Trip logs for Outside the PNW

Fit Helena in there for Lewis & Clark and Blackfoot. It's only a small detour on the way to or from Jackson. Actually, you could easily hit Bozeman on the way to or from Jackson too. Long drives but they go by fast.

 

Great read, thank you.

Though I didn't live there very long I'm actually originally from Montana. I think people absolutely would drive 100 miles to go to a brewery, and not think a ton of it. Many people live in towns so small that's only way to get certain things. And as for the scotch ales, people went crazy for Cold Smoke not too many years ago. My guess is the popularity of Scotch ales is a reaction to Cold Smoke's success.

And damn. I'd be heartbroken to make it to Minneapolis and have Town Hall be out of most of their stuff. Big fan of their stuff.

Did you not stop in Wisconsin?

 

I grabbed a can of Cold Smoke. Interesting to know it started the trend. Grabbed another scotch ale, Mountain Man, by The Front. So I'll get a taste of the Montana Scotch Ales. I had Tamarack's Hat Trick last night and based on that beer I'd say folks from Montana follow NW folks in rating conservatively relative to many other regions; it was a really nice IPA.

I stopped in Wisconsin for lunch but pushed on to Chicago without stopping anywhere. Chicago is so close to Madison and Milwaukee, not too far from New Glarus, that I'll be up there regularly enough. I'm actually taking my first MW beer trip next weekend to hit O'so / Funk Factory and Central Waters.

 

@Kurmaraja , whatever you do, don't you dare tell the FIBs about our beer. Or else we'll come there, tie you to a handtruck, and dump you in Lake Michigan.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I wouldn't want to prolong the drive either when you can easily travel to Wisconsin just about any time. And speaking of travel, you'll certainly have no shortage of options when it comes to beer trips. I'll look forward to your updates.

 

Maybe he could finally get to try Fatheads?

 

We just returned from a week on Maui, and a few days in Honolulu. We didn't have time to look for beer spots in Honolulu, so all I can say about that city is that the typical restaurant or grocery store doesn't offer much choice on beers. I know there are some specialty spots that I didn't hit, but it didn't seem like there's enough demand for exceptional beers to make for a first rate selection in grocery stories or restaurants, and that's quite a bit different from Seattle.

As for Maui, I went to the places recommended on a couple of BA forum threads: Monkeypod in Wailea (upscale pizza restaurant with solid taplist), the Maui Brewing Company brewpub in Lahaina, Flatbread in Paia, Tamura's for bottles, and a couple of other smaller places.

You'll see Maui Brewing beers everywhere. The good news is, they're fairly good. Unfortunately, they are not great. Big Swell IPA is pretty good, the Pueo Pale Ale is better, and the Coconut Porter is very good. Their rye IPA is noteworthy. Everything else is a notch or two back (I had around 7 or 8 different). Nothing gets into the territory of what Fremont or Reuben's or Black Raven or the other better Seattle or Portland breweries are routinely putting out. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to drink the Maui beers. But I was surprised not to find at least a few beers from them that made me really sit up and notice.

Kona is also pretty common on tap, but I was staying away from them for AB/InBev reasons.

The paradox is that the food at these places is really really good. The food at MBC's brewpub was way better than the food at most brewpubs around Seattle (except maybe the Epic Gastropod). The pizza at Monkeypod and Flatbread was outstanding.

I did find some good bottles at Tamura's, and I recommend a stop there. Just for fun, I had a Westmalle Tripel, and also a Logsdon Oak aged Bretta, which was quite a find.

So -- go to Maui for great scenery, go for the beaches, go for the surfing (or to watch the surfers). Go to the Haleakala Crater, which is way cool. The beer will not quite live up to the scenery or the food.

 

I'm still insanely jealous that Hawaii gets Modern Times and we don't.

Hell, Japan gets Modern Times and we don't.

 

Big Island Brewhaus bottles many of their beers, and they do live up to the screnery. The White Mountain Porter made with coconut and coffee is better than the Maui coconut porter, and their Overboard IPA is very good. They also make some very good Belgian-style beers. I'm surprised you didn't see any bottles on the shelf at Tamura's. They also put the bottling date on the bottles so you'll know if it's not fresh. The only bad thing is they only do bombers, and they're not cheap.

 

When did that happen? I didn't see any cans or bottles the first week in February. :-(

 

I've seen a couple people mention them being available on Maui, based on Instagram posts and Untappd check-ins.

 

You can't trust that stuff... could just be people on vacation bringing it in their luggage.

 

Nah, I've talked with these people about it.

Good to know I'm not crazy.

http://moderntimesbeer.com/blog/modern-times-is-heading-to-maui

 

I did have a bottle of the Big Island Golden Sabbath while I was in Honolulu, and liked it quite a bit. I didn't see their stuff on tap in Maui. It's possible there were bottles in Tamura's.

