Sacramento/Rocklin/Auburn - Breweries and Releases (2018)

^^^Sounds like a worthy outing. Holy Hermit was still on tap yesterday too which made the journey even more worthwhile.

 

Arrived at Moonraker about 11:45am. Just around noon, they opened up their front door and I was greeted.




Sat at the bar, as I was their first and only customer. But not for long.



Would have loved to try their GABF Silver Medal Winner, but unfortunately it tapped out the day before. So I started things off with a mix of their PAs and IPAs. And The Holy Hermit DIPA, because why not?



As expected, their NE game was strong. I'd had a couple of their beers before this, and I enjoy their flavor profiles more so than any other California brewery making this kind of beer?

What was a delight was their West Coast style brews were pretty awesome too. If I didn't have so much beer already, I'd have brought home a growler of the Ghost Ship Pale Ale. Super clean and incredible flavor for a pale.

Had to also survey their goods.



Had a 2nd round of samplers, which included Sling Jaw (NE-style IPA), which I originally was planning on getting a glass of... but since I still had a 2 - 3 hour drive ahead of me in the rain, I didn't want to get smashed. Also tried samples of their Vespers Nine (Coffee Milk Stout) and Russian Imperial Stout. They weren't bad, but those styles are not my cup of tea.

Finally, I got some stuff to go and that was the end of my trip.



(At least when I went, it was 6 packs/person of Zulu Haze, 3 packs/person of The Hermit. I got 3 packs of each and split with a friend, so I ended up with 12 cans total.)

Awesome spot making awesome beer! I'll definitely go again sometime.

 

Yeah, I left just about 2pm!

Just like you, yesterday, I cracked open one of my Zulu Haze cans since my wife wanted to try (she didn't accompany me to Moonraker). Ice cold, she wasn't into it. But I told her to wait for it to warm up another 15 minutes, and she seemed to appreciate it more. I know The Hermit is more popular because of the juiciness, but I may actually prefer the subtleties of Zulu more.

 

We visited Sacramento again this weekend and it's great to see how strong their beer scene is! We visit each year and ever year it keeps on getting stronger.

We only had 2.5 days this time. We stuck to Sac proper and packed in Big Stump and Fieldwork on Friday, Hoppy, Device, and New Glory on Saturday, and Track 7 on Sunday. Disclaimer: my preferred beers are in the 7-9% ABV range. In general, I find ones below tend to be too watery and ones above often have too much of an alcohol burn.

Also, not a brewery but we went to The Rind and had some great local beers along with killer Mac N Cheese. We got the Jackrabbit Alpha Mosaic -- very good with a dense, almost syrupy mosaic hop taste. Also, we tried the Yolo RIS which was also very good, not terribly complex but with very pleasant raisin, cocoa, and stonefruit notes, and the Dust Bowl Blueberry Belgian Blonde, which was a bit too subtle for me.

Big Stump: We got the Opening Daze XXXIPA (8.9%), which was billed as an English-style Double IPA. Not bad but it felt like the ABV was masked by sweetness. Also, the Coconut RIS (8.7%). This one, again, was tasty but too sweet. I liked that it actually tasted like coconut, unlike most coconut-billed beers...however I didn't so much like that the coconut tasted artificial.

Fieldwork: Technically from but they have a taproom in Sacramento and it's pretty awesome. It has as good of a selection (nearly 20 on tap) as the main one but is much smaller, although with a similar style of decor. Like Berkeley, most of the beers here are fantastic and served in full pints for up to $7, even the higher ABV ones. For the first round, we got the Night Moves Spiced Coffee Imperial Stout (8.8%) on Nitro -- absolutely phenomenal, tasted like a creamy spiked slightly sweet eggnog, and the Olde Dubliner Imperial Irish Dry Stout (9.2%), also on Nitro, and this one was also unexpectedly fantastic. Take something plain (Irish Dry Stout), make an imperial version of it, and put it on Nitro, and it becomes something fantastic. For our second round, we got the Track 7 Collaboration NE-Style Double IPA, Never the Bride (8.4%), full flavored and refreshing with floral and citrus, and Hannah (8.4%) their Biere de Garde which was sadly the only one here that wasn't a complete hit. I liked what it was trying to do but the fruit candy notes veered too much towards cough syrup. This is consistent with my previous visits to Fieldwork; their IPAs/DIPAs and Stouts are fantastic, as are their Tart/Gose styles but their Saison-type beers taste like works in progress.

