Just a short report from our week-long jaunt to Bucharest. Not a lot to see there tourist-wise (unless you like large unmaintained ex-Soviet buildings), so I’ve just done a concise beer report on the various bars visited.
The map shows the locations of the places we sampled. There were more to-do’s on my list, but due to opening hours and travel distances they got missed so I haven’t included them on the map.
Our stay was bang in the middle of the city, courtesy of AirBnB. Although the location could be fairly noisy throughout the night, it never bothered us, thanks to efficient double-glazing. The place was clean, conveniently situated and spectacular value for money!
Hop Hooligans – Shock Therapy V59 6.5% (can) NEIPA [4.0]
A typical-looking industrial style bar, serving as a taproom for Zăganu beers, but also offering a decent if uninspiring range of other brewery beers. Reasonably priced tapas-style bar snacks available. Very good service.
Standard craft fayre in familiar surroundings at Zăganu.
Ground Zero TaproomPiata Universitatii, Strada Toma Caragiu 3, București 030042
Ground Zero – Imperial Fuck 9.0% DIPA [3.75]
Ground Zero – Split the Pot 7.0% NIPA [3.5]
Another built-by-numbers establishment, again serving as a taproom for their out-of-town brewery and selling their own beers exclusively. The place was a bit spartan, to say the least, and the boss had a tendency to ‘hover’ constantly trying to tell us how good his beers were!
Spartan surroundings but OK beer at Ground Zero.
Delta BeerSplaiul Independenței 2J, București 030167
Clandestin X Voodoo (Slovakia) – Non Perignon 7.7% DNEIPA (can) [3.75]
This place had only been open for a few months on my visit. I was the only one in early-evening and had the barkeep’s full attention until an attractive Dutch dollybird came in on her own and I was was abandoned. Ah, well! Great addition the Bucharest craft scene, offering a decent selection on tap and from the fridge, including some hard-to-find Mad Lads beers. I hope they can build their audience up, or I fear this one won’t survive. Visit it while you can!
Billy Nomates at Delta.
Date: 10/07/25
Venue – Beer(s) Sampled – Notes:
Zeppelin PubStrada Marin Serghiescu 7, București 030167
Wicked Barrel X Blackout – √2 6.0% NEIPA (can) [4.0]
Wicked Barrel – Jaw Drop 6.3% NEIPA 9can) [3.75]
We walked for miles around backstreets in high 30’s heat to find this one, but it was worth the hike. The bar and indoor area resembled a Belgian bar and it had a nice (mostly) shaded outdoor drinking area. Drinks could either be ordered at the bar conventionally or through an app and delivered to your table. A modest but quality selection of craft beer available.
Bar area at the Zeppelin Pub.
Hop Hooligans TaproomStr. Jean Louis Calderon 49, București 030167
Hop Hooligans – Progressive Overload: Kveik TDH 8.0% DIPA [3.75]
Another establishment serving as a taproom for their out of town brewery. This time housed in a magnificent old building with real character. Limited drinking space outside and a resident food truck selling reasonably priced but quality burgers and such. Apparently it’s pot luck whether your get surly or friendly staff. Guess which we got?
Hoop Hooligans – Great beer, surly service!
Date: 11/07/25
Venue – Beer(s) Sampled – Notes:
Ironic Taproom (Brewery) Strada Domnița Anastasia 4, București 075100
Ironic – Don’t Feed the Cat 5.5% NEIPA [3.5]
We popped into this place to kill time before the bar next door opened – and for respite from the baking afternoon sun. A somewhat run-down, faceless industrial-looking bar with honestly little to commend. The beer was passable. The only place we visited that brewed on-site.
I’d been told by several people what a gem this was, and it didn’t disappoint! A true micropub, jointly run by One Two and Maktoob breweries, this place would comfortably hold, maybe, eight or ten customers. The very friendly and chatty barmaid told us she had fit thirty in there. Very intimate! Draft choices were, as to be expected, mainly from One Two and Maktoob, but a small selection of other brewery beers (including the ubiquitous Hop Hooligans) could be selected from the fridge. Don’t forget to do the ‘toilet tour’. An experience you won’t forget!
Lepton (Contract brewery) – Photon Fog 6.0% NEIPA (can) [3.75]
Hop Hooligans – Earth Is Not Flat 6.5% NEIPA (can) [3.75]
I enjoyed this place. It’s not in the most salubrious of locations, but a nicely laid out pub inside. The whole side of the pub opens up to the outside if you can’t get one of the pavement tables. A fairly comprehensive tap menu plus an extensive choice from the fridge. Great music and attentive staff. A winner in my books!
Maktoob – Sometimes You Have To Bite the Hand That Feeds You 6.3% NEIPA (can) [3.75]
Blackout – Double the Stupid Questions 8.0% DNEIPA (can) [3.75]
Beer o’Clock is situated a couple of corners away from Beer Station and right next door to Tap, so this area is Bucharest’s Craft Beer Central. A modern, well laid out bar with a great selection of craft beers as well as Belgian and other traditional fayre.
What’s the time? Beer o’Clock!
Date: 13/07/25
Venue – Beer(s) Sampled – Notes:
BOB George (Coffee Bar) Strada Lipscani 20, București 030036
Ultima – I See Dead Bunnies 5.0% NZIPA (can) [3.75]
Blackout – Aberații Standard 5.0% NEIPA (can) [3.75]
Hop Hooligans – Catleidoscope 6 8.0% DNEIPA (can) [4.0]
We had walked past this place several times and it had never been open. Recently reopened fter a period of closure, it is joined to Beer o’Clock next door. In fact, you can walk between the two bars inside. Very knowledgeable barkeep talked me through the extensive menu. Wish I could’ve spent more time in here. Well recommended.
Great selection and service at Tap.
Bucharest is a fairly attractive and busy enough city, but if you want to do ‘touristy’ stuff, a two or three day stay will suffice. The bar and craft beer scene seems to be thriving, but in line with a lot of countries, Romania seem to be playing ‘catch-up’. That said, if you’re going on a drinking trip give yourself a leisurely four or five days. There were other beery places I would’ve liked to have explored but, taking my ‘tourist obligations’ into account, I didn’t have the time.
The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd Some tinnies wot I have necked.
This post is going to be a little different to my usual travel/beer reports. As there’s relatively little touristy stuff to do in the Bay Area, I wouldn’t want to bore anyone with how we filled our 30 days in the area. Suffice to say, there was plenty of drinking, so I’ll just focus on the pub/brewery scene so that anyone so inclined might pick up a few pointers. I’ll start with a few travel tips that may help. Firstly, here’s a map of all the beery places I did (this is NOT an exhaustive list, and doesn’t include places I’d already visited on our previous visit).
Staying there.
It can be expensive staying in San Francisco, especially if you’re looking at the Embarcadero/ Pier/ Fisherman’s Wharf areas. Staying over the bay in Oakland or Berkeley area can be cheaper. We stayed in this charming little house in a quiet area of Piedmont, found on AirBnB.
One thing to watch for – The local authorities have imposed a 17% ‘tourist tax’ on stays of up to 30 days. We originally booked for 30 days and, when we realized the levy, cancelled the booking and rebooked for 31 days, saving over £350 in the process! It _may_ pay you to book longer than you actually intend to stay.
Getting around.
Even though San Francisco is a relatively compact city, venues can be a considerable distance apart (especially when walking as we did, most of the time). Having said that, there are a couple of notable ‘clusters’ where, once there, it’s easy to walk between venues – more of this later. You’re definitely going to want to get a Clipper card. This will allow you to travel relatively cheaply around the whole Bay Area on most forms of transport (BART, Muni, bus, ferry and tram) but NOT the traditional Cable Car, which serves no real purpose other than to carry tourists from A to B.
Clipper cards can be purchased from any of the pay machines inside the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) stations. Issue costs $3 for the plastic card, plus any pre-load you want to start off with. A cheaper option is to download a transit pass onto your Google/Apple wallet and top-up as you go or set it to auto-load and forget about it.
An even cheaper option, if you’re (un)lucky enough to be over 65, is to get a Senior Clipper, which entitles you to 50% discount on buses and a whopping 62.5% off BART travel! Senior cards can only be picked up in person at the Embarcadero BART station in San Francisco, but are issued FOC (plus the pre-load) – Don’t forget to take a form of ID (e.g. passport). There is a Clipper app for mobile phones, but it can’t be downloaded onto non-American Google/Apple accounts.
At time of writing, bus fares are $2.25 ($1.20 senior) for any length journey – tap your card on the terminal as you board and $2.30 ($0.85 senior) between any two BART stations, but substantially cheaper on longer journeys. Dob your card on the reader at the entry and exit gates at the station. A fare calculator for BART Journeys can be found along with a route map here. I’ve also indicated all the BART stations on my Google map (above).
