a gem, smooth and flavorful, it was wonderful  The best part is my sister bought me a growler of it as a birthday present (THANK YOU!!!)

Coup D'Etat

The entire day was a great time. Great food, great beer, great company, great atmosphere. What more could a girl ask for?

If you are in the Chicago area, you should check out Revolution Brewery, both the food and the beer are great. Here is the info on the brewpub.

Five Rabbit- Ki'Chun

I wanted to write this last week, but the peanut and I were both very sick (a great way to spend my week off).

Blake and I went to a launch party for a very exciting, and very awesome brewery, Five Rabbit, on the 20^th. I was very excited to go to this, because one of the partners for this brewery is Randy Mosher, you know, the guy I was totally gushing about in my last post…

Awesome metal work!

The whole picture, isn't that gorgeous!?

Five Rabbit is a newer brewery; they hadn't even begun to bottle their own beer when we went there. This was a great chance to show off their new brewery, and celebrate their most recent creation, Ki’Chun. Here is a bit about the beer:

Poorly taken photograph of Ki'Chun in my glass

“Ki’Chun, Cerveza con Chanterelles

…a strong beer made with a very unusual ingredient: chanterelle mushrooms? The Mayan name, Ki’Chun, aptly means “tasty start.”

Ki’Chun blends the apricot perfume of chanterelles with three malts and toasted oats. These are united by the exotic fruitiness of New Zealand Rakau hops and accented by a Belgian yeast strain. Dark Thai palm sugar lightens the body a bit and makes this 9.5% alc/vol beer dangerously drinkable, dry and creamy.”

Both Blake and I thought that this was one tasty beer! It was so smooth, and fruity in a really great way.  Ki’Chun is one of those beers that has me wanting more. I thought this was just a phenomenal beer. If you are in the vicinity of Chicago, you HAVE to look for this beer, or any of the Five Rabbit beers.

While we were having the Ki’Chun, we got to walk around and see the new brewery. It is really a huge facility that will give the Five Rabbit team room to grow, and I hope they do grow. Andrés was who we spent most of our time talking to, and looking at the brewery. I have to say that Andrés was so nice, everyone was so nice, and the love for what they are doing really comes through when they talk to you about it. You can read about Andrés and the rest of the Five Rabbit crew on their website, they have a very interesting story.

Ki’Chun wasn’t the only beer that they had available to try. We also got to try Five Rabbit, which is really good. It was so light in the pitcher that I thought it might be juice, but it was a really delicious wheaty beer.

Five Rabbit, mostly gone

I won’t lie; my favorite of the night was Five Grass. The other two beers were amazing, but the smell alone of Five Grass blew my mind. I even told Andrés and his wife that they needed to make it into a perfume (Seriously, I would buy it). Billed as the hoppy beer, I was expecting something like an IPA, but this was so smooth, and the flavors were just perfect. I can’t wait to get my hands on a few more bottles of this one!

Table with beer, Five Grass in my glass

Truly, I hope that you look for Five Rabbit wherever you are. This is one amazing group of people, and they are making amazing beers. Their passion is something that I admire greatly, and they deserve all the success in the world. We had such a great time meeting everyone, and tasting everything, and the tacos were beyond description (even if they made me flush from the spice). It was fantastic. Now, go out and get some beer from Five Rabbit!

Brewmance

I am sure you all remember Matt from earlier guest posts... well I got him to write another guest post for me, because I am completely lost with this move.

So, enjoy!

I recently went up to Milwaukee for a little vacation. In between gorging on gigantic portions of ludicrously heavy German food, getting scolded at the Art Museum, and experiencing rush hour in downtown Milwaukee (all four cars), we took a tour of Lakefront Brewery.

As we walked up, a young couple asked us to take their photo in front of the brewery, to which the young woman laughed, “This is going in our engagement album.” “It’s so romantic,” the young man said. “Can you make sure you get the sign in the photo, too?” Man, I love these two! They turned and walked inside with us. I don’t remember seeing them after that.

On to the beer. For $7 you get a tour of the brewery, smart-ass, snarky comments and at times faux sexual innuendos/beer brewing terms from the tour guide, four 6 oz. samples of beer, and a commemorative Lakefront Brewery pint glass. I wonder where that couple went? Anyways, we start the tour, and there’s only 5 of us (the smallest group of the day). 

