List of beers from the US-beer tour 2006

Beer List US-tour 2006

Well the blogging for the beer tour in 2006 went a bit slow at the end, mostly due to bad internet access at different motels that we passed. But the journey continued and we succeeded in getting to almost 100% of the places we intended to visit. Earlier I posted the pictures of the beer so here comes now the total list of establishments and the great beer we had.

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20060731

1. Vancouver: Steamworks Brewing Co. (Water St.)
1. Signature Pale Ale
2. Nirvana Nut Brown Ale
3. Empress IPA
4. Heroica Oatmeal Stout
Cascadia Cream Ale

2. Vancouver: YaleTown Brewing Company
5. Yippie IPA
6. Red Truck Ale
7. Rasperry Wheat

20060801
3. North Vancouver: Taylors Crossing
8. Indian Arms
9. Red Truck Lager

4. North Vancouver: Sailor Hägars Brewing Company
10. Bengal IPA
11. Lohins ESB
12. Maple Cream Ale
13. Grizzly Nut Brown Ale
14. Hagars Honey Pilsner

5. Vancouver: Granville Brewing Company
15. Maple Cream Ale
16. Island Lager
17. English Bay Pale Ale
18. Robson Street Hefeweizen

6. Vancouver: Dockside Brewing
19. Cartwright Pale Ale

7. Vancouver: DIX Brewing
20. DIX Brewing IPA
21. DIX Irish Stout

20060802
8. Seattle: The Pike Brewing Company
22. Pike Pale Ale (heirloom amber)
23. Pike IPA
24. Pike Tandem Double Ale
25. Kiltlifter Ruby Ale
26. Pike Double Stout

9. Seattle: Rock Bottom Brewing Company
27. Hopbomb IPA
28. Peashooter Pale Ale
29. Rain City Red
30. Belgian Triple

10. Seattle: Six Arms
31. Rogue Anniversary IPA
32. Hales ESB
33. Scuttlebutt Hoptopia
34. Mc. Hammerhead Ale

11. Seattle: Gordon Biersch
35. Gordon Biersch Kölsh
36. Dunkles

20060803
12. Seattle: Pyramid
37. Thunderhead IPA
38. Draught Pale Ale (DPA)
39. Macs Ale

13. Seattle: Collins Bar
40. Pelican IPA
41. Walking Man IPA

14. Seattle: Virginia Inn
42. Hales Mongoose IPA
43. Mac & Jacks African Amber
44. Fat Tire Amber Ale
45. Maritime Pacific Old Seattle Lager

15. Seattle: Belltown Bistro
46. Mirrorpond Pale Ale
47. Bridgeport IPA
48. Red Hook Ale

16. Seattle: Elysian Brewing Company
49. Immortal IPA
50. Elysian Fields Pale Ale

17. Seattle: Elephant & Castle
51. Lagunitas IPA
52. Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

20060804
18. Snoqualmie: Snoqualmie Brewing Company
53. WildCat IPA
54. Copperhead Pale Ale

19. Ellensburg: Iron Horse Brewery
55. Rodeo Extra Pale Ale
56. Wheat & Rye
57. IPA
58. Brown Ale
59. Loco-Motive Red Ale

20. Sunnyside: Snipes Mountain Microbrewery & res.
60. Sunnyside Pale Ale
61. IPA
62. Coyote Moon Amber Ale
63. Porter

20060805
21. Hood River: Full Sail Brewing Company
64. Sunspot IPA
65. IPA
66. Pale Ale
67. Amber
68. Bock

22. Portland: Bones & Brew
69. Siletz Paddle Me IPA
70. Steelhead Hopto Trot Pale
71. Amnesia Dusty Pale
72. New Old Lompoc C-Note
73. Ninkasi Total Domination IPA
74. Caldera Dry Hop Orange
75. Golden Valley Red Thistle Ale

23. Portland: Bridgeport Brewing Company
76. Blue Heron Pale Ale
77. Ropewalk Amber Ale
78. Surpris
79. IPA
80. ESB
81. Porter
82. Black Strap Stout
83. Old Knucklehead Barley Wine

