Author: Phil

BoldBelvoir’s West Coast Wander: Pt.6 – Los Angeles

SATURDAY 08/10/22

The day started off so well! It is an easy ride from Concord to Oakland International Airport, via the BART then changing to the new 3.2-mile long, elevated, driverless AirTrain link to the airport terminal. We arrived at the airport the obligatory two hours early and were through security and sat in the departure lounge in good time for our scheduled 12.55 departure with Spirit Airlines. And that’s as good as it got all day.

The flight was delayed time after time, with no explanations given. After hanging about for around nine hours, we finally got off the ground at 7 pm. Although scheduled for a 1h20 flight, we were actually in the air for 59 minutes. A nine-hour wait for a one-hour flight! I wasn’t best pleased, to say the least. We finally emerged departures at LAX at around 8.15 pm.

To say Los Angeles airport is busy would be a vast understatement. It is utter frikkin’ CHAOS (or at least it was when we were there!). The lines for the taxis are about a mile’s walk away and then the ranks are divided up between Uber, Lyft and traditional Yellow Cabs, each rank having individually numbered pick-up points. There were hundreds of people all, of course, trying to get a cab at the same time. The Uber app kept on crashing on my phone due to the demand. I was eventually hooked up with a driver and quoted a fare of $28. The app then crashed and so I had to start the search process again. This time the fare was $36 but wouldn’t connect, so I went to ask one of the many waiting Yellow Cab drivers how much they would charge. I was quoted $100! No wonder why there were so many stationary Yellow Cabs.

I tried Uber once more and finally got a reservation, this time for $42! TIP – always book the first Uber fare offered. The price goes up every time you search for the same destination. I have experienced this several times before, and I would imagine it’s built into Uber’s algorithms. After finding the departure point on the rank, we eventually got picked up and arrived at our AirBnB at around 10 pm. An utter and complete waste of an entire day, the likes of which I’d be happy not to experience ever again in my pathetic life!

View on Airbnb Guest suite in Los Angeles · ★4.75 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1 bathroom

SUNDAY 09/10/22

By morning, I’d calmed down a bit and was looking forward to exploring the city. We were based in the suburbs, just east of the Los Angeles River. We wanted primarily to see the ‘Laurel and Hardy steps‘ used in the Oscar-winning film ‘The Music Box‘, then onto Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. A look at google maps showed that it was about 10 miles away, but we had all day and decided to take a leisurely walk there.

Crossing the (dry) river, passing the magnificent LA Metro station and China Town areas, we soon reached Sunset Boulevard. As streets go, this is a long one! A local told us it was 22 miles from end to end. Whilst parts of the Boulevard are inarguably lovely, we were once again amazed by the appalling scale of homelessness here. There were swathes of semi-permanent encampments on the sidewalks, with shop fronts and alleyways being used as toilets judging by the smell. One of the Uber drivers we used told us that the homeless problem is so much more significant in the West Coast cities than in the East because the weather is so much milder, and the authorities in, say, New York or Boston give homeless people a free bus ticket to the West Coast to relocate there. I’m not sure whether that’s true but it wouldn’t surprise me at all. He said the current estimate for homeless in LA was around 100,000 which, for such a wealthy and opulent city, is truly heartbreaking.

We eventually found the ‘Music Box‘ steps, which make the climb from North Vendome Street up to Descanso Drive, both just off Sunset Boulevard. To be honest, unless they had been signposted we wouldn’t have even recognised them from the film. The so-called Laurel and Hardy Park opposite the entrance to the stairs was equally disappointing, more of a sun-scorched piece of grass than a park. I thought that this iconic duo’s film would have been marked in a much grander manner, but at least I can say I’ve seen them.

After about five miles on Sunset, Mrs Belvoir decided she needed to make tiddles. I had noticed a bar we had passed a few yards back, so I suggested we double-track and go in there (I would need to buy a beer, of course!). 33 Taps – 3725 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026, was a modern, very noisy sports bar. It was rammed with very loud fans watching an NFL game, so we decided to sit on the relatively peaceful patio outside. Mrs Belvoir went in search of the ‘rest rooms’ whilst I perused the taps at the bar. This place obviously majored in food and was by no mean’s a specialist ‘craft’ bar as evident by the lack of a written beer menu. Although the bar was named 33 Taps, I could only find 14, and after a quick scan, I plumped for a Boomtown – Chavez Ravine 6.5% NEIPA [3.5] which was nowt special but still a welcome and unexpected Brucie bonus.

Sunday afternoon in the 33 Taps.

After sipping the beer for half an hour, it was time to move on. I dutifully returned our glasses to the bar and made my way out. We had just reached the pavement when I heard someone shouting after us. A young lady caught us up and asked if I’d been in June Lake last week. Unbelievably, she’d been there at the same time and recognised me from our visit to June Lake Brewery, over 350 miles away! What a coincidence! We did get each other’s names but didn’t swap contact details so, Haley, if you ever read this, please get in touch!

As I’d had my beery treat, it was only fair that Mrs Belvoir got her ice cream, so the next unscheduled stop was Pazza Gelato, which had a bewildering selection of exotic-sounding flavours. I chose Ube Mochi (sweet potato) which was far tastier than it sounds. With Mrs Belvoir now happy, we continued our walk onward. We eventually joined Hollywood Boulevard, heading for the ‘Walk of Fame‘. Again the place was generally very dirty and smelly, nothing of which comes over when seen on TV. Even the doorway of the world-famous Fonda Theatre smelled like it was being used as a public bog.

We eventually reached the Walk of Fame, but the pavements were so busy it was difficult to both read all the ‘stars’ and keep out of everyone’s way, so after about half an hour we decided to call it quits. We had been walking for nearly five hours after all! I ordered an Uber to our first brewery destination of the day.

Mumford Brewing – 416 Boyd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013, is a one-room, barren, cold, industrial unit, much devoid of any sort of character. The beer, however, was delish! Despite an array of a dozen taps, they had a ‘can pour’ promotion on, so I opted for two tinnies: Done Deal 6.9% NEIPA [4] and a brilliantly-named Super Stealth Pigeon 8.8% DNEIPA [4.25]. Both we very enjoyable, but the cold room wasn’t so we moved on earlier than planned. Since our visit, this brewery has closed down, which is a shame but no surprise. There are so many breweries out there now, you really have to make an effort with presentation as well as great beer. Mumford, in my opinion, fell sadly short.

Great beer, drab surroundings at Mumford’s.

Our next (and last) stop of the day was only a 12-minute walk away, and when we got there, the place couldn’t have been a bigger contrast to Mumford’s. Arts District – 828 Traction Av, Los Angeles, CA 90013 was a large, split-level bar with a patio area down the side for open-air drinking. It was dusk when we arrived and the inside of the bar was lit to great effect with reds and oranges being reflected in the brewing vessels behind the bar area. No less than 32 taps on offer, but only time to sample a single one. I went for a Strange Powers 7.2% NEIPA [4], which I enjoyed on the patio along with a burger from the franchised food bar.

Great atmosphere at Arts District.

It was dark by now and we are a long way from home so, Uber was our friend, or so we thought! The cab was duly ordered and we were picked up, on time, by our driver, Alexander. Alexander resembled Lemmy, with big grey mutton chops, dressed in black denim and a stetson. His cab was full of Yankie paraphernalia including flags and handcuffs (not the pink fluffy variety either). He told us he was a Veteran and then started moaning about all the immigrants taking over the US and he was getting a bit carried away with it all. I decided to change the subject and started talking about the current conjunction of Jupiter with the Moon and our insignificance in the scheme of things. He seemed to mellow out a bit then, but it’s not really what you want, nor expect from a taxi driver. Suffice it to say I didn’t tip him.

Sunday’s route.

MONDAY 10/10/22

This morning we were both feeling the effects of yesterday’s walking so we decided to stay a bit closer to base, choosing to explore the Chinatown area, some of the city parks as well as some of the architecture (yes, L.A. has some old buildings) and (of course) taking in a brewery too.

After about an hour’s walk, we arrived at Little Tokyo Art Complex, which is home to the memorial to Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian astronaut. A couple of blocks away is the Gloria Molina Grand Park, which was a pleasant place to sit for a while and people-watch. Next was the Brunswig Building, LA’s first five-storey building, built in 1888, and then a bit of the Berlin Wall, donated to Donald Trump from the Citizens of Berlin to commemorate 30 years since its fall. I could hardly conceal my excitement. It was a hot, hot day, and after almost four hours of walking we’d really had enough, so it was time for a beer or two.

A relaxing afternoon at Highland Park.

We arrived at Highland Park – 1220 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 around mid-afternoon, and the brewery was surprisingly busy for a Monday and (presumably) work day. This was another modern brewery tap with a long corner bar sporting an impressive 32 taps. We found a shaded bench seat outside and sipped some delicious beers for the rest of the day. I sampled three pints here: Wowee 7.3% NEIPA [4.25], DDH Cloud Party 8.3% DNEIPA [4.25] and a DDH Timbo Pils 5.8% American Pilsner [4]. All three were splendid beers and the brewery was well worth the short journey out of town.

It had been another long, hot, strenuous day, so we decided to call time and have an early(ish) night and ordered an Uber back to the AirBnB, as tomorrow we were off to San Diego.

Monday’s route.

L.A. is a big, big city. Admittedly we only saw a fraction of it, but again I was shocked at how many homeless people struggle to make a life for themselves on the streets. Many of the alleyways and shop fronts are full of rubbish and are used as latrines and the contrast between the perceived high-life style of L.A. and the reality down at street level is just appalling. Again, it’s a city that I’m glad I’ve seen but I don’t think I’d return any time soon.

SEE THE REST OF THE WEST COAST WANDER HERE:

Part 1 : San Francisco | Part 2: Portland | Part 3: Seattle | Part 4: Sacramento | Part 5: Yosemite Road Trip | Part 7: San Diego | Part 8: Phoenix+

The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And some more pics from Los Angeles below.

April 24, 2023
The Elbow Room, Hinckley

A venue that every craft beer geek should visit.

A great afternoon spent in the Elbow Room @elbowroomalehouse in Hinckley yesterday, attending their ‘Renewal Fest’. Friendly owner, knowledgable barkeeps, awesome homemade scotch eggs and free jelly beans. Oh, and the beers weren’t half bad either!

A mega beer list from some stunning US breweries, including Beer Tree, Branch & Blade and Mortalis.

Beers tried:

1. Mortalis – Hydra 7.0% (Pink guava, mango & pineapple sour) Tap

2. Beer Tree – Mosaic Sunset Gen II 6.7% (NEIPA) Tap

3. Drowned Lands – Wall Kill 7.0% (Strawberry & rhubarb sour) Tap

4. WeldWerks – Extra Juicy bits 8.6% (Double NEIPA) Tap

5. Froth – Liquid RAD Lollipop 6.5% (Raspberry, blackberry & marshmallow sour) Can

6. Tree House – Breakfast Juice 9.0% (TIPA) Can

7. Great Notion – Blueberry Muffin 6.0% (Fruit sour) Can

8. Great Notion – JB 8.2% (Double NEIPA) Can

Beer of the day – Beer Tree Mosaic Sunset. Three new breweries added to my list, namely Beer Tree, Drowned Lands and Froth. Was it expensive? Certainly. Was it worth the money? Hell yeah!

A cracking venue, highly recommended

April 16, 2023
BoldBelvoir’s West Coast Wander: Pt.5 – Road Trip

TUESDAY 04/10/22

Hooking up with Mark and Suzanne again, they picked us up at stupid dark o’clock outside the Pangaea on the corner of our street, en route from Concord, to start our three-day road trip. After a couple of hiccups finding the highway, we were finally on our way and 100 miles and two and a half hours later we hit our breakfast stop, the Red Hut Café at Lake Tahoe. Suitably stuffed, we were on our way again heading for our first destination, Virginia City.

Passing through Genoa, we made a stop at the Genoa Bar, quaintly referred to as “Nevada’s Oldest Thirst Parlor” – 2282 Main St, Genoa, NV 89411. Supposedly the oldest surviving pub in the state of Nevada, it certainly was a slice of living history, but the pool table and row of flashing fruit machines somewhat spoilt the illusion for me. We thought about having a drink here, but the combination of lack of choice and time of day made us decide against it. So onward it was…

Nevada’s oldest ‘Thirst Parlor’.

Another hour or so and we were parking up in Virginia City. This place is a small community, the focus of which is basically one long, touristy main street, another slice of 19th Century Old West which is similar to, but less impressive (IMO) than Old Sacramento which we had visited the day before. Of course, we had to have a look inside the two old saloon bars, Bucket of Blood Saloon – 1 South C Street, Virginia City, NV 89440, and the Silver Queen Hotel – 28 N C Street, Virginia City, NV 89440, both had a lot of history, but sadly no beer of interest. Scarily, an air raid siren started sounding and I thought for a split second that Putin might have lobbed a nuke overhead, but apparently, it sounds every day at noon. Bizarre! Time to move on.

By one o’clock, we’d reached our accommodation, the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, a mahooosive hotel so posh that it calls its in-house soap a ‘cleansing bar’. Suitably installed in our rooms within the hour, it was time to find beer. Our first visit was a seven-minute ride away, Revision brewery – 380 S Rock Blvd, Sparks, NV 89431. Another characterless building on the outside, stuffed with beery goodness on the inside. 24 taps in here, from which I selected three: Hazy Life 7.7% DNEIPA [4], Disco Ninja 7.0% NEIPA [4] and a Vegas As Fuck 6.5% NEIPA [4] all of them totally delicious.

Great beer at Revision.

We spent about an hour and a half in here, but the sound system was a tad decibel-y (I must be getting old!), so we decided to move on. In complete contrast to Revision, Great Basin – 846 Victorian Ave Sparks, NV, US 89431, is the state of Nevada’s largest and oldest currently operating brewery and the building it is housed in echoes that fact. Infinitely less hipster than the former, it was also much busier, seemingly catering for diners in preference to drinkers. Nonetheless it had a modest yet decent beer list from which I had a Firelit Haze Hazy 7.0% AIPA [3.75] to go with my burger and fries.

Great Basin – Currently Nevada’s oldest brewery.

For some reason, we were back at the hotel by 7 o’clock so it was an early night. It turned out that that was just as well really as we were woken up several times by the thundering sound of locomotives shunting rolling stock down the train tracks across the road. Now, despite the magnificent views of (what I assume were) the Sierra Nevada Mountains from our room window, I think the planner who thought it was OK to locate a luxury hotel adjacent to a 24/7 shunting yard needs stuffing with a tin of dried egg.

Tuesday’s route.

