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.
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.
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.
The day started off so well. Beautiful sunrise, warm morning sun, and a luxury ride to Oakland Airport, thanks to Mark taking us door to door in his Jaguar XJ. We were straight through security and into the departure lounge within 15 minutes and everything was on schedule. Unfortunately, it started going downhill from there…
Your transport awaits.
As we boarded Alaska Airlines flight AS 3303, we noticed the passenger in front of us spin a little projection on the cabin door with his finger as he passed by. Mrs Belvoir jokingly remarked that she hoped the door didn’t fall off during the flight and we both shrugged it off, shuffled past and found our seats. Sho nuff, when it was time to shut the door, it wouldn’t close. After several attempts, the Captain made an announcement that we would have to ‘deplane’ and wait for the engineers to come from San Francisco Airport to take a look.
We disembarked back into the departure lounge (where we had already spent two hours) to start what would become a several-hour wait. We should really have told the staff about seeing the guy tampering with the door, but I don’t think either of us would have recognised him again and it surely was just a coincidence. The thought that someone could stop a plane from taking off with one twist of a finger is a bit far-fetched, isn’t it?… Isn’t it?
Anyhoo, after a couple of hour’s wait, we struck up a conversation with a couple, Glenn and Kathy, from Florida. It was unclear how long our wait was going to be and Glenn suggested going to the lounge bar, the Rockridge. He got the first round in, so I didn’t realise the prices, but when I reciprocated, two pints of Sierra Nevada – Hazy Little Thing 6.7% NEIPA [3.75] cost $34; 17 DOLLARS A PINT!!! It was tasty enough but I’m really happy we didn’t have a session in there!
We finally boarded the plane four and a half hours later, and a massive roar went out when the door was finally closed before the plane pulled back. It was quite comical watching the hostess get out of her seat no less than four times to check and re-check the door before takeoff. Arriving in Portland mid-afternoon, we were installed in our AirBnB less than an hour later so still had time to go exploring.
A quick google search told me that there was a brewery just under a mile away, so we headed for Breakside Brewery1570 NW 22nd Ave, Portland, OR 97210. Although the place was fairly busy we managed to get a table, but when I asked the waitress if I could pay with my phone, she said she needed a physical card or cash. We had neither on us, so we reluctantly moved on. Luckily, on our way to the brewery, we had spotted the Piedmont Station Food Carts – 625 NE Killingsworth St, Portland, OR 97211. This was an eclectic collection of shacks, sheds and food vans and a thriving little food cooperative located just off the main road. We went through the gate and I spotted what must be one of the smallest micropubs I’ve ever encountered. In fact, it was so small, there was no seating inside!
The pub with no seats!
The Beer Shack may have had no seats, but it did have 12 beers on tap, and to make up for the recent abortive brewery visit, I had a Breakside – What Rough Beast 6.8% NEIPA [3.75] which was the perfect accompaniment to the Thai green curry I had from an adjacent food van. We sat on a nearby picnic table enjoying the sun’s last rays of the day when a Country ‘n’ Western band struck up in another bar next door. Time to move on.
Another mile or so away was a brewery whose beers I had enjoyed several times back in the UK, but now I was going to get to sample them straight from the source! Great Notion – 2204 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211 are renowned for their big, juicy, hazy New England-style beers, so I thought I’d try five of them;
Super jooose at Great Notion.
ISMO’s Phantastic Ale 7.0% NEIPA [3.75], Ripe IPA 7.0% NEIPA [4], Serpent of the Stars 7.9% NEIPA [4], Thiology of Ghosts 7.8% NEIPA [4] and a Juice Invader Vs. the Thiolizer 7.0% NEIPA [4]. All of them super juicy and massively enjoyable. The taproom itself had a lovely outside yard area with trellised partitions, whilst inside was more industrial with the obligatory formica tables and wobbly chairs. I could’ve spent all night in here but sadly it was time to get back for some kip.
Saturday’s route.
SUNDAY 25/09/22
Portland suburbs are a mesh of beautiful green and leafy avenues and we enjoyed looking at all the attractive wood-built houses and architecture as we took a leisurely stroll into the ‘Mississippi’ district of the city, an area bustling with independent shops, boutiques, cafés and bars, just over four miles away.