24. Portland: Lucky Labrador Beer Hall
84. Superdog IPA (cask)
85. Organic No Pity Ale
86. Single Hop IPA
87. Bavarian Wheat

25. Portland: The Produce Cafe
88. Great Divide Samurai (rice ale)
89. Dicks Best Bitter
90. Laurelwood Pale Ale
91. Racer 5 IPA

20060806
26. Raleigh Hills, Portland: Racoon Lodge & Brew Pub
92. IPA
93. Ring Tale Pale
94. Tropic Ale

27. Forrest Grove: McMenamins Grand Lodge
95. Hammerhead IPA

28. Pacific City: Pelican Pub & Brewery
96. Dorymans Dark Ale
97. Kiwanda Cream Ale
98. Pelican IPA
99. Tsunami Stout
100. Summer Surfers Ale

20060807
29. Newport: Rogue Brewery & Public House
101. Rogue I2PA
102. Rauchbier
103. Juniper Pale Ale
104. Chipotle Ale
105. Youngers Special Bitter

30. Eugene: Steelhead Brewing Company
106. Bombay Bomber IPA
107. Raging Rhino

31. Rosenburg: McMenamins Station
108. Vienna (nitro)
109. IPA
110. Porter on nitro
111. ESB
112. Terminator Stout

20060808
32. Cave Junction: Wild River Brewing Company
113. IPA

33. Eureka: Lost Cost Brewing Company
114. Lost Coast Pale Ale
115. Alleycat Amber
116. Downtown Brown
117. Indica IPA
118. Tangerine Wheat

34. Eureka: Gallahers Irish Pub
119. Andersson Valley Summer Solstice
120. Mendocino Eye of the Hawk Ale

20060809
35. Fort Bragg: North Coast Brewery
121. Acme IPA
122. Acme Pale Ale
123. Red Seal
124. Red Seal (draught cond.)
125. Pranqster

36. Boonville: Andersson Valley Brewing
126. Hopotin IPA
127. Poleeko Gold Pale Ale

37. Hopland: Mendocino Brewing Company
128. White Hawk IPA
129. Red Tale Ale

38. Ukiah: Ukiah Brewing Company
130. Yokayo Gold
131. Sunhouse Amber
132. Orr Springs IPA
133. 10 Guilder
134. Palace Porter
135. O'Bohannans XXX Irish Stout (nitro)

20060810
39. Healdsburg: Bear Republic
136. Racer 5 IPA

40. Calistoga: Napa Valley Brewing Company
137. Calistoga Wheat Ale
138. Pale Ale

41. Santa Rosa: Russian River Brewing Company
139. Blind Pig IPA
140. Parking Violation Pale Ale
141. Russian River IPA
142. Pliny the Elder
143. Little White Lie
144. Redemption
145. Perdition
146. Damnation

42. Petaluma: Dempsey's
147. Petaluma Pale Ale
148. Petaluma Strong Ale
149. Red Rooster Ale
150. Ugly Dog Stout

43. Petaluma: Finbar Devines
151. Lagunitas IPA

20060811
44. Berkley: Jupiter
152. Jupiter IPA
153. Jupiter Hefeweizen
154. Jupiter Pale Ale

45. Oakland: Pacific Coast Brewing Company
155. Old Oak
156. Yellow Yackett
157. Gray Whale
158. Leviathan Imperial Stout
159. Killer Whale Stout
160. Special 2 Ale (not known)
161. Code Blue

46. Pleasanton: The Hopyard
162. Stone Arrogant Bastard
163. Big Sky IPA
164. Blind Pig IPA
165. Hoptown IPA (nitro)

47. San Francisco: San Fran Brewing Company
166. Shanghaipa
167. SF Pale Ale

20060812
48. San Francisco: Rogue Ale House
168. Dead Guy Ale
169. Shakespeare Stout
170. No fault ale
171. Brutal Bitter
172. Mocha Porter
173. Dry Hop Red

49. San Francisco: Toronado
174. Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA
175. Moonlight Bombay by boat IPA
176. Firestone Walker Nectar IPA
177. Santa Barbara IPA
178. Iron Springs Casey Jones Double IPA
179. Russian River Blind Pig

