Stone Brewing Company

Stone Brewing is a Mecca of the Southern California beer scene and one of the biggest names in craft brewing.  I somehow had the idea that the brewery itself was a kind of beer lover’s theme park.  When we visited for the first time last Saturday, it was remarkable by how true that turned out to be.  It is big, bright, welcoming, and filled with different opportunities for fun.  For starters, there are tours of the large and impressive brewery floor, filled with towering steel vats (also visible through a huge window from the Bistro).  We missed the last tour, but it looked very entertaining, with dynamic young guides and samples at the end.  Check their website for details on how to get a spot on the tour when you visit.  Then, there is a brewery store filled with Stone paraphernalia.  The best part of the store was the book section, focusing on brewing, beer travel, beer culture, as well as food and especially the politics of food.  Beer lovers hooked on Arrogant Bastard and its equally arrogant cousins may not realize that the company is led by organic/local/slow food activists  www.stoneworldbistro.com/philosophy.  They even have their own organic farm about 20 minutes down the road.

The building and grounds are carefully designed and striking.   The design leitmotif—wait for it—is stone.  The campus (how many breweries does this word apply to?) is modern, post-industrial, with, to me at least, a Middle-Earth feeling.  Just behind the main building is their beer garden, which significantly redefines this traditional concept.  It really is a landscaped garden, with brooks, pools, winding paths, lawns, and secluded tables and seating areas.  You can get your beer at the bar and wander off into the gardens to enjoy.  Closer to the building is the outdoor seating for the Bistro, with a number of fire pits, which in this interpretation are arcing tables around a stone surface with a flame in the middle.  When the fires are leaping up all around in the darkness, the ambiance becomes Mephistophelian, very much in the Stone style.

Central to the Stone operation is their World Bistro.  It is a large restaurant area with two big bars (one inside, one outside).  This is the showplace of their militant ethos of excellent, natural, locally-produced food.  We had the mushroom soup, which was stellar, and the penne with mushroom sauce and chicken, which was also very good.  You can taste the organic localism (at least my wife can).

The service is attentive and knowledgeable.  Our server, Joe, told us great stories about Stone history.  Among other things, it turns out the flagship beer Arrogant Bastard came from a mistake in the brewing process.  When the brewmaster sampled it, he is supposed to have blurted, “That’s one arrogant bastard.”  The rest is history.  It turns out that Joe’s family is in organic farming.  Watch for a feature on them upcoming in these pages.

We had the Sublimely Self-Righteous, which is a rich, satisfying Black IPA.  At the risk of pretentiousness, it had an intriguing balance of alcohol and licorice tastes.  The alcohol content is over 8%, but the glass is smallish.  We stuck with one in view of the long drive home.

The have a great selection of draught and bottled selections, including the very high end (like over $100).  The Stone beers available, however, were basically those you can get in a store.  Special releases are available generally on weekend evenings for “growler fills,” as announced on the website.  I think there are two reasons why they are not so freewheeling with the releases, as you might see in a smaller brewery.  First is the emphasis on quality.  That is a hallmark of Stone.  Each style is an oeuvre, which is also why they fit standard categories so loosely.  Second is the powerful marketing machine that has helped make Stone a big player among craft breweries.  Each offering is a well-crafted brand as well as a well-crafted beer, with the internal overhead—and inertia—that implies.  It’s a lot more than just writing a new name on the chalkboard.

Anyway, this was a blast.  We are already planning the next trip.

Stone Brewing Company

1999 Citracado Parkway

Escondido, CA 92029

(760) 471-4999

http://www.stonebrew.com

Pizza Port Brewing

Pzza Port, which is a branch of Port Brewing, has a cool, two-storey, surf-themed interior.  From the second floor you can look down into the vats and gadgetry of the brewing area.  (There is a sign on one of the vats warning that the beers are aggressive and high in alcohol content, and that refunds will not be given.)  The dining area is a group of picnic tables next to the bar/brewing area.  It is family-oriented and noisy, with lots of kids and teenagers and their parents.  Many in the crowd seem to be regulars.  Food is basically pizza and salad.