Our first beer stop of the day was Stormbreaker – 832 N Beech St, Portland, OR 97227 where we encountered what might just possibly be the campest waiter in history. He had a highly impressive macho ‘Village People’ moustache, an exceedingly limp wrist, unfeasably tight hotpants that left nothing to the imagination and had perfected a little ballet-hop-cum-pirouette every time he ascended the step into the bar. He was also very efficient at his job, and in no time I had a pint of their Supermassive 7.0% AIPA [3.75] in front of me.
It was a tasty enough pint in a nice beer garden and we were considering staying for some food, until the couple on the next bench started changing their baby on the table. Then when their dog began to eat the sick that baby had previously deposited on the ground, we decided to move on.
The next call was Ecliptic – 825 N Cook St, Portland, OR 97227, right on the outskirts of the city. Here I selected a Phaser 6.5% NEIPA [3.75] which I savoured whilst shifting every few minutes in an effort to stay in the shade of the canopy above us.
Great décor at Ecliptic.
Bizarrely, I got mistaken for Glen Plake (Yeah, I had to google him too – he is/was a famous free-style skier) by the chap on the next bench. I had to explain that no, I wasn’t him. I was the good-looking one and Glen was the one with the money! I liked the characterful space-themed Ecliptic a lot, and they also have what has to be one of the best hashtags ever: #poursomespaceinyourface.
The last brewery of the day was located less than a mile’s walk away in the Williams area of town, situated in a rather characterless building block. Nonetheless, Migration (Williams) – N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227 offered a selection of 18 of their own brews, from which I went for a ReFresh Hazy 6.3% NEIPA [4].
Migration (Williams).
Again, the time had passed far too quickly, but it was a fair walk back to base and it was time to make a move, so I went to pay the bill. There was a sign next to the till ‘recommending’ a 20% tip. Just beside to that was a big sign that read ‘THANK YOU FOR BUSSING YOUR GLASSES‘ (returning glasses to the bar). I couldn’t help wondering what the tip was actually for!
Sunday’s route.
MONDAY 26/09/22
Today, we decided to walk the six and a half miles in the warm morning sun, crossing the Williamette River across the impressive W Broadway Bridge and into the city. After a couple of hours visiting the Washington Park International Rose Test Garden and Portland Japanese Garden it was time for a well-earned pint and first place on the list was Deschutes – 210 NW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97209.
Two very nice beers here: Trellis Smack 6.6% AIPA [4] and Fresh Hop Strut Your Strata 6.6% AIPA [4.25] with a rather delicious pulled-pork sandwich in between. We spent a couple of hours sitting at the pavement tables outside, just chilling and watching the people and trams go by. The waitress here was from London but recognised my accent from her time spent at Nottingham University. Small world.
Deschutes Brewery interior.
We had been told that no visit to Portland is complete without going to Voodoo Doughnut – 22 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204, so that was next on our to-do list. Can you imagine a cake shop with a barriered queue line of about twenty customers waiting outside and a security guard on the door? Unbelievable! We duly waited our turn and about twenty minutes later were ushered in by the guard. I could have ordered the lot, but I went for a Voodoo Doll, with a coconut cake for Mrs Belvoir. Well worth the wait and a must-visit if you’re ever in Portland. They also have a great strapline: ‘The magic is in the hole’. Oooer!
The next brewery visit was Von Ebert – 131 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97209. An airy and spacious interior here with 21 taps, but I only sampled the one; Fresh Hop Sector 7 7.0% NEIPA [4] which was rather delicious. Unfortunately, time was drawing on and I’d noticed another brewery that was closed when we’d walked it past earlier in the day on the way into the city, and it was on our way home so that was going to the last call.
Spacious interior at Von Ebert.
Upon entry, it was obvious that the brilliantly-named Grains of Wrath PDX – 3901 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227 was a metalhead’s pub, with its skeleton murals and biker-type clientele gathered around the rather dingy bar area. This theory was reinforced by the sounds of Anthrax and Slayer blasting out of the sound system. I loved it!
Grains of Wrath PDX.
Sadly, no hazies in here, so I chose an appropriately-named Built for Speed 6.7% AIPA [3.75]. Crystal clear, but it still hit the spot! And so back to base to ready for our third leg of the holiday, Seattle.
Monday’s route.