Uber, Lyft, and other taxis are widely available and reasonably priced. Download the apps before you leave the UK if you’re not using your usual SIM card whilst abroad, as they usually require a verification text to register. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, take a Waymo driverless taxi. Waymo’s are all over the place in San Francisco and it’s a great experience to ride in one. We paid $29 (about £22) for a 5.8-mile, 38 minute ride, which I thought was good value, especially if four of you are riding.
If you want to visit the historic little town of Martinez, DO NOT get off at Martinez BART station! There’s nothing there but residential homes. Take the BART to Concord and there is a regular FREE (No.28) shuttle bus to the Martinez Amtrak station, which is situated in the heart of the town. We also found another free shuttle bus (No.7) from Calicraft Brewing back to Walnut Creek BART.
Lastly, the most versatile bus service we found was the AC Transit – No.12 route bus in Oakland which services no less than 66 stops and runs for about seven miles between Jack London Square in Oakley through Piedmont and Berkeley to West Berkely, conveniently connecting two of the aforementioned ‘clusters’.
‘Clusters’.
Jack London Square There are no less than seven great venues in this area that are easily walkable from each other, alphabetically (the order you do them in will be dictated by their opening times).
Cellarmaker House of Pizza (Taproom)
Dokkabier (Brewery)
Hesher’s (Pizza & Taproom)
Line 51 (Brewery)
Oakland United (Brewery)
Original Pattern (Brewery)
Sante Aidairius (Taproom)
West Berkeley The No.12 bus goes past three of these places, with the others within an easy walk.
Cellarmaker (Brewery)
Fieldwork – Berkely (Brewery)
Gilman (Brewery)
Great Notion (Taproom)
Headlands (Beer Garden)
Tenma (Brewery)
Wondrous (Brewery)
East San Francisco This ‘cluster’ calls for a bit more stamina – but still easily doable (this pensioner managed to walk it!). It’s hard to get your head around how spread out American cities are. It looks ‘just down the road’ on the map, but when you get there it’s a different story! Anyway, the last seven are:
Ballast Point (Taproom)
Barebottle (Beer Garden)
Bartlett Hall (Brewery)
Black Hammer (Brewery)
Enterprise (Brewery)
Harmonic (Taproom)
Olfactory (Brewery)
There are also other venues just North, South and West of this ‘cluster’ that you could incorporate into this one, depending on your staying power!
Measures.
The usual American ‘pint’ measure is 16 fl.oz, a fifth smaller than a UK pint. However, that doesn’t mean to say you’ll get the whole 16 oz! Some venues are quite liberal with the pint definition and don’t mind serving with a deep head of foam, depriving you of valuable nectar. Other venues limit some of their beers to a 12oz pour, usually depending on the strength – the higher the ABV, the smaller your pour. So make sure you look at the tariff board before you make your choice to avoid nasty surprises!
Another thing to look out for is that half-pints are not half the price. For example, say the average pint is 7 or 8 dollars, a half pour is likely to be around 5 dollars, so it’s more economical to drink pints. Tasters (4 or 5oz measures) can be even more costly, pro-rata – so beware!
…and so on to the beers! I have split this rather long report into four sections for reading comfort, so click the page links below to continue.
Of the last few flights I’ve taken, they all seem to have been late by a prescribed amount, around twenty minutes or so. And, like that traffic blockage ahead that we’ve all sat in and once it’s cleared there’s no accident or apparent reason for it, late flights are much the same (to this layman at least). Our recent flight back from Santorini wasn’t any different. After clearing security and reaching the departure lounge in good time, the place was virtually empty, save the odd vendor behind the counters of the horrendously overpriced shops, and a few fellow travellers awaiting the flight back to East Midlands.
The departure board announced ‘Boarding at Gate 5‘. We duly walked the length of the terminal (you’re never departing from the nearest gate, are you?). Arriving at Gate 5, we are confronted by an electronic sign announcing ‘GATE CLOSED‘. Where were we supposed to be? The departure board was showing ‘5’. Gate 5 was showing ‘CLOSED‘ no officials about to ask and the Tui app was about as useless as a Baldy’s comb. So everybody was milling around looking lost. About 25 minutes before the supposed departure, three staff turn up and open Gate 6. There is a mad and disorderly rush to get to the front (I’ve never understood this, as everyone has a designated seat) and, much to my surprise, everyone has boarded and the aircraft door is closed with five minutes to spare. Looking good, eh? Er, actually no!
We sit there for 5, 10, 15 minutes. The smarmy flight Captain comes on the tannoy: “Uuuuuum, this is the Captain speaking. We’re uuuum just waiting for the instruction to push back, and we’ll be uuuuum on our way”. WHY??? There are no other flights in frikkin’ operation at the moment! It’s like Air Control are tittering down their sleeves seeing how long they can hold the plane before the passengers are on the verge of mutiny! We eventually trundle onto the apron and stop once again for another ten minutes. “Ummmm, we’re just awaiting a departure slot from Air Control and we’ll soon be on our way”. YOU’RE TAKING THE PISS! There’s no other aircraft within sting missile range, never mind in our flight path!
The uneventful flight took just under the predicted 4h:10m and by the time we landed, we had made up the 20-25 minutes. I’d cooled off a bit by now and thought we might even get our planned Skylink shuttle bus from EMA to Nottingham. Yeah, right! Immediately on stopping, everybody jumps to their feet and retrieves their bags and stand like coiled sprigs, determined to be first off and onto the terminal shuttle bus. The ground crew efficiently approached the ‘plane with the steps and the cabin doors opened. And again we waited, and waited, and waited. Another smarmy announcement: “Uuuuuum, we’re sorry about the delay, but we’re waiting for the uuuum shuttle buses to take you to Arrivals”. WHAAAT? Like they didn’t have enough feckin’ notice? Why didn’t someone ring through four hours ago when we took off? No. Too simple, and probably designed just to piss you off even more.
So we disembark the aircraft and board the shuttle buses. Packed like sardines isn’t the phrase to use, more like a tin of mashed-up frickin’ tuna. We eventually move off and I check my watch – we may still just about have time to catch the Skylink to Nottingham. The shuttle reaches the arrivals building, but rather than drop us at the entrance door at the corner of the edifice, the driver takes us to the far end of the covered walkway, about 300 yards away, and we have to walk back along the length of the corridor. WHY? AAAAARGH!!! Again, I bet the drivers are pissing their pants with laughter watching all the passengers struggle with all their luggage for a few hundred unnecessary yards.
Despite ours being the only flight at the terminal at this time of night, the sheepherding tape and bollard system was in place, requiring all the passengers to walk ten times further than really necessary. Then you get to the passport scanners. The capacity of a Boeing 737 is about 210 passengers and East Midland Airport have four scanners. FOUR! They don’t need four! They need fifty frikkin’ four!!!! All designed to wazz you off to the max, I’m sure. We eventually reached the Skylink bus stop – you guessed it – about twenty minutes late and had to stand in the rain for another forty minutes.
I understand this is the norm of flight travel now, but there has to be a better way, doesn’t there?
The Belvoirs recently had a week’s break on the Greek island of Santorini. This island destination was the first ever place I’d taken a foreign holiday, about 37 or 38 years ago (I remember the Beasty Boys were the baddies of the day, in the charts at the time), so I was interested to see how it had changed over the years. The short answer, I’m afraid, is that mass tourism has taken its toll to the detriment of its heritage. OK, the crowds have made the island wealthy, but at what cost?
The yomp from Fira to Oia.
For those that don’t know, Santorini is a volcanic island that blew itself apart in the year c.1645BC. The new volcano that grew back out of the sea, Nea Kameni is still active today. The cliffs around the remaining caldera afford magnificent views of the island. Consequently, the island is one of the most popular destinations in the world, attracting millions of tourists every year. The island is famous for its stunning views, unique architecture, and rich history. But behind the picture-perfect postcards, there is a dark side to this paradise: litter.
Litter is everywhere on Santorini, from the beaches to the streets, from the caldera to the vineyards. Plastic bottles, cigarette butts, food wrappers, and other waste items are scattered all over the island, creating an eyesore and a health hazard. The problem is so bad that some locals have dubbed Santorini as “the Island of Garbage”.
How did this happen? The main culprit, I’m told, and I’ve no reason to doubt it, is over-tourism. Santorini has been overwhelmed by the sheer number of visitors, who often leave behind their rubbish without any regard for the environment or the local culture. The island’s infrastructure and services are not able to cope with the demand, and the waste management system is inadequate and inefficient. According to a recent report by the EU’s transport committee, Santorini is failing to manage the increasing numbers, spelling disaster for the local community and the environment, and putting the future of the destination at risk.
Another factor is the lack of awareness and education among tourists and locals alike. Many people do not realize the impact of their actions on the island’s fragile ecosystem, which is made entirely of volcanic rock. Some people simply do not care about preserving the island’s beauty and heritage, and only see it as a backdrop for their selfies and Instagram posts.