WEDNESDAY 05/10/22

Suitably bleary-eyed, by 8.30 am we were back on the road stopping at IHOP in Reno for breakfast. Unfortunately, despite its name, there was no beer available. I felt cheated. Our route took us south through Carson City and Gardnerville, past Topaz Lake en-route to our day’s destination, Bodie State Historic Park, or ‘Bodie Ghost Town‘. Following the sign to Bodie, we left the main road taking a bumpy, dusty, unmade track for about a mile and a half before arriving at the pay kiosk and entering the park.

I had wanted to visit this place since I first read about it about twenty years ago. Massive thanks to Mark and Sue for making it possible. Bodie is an old gold mining community, built during the Gold Rush of 1849, but long since abandoned. Despite their ramshackle appearance, the buildings are continuously maintained to prevent their collapse. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable and atmospheric place and, despite its remote location, is well worth a visit.

A short video of Bodie Ghost Town.

One could easily spend a whole day at Bodie, but one broken shed looks fairly similar to another and after about two hours we decided to continue our journey. The next scheduled stop was (quelle surprise) – a brewpub! Big Meadow – 241 Main St suite c, Bridgeport, CA 93517, was a small building located on the main street of the town. When we first parked up we thought it was closed. It may as well have been!

The place inside was devoid of character, one customer perched on a stool at the end of the bar and a bar lady with about as much get-up-and-go as a waterlogged newspaper. I ordered a By-Day 6.0% APA [2.5] which was ‘meh’ at best. Ah, well (as Lemmy said) win some, lose some.

Big Meadow – Do I look bovvered?

Another hour’s drive, passing through Willow Springs, Mono City and Lee Vining and we were at our scheduled overnight stop, the stunningly scenic June Lake. Our booked accommodation was the Villager Motel, a charming small complex of tiered wooden cabins set bang between lakes June and Gull in a green glade overlooked by the mountains. Simply gorgeous! What’s more, there was a brewery just down the road!

June Lake – 131 S Crawford Ave, June Lake, CA 93529, was a craft brewery on the outskirts of the town. The car park doubled up as an outside drinking area with a pop-up catering truck serving Mexican food. The place was really busy but we managed to secure a table outside and settled down to make the best of the setting sun’s last rays. Inside, a row of 20 taps and two double fridges stuffed with canned hoppage. I tried two on draft: June As Fuck 6.2% NEIPA [4] and a Naaah Bro!!! 7.8% NEIPA [4.25] both monster beers and some of the best I’d had so far.

Superb beer at JLB.

It was a lovely end to a long day and we sipped our beers whilst enjoying the accompanying burritos, soaking up the ambience. A lady came along and started foraging wild mint from the hedgerows outside the brewery gates and the smell wafting in on the gentle breeze was wonderful. They say the sense of smell is the most nostalgic and the memory of that evening will stay with me forever.

Another magical day and one I will remember for a long, long time. Tomorrow was the final leg of the road trip, through Yosemite Park.

Wednesday’s route.

THURSDAY 06/10/22

After a quick breakfast at The Lift coffee shop, we were back on the road and after four hour’s driving through beautiful scenery, we were parking up in Yosemite National Park. To be brutally honest, unless you’re a trekker, camper or photographer, there’s not a great deal to do at the Park, but the views in parts are simply awesome.

There is a free hop-on-hop-off shuttle bus that drops off at various points around the Park, and we took advantage of it to visit the historic Ahwahnee, a mega-posh hotel where we had planned to take lunch. The dining room, however, was full to capacity and we were told there was no realistic chance of getting in. So it was back to where we had parked up at the Yosemite Valley Lodge, another hotel-cum-visitor centre.

Awesome scenery at Yosemite.

We went into the visitor shop and, during our search for some snacks, found a fridge full of beers! I selected a can of Tioga-Sequoia – General Sherman 7.5% AIPA [3.5]. We took our snacks and beers outside and enjoyed them sat around a shaded picnic table down the side of the lodge.

All too soon we were on our way again, headed toward our overnight stop, the charming Hotel Charlotte in Groveland. We were greeted by an incredibly enthusiastic chap at the reception and efficiently installed in our rooms with gusto. The place had its own bar, the Charlette Tavern, which had a pretty decent beer list for a small hotel, but we’d already decided to visit another brewery, just a mile or so down the road.

Around the Horn – 17820 State Highway 120, Groveland, CA 95321, was another brewery, literally in the middle of nowhere, producing superb beers. The brewery itself was another with an industrial feel inside and a corner of the car park acting as an outside area. It was also fairly busy for a Thursday tea-time. A choice of 14 beers on draft here, from which I had a sampler flight of five: Not NOT Ideal 8.5% DNEIPA [4.25], Fluffy Tutu 7.0% fruited sour [4], Star Party in the USA 8.5% DIPA [4], Put a Little Beer in My Coconut Water 6.5% NEIPA [4] and a Wapama Mama 7.0% fruited sour [4.25], all superb beers.

More great beers at Around the Horn.

All too soon it was time to return to the hotel and reflect on another lovely day. Sadly we were heading back to Concord tomorrow.

Thursday’s route.

FRIDAY 07/10/22

It was about a 120-mile drive back, taking us through some lovely scenery and seemingly endless walnut groves, and, after a stop-off for an In-N-Out burger at Pleasant Hill, we were back at base by just gone lunchtime – leaving plenty of potential drinking time!

After dropping our bags and a quick freshen-up, it was back out again, this time just Mark and I, whilst the ladies did girly things. I suppose at just over three miles away, in the US at any rate, Hop Grenade – 2151 Salvio St Suite J, Concord, CA 94520, counts as a ‘local’. In any case, it would be a local I’d happily walk three miles to any day of the week!

This was a more traditional bar with a homely feel and a small but attractive patio area for outside imbibing. With 21 beers on tap from some incredible breweries, plus a shit-ton of cans and bottles in the fridge, I opted for one draft and one can. The Ghost Town – Ominous 6.7% AIPA [3.5] on draft was a little underwhelming but was more than made up for with the absolutely superb can of Untitled Art – Mango Dragon Imperial Smoothie 8.0% fruited Berliner Weisse [4.5]. Outstanding!

Outstanding tinnie at Hop Grenade.

A quick call back home to pick up the girls and then we were back out, this time to local brewery Epidemic Ales – 150 Mason Cir J, Concord, CA 94520. This was back to the tried-and-trusted industrial unit formula with car park seating and pop-up food wagon. As I’ve said before, it’s a format that works well, and this place was heaving.

Busy at Epidamic Ales.

I chose a pint of Chemical Warfare 6.0% NEIPA [3.75], and we sat outside people-watching in the sunshine for a pleasant hour or so. All to soon it was time to return to base to prepare for tomorrow’s flight to Los Angeles.

Friday’s route.

Once again I’d like to thank Mark and Sue for planning this road trip, especially when Mark wasn’t in the best of health. They took us to some great places, we saw some beautiful sights, and drank some great beer, the memories of which I’m certain will remain for years to come.

SEE THE REST OF THE WEST COAST WANDER HERE:

Part 1 : San Francisco | Part 2: Portland | Part 3: Seattle | Part 4: Sacramento | Part 6: Los Angeles | Part 7: San Diego | Part 8: Phoenix+

The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And more pics from our Road Trip below.

January 18, 2023
BoldBelvoir’s West Coast Wander: Pt.4 – Sacramento

FRIDAY 30/09/22

Today was primarily spent travelling. Unlike the last flight, everything went smoothly and we were back at Oakland International by mid-afternoon. An hour or so later we were back with our friends Mark and Suzanne in Concord. Of course, this had to be celebrated with a beer and within half an hour we were all on our way to the Concord Taphouse – 3517 Clayton Rd, Concord, CA 94519. This is a busy, single-roomed local’s pub with a great draft beer offer (24 on tap, plus a shedload of cans) and a good food menu to boot.

9% DIPA at the Concord Tap.

Just the one this evening as we had to prepare for tomorrow’s journey to Sacramento, so I thought I’d better make the most of it and chose an Altamont Beer Works – Hella Hoppy 9.0% DIPA [3.75], which certainly hit the spot. It was a fleeting visit but, hopefully, we might make it back here later in the holiday.

SATURDAY 01/10/22

Our Amtrak train to Sacramento departed from the town of Martinez, about nine miles from Concord and Mark kindly drove us there, arriving in good time for its arrival. Once inside the immaculately clean and very characterful station, the departure boards informed us that our train was ‘LATE’. Great start! There was no indication of which platform we needed (although there were only two), and no one milling around seemed to know either so I went to ask the person in the ticket office.

The lass behind the glass was being incredibly patient with an elderly lady customer who seemed to be asking for the times of every single train service in the state of California. When she eventually decided where she wanted to go, she handed over a swag bag full of coins, from which the ticket lady had to count out the requisite amount to pay for the fare.

Delayed at Martinez Station.

I finally reached the front of the queue to ask for platform information and ‘ticket lady’ was as clueless as everybody else. “Just stand anywhere until a train turns up” I was told. This is all well and good until the train actually turns up, blocks off the entire far platform (there was no bridge) and you can’t get on! Luckily, the public consensus was the ‘near’ platform and, sho-nuff, the train eventually rolled up, albeit 40 minutes late. We boarded the train and, after being stood for another 10 minutes, slowly rolled out of the station – for about 400 yards – and ground to a stop again! We stood for another 40 minutes and then were eventually on our way proper to Sacramento.

I’d been told how slow and unreliable the trains were in the States so it wasn’t totally unexpected. It’s strange to think that a country whose history was literally changed by the railways has now let its rail system slip into such neglect. You’d think they would have a world-leading network with all the distances involved between cities and it’s a real shame to see everybody prefer car travel, even over long distances. In the event, once on our way, the journey was comfortable enough (despite the girl behind us talking loudly on her phone all the way) and within an hour and a half, we were at Sacramento Valley Station.

View on Airbnb Home in Sacramento · ★4.96 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1 private bathroom

We got an Uber through town and were installed in our AirBnB by early afternoon. This was hosted by a lovely lady called Angela (and her elderly dog, Wicket) and was situated on a beautiful, quiet tree-lined avenue and, it turned out, just seconds away from two excellent craft bars. A quick freshen-up and half an hour later we were back out exploring the area. On our street intersection, there was one of the aforementioned bars, an ice cream parlour, and another 30 seconds away, a second craft beer bar. Of course, to please Mrs Belvoir, the first stop was for ice cream!

Gunther’s Ice Cream was established in April 1940, being in this location since 1949, and is open seven days a week, serving no less than 50 flavours of ice cream, all made on the premises. The place was heaving with customers, with a line wait of about 10 minutes. The ice cream wasn’t particularly cheap, but it was worth every cent, and the wait! It’s great to see a little family-run business like this thriving, especially considering its relatively quiet location.

Gunther’s Ice Cream est. 1940.

Having earned brownie points from Mrs Belvoir, I was now confident in suggesting we search for a brewery. Google informed us that the nearest option was just under three miles away. Track 7 – 5090 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95819, was another brewery in the now familiar format of an industrial unit with a corrugated shutter frontage and make-shift benches inside and outside area in the car park. It’s a formula that works well.

A choice of 15 from the tap menu here, including a style I hadn’t encountered before, ‘Cold IPA‘. The very knowledgeable lass behind the bar answered my query quite concisely; “a Cold IPA is fermented at lower temperatures than normal, delivering IPA hop intensity whilst keeping the malt character restrained and ultra-crisp” or words to that effect. I thought I’d better try one after that! I went for their Angel of Abomination 8.0% Cold IPA [3.75] along with a Hazy Panic 6.8% NEIPA [3.75], which were enjoyed over the course of an hour or so, whilst sitting outside in the warm Sacramento evening sunshine.

Cold IPA at Track 7.

I’d heard that this place had actually closed down, so it was nice to see them back open. It’s always sad to see little indy places like this go to the wall. It was a fair walk back to base, so we (meaning me) decided to make the last stop at one of the previously mentioned bars near our AirBnB.

Hop Gardens – 2904 Franklin Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95818, was only a four-minute walk from our digs, and what a cracker this place was! The bar was heaving when we arrived at about six o’clock, and we struggled to find somewhere to sit. I spent the time perusing the 24-tap draft list and generously stocked can fridges. Eventually, we jumped into some just-vacated-still-warm seats in the outside patio area, where I whittled my choice down to three: Tripping Animals – Hedging Bets 8.0% NEIPA [4], Movement – Fruitality Frosé 8.3% pastry sour [4.5] and a Weathered Souls – Who’s Got the Juice Now? 7.5% NEIPA [3.75]. Mega, mega, mega!

Mega beer at Hop Gardens.

We ordered some ‘dirty fries’ and buffalo wings to go with the beer but the wings didn’t turn up. After telling the serving chappy, they eventually arrived, but the price was crossed off our bill. Excellent service! The only downside to this place was the number of kids running around screaming, seemingly unattended, but I guess this is one of the reasons the place was so popular, and it was a Saturday night after all. This place definitely warranted a second visit.

Saturday’s route.

SUNDAY 02/10/22

When we asked our host, Angela, what the best things to see in Sacramento were, she replied that people don’t come to see things in Sacramento! Nevertheless, she told us that Old Sacramento (or ‘Old Sac‘ to the locals) was worth a visit. We duly consulted Google maps and plotted a course – a nice, leisurely four-mile walk away. En route, we passed the original Tower Records building. There was a long queue outside, so we crossed the road to see what the attraction was.

When we got to the other side, we heard a car tooting its horn. Turning around, we saw the driver flashing their lights and waving frantically at us. I was just about to mouth off at them (we had crossed safely), when the car drew to a halt, stopping all traffic behind it. The lady driver got out of the car and picked something up off the road in front of the car. She then ran towards us waving the said item – it was Mrs Belvoir’s purse, with all our cash and cards in it! How lucky was that? I wouldn’t think that would likely happen back in the UK, but maybe I’m just being cynical. Anyway, we counted ourselves very lucky! In the event, the crowd was queuing for a restaurant so we carried on our journey.

Old Sacramento, a small area adjacent to the Sacramento River, between the Tower Bridge Gateway and I Street Bridges, is a piece of the Old Wild West with beautifully-preserved buildings, railway locomotives and even a paddle steamer. The buildings, of course, have been re-purposed into gift shops, bars and other touristy stuff, but the character of the place can’t be denied and it’s a lovely area to stroll around for a couple of hours.

Hangin’ with the Old Timer (and the bloke next to her) in ‘Old Sac’.

By mid-afternoon it was beer time, so we set off towards Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse – 1322 V St, Sacramento, CA 95818, just over a mile away. I loved how the streets were just lettered A-Z. I could just imagine some fat council planner leaning back in his leather chair, smoking a cigar going “Hell, what are we gonna call all these streets? Ah, fuck it, let’s just name them after the alphabet!”. The building was situated in a plain-looking unit down an anonymous (albeit pleasant enough) side street. The spacious and bright interior was inviting, but we elected to sit out under the canopy of the beer patio out front.