Portland – certainly the areas we explored – the Mississippi, Williams and Pearl districts – was lovely. Our BnB was situated in a beautiful green, leafy suburb within relatively easy walking distance to all these places and we felt perfectly safe and comfortable doing so. Well recommended.
Mrs. Belvoir and I have wanted to return to the States ever since we returned from our epic East-Coast tour, four years ago. This West-Coast jaunt was originally pencilled in for last year, but a spiky little bastard named Covid put a stop to that, and so we re-scheduled for 2022. The original plan was to fly into San Francisco and then just improvise for a month as we did on the last visit, but as our dear friends Mark Slezak and Suzanne Ricci invited us to use their house as a base, we felt it right to be a bit more disciplined and so our route, accommodation and transport were all pre-planned from the UK a couple of months in advance.
The plan was to visit seven major cities – San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix over the month, with a road trip midway around Yosemite National Park and the surrounding area as a break. I have broken up the report into digestible chunks for those whose attention spans are wanting, like mine.
Obvs, part of the enjoyment was to find great beer and visit new breweries and I can assure you it didn’t disappoint in that respect! I’m not one for giving arty-farty nonsensical beer descriptions (which are largely subjective anyway) so apart from the odd ‘fab’, ‘awesome’ or ‘wowsers’, I’ll just put my Untappd score (out of 5) after the beer name in square [ ] brackets. You can find me on Untappd here.
THURSDAY 22/09/22
After a full day’s (10 hours) flight the previous day we felt pretty fresh on the first day proper of the holiday. As mentioned above, our base for the whole stay was with friends in Concord, about 40 miles out of San Francisco and a one and a half hour ride on the Bay Area Rapid Transit, or ‘BART’. Although it wasn’t particularly rapid, it was frequent and got you from A to B fairly efficiently. All four of us (Mark, Sue, Mrs. Belvoir and I) disembarked at Rockridge station for our first day’s exploring, today in the Berkeley district. A short Uber ride dropped us off outside the University and we took a leisurely stroll through the campus enjoying the sun on the way to our first stop, Triple Rock Brewery1920 Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704.
First beer at Triple Rock
Mark had brought me a Triple Rock T-Shirt to the UK some years ago and I was happy to finally visit so that I can now officially say ‘been there, got the T-Shirt’! It’s a traditional-style bar with plenty of character, although it was fairly early in the day so still quiet inside. We decided to take lunch here so I chose a pint of premises-brewed Silo Time, a 6.5% AIPA [3.75] to accompany the food. A tasty start to the holiday!
Lunch over, we set out on a short half-mile walk to the next stop, Cornerstone2367 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94704. There are two Cornerstones in Berkeley, one on Durant Ave, which calls itself a music venue and this one, which describes itself as a ‘restaurant’. I must admit I get really annoyed when great beer outlets push themselves primarily as a food venue. All too often you google a pub name and it returns pictures of food, as if the beer is secondary. In actual fact, this was a great beer bar with a superb ‘draft’ beer list.
Great selection at Cornerstone.
Again, it wasn’t all that busy but the place had a great modern/hipster/industrial vibe going on and I loved it there. After much deliberation, I chose three from the extensive choice: Cooperage– Lyrical Dankster 6.9% AIPA [3.5], Original Pattern– Coincidental Calamity 6.6% NEIPA [3.75] and a Laughing Monk– Sister Strata 6.8% AIPA [4].
The last stop of the day was a three-mile Uber trip away. I’d had Fieldwork beers in cans several times back in the UK, but I was now going to try them directly from the source as our next call was Fieldwork1150 Sixth St, Berkeley, CA 94710.
Fieldwork Taproom, Berekley
These guys are serious about their beer! 32 of their own brews on tap, from lagers, through sours, to Impy stouts. I, being a jooose boii, opted for a couple of hazies: Space Maze 7.0% NEIPA [4] and a Galaxy Sauce 9.3% DIPA [4], followed by a Blackberry Parfait 6.4% fruited sour [3.75]. It was the perfect finish to the day and an excellent start to the holiday. The evening was marching on, so it was back to Camp Concord via Uber and BART for a well-earned kip and to hopefully shake off the remnants of jet lag.
Thursday’s route.