50. San Francisco: Magnolia Pub & Brewery
180. Prescription Pale
181. Spudsboy IPA
182. Blue Bell Bitter (cask)
183. Dark Star Mild

51. San Francisco: Thirsty Beer Brewing Company
184. Kozlov Stout
185. Howard Street IPA
186. Seasonal Pale Ale

52. San Francisco: 21 amendment
187. Russian River Blind Pig
188. Amendment Pale Ale
189. General Pippers Porter

20060813
53. San Francisco: The City Beer Store & Tasting Bar
190. Drakes IPA
191. Lagunitas Red Ale
192. Lagunitas Freak Out Ale
193. Stone IPA
194. Hair of a dog Fred
195. Drakes Porter (draught)
196. Deuchettes Inversion IPA

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That means a total of:

1. 53 pubs or brewpubs being visited
2. 196 beers being tasted

HOW ABOUT THE RATING, WELL IT LOOKED LIKE BELOW;

Beer: Rating:
Signature Pale Ale 3
Nirvana Nut Brown Ale 2(+)
Empress IPA 2(+)
Heroica Oatmeal Stout 3(-)
Cascadia Cream Ale 3(-)
Yippie IPA 3(+)
Red Truck Ale 3
Rasperry Wheat 2
Indian Arms 3
Red Truck Lager 3
Bengal IPA 4
Lohins ESB 3(+)
Maple Cream Ale 1(+)
Grizzly Nut Brown Ale 3(+)
Hagars Honey Pilsner 2(+)
Maple Cream Ale 2(+)
Island Lager 1(+)
English Bay Pale Ale 2(-)
Robson Street Hefeweizen2(+)
Cartwright Pale Ale 2(+)
DIX Brewing IPA 3(+)
DIX Irish Stout 3
Pike Pale Ale (heirloom amber) 4
Pike IPA 3(+)
Pike Tandem Double Ale 4
Kiltlifter Ruby Ale 4(-)
Pike Double Stout 3(+)
Hopbomb IPA 4(+)
Peashooter Pale Ale 5(-)
Rain City Red 3(+)
Belgian Triple 3(+)
Rogue Anniversary IPA 4
Hales ESB 4
Scuttlebutt Hoptopia 3(+)
Mc. Hammerhead Ale 3
Gordon Biersch Kölsh 4
Dunkles 3(+)
Thunderhead IPA 4
Draught Pale Ale (DPA) 4
Macs Ale 3(+)
Pelican IPA 4(+)
Walking Man IPA 4(+)
Hales Mongoose IPA 4(-)
Mac & Jacks African Amber 3
Fat Tire Amber Ale 2
Maritime Pacific Old Seattle Lager 2
Mirrorpond Pale Ale 3(+)
Bridgeport IPA 4(-)
Red Hook Ale 3(+)
Immortal IPA 4(-)
Elysian Fields Pale Ale 3(+)
Lagunitas IPA 4
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar 4(-)
WildCat IPA 3(+)
Copperhead Pale Ale 4(-)
Rodeo Extra Pale Ale 4
Wheat & Rye 3(+)
IPA 4
Brown Ale 3(+)
Loco-Motive Red Ale 3(+)
Sunnyside Pale Ale 3(+)
IPA 4(+)
Coyote Moon Amber Ale 3(+)
Porter 4
Sunspot IPA 4(+)
IPA 3(+)
Pale Ale 3
Amber 3
Bock 3
Siletz Paddle Me IPA 4
Steelhead Hopto Trot Pale 3
Amnesia Dusty Pale 4(+)
New Old Lompoc C-Note 4
Ninkasi Total Domination IPA 4
Caldera Dry Hop Orange
Golden Valley Red Thistle Ale
Blue Heron Pale Ale 3
Ropewalk Amber Ale 4(-)
Surpris 3(+)
IPA 4(-)
ESB 4
Porter 3(+)
Black Strap Stout 4
Old Knucklehead Barley Wine 4(-)
Superdog IPA (cask) 4(+)
Organic No Pity Ale 4(+)
Single Hop IPA 4(+)
Bavarian Wheat 3(+)
Great Divide Samurai (rice ale) 4
Dicks Best Bitter 3(+)
Laurelwood Pale Ale 3(+)