It’s a little hard to understand how a place like this sells the beers that it does.  Without catering in any way to a beer-snob clientele, it is nonetheless a powerhouse.  Beer Advocate  lists 204 (!) current beers, all original creations, “craft” beers in the true sense.  Checking briefly at the bar, I got the idea that the count was more or less right, although only a subset is available on tap at any given moment.  Many of the names reflect their San Clemente location, at the epicenter of surf culture (5 minutes from T Street, dude).

Although all of the Pizza Port locations have brewing facilities, the main brewery for the parent company Port Brewing Company is in San Marcos.  They are also the makers of the Lost Abbey line of ales.  We will visit there soon.

I told my wife that I often buy Port beers in stores, and consider them very good.  She asked me, are they better than Stone (which we visited recently).  That’s like comparing an Audi R8 (one passed us on the way here, with a tantalizing rattle from the exhaust) with a Corvette.  If you had any doubt, Stone is the Audi, Port is the Corvette.  Port is the muscle-car, elegantly-designed, classic in its own way, but shameless, promiscuous.  You can’t not like Port beers.  They are strong and (mostly) sweet and rich and friendly.  If you don’t like Port you don’t like beer or you’re a macro-beer zombie.  At the same time, they are unpredictably individualistic, and refuse to follow a pattern.  Regretfully, I can see them voting Republican.

We had the Way Heavy, a variant of the Scottish style Wee Heavy.  It was strong, not too heavy, and marvelously flavorful, fully in character for this stalwart brewer.

Although all of the Pizza Port locations have brewing facilities, the main brewery for the parent company Pizza Port, which is a branch of Port Brewing, has a cool, two-storey, surf-themed interior.  From the second floor you can look down into the vats and gadge

Pizza Port (San Clemente)

301 N. El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

(949) 940-0005

http://www.pizzaport.com/category-s/1821.htm

Cascade Brewing Barrel House

The Zukes reporting to you fromPortland,Oregon, alias Beertown (Beervana).  It’s out of our usual ambit, but where else do you find so many options for the beer lover, combined artfully with this city’s notorious foodie passions?  It’s an ideal place to hunt for beer nirvana, defined as a place well off the beaten track, with unusual selections, expert staff, and a hard-nosed, discriminating approach.

At the same time,Portlandis to some extent a victim of its own beer culture.  You can spend a lot of time in attractive “beer places” without hitting that sweet spot.  In a smaller, grittier town with only one or a couple outstanding beer joints, you may get lucky sooner.  For example, in post-KatrinaNew OrleansI found a hole-in-the-wall café with pool tables, video games, and paper towels for napkins, but over 100 fine beer types in the cooler.

After perhaps four trips toPortland, however (our daughter goes to school at Reed), we made our first soft landing at Cascade Brewing Barrel House.  Nirvana!

Cascade advertizes itself as the House of Sour; the specialty here is barrel-aged sour ales.  There is also a rich selection of non-sour styles, but their sour ales are inventive and intriguing.  We had the Sang Royal (Royal Blood), using Cabernet Sauvignon grapes aged in Port, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.  It is “complex,” as they say, but friendly, aromatic and smooth.  I am still feeling that taste on the next day.  We are not sour beer aficionados, but this one set us on the right track.  Round Two was another sour, Nightfall, using barrel-aged blonde wheat beers with Chilean blackberries.  Next time we need to try their other standouts: their house Kriek and the Vine, made with white wine grapes.  Plenty of room here for research.  The glasses for good sour beers are small, so it is easy to try more than one, despite the generally high alcohol content.

Our server, Annika, was edgy about the beer, the way you have to be with tricky offerings like these.  Cascade also specializes in culinary experimentation to go with the beer, focusing on fine charcuterie and artisanal cheese.  It is more about “plates” paired with the beer selections than large meals, though what we ordered was quite filling.