The brewery itself was located behind a glass wall at the back of the bar area and was lined on three sides with dozens of oak ageing barrels, so I assumed that these guys specialised in sours and/or Impies. However, there was little evidence of these on their beer menu, apart from the Pause For Sunset 7.5% fruited sour [4] I ordered, along with a No Cuts, No Buts, No Coconuts 6.0% AIPA [3.75], and a Right Right 6.5% AIPA [3.75], all enjoyable beers. We were thinking of staying for some food, but everybody eating outside was getting plagued by wasps, so we decided to move on.

Nice beer, shame about the wasps at Urban Roots.

We’d already been to the Fieldwork Brewery, back in Berkeley a few days ago, but these guys had another outlet locally so that was the next port of call. Fieldwork – 1805 Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA 95811, was smaller than their brewery but still offered a 25-strong tap list, majoring on West Coast IPAs, but I opted for a Hazy Train 6.9% NEIPA [4.25] which was utterly delicious. These guys had glassware of a shape I’d never seen before, made of really thick, heavy glass that felt really good in the hand. I asked if I could buy one, but when I was told they were $8 each, I decided I’d rather spend that money on the beer, not the container. I wish I’d bought one now!

Great glassware at Fieldwork.

It had been a tiring day (we’d walked about 10 miles at this point, so we decided to make the final stop at the other bar back near our AirBnB. We made a leisurely stroll through the leafy streets admiring some lovely house architecture and started talking to a couple of blokes who were working in one of the gardens. They’d recently bought the house together and were in the process of ‘fixing it up’. We wished them luck with their project and carried on our walk, finally arriving at Pangaea Bier Café – 2743 Franklin Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95818 at around six o’clock. A smallish bar on a street corner with just enough room for two or three tables on the pavement outside, it still had 20 beers on tap, specialising in European (mostly Belgian) beer styles.

I chose two beers brewed a little nearer, namely: Crooked Lane – Dank Mode 8.5% DIPA [3.5] and a HenHouse – Avian Surveillance Division 6.2% AIPA [4] which were both enjoyed sitting outside in the setting sunshine, together with an excellent pulled pork sandwich. All in all, a lovely relaxing day. To find an AirBnB within seconds of two quality bars like the Pangea and Hop Gardens was a hell of a stroke of luck!

Pangaea Bier Café.

Sunday’s route.

MONDAY 03/10/22

After a breakfast of porridge oats and blueberries, homemade by our host Angela, we set off to explore again. This time we headed towards the ‘Capitol Mall‘, a modern shopping centre. Whilst walking down the main streets lined with office blocks and peppered with coffee shops and food outlets, it struck me how quiet everything was for a Monday morning. Whether this was because of working from home as a consequence of Covid (mask-wearing was still mandatory on public transport) I’m not sure, but the streets seemed eerily still for such a big place.

Even when we arrived at the shopping mall it was very quiet. We wandered around the empty shops for a while, aimlessly window-shopping, when we just happened upon the Yard House – 405 K St, Sacramento, CA 95814, a modern-looking, glass-fronted bar situated on a corner, mid-mall. I took a look through the window, nose pressed to the smoked glass in order to see through. I liked what I saw! A central ‘island’ bar, lined with beer taps all the way around the back wall. It was still fairly early – about 11.30, but when I heard ‘Battery‘ by Metallica pumping out on the sound system, I was tempted in (as if I needed any persuasion).

Chance find in the Capitol Mall.

We took a stool each at the bar and the bar lady handed over a beer menu. No less than 110 beers on tap! Unfortunately, Mrs Belvoir was complaining about the coolness of the air conditioning, so just a swifty in here, and I plumped for an Elysian – Space Dust 8.2% AIPA [3.75]. This was a big place inside, but besides us, there were only two other blokes perched on the other end of the bar so it seemed a bit lifeless, but I would imagine this place would be banging on a weekend. At any rate, it was a great chance find.

We continued our walk around the city which is, to be quite honest, pretty characterless really, but the streets were clean and well-kept, with some interesting artwork including some giant darts sticking out of the pavement. Not sure what the significance of those was, maybe there’s a big darts scene in Sacramento? Suggestions below!

By about 3 o’clock, it was beer time proper and a quick Google search revealed that Device – 1610 R St, Sacramento, CA 95811 wasn’t far away. Another ultra-modern glass ‘n’ chrome establishment with a patio outside area, Device offered a modest 12 beers on tap, with another six ‘can pours’, so I tried one of each; What the Haze?! 6.5% NEIPA [3.75] and a Sweet As! (can) 7.0 % AIPA [4] which were drunk sat outside on the patio, shifting from table to table in an attempt to stay in the shade. It was fairly busy out here and the beers were very enjoyable, particularly the tinny.

Chrome ‘n’ glass at Device.

We were a good three miles or so from our BnB, so we decided to make the leisurely stroll back to the mega Hop Gardens we’d visited on our first night. Again struggling with their mammoth beer list, I finally chose a Moonraker – Lazy Jack 7.1% NEIPA [4.25] and an Alvarado Street – Riot Punch 8.5% DIPA [4.25], both monster beers and a magnificent end to our Sacramento visit.

Monday’s route.

What little bit of Sacramento we saw was a lovely clean, safe city, albeit with no real ‘attractions’ other than the ‘Old Sac‘ Wild West area. As American cities go, it is on the compact side and we managed to walk everywhere we went. I’m sure there was a lot more to see if we’d had the time. Well recommended. Tomorrow we were meeting up with our friends Mark and Sue again to on a road trip to Yosemite Park.

SEE THE REST OF THE WEST COAST WANDER HERE:

Part 1 : San Francisco | Part 2: Portland | Part 3: Seattle | Part 5: Yosemite Road Trip | Part 6: Los Angeles | Part 7: San Diego | Part 8: Phoenix+

The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And some more pics from Sacramento below.

December 15, 2022
BoldBelvoir’s West Coast Wander: Pt.3 – Seattle

TUESDAY 27/09/22

The Portland-Seattle Amtrak train we had booked a couple of months previously was unceremoniously cancelled with just one week’s notice, with no alternative routes or transport offered. Nice. We rebooked the 175 mile, three-and-a-half-hour journey on Flixbus which, ironically, departed from opposite the Portland railway station.

Whilst checking the line of passengers on board we thought the driver was being super friendly to everyone, making strange noises and nodding to each person in turn, but as soon as we set off and he started gesticulating toward phantom traffic it became apparent that he had an Alf Ippititimus-style tic. It wasn’t very reassuring but he did at least get us to our destination in one piece and on time Phwaaaay!

View on Airbnb Townhouse in Seattle · ★4.89 · 1 bedroom · 2 beds · 1 private bathroom

We got settled in at the AirBnB by about 2 o’clock and so had time to do a bit of exploring. Setting off on foot, we headed toward the centre. Seattle itself is a pretty characterless city. We were wandering around aimlessly when Mrs Belvoir spotted a sign for a bar. This was a hell of a spot, as you may have missed it even if you’d been looking for it. The Flatstick Pub – 240 2nd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 was tucked out of sight, in a basement down an alley, but when we went through the doors at the bottom of the stairs, the place opened out into a sprawling space and the place was heaving!

Superb beer at the Flatstick.

The pub was full of pre-match Seattle Sounders FC fans (the ground was only a few minute’s walk away). The pub itself had the usual industrial feel with regimented rows of tables but was really characterful with its colourful wall murals, complete with two ‘crazy golf’ putting courses. More importantly, it had an absolutely astounding draft beer list. I sampled two pints in here, one either side of a delicious plate of ‘dirty fries’. A Varietal – Sup Cuz 6.7% NIPA [4.25] followed by a Seapine – Rainbow Suspenders 8.7% DIPA [4.25]. Both spectacular beers.

We enjoyed our beers and food whilst we took in the noisy atmosphere. The place thinned out quite rapidly just before the game, but we’d had our fill and it had been a long day so set off back for base ourselves. What a brilliant chance find! On the walk home, we passed another brewery. Mental note made for a future visit.

WEDNESDAY 28/09/22

We actually managed to suss out the bus system in Seattle. It was app-based (but cash could be given) and cheap ($8 for a day pass), although we saw loads of people just getting on and not paying, so I don’t think the drivers cared much anyway. Anyhow, on our first day in Seattle proper, we bussed back into the city and headed on foot toward the Pike Place Market, an ex-farmer’s market. Although parts of it remain for fresh meats, fish and produce, most of it has been nicely repurposed and it is now a warren of small indy shops – and a brewery – more of that later. We spent an hour or so exploring the market, including the stomach-churning ‘Gum Wall‘ and then decided to make our way on foot to the Space Needle.

Part of the ‘Gum Wall’ on Post Alley. You dirty bastards!

We had no intention of going up the top of the Needle, but were relieved we had already made that decision when we saw that the ticket price to get to the top was $59 each! I decided that the money could be much better spent on beer, so went on a search for the first pub of the day. The Teku Tavern + Café – 100 Taylor Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109 was soon located a few minutes away on the corner of a faceless street-cum-building site.

A wide range of beer styles in here, dispensed from no less than 45 taps, but my eyes were drawn to the bank of about eight fridges (I didn’t actually count them), from which I selected a can from local brewers Ravenna – Parallel Existence 8.5% DNEIPA [4.75]. I took it to the bar to pay for it and the miserable barman, who had followed us in off the street, didn’t even acknowledge me when I tried to engage him in conversation. Instead, he ID’d me. What?? I’m 64 years old!! Luckily I had my passport with me and he let me have the beer. I didn’t know whether to feel angry or elated – It was the first time I’d been ID’d in about 40 years! Suffice it to say I didn’t tip the mardy git. That’ll learn him!

My first beer with Phantasm!

In the event, the can turned out to be a monster, monster beer, made with ‘Phantasm‘ – a powder derived from Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc grapes in New Zealand – and by far the best beer I’d tasted so far. No, I’d never heard of Phantasm either, but I can’t wait to find another and, if you like your beer juicy and hazy, I urge you to try it yourself.

Mrs Belvoir and I were the only two in the place and there was no music or atmosphere, just a mardy barman, so we decided to walk back to the Pike Market and visit the brewery we’d spotted earlier in the day. Old Stove – 1901 Western Ave, Ste. A, Seattle, WA 98101 is situated at the rear of the market and its windows back onto the waterfront, making it a pleasant space to be in. Sitting between the large fermentation vessels and the aforementioned widows we were soon served, and before long my two selections were in front of me, both brewed on the premises. A First It Giveth Juicy 6.3% NEIPA [4], followed by a Fresh Hop Citra Hazy 6.4% APA [4]. I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t expecting much from this brewery (perhaps as it looked a bit touristy and commercial), but the beers were actually delicious. The food was tasty too.

Good beer at the Old Stove Brewery.

By the time we had finished in the Old Stove, the sun had begun to go down and we decided to make the two-and-a-half-mile journey back on foot to walk off the food and make a visit to the brewery we had spotted the day before as the last stop. On the way, we passed a homeless chap in a doorway, shooting up underneath his toenail.

Métier – 2616 E Cherry St, Seattle, WA 98122 is a one-bar, high-ceilinged room with a glass frontage onto the street. Overall a nice place with friendly staff. 16 taps in here, but just had the one, a Fresh Hop Hazy 5.9% APA [3.5]. Sadly mediocre, but since I’d had some crackers earlier in the day, I wasn’t too disappointed.

Nice bar, shame about the beer.

We had to squeeze past another poor homeless zombie-woman and her supermarket trolley on the walk home. The smell from her was overwhelming, the sort that sticks in your nostrils for days. You just couldn’t imagine yourself living like that and it’s desperately sad to see.

Wednesday’s route.

THURSDAY 29/09/22

Having fuelled up for the day at the Hi-Spot Café, we boarded a bus into town. Today we decided to take a bus trip North, crossing the ‘Fremont Cut’ into the Fremont area of the city. Our first stop, however, was Lumen Field Stadium, home of the Seattle Seahawks, to pick up a couple of souvenirs for a mate back home.

Whilst walking back through the city centre to find our bus stop, it became evident how bad the homeless problem is in Seattle. The entire length of one avenue’s pavements was covered in tents and make-shift canopies with some people bawling across the road at each other, others wandering aimlessly into the path of oncoming traffic shouting and gesticulating at some imaginary person in front of them. It was rather intimidating and it was obvious that the authorities had let the problem get way out of control.

We eventually found our stop and boarded the bus, taking the three-and-a-half mile ride over the Aurora Bridge into Fremont. Our first visit was to the Fremont Troll, a large sculpture under a road bridge, created by local artists in the 90’s. A few street’s walk away took us to the Fremont Rocket, another sculpture, this time made from the fuselage of an old cold-war rocket. En-route, we passed the Lenin Statue. Apparently, the locals have made a pastime of irreverently adorning the statue in various ways. Today he was wearing a dunce’s cap.

The Fremont Troll

Our final planned visit was the Fremont Dinosaurs, two topiary sculptures of, erm, dinosaurs, that were so poorly maintained you could’ve walked past without actually noticing them. I was so underwhelmed, I thought I deserved a beer as compensation, so it was a brewery stop next.

We made a slow walk along the canal, past the Google offices and under the hundred-year-old Fremont Drawbridge, which we were lucky enough to see in operation as some canal traffic went underneath it. This was a really pleasant, green, peaceful area and a stark contrast to the Seattle we were experiencing only two hours or so before.

A couple of hundred yards further and we arrived at our destination, Fremont Brewing – 1050 N 34th St, Seattle, WA 98103. Although it was beside the main road it wasn’t particularly noisy, so we chose to sit outside in the lovely shaded beer garden. Twenty taps to go at in here, but I just had the one; Head Full of Dynomite (sic) v.40. a 6.8% NEIPA [4]. These boys really know how to brew! I was enjoying the beer, taking in the sun and people-watching, when I spotted another sign of the sort we’d seen in Portland: ‘THANKS FOR BUSSING YOUR GLASSES‘. I felt like asking for my tip back, but just left our empties on the table out of spite!

Excellent beer at Fremont.

The next brewery was another couple of miles away, so we hopped back on the bus and made our way to Cloudburst – 5456 Shilshole Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107, located in the Ballard district of the city. This was a lot smaller affair than the last place but nonetheless had 14 beers on tap, from which I sampled two; a Beautiful Distraction 6.6% AIPA [4] and Anyone’s Ghost 6.7% AIPA [4], both hugely enjoyable. We sat in the beer garden enjoying the atmosphere, when a boat on the nearby canal sounded its horn. It was so loud that the bloke on the next table jumped and chucked his beer all down his front. Hilarious!