The previous tour had about 14 people. We were brought into a room where the Brewery Navigation Specialist (here’s his photo…it’s blurry to simulate that you’ve been drinking) explained the history of Lakefront Brewery, how beer is made, facts about beer, what’s in it, and several other things I completely forgot because I kept wondering where the hell those two went? There was nowhere else for them to go! Anyways, then he brought us out into the brewing area with the following warning, “Just because we’re in a brewery does not mean that any liquid on the floor is beer.” Noted.

He then explained the entire beer making process, showed us some hops, barley, where they keep their supplies, the vats they use to make their beer, how long it takes, how many barrels they make per year, and lots of other things which I can’t recall. Where the hell did those two go? Seriously? I’m getting concerned. Anyways, we play a quick game of “Stump the Tour Guide” for an extra beer sample, and we fail. Maybe they went into the bottling area? But how could they get down there? Anyways, he explains more about the beer shipping process using brewing terms that once again, are euphemisms for bedroom-related activities (I think the same person who came up with “ballcock” for the toilet then went into beer brewing). I would love to recall all the knowledge I gained, but I can’t. Did they leave right away? We walked back upstairs to the main bar area to finish off the rest of our beer samples.

We tried the Wisconsonsite Summer Weiss (our favorite…it wasn’t overpoweringly spicy, it had just the right amount of spice), Fixed Gear, Pumpkin Lager (awesome tasting, but I can’t imagine downing a six-pack), and another one which I can’t recall. Helpful, aren’t I? We also received an extra serving of the pumpkin lager because they were going to toss the rest of the pitcher out in back in the garbage. Dammit, where are they? Did they go out back?

So if you find yourself in Milwaukee and want to have a good time and learn about all the stuff I easily forgot about, Lakefront Brewery is great! The Fixed Gear and Wisconsonite Summer Weiss are fantastic! While you’re there, maybe you can check up on where those two ran off to. Seriously. I don’t know.

http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com

Brewery Tour at Two Brothers Brewery

I guess I had some catching up to do since we haven't had a real tasting in two weeks... So I guess I made up for it today. We went to Two Brothers Brewery in Warrenville, IL today to take advantage of their (free!) brewery tour and tasting. You can get the specifics here.



Monarch White



We arrived too late for the 1:00 tour, but too early for the 2:30 tour so we took a seat in the Tap House and ordered two giant soft pretzels (delish!) and a couple of beers. I had the seasonal Monarch White beer, which is a light and earthy white beer with a gorgeous light color. The first word that came to mind when I sipped it was scrumptious. Blake ordered the Ebel's Weiss, which had strong notes of vanilla and banana, and was very tasty as well.







Having another 40 minutes to go before the tour, we ordered a second round. I had the award winning Domaine DuPage, which is a darker ale, with a very rich taste. It was perfectly balanced with a roasty malt flavor and a nice hoppy ending. My counterpart ordered the seasonal brew, Dog Days, which was "damn good".


Domaine DuPage



The nice part about the tour at Two Brothers (besides it being free) was that we didn't have to make a reservation like some breweries require. The tour was entertaining and informative, with a short history of the story of the brothers of Two Brothers and how they got into the craft beer business. The tour took about 45 minutes and was ended by everyone being given 3 vouchers for 3 samplings in the Tap House.



 For our samples, we each chose a different beer, allowing us to sample all of the Two Brother Beers on the menu for the day. I can honestly say that we didn't try one that we didn't like, love, or want to order another. The Caine and Ebel  Red Rye was smooth and tasty; the Resistance IPA wasn't overpowering but balanced and flavorful. North Wind Stout  was what every stout should hope to become when they grow up. The Long Haul Seasonal Ale was hoppy upfront but then smoothed out to a classy delicious brew, that like it's name, could be something you would drink for the long haul. The Bitter End American Ale  was probably the most surprising to me, as it wasn't trying to shock your taste buds with the hops flavor, but was smooth and easy to drink. Then there was Prairie Path Golden Ale which had an unassuming smell and first note, then the flavors of the Midwest, of summer, of golden wheat, of sunshine hit you like a heavy weight. I know that we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon at two brothers and hope that you are all within their distribution area (which is limited) so that you can try some of these magnificent beers.

Two Brothers Sampling

I hope that you enjoyed and celebrated National Craft beer week.