This is a continuation of my previous post!  If you like reading, you should go back and check that out.  If you already did that, thanks for coming back!  I’m not insufferable!  Yahoo for me!

After my Saturday in San Francisco, galavanting about on beautiful, old, 100% haunted, wooden ships, eating amazing seafood (with draaaaaaawn butter…), and drinking some fresh, delicious, local craft beer at Southern Pacific Brewing Company, I figured I would start my first free Sunday in California by doing what any hard-working 30-something would do, I put on my lime green swimsuit and I hit that hotel hot tub.  Hard.  But I was not alone.  I stepped into the pool area, and, as the steam from the hot tub dissipated (not unlike the fog over the Golden Gate Bridge), I gazed upon a pair of sunglasses and a wide, bright white smile.  I felt like Alice, gazing upon the Cheshire Cat.  “A SUUUUUH DUUUDE” came swirling out of the steam (I think one of those capital U’s smacked me in the face).  

A photo of the Cheshire Cat, for reference.
A photo of Eric, for reference.

I stepped into that lukewarm (the temperature has since increased, thank God) bubble bath and chatted with Eric for nearly an hour.  The topic quickly turned to beer (surprise, surprise).  We talked about Founders and Bells, as he’s from Michigan.  (What’s good for the Goose is good for the Michigander, I’ve heard.)

“Dude, do you want to go to a brewery today?” I asked.  Eric smiled, “Of course, dude.” (I’m paraphrasing, but I’m 99% sure that’s how it went down).  

We ended up at Alpha Acid Brewing Company, in Belmont, CA.  It was the only brewery in the area that was open on a Sunday, surprisingly.  Also, we almost didn’t find it.  We used our technology to get us there, and it brought us to an industrial complex with a bunch of closed, locked garages.  We drove around for a few minutes, and tucked away in one of the back buildings, was the brewery.  Their giant garage door was open, and inside was a small tasting room, with a few high tables, some picnic tables, and my absolute favorite thing, some old whisky barrels.  The beer, that delicious nectar, hibernating inside the walls of that wooden wonderland, soaking up all of the flavor from the spirits that inhabited that barrel.  

Absolutely gorgeous.

A simple chalkboard displayed the beers that these made scientists at Alpha Acid were cooking up.

Ali and I opted for the Citra Bro.  I’ve mentioned before that single-hopped IPAs can sometimes be one-note.  Citra’s hops have a spectrum of citrus flavors, this one was bursting with mango, pineapple and grapefruit.  You know those “Let’s all go to the lobby” cartoons that played in Movie theaters?  Replace those dancing snacks with citrus fruits, and put those dancing citrus fruits in my mouth, that’s what this beer tastes like.  It was unreal.  I also had a Stout called I’m in Love with the Mocha, which is a play on my favorite O. T. Genasis song (also, the only O. T. Genasis song I’ve ever heard), I’m in Love With the Coco.  I’ve never done, or been in love with coco, but I do love mocha, and I love a nice, roasty, coffee, chocolate, oatmeal stout, so this guy did the job.  It was an awesome brewery.  I wish we could have stayed longer, but we wanted to do some exploring, so we drove through a gorgeous mountain covered in beautiful greenery, and over to Half Moon Bay.  Only in California can look out at a gorgeous ocean, turn around, and see the most amazing rolling hills and picturesque landscapes imaginable.

Absolutely unbelievable view just before you get to the GD PACIFIC OCEAN!!  Can you believe that??

That ocean tho.

Another amazing idea, fueling an off the cuff adventure, planned over a fantastic craft beer.

On our way to Half Moon Bay, Eric and I were talking music.  We had both bonded over The Format earlier in the week, so we were talking about other bands we had a mutual interest in.  “Do you like Motion City Soundtrack?” I asked.  “Dude, they’re playing tomorrow night, in San Francisco.