FRIDAY 23/09/22
Today followed the same pattern as yesterday, but this time we targeted the Haight (pronounced ‘hate’) district. Once the centre of the long-gone Hippie Universe of the 1960s, this trendy neighbourhood has now developed into a whole new scene with vintage boutiques, cafes, hip restaurants and – of course – bars! Echoes of Psychodelialand of old remain, such as street murals, smoke/bong shops (it’s actually legal in the State of California!) and the odd veteran hippie wandering around looking totally lost (or off their tits), but it’s a charming and characterful area. After exploring the shops and taking in the chilled atmos, it was time for a beer.
Magnolia Brewing1150 Masonic Ave, San Francisco, CA 94117 was the first stop. Table service only in here, but it was hard to hear what the waiter was saying as the music was so loud despite the inside being empty, except for us. What I did make out was that Magnolia had recently been acquired by New Belgium brewery, hence several of their beers being on the tap list. I decided to try one beer from each brewery; A Haze Lands 7.5% NEIPA [3.75] from the former and a Dominga Mimosa Sour 6.0% [3.5] from the latter. The sour was average at best. New Belgium had actually been on my to-do list, so as I’d had one of their beers I decided to miss them out and go somewhere else.
Magnificent Magnolia frontage.
Magnolia was a pretty building and worth the visit but just didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor to keep your interest. Time to move on, and the next one was a classic! A 20-minute walk took us to Toronado547 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117. A true no-nonsense, drinker’s beer bar.
Terrific Toronado.
No less than 62 beers on draft here, including one on a hand pump. When I asked for a fruit juice for Mrs. Belvoir, the barkeep replied “No juice, just beer”! I explained that I had a pub back in the UK called Just Beer. Maybe we should twin up sometime? As they didn’t do food, we were allowed to order in some fodder from the German Bratwurst shop next door, which I washed down with a very enjoyable pint of Fort George – Strata Architect 6.6% AIPA [3.75]. A proper, proper boozer’s pub and a must-visit if you are ever in San Francisco. Sadly we only had time for one, but I will definitely visit this bar again in the future.
Menu at the Cellar Maker.
As I’d struck New Belgium off my visit list we would get more time at the next call, so it was Uber time straight to Cellar Maker1158 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103.Another hipster-industrial hybrid brewery/taproom with 18 taps serving all their own brews. It was buzzing in here and we had time to savour several, so I opted for three: Medieval Cowboys, a 6.3% AIPA [3.5], a Spectral Delineation 6.4% APA [3.75] and the spectacular Cloudy With A Chance of Dobis 6.8% AIPA [4.5], the best beer of the day by far.
Friday’s route.
Sadly, the distances between places in big American cities make a meaningful pub crawl nigh-on impossible, but we’d had some great beers and I was satisfied with the six venues we’d visited. This was only the second day of the holiday and we’d had some crackers already. It was time to head back to base and prepare for the second leg of our tour and tomorrow’s flight to our second city – Portland.
The numbers in brackets [ ] are my beer scores (out of 5). Find me on Untappd Some tinnies wot I have necked. And some more pics from San Francisco below.
The day started with us making the journey from Buffalo back to Niagara Falls to drop off the hire car, before making the crossing over Rainbow Bridge into Canada by foot. The difference between the US and Canadian sides of the Falls on each immediate side of the bridge is quite different, and if you ever visit, you really should see them from both sides.
The US side is quite tasteful, with lots of green space and treed terraces from which to observe the Falls. The Canadian side, however, is somewhat tacky, resembling something like Blackpool, with amusement arcades, casinos and cheap cafes, which is a shame as the views afforded are far better than the American side. After having a quick scout around (we would be back for a proper look) and picking up another hire car, we made the two-hour drive to our hotel in Hamilton.
If we thought the last couple of hotels were posh, this one was a level above and, to be honest, I felt a bit out of place here! We dropped off our stuff and got a cab back into town for something to eat and quick nosey around before making a pre-arranged meet with an old pal later that evening. After stuffing our faces on some Portuguese nosh, we walked done the street and found the Merit Brewing Company – 107 James St N, Hamilton, ON L8R 2K6. A modern building, purpose-built I suspect, with a spartan industrial vibe, but more importantly, 14 taps on the back wall.
Early doors at Merit.
