I'll be up in Trinidad this weekend, visiting family. I haven't been through Humboldt county in several years. What's new and exciting up there these days? And what's a good place if there are kids tagging along?
Not a ton has changed in the last few years. The best brewery is Redwood Curtain and their Arcata location is a great option with kids in yow. Mad River Brewing was purchased by the Yurok Tribe a couple years ago and they've made some changes, added some new beers and released a line of seltzer, and supposedly have plans to add a more native ingredient influenced menu but i don't think they have yet. It can be a good spot for kids as well. Humboldt Brewing Company was revived but I've only seen their beers at Humbrews in Arcata. There's also a new taproom in Mckinleyville called the Bigfoot Taproom that's OK. In Arcata, there's a place called The Pub at the Creamery (in the creamery building, surprise surprise) that has a large tap list and some decent food. There's a new tiny brewery in Arcata called Oak but I haven't tried them and haven't heard anything other than that their deli sandwiches aren't worth going for and that the beer is "ok". Dead Reckoning is the best beer bar but is 21 plus, although you could have lunch/dinner at the burger place next door and maybe a couple adults could slip over for a pint or something. Not much up in Trinidad proper. There's a new pizza place thats good but I don't know if they have any beer on tap.
Great info from @unlikelyspiderperson as always. No offense to any other brewing establishments in the area, but for my palate and preferences Redwood Curtain easily has their own tier above the rest.
Thanks @unlikelyspiderperson and @jakecattleco, it looks like a stop at Redwood Curtain is in order. The Pub at the creamery looks pretty cool too, and anything named Dead Reckoning is worth a visit in my book.
If you're family likes baseball the Humboldt Crabs games are a fun small town amateur team. Pretty good beer selection at the park and it's right down town Arcata so ducking out for a drink is easy. There are games every day this weekend I think.
Redwood Curtain is good. I like how they don't shy away from old school levels of bittering hops in their IPAs, but with more modern, lean malt bills. And the altbier was very tasty. I even bought a t shirt.