Needless to say, we bought tickets later that night and ended up seeing one of my favorite bands of all time play on their Farewell Tour.  It was amazing.  The floor literally shook as they played their encore songs.  Their original drummer, Tony Thaxton (who now has his own hilarious, Christmas themed podcast called Feliz Navipod, check it out) came back to play with them on this tour.  I was in heaven.  Eric was in heaven.  It was absoutely out of control, and another spontaneous adventure.  

Motion City Soundtrack sonically rocking The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.

The Regency was a very cool venue.  If fit right in with the city, which has so much charm and character.  They had an entire room dedicated to Local Craft beer!  They featured a bunch of Lagunitas Brewing Company, some Anchor Brewing Company, Bear Republic Brewing, and Sierra Nevada Brewing.  I went with one of my favorite, easily available, brews, A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin.  This is a pale wheat ale, packed with citrus and pine from the 50% wheat malt, and all the “C” hops (Cascade, Centennial, Citra, Columbus).  It tastes like freaking orange juice.  I’m a huge fan.  Although I didn’t get to visit the brewery in Petaluma (about an hour north of San Francisco), I was able to drink a few of their beers very fresh, and man, they’re awesome.  (They also don’t need me as an advocate, Heinekin now has a 50% stake in their company so they can distribute their beer internationally.) It’s also nice that we get their beer relatively fresh out here in NYC.

A blurry picture of me looking like a doofus with a $14 (with tip) Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’.  

Gorgeous exterior of the Regency Ballroom.  Go see a show here!

I had an amazing time in California.  I got to experience a lot (but still not enough) of the Bay Area.  I’m so glad I met some amazing people, and had the opportunity to sample some amazing California beer while experiencing some crazy adventures (stay tuned for our adventure to Muir Woods).  Thank you all so much for tuning in (can one “tune in” to a blog?) each week to read about my experiences.  This has been a fun two or so months writing this, and I hope to continue to share my adventures with you, as long as you’ll keep reading! 

See you next week! 

Cheers!

Holly and I have been talking lately about being open to opportunities, and saying “Yes” when an opportunity arises. Having been in California for two weeks, and not knowing when I’ll be able to come back (either for work or otherwise), I’ve been contemplating this conversation a lot.

I’m 32 years old, and most of the time, I don’t feel it. (Also all the time I act like a grown man baby.) There are days when I’ll come home from work and feel like crashing. I’ve been taking in a lot of information at work while I’ve been here, and some nights, I will want to just turn on the television, order Pizza Hut (because, let’s face it, I have no excuse ordering Pizza Hut living in New York City, but since I’m here, where all pizza is bad pizza, I may as well order my favorite bad pizza), and shortly after, hating myself for eating Pizza Hut and falling asleep. Thankfully, I’ve only done this twice since I got here!

Saying “Yes” has put me in some unbelievably awesome places here. I’ve been to two breweries so far, and seen some of the gorgeous scenery that the Bay Area has to offer. It hasn’t really been warm, and it hasn’t really been sunny (I think I brought the rain from New York, but I hear that California is in a drought, so I can’t really be mad about it, because without water, there is no beer…), but we’ve made the best of our time.

This past Saturday, some of my new buddies and I went to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.  It was raining, but it didn’t really impede us.  We found a metered parking spot in front of a little chocolate shop, and our friends pulled into a spot behind us (after my roommate Ali spent about 10 minutes shooing away people who tried to park behind us). Ali is Persian, and has just the friendliest face you’ll ever see, so it was hilarious to see him jump out of the car every few minutes to chat with the presumably (and rightfully so, we were parked like a-holes) angry drivers, flashing a smile and lying right to their faces, telling them we already payed for both spots.  As it turns out, the spot we were in didn’t have a meter.  We asked a passing traffic cop if it was ok to park there, because there was white paint on the curb, and the lady in the chocolate shop told us it was for deliveries.  Traffic cop tells us that in San Francisco, they only go off what they can clearly read, and since whatever was painted on that curb was all faded, we were good to go.  Boom!  Parked right in the heart of San Francisco!  (I’ve been told multiple times by Kat, one of my classmates who is a local, to never call it “San Fran”.  I’m trying so hard.). Maybe the traffic cop was lying to us.  (In New York, that would definitely be the case).  We didn’t really care at that point.  We didn’t want to waste anymore time.  Thankfully, he wasn’t lying, and we got a free parking spot for 4 hours.  Again, boom.

Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

It looks like a movie set.  Not pictured, all the panhandlers, Ripley’s Believe it Or Not, or Madame Toussaud’s Wax Museum.  It’s still way nicer (and less crowded) than Times Square.

For lunch, we hit up The Franciscan.  And, my dear sweet lord, we filled our bellies with the freshest seafood you’ll find.  Basically jumping (do Mussels jump?  I think shrimp would probably jump, if ever given the opportunity) right off the docks and into our gullets.  Also, you have the opportunity to dine overlooking the San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz, so the ghosts of all the dead murderers and Sean Connery (not a ghost, and don’t you even think about it, 2016…) can watch you eat!

Can you guess how many of these crabs are haunted by the ghosts of prisoners of Alcatraz (pictured in the background)?  I can guarantee at least one of these things winked at me.

I had Steamed Mussels and Shrimp with drawn butter (is there a better phrase in the English language than “drawn butter”?)

We walked around the Wharf (a much needed walk) after our amazing lunch.  We explored some unbelievably gorgeous old (read: Haunted) Ships at the Maritime National Park.

I stood up on this anchor and a Park Ranger down on the dock shouted “YOU GOTTA DO THE SAILOR’S POINT!  LOOK IN ONE DIRECTION AND POINT IN ANOTHER.”  I’m so thankful for him.

After our jaunt at Fisherman’s Wharf, we drove a mile or so and headed to meet Kat at Southern Pacific Brewing Company.  This is a relatively new brewery, and the joint was jumping on a Saturday afternoon!

Southern Pacific Brewing Company
Like I said…  The joint?  She was a’jumpin’!

A bunch of us got flights, so we could all sample a bit of everything they had to offer.

I tasted a bit of all of the house beers.  The highlights were:

Their Barrel Aged Blend, which was a blend of their California Blonde and Saison, aged in Pinot Blanc barrels.  It smelled like hay, citrus, and funk (I love a beer that has some funk to it).  Taste was sour lemon, grass, white wine, ginger.  What a way to start!  It was an amazing beer to be drinking with my new friends, out on the front porch of the brewery. If this is how San Francisco tastes, I don’t wanna leave. 

A ton of awesome people.

Other highlights:

Hefeweizen, a Bavarian wheat beer, which was totally unfiltered and looked like a beautiful glass of pineapple juice, and tasted like ripe bananas and clove.  Gorgeous brew.  Wish I had a nice soft Bavarian pretzel to go with it.

Pale Ale, brewed with some classic hops (Cascade, Centennial, and Summit) was absolutely crushable at 5.2%ABV, but packed a punch with smells and flavors of daaaaaank pine and citrus.  (All those extra A’s were on purpose)

IPA, brewed with Columbus, Tomahawk, and Zythos hops, smelled and tasted just as sticky icky as the Pale Ale, and clocked in at only 5.8%ABV.  

So yeah, they’ve got some beers that smell like weed.  I had originally heard that Humulus Lupulus (hops) and Cannabis Sativa (marijuana) were relatives, but according to this article, there is no scientific proof.  I’ve always been fascinated when I smell a hop forward beer, the nose can evoke such interesting aromas, like pine, citrus (tropical or otherwise), black tea, grass, floral notes, herbs, spice, or, in this case, front row center at a Phish concert.  (Editor’s note: I’ve never been to a Phish Concert.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  I like pretty much all their songs that clock in under 5 minutes, also, I’m tickled by the fact that their drummer’s last name is Fishman.)

Packed house at Southern Pacific Brewing Company on a Saturday afternoon. I’m 99% sure there’s something delicious inside that tank.Gorgeous view from inside the brewery!

As I sit here in my hotel room, my exhausted Holly (she’s here!) is asleep after a long travel day, I reflect on all the great experiences I’ve had since I got here nearly two weeks ago.  I can’t fit them all into one post, so in a few days, I’ll post up again with my adventure to Half Moon Bay, a local brewery that we almost couldn’t find, and a farewell to one of my favorite bands.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to check out this blog!  You’re all wonderful!