My ‘Marco Polo‘ Guide to Santorini tells me that there are 120 people employed on the island to pick and collect litter. I’d personally sack the entire lot of them as the place is covered with litter everywhere. It’s appalling to see, but sadly it’s endemic to the human race and I think the entire planet is truly f***ed.
We based ourselves in the small village of Pyrgos, situated on the highest point in the middle of the Island. This charming little villa was away from the hordes of tourists and afforded magnificent views over the caldera bay.
Santorini may be a dream destination for many travellers with its breathtaking views, white-washed houses, and blue-domed churches. But there is one thing that can ruin your Santorini experience: the bus system. The bus system in Santorini is chaotic, unreliable, and frustrating. It is supposed to be the easiest way to get around the island, but it often turns out to be the opposite. Here are some of the problems you’ll encounter when taking the bus in Santorini:
The buses are always late. The bus schedules are more like suggestions than actual timetables. You can never be sure when the next bus will arrive or depart. Sometimes, the buses don’t even show up at all. The schedules, for what they’re worth, are just a header with ‘from’ and ‘to’ destinations and a column of times. They have no meaning as they don’t tell you the name of the bus stops on the route, or what time they stop there. The timetables don’t even refer to a service number to tie it to a particular bus, so you are reduced to just milling around with other clueless passengers until a bus turns up. Even then, it’s not obvious where the bus is going, unless you can coax the driver or conductor into revealing this, I would consider, vital information.
The buses are always crowded. They’re not designed to accommodate the huge number of tourists that flock to Santorini every year. They are often packed like sardines, with people standing in the aisles and squashed up against the doors. You can forget about personal space or comfort. You can also forget about finding a seat, especially if you have luggage or a backpack.
Nothing about the system is user-friendly or well-organized. There are no signs or announcements to indicate which bus goes where or when and sometimes, the drivers change the routes or destinations without warning or explanation.
A birds-eye view of the ‘station’.
The main bus station (or rather, parking lot) in Fira is utter, utter chaos. The ticket/information office is unmanned (or it was on all of my visits), and the so-called timetables give no information except a column of meaningless times. Nobody knows which bus is going where until the driver places a tatty placard on his dashboard, approximately 16 seconds before he sets off. You wander from bus to bus, asking drivers or conductors which bus is which. If you’re lucky you will get a shrug of the shoulders or a wag of a finger. Mostly, you just get ignored. Nobody is there to help you, and nobody wants to help you. And then miraculously, approximately six seconds to departure, the conductor gets all smarmy and answers “Yiiiiiiiis, yiiiiis, of course, Pyrgos! Yiiiiiis”, like you’re an ignorant dummy and this information is freely available elsewhere.
The bus station itself is insanely dangerous with busses swinging in and out, with no barriers or pedestrian control, people milling around, paying more attention to finding out their bus rather than getting out of the way of the coach that’s reversing into them without warning or care. It’s a wonder that nobody gets killed (maybe they do), and the station’s location and the bus system in general need a major overhaul.
The network does not cover all the places you might want to visit on the island. There are only a few routes that connect the main towns and attractions, such as Oia, Akrotiri, Kamari, and Perissa. If you want to go somewhere else, you have to take two or more buses, which can be time-consuming and of course more expensive. Some places are not accessible by bus at all, such as some of the beaches, wineries, or hiking trails.
So what are your alternatives? If you want to have a hassle-free and enjoyable Santorini trip, you might want to consider renting a car, hiring an ATV (Quad Bike) – although I have more to say about these later – paying for a taxi, or renting a motorbike. These options cost a lot more than taking the bus, but they will give you more flexibility, convenience, and comfort.
On the plus side, the buses are very cheap!
Fira town from above.
You can always walk, of course, and due to the compact size of the island, walking between towns is eminently feasible, if you have average fitness. Mrs Belvoir and I walked several journeys, including Pyrgos-Fira, Fira-Oia, Pyrgos-Kamari-Perissa, Pyrgos-Megalochori and Pyrgos-Akrotiri, although the Fira-Oia coast walk and the climb over the Mesa Vuono from Kamari to Perissa can be particularly taxing and hard on the feet. A big word of warning though: The roads are, in the main, unlit and the vast majority have no sidewalks so walking between destinations can be dodgy even on quiet roads and downright dangerous on main roads, especially at night. Some of the tracks between smaller villages such as Perissa, Pyrgos, Akrotiri and Megalachori can be cobbled back alleys but some can be just unmade dirt tracks. Be sure to pack some sturdy footwear!
I don’t mean to paint a bleak picture of the island. It has undoubtedly breathtaking scenery, the likes of which you’d have to spend a lot of money and travel many miles to see elsewhere. Sure, the place is generally crowded and expensive, but there are little villages where, although there are tourists, it’s much less intense. And if you use little family-run Tavernas you’ll save a bunch of money compared to the tourist traps of Fira and Oia, whilst supporting the local businesses.
Magnificent backdrop of Kamari Beach.
The most relaxing place we found was a little beach shack, Kamara Beach Bar, a short walk beyond the not-so-posh but still expensive eateries of Kamari Beach. Certainly not gourmet food, but inexpensive and substantial snacks and sandwiches and reasonably-price beer (if only main-stream bottled lagers) and great value hand-mixed cocktails for those so inclined. We whiled away several hours here just staring out to the sea and enjoying the eclectic mix of reggae and 80’s rock being played through a better-than-average sound system.
Kamara Bar – Cheap and cheerful.
We’d actually walked here from our base in the village of Pyrgos, with the intention of taking the cheap (€5pp) water taxi around the big lump of rock that was Mesa Vuono to the village of Perissa. This service was supposed to run every 15 minutes, but after an hour, we’d seen no signs of activity. It turned out that the weather was too windy and it had been suspended for only the second time this year. Just our luck! As previously mentioned, we went up and over the Mesa, a trek that I wouldn’t recommend and have no intention of replicating for the rest of my pathetic life!
All about the beer? Sadly not!
Yeah, Santorini’s no craft beer (or any other beer for that matter) hot spot. But amongst the numerous restaurants and bars selling the ubiquitous Mythos, Alfa and other assorted mass-produced dross, there are two breweries that are trying to break the mould, namely the now well-established Santorini Brewing Company – Episkopi Gonias 847 00, and the new boys on the block, Ftleos – Karterádos 847 00.
All the beer from the Santorini Brewery is unfiltered and bottled. Apparently, they tried to sell keg products to bars when they first started production, but the bar owners had difficulties serving ‘craft’ beer on draft, so the decision was made to make output bottled only. This is also true of the bar in the brewery’s own tap room. The decision seems to have paid off, with many smaller bars and even supermarkets stocking a least some of their ‘Donkey’ range of beers. Their entire output is limited to a core range, consisting of three ‘lagered’ pales, an amber, a barrel aged, one wheat, one weisse and a saison. I tried the Yellow Donkey pale, Crazy Donkey IPA and Salty Donkey gose. All were perfectly acceptable, if unremarkable.
Donkey beers at Santorini Brewery.
The Ftelos Brewery, on the other hand, seems like it is genuinely trying to shake the beer scene up on the Island. Starting up just a couple of years ago in 2021 (basically in the middle of the C-19 pandemic) it has a purpose-built, highly impressive set-up situated just off the main road just south of Fira.
As well as producing a diverse range of styles, it also has a gourmet kitchen and restaurant area, and it’s speciality is food-beer pairings, with a flight of six of their (draft) beers, together with a platter of light-bites, each one complimenting the beer it’s served with. I had every intention of returning here to sample this, but circumstances meant unfortunately that wasn’t to be. However, I did get to sit on the magnificent grassed roof terrace and try their Blue Monkey Pale Ale and Malt ‘N Marvel -Double IPA Hoppy Series, the latter of which was surprisingly good and would hold its own against a lot of other current European craft brewers.
Massive investment at Ftelos.
Sadly, I had the feeling that this place was in the wrong location, being out in the middle of nowhere on its own. The proprietors have obviously made a massive investment in the place and I hope they have the funds to sustain its growth in the coming years and expand the availability of their beers into the surrounding towns and villages, as Santorini Brewery has done.
Wine is fine.
If beer’s not your bag, man, then Santorini has no less than 22 domestic wineries. We stumbled in on one during our walk around the quiet village of Megalchori. Gavalas Winery – Megalochori 847 00, produces around 70,000 bottles per year, mostly from grapes native to the island.
Gavalas – one of the 22 wineries on Santorini.
On our walks around the island, grape vines are evident everywhere. The plants are cultivated under baskets to keep them low and spread out to protect them from the island’s frequent and strong winds.
Even so, it was hard to imagine that, with 22 wineries, there were enough grapes to go around and for each one to output 70,000 bottles per year.