Cloudburst on Shilshole.

We made our way back over the Fremont bridge and, after a quick fodder stop at Just Burgers, we arrived at our last brewery visit of the day, Rooftop – 1220 W Nickerson St, Seattle, WA 98119. This place was little more than a shack at the side of a busy road, with service from a hatch in the side, leading onto the decked patio. A modest selection of 10 taps in here, from which I sampled just two; Gateway Hazy 5.8% [3.5] APA and Tropical Staycation 6.9% IPA [3.75], both of which hit the spot and made a nice end to the day.

Last one at the Rooftop.

At this point, we were a fair way from our AirBnB, so it was time to make a move back to base. Once back in the city, we had to change buses and found ourselves once again negotiating our way through all the homeless people, trying to find the correct stop. I suppose the locals are used to it, but when you encounter homelessness on this scale – entire communities living on the street, dealing and taking drugs quite openly with no authorities in sight – it can be quite daunting. We boarded our bus and a guy followed us on, bypassing the ticket check, sat on the back seat and sparked up his crack pipe and nobody said a word. Unbelievable! We reached home after a long day and reflected on how lucky we are.

Thursday’s route.

Seattle is a city of contrasts. Parts of the city are filthy and stink. Some main streets are overrun by homeless people on a worrying scale. The north of the city and over the canal in Fremont and Ballard, however, is a different world with lovely green areas and well-kept streets. It’s a real eye-opener to see the poverty gap in these big cities. I’m glad I’ve seen Seattle, but I won’t be back. Tomorrow we were flying back for an overnight stop back at Concord before starting the next leg of our tour, Sacramento.

SEE THE REST OF THE WEST COAST WANDER HERE:

Part 1 : San Francisco | Part 2: Portland | Part 4: Sacramento | Part 5: Yosemite Road Trip | Part 6: Los Angeles | Part 7: San Diego | Part 8: Phoenix+

The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And some more pics from Seattle below.

November 29, 2022
BoldBelvoir’s West Coast Wander: Pt.2 – Portland

SATURDAY 24/09/22

The day started off so well. Beautiful sunrise, warm morning sun, and a luxury ride to Oakland Airport, thanks to Mark taking us door to door in his Jaguar XJ. We were straight through security and into the departure lounge within 15 minutes and everything was on schedule. Unfortunately, it started going downhill from there…

Your transport awaits.

As we boarded Alaska Airlines flight AS 3303, we noticed the passenger in front of us spin a little projection on the cabin door with his finger as he passed by. Mrs Belvoir jokingly remarked that she hoped the door didn’t fall off during the flight and we both shrugged it off, shuffled past and found our seats. Sho nuff, when it was time to shut the door, it wouldn’t close. After several attempts, the Captain made an announcement that we would have to ‘deplane’ and wait for the engineers to come from San Francisco Airport to take a look.

We disembarked back into the departure lounge (where we had already spent two hours) to start what would become a several-hour wait. We should really have told the staff about seeing the guy tampering with the door, but I don’t think either of us would have recognised him again and it surely was just a coincidence. The thought that someone could stop a plane from taking off with one twist of a finger is a bit far-fetched, isn’t it?… Isn’t it?

Anyhoo, after a couple of hour’s wait, we struck up a conversation with a couple, Glenn and Kathy, from Florida. It was unclear how long our wait was going to be and Glenn suggested going to the lounge bar, the Rockridge. He got the first round in, so I didn’t realise the prices, but when I reciprocated, two pints of Sierra Nevada – Hazy Little Thing 6.7% NEIPA [3.75] cost $34; 17 DOLLARS A PINT!!! It was tasty enough but I’m really happy we didn’t have a session in there!

We finally boarded the plane four and a half hours later, and a massive roar went out when the door was finally closed before the plane pulled back. It was quite comical watching the hostess get out of her seat no less than four times to check and re-check the door before takeoff. Arriving in Portland mid-afternoon, we were installed in our AirBnB less than an hour later so still had time to go exploring.

View on Airbnb Townhouse in Portland · ★4.95 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1 private bathroom

A quick google search told me that there was a brewery just under a mile away, so we headed for Breakside Brewery 1570 NW 22nd Ave, Portland, OR 97210. Although the place was fairly busy we managed to get a table, but when I asked the waitress if I could pay with my phone, she said she needed a physical card or cash. We had neither on us, so we reluctantly moved on. Luckily, on our way to the brewery, we had spotted the Piedmont Station Food Carts – 625 NE Killingsworth St, Portland, OR 97211. This was an eclectic collection of shacks, sheds and food vans and a thriving little food cooperative located just off the main road. We went through the gate and I spotted what must be one of the smallest micropubs I’ve ever encountered. In fact, it was so small, there was no seating inside!

The pub with no seats!

The Beer Shack may have had no seats, but it did have 12 beers on tap, and to make up for the recent abortive brewery visit, I had a Breakside – What Rough Beast 6.8% NEIPA [3.75] which was the perfect accompaniment to the Thai green curry I had from an adjacent food van. We sat on a nearby picnic table enjoying the sun’s last rays of the day when a Country ‘n’ Western band struck up in another bar next door. Time to move on.

Another mile or so away was a brewery whose beers I had enjoyed several times back in the UK, but now I was going to get to sample them straight from the source! Great Notion – 2204 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211 are renowned for their big, juicy, hazy New England-style beers, so I thought I’d try five of them;

Super jooose at Great Notion.

ISMO’s Phantastic Ale 7.0% NEIPA [3.75], Ripe IPA 7.0% NEIPA [4], Serpent of the Stars 7.9% NEIPA [4], Thiology of Ghosts 7.8% NEIPA [4] and a Juice Invader Vs. the Thiolizer 7.0% NEIPA [4]. All of them super juicy and massively enjoyable. The taproom itself had a lovely outside yard area with trellised partitions, whilst inside was more industrial with the obligatory formica tables and wobbly chairs. I could’ve spent all night in here but sadly it was time to get back for some kip.

Saturday’s route.

SUNDAY 25/09/22

Portland suburbs are a mesh of beautiful green and leafy avenues and we enjoyed looking at all the attractive wood-built houses and architecture as we took a leisurely stroll into the ‘Mississippi’ district of the city, an area bustling with independent shops, boutiques, cafés and bars, just over four miles away.

Our first beer stop of the day was Stormbreaker – 832 N Beech St, Portland, OR 97227 where we encountered what might just possibly be the campest waiter in history. He had a highly impressive macho ‘Village People’ moustache, an exceedingly limp wrist, unfeasably tight hotpants that left nothing to the imagination and had perfected a little ballet-hop-cum-pirouette every time he ascended the step into the bar. He was also very efficient at his job, and in no time I had a pint of their Supermassive 7.0% AIPA [3.75] in front of me.

It was a tasty enough pint in a nice beer garden and we were considering staying for some food, until the couple on the next bench started changing their baby on the table. Then when their dog began to eat the sick that baby had previously deposited on the ground, we decided to move on.

The next call was Ecliptic – 825 N Cook St, Portland, OR 97227, right on the outskirts of the city. Here I selected a Phaser 6.5% NEIPA [3.75] which I savoured whilst shifting every few minutes in an effort to stay in the shade of the canopy above us.

Great décor at Ecliptic.

Bizarrely, I got mistaken for Glen Plake (Yeah, I had to google him too – he is/was a famous free-style skier) by the chap on the next bench. I had to explain that no, I wasn’t him. I was the good-looking one and Glen was the one with the money! I liked the characterful space-themed Ecliptic a lot, and they also have what has to be one of the best hashtags ever: #poursomespaceinyourface.

The last brewery of the day was located less than a mile’s walk away in the Williams area of town, situated in a rather characterless building block. Nonetheless, Migration (Williams) – N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227 offered a selection of 18 of their own brews, from which I went for a ReFresh Hazy 6.3% NEIPA [4].

Migration (Williams).

Again, the time had passed far too quickly, but it was a fair walk back to base and it was time to make a move, so I went to pay the bill. There was a sign next to the till ‘recommending’ a 20% tip. Just beside to that was a big sign that read ‘THANK YOU FOR BUSSING YOUR GLASSES‘ (returning glasses to the bar). I couldn’t help wondering what the tip was actually for!

Sunday’s route.

MONDAY 26/09/22

Today, we decided to walk the six and a half miles in the warm morning sun, crossing the Williamette River across the impressive W Broadway Bridge and into the city. After a couple of hours visiting the Washington Park International Rose Test Garden and Portland Japanese Garden it was time for a well-earned pint and first place on the list was Deschutes – 210 NW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97209.

Two very nice beers here: Trellis Smack 6.6% AIPA [4] and Fresh Hop Strut Your Strata 6.6% AIPA [4.25] with a rather delicious pulled-pork sandwich in between. We spent a couple of hours sitting at the pavement tables outside, just chilling and watching the people and trams go by. The waitress here was from London but recognised my accent from her time spent at Nottingham University. Small world.

Deschutes Brewery interior.

We had been told that no visit to Portland is complete without going to Voodoo Doughnut – 22 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204, so that was next on our to-do list. Can you imagine a cake shop with a barriered queue line of about twenty customers waiting outside and a security guard on the door? Unbelievable! We duly waited our turn and about twenty minutes later were ushered in by the guard. I could have ordered the lot, but I went for a Voodoo Doll, with a coconut cake for Mrs Belvoir. Well worth the wait and a must-visit if you’re ever in Portland. They also have a great strapline: ‘The magic is in the hole’. Oooer!

The next brewery visit was Von Ebert – 131 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97209. An airy and spacious interior here with 21 taps, but I only sampled the one; Fresh Hop Sector 7 7.0% NEIPA [4] which was rather delicious. Unfortunately, time was drawing on and I’d noticed another brewery that was closed when we’d walked it past earlier in the day on the way into the city, and it was on our way home so that was going to the last call.

Spacious interior at Von Ebert.

Upon entry, it was obvious that the brilliantly-named Grains of Wrath PDX – 3901 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227 was a metalhead’s pub, with its skeleton murals and biker-type clientele gathered around the rather dingy bar area. This theory was reinforced by the sounds of Anthrax and Slayer blasting out of the sound system. I loved it!

Grains of Wrath PDX.

Sadly, no hazies in here, so I chose an appropriately-named Built for Speed 6.7% AIPA [3.75]. Crystal clear, but it still hit the spot! And so back to base to ready for our third leg of the holiday, Seattle.

Monday’s route.

Portland – certainly the areas we explored – the Mississippi, Williams and Pearl districts – was lovely. Our BnB was situated in a beautiful green, leafy suburb within relatively easy walking distance to all these places and we felt perfectly safe and comfortable doing so. Well recommended.

SEE THE REST OF THE WEST COAST WANDER HERE:

Part 1 : San Francisco | Part 3: Seattle | Part 4: Sacramento | Part 5: Yosemite Road Trip | Part 6: Los Angeles | Part 7: San Diego | Part 8: Phoenix+

The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And some more pics of Portland below.

November 16, 2022
BoldBelvoir’s West Coast Wander: Pt.1 – San Francisco

Mrs. Belvoir and I have wanted to return to the States ever since we returned from our epic East-Coast tour, four years ago. This West-Coast jaunt was originally pencilled in for last year, but a spiky little bastard named Covid put a stop to that, and so we re-scheduled for 2022. The original plan was to fly into San Francisco and then just improvise for a month as we did on the last visit, but as our dear friends Mark Slezak and Suzanne Ricci invited us to use their house as a base, we felt it right to be a bit more disciplined and so our route, accommodation and transport were all pre-planned from the UK a couple of months in advance.

The plan was to visit seven major cities – San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix over the month, with a road trip midway around Yosemite National Park and the surrounding area as a break. I have broken up the report into digestible chunks for those whose attention spans are wanting, like mine.

Obvs, part of the enjoyment was to find great beer and visit new breweries and I can assure you it didn’t disappoint in that respect! I’m not one for giving arty-farty nonsensical beer descriptions (which are largely subjective anyway) so apart from the odd ‘fab’, ‘awesome’ or ‘wowsers’, I’ll just put my Untappd score (out of 5) after the beer name in square [ ] brackets. You can find me on Untappd here.

THURSDAY 22/09/22

After a full day’s (10 hours) flight the previous day we felt pretty fresh on the first day proper of the holiday. As mentioned above, our base for the whole stay was with friends in Concord, about 40 miles out of San Francisco and a one and a half hour ride on the Bay Area Rapid Transit, or ‘BART’. Although it wasn’t particularly rapid, it was frequent and got you from A to B fairly efficiently. All four of us (Mark, Sue, Mrs. Belvoir and I) disembarked at Rockridge station for our first day’s exploring, today in the Berkeley district. A short Uber ride dropped us off outside the University and we took a leisurely stroll through the campus enjoying the sun on the way to our first stop, Triple Rock Brewery 1920 Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704.

First beer at Triple Rock

Mark had brought me a Triple Rock T-Shirt to the UK some years ago and I was happy to finally visit so that I can now officially say ‘been there, got the T-Shirt’! It’s a traditional-style bar with plenty of character, although it was fairly early in the day so still quiet inside. We decided to take lunch here so I chose a pint of premises-brewed Silo Time, a 6.5% AIPA [3.75] to accompany the food. A tasty start to the holiday!

Lunch over, we set out on a short half-mile walk to the next stop, Cornerstone 2367 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94704. There are two Cornerstones in Berkeley, one on Durant Ave, which calls itself a music venue and this one, which describes itself as a ‘restaurant’. I must admit I get really annoyed when great beer outlets push themselves primarily as a food venue. All too often you google a pub name and it returns pictures of food, as if the beer is secondary. In actual fact, this was a great beer bar with a superb ‘draft’ beer list.

Great selection at Cornerstone.

Again, it wasn’t all that busy but the place had a great modern/hipster/industrial vibe going on and I loved it there. After much deliberation, I chose three from the extensive choice: Cooperage – Lyrical Dankster 6.9% AIPA [3.5], Original Pattern – Coincidental Calamity 6.6% NEIPA [3.75] and a Laughing Monk – Sister Strata 6.8% AIPA [4].

The last stop of the day was a three-mile Uber trip away. I’d had Fieldwork beers in cans several times back in the UK, but I was now going to try them directly from the source as our next call was Fieldwork 1150 Sixth St, Berkeley, CA 94710.

