Good Beer

New York, NY. The city remains the same while times and tastes change. First impression: beer is trending. Bars and bodegas have squeezed craft into their awnings or at least replaced the ‘d’ in draft. There’s a slew of specialty beer shops in Manhattan without California growler law to slow them down. NYC never fully recovered from prohibition or Sex and The City—the ghost of Carrie Bradshaw looms large—but breweries like Captain Lawrence, Sixpoint and Southern Tier are leveling the playing field. Everything that’s small has to grow.*

The most satisfying pour since my return was Green Flash West Coast IPA, courtesy of Good Beer NYC. Home truly is where the hops are. It’s good to know what you’re drinking, where it comes from and how it got to you, Good Beer takes macro out of the equation. Imagine a beer store in the East Village that doesn’t even deal pbr; very bold for New York City. It began as a pro-bottle alternative to over priced pints during the recession (that’s how much the bubble ever bursts in Manhattan) and still going strong.

Otherwise, I’ve tried some lesser known beers from NY/NJ and it’s my only regret drinking local. Some east coast brewers are making pale ale as thin as adjunct lagers; not metal. The market is here if not the talent…kinda like punk rock. Let the show begin.

*Thank You, Robert Plant.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

There’s something happening in Munster, IN. Chuck Klosterman wrote ‘Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta’, which led me to Led Zeppelin’s tabloid biography ‘Hammer of The Gods’, which continually refers to the midwest as the band’s pot of gold. These fans also have beer money and spend it well. Some say California when it comes to craft brewing, others Colorado or Oregon; Three Floyds says Indiana.

The Brothers Floyd made a pact with the devil and brew Liquid Metal. They knock heads with bands like EyeHateGod to create namesake beers such as In The Name of Suffering, a black IPA full of voodoo. The brewpub is littered with Simpsons, horror and Slayer memorabilia, not to mention the best food around. There is an air of *You’re Not Worthy* and if our waiter lived in Brooklyn, I’d want to punch him in the face; since it’s Munster, I made a new friend.

My time was limited so I’ll say this—many brewers pride themselves on defying style guidelines, but it’s much harder to make a traditional recipe your own. That’s exactly what 3 Floyds does by collaborating with metalheads, tattoo parlors and comic illustrators. Zombie Dust is an ‘undead’ pale ale with graphic novel labeling. Dark Lord is an imperial stout with its own pagan holiday, Dark Lord Day being at the top of my beer calendar. Klosterman would be proud.

Bootleggers, The Bruery, Golden Road

One last hurrah before leaving SoCal…who says no good comes from Orange County? Bootlegger’s is probably the best little brewery not commonly known outside California and I once claimed The Bruery was more fun than Disney; I stand by it.

Craft Beer People Are Good People. They’re even better in downtown Fullerton. Bootleggers is True Metal; not only because their logo resembles Slayer and everyone wears Iron Maiden or Arrogant Bastard t-shirts, but they’re also one of the few tasting rooms where mason jars and Jenga are cool. Knuckle Sandwich is an intensely hunted DIPA and other hopheads beat me to it, so I compensated with 5 different IPA’s and 1 pale ale. True to their names, it was a Far Out Lupulin Thrill indeed. The bartender also poured a very generous taste of ’80th Anniversary’ Belgian strong ale. I’ll say it again, craft beer people are good people.

The Bruery got me drunk. Their beers are deceptively strong and hard to define; a Belgian brewery in Placentia, CA. Here we see the American Craft Brewer on proud display:

The brew on your left is Tai Kao, an herbal spiced concoction that I imagine represents gruit from Medieval Asia. Based on my flight of 10, many of their beers are art for art’s sake, but where Famille Rue truly excels are farmhouse saisons and, like the rest of their west coast brethren, hops. Humulus Lager rivals any Double IPA; there’s Metal in that pilsner for sure. Like a young Ronnie James Dio, who knew bottom fermenting yeast could pack such a punch?

40 miles north and 2 hour drive leads to Golden Road Brewing. Very hip. Golden Road reminds me why escape from L.A. is ultimately necessary; traffic cost us a brewery tour, the menu is vegan and everyone is an actor. Our waitress studied improv and the bartender was practicing lines rather than working them. Entertainment people are not good people—neither are vegans—and Franz Ferdinand was playing in the bathroom (not metal). Their Hefe and Kolsch are refreshing and breath some life into an otherwise industrial stretch of Glendale. Unfortunately, Golden Road was the last brewery I visited in California, largely because they were the first to follow me on instagram and twitter; behold the power of social media.