It’s no doubt that Santorini is one of the richest Greek islands. But this wealth comes with a big environmental price. The beauty of the island is somewhat blighted by the amount of tourist visitors. The serenity that I experienced all those yours ago has been destroyed, with the constant rumble of Quad Bikes pervading the whole island, often into the small hours. The fleets of tour coaches and cruise liners keep their engines running constantly, polluting the air and the cars and mopeds clog up the picture-book cobbled streets of the towns. It’s all very sad. This is now typical of many tourist destinations; In Europe Venice, Pisa, and Bruges are among destination towns looking at ways of reducing tourist hordes whilst still reaping the benefits. I’ll be interested to see what solutions they come up with, if any.
Budapest had been on my ‘to-do’ list for quite a while, and last June I finally got around to it. I made minimal preparation for the visit, just referring to a couple of YouTube videos and beery website links beforehand, so I intended to ad-lib and take it day-by-day, rather than plan it like an SAS operation.
Before I get into the report itself, here’s a little montage I made of the visit
…and a Google map I’d made earlier…
TUESDAY 20/06/23
Due to a delayed flight – quelle surprise (or should that be ‘micsoda meglepetés’)? – we didn’t reach our apartment until just gone 11 pm the previous evening, and we didn’t have the time (or energy) to go exploring then, so this was our first day of the holiday proper. Our AirBnB, though located bang in the middle (Pest side) of the city, was very quiet, due to being part of a courtyard complex located behind two hefty, locked steel doors to keep the rabble out (or in). Although basic, it was clean, comfortable and excellent value for money.
We ventured out onto the streets and just headed somewhere at random. In less than 20 minutes we were beside the River Danube and the magnificent Hungarian Government Building. After a couple of hours of strolling, I had worked up a thirst, so it was time for the first beer of the holiday. A quick referral to Google maps showed me that the nearest bar was Madhouse – Anker köz 1-3, 1061, Budapest. This was an ex-BrewDog bar, now a brewpub run by Mad Scientist brewery.
For some reason, the staff were reluctant to let anyone near the bar, insisting that they take a seat and order from a QR code-scannable Untappd menu instead. From where I sat, it looked like there were 24 taps behind the counter. There appeared to be quite a diverse choice of brewing styles available, but only two took my fancy, namely: DDH Madhouse 5.5% NEIPA [3.5] which, despite its strength, was somewhat wishy-washy. This was followed by a small glass of All These Flavors And You Choose To Be Salty 10.7% TIPA [3.5], which really was more like a Belgian Dubbel than a TIPA.
Maaaad, I tell yer!
I forget why, but we had to return to base for some reason and on the way back, only two corners away from our flat, I saw another bar. Mental note – next stop! Beerpoint – 1077, Erzsébet krt. 30, 1073, Budapest was a typical corner pub with large screen TVs showing sports. It also had 18 taps, sporting a decent range of beers! I sampled two in here: First up, a Brew Your Mind – Yellow Haze 5.5% NEIPA [3.75] followed by a Fehér Nyúl – Mangdala 5.5% pastry sour [3.5].
Decent selection in Beerpoint.
I asked the guy behind the bar for other crafty recommendations in town, and the nearest was just a couple of hundred yards away, so we decided to make that the last stop of the day.
Hops – Wesselényi u. 13, 1077, Budapest was a proper craft microbar with a small frontage to the street and an oil barrel table with two stools outside on the pavement. This was marked up as ‘reserved’ so we took a seat inside. It seemed to have a pretty decent selection on draft and a couple of big can fridges, but when you looked a bit closer, they were all from a handful of brewers. I opted for a fridge beer in here and chose a can of Tempest (Scotland) – Luminous Spaces 6.0% APA [3.75]. We took our seats inside and the barman duly made his way past us and sat at the aforementioned ‘reserved’ table outside! Know your place, you lowly punters!
Hops – a proper craft bar.
It had been a long, hot day so we decided to call time and made the short walk back to our pit. The guy at Beerpoint had given me some more recommendations, and we would be trying them all over the next few days.
Tuesday’s route.
WEDNESDAY 21/06/23
Today started much the same as yesterday – we just set off on foot, mid-morning, with no planned itinerary. We ended up by the Parliament Building again and decided to cross the Margit (Margaret) Bridge to the Buda part of the city. This side of the Danube is much less hectic and, many may argue (with good reason), more scenic than its Pest counterpart. There’s no doubt that it is less busy than the main city (apart from the tourist traps) and we found some lovely green spaces to sit to rest and shelter from the heat of the sun on our long way up to the hill to the Castle District.
After a sweltering nine-mile hike I thought I’d done enough to earn a beer! Mrs Belvoir happily agreed, and in a few minutes we were at Csakajósör (which translates to Onlygoodbeer) – Kertész utca 42-44, Budapest. This is basically a dingy side-street bottle shop (we hesitated before entering because we thought it was closed), with a couple of sit-in formica tables for worn-out old geezers like us. A very modest draft selection of six beers, but an absolute wealth of bottled and canned goodies filled every part of the available wall space. to the left was a double fridge, dedicated to Hungarian breweries only. The rest of the place had brews from all over the world, including some canned bangers from the likes of Hudson Valley and Other Half from the USA. Priced at an eye-watering €17 a pop though, I decided to go for something a bit more local!
Spectacular selection at Onlygoodbeer.
I chose one draft and one canned beer. The first (on tap) was Dealbreaker – Noise Trade 7.7% DNEIPA [3.5], a Hungarian contract or ‘ghost’ brewery. Although they have a website (well, a Facebook page at least), I couldn’t find where it was actually brewed. It wasn’t too bad though. Second up was a can from Geman brewer BrewHeart – Conversations With Blueberry More 5.5% Pastry sour [3.5]. Again, pretty middle of the road, but tasty enough.
I really loved this place despite its appearance and location. Quite a few punters came in for bottles and cans whilst we were there, and it seemed like they were doing good trade, even on a quiet weekday afternoon.
Suitably refreshed, we decided to start the long walk back to our side of the river and take another couple of pubs in on the way back to base. En route, we walked past Kandalló Kézműves – Kertesz u 33, Budapest. It looked interesting enough to backtrack and have a look inside. Sho nuff, they had a pretty good array of taps and the nosh smelled good so we decided to make a pit stop. 20 taps to choose from but time for only the one. I plumped for a Yeast Side – Side of World – New Zealand 6.0% NEIPA [3.75] which was very palatable. We sat at the open front of the pub and enjoyed the evening sun whilst we waited for our food to be served. The pulled pork bun that arrived was equally delicious. Well recommended.
Good beer and nosh at Kandalló.
I was totally stuffed from the pork burger at Kandalló so had to literally waddle to our last venue of the day which, thankfully, was en route home. Hopaholic – Akácfa u. 3, Budapest is another dedicated geek craft microbar, with an unassuming frontage on one of the city’s busier side streets. This was actually the busiest bar we’d visited so far. On entering, there were seating areas to the left and right of the bar, with another area upstairs directly over the bar. I could imagine this place buzzing later on in the evening.
A choice of a dozen or so taps here, but I went for a Gamma (Denmark) – Unrelenting Highs 8.0% DIPA [4.0]. Ironically the best beer I’d had so far in Hungary!
Hopoholic – pure craft geekery.
And so to bed. It had been a long day and I certainly was ready for some kip. That was ruined when I was woken up by what I thought were lorries rumbling down our road. Through my eyelids, which seemed stuck to my eyeballs, flashes of light told me it was a thunderstorm. And it was a storm I’ve not seen the likes of since our visit to Phoenix. The thunderclaps were so frequent that they merged into one another relentlessly for over half an hour, and it was quite an experience! Thankfully it all subsided soon enough, and we were able to get that well-earned kip.
Wednesday’s route.
THURSDAY 22/06/23
The next morning’s air was somewhat fresher than the claminess of the day before. It didn’t last though, and by midday, the temperature was already nearing the thirties. We liked what we saw the previous day and had already decided to cross the river again to explore Margitsziget (Margaret Island) and visit the ancient Roman site of Aquincum.
Margaret Island splits the Danube in two for about 1.6 miles, just to the north of the city. It is a beautiful green space comprising of parks, a musical fountain (or two), Japanese and rose gardens, a mini-zoo, a Medieval monastery and other ruins, plus other stuff that will easily keep you occupied for half a day or more, most of the attractions being free of charge. It is a wonderful, well-kept, green, peaceful, and understandably popular park that other cities should be envious of.
Having spent a pleasant three or four hours exploring the island, we continued the walk north for a further two hours, following the tram line (I recommend you take this, rather than walk!) to the archaeological site of Aquincum, a Roman ruin dating back to the year AD41. The entry fee was a very reasonable HUF2,200 – about £5.15 for both of us (don’t forget to ask for your senior discount!) and another interesting couple of hours were spent looking around the site and adjoining (thankfully air-conditioned) museum. It was mid-afternoon by this time, so decided it was beer o’clock.