Fieldwork Taproom, Berekley

These guys are serious about their beer! 32 of their own brews on tap, from lagers, through sours, to Impy stouts. I, being a jooose boii, opted for a couple of hazies: Space Maze 7.0% NEIPA [4] and a Galaxy Sauce 9.3% DIPA [4], followed by a Blackberry Parfait 6.4% fruited sour [3.75]. It was the perfect finish to the day and an excellent start to the holiday. The evening was marching on, so it was back to Camp Concord via Uber and BART for a well-earned kip and to hopefully shake off the remnants of jet lag.

Thursday’s route.

FRIDAY 23/09/22

Today followed the same pattern as yesterday, but this time we targeted the Haight (pronounced ‘hate’) district. Once the centre of the long-gone Hippie Universe of the 1960s, this trendy neighbourhood has now developed into a whole new scene with vintage boutiques, cafes, hip restaurants and – of course – bars! Echoes of Psychodelialand of old remain, such as street murals, smoke/bong shops (it’s actually legal in the State of California!) and the odd veteran hippie wandering around looking totally lost (or off their tits), but it’s a charming and characterful area. After exploring the shops and taking in the chilled atmos, it was time for a beer.

Magnolia Brewing 1150 Masonic Ave, San Francisco, CA 94117 was the first stop. Table service only in here, but it was hard to hear what the waiter was saying as the music was so loud despite the inside being empty, except for us. What I did make out was that Magnolia had recently been acquired by New Belgium brewery, hence several of their beers being on the tap list. I decided to try one beer from each brewery; A Haze Lands 7.5% NEIPA [3.75] from the former and a Dominga Mimosa Sour 6.0% [3.5] from the latter. The sour was average at best. New Belgium had actually been on my to-do list, so as I’d had one of their beers I decided to miss them out and go somewhere else.

Magnificent Magnolia frontage.

Magnolia was a pretty building and worth the visit but just didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor to keep your interest. Time to move on, and the next one was a classic! A 20-minute walk took us to Toronado 547 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117. A true no-nonsense, drinker’s beer bar.

Terrific Toronado.

No less than 62 beers on draft here, including one on a hand pump. When I asked for a fruit juice for Mrs. Belvoir, the barkeep replied “No juice, just beer”! I explained that I had a pub back in the UK called Just Beer. Maybe we should twin up sometime? As they didn’t do food, we were allowed to order in some fodder from the German Bratwurst shop next door, which I washed down with a very enjoyable pint of Fort George – Strata Architect 6.6% AIPA [3.75]. A proper, proper boozer’s pub and a must-visit if you are ever in San Francisco. Sadly we only had time for one, but I will definitely visit this bar again in the future.

Menu at the Cellar Maker.

As I’d struck New Belgium off my visit list we would get more time at the next call, so it was Uber time straight to Cellar Maker 1158 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103.Another hipster-industrial hybrid brewery/taproom with 18 taps serving all their own brews. It was buzzing in here and we had time to savour several, so I opted for three: Medieval Cowboys, a 6.3% AIPA [3.5], a Spectral Delineation 6.4% APA [3.75] and the spectacular Cloudy With A Chance of Dobis 6.8% AIPA [4.5], the best beer of the day by far.

Friday’s route.

Sadly, the distances between places in big American cities make a meaningful pub crawl nigh-on impossible, but we’d had some great beers and I was satisfied with the six venues we’d visited. This was only the second day of the holiday and we’d had some crackers already. It was time to head back to base and prepare for the second leg of our tour and tomorrow’s flight to our second city – Portland.

SEE THE REST OF THE WEST COAST WANDER HERE:

Part 2: Portland | Part 3: Seattle | Part 4: Sacramento | Part 5: Yosemite Road Trip | Part 6: Los Angeles | Part 7: San Diego | Part 8: Phoenix+

The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And some more pics from San Francisco below.

November 10, 2022
Peeving in Portugal: Pt.2 – Porto.

SATURDAY 25/6/22

We made the 186-mile journey from Lisbon to Porto by coach for an insanely cheap price of 11 Euros each. The journey was comfy enough and took in some lovely scenery along the route, although the large, loud woman in front was taking constant calls on speaker phone and the girl across the aisle was jabbing her mobile for the entire four-hour ride, save for preparing a rolly at the one ‘comfort’ stop we took. I felt like snatching her phone off her and chucking it out of the window. Kids, eh?

Upon arrival in Porto, we decided to Uber straight to the AirBnB, rather than fart about negotiating the public transport only to end up miles away again, which could be my speciality subject on Mastermind. Again, we found our digs to be a good distance (seven miles) out of the main town in the Matosinhos district. The tram route was, once more, right outside our accommodation. Thankfully, due to the thickness of the stone walls and the depth of the building, this time the trams rolled by unheard from our room.

View on Airbnb Home in Matosinhos · ★4.86 · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1 private bathroom

Here’s the map I’d prepared for our Porto trip:

We dropped the bags and had a quick freshen up, and then it was off to explore. After half-sussing the tram tickets (the system must have been devised by a committee of mathematicians or sadists, or maybe a select combo of each), we boarded the tram… and a half-hour later got off at completely the wrong stop! A short exploratory wander around some dodgy-looking side streets told us we were in the wrong district and as it was getting dark we decided to eat. We found a local restaurant that looked popular with the locals and ordered some tapas, which included my first taste of chicken gizzards, and jolly nice they were too. I had a glass of the ubiquitous Super Bock which tasted like your Nana’s wee-wee, but it’s all they had. A google search revealed we weren’t too far from the Brewpub Fabrica Nortada R. de Sá da Bandeira 210, 4000-427 Porto.

Tank beer at Fabrica Nortada.

Immediately upon entering, it was obvious that the place was busy with diners, rather than beer drinkers, and the unimaginative beer menu reflected that. After some deliberation on whether to walk out or not, I opted for an India Pale Ale 6.0%, which was a wishy-washy excuse of the style. I struggled to finish it and we were about to leave, when the chap sat behind us struck up a conversation so, to be polite I stayed for another. This time a 5.3% Weisse Beer, not one of my favourite styles and obviously not of the brewer’s either. The chap turned out to be a Brazilian-American from New York who had sold his hostel business in the States and emigrated to Portugal to attempt to start up a similar business in Porto. I managed to finish the beer and wished him well for his new venture. Time for bed said Zebedee.

Saturday’s route.

SUNDAY 26/6/22

After consulting the signage at the tram stops, ticket office, tourist information, Lonely Planet guide and google reviews, I finally worked out how the tram tickets worked – only I didn’t, ‘cos I paid too much for the zones we were travelling to/through/in – and we were off for the first day in Porto proper. This time we alighted the tram at a more suitable stop and walked through the main town on our way to the picture-card pretty and touristy Av. Gustavo Eiffel, the main walk along the Douro Riverside which is lined with eateries and trinket stalls, whilst hoards of tourists browse and stand watching the various buskers and street entertainers. It was a lovely atmosphere and actually not too busy.

Wanting to get away from the main tourist hotspots for something to eat, we wandered to the far end of the Avenue we encountered a paved ramp. The Calçada das Carquejeiras takes you to the upper level of the town via a 28% incline. For some inexplicable reason, we decided to make the climb. Halfway up, gasping for breath, we encountered a lady, accompanied by an Al Capone lookalike on her arm, making the descent in killer five-inch heels. I felt like a right amateur. I bet I was a far better beer drinker than her, though.

Pollo with the locals.

At the top, we found a large, make-shift tented eating place, obviously hugely popular with locals and exuding a marvellous meld of garlic and barbeque smells. After regaining composure and breath, we decided to stop for something to eat, so we joined the queue to get in and after a short wait we were shown to a table. There was no written menu and the waiter had no English, but after some translation help from the chap on the table beside us we ordered (we thought) pork for me and grilled fish for Mrs Belvoir.

Ten minutes later we had a colossal plate of barbequed chicken and enough chips to keep the average MacDonalds open for a week. Great food and astounding value for money – always look where the locals eat, rather than use the tourist areas. The place afforded great views over the Douro River Valley and it was a magnificent accidental find. We enjoyed the food (and another glass of Nana’s wee-wee), taking in the sights and atmosphere. The place didn’t have a google or Facebook entry (I suppose because it was only temporary/seasonal) so I can’t give you an actual address, other than ‘at the top of the ramp’.

Full to bursting, we exercised it off by walking through town, back towards the Ponte Luiz I, the iconic bridge that spans the Douro River. To the left on the approach to the bridge was our first beer stop. CAL Craft Beers Av. Vimara Peres 56, 4000-544 Porto. A strange little place inside, that didn’t seem to know whether it wanted to be a restaurant or a bar. They had, if I remember correctly, four taps behind the small bar, all serving ‘CAL‘-branded beers. I managed to coax out of the miserable bloke behind the counter (who seemed to be pre-occupied with keeping people out of the toilet) that these were all brewed by Post Scriptum brewery, although due to the small size of the place, I really couldn’t imagine these beers being exclusive to CAL. I suspect they were just rebadges.

Hipster beer outside the CAL.

I had a rummage in the fridge and selected another Post Sriptum beer: Cryo Hoperation 2nd Edition, a 7.2% NEIPA which was totally hip (thanks Gazza) and fab. We sat outside on the busy pedestrianised walkway people-watching for a couple of hours, during which I had another can from the fridge, this time a Dois Corvos X Brewfist (Italy) collab – Scigoli Lingua Double NEIPA at 8.0%. Stupendous! We tried to revisit this place several times over the next few days, but despite its superb location and hundreds of people passing by constantly, we never found it open again. Along with the fact they don’t seem to have a web presence or Facebook page makes me doubtful it will be around for long. I hope I’m wrong.

Next on the list was Armazém da Cerveja R. Formosa 130, 4000-254 Porto. Another specialist bar with a very ordinary shop-looking frontage, but once in you immediately realise that this place knows what it’s good at! As well as the 12 beers on tap, there was a shed-load of cans and bottles in the cold room behind the bar, visible through a window. From the taps, I chose a Fuerst Wiacek (Germany) – Jejune, a luscious 6.8% American IPA. We sat at one of the tall tables next to another couple, who immediately commented on my Yards Brewing (Philadelphia) T-shirt, asking me if I’d actually been there. When I confirmed that I had, we struck up a conversation. It turned out that Adam and his lovely lady (I’m embarrassed to say I’ve forgotten her name) were from Pennsylvania and knew the brewery well. Small world.

New friends at the Armazém.

Adam and I decided to do a can share and selected one each from the back room. I chose a Sibeeria (Czech Republic) – Yummy/Gelato Strawberry & Rhubarb 5.4% pastry sour, which was frickkin’ awesome and he went for a Nepomucen (Poland) – Maria, a 5.4%, fruited Berliner Weisse, also mighty tasty. Adam told us he worked for some kind of tech company and had recently, along with his co-workers, had his name etched into a plaque attached to a probe (oo-er, missus) destined for the moon (or Mars, I can’t remember), which I thought was pretty damn cool! We enjoyed their company for an hour or so, then it was time for the next and last beer stop of the day.

Letraria Porto Rua da Alegria 101, 4000-042 Porto, advertises itself as ‘Porto’s Beer Garden‘, but we elected to sit inside as the early evening had sprung a chilly breeze, despite the pleasant sunshine.

Great selection at Letraria Porto.

An impressive 24 taps here, but just two sampled: Moersleutel (Netherlands) – Fruit Bomb Batch #1 8.0% which was fantastic, and one of their own beers, Letra – Mango Berliner Weisse BA 5.5% which was also very tasty. The evening was drawing on now and we had to find the station for the 50-odd minute tram ride back, so we decided to call it a day in order to be back at the flat before we turned into pumpkins.

Sunday’s route.

MONDAY 27/6/22

Today, we decided to cross the Ponte Luizi I and explore the other side of the river, along the Av. de Diogo Leite. This side of the river is, as you would expect, somewhat quieter. It’s a little less characterful too, but still has many bars and eateries along the front, along with another rather large food hall, whose name escapes me. We ambled along the riverfront, browsing the gift stalls until we reached the terminal for the Teleférico de Gaia Cablecar. The cable car runs along the length of Av. de Diogo Leite, back to the Ponte Liuz I and serves no other purpose than to be for tourists, as far as I could fathom. Anyway, we took the bait and paid €6 each to make the 600 metre, five-minute ride back to the bridge. It wasn’t particularly good value for money, but at least I can now say ‘done that’ and it did actually afford fantastic views of Old Porto.

By 3 o’clock it was time for a beer and today’s first visit was to the newest addition to Porto’s craft beer scene, Baobab Rua do Almada 377, 4000-303 Porto, which had only opened eight weeks previously. And you could tell! The place was immaculately clean, the paintwork blindingly white with large expanses of unadorned wall. It all felt a little too clinical. I really hope it develops some character. The place was a single room, with a WC off to one side. No cellar room, no storage area, no office. Nowt! It just shows how simple it is to set up a craft bar nowadays, but I can’t help thinking that the owner would struggle once the business takes off. The beer selection, although small, was pretty decent.

Beans at the Baobab.

I chose two beers: Dois Corvos – Benta APA 5.4% and a Maltgarden (Poland) – Trunk Full of Fruits, a 3.5% fruited Berliner Weisse, both of which were fine. The beers came with a complimentary bowl of beans. I thought they were a bit leathery, but ate them anyway. Apparently you’re supposed to bite and split the outer shell to squeeze out the contents and then discard the skin (thanks Gazza!). A bit late now, but at least you’ll know how to eat them. I bet the bar lady thought I was a right doilum! Before we left, the owner told us of another recent start-up, so we decided to make that the next port of call.

An hour’s walk and a mile or so later, we arrived at Cask Beer R. da Arménia 54, 4050-066 Porto, tucked away in a cobbled street, adjacent to the main riverside road. Upon entering, it was immediately apparent that these guys knew what they were doing! Despite the bar’s name, they didn’t serve any cask beer, but did have thirteen on tap plus shed loads of bottled and canned choices. I must say the cans seemed a bit on the expensive side, for example, a can of Ārpus beer would set you back around between 11-13 Euros, something you could get for maybe seven or eight quid in the UK. No matter, there was a great selection on draft to go at!

No cask at Cask Beer!

I ordered four: Piggy (France) – All in 2022 Edition 8.0% DIPA, Burguesa (Portugal)- NEIPA HBC472 at 6.0%, Fuerst Wiacek (Germany) – Logic Maze, a 6.8% NEIPA and a Lupum (Portugal) – Triple IPA Citra a whopping 9.6% DNEIPA. All massive, massive beers. Not content with those, I also dipped into the fridge and bought a can from another German brewery, BrewHeart – Tour de France at 8.0%. Again, a cracking DNEIPA. All the beers I had here were superb.

Cask Beer had been open for three months. Their location, I felt, was a bit off-track and I’m not sure what the skull logo had to do with cask beer, but everything else they were doing right, and I’m sure these guys will make a massive impression on the Porto craft beer scene. Totally recommended!