Just the one here, seeing as it was still early doors and we (hopefully) had a good session ahead of us. I sampled their 6.3% Cali Creamsicle Milkshake IPA, which was superb. Just half an hour in here, before having a scout around the town for a couple of hours, then diving into Augusta’s Winking Judge – 25 Augusta St, Hamilton, ON L8N 1P6. This was a truly wonderful pub, and I would say the nearest we found to a traditional British pub we found on the whole holiday (see the photo’s on their web gallery). Sadly, this is another pub that has closed permanently since our visit. The place was very busy when we called in, despite being 4 pm on a Wednesday afternoon and we struggled to get a seat. It’s a real shame that nobody has stepped in to take this place over.
Augusta’s Winking Judge.
Happily, we were able to spend an hour or so in here, during which time I savoured a pint of 4.5% Fox Hunter Sour w/Mango from the Muddy York Brewing Co which was fab. It was over too soon and we planned to revisit later with our friends to sample some of the food, which looked very good. A quick ride back to base for a freshen up and then out again, this time to Collective Arts, where we were going to meet my old mate, Jonno.
Ian Johnson and I used to play in 80’s metal band Paralex. He later moved to Canada, where he has been ever since. We collaborated again, over thirty years later, on our 2016 album Key to a Thousand Doors. I had seen him briefly back home in 2016, but as he only lived a couple of hours away from here in Union, we planned to meet up again over a beer. We arrived at Collective Arts Brewing – 207 Burlington St E, Hamilton, ON L8L 4H2, at around 7 o’clock, with Johnno and his wife arriving a few minutes later. We spent a lovely couple of hours here catching up and talking shit in general, during which time I had three of their excellent brews: 5.2% Jam Up the Mash sour, 4.5% Prophets and Nomads gose and 6.1% Life in the Clouds NEIPA.
Great friends, great beer.
Time was marching on and as Jonno had over a two-hour drive back, we decided to return to the Winking Judge to get some nosebag. Unfortunately, when we got there it was full to capacity and we couldn’t even get in. We had noticed another pub at the other end of the street so we decided to call in there. The Ship – 23 Augusta St, Hamilton, ON L8N 1P, was another traditional style boozer, a bit more spit ‘n’ sawdust than the Judge, but welcoming nonetheless. A half-decent beer selection on the menu here, from which I tried a pint of 5.6% Jelly King sour from Bellwoods, which was excellent and a 4.1% Strawberry Kettle Sour w/Lactose from Anderson Craft Ales which was pants but did a decent job of washing down my pie and mash anyway.
All too soon the evening was over and we had to say cheers to our friends then it was back to the hotel for some shut-eye. Hopefully, I’ll meet up with Johnno again before long.
Wednesday’s route.
THURSDAY 6/9/18
Today we were exploring the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We parked our hire car up and took a walk along the Niagara Parkway, which runs adjacent to the river and affords great views of the Falls. We also went up the Skylon Tower and booked tickets for later that evening so we could get a night view. A five-minute car ride took us the four miles or so north to the Whirlpool State Park, where we took a ride on the Whirlpool Aero Car. This antique cable car, in service since 1916, carries passengers over 200ft above the water and interestingly, although it travels between two points on the Canadian shore, it actually crosses the international borderline between Canada and the US a total of four times each trip due to the meander in the river below.
But enough of the touristy stuff! Before we left the UK, a friend recommended that we visited Niagara-on-the-Lake, so that’s where we headed for next, just another 10 miles or so away. A quick reference to Google told us that a brewery was nearby, so that’s where we headed!
Beer for the boys at the Oast House.
Niagara Oast House Brewers – 2017 Niagara Stone Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, was situated on a country lane on the way out of the town in a ranch-style building. We found a bench on the balcony at the rear of the building the looking out onto the hop fields below. To accompany my excellent BBQ pork, I tried a pint of 6% Farmer’s Tan Summer IPA which, although not brilliant, still went down well.
After getting fed and beered, we headed back into the main Historic Old Town, where we parked up. This was basically a long main street with lots of quaint shops and artisan businesses… including a brewery. The girls wanted to go shopping so Scary and I headed for more beer. The Exchange Brewery – 7 Queen St, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, situated in the building of Niagara’s first telephone exchange (hence its name), is a tiny microbrewery on the high street and has the brew kit visible at the back behind a glass wall and a small bar as the shop-front.
Excellent beer at the Exchange.