We retraced our steps and after a short(ish) walk arrived at Mad Garden Buda – Miklós tér 1, 1033, Budapest. This is a render-walled garden on the edge of a housing estate with pop-up beer and food units. The entrance is a gate in the wall with a small sign above that you could easily miss. We did – twice! It’s run by Mad Scientist brewery which also has the Madhouse back in the city that we visited on our first day.
Mad Garden!
We arrived just at opening time and despite there being only one other couple there, most of the numerous tables had ‘reserved’ signs on them, so I suspect this place got really busy later on. We snaffled one of the reserved tables anyway and I ordered one of each Quantum Flavourdynamics 8.3% Fruited IPA [3.75] and Szilvás Gombóc 10% Plum dumpling imperial pastry gose [3.75]. Both were enjoyable enough, but I had the impression (so far) that the Hungarians haven’t yet quite grasped the concept of ‘craft’ beer.
I didn’t realise until I looked at Google maps that we’d walked over nine miles already and we were both knackered, mainly due to the stifling heat, so we ordered a Bolt (Uber don’t operate in Budapest) taxi to our next destination.
20 minutes and six miles later we arrived at KEG Sörművház – Orlay u. 1, 1114, Budapest, another recommendation from the geezer in Beerpoint and what a winner this was. Steps from the street led down to a long, vaulted underground bar reminiscent of some of the Belgian bars and German beer halls, and what a gem for the craft beer drinker! It was only 6 pm and the place was heaving already and looking at the menu – 32 taps available – I could tell why!
I had two in here: Zichovec (Czech Rep) – Nectar of Happiness 17 7.0% NEIPA [4.0] and a UGAR – Trailer #014 – Summer Juice 6.8% NEIPA [4.0]. Both hit the spot and went down a treat with the delicious food we ordered. Another big thumbs-up from me!
Triffic selection at KEG!
We were still on the ‘wrong’ side of the river and a couple of miles from our digs so decided to have a slow walk home in the evening sun and call it a wrap. It had been a lovely day out and one that will remember for a long time.
Thursday’s route.
FRIDAY 23/06/23
Today we walked to the Great Market Hall, a huge indoor market selling everything from kippers to slippers. The place was extremely busy with local shoppers and tourists alike. What an amazing place! Our second stop was the Hungarian National Museum. We tried to negotiate our old codger’s discount on the entry price, but the woman behind the counter was having none of it! If you like fusty-smelling uniforms and faded pictures of ex-statesmen, then I suppose the entry fee of HUF5,880 (£13.60) was good value. Anyhoos, it killed time until the bars opened!
The first pub of the day was Bölcső – Zenta u. 3, 1111, Budapest. This was another underground bar, but rather dingy with none of the character of KEG, visited the day before. The beer choice was somewhat lacklustre too, with only the Mad Scientist – Trashman 5.3% NEIPA [3.25] taking my fancy. Rather than sit in the gloom of the bar, we elected to sit at one of the pavement tables under the shade of the large parasols. It was hot, hot, hot and it felt like another storm was in the air.
Bölcső -Not really worth the effort.
The next stop was a three-mile walk and was one of the original ‘ruin pubs’ and quite possibly the first to start the craft scene off in the Hungarian capital. ‘Ruin pubs’, or bars, were originally dilapidated buildings bought by budding entrepreneurs who added some tables and chairs, served cold beer, and called them bars. Initially low-cost venues, they have, over the years, become trendy and somewhat touristy.
Élesztő – Tűzoltó u. 22, 1094, Budapest is probably the best known ‘craft’ ruin pub. It is gloriously run-down and dirty. You certainly wouldn’t take your mother-in-law there. This afternoon some death metal was cranking out of the speakers, and I was in my element! 20 beers on tap available, from which I sampled two: Horizont – Hazy Queen 6.0% NEIPA [3.75] and First Craft – Blueberry Ale 4.5% Fruit beer [3.75]. I’m happy to say I’ve been to Élesztő, but it’s not a place that I would frequent regularly if I were a local.
Death metal and dingy atmos at Élesztő.
Our third stop of the day was the brewpub Gravity – Lónyay u. 22, 1093, Budapest. Another basement bar with a blink-and-you-miss-it entrance (we did – twice – and had to double back), it couldn’t have been a bigger contrast to the murkiness of Élesztő! This place was spotlessly clean and the bar was light and airy, despite its small size and being underground.
The bar took up the length of the room to one side and in one of the opposite corners, the brew kit was visible through glass doors. Gawd knows how they got all that equipment down there! This looked promising! 12 taps here, all serving their own beers. Expectantly, I ordered two: Prototype: Citra Hazy 6.3% NEIPA [3.75] and Equinox – Spring Sour 4.2% Fruited gose [3.75]. Both were delicious and I’m happy to report that these guys have really nailed the craft beer thing! Perhaps they should be giving the others some tips?
Great beer and vibe at Gravity.
Our fourth, and final stop. of the day was another brewpub we’d spotted a couple of days previously when it was closed. It was on the way back to the AirBnB, so it made sense to pop in whilst passing.
Craft Head – Rákóczi út 29, 1088, Budapest, is a large, pretty corporate-looking affair occupying the entire corner of a city-centre building. It felt like it was trying to cater to more up-market clientele, rather than this common English slob – the large seating area had earlier been reserved for a wedding party and the pub closed to plebs until 6 pm. The bar had a row of 24 taps, but none of the Craft Head beers took my fancy, so I went for a Maltgarden (Poland) – Perfect For Everyday 5.5 Pastry sour [3.75]. It went down with the fancy food we had. I know it was fancy because the chips and salad were served on a slate.
Corporate feel at Craft Head.
That was another day done. The expected storm never materialised and it was another sticky night’s slumber.
Friday’s route.
SATURDAY 24/06/23
We had seen several dozens of Harley-Davidson motorcycles around the streets of the city over the last couple of days but not thought twice about it, until the driver of yesterday’s Bolt taxi asked us if we were in town for ‘the convention’. When we enquired as to the purpose of ‘the convention’, he told us it was HD120 – the 120th Anniversary of Harley-Davidson, with, it was claimed, tens of thousands of Harleys taking part in the parade. I have no reason to dispute that claim, as the roads were absolutely full of them being ridden up and down by their peacock-strutting, ageing-rocker owners, and the entire city was overwhelmed by the distinctive, rumbling Harley engine sound. Which is great if you’re a motorbike enthusiast. Less so if you’re a grumpy old twat like me.
We decided to try and get away from the noise and took a walk through the City Park. No such luck! There were hundreds of them there, spoiling the pleasant, if a bit run down, green space. We had a quick nose around the pop-up Asian market which had laid its stalls out on the green and walked around the small (partly dried-up) lake and the Medieval buildings, but the noise was just too distracting. So, ahead of schedule, we sought refuge in a pub (I wasn’t complaining).
Our first stop was another brewpub: Rizmajer Sörház – József krt. 14, 1085, Budapest. The choice of beer styles was pretty underwhelming here and, against my better judgment, I went for their Fekete Cherry 5.5% Cherry porter [2.5]. I wish I hadn’t bothered it was just like Vimto, with no hint of the 5.5% alcohol that it claimed. I had no desire to try any of the others so we were out of there!
Rizmajer – Average would be being polite!
The next stop was at the different end of the spectrum! A chance find we just happened to walk past, Beerselection – József krt. 22-24, 1085, Budapest was more of an off-license than a bar, although it did have plenty of seating, both inside and out on the pavement, plus a little balcony area upstairs overlooking the bar. It had a selection from four taps on the small serving counter, but also no less than 26 bays of refrigerated goodies from all over Europe.
The chap behind the counter seemed impatient for me to make a choice, but when I asked him for advice – “I know everything about beer” he told me – he opened up and became quite chatty. I finally went for a can from a Polish brewery I hadn’t heard of before: Magic Road – Beauty – Mango, Pineapple, Banana & Coconut 6.5% Pastry sour [4.0]. I believe this is a contract brewery based in Warsaw but couldn’t find any more information. Anyone who knows, please comment below (Gazza Prescott?). I didn’t really care – it was a belter!
A belter from Beerselection.
We had already planned to eat that evening at Gringo Amigos ‘Mexican Food Factory’ so we slowly made our way back, not missing the fact that the route took us past Levendula ice cream parlour (brownie points earned from Mrs Belvoir). We also ‘happened’ upon another ‘ruin pub’, the aptly named Ruin Brew – Akácfa u. 54-56, 1073, Budapest. This was also a brewpub, so as I’d just earned my points for the day I thought we’d pop in and sample a couple. My choices were their New England IPA 7.8% NEIPA [3.25] and Lime Gose 4.5% Fruited gose [3.5]. Both beers were pretty average, truth be told, but the place was buzzing with people and there was an open mic session in, er, session. We sat by the open windows and spent a pleasant hour or so.