Bootlegger’s Brewery

Bootlegger’s is an out-of-the-way location in Fullerton next to the railroad tracks, in a small warehouse space with barrels, vats, tables and a small serving area.  Food trucks are in the parking lot Thursday through Sunday nights, sometimes one, sometimes a couple; you can check the schedule on their website to pick your desired cuisine.  Pints and half-pints are served in Mason jars.  The brewery has a rough-and-ready feel that carried over to the first beer we tried, Dr. Tongue.  This one is for those of you who can’t get your hop fix anymore even from the extreme IPAs.  It is dark amber and bitter, way off the scale.  It made me feel like a wimp.  “What, is this too bitter for you?”  In its own way, it was a nice, balanced package.  I can see regulars coming by for this one.  The next one we tried was the Black Strap Porter.  It was much sweeter, but also rough-edged.  By the time we left I distinctly felt in need of a shave.

The selection is big and ambitious, with a number of intriguing notions.  There is plenty of exploration to be done.  I want to come back on a summer night, when it’s still light out late and the BBQ truck is here.  Maybe I will man up by then.

Bootlegger’s Brewery
401 South Richman Avenue
Fullerton, CA 92832
(714) 871-2337

http://www.bootleggersbrewery.com

Father’s Office Bar

Our path led us to Father’s Office, the iconic gastropub on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.  It is not a brewery, since they don’t make their own beer, but it has one of the best selections anywhere, especially at the high end.  I have never seen a beer on any menu elsewhere for $72.00 (I suppose it’s worth it, but I’ll never know…).  There were several others for $20.00 and up, along with many at normal prices.  We had a Hangar 24 Chocolate Porter at 8%, which was immediately acclaimed a favorite.  We would have tried others, but it’s a long drive back to Irvine.

What about the “gastro” part?  Well, enough has been written about that.  We tried the Office Burger and a mushroom salad; picture the dog Snuffles from the old Quick Draw McGraw cartoons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zldJlUSJ9OI&feature=related.  What they say about this place is true.

A note on the ambiance: it is loud, crowded and youthful, with open seating and shared tables.  You place your order at the bar, and service is quick.

We didn’t get to meet the Beer Chicks (http://thebeerchicks.com/), Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune, who are the brains behind the brews at Father’s.  For next time I will buy their book, The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer, and get it signed.

Father’s Office (Day of the Dead / Occupy L.A.)
1018 Montana Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 736-2224
<http://www.fathersoffice.com/>http://www.fathersoffice.com/

Back Street Brewer

I’ve lived in Irvine for over 20 years and been a beer fan for maybe 10 of those, and I’ve gone past Back Street Brewery (alias Lamppost Pizza) dozens if not hundreds of times without going in.  Like many people, I assumed it was essentially a pizza joint.  Wrong.  This is an inventive brewery on a small scale producing a constant stream of new brews.  The emphasis seems to be on IPAs and Imperial IPAs, with other oddball choices mixed in.  There is a good selection of stronger types.  We tried the Rita Red, which had a nice strength and complexity, and went with Murder By Death, an Imperial Stout up around 12%.  Be careful of this one.  It is beautifully dark and rich, not too heavy, but extremely strong with perfect balance.  You have to try it, but with a designated driver.  The young men helping us, Michael and Jack, were both rated “Charming” by Marianna.

Orange County Brewery and  Southern California Brewery

Back Street Brewery, 14450 Culver Drive, Irvine, CA 92604, (949) 857-0160. http://www.lamppostpizza.com/backstreet/

Noble Ale Works Brewery

Noble Ale Works, 1621 S. Sinclair Street, Suite B, Anaheim, CA 92806

(714) 634-2739

http://www.noblealeworks.com

We visited Noble Ale Works on a quiet night with few visitors.  On other nights the food trucks congregate here, and I expect it to be much more crowded.  The strong, aggressive beers and the intimate, down-to-earth ambiance deserve it.  There is a small tasting room with the brewery vats in a warehouse space through an open door.  The host and owner, Jerry Kolbly, is extremely knowledgeable about his field and happy to talk about it.  (He is also a talented graphic designer who created their distinctive shield logo.)  It is a close-to-the-brewer experience, you might say.  The beers are highly hopped and tend to be strong, in the 6-9% range.  We had a flight of 5 tasters for $8.00: two IPA’s, one dark (“Sybian”) and one light, a pale ale, an “Alpha” red, and an Imperial Stout at 8.5%.  The last was my favorite: the mix of stouty-rich sweetness with raised hoppiness was just right.  It is an ideally-balanced stout.  We will check their website (http://www.noblealeworks.com) for a night with food trucks and come back for more.