As the road leads back to New York, I find myself asking one very important question courtesy of Sierra Nevada:

Many brewers around NYC specialize in clean, traditional styles, not the hop bombs exploding all over the west coast. My time as a teenager in Germany actually proved similar to recent months in Los Angeles; I visited as a tourist but drank like a local. California taught me that craft beer is happening right now. Microbrews are the exception and the norm, dominating tap handles at fair prices. Beer is paired with food on equal terms and most people have a working knowledge of it. As far as I can tell, craft beer is the only movement worth joining. I’m certain the tide is rising back east…

*Author’s note: Golden Road sold to ABINBEV in September 2015. Not metal.

Stone

This is beer as god intended (or the devil). Before Stone, I didn’t fully understand what people meant by not liking hoppy brews; now I don’t understand why. If you’ve been paying attention since my first post, that fourth thing I value–first and foremost–is my fiancé. I proposed on 11.11.11 and started to notice a bottle on the shelves with the same date. To honor the Polish woman in my life and her lucky number, we embarked upon Stone’s Vertical Epic. Our stories are now intertwined. This was an aggressive, challenging beer unlike anything I’d ever tasted before. Perhaps you’re thinking Stone Brewing Company was founded in 1996, why so late to the party? Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this. Well, I didn’t hear Master Of Puppets start to finish until my mid-twenties either. Some of us are late bloomers, I suppose…

While we’re on the subject, Stone is undeniably Metal. Power Metal. It wasn’t long after 11.11.11 that I began to recognize their logo among other devilry at concerts. Stone’s Gargoyle can compete with anything the merch stand has to offer. Visiting the brewery is like a stadium tour with better beer; how can you resist buying the t-shirt? We all know that Greg Koch first met Steve Wagner by renting rehearsal space to his band. Greg’s even been photographed with a Flying V and writes about heavy metal in their coffee table book on liquid lore, epic recipes and unabashed arrogance: “yes, I think you can wax poetically about metal music, especially with a good beer in hand.” Agreed. And yes, I do have a coffee table; to repeat, I’m engaged.

All signs point to Escondido and the independent republic of Stonelandia. Between the brewery, bistro, gardens, farm, proprietary distribution network and 5 company stores, they are remarkably self-sustained. Mitch Steele’s handiwork will soon be a rite of passage at San Diego airport. I’ve made three distinct pilgrimages to Stone since landing in Los Angeles: the first to visit, the second for strategy on 12.21.12–what better place if the Mayans had it right?–and a third to further my education at Beer University with small batch manager Steve Gonzalez. Both the tour and barrel aging course at Beer U were hosted by Ken Wright, Stone’s Minister of Indoctrination. Ken and I attended the same college (which shall remain nameless) and there were several others touring Stone that day from the same city as said college (which shall also remain nameless). For the first time ever, my liberal arts degree felt relevant.

True to their foundation, the copper and wood of more traditional brewhouses are replaced by steel, iron and stone. As with all microbreweries I’ve visited in California to date, you know their kettles are boiling round the clock. Of course, if the industrial strength of a brewery isn’t your thing, you can always gorge in the gardens and bistro. The menu and scenery complement every style of beer. Perhaps it’s the democratic draft list, or sweet smell of malt and hops in the air, but I’ll overlook the fact that one can also order wine here.

I have played every standard in Stone’s catalogue many times over with a few special releases. The Pale Ale pictured above is my desert island beer. After getting to know the bastard behind the arrogance, I’m proud to say his bark is bad as his bite. Stone Enjoy By 11.09.12 Double IPA is a worthy successor to Pliny (also distributed by Stone in SoCal) and, if 05.17.13 is any indication, getting better still. Since today is my anniversary–depending when you read this–let’s celebrate with a tasting. Call me sentimental, but we have Stone Vertical Epic 11.11.11 Quingenti Millilitre series, aged in white wine barrels. The things we do for love…

11.11.11: Finally a good use for wine barrels. The white grape character mellows the spices and return this Vertical Epic to its Belgian roots. There’s a little something wild on the nose but no rogue yeast in flavor; a potpourri of cinnamon and chili shines through. Sugar and Spice and, of course, Metal. I still have an original bottle of 11.11.11 but, after so many climate changes, it might be more ‘Belgian’ now as well. Not a heavy hop contender from the company that deals in triple digit IBU’s.

What does the future hold for Stone? Quality and Quantity. I predict further expansion east like any great superpower. With Lagunitas setting-up shop in Chicago, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium in North Carolina, New York could use another arrogant bastard. I recently saw an interview with the heads of Shmaltz, Kelso and Bronx Brewing for NYC Beer Week and it was not metal. Granted, they were on Fox news, but all I could think is New York beer needs a personality like Greg Koch. NYC claims to have the best drinking water in the free world, it just lacks proper brewing salts.