Racer 5 IPA 4
IPA 3(+)
Ring Tale Pale 3
Tropic Ale n/a (not a beer)
Hammerhead IPA
Dorymans Dark Ale 4
Kiwanda Cream Ale 4
Pelican IPA 5
Tsunami Stout 4(+)
Summer Surfers Ale 4(+)
Rogue I2PA 4(+)
Rauchbier 4
Juniper Pale Ale 4
Chipotle Ale 4(-)
Youngers Special Bitter 3(+)
Bombay Bomber IPA 4(-)
Raging Rhino 3(+)
Vienna (nitro) 3
IPA 3
Porter on nitro 3(+)
ESB 3(-)
Terminator Stout 3(+)
IPA 4(+)
Lost Coast Pale Ale 4(-)
Alleycat Amber 3(+)
Downtown Brown 3(+)
Indica IPA 4(+)
Tangerine Wheat n/a (not a beer)
Andersson Valley Summer Solstice 4
Mendocino Eye of the Hawk Ale 4
Acme IPA 4
Acme Pale Ale 4(+)
Red Seal 4
Red Seal (draught cond.)4(+)
Pranqster 4(-)
Hopotin IPA 5(-)
Poleeko Gold Pale Ale 4(+)
White Hawk IPA 4(-)
Red Tale Ale 4(-)
Yokayo Gold 4(+)
Sunhouse Amber 4(-)
Orr Springs IPA 4
10 Guilder 3(+)
Palace Porter 3
O'Bohannans XXX Irish Stout (nitro) 2(-)
Racer 5 IPA 4(+)
Calistoga Wheat Ale 3(-)
Pale Ale 3(-)
Blind Pig IPA 4(+)
Parking Violation Pale Ale 4
Russian River IPA 4(+)
Pliny the Elder 5
Little White Lie 4
Redemption 4(+)
Perdition 4
Damnation 4(-)
Petaluma Pale Ale 3(+)
Petaluma Strong Ale 4(-)
Red Rooster Ale 3(+)
Ugly Dog Stout 3(-)
Lagunitas IPA 4
Jupiter IPA 4
Jupiter Hefeweizen 4(-)
Jupiter Pale Ale 4(-)
Old Oak 3(+)
Yellow Yackett 3(+)
Gray Whale 3(+)
Leviathan Imperial Stout3(-)
Killer Whale Stout 4(-)
Special 2 Ale (not known)3(-)
Code Blue 3(+)
Stone Arrogant Bastard 4(+)
Big Sky IPA 4(+)
Blind Pig IPA 5
Hoptown IPA (nitro) 4
Shanghaipa 3(+)
SF Pale Ale 3
Dead Guy Ale 4
Shakespeare Stout 4(+)
No fault ale 4(+)
Brutal Bitter 4
Mocha Porter 4(+)
Dry Hop Red 4(-)
Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA 4(+)
Moonlight Bombay by boat IPA 4(+)
Firestone Walker Nectar IPA 5(-)
Santa Barbara IPA 4(-)
Iron Springs Casey Jones Double IPA 4(+)
Russian River Blind Pig 5(-)
Prescription Pale 4(-)
Spudsboy IPA 4(-)
Blue Bell Bitter (cask) 4(-)
Dark Star Mild 4
Kozlov Stout 3(+)
Howard Street IPA 3(+)
Seasonal Pale Ale 3
Russian River Blind Pig 4(+)
Amendment Pale Ale 3(+)
General Pippers Porter 3
Drakes IPA
Lagunitas Red Ale
Lagunitas Freak Out Ale
Stone IPA
Hair of a dog Fred
Drakes Porter (draught)
Deuchettes Inversion IPA

WHICH MEANS THAT THE TOP 6 IS:

1. Pelican IPA 5
2. Pliny the Elder 5
3. Blind Pig IPA 5
4. Firestone Walker Nectar IPA 5(-)
5. Peashooter Pale Ale 5(-)
6. Hopotin IPA 5(-)
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Travelling from Sunnyside to Portland... (+ the rest)

Being of from the internet world for a while I have to short track the trip a while. Anyway we continued the beer trip with starting from Sunnyside after a great evening at the Snipes Mountain Microbrewery.