Our last call for the day was Catraio R. de Cedofeita 256, 4050-174 Porto. Catraio ‘Craft Beer shop & Bar’ was a pub on three levels, with a winding staircase from the street level taking you to a covered second bar, which lead to a raised outdoor terrace. The ‘kitchen’ was a hipster with a home-barbeque precariously perched on the stairs outside. Very H&S, and I’m sure he would’ve been pulled up by the authorities in the UK! Anyway, he was doing a roaring trade. It felt all very ramshackle-make-do, but it all seemed to work.

It’s hard to say how many beers were available as the taps were spread over two bars, but the overall offering seemed good. We located a table in the second bar area. Only 10 taps here! Mrs Belvoir ordered some food from Chef Makeshift whilst I fetched beer. Two sampled here: Piratas – Sailing the Milky Way 22:02, a 4.5% fruited Gose and a Maltgarden – Red Carpet Stars, a banger 8.2% DIPA.

The food was basic but tasty and good value. Both beers were delicious and a great end to another very tiring day. More adventures tomorrow.

Monday’s route.

TUESDAY 28/6/22

A full day’s walking around today, general sight-seeing, including the magnificently decorated São Bento Station (the Portuguese sure do like their tiles) plus the Museo do Vitral and after about eight miles, we thought we’d earned a beer or two. First stop was Cervejaria do Carmo (Goulden Draak) Praça de Carlos Alberto 124, 4050-526 Porto. As the name might suggest, they majored on Belgian-style beers. I chose one from the tap: Madam Lindinha Lucas – The Margarita Gose Solo 5.0% followed by a bottle of 6% APA from Athor (Argentina). I couldn’t work out the provenance of the former, despite asking the lady behind the bar for some gen. I got the impression that they like to say they brew their own, but suspect it’s all contracted. Whatever, both beers were very average, and summed the whole place up for me really.

Average beer at do Carmo.

We sat outside in the sun but the constant screeching of the ‘walk now’ alarm of the nearby pedestrian crossing was starting to grate on our nerves and we quickly drank up and left.

Time had taken us by surprise today, so we decided to find some food before walking back to the tram. I had spotted a tucked-away spit-n-sawdust Asian restaurant on our first day in Porto, so we decide to eat there before making a second visit to the superb Armazém as it was on our way back to the station. The Royal Nobab Grill & Halal Restaurant was obviously catering for the local Asian population as many popped in and out during our short stay for the food. The menu was simple and basic but delicious and marvellous value for money. As I said before – always eat with the locals!

Great VFM at the Nobab.

On to the Armazém now, but unfortunately only time for two. I had one on draft; Attik (Spain) – Bushido, a superb 6.5% DDH IPA, and a can (that I had spotted on our last visit) selected from the cold room – Three Little Birds, a stunning 8% Double NEIPA from Dutch hop masters Floem. Time to head towards the tram.

Superb Double NEIPA at Armazém.

We had visited a bar near our digs in the Matosinhos district the previous evening only to find it was closed on Mondays, so rather than call it a night we made the short walk from our home tram stop to HopTrip R. Heróis de França 617, 4450-159 Matosinhos, our last call of the night and boy, was it a winner! Despite a superb selection of 15 on tap and dozens more in cans, I was limited to two, as their card machine was kaput and I only had a few Euros on me. No matter, I would make a return visit tomorrow with plenty of dosh! I chose two from the wall: Fuerst Wiacek – Nodding Dog 6.8% NEIPA and a Maltgarden – Most Beautiful Places 8.2% Imperial IPA.

Great selection at HopTrip.

A perfect finish to the evening and, to be honest, I was ready for my pit! Tomorrow was our last full day and we were going to make the most of it.

Tuesday’s route.

WEDNESDAY 29/6/22

By now, we’d seen most of what we wanted, so our last day was spent just browsing around the shops and sitting around the various squares enjoying the street entertainers and general people-watching.

By mid-afternoon, it was food time and I decided that before I went home, I had to try the traditional Portuguese dish of Francesinha. This is a heart attack on a plate, a sandwich of sausage, ham and steak with fried egg top and bottom, smothered in melted cheese and coated in a spicy sauce. It was a Herculean effort for me to actually finish it and the lady that took our order had asked me if I wanted fries with it! Luckily, I had declined.

Totally pigged-out, it was a good job we had chance to burn calories during the fair walk to the first bar, Musa das Virtudes Passeio das Virtudes 28, 4050-629 Porto. A small entrance off the street led to a long, narrow bar running back from the frontage. The plain stainless steel-topped bar had 15 taps behind it. Truth be told, the beer choice here was pretty lacklustre. I chose two, both from Post Scriptum, Calapa, a 4% APA and Catarônica, a 7% sour. Both were below average, which was strange as I’d had a superb Post Scriptum at the CAL bar a couple of days before. The overall atmosphere was lacking here, but I couldn’t really put my finger on what it was. Hey-ho, time to move on.

Lacklustre beer at Musa.

Next on the list (and our last bar visit in the city) was a tiny brewpub, A Fábrica da Picaria
Rua da Picaria 72, 4050-477 Porto. This bar had a tiny space at the front which, by any definition of the term, was a micropub. I selected two from the nine taps on the bar: A Fábrica American Pale Ale 5.0% and a Milkshake IPA at 6.2%. Sadly again they were both below par and we decided to cut our losses and make our way back to the HopTrip at Matosinhos for the last drinkies of the holiday.

All their own at A Fábrica.

In the event, Mrs Belvoir decided to call it a night and go back to the AirBnB early to pack our bags and do wifey stuff (is that PC? – I never know nowadays). I reached HopTrip to find it bustling both inside and out. The beer menu had changed slightly since last night’s visit and I chose one on tap from local boys Dois Corvos – POGO 8.5%, an OK Milkshake IPA, but this was blown out of the water by my last selection, a can of Prizm (France) – On Phone Lines & Letterheads – a monster, monster 10% Triple NEIPA. A superb beer to finish the holiday on and I couldn’t have chosen better.

Final winner at HopTrip.

And that was it. Time to take the short walk back to the digs and prepare for the flight home tomorrow.

Wednesday’s route.

Overall, I enjoyed Portugal. Porto (IMO) was better than Lisbon in every way (but of course, much more touristy). Both cities were easily walkable (I estimate we covered around 80 miles on foot over the whole nine days) although public transport was cheap if that was your option. Ubers are another really cheap alternative, especially if there are two or more sharing.

Highlights for me (beer-wise) were the Quimera and Outro Lado in Lisbon, and Cask Beer, Armazém and especially HopTrip in Porto (although the latter is a fair way out of the main city). The craft beer scene seems to be burgeoning in both cities, but more so in Porto. It was a little frustrating that many of the craft establishments didn’t open until around 4pm, but I guess that’s the norm in many European countries where socialising doesn’t really get going until early evening at least.

I hope my brief reports give you some insights into the beer scene in Portugal. Many thanks to both Gazza Prescott and Owen Ogletree for their recommendations whilst planning this trip. Go check their web sites.

See the first leg of our Portuguese trip: Pt.1 – Lisbon

Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And some more pics from Porto below.

August 18, 2022
Peeving in Portugal: Pt.1 – Lisbon.

This visit was actually a rearranged trip, the original having been cancelled two years previously because of the Covid-19 malarky. Then, the plan was to fly into Porto, then bus to Lisbon and fly home from there.

As it happens, because flight routes have changed since lockdown, we were doing it the opposite way and on June 21st 2022 we flew out to Lisbon on the first leg of our Portuguese break.

Because this trip was primarily about the beer (don’t tell Mrs Belvoir), I’d already researched the beer scene and come up with a lot of recommendations. Here’s my Google map for Lisbon:

Arriving at Lisbon airport, we promptly found the ‘AeroBus‘ stop outside the terminal and awaited the cheap shuttle bus to take us into the city. Despite a sign saying that the shuttle ran every ten minutes, after a wait of about thirty minutes with no sign of a bus, we were approached by a taxi driver who informed us that the service had been suspended until further notice. He pointed to a sign on the bus shelter which said so. Unfortunately, neither Mrs Belvoir nor I can read Portuguese.

After offering his (rather expensive) taxi service to us (we politely declined as he was cash-only and we didn’t have any), we entered the adjacent metro station and tried to figure out a) how to purchase a ticket and b) which station to get off at. We sussed out a) quite quickly, with the help of a friendly local. Point b) was a bit trickier, and of course, we ended up on completely the wrong side of town. We finished up getting an Uber. At least they didn’t want cash.

Our AirBnB was duly located in the Belém district, and by early evening we were installed in our new temporary home. It was a lovely apartment, but we were soon to find out why it was so cheap. It had been a long day and there was really no time to go beer hunting, so we just had a meal in a nearby eatery and went back to have an early kip so that we were refreshed for our first day’s exploring tomorrow. Or so we thought.

View on Airbnb Rental unit in Lisboa · ★4.87 · Studio · 1 bed · 1 bathroom

AirBnB advertised this place as being handy for the tram into town. And it was. The tramline was literally right outside our window, and they rumbled by with monotonous regularity every 10 minutes or so. Until 2 am. And started again at about 5.30 am. We were also directly underneath the flight path of planes taking off from Lisbon airport. And the icing on the cake (literally) was that the ovens for the bakery, situated immediately beneath our flat, roared into life at 7 am on the dot. We certainly weren’t going to get any meaningful sleep here, that was for sure.

WEDNESDAY 22/6/22

On the first day of our holiday proper, rather than take the tram into town, we decided to walk and get a feel for the place. When we booked the flat, we didn’t realise how far out of town the Belém district is from the main city. It was a good five miles or so into the main areas, but we had no schedule so it didn’t matter. Despite being very overcast and drizzling with rain, we walked along the ex-industrial seafront. // Big warning here! Most of the walkways are stoned with a patchwork of very shiny ceramic-looking tiles. They are very slippery in the dry and lethal in the wet, especially when some of the pavements are very narrow and the traffic and trams pass by with seemingly little regard for pedestrians. Please be careful! \\ Eventually reaching the more ‘picture book’ areas of the town about an hour and a half later, we had a few hours of just general nosing around and getting used to the layout of the place, and by about 2 o’clock, it was beer time. Yaaay!

The first establishment on the list was Crafty Corner R. de São João da Praça 95, 1100-519 Lisboa, a one-roomed bar with an open frontage onto a cobbled alley, offering 12 beers on tap. I had a flight of five, consisting of: Praxis – IPA 6.4%, HopSin – American IPA 6.5%, Lince – Ariana 6.0%, Aldeana – Pale Ale 6.7% and Oitava Colina – Joe APA 5.5%. They were all pretty average, to be honest, the Aldeana being best of the bunch, but I enjoyed them all.

Beer flight at the Crafty Corner.

Onwards, and a leisurely 40-minute stroll away took us to the Duque Brewpub Calçada do Duque 51, 1200-156 Lisboa, another one-roomed establishment, with a couple of tables outside on the steep killer-tiled terrace. I tried just the one here, Duque – SOURreal 5.0%, which was only slightly tart but very refreshing in the building heat of the day.

Duque SOUReal on the terrace, complete with lethal tiling!

After another hour of meandering around the tiled streets (it was dry by this time but we still had to mind our footing), we arrived at 8a Graça (Oitava Graça) R. Damasceno Monteiro 8A, 1170-112 Lisboa, where I sampled two of their own creations: Devil’s DIPA at 8.0% and Sour Imperial Gose at 7.3%, both very tasty. Another tiny bar, this time with an industrial feel, and additional seating out on the street, overlooking Lisbon and out to the sea. Very relaxing, (albeit windy) and it was worth the hike up the hill for both the views and the beer.

8a Graça – Worth the hike.

It was approaching evening now, so it was decided that the next stop would be the last, and in another half an hour or so, we were at 21 Gallas Brewpub R. Angelina Vidal 53A, 1170-122 Lisboa. Again, I tried just two of their own beers, Simcoe IPA 6.0% and Dona Filipa 9.0%, a Double NEIPA, the latter of which turned out to be the best beer of the day and a nice way to round off the evening. Home now for some kip – or not!

Wednesday’s route.

THURSDAY 23/6/22

A five-minute stroll from our front door was the World-famous Pastéis de Belém, bakers of (amongst other things) the traditional Portuguese custard tarts, or Pastéis de Nata. The shop was more full of masked Oriental tourists taking photographs than paying customers, but I waited my turn and bought two very reasonably priced and delicious custard tarts for breakfast. Well worth the wait.

There was more touristy stuff to be done before starting on the peeve, and today we decided to do the famous Tram 28, which starts (or finishes, depending on which way you travel) at Martim Monez and finishes (ditto, vice-versa) at Campo de Ourique. We walked through some pretty dodgy-looking areas to get to the stop at Martim Monez, but (obviously) still here to tell the tale! The tram’s route meanders around the twisty (and sometimes insanely steep) streets of the old city, some of them being so narrow you feel you could almost stretch out and touch both sides! The trip lasts about 40 minutes and cost (I think) less than 4 Euros. If you’re going to do Tram 28, be sure to get a window seat. If the window seats are all taken, it’s worth hanging back for another 10 minutes or so to catch the next one. We did, and it was totally worth the short wait.

By about 2 o’clock, we (well, only me actually) began to think about beer and first on today’s list was The Beer Station Largo duque de Cadaval 17 Quiosque D, 1200-160 Lisboa. After doubling back several times, we eventually located the place underneath the terrace we were standing on and duly made our way down the steps toward its door, which was open. Alas, the pub itself wasn’t (until 4 pm), so the owner directed us to the establishment next door and told us to ask for ‘an IPA’.

Self service at the Pisco Bar.

The Pisco Peruvian Bar Largo Duque Cadaval, 1200-090 Lisboa, was basically a serving hatch in the side of the building, with a ‘SELF SERVICE‘ sign hanging above it. What they actually meant was no table service, which I didn’t actually twig onto until after about 10 minutes of sitting at the table, waiting for someone to take the order. I went to the bar and asked for an IPA, as instructed. The beer served was a 5.9% Dois Corvos 1 of 6 Cold IPA. Disappointingly average, but it would suffice whilst waiting for next door to open. At the stroke of 4 o’clock, we moved a couple of yards across the, er, yard, to sit outside the aforementioned Beer Station. The four-tap selection here wasn’t inspiring, so I delved into the well-stocked can fridge and found a Dois Corvos X Basqueland (Spain) collaboration brew, TOPA! an 8.0% Double NEPA. I love Basqueland beers, and this was a stunner!

