Beer lover’s dream holiday
The term ‘‘beer hunter’’ was coined by the late, great English writer Michael Jackson, and referred to his seemingly endless travels during which he sought out, then wrote about, interesting and unusual beers he’d found. For the past fortnight I’ve been on a road trip through Northern California and up into Oregon in search of great beer, but I’d hardly call it hunting: you’d have to be either blind or extremely unlucky not to find good beer in this neck of the woods.
The entire Pacific Northwest, from San Francisco to Seattle – and around the Portland area in particular – is a beer hunter’s dream. Everywhere you go – from petrol stations and corner stores to fine dining restaurants and even takeaway shops – flavoursome craft beer is readily available.
To give you some idea of craft beer’s impact in the Northwest, as of December 31, 2016, the state of Oregon – which has a slightly smaller population than New Zealand – had 230 brewing companies. That’s around three times the number of breweries in this country.
Over the past two weeks my friend Graeme and I have travelled 2670 kilometres, up the coast and inland, stopping at breweries, brewpubs and bars along the way. Rather than listing where we’ve been and what we’ve sampled, here are a few thoughts and impressions that have struck me about the trends and beer culture in this extraordinarily beer-savvy corner of the world.
As I hinted above, high quality, flavoursome craft beer is a doddle to find.
For example, in the small northern Californian fishing port of Fort Bragg – population around 7500 – we found a fish and chip shop alongside the harbour where the fishing boats berth. Nothing unusual about that you might think, but this chippie also sold beer – 18 taps of local craft brews to be precise.
The fish and chips weren’t that good by Kiwi standards, but Graeme and I really appreciated the opportunity to share a jug – we chose Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA
The fish and chips weren’t that good by Kiwi standards, but Graeme and I really appreciated the opportunity to share a jug while sitting on the quayside munching our takeaways.
BEER – while sitting on the quayside munching our takeaways. Even allowing for the disposable plastic cups (yuck!), I can’t remember ever having the chance to do that in New Zealand. At least not with fresh tap beer.
The pairing of beer and food is just so ‘‘normal’’. Most of the breweries we visited have their own restaurants on site, and those that only offer a bar and off-sales usually have a food cart parked outside. Wherever we went it was a given there would be a great selection of beers, but even those restaurants not associated with particular breweries promoted their tap and packaged beers prominently on their menus and on advertising boards and windows. How I wish that was the case in New Zealand.
As for the beers themselves, it’s been interesting to see the way brewers’ ranges have evolved. Where once the average Pacific Northwest bar or brewpub’s beer list would always include some kind of easy drinking golden ale along with an Irish Red Ale and perhaps a porter or dry stout, these days IPAS dominate.
For example, at the Ninkasi brewery in Eugene, Oregon, seven of the 10 beers on tap in the tasting room were hop-driven pale ales and IPAS. Session IPAS, black IPAS, red IPAS and imperial (double) IPAS are everywhere.
And don’t get me started on all the fruit-infused IPAS. Citrus, mango, pineapple, passion fruit – name your fruit, I’ve probably seen it. But the American brewers’ love of adding fruit to their beers doesn’t stop at hoppy pale ales. Kettle-soured wheat beers such as goses and Berliner weisses are also popular, and often fruited – sometimes successfully, sometimes less so.
The other style Graeme and I kept coming across was imperial stout – most often aged in bourbon casks. When I suggested a stop at Anderson Valley brewery in Boonville, to catch up with my old mate Fal Allen, Graeme agreed and kindly offered to drive afterwards: I accepted.
At least that was the plan. By the time we’d sampled several of the brewery’s beers, including various iterations of its luscious and somewhat heady Wild Turkey barrel-aged stout (and a taste of the unblended bourbon – the so-called ‘‘devil’s share’’ – extracted straight from the cask), neither of us could drive.
All in all it’s been a fantastic fortnight during which we’ve seen some amazing scenery, tasted some great beers and met some wonderful people.
As for my ‘‘must-stop’’ brewery recommendations for anyone planning a similar tour, I’d definitely include Russian River (in Santa Rosa, California); Deschutes, Crux and Boneyard (in Bend, Oregon); Rogue (in Newport, Oregon); Pelican (in Pacific City and Tillamook, Oregon); pfriem (in Hood River, Oregon) and Fat Head’s, Gigantic and Breakside (in Portland). And that’s just an appetiser.
Meanwhile, a big thanks to everyone who helped us along the way – and especially to my beerloving buddy and co-driver Graeme, for spending so much of his holiday looking at stainless steel brewing vessels. Cheers!