We went back the road and went down the river on the oregon side and finally came to a very sunny day in Hood River and Full Sail Brewing company. Here we had the following beers;

Sunspot IPA
IPA
Pale Ale
Amber
Bock

The Sunspot IPA was quite tasty but the rest of the branch was really not so interesting to talk about. Anyway the place was quite nice and we had a pleasant view over the hood river.

(A bit dark picture of Stefan, but you can spot the river on the left side of his head)

The journey continued by the hood river and we was getting close to Portland and the planned beer festival on the Saturday evening.

We entered the city and continued to the north side of the city to find a cheap motel, and we did, very cheap but it was not the best room experience we have had. I think it was called some like cheap of economic.

But that was not so important so when we finally got our room we managed to take the max train downtown to the china town and continued to the street festival (Bones & Brew) at the rogue pub. It was extremelly hot (around 14.30) so we got a bit confused in the heat. Anyway we succeded in getting the following draught beers;

Siletz Paddle IPA
Steelhead Hop To Trot Pale
Amnesia Dusty Pale
New Old Lompoc C-Note Imperial Ale
Ninkasi Domination IPA
Caldera Dry Hop Orange
Golder Valley Red Thistle Ale



The journey continued through the sun and took us to the Bridgeport Brewing Company where the following beers was consumed;

Blue Heron Pale Ale
Ropewalk Amber Ale
Surpris
IPA
ESB
Porter
Black Strap Stout
Old Knucklehead barley wine

(The best beer is the outstanding; Superdog Double IPA)

After that the next stop was Lucky Labrador Beer Hall where the best beers of the trip was consumed.

Superdog Double IPA
Organic No Pity Ale
Single Hop IPA
Bavarian Wheat



After some book shopping we finally go to the last place of the day; Produce Cafe where we had;

Greate Divide Samurai
Dicks Best Bitter
Laurelwood Pale Ale
Racer 5 IPA



The end... for now...
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I did not succeed in the mission on writing this blog during the actual trip. Mainly due to too many bad or nonexisting internet services, so I simply gave up, and went to sleep instead. But jsut for historical reasons here comes the rest of the trip as short resume.

20060806
Left Portland in the morning and passed "Raleigh Hills" and the "Racoon Lodge & Brew Pub".


Continued for lunch at stopped at "Forrest Grove" and the "McMenamins Grand Lodge". Remember that I had a Hammerhead IPA together with the lunch at this nice little "country"-pub.

Passed a lot of curvey roads before heading for a finally getting to the amazing "Pelican Pub & Brewery" at "Pacific City". This was a great place to staying during the evening and I will never forget when the sun went behind the pelican brief out in seafront. A purely magical place and also some amazing beer was served at the pub, as; "Dorymans Dark Ale", "Kiwanda Cream Ale", "Pelican IPA", "Tsunami Stout" and "Summer Surfers Ale". Talking about the best one, simply the name is "PPA".


Next day on 20060807
Continued to "Newport" and the original "Rogue Brewery & Public House". This is not the brewery but it the original pub established by Rogue brewery. Had lunch and an amazing Rouge I2PA (please a lot more).


Passed "Eugene" and the "Steelhead Brewing Company". Best one here was the Bombay Bomber IPA.


Stayed the evening and the night in "Rosenburg", sorry to say but this is a very boring place, and very poor on beer. But we finally survived at the "McMenamins Station" and had something called "Vienna" on nitro.

20060808
Drow to "Cave Junction" and "Wild River Brewing Company", and had the IPA. Great place, really. A bit small and difficult to find, but after we finally found the place it was quite nice (at the beginning of the town, on the left side, remember!, at the beginning so make sure that you do not pass the whole town before you try to spot the place).


Continued to "Eureka" and the "Lost Cost Brewing Company". Quite a famous place for their beers, but I have had better beers. Famous beer that that you have have heard off is; "Alleycat Amber" and the "Indica IPA".


Also find a nice Irish pub in "Eureka" called "Gallahers Irish Pub" and had some nice US-micros; "Andersson Valley Summer Solstice" and "Mendocino Eye of the Hawk Ale". Did not even see any Irish beers, :).