Whilst searching for this place a little earlier, we had noticed signs in various windows such as ‘NOT A STATION‘ and ‘NO TRAINS‘. I asked the owner of the Beer Station (now there’s a clue) what the significance of that was, and he told us that the buildings were originally on the periphery of the courtyard leading to an underground railway station that was decommissioned many decades ago. Every day’s a learning day.

TOPA!

The next stop was only a fifteen-minute walk away, and by about 5.30 we had reached the Sacarrabos Beer Co. R. Moeda 12, 1200-275 Lisboa. Another brewpub, this one had around 15 taps, of which I sampled two: Sovina 500 Double IPA 7.3% and one of their own brews: Crocodilo APA at 6.0%. The former was the better of the two, by some margin. Sacarrabos was OK, but I didn’t feel like there was anything there to attract me back again. We decided to take the long trudge back by Shanks’s Pony and call in one further place en route to our AirBnB.

All quiet at Sacarrabos Beer Co.

Just before 8 o’clock, we arrived at our last call of the day, the excellent Quimera Brew Pub
R. Moeda 12, 1200-275 Lisboa. Situated just off the main street, it is easy to miss. But once found, everything about it is charming. Entering through a shaded courtyard, you enter a stone-walled vault which to me – and to anyone of a certain age and location to remember – was reminiscent of the old (now closed) Cornhill Vaults in Lincoln. The place had real character, as did the owner, who came over to explain the beer menu at our table. The pub has 12 taps, all offering Quimera beers. I chose a flight of four which were promptly delivered and described once more. Excellent service. I chose a Bloody Mary Sour 4.3% DIPA at 7.0%, NEIPA at 5.3% and finally a Raspberry Sour at 4.7%. They were all good, the sours being better than the IPAs. They weren’t face-puckeringly sour like some of your favourite Belgian Lambics, but very acceptable nonetheless. If you visit but one pub whilst in Lisbon, make it the Quimera!

Plenty of character at the Quimera.

Embarrassingly, we walked out of Quimera without paying and the poor barman had to run about five minutes down the road to catch us. We backtracked to pay our dues, of course… and that was the end of our second full day. A short hike back to the digs to try and get some shut-eye between trams. All to do again tomorrow.

Thursday’s route.

FRIDAY 24/6/22

Another morning and early afternoon was spent just wandering and taking in the sights, including the massive Time Out Food Hall, so busy we couldn’t find a seat, despite its size. After a strenuous uphill trek to see the Castelo de São Jorge and have a well-earned ice cream, we settled on a more modest family-run establishment amid the maze of tiered streets of the Alfama district. Incredulously, some motor vehicles still drive through these streets, when it was obvious that even a donkey would’ve struggled to get through.

Thoroughly knackered, but now well fed, it was time to get watered (read: ‘beered’). First on today’s list (and fortuitously nearest to our current location) was Outro Lado Beco do Arco Escuro 1, 1100-585 Lisboa. In another blink-and-you-miss-it location, it is situated up a cobbled side alley, but once in you are rewarded with a magnificent array of 15 taps from some fantastic craft breweries. This was by far the best selection (IMO) I’d seen so far in Lisbon.

A superb selection at Outro Lado.

The place itself was a little dingy, due to there not being any window light, but the beer selection and the pleasant bar lady more than made up for the lack of sunlight! I opted for a flight of four beers: Nepomucen (Poland) – Time for Tropics a pastry sour at 7.5%, Sibeeria (Czech Republic) – Blackcurrant Sorbet, a 4.4% Berliner Weisse, Aguarela (Portugal) – Impressing an 8.0% DIPA and another one from Sibeeria – Star Factory 6.5% IPA. They were all mightily tasty and impressive – and a great start to the evening. Well recommended.

Another 30-minute’s walk and another mile away, we arrived at Sputnik Craft Beer R. Andrade 41A, 1170-014 Lisboa. This bar was a bit trendier, with large plate glass windows to the frontage and a light, airy, modern feel to the inside. This was possibly the busiest bar we’d seen so far. The modest 10 taps offered up mainly local breweries. I sampled three tasters: a Dois Corvos – Creature 6.3% and two from Letra – Plata, a Fruited Berliner Weisse at 5.0% and Rebendita, a 6.0% Milkshake IPA, which was absolutely lush.

Busy at the Sputnik.

Our last port-of-call was supposed to be Livraria Ler devagar R. Rodrigues de Faria 103 – G 0.3, 1300-501 Lisboa. It is a bizarre industrial unit/library/art centre/bar hybrid, and part of the LX Factory. Alas, tonight there was no beer (except some dusty and presumably warm) bottles on the back shelf and the bar appeared permanently closed. The LX Factory itself, situated underneath the supporting columns of Ponte 25 de Abril – Lisbon’s own Golden Gatesque bridge (designed by the same geezer) – is now a bustling avenue of various bars and eateries and it seemed very popular with the trendies. Not for these old duffers though, and we decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we were starting our second leg of the holiday and travelling to Porto.

Friday’s route.

Lisbon is a big city, lovely in parts and underwhelming in others. Once you’re in the centre it’s very walkable (though I estimate we walked about 40 miles over the three days), despite the steep hills and the killer paving tiles. I wouldn’t go out of my way to return any time soon but would not put anybody off visiting. I’m glad we’ve been and hope the above report gives any potential beery tourists at least some pointers.

Thanks to Gazza Prescott and Owen Ogletree for their recommendations whilst researching this trip.

See the second leg of our Portuguese trip: Pt.2 – Porto

Find me on Untappd
Some tinnies wot I have necked.
And some more pics from Lisbon below.

August 17, 2022
When Will We Learn?

Watching the troubling, distressing and very worrying news from the Ukraine on TV in the last couple of days, I can’t help wondering ‘When will we learn?’

Invasions of entire Nations, certainly in modern history, don’t work. Just look at Germany & Japan in WWII, Iraq in Kuwait, and more recently the US/UK in Afghanistan. All failures. I won’t drone on and pretend to know all the details and technicalities of why wars start and how they are won and lost. I’d just like to know why we don’t learn from history.

Most creatures on this Earth (us included) are fiercly terratorial. It’s in our nature. Call me naïve, but I’d like to think that, as a speices, humans can rise above this and strive for cooperation, peace and prosperity. Doesn’t the World have more pressing issues to worry about, such as not having a planet to fight over at all if we don’t do something about the climate, overpopulation and food shortages.

I despair for the future.

February 25, 2022
American Adventure Pt.7: Hamilton & Toronto

WEDNESDAY 5/9/18

The day started with us making the journey from Buffalo back to Niagara Falls to drop off the hire car, before making the crossing over Rainbow Bridge into Canada by foot. The difference between the US and Canadian sides of the Falls on each immediate side of the bridge is quite different, and if you ever visit, you really should see them from both sides.

The US side is quite tasteful, with lots of green space and treed terraces from which to observe the Falls. The Canadian side, however, is somewhat tacky, resembling something like Blackpool, with amusement arcades, casinos and cheap cafes, which is a shame as the views afforded are far better than the American side. After having a quick scout around (we would be back for a proper look) and picking up another hire car, we made the two-hour drive to our hotel in Hamilton.

If we thought the last couple of hotels were posh, this one was a level above and, to be honest, I felt a bit out of place here! We dropped off our stuff and got a cab back into town for something to eat and quick nosey around before making a pre-arranged meet with an old pal later that evening. After stuffing our faces on some Portuguese nosh, we walked done the street and found the Merit Brewing Company – 107 James St N, Hamilton, ON L8R 2K6. A modern building, purpose-built I suspect, with a spartan industrial vibe, but more importantly, 14 taps on the back wall.

Early doors at Merit.

Just the one here, seeing as it was still early doors and we (hopefully) had a good session ahead of us. I sampled their 6.3% Cali Creamsicle Milkshake IPA, which was superb. Just half an hour in here, before having a scout around the town for a couple of hours, then diving into Augusta’s Winking Judge – 25 Augusta St, Hamilton, ON L8N 1P6. This was a truly wonderful pub, and I would say the nearest we found to a traditional British pub we found on the whole holiday (see the photo’s on their web gallery). Sadly, this is another pub that has closed permanently since our visit. The place was very busy when we called in, despite being 4 pm on a Wednesday afternoon and we struggled to get a seat. It’s a real shame that nobody has stepped in to take this place over.

Augusta’s Winking Judge.

Happily, we were able to spend an hour or so in here, during which time I savoured a pint of 4.5% Fox Hunter Sour w/Mango from the Muddy York Brewing Co which was fab. It was over too soon and we planned to revisit later with our friends to sample some of the food, which looked very good. A quick ride back to base for a freshen up and then out again, this time to Collective Arts, where we were going to meet my old mate, Jonno.

Ian Johnson and I used to play in 80’s metal band Paralex. He later moved to Canada, where he has been ever since. We collaborated again, over thirty years later, on our 2016 album Key to a Thousand Doors. I had seen him briefly back home in 2016, but as he only lived a couple of hours away from here in Union, we planned to meet up again over a beer. We arrived at Collective Arts Brewing – 207 Burlington St E, Hamilton, ON L8L 4H2, at around 7 o’clock, with Johnno and his wife arriving a few minutes later. We spent a lovely couple of hours here catching up and talking shit in general, during which time I had three of their excellent brews: 5.2% Jam Up the Mash sour, 4.5% Prophets and Nomads gose and 6.1% Life in the Clouds NEIPA.

Great friends, great beer.

Time was marching on and as Jonno had over a two-hour drive back, we decided to return to the Winking Judge to get some nosebag. Unfortunately, when we got there it was full to capacity and we couldn’t even get in. We had noticed another pub at the other end of the street so we decided to call in there. The Ship – 23 Augusta St, Hamilton, ON L8N 1P, was another traditional style boozer, a bit more spit ‘n’ sawdust than the Judge, but welcoming nonetheless. A half-decent beer selection on the menu here, from which I tried a pint of 5.6% Jelly King sour from Bellwoods, which was excellent and a 4.1% Strawberry Kettle Sour w/Lactose from Anderson Craft Ales which was pants but did a decent job of washing down my pie and mash anyway.

All too soon the evening was over and we had to say cheers to our friends then it was back to the hotel for some shut-eye. Hopefully, I’ll meet up with Johnno again before long.

Wednesday’s route.

THURSDAY 6/9/18

Today we were exploring the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We parked our hire car up and took a walk along the Niagara Parkway, which runs adjacent to the river and affords great views of the Falls. We also went up the Skylon Tower and booked tickets for later that evening so we could get a night view. A five-minute car ride took us the four miles or so north to the Whirlpool State Park, where we took a ride on the Whirlpool Aero Car. This antique cable car, in service since 1916, carries passengers over 200ft above the water and interestingly, although it travels between two points on the Canadian shore, it actually crosses the international borderline between Canada and the US a total of four times each trip due to the meander in the river below.

But enough of the touristy stuff! Before we left the UK, a friend recommended that we visited Niagara-on-the-Lake, so that’s where we headed for next, just another 10 miles or so away. A quick reference to Google told us that a brewery was nearby, so that’s where we headed!

Beer for the boys at the Oast House.

Niagara Oast House Brewers – 2017 Niagara Stone Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, was situated on a country lane on the way out of the town in a ranch-style building. We found a bench on the balcony at the rear of the building the looking out onto the hop fields below. To accompany my excellent BBQ pork, I tried a pint of 6% Farmer’s Tan Summer IPA which, although not brilliant, still went down well.

After getting fed and beered, we headed back into the main Historic Old Town, where we parked up. This was basically a long main street with lots of quaint shops and artisan businesses… including a brewery. The girls wanted to go shopping so Scary and I headed for more beer. The Exchange Brewery – 7 Queen St, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, situated in the building of Niagara’s first telephone exchange (hence its name), is a tiny microbrewery on the high street and has the brew kit visible at the back behind a glass wall and a small bar as the shop-front.

Excellent beer at the Exchange.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours in here, during which time I sampled three, all very enjoyable: A 5.8% #6¹ Grapefruit Pale Ale, the 7.6% +Golden Ale (a Belgian Blonde), and the 4.6% #5 Session IPA. The girls caught up with us again and it was time for the short ride back to the Skylon Tower, from which we saw the Falls illuminated at night. Overall, a lovely relaxing day of sightseeing and beer. Tomorrow we were going to visit Toronto.

Thursday’s route.

FRIDAY 7/9/18

We set off on the 45-minute drive to Toronto on the long, straight highway and the appearance of this enormous city steadily growing in size on the horizon as we approached was an amazing sight.

After eventually finding parking space in a multi-storey, we got a fantastic al-fresco breakfast at Fran’s Restaurant, followed by some general walking around and sightseeing for a couple of hours before stumbling upon the brilliantly-named Thirsty & Miserable – 197 Baldwin St, Toronto, ON M5T 1L8, and with a fantastic name like that, we just had to pop in for a bevvy. Really rough-and-ready in here with rickety, chipped Formica tables and graffiti on the walls and doors, and the barmaid played the role too and really made you NOT feel at home. But it had a really good beer list. Mine was a superb pint of 6.4% Meanwhile… Down in Moxee IPA from Great Lakes which was very enjoyable and worth the misery.

Only in it for the beer! – Thirsty & Miserable.

Our next stop was a nine-minute walk away: The Kensington Brewing Company – 299 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2. This was another long deep bar with a small frontage to the street and brewing plant situated at the back. I tried four in here. All were good, but the sours were particularly noteworthy. 6.5% FishEye IPA, 8.5% Breaking Point NEIPA, 4.5% Convergence w/ Guava & Passionfruit sour and the excellent 5% Qullqa fruited gose.

I felt quite at home in the Kensington, as my shirt was almost a perfect match for the wallpaper. However, we’d spotted another bar only a couple of doors away, and it was time to move on.

Spot the Belvoir.

Trinity Common – 303 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2, was a bar and grill with plenty of street seating out front. The food menu was excellent and there was a row of 18 taps behind the bar, from which I chose just the two: 4.5% Delta Mango fruited sour by Forked River and a 6% Ale of Two Cities (2018) sour IPA from Stone City, which was absolutely stunning and quite possibly the best sour of the trip. Time was getting on and Tracey had a fair drive back to the hotel and we had one more stop on our list.

A 45-minute walk away, the CRAFT Beer Market – 1 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON M5C 2V9, was a recommendation from a friend, and wow! Was he right! This place was cavernous, with a central bar sporting an unbroken row of 200 taps around its entire length. Beer is transported from the vast array of kegs behind glass wall panels, over the heads of the drinkers through suspended stainless steel ducts and down to the bar. Very impressive. If you like that sort of thing.

Despite its bewildering range, I thought the actual choice was somewhat disappointing, focusing on mainstream and commercial breweries (maybe we visited on a bad day). There were some gems to be had though, and I tried a 5.2% Armed ‘N Citra APA from Rainhard and a 5.5% Bang-Bang, another superb sour, this time from Left Field.