Beachwood Brewing

210 E 3rd St.
Long Beach, CA 90802
562-436-4020
Tuesday – Sunday
Kitchen open 11:30 to 9:30
Bar open 11:30 to Midnightish

Saturday night we were in Long Beach for the annual SoundWalk, an event for “sound artists” that turns the downtown streets into a weird alternative reality. Despite the name, there is a lot of visual art as well lining a route that winds through galleries, restaurants, and vintage clothing shops. Sound art turns out to be a varied sort of thing, with sophisticated technology producing odd sounds in response to external stimuli and meditative musicians zoned deeply into hours-long improvisations.

While there, we tried the new Beachwood BBQ location on 3rd Street. The Seal Beach restaurant has been around for years and is a legend for its barbecue and world-class selection of bottled and draft beers. The Long Beach location promised new excitement, however, with an on-premises brewery. The food was everything we expected. Non-vegetarians, especially, should come here with a good appetite and expect to get seriously messy. They are pros in the barbecue business, and you won’t be disappointed. The interior was classy-artsy post-industrial, with lots of view out to the promenade (patio tables are promised soon). There was no huge wait, so obviously it has not been discovered yet by the larger foodie community. Our server, Alisha, taught me a few things about customer service (which is my day job).

The beer was also good. We had the saison El Verano. It was lighter and drier than many saisons, without much of the saison funkiness. Next time I want to try their Kilgore Stout (which happened to be out that night) and maybe the flight of four styles. They keep six house styles available, with the usual dizzying selection of other beers. We will certainly be coming back.

For more information: http://beachwoodbbq.com/.

Cismontane Brewing Company

Address: 29851 Aventura Suite D Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

Phone: (949) 888 2739(9
Email: Info@CismontaneBrewing.com
Blog: www.CismontaneBrewing.BlogSpot.com

The name “Cismontane” means “on this side of the mountain” and is used to refer to vegetation typical of the coastal side of large mountain ranges.  Aptly named, Cismontane Brewing is nestled under the beautiful hills of Rancho Santa Margarita, and its offerings are imbued with a sense of California’s great natural and historical heritage.  Their Coulter IPA is named for a majestic California pine tree of this region; The Citizen, a California Common, is one of the few authentic Steam Beers around (aside from the well-known Anchor Steam).  Both are bracing and robust, like the outdoor world they evoke.  The third one we tried, Blacks Dawn Imperial IPA, is named for one of the great treasures of the southern California landscape, Black’s Beach in La Jolla, also a surfer’s landmark.  Blacks Dawn is strong and sweet, with a great complex taste.  Our host, Evan, told us about the challenges of keeping beer organic; some grains are just normally grown in very large fields, which are devoured by pests if you don’t spray them with something.  Their beers, however, are totally vegan, without the animal by-products often used in the brewing process.  Learn more at http://cismontanebrewing.com/.

Family Bruery

Do you want to feel as though you were back in Prohibition, slipping into a speakeasy?  Try The Bruery in Placentia.  It’s tucked around on one of the side streets of a little business park, with no sign of life except the mass of parked cars and a food truck.  You walk in a kind of warehouse filled with gleaming steel tanks, kegs and stacked wooden kegs.  And the beer is just what it should be, great variety, inventive, with strong and distinctive flavors.  This is what they call in Spanish de categoría.  We had a flight of 5 for $8.00 (and got to keep the handsome Belgian-style tasting glass): Hottenroth sour Berlinerweise, oaked Loakal Red, fresh-hopped Humulus Wet, Autumn Maple, and Flemish-style sour Oude Tart.  My favorite was the Autumn Maple, which was strong with the right twist of sweetness.  The vibe is great: you sit at picnic tables or hang at tall stands and talk to strangers.  More info at http://www.thebruery.com/.

A small craft brewery located in Orange County, California. Our simple but often confusing name is a fusion of ‘brewery’ with our family name, Rue.

Business Hours:
Monday-Friday 8 AM – 5 PMTasting Room Hours:
Friday 4-10 PM
Saturday 4-10 PM
Sunday 12 – 6 PM