Great vibe in Ruin Brew.
We finally reached Gringo Amigos a bit later than planned and had to wait for a seat, but it was worth the wait! This is a make-your-own, mix-n-match place. Basically, take a tray, join the line and just point at what bread/meat/bean/salad/rice combo you fancy. Amazing place! The wrapped meals were so heavy that I almost had to request a wheelbarrow to get them from the counter to the table. Delicious, great quality food and friendly service. Totally recommended.
I was so stuffed after eating my burrito that I couldn’t have drunk another beer, even if I’d wanted one, so it was off back to the apartment for a bit of a lie-down!
Saturday’s route
SUNDAY 25/06/23
This was our final full day in Budapest so I wanted to visit one of the last recommendations that the geezer from Beerpoint gave me. Hetedik Lépcső – Rákóczi út 13, 1088, Budapest is a rather bland and soulless bar (apart from the unexplainable presence of a giant stuffed mole) with a modest draft selection from eight taps, but they did have an interesting selection of cans and bottles in fridge adjacent to the bar.
The first, a beer from the bar, Chroust (Czech) – Exotic Fruit Salad 2 5.4% Fruited sour [3.5] was disappointingly average so I decided to dip into the fridge. First up, another Czech brewer: Zichovek – Love Is In the Air 7.0% NEIPA [4.0]. I’ve only just discovered these guys, but they are rapidly becoming one of my favourite European brewers and everything I’ve had from them so far has been superb.
The second can, a collaboration brew between Piggy (France) and Sibeeria (Czech). Collab Piggy X Sibeeria 9.5% TNEIPA [4.0] was another banger! So, despite my initial impressions, Hetedik was absolutely worth finding!
Hetedik – Not sure what the mole was about!
We wanted to cross the river one last time. I Googled ‘craft bars’ and Ganz Söröző – Ganz u. 6, 1027, Budapest showed up as a short walk from the Buda side of Margaret Bridge. This place was a true micropub, three or four steps down led to a small room consisting of a small bar serving (as far as I could make out) just one single beer on tap. Inside seating was limited to two stools at the bar, the rest being outside on the cobbled forecourt. All the furniture looked forlorn and the place seemed very run-down in general. It did have a certain charm, however, and appeared to be doing a decent trade. We arrived there around tea time and the sun had lost much of its sting, so we sat outside at one of the rickety tables.
Despite the bar’s small size, they’d managed to lever in two single fridges and due to the lack of draft offerings, I had a rummage through them. There were cans from a couple of breweries that I hadn’t heard of so I tried one of each. hübris – müggy 4.2% fruit beer [3.0] and a Reketye – Limeberry Twist 6.0% Pastry sour [3.5]. Both were exceedingly average and nothing to write about, but despite the dilapidation and lack of quality beer here, it was still a nice place to just sit and kill an hour or so.
Ganz – a true micropub.
And with that, our Budapest break was all but over. We took a slow walk back to the AirBnB (stopping at Gelarto Rosa for ice cream, of course) taking home a shedload of wings from the Hot Wing Factory for supper.
Sunday’s route
MONDAY 26/06/23
Our flight home wasn’t until early evening so we thought we’d find somewhere near the airport shuttle bus stop to stow our bags and have a leisurely stroll around to kill a few hours. We found, of all unlikely places, a Chinese restaurant, that took BOTH our bags for the grand sum of six Euros. It probably costs that per hour in London! As you can see from the route map below, we had a fairly long stroll – 15 miles to be precise!
We rewarded ourselves back in the city centre with a chimney cake (well, we’d pre-burnt the calories hadn’t we?) and even had time to pop back to Hops Bar – Wesselényi u. 13, 1077, Budapest – the only place we visited twice. We spent the last hour or so there, in which time I tried two cans: Tempest (Scotland) – Long White Cloud NZ 5.4% Pale [3.5] and an appropriately named Dugges (Sweden) – Jet Set 8.0% DIPA [4.0]. The perfect end to a wonderful week!
Monday’s route
Budapest is a beautiful city, full of culture, history, fantastic architecture, green spaces and, of course, some fantastic bars, even if most of the Hungarian brewers (the ones I sampled at least) haven’t quite cracked the craft beer thing yet. But it’s not all about the beer (Mrs Belevoir tells me constantly) and Budapest is a perfect getaway destination. If anything, a week’s stay was perhaps a little too long, but that’s how our flights fell. And that extra few days allowed us to explore the place at a much more leisurely pace.
The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd Some tinnies wot I have necked. And some further pics from Budapest below.
Having arrived the evening before, we’d had an early night, as we were up today at stupid o’clock to get the minibus for our pre-booked tour to see the Grand Canyon. We shared our tour bus with (I’m assuming) an African family and although we couldn’t understand what they were saying because it sounded as though they were speaking in Klingon most of the time, their constant manic laughter made the long journey to the Canyon seem much less tedious than it was.
In truth, the journey was anything but boring, with some stunning, if samey scenery. Our driver/guide gave a great running commentary, pointing out how the slightly differing terrain dictated the various vegetation, which wasn’t at all obvious to the untrained eye. It was difficult to imagine how the Native Americans (in this area, originally the Sinagua tribe) could ever eke out an existence in such wild countryside. Nowadays, tribes active in the area include the Hopi, Navajo, Tonto Apaches and Yavapai. Read more about the Native American tribes of the Sedona area here. The obligatory touristy stops (I’m cynically assuming so that the driver could get his commission) were at the Red Rock Ranger District Visitor Center, the town of Sedona (for ice cream, obvs) and the Cameron Trading Post.
We finally reached the Canyon at around 1:30 p.m. after what had been a seven-hour drive. By now, the glorious sunshine was being obscured by heavy clouds and there was a real chill in the air due to a combination of our elevation and the wind that went with it. It didn’t detract from the breathtaking scenery though. I tried to take some video of the vistas here, but I couldn’t really do it justice, so I think I should leave that to the professionals from now on. Here’s my effort anyway:
Grand Canyon visit, October 2022.
Sadly, after just 90 minutes, our visit was over. In my opinion, it wasn’t enough time to explore this monumental sight from a single vantage point. I would have much preferred to have travelled directly to the Canyon and seen it from several different places than wasting time taking the touristy stops beforehand. It was, however, still absolutely worth it and I’m happy to have done it.
The journey back was more direct (barring a single ‘comfort’ stop) but no less eventful, due to the incredible thunderstorm that seemed to follow our minibus for most of the journey home. I’ve rarely seen rain this heavy but it didn’t seem to phase our driver or the six lanes of traffic around us as he casually drove at 80mph, nose-to-tail with other vehicles in pitch blackness and almost zero visibility. Mrs Belvoir and I just buckled up and tried not to think about the consequences as we marvelled at the sight of massive lightning bolts dancing over the mountains ahead of us.
When we finally got back to base (thankfully intact), the rookie lady driver of the second bus in our party, who was trying to keep up with our driver, was visibly shaken by the ordeal. She came up with an American phrase which I can’t remember, but which I translated to ‘shitting bricks’. All in all, an eventful, value-for-money, and memorable (albeit beer-less) day.
SUNDAY 16/10/23
We were only ever going to see a tiny fraction of Phoenix. Due to yesterday being ‘lost’ on the Grand Canyon visit, this would be our only full day here. We saw the location of our AirBnB in daylight for the first time today, and it was a beautiful little annexe in the garden of a historic townhouse situated literally three or four streets away from Downtown Phoenix. Being a Sunday, it was pretty quiet around the town, which is fine with me.
We spent the morning wandering around the various parks, sculptures and artworks, eventually ending up at Chase Field stadium, home of the Phoenix Diamondbacks baseball team. After an ice cream at Melt, Mrs Belvoir was a happy er, Beaver, so it was time to seek beer.
Having had a dry day yesterday (apart from the torrential storm), I was keen to make up for lost time, so had three breweries in my sights for today. First up, it was an Uber ride out to Wren House – 2125 N 24th St, Phoenix, AZ 85008. This is a brewery and taproom in a fairly faceless part of the city, just west of the Downtown area. Despite its relatively small size, there was a mouthwatering selection of beers from sixteen taps. I tried four of them: Early Grande 6.5% NEIPA [4], Dreamy Draw 7.5% DNEIPA [4], Robot Grasshopper 7.2% NEIPA [4.25] and Bride of Frankenwally 9.4% TIPA [4.5], all outstanding beers, with the Frankenwally being one of the best beers of its style I’ve ever tasted.
Wren House – Small but perfectly formed.