Cheers!  See you in a few days!

Saying goodbye is never easy.  Saying goodbye with beer makes things…  A little bit easier?

At my job, we see people come and go all the time.  It’s the nature of the business, and also of living in New York City.  People get promoted, move to different stores, or get jobs outside of the company, or they get sick of the subway, the crowds, the smells, etc.  This is an almost daily occurrence, so it doesn’t usually throw me off.  Then, one person you thought would always be at work to chat with, or share a laugh with, says he’s leaving.

Another one bites the dust.

What does this have to do with beer?  Isn’t this a beer blog?  Why am I still reading this?  Are there any horse socks?  Is anybody listening to me?

These are all valid questions, reader.  Oh, and believe me, we’ll get to them…

Beer brings people together.  I started getting into craft beer only about 5 years ago, and since then, and perhaps even before then, the industry has exploded.

I got into craft beer working at a restaurant in Astoria, Queens called Il Bambino.  We would have weekly beer specials, in addition to the beer on the menu, which included Allagash White, Smuttynose Finestkind IPA, and Sixpoint Sweet Action.  What I loved to do, still being new to craft beer, was describe beers by how they made me feel.  One night, it was probably in September (seasonal creep was way less of a thing than it is now, where we see pumpkin beers in June and Spring Seasonals in December), our special of the week was Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  This is an unbelievable pumpkin beer brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and clove.  I would describe it to customers, saying “It tastes like Fall in a glass.”  One of my fellow servers misheard me, and described it, saying “It tastes like fall in your mouth…”  I think she probably sold more of that beer than I did.

Each week brought a different special.  My manager (who is now my dear friend) Ryan, would order a different beer every week or two, and we would have a chance to try it, usually after our shifts, when we locked the doors and put on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.  (We usually started with “Runaway”, which starts out with a high E played over and over again on a piano, and usually the bottle would be open and poured before the first “LOOK ATCHA!”

While I could credit Kanye with getting me into craft beer, (Yeezy taught me), it was really all Ryan’s doing.  Ryan is very smart.  He knows what people want.  He has really accessible, delicious beer on Il Bambino’s menu, and is knowledgable enough to know what specials to put on that will compliment owner Darren Lawless’ (F)lawless menu of Paninis, Crostinis, and tapas.

I will talk much, Muchmore about Il Bambino in other posts, but this is where the foundation for my love of craft beer began.  They just opened their new location on 8th street in the West Village.  You really should go there, and their Astoria location, because they’re the best.

So, my buddy Hiten is leaving New York.  This sucks.  Saying goodbye sucks.  But, New York City is a monster, and he’s going to be amazing wherever he goes, which, in this instance, is Tucson, Arizona.  I’ve never been there or thought of visiting there.  Now, I will strongly consider it.

A month or so ago, he got engaged (!!!) and I texted him to congratulate him on said Engagement.  He thanked me, and offered a can of Other Half Brewing and Barrier Brewing Company’s collaboration, called Make It Rain.  I thanked him and told him to get back to celebrating his engagement.  I just wanted to reiterate how selfless Hiten is.

Proof.

Hiten also worked at City Swiggers, an amazing bottle shop and bar on the Upper Eest Side of Manhattan.  My wife and I joined some of our friends for Hiten’s last shift here, and we had an amazing time, celebrating Hiten’s last night of work doing what he loved, sharing amazing beer with everyone.

Stay tuned for Part Deux of this blog where I promise I will talk about the beer we drank.  If anyone listens to the “U Talkin’ U2 to Me?” Podcast, with Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman, they started out wanting to cover two U2 albums per episode, and ended up getting to maybe one per episode (and one episode called Staind Glass, which is an episode about the band Staind featuring Comedian Todd Glass).  Anyway, I hope I don’t get as tangential as they do…  But I already have, and hey!  You’re still reading!  So this works!  Right?

Anyways, see you next time.