 

PALM SPRINGS

Hopefully you're flying to LA or San Diego, picking up a bunch of great beer, then driving to Palm Springs, because the beer scene there sucks. I hesitate to even use the phrase "beer scene," because there really isn't one.

Fame Wine & Cigar lounge is in the Palm Springs Beerfly listing, but the place carries about 20 bottles--mostly Belgian imports--that are easily procured pretty much anywhere. Fresh & Easy market had the best selection I found, but again, nothing mind-blowing and mostly stuff that's readily available in Oregon (ie: Stone, Ballast Point, Sierra Nevada). There's a Trader Joe's too, but I didn't make it there. I did manage to get a bomber of Coachella Valley Monumental IPA at Albertson's, but that was the only local-ish thing I saw besides Hangar 24 Orange Blossom.

There may be some bars/restaurants with decent taplists, but we spent the vast majority of the time in the pool/hot tub at our rental house, so we didn't venture out much. We went to Cheeky's for brunch one morning, and they had an acceptable beer selection, but again, nothing that's particularly unique to the area.

Bottom line: don't head to Palm Springs expecting to pick up some Modern Times cans, Alpine whatever, Port/Lost Abbey, etc. Just be happy to sit in the pool with a six pack of Go To or Torpedo. For as good as the SoCal beer scene is, it definitely hasn't trickled over into the desert.

 

I was there last month, and had a similar experience, although the two local breweries were easy to find at Albertsons (La Quinta, Coachella Valley), neither of them were anything to really write home about. If you venture out, however you can find Modern Times, as well as some other decent stuff at bars and restaurants. We brought a ton of MT stuff from with us from LA, but managed to drink a fair amount when we were out as well. Villiage Pub had the biggest taplist, again, nothing outstanding. The best selection was probably the bar at the Ace. The horribly un-googlable named Bar had a decent selection as well.

 

Just chiming in here as a Montana ba. It would take 2 weeks to really do MT right. The general rule is its 2 hours to every major town. Major meaning +30,000 people ha. And our brewery laws are still pretty outdated. Glad a lot of you guys enjoyed it. I go to seattle every 3 months and have fallen In love with the area. Fremont is my all time favorite brewery.

 

Just a reminder that, as the summer road trip season heats up, this thread is here for you.

 

Just coming off a road trip to Oregon and San Francisco. This wasn't really a beer trip, but we did manage to hit Saraveza and Cascade in Portland, the Bier Stein in Eugene, Caldera in Ashland, and Toronado and Monk's Kettle in SF. These are all places that many of you know, so I'll keep this brief. I'm mainly posting just to keep the attention to this thread, which I appreciate.

Saraveza is a small neighborhood joint in NE Portland. It’s been featured in BA magazine, but it’s no hipster hot spot. It’s very relaxed and low key. The food is excellent and quite Portlandia. The beer selection is not huge, but they've got unusual stuff you won't see elsewhere. Worth going out of your way for.

Cascade has a great selection of their superb sours. The food is also fine. It’s probably my favorite Portland spot, among the half dozen or more I’ve tried.

In Eugene, the Bier Stein has a huge selection of interesting beers, as John M. has frequently pointed out (thanks to him for steering us there).

Caldera’s new brewpub (and new brewery) is quite something, down in Ashland. The new place has 40 taps, every one dedicated to Caldera offerings, of almost any beer style you can think of. We were there for multiple visits, so I tried quite a few. Almost all of them were at least very good. Quite a few were excellent, and their barrel aged Imperial Stout was incredible. This has got to be the best beer stop between Chico and Portland. The food is fine, too. We also went to the old Caldera taproom downtown, still in operation, and it’s the same as it always was, but its selection of “just” 20 taps looks meager after you’ve been to the big show at the brewery itself.

In San Francisco, we made our regular stops at Toronado and the Monk’s Kettle, both reasonably convenient to where our son lives. I really like the Toronado vibe; I've never had any surliness from the bartenders, and the selection and prices are excellent. If you want Pliny on tap without going north to Russian River, this is the spot. I like their flexibility with half pours, which lets you have a good sized glass of a few fine beers, much better than a taster, but not as much of a load as pints. If you’re up on Haight for Toronado, try the BBQ place (Memphis Minnie’s) across the street – it’s great! The Monk’s Kettle is much more upscale in feel than Toronado, and a bit pricier, but they are quite friendly, and the selection is quite good. It can get crazy busy in the evening, like just about anywhere in SF, but we had a very relaxed hour there one afternoon, with a friendly and knowledgeable bartender.

 

Really? I've only had a few Caldera brews, just the cans that make it this far north, but I can't say I've been impressed. Is the stuff at the brewery that much better than what gets out into the world?