20060809
A big beer experience day, simply because we finally got to "Fort Bragg" and the "North Coast Brewery". This is a great place, had a shop on one side of the street and the pub on the other. Here we had a amazaing lunch with some great beer experience; "Acme IPA", "Acme Pale Ale", "Red Seal", "Red Seal (draught cond.)!!!!" (this one is unique, and nothing as the normal red seal, it is in simple words; smoooth), and finally the great "Pranqster".

One great place to the other, we continued to "Boonville" and the "Andersson Valley Brewing Company". Built as has wine house in the middle of the wine country we had the great examples of beer in the form of; "Hopotin IPA" & "Poleeko Gold Pale Ale". Nice place, but a bit warm for us Swedes.


Went to "Hopland" and the "Mendocino Brewing Company".


Ended up in "Ukiah" and the "Ukiah Brewing Company". Still extremely warm but we had a good dinner and some great beers.


20060810
If the last day was a good day for beers, this day was probably Nirvana for a beer geek.

Went to "Healdsburg" and "Bear Republic" and had the mighty "Racer 5 IPA".


A short stop and lunch in "Calistoga" (most famous for Wines) and the "Napa Valley Brewing Company". A poor place for beer, but a nice little town. We also had a short Wine tasting journey that I will not talk much about here, :).

So here it comes our new favorite in american micros came to us when we visited the Norrebro Brewpub in Copenhagen during the spring of 2006. It was a very simple bottle that had a small name tag saying "Blind Pig". Which turned out to be a great american IPA. Doing some research when we went home we discovered that this beer came from a brewery called Russian River. Due to that it was very exiting to finally come to "Santa Rosa" and the "Russian River Brewing Company". The brewery has it all, and the blind pig is still a favorite but the rest are also new classics in the brewery history. Tasting went from; "Blind Pig IPA" to "Parking Violation Pale Ale" to "Russian River IPA" to "Pliny the Elder" to "Little White Lie" to "Redemption" to "Perdition" and finally "Damnation". And the winner is;

1. Pliny the Elder, *****


Ended up in "Petaluma" and "Dempsey's"

and the "Finbar Devines".


20060811
Getting close to the end we went to "Berkley" and "Jupiter". Which is a brewpub.


From there to "Oakland" and "Pacific Coast Brewing Company".


Went to "Pleasanton" (where Documentum is located, meaning the product I am working with during my none off days) and "The Hopyard". This is a great place outside San Fran and has a lot of beer on draught, like the few one we had; "Stone Arrogant Bastard", "Big Sky IPA", "Blind Pig IPA" (once more) & Hoptown IPA (nitro).


After sitting in the car queue for central "San Francisco" we could settle at the "San Fran Brewing Company".

20060812
Got some sleep and some sighteeing we went by foot (finally we got rid of the car) to the "Rogue Ale House" in San Francisco.


Continued to the best pub in the USA; "Toronado" and some amazing beers. I will only mention one which is the "Moonlight Bombay by boat IPA".


Then to "Magnolia Pub & Brewery". Had a good Mild from Dark Star (not the english brewery).


Went back to town and the "Thirsty Beer Brewing Company" and finally end up at a "21 amendment" after a long beer day. Had a Blind again, :).

20060813
Last day San Francisco and the last day of the beer trip, but did not include any pubs. Instead we had some great beer at the best beer shop in the USA according to me, at least the most friendly one; "The City Beer Store & Tasting Bar" (thanks Charlie). Here we sampled; "Drakes IPA", "Lagunitas Red Ale", "Lagunitas Freak Out Ale","Stone IPA","Hair of a dog Fred","Drakes Porter (on draught)" & "Deuchettes Inversion IPA"

Bye and good night.

Leaving Seattle...

August 4th

Last day in seattle simply consisted of checking out of the hotel and then walk a few blocks up to the Hilton hotel above university ave. Here we rented our car that turned out to be a chevrolet impala on the eight floor at the hotel. This was the first time ever I drove an automatic gear so it was very interesting to figure out the concept of using the break instead of changing gear with a stick that I am used to. Seems that the break was very good and I succeeded in waking up my friends a few times when the car stopped very suddenly.