We spent a couple of hours under the shade of the trees in the rough-and-ready but nonetheless pleasant garden out the back before moving on to our second stop, Roses by the Stairs – 509 W McDowell Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85003. Upon arrival, it wasn’t immediately obvious how to get into the bar, until a friendly local pointed out a child-style safety gate gap in the ballustrade. I’m still unsure whether it was to stop kids wandering out onto the road, or thick English twats from getting into the pub!
This place was slightly bigger than the last and also had sixteen beers on draft, of which I sampled two: Carry Me Home 6.7% NEIPA [4.25] and Too Many Hats 6.7% NEIPA [4.25], both stonking beers, which were enjoyed over a couple of hours in the gradually setting sun. I’ve questioned before in my posts why so many great pubs and bars promote their food offerings over their drinks menus. Not this place! Their website is almost 100% focused on their beer, which is how it should be, so good on them.
More cracking beers at Roses by the Stairs.
The daylight was beginning to fade now so we decided to head back nearer to base for a last couple and some nosebag before calling it a day. Our final stop, Arizona Wilderness DTPHX – 201 E Roosevelt St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, was only a 15-minute walk away from our digs. A much larger (and commercial) affair than the other two breweries visited today, this place was very busy when we arrived, despite being a Sunday night. We secured a table on the spacious patio and perused the menu. I ordered one beer from the 36 available on tap, a very enjoyable Every Day Is Earth Day 8.4% DNEIPA [4.25]. Unfortunately, due to the size of the pulled pork sandwich I ordered to accompany it, I had no capacity for any more drink when I’d finished it! Never mind, it had been another long, hot, tiring day and I secretly felt a return visit might be on the cards tomorrow. Night night, said Zebedee.
Arizona Wilderness – I care, a lot!Sunday’s route.
MONDAY 17/10/22
Our flight back to San Francisco wasn’t until 5 pm so we had a few hours to kill between vacating our AirBnB and getting a taxi to the airport. Obviously, we didn’t want to get too hot and sweaty, so I suggested to Mrs Belvoir that we spend some time sitting in a couple of beer gardens. Good plan!
We locked up our charming AirBnB and wandered into Downtown in search of some breakfast, which we found at the delightfully-named and incredibly busy Breakfast Bitch. We were told that it would be at least 40 minutes before they could take our order, but as we were killing time, it didn’t matter so we just sat people-watching over a couple of coffees.
Breakfast, bitch?
Suitably replete, it was time to attempt a waddle to the first brewpub. First on my list was Huss – 111 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Alas, it was closed when we got there, despite its website saying otherwise. So onward to the second choice, a place we’d walked past the previous day, Greenwood – 922 N 5th St, Phoenix, AZ 85004. As it was still Monday a.m. we were the only ones in there. I ordered a taster flight of three beers here, namely: Emera Light 3.6% NEIPA [3.75], Warrior 6.5% AIPA [3.75], and Blackberry Gose 4.2% fruited sour [3.75] which were all competently brewed, but sadly unremarkable beers.
Sadly average beer at Greenwood Brewing.
From Greenwood, we were quite close by to Arizona Wilderness, so we decided to make a second visit and kill the rest of the afternoon there until our cab was due to take us to the airport. I’d only had one beer here the day before, so I was determined to make the best of it today! First up was Unlawful Waffle 8.6% DIPA [4]. Question: ‘Is that DIPA hazy, barman?’ Answer: No!
Non-hazy DIPA!
The next two beers were even better: People Power 6.5% NEIPA [4.25] and Dirty Hop Water: Thursday In the Danger Room 7.8% DNEIPA [4.25], both totally delicious and a great finish to our brief but busy visit to Phoenix – a clean, green, well-kept city (at least the fraction of it we saw in Downtown). I would definitely like to return one day and see what the rest of it is like. Seven hours and 700 miles later, we were back at Mark and Sue’s house, where I finished the day off with a can of Laughing Monk – Sister Betty 6.8% IPA [4]. Perfick. Tomorrow was our last full day of the holiday.
TUESDAY 18/10/22
We had booked an evening tour of Alcatraz Island with our friends Mark and Sue so, of course, we had plenty of time to do some beers beforehand. A leisurely stroll past the Ferry Building and piers to the Fishermans Wharf and we were well on our way to San Francisco Brewing Co. – 900 North Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109. This was a big, commercial operation, housed in a grand and obviously expensive part of town. By experience, I held a theory that breweries bearing their home city’s name have a penchant for producing average beer. Happily, I was proven wrong at this place having sampled their excellent KARL 6.7% NEIPA [4.25].
Great beer and company at the San Francisco Brewing Co.
Just the one here, as we had to get some nosh before the Alcatraz tour and their food menu tickled no one’s fancy. So it was a short Uber hop to 21st Amendment – 563 2nd St, San Francisco, CA 94107, a much more homely place than the last venue with a much more exciting menu. The beer I ordered; Brew Free! or Die 7.0% AIPA [3.75], was tasty enough. Another pleasant hour was spent here until it was time to get another taxi to Pier 33 to join the long queue for our ferry to Alcatraz.
21st Amendment brewpub.
The Alcatraz tour itself was extremely interesting, very good value for money and a must-do if you’re ever in the area. By 7 pm we were back on land and it was time to head back to Concord on the BART for the last time. Back at base after making a slight detour to Rocco’s Ristorante Pizzeria for some takeaway supper, it was tinny time again and I raided Mark’s fridge for a New Glory – Gummy Worms 5.8% Hazy IPA [3.75]. A nice finish to another exhausting day.
Tuesday’s route.
WEDNESDAY 19/10/22
Incredibly, it was time to go home to the UK today. Where did the previous four weeks go? Luckily, our flight wasn’t until about 4 pm, so we used the time, of course, to go to the pub. Bar of choice was a second visit to local favourite, the Hop Grenade – 2151 Salvio St Suite J, Concord, CA 94520, which we had visited about two weeks earlier. We had a couple of rounds in here. First up, I went for the Flatland – Beachfront Avenue 6.7% fruited sour [4], followed by a Cooperage – Vapor Juicebox (2022) 6.6% NEIPA [4], a belter of a beer and memorable finish to a wonderful holiday.
Last orders at the Hop Grenade.
This month-long trip was an incredible experience. However, visiting so many cities in such a short time left us little time to explore any of the places in any meaningful way. The distances between cities meant basically that every third day was written off with travelling and it was utterly exhausting. Am I glad I did it? Definitely. Would I do it again? Probably not in the same format. I’ll probably have another month and pick three or four cities to explore in some depth, rather than being on a schedule all the time.
Highlights of the trip, for me, were the Hop Garden in Sacramento, and June Lake Brewing, along with the sites of Yosemite and, of course, the Grand Canyon. I’d certainly like to see more of Phoenix and also return to San Francisco one day.
Heartfelt thanks once again to our dear friends Mark and Sue for putting us up (and putting up with us!) in their beautiful home in Concord, for organising the Reno/Yosemite road trip and also for chauffeuring us around unnecessarily, beyond the call of duty.
After a somewhat tardy start to the day (our bus to San Diego didn’t leave until 11 am), we decided to walk to the bus terminal and stop off for breakfast along the way to split the journey. We made that stop at Guisados which, in stark contrast to their glossy website, was much more akin to Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon. It was a self-service joint, with a serving hatch cut into the plexi (bullet-proof?) glass barrier dividing the staff and customers.
After perusing the tatty menu, I decided on a five-bean burrito and Mrs Belvoir plumped for a portion of hash brownies. So far, so good. I approached the serving hatch to place my order. Apparently, the lady behind the counter didn’t speak much English. She got the burrito bit, but I couldn’t make her understand that I wanted a plate of hash brownies too. After much pointing to the menu pictures on the wall and jabbing of the grubby menu in my hand, she eventually gave up and beckoned some assistance from a colleague. They also were baffled and eventually summoned the chef out of the kitchen. This was getting a little too Python-esque for me and I was about to give up and move on when chef uttered a big ‘Aaaah’! and explained the order to the original lady. Great! I paid my money and waited for the food.
When the order finally arrived there was just a wrapped burrito, but no brownies. I queried this, in as many different ways as I could, but still I wasn’t able to be understood. I finally conceded defeat and thought I’d just share with Mrs Belvoir. Back at our table, I cut into the burrito, and there were the hash brownies, packed inside! I found it astounding that nobody on the premises could actually speak English, but there you go. Another experience to write about!
Suitably replete, we continued the walk into town and reached the terminal in good time, boarded the bus and enjoyed the 120-mile, insanely cheap £12 journey without event. Three-and-a-half hours later, we were dropped at Balboa Park, San Diego. After finding our bearings it was only a twenty-minute walk to our AirBnB, so Shank’s it was again.