Hoppy: 2nd Gen Brewery (opened before craft beer was cool) that hasn't really evolved their beer menu. We got a sampler of all their beers and the two seasonals. Nothing really stood out, except for the Scarborough Beer but that stood out more for being unusual than great. It was "dry-hopped" with herbs and parsley and tasted like a spice rack. However, we went there primarily for the food, as the brunch menu is always amazing. They serve up some tasty bison short ribs.

Device: This place felt very San Diego. The beer styles, the decor, the staff, the laid-back attitude...it was almost like I was in back in SD. And lucky us, they had just tapped the Bourbon BA Brits in Moscow RIS (10.5). We tried that alongside the regular Brits in Moscow RIS (9.5). Both were excellent, and I appreciated how the Bourbon BA changed it though I preferred the regular one as it was punchy but not as sharp. We also got the Pale as Night Black IPA (6.8%) - just ok - the Anguish DIPA (8.5%) - better - and the Basilica TIPA (10.5%) - amazing. Like sinking your teeth into a grapefruit rind, with a resiny aftertaste. I later found out why...it has 130 IBUs. I liked this one so much I picked up a 4 pack of 16 oz cans to go for $19. Same price and total volume as a growler, but without having to bring or purchase empty glass. Really attractive packaging, too.

New Glory: Last stop Saturday. We tried the Farmopolis and Limoncello Saisons -- both around 6.5%. I liked the Limoncello one a bit better as I felt the tartness complemented the base better. Also, the Listen Up DIPA (8.0%) made entirely with Citra Hops. In my opinion Citra is so played out that I generally avoid it, but this was the only strong IPA-type beer available so we tried it and I once again realized why Citra is so popular. This was our favorite beer here. We also got the Blueberry Flippin' Good (9.7%), an Imperial Brown Ale with blueberries in the mash that is supposed to resemble pancakes. This was the one I had the highest expectations for, but it sadly fell a little flat. Maybe it resembled pancakes a bit too much, and I don't like pancakes. But the ABV didn't quite match the base in my opinion.

Track 7: We swung by here Sunday before heading back and our original plan was to get a growler or two for the road, but it was still raining pretty heavily so we stayed here for a couple hours while waiting out the storm. They still had some of their anniversary beers on tap, so we tried the Owney's Imperial Milk Stout Bike Dog collab w/ Coffee, Coconut, Caramel, and Cocoa (8.9%), Executioner's Basket Imperial Red Ale Three Weavers collab w/ Blood Oranges (9.1%), and Low Country Murk Unfiltered IPA Modern Times collab (6.5%). The Owney's IMS was one of the best beers I've ever had, and I filled up a growler. Of the four additions you could taste them all. I almost got two growlers, but realized we already have too much beer in the fridge. The Executioner's Basket was also very good. The Low Country Murk was my least favorite as the taste was a bit too subtle. We then got the Mo'suka NE-style DIPA (8.0%) which was probably the next evolution of the Low Country and better, and the Nuckin' Futz Imperial Peanut Butter Porter, although barely imperial at 7.3%. We tried this two years ago (before it was called NF) and I wasn't impressed; however, this time it was much improved and being on Nitro helped even more.

 

You happen to give it a try this weekend? Any good?

 

Dojo only lasted a day?

 

I'm more interested in the Mosaic Crush (and even more so when it releases, Galaxy Crush). I would love to know who gets distributed their cans in SF.

 

I'm making my first trip to moonraker tomorrow , looking forward to the road trip.

 

I'll be there to pick up cans of Dojo and Mosaic Crush. Dojo is great. Never had the MC, though I'm sure it'll be tasty too.

 

Coming into Sac next week (Tues>Fri), if anyone here is willing to hold a can of each Moonraker brew for me, I will be bringing some CO haze to thank my fellow hopheads. Also up for a share one night if anyone is interested. Feel free to PM me

 

Anyone from the East Bay want to carpool to today's release?