Craft Beer Radio

Earlier I posted a note soliciting ideas for beer in California while I was on vacation. Well, I'm back and here are my thoughts for anyone interested:

I started my trip in Bakersfield CA (a hell-hole of a little town North of Los Angles). Bakersfield is basically a Bud and Tacate town. The convenience stores and grocery stores didn't even really stock any CA beers. You'd mostly find macros, & Sam Adams, although I did try a couple of beers from Oregon's Metolius Brewing Co. (which turns out to be Pyramid Brewery Co). The only saving grace for Bakersfield was a visit to Lengthwise Brewery . They are producing some at least drinkable, average-to-above average beers.

I had a day 1/2 trip in Los Angeles. There I
-- Visited a Whole Foods Supermarket. I was surprised at their variety and quantity. I picked up stuff from The Bruery, Anderson Valley, and North Coast brewery amoung others. I wish PA would allow WF to sell beer! (Although it's getting close because Wegman's Supermarkets are now selling beer in some locations.)
-- Went to the Burbank Farmer's market where I enjoyed a decent " Burbank Farmer's Market 75th Anniversary " pale ale that one of the stalls was selling.
-- Went to Disneyland where I was happy and surprised to find a beer truck selling brews from the Karl Strauss Brewery . Maybe it was just the heat of the day but that truck was an oasis in a sea of screaming kids and crappy kiddy rides.

Next I headed up the coast on Route One. Along the way I made a stop at Firestone Walker brewery . This was one of the better days I had while in CA. The people there were extremely nice the beers were excellent. I got there at 12:30, and although their tours are normally at 1:30, they gave me a private tour. I loved pretty much all the beers I tried... all have a lot of flavor but don't "bang you over the head". It's all very subtle and delicious. Their Porter may be one of my favorites in that style. Their British Style Bitter (Double Barrell), and their sour lambic (Sloambic) were great as well.

After my drive up the coast, I went over to Yosemite National Park. There I found beers from Sequoia Brewing and Mammoth Brewing Co . Mammoth are interesting because they make a "can conditioned" pilsner. I found it a little watery and light (prefer canned pils from Sly Fox or Oskar Blues), and not sure I detected any yeast in the can, but found it interesting.

I finished up my trip in the Sonoma|Napa area. I was lucky enough to visit Bear Republic, Russian River, Lagunita's, and a little brewpub called Silverado. My impression for anyone that hasn't been there:

-- Russian River is heaven. A great "neighborhood" bar feel with incredible selection. Consecration, their dark wild sour ale is incredible. You can't beat having it on draft, but the 750 ml bottles will run you $25. Food-wise they are somewhat lacking.. you can get mediocre pizza's and some sandwiches but the beer can't be beat.
-- Lagunita's - down the road 5-10 miles. This is a real brewery where you can do tours in the afternoon. At night they have a "beer sanctuary" area. They only have 4-6 beers on tap but you can buy bottles of most of their other stuff, and then sit outside on lawn chairs and picnic tables and listen to acoustic bands play. I tried some experimental cask conditioned beer where they blended 3-4 of their beers (I can't remember which but know one was an IPA and another a Red). It was pretty awful actually. It reminded me of when you do a "soda suicide" (mixing all the soda's in a soda fountain to create one awful tasting sugary mix.)
-- Bear Republic - a brewpub similar to Russian River, but with better food. I was very happy to find them experimenting with low alcohol session beers. They have 2 beers that are 3.2%ABV (Lindy's Mild, and Martin's Dark Mild). Both have a nice malty, barley tea like flavor with a decent bitter to balance. Now that I'm on the topic, Lagunita's has a mild (that was also mentioned on recent CBR episode), Levitation, that is also very good. Great trend in craft beer!
-- Silverado - a small brewpub that is worth a stop if you want a change-up while doing wine tasting in Napa. Not overly exciting beer but adequate and decent food.

This is getting long so I'll stop, but I also wanted to mention that I visited the "alcohol store", Bev Mo. I was excited to see that they had cans from Maui Brewing Company, which I have been seeking out for a couple of years now. I was disappointed to find they were out of their famous Coconut Porter. I picked up a couple consolation beers and luckily smuggled about 12 bottles home unbroken.

Was a great trip. Thanks to all that gave advice on my earlier post.
-Cheers.