Going though redmont (did not see bill) we headed out to the eastern part of the washington state for the search of better beers.


The first stop was on Snoqualmie Brewing Company in Snoqualmie Falls. Here we had some beers, I was drivingthis day so I personaly had a root beer, but the rest of the gang tested;
Wildcat IPA
Copperhead Pale Ale (the number on beer here)

After the beers and the lunch we had we headed for the famous falls nearby the town (very small town).According to the guide books this was the falls used in the Twin Peaks TV-series. Very nice...


After that we continued on the road to the next brewery in Ellensburg with the name Iron Horse Brewery. Due tothe missing GPS we ordered to the car it turned out to be very difficult to understand how to get to the brewery but we finally got it and understood how we could find the dollar way, which turned out to be outside the city and in a warehouse complex. The place was very small but seemed to have the potential to create great beers. The brewery was located at the end of the warehouse and was owned by one person (Jim, who was the owner, brewmaster, ceo and all the rest). I was really impressedthat all this could be accomplished by one single person.

The range we tested included;
Rodeo Extra Pale Ale
Wheat & Rye
IPA
Brown Ale
Locomotive Ale (double red ale)



The clock was getting late and when we finally find the grant brewpub in yakahima and discovered that the place was closed we went away to the city of Sunnyside (where we also got a room at the Country Inn and had dinner and some very nice beers at Snipes Mountain Microbrewery. The beers we had included;

Sunnyside Pale Ale
IPA (best of the day, according to me, the rest voted for the Iron Horse brands)
Coyte Moon amber ale
Porter

Seattle the second day..

Being a bit tired and need the sleep for the driving tomorrow I will mainly spend a few minutes on talking about what we drank today.


Pyramid Brewpub
Thunderhead IPA
DPA (Draught Pale Ale) exclusive at pyramid
Macs Ale (same as DPA but not the draught version)


Collins Bar
Pelican IPA (cannot do much about it, but it was simply the best beer of the day, but has nothing to do with the washington state beer that should be the focus of the day)
Walking Man IPA


Virginia Inn
Moongoose Ipa from Hales (number 2 of the day)
Mac & Jacks African Amber
Fat Tire Amber Ale (from california)
Old Seattle Lager (Paritime Pacific Brewery, boring...)


Belltown Bistro
Mirror Pond Pale Ale (number 3 of the day)
Bridgeport IPA (from oregon)
Reedhook Ale


Elysian Brewpub
Immortal IPA
Elysian Fields Pale Ale

Elephant & Castle (same name as a tube station in London)
Lagunitas IPA (from California)
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (from oregon)

Hopefully I will write some stuff tomorrow but you never know, we are picking up the car at 11.00 and after that we really do not know what will happen regarding the web access...

Sorry forgot the beer of day, so here it comes once more...
Pelican IPA

Good night folks see you tomorrow when we continue the journey into washinton state...

Seattle day one...

08/02/06
The journey has now started with the 11.20 Greyhound bus from the Vancouver bus terminal. As usual the bus was quite old and scabby but the price was very reasonable (28$). I am (+ the rest of the gang; maria, stefan and mikael) currently sitting here on the bus trip that will hopefully take us to Seattle by 15.30 local us time. Stefan has spent his last Canadian dollars on chips and candy bars, so he is sitting a front of me eating a lot of crap food.

12:19:39 AM

Right now it seems that we are getting closer to the us border or something because we a traveling very slowly, or it is simply a normal car queue.
Anyway the plan today is generally to discover the city and hopefully finally get some good and tasteful (compared to canadian brews) micro brews. The plan is to find some good places today and then even more tomorrow when we have the full day covered. Some of the most promising is probably Pike and Pyramid, but I guess that we will go to some good pubs where we can get a sample of more then one brewery at the same place and hopefully from the pacific north west.
We will stay in Seattle for two nights so the schedule will be quite hectic when you have to taste as much of the regional beer being served at different establishments.

12:25:22 AM... to be continued when we arrive in Seattle.

Yes we finally arrived at seattle a bit later due to a long stop at the border and then trying to going through the Seattle traffic at rush hour.