Suitably booked into our apartment, (more of that later) it was time for more fodder, and possibly a beer or two if I was allowed 🙂
Chance find – The Knotty Barrel
The weather had suddenly clouded over and was spotting with rain, and about three streets away from our digs we stumbled upon the brewpub Knotty Barrel – 842 Market St, San Diego, CA 92101. The rain was coming down now, so we swooped in and secured a table. The barman approached to take our order and commented he couldn’t remember the last time it rained. That made us feel great after we’d travelled 6,000 miles to get there! I only ordered the one in here: Knotty Barrel – Robot Barber 6.5% APA [3.5]. It wasn’t the greatest beer, but very welcome after another day’s travelling. It soon stopped raining and a quick referral to Google maps revealed another brewpub about a quarter of an hour away, Half Door – 903 Island Ave, San Diego, CA so that was our next destination.
Half Door was a much more traditional pub than the last one, with wooden construction and a – you guessed it! – half-door entrance! Ten taps in here, from which I selected two: Please Fly Again 8.1% AIPA [3.75] and the superb Necessary Evil 4.0% Wild Ale [4.5]. The latter was the closest to a lambic style I’ve tasted outside of Belgium. Brilliant stuff!
Incredible sour ale at the Half Door
All too soon it was time for beebos, so it was back to the AirBnB. ‘Sonder the Baker‘ is a block of really comfortable and affordable apartments, conveniently situated in the centre of San Diego. Unfortunately, the San Diegans have a penchant for highly souped-up (read: LOUD) vehicles, that parade up and down the high streets all (and I mean ALL) night, and consequently any sort of meaningful sleep was impossible. The hotel’s write-ups don’t mention this fact when you’re researching! Oh well, put it down to experience again.
Tuesday’s route
WEDNESDAY 12/10/22
Somewhat bleary-eyed in the morning, we decided to explore the harbour area. We got misdirected and after walking through several streets adopted by the homeless population, we ended up at the less than salubrious old ‘Tuna Docks‘, with no apparent direct access to the harbour area we were bound for. So we doubled back, finally reaching the striking Rady Shell around lunchtime. The walk along The Embarcadero is pleasant, albeit rather ordinary, much like many other seaside destinations, so to break the boredom it was time for a beer.
Stone Brewing Tap Room Kettner – 1202 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, CA was the nearest, which was just a short walk inland. We got there just as the sun was breaking through the stubborn clouds that remained after yesterday’s storm so we took a table on the terrace outside. A staggering 32 taps in here and after much advice from the friendly and knowledgeable ‘back-to-front-cap’ barman I chose an Enjoy By 10.31.22 9.4% DNEIPA [3.5]. Not the best beer I’ve tasted but it went down well whilst listening to Battery by Metallica cranking out on the sound system \m/ \m/. Stone’s ‘Go To IPA‘ was one of the first beers that got me into the craft scene, and I’m really happy I got to experience this place in person.
Stone Brewing tap room.
Next on the list was less than a mile away, so a nice leisurely walk took us to Ballast Point – 2215 India St, San Diego, CA 92101. It was amazing how close the airport was to the city and the approaching aircraft swooped low over the brewery every few minutes, although the noise didn’t seem to carry too much. I tried to catch this on camera but the planes don’t look as close as I’d remembered them. Perhaps it was something to do with the beer!
Duck!
Ballast Point is another ultra-modern, airy tap room, this one with 32 taps in, plus one hand pump (which was not in use, today at least). I selected two, neither of them from the brewery. Kings & Convicts – Haze In the Park 6.2% NEIPA [3.75] and a Behemoth (New Zealand) Dreams of Green 8.5% DIPA [3.75]. Mrs Belvoir decided upon a ‘Hard Kambucha’ (alcoholic tea) which not only looked like this morning’s discarded bath water, it tasted of it as well!
Hard Kambucha? No thanks!
Earlier in the day I had spotted a corner bar close to our digs that had piqued my interest, so that was the third and final stop for the day. From the outside, Neighborhood – 777 G St, San Diego, CA, with its plain green walls and opaque glazing gave no clue as to what lay inside, but the potted trees around the entrance, the quirky signage and their minimalist two-page website hinted that here was something different and wow, was I right!
Neighborhood is easily one of the most atmospheric, characterful bars I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. It’s a low-lit bar in the art-deco style, with a speakeasy vibe that just ouzes character and quality. The sound system consisted of two high-end McIntosh amplifiers fed by twin vintage Akai reel-to-reel tape decks – the sort of kit that leaves audiophiles creaming their jeans.
Neighborhood – A must-visit when in San Diego.
A mere 20 taps in here. I ordered a Burgeon – Optical Distortion 6.4% NEIPA [4] along with the mega-hyped Russian River – Pliny the Elder 8.0% DIPA [3.75], a beer which I’d never had on draft before. Sadly I was a little underwhelmed but at least I can say I’ve finally tried it. Despite the (relatively) opulent surroundings, the beer was reasonably priced at $10 for two halves, and we spent a lovely hour or so sitting at the bar before making our way back to the hotel.
Wednesday’s route
THURSDAY 13/10/22
After a pretty sleepless night, courtesy of inconsiderate guests continuing to party in their room after a night out, and the endless stream of hotrod cars with every other vehicle seemingly equipped with sound systems capable of supplying more bass than LiveAid ’88, we rose red-eyed, but ready to take on another day.
We started with a visit to the extensive Balboa Park, a 1,200-acre site just a short walk from the town centre. This is a lovely space with multiple attractions – Japanese gardens, a wild cactus garden, ponds, craft (not beer) shops, a zoo and many other things that could easily keep you occupied all day. I, on the other hand, quickly got bored and by early afternoon I needed (read: wanted) beer! It was a fair walk out of town to the first brewery, so Mrs Belvoir had to be placated with an ice cream stop halfway. Zonkey sells (probably) the most expensive lollies in San Diego. They weren’t half nice though.
A few hundred yards further down the road and we arrived at North Park – 3038 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104, yet another large, modern brewery taproom situated on the main drag. Despite its large size, it looked fairly busy (for a Thursday afternoon) and we found a table beside the window. An array of 24 taps behind the bar offered a diverse range of styles, from coconut impy stouts to fruit sours. I could’ve probably stopped in here all day, but Mrs Belvoir’s evil’s told me I only had time for one (or two). I pushed my luck and ordered two collaboration brews: the fabulously named The Furthest* Anyone Traveled To Brew A Collab! *On Foot 8.5% NEIPA [4.5] (with Seek Beer) on draft, and a canned What Is the Answer? 5.5%, a stupendous blueberry, lemon and vanilla fruited sour smoothie [4.25] (with Überbrew).
Stupendously delicious beer at North Park.
As aforementioned, I could’ve stayed here all day, but it was time to move on. Another brewpub was only a ten-minute walk away, so we made the short stroll to Belching Beaver – 4223 30th St, San Diego, CA, somewhat smaller than North Park, and correspondingly less busy and a little lacking in character. I’d had Belching Beaver beers before back in the UK, and always found them a bit uninspiring. Sadly, my Stairway To Hazyville 7.0% NEIPA [3.75] failed to change my perception of them, so it was decided to back-track and have some food and another superb beer at North Park.
Belching Beaver. Somewhat uninspiring venue and beer.
Back at North Park, and this time I went for an Art is Hard 7.0% DDH IPA [4.25], which was an absolute belter and enjoyed along with a delicious burger. We were a long way from home now, so it was time for an Uber back to the hotel for a bit of kip. That didn’t go very well either, due to the previously mentioned traffic noise and the couple shagging all night in the next room. Unfortunately, the only banging I did was on the adjoining wall.
Thursday’s route
FRIDAY 14/10/22
Our flight to Phoenix wasn’t until 15.44, so we had a little time to kill before going to the airport. I already mentioned how close the planes were overhead. Consequently, the airport is so near that, bizarrely, you can walk to it, which is exactly what we planned to do. As we weren’t dependent on any transport to the airport, we knew exactly what our schedule was, so we spent a comfortable hour or so at Bolt – 1971 India St, San Diego, CA 92101, a small corner brewpub situated in the ‘Little Italy‘ area.
Great setup at Bolt.
Bolt was a great setup, with the bar facing outward through servery hatches onto the street. A tasty pulled-pork sandwich and pint of Stairway To Hazyville 7.0% NEIPA [3.75] later, and it was time to start the 40-minute walk to the airport.
San Diego is a pleasant enough place, nice and compact compared to other cities we’ve been to, so everything (including to and from the airport) is walkable, and it felt like the two days we spent there were ample to see most things. The homeless problem is still evident but seems confined to a street or two toward the dock area. The city certainly had two of the highlights of our trip so far – namely Neighborhood for atmosphere and North Park for beers. Recommended.
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!
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.
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.
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.
7. Great Notion – Blueberry Muffin 6.0% (Fruit sour) Can
8. Great Notion – JB 8.2% (Double NEIPA) Can
Beer of the day – Beer TreeMosaic 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 whichhit 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.