Massive choice at CRAFT.

CRAFT was rammed with happy drinkers, and I shuddered to think how much money was going through the tills. This place, though, demonstrated that beer is still big business despite its general decline in recent years. It was late evening by now and a big day was ahead of us tomorrow – we were going home – so we decided to call it a night.

Friday’s route.

SATURDAY 8/9/18

This was sadly the last day of our epic American Adventure. Luckily our flight wasn’t until early evening so we had most of the day to fit in just a few more things (e.g. beer). We took our time packing and didn’t check out until midday, arriving back in Toronto at around 2 pm. We decided to take the Jack Leyton Ferry ride across to Toronto Island. It was a long wait and fairly chaotic queue but we eventually made it, arriving on the Island some 20 minutes later.

Toronto Island is a pleasant enough space, but not really much to see there, so we decided to get something to eat at the Toronto Island BBQ & Beer Co – 120 Center Island Dock, Toronto, ON M5J 2E9. This place was about as tacky as you could get. It was a really run-down place in urgent need of some TLC. We sat outside in the beer garden with our complete waste-of-money food and were immediately plagued by what appeared to be the entire wasp population of Southern Canada. Still, the view of the city over the water was good.

Making the return ferry crossing back over the lake to the city, we found the nearby Amsterdam BrewHouse, 245 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON M5J 2K9, which was to be our last beery stop of the holiday*. This was a large, modern glass and metal constructed building and, being Saturday afternoon, was extremely busy. We had to wait in line for a few minutes to get a table and then were guided by a very friendly and helpful waitress to our seats.

Busy at the BrewHouse.

We had a long slog in ahead of us, so sensible was the word, and I only had two, both brewed on-site: A 6% Space Invader IPA and a 4.9% Cruiser Pale. Both were pretty average, but it was a nice end to a perfect holiday.

It was a 14-mile drive to the Airport and a further eight-and-a-half hour flight back via Reykjavik. I only saw the canteen at the airport (where I was charged 14 quid for an inedible sandwich) but at least I can say I’ve been to Iceland!

Saturday’s route.

*We did actually have one more beer, breaking the journey down from Manchester airport at Real Ale Corner – 415 Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield S40 3AD, where I had a disappointingly average pint of C-BOMB 4.2% session IPA from The Brew Foundation. My first pint of cask since New York!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I loved everything about this trip, except for the constant humming of air-conditioning units! Granted, we only saw a glimpse of all the places we visited, but all the people we met were super-friendly and helpful (except for the driver on the Greyhound bus), it felt safe everywhere we went (and we walked – A LOT!) and everywhere was clean and seemed to run efficiently. Prices were reasonable, on par with home I would say, and the whole trip, including flights, hotels, Ubers, and spends cost less than £4k each.

The bustle of New York was not really to my liking, but even there you could find some quieter corners. Washington D.C. has some lovely green spaces also, but the most picturesque city for me was Pittsburgh. If I had to recommend just one city to visit, it would be Boston. It just felt a bit less hectic and I felt ‘at home’ there. And, of course, it’s home to the brilliant Trillium Brewery!

I was particularly impressed that everything is built for the purpose. The city blocks are constructed in a grid system so everything is reasonably easy to find. The car parks are huge and parking spaces are big enough to fling your car doors open without bumping next door’s vehicle. I could go on… I guess that all comes from being a fairly new Nation and having the space to build on.

I was less impressed with the amount of throw-away waste still being produced, for example, polystyrene plates and plastic cutlery being used in sit-down cafes when proper plates could’ve been used. I suppose it’s no different from other countries, but when you imagine how much rubbish is being generated every day in this giant country, it’s very worrying.

I’d like to thank my great pals Chris and Tracey for sharing this adventure with us and particularly Tracey for taking on the driving duties on the latter part of the holiday. Also to Mark and Sue for spending both time and money travelling the width of America to be with me on my 60th birthday and making it so special. I will cherish the memory forever.

Mrs. Belvoir and I have a trip to visit Mark and Sue in San Francisco pencilled in for later this year, but with all this Covid-19 malarkey, it’s looking increasingly doubtful. Rest assured though, when we do make the trip it will be fully reported in these pages!

SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

Part 1: Boston | Part 2: New York | Part 3: Washington | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 6: Erie & Buffalo

February 4, 2021
American Adventure Pt.6: Erie & Buffalo

SUNDAY 2/9/18

We left our Pittsburgh motel around 10ish to start the 120 mile-odd drive to Erie, which is on the coast of Lake er, Erie. Having not taken advantage of the stale bagels back at the motel, we were all getting rumbly tumblies it was time to look for somewhere to stop for breakfast. After passing several off-ramps, we picked one at random, this one headed to Slippery Rock. And what a winner this turned out to be.

Rolling into the village down a long, green leafy avenue, it resembled a Hollywood movie scene. The sort of American idyll that we had thus far not seen on our journey, and it was lovely. There wasn’t a soul about to ask for recommendations, so we parked up and walked a few hundred yards until we came upon the Camelot Restaurant. We opened the door and found what must have been the entire population of Slippery Rock – the place was absolutely heaving! After waiting to be seated for 10 minutes and getting our order, it was easy to see why the place was so popular. Wholesome, home-cooked food at a reasonable price, served on proper plates with real cutlery (for a change). Excellent!

Finishing up a satisfying breakfast at the Camelot, we came back out into the sun and, only 20 yards away, was the North Country Brewing Company – 141 S Main St, Slippery Rock, PA 16057, a beautiful wood-constructed pub originally built as a cabinet maker’s shop in 1805. The place was lovely inside and, more importantly, they brewed their own beer. To wash down breakfast, I ordered six, just to make sure: Locals Only 4.5% Session IPA, Paleo 6.2% IPA, Cascade AF 4.6% APA, Summer Dew 5% Honey Beer, Bucco 4.9% Blonde, and the 4.5% Kölsch .45. Six beers already and it was before midday on a Sunday. Me likeee! Slippery Rock was an ace chance find and I was really happy we made the decision to choose that highway ramp at random.

North Country Brewing.

Back onto the Perry Highway 98 and a few miles north, there was a severe weather warning broadcast on the car radio. Within a few minutes, it had started to rain. And by rain, I mean RAIN! Now I know it sounds a cliché, but I’ve never seen rain fall as hard and fast as this. We had to pull over and stop for some time, waiting for it to abate somewhat before continuing on our journey. Frighteningly, cars were still passing us at full speed during the downpour. Maybe they’re used to it!

Reaching Erie around two hours later, we parked up for a quick reccie, this time finding the Lavery Brewing Company – 128 W 12th St, Erie, PA 16501. Lavery seemed to specialise in recreations of classic beer styles. None of them turned out to be spectacular, but I thought I’d better try six (just to make sure): Amarillo Apricot 7.1% IPA, Pretty Visitors 6% APA, Out Come the Wolves 10% DIPA, Vanguard 5% Lager, Rauch Bier 5.8% smoked Lager and a Gold Leopard 5% Farmhouse Ale. It was time to find the hotel whilst we were still capable (although Tracey was in charge and sober).

We found the Avalon Hotel & Conference Centre about 20 minutes away and this place was well posh, for the money we had paid. By 5 o’clock we had all freshened up and it was out again. Lake Erie is mahooosive. If you didn’t know, you would think you’re at the seaside. And the girls wanted to go to the beach, so we ordered an Uber from the hotel to Pettinato Beach, dropping us lads off at the Sandbar Drafthouse – 2835 W 8th St, Erie, PA 16505, on the way. This place was a bit of a rough-and-ready dive but preferable to the sandy shenanigans that the girls wanted to get up to.

It looks like the Sandbar is another victim of closures since our visit, but frankly, I’m not really surprised. We still spent a couple of pleasant hours here nonetheless, during which Scary thrashed me at pool (I blamed my bad shoulders), and I sampled a pint of 6% Nu Skool IPA from Southern Tier and a 7.5% Fully Loaded IPA by Timber Creek, both average but enjoyable anyhoo.

We had arranged to hook up again with the girls at 7 o’clock, but by half-past they hadn’t turned up and seemed to be out of phone signal area so we decided to go and look for them. We walked as far as the Sara Coyne Campground to try the phone again. This place was manically busy, with vehicles queuing to get into the car park. After several tries, we got a call through to find that there had been a traffic accident somewhere between them and us and the tailback was causing delays. They eventually caught up with us and we joined the long queues of folk at the food cabin on the side of the car park. I chose a hot dog. I wish I hadn’t bothered – it was utter shite and a waste of money. It’s astounding what some people will put down their necks!

Meet the Simpsons.

Another Uber was called, which dropped us back in town, and then we found the nearby U Pick 6 Tap Room – 333 State St #110, Erie, PA 16507, a smallish corner bar with 22 taps on the back wall. Another two pints in here before making our way back to the hotel for some well-earned kip. I tried the Fresh Haze, a 6.5% NEIPA from Deschutes, and an 8% Hopsouloution DIPA from Bell’s.

It had been a brief stop-off in Erie, but I found it to be a lovely place and the little visit to Slippery Rock had been a nice Brucie bonus.

Sunday’s route.

MONDAY 3/9/18

Another 100-mile drive to Buffalo today, and two short stop-offs at Aldi in Dunkirk for some supplies and the Eden Seafood and Pizzeria in Eden for some nosebag. Alas, no beer at either. No matter, we were in our hotel, checked in, and Ubered back into town for a 2 o’clock drop-off at the Buffalo RiverWorks – 359 Ganson St, Buffalo, NY 14203. This was a Massive ex-industrial complex for various sporting events and concerts with large sprawling bars and dining halls. The six enormous ‘Labatt Blue‘ towers at the entrance immediately put us off and, after taking a quick look around one of the bars, we decided not to linger.

Impressive, but not today, thank-you.

Back the way we came, walking adjacent to the railway lines, we reached the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery – 76 Pearl St, Buffalo, NY 14202, a large and imposing building with a balcony all around it and a lovely garden terrace on the top floor. Now, this was more like it! We found a table on the terrace to take advantage of the sun while it lasted – ominous clouds were gathering on the horizon. I elected to try a pint of Lake Effect 6% APA, brewed on the premises. We were right about the weather; there was soon a downpour and we had to seek shelter inside. It soon abated, however, and after an hour we decided to have a walk to another couple of nearby brewpubs.

What we didn’t realise, or obviously plan for, is that this was Labor [sic] Day in the US and almost everything was shut here (apparently everyone goes out of town for the day). Indeed, walking around town in the warm drizzle, we found Buffalo to be a near ghost-town, not even the tram service was operating. We reached the Big Ditch Brewing Company – 55 E Huron St, Buffalo, NY 14203. CLOSED! Next was the Sato Brewpub – 110 Pearl St, Buffalo, NY 14202. CLOSED! We decided to cut our losses and go back to the Pearl Street and have another whilst we waited for an Uber to pick us up for the ride to what would, in my opinion, be one of the beery highlights of our entire trip. I had a pint of aptly-named Nautical Disaster NEIPA, which was delicious.

Thin man – OPEN!

12 minutes and two miles later, we were at Thin Man Brewery – 492 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14222. I’d not heard of this brewery before our visit, but it has since become one of my favourite US breweries. The rain had stopped and the sun was back out, so we chose to sit on the balcony, taking in the last of the day’s rays. Truly fantastic, world-class beer here. I had a Bliss 8% DIPA, Badger Assassin 5.5% Sour Berliner Weisse, and Burning Money 6.6% IPA, all brewed on-site, plus a None of Them Knew They Were Robots 7.4% IPA by Barrier. We spent almost four hours in here, savouring these splendid beers to the full, before making the seven-mile taxi ride back to base for some sleepy times. Tomorrow we were off to Niagara Falls.

Monday’s route.

TUESDAY 4/9/18

We started out at around 10 am in the hire car from the hotel for the 20-mile journey to the Niagara Falls State Park, arriving about an hour later. We grabbed some brekkie before going to the visitor centre to buy tickets for the Falls. Coincidently, it was outside here that we encountered the only roundabout of the whole trip. Apparently, they’re not a ‘thing’ out there!

The Falls experience was, to use a cliché, ‘awesome’. This natural feature is truly breathtaking and the power of the water has to be seen to be believed. It’s hard to imagine that, just three months later, we saw on the news that the Falls became totally frozen. But not today! Tracey and Chris did the ‘Lady of the Mist’ boat ride into the death pool, but Mrs. Belvoir and I chose to watch them from the relative safety of the parapet above!

Spot Tracey – The only one without a poncho!

After a really pleasant afternoon visiting the Falls and exploring the adjacent park, it was back to the hotel to freshen up (and dry off). Beer time was approaching. On the way back in, we discovered the Hotel bar – the Twigs Lounge – 2040 Walden Ave, Buffalo, NY 14225. Scary and I decided to do the decent thing whilst we waited for the girls to get ready, so I had a pint of 7.2% Hayburner IPA by Big Ditch, which was very tasty and made the wait somewhat more tolerable.

The Uber arrived and took us out to Gene McCarthy’s Old First Ward Brewing Company – 73 Hamburg St, Buffalo, NY 14204, a lovely traditional-style brewpub in the middle of the sleepy Old First Ward neighbourhood which was full when we arrived, apparently due to the weekly quiz that was already underway. We managed to squeeze to the bar and get drinks, which we took outside and sat at one of the benches so we could enjoy the last of the evening sun.

I tried two, both brewed on the premises: The 5.8% This is Not a Pale Ale (which WAS a pale ale) and the 7% Hoppy Oasis IPA. Both were delicious. Whilst we were sipping our drinks, I noticed another brewery a little further up the road – Pressure Drop Brewing – 65 Vandalia St, Buffalo, NY 14204. We took a short walk towards it, but it soon became obvious that they had already shut up shop for the day. Shame.

Gene McCarthy’s.

After a pleasant couple of hours, we decided to move on and take another four-mile taxi ride to the Resurgence Brewing Company – 1250 Niagara St, Buffalo, NY 14213. Another two pints here: A CitMo IPA and a Passionfruit Sour, both 6.5%, both brewed by Resurgence, and both delicious! We stayed here until about half 10 before calling it a day and returning to base.

Tuesday’s route.

And that was the end of this leg of our journey. Again, only fleeting visits to Slippery Rock, Erie and Buffalo, but from what I saw they were all lovely places that I’d heartily recommend to anyone. Tomorrow we were going over the border into Canada.

SEE THE REST OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HERE:

Part 1: Boston | Part 2: New York | Part 3: Washington | Part 4: Philadelphia | Part 5: Pittsburgh | Part 7: Hamilton & Toronto

January 20, 2021