So the city looks very nice along the seafront, we strolled through the city after getting to the ramada hotel on fifth.

The first day in seattle had two goals, food and beer. So we started out at the pike brewing company where we had some very nice beers together with some burgers, the tested beer included;

Pike Pale Ale
Pike IPA
Pike Tandem double ale (seasonal)
Pike Kiltlifter Ruby Ale
Pike Double Stout

The best one (according to me) was the pale ale and the double ale.

Going through some parts of the market at the seafront (including the original starbucks) we came across the Rock Bottom Brewpub;



Really this was a great place based on the beers, the general option was that this was the best beer of the day and also the best beer so far. The range included;

Hopbomb IPA (I got the t-shirt)
Peashooter Pale Ale
Rain city ale
Belgian triple (simply called 3 for triple)

(3 for triple)

All got 3+ or higher according to our beer ratings.

After this it was time to try some different beers so we tested out the Six Arms pub on pike and got to try;

Rogue Anniversay IPA
Hales ESB
Scuttllebutt Hoptopia
Hammerhead Ale

Here my phone died to I cannot provide any photo evidence but it was quite nice pub, but it tasted quite strange according to my travelling mates.

The trip settled on to a usual suspect, so we came to te gordon biersh branch when we got back from the the six arms and tested the kölsch (quite good) and the dunkel.

Tandem at pike

A new day in Vancouver...

So it is the first real day in Vancouver, meaning that we have been sleeping a full night and we are now ready to start discovering the city in more detail.

Nothing has happened so far except breakfast, but generally we are going to do some more sightseeing and hopefully also find some good examples of Canadian beer culture.

Hopefully this can be added later today.

So the day started out with a extensible long walk along the Vancouver seafront towards the stanley park. The weather was quite warm so it was taken a few hours to walk towards and through the stanley park north of the downtown Vancouver.

Sea planes at the harbor.

At the north side of the park we crossed the lionbridge by foot and started the long walk along the north side of Vancouver. The plan was to walk along the Marine drive to get back to the city by the seabus.

This was very long but we got some relief when found the first brewpub of the day (which was not on the list); Taylors Crossing Brewing Company. The brewpub is part of the Mark James Group, like YaleTown Brewing Company.

Here we tasted the following beers;

Indian Arms IPA (seasonal)
Red Truck Lager
The entrance of the brewpub.

The beer was OK, but the place was much better.

Getting closer to the ferry back to the city we finally came to the first plan brewpub for the day, which was Sailor Hägars Brewing Company (saying that it was inspired by scandinavian type of brewing tradition but seems more influenced by english and german traditions).



Here we combined the beer with some late lunch (pizza for me) and had the following beers;

Bengal IPA (which turned out to be the best beer of the day)
Lohins ESB
Maple Cream Ale
Grizzly Nut Brown Ale
Hagars Honey Pilser (cold but very boring)

Getting back to the city by the ferry turned out to be an other scenic view of the city and we got back where we started out.

The next stop was to get to the granville island, south of the down and here we discovered some additional brewpubs where the most famous one was; Granville Brewing Company. The most famous one turned out to be a huge disapointment. The line of beer was telling us that Canada likes brewpub but seems to be very scared to created tasteful brews. We tried the full range available;

Maple Cream Ale (OK, but nothing more)
Island Lager (Which according to the place should be hoppy, but it tasted like a chinese beer I had last year, tsingtao, meaning very weak in hoppiness)
English Bay Pale Ale
Robson Street Hefeweizen (the best one because it tasted at least like a spicy wheatbeer, but destroyed a bit by the added lemon)

The beer sample.

Further along the island after getting a bit confused on the direction we came along to the Dockside Brewing Company and had a Cartwright Pale Ale. It tasted something but was still nothing to remember.

And finally got back to yaletown and finished with a very nice IPA at the DIX brewing company (also part of MJG). It had not named except DIX, but it finally the taste was very nice. We also tested the seasonal dark beer which was a stout and it was also quite good.

The IPA

And the entrance of the place at beatty street;


Thats it and now we will leave Canada and start the trip in the US, with the first stop in seattle.