We spent a pleasant couple of hours in here, during which time I sampled three, all very enjoyable: A 5.8% #61 Grapefruit Pale Ale, the 7.6% +Golden Ale (a Belgian Blonde), and the 4.6% #5 Session IPA. The girls caught up with us again and it was time for the short ride back to the Skylon Tower, from which we saw the Falls illuminated at night. Overall, a lovely relaxing day of sightseeing and beer. Tomorrow we were going to visit Toronto.
Thursday’s route.
FRIDAY 7/9/18
We set off on the 45-minute drive to Toronto on the long, straight highway and the appearance of this enormous city steadily growing in size on the horizon as we approached was an amazing sight.
After eventually finding parking space in a multi-storey, we got a fantastic al-fresco breakfast at Fran’s Restaurant, followed by some general walking around and sightseeing for a couple of hours before stumbling upon the brilliantly-named Thirsty & Miserable – 197 Baldwin St, Toronto, ON M5T 1L8, and with a fantastic name like that, we just had to pop in for a bevvy. Really rough-and-ready in here with rickety, chipped Formica tables and graffiti on the walls and doors, and the barmaid played the role too and really made you NOT feel at home. But it had a really good beer list. Mine was a superb pint of 6.4% Meanwhile… Down in Moxee IPA from Great Lakes which was very enjoyable and worth the misery.
Only in it for the beer! – Thirsty & Miserable.
Our next stop was a nine-minute walk away: The Kensington Brewing Company – 299 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2. This was another long deep bar with a small frontage to the street and brewing plant situated at the back. I tried four in here. All were good, but the sours were particularly noteworthy. 6.5% FishEye IPA, 8.5% Breaking Point NEIPA, 4.5% Convergence w/ Guava & Passionfruit sour and the excellent 5% Qullqa fruited gose.
I felt quite at home in the Kensington, as my shirt was almost a perfect match for the wallpaper. However, we’d spotted another bar only a couple of doors away, and it was time to move on.
Spot the Belvoir.
Trinity Common – 303 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2M2, was a bar and grill with plenty of street seating out front. The food menu was excellent and there was a row of 18 taps behind the bar, from which I chose just the two: 4.5% Delta Mango fruited sour by Forked River and a 6% Ale of Two Cities (2018) sour IPA from Stone City, which was absolutely stunning and quite possibly the best sour of the trip. Time was getting on and Tracey had a fair drive back to the hotel and we had one more stop on our list.
A 45-minute walk away, the CRAFT Beer Market – 1 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON M5C 2V9, was a recommendation from a friend, and wow! Was he right! This place was cavernous, with a central bar sporting an unbroken row of 200 taps around its entire length. Beer is transported from the vast array of kegs behind glass wall panels, over the heads of the drinkers through suspended stainless steel ducts and down to the bar. Very impressive. If you like that sort of thing.
Despite its bewildering range, I thought the actual choice was somewhat disappointing, focusing on mainstream and commercial breweries (maybe we visited on a bad day). There were some gems to be had though, and I tried a 5.2% Armed ‘N Citra APA from Rainhard and a 5.5% Bang-Bang, another superb sour, this time from Left Field.
Massive choice at CRAFT.
CRAFT was rammed with happy drinkers, and I shuddered to think how much money was going through the tills. This place, though, demonstrated that beer is still big business despite its general decline in recent years. It was late evening by now and a big day was ahead of us tomorrow – we were going home – so we decided to call it a night.
Friday’s route.
SATURDAY 8/9/18
This was sadly the last day of our epic American Adventure. Luckily our flight wasn’t until early evening so we had most of the day to fit in just a few more things (e.g. beer). We took our time packing and didn’t check out until midday, arriving back in Toronto at around 2 pm. We decided to take the Jack Leyton Ferry ride across to Toronto Island. It was a long wait and fairly chaotic queue but we eventually made it, arriving on the Island some 20 minutes later.
Toronto Island is a pleasant enough space, but not really much to see there, so we decided to get something to eat at the Toronto Island BBQ & Beer Co – 120 Center Island Dock, Toronto, ON M5J 2E9. This place was about as tacky as you could get. It was a really run-down place in urgent need of some TLC. We sat outside in the beer garden with our complete waste-of-money food and were immediately plagued by what appeared to be the entire wasp population of Southern Canada. Still, the view of the city over the water was good.
Making the return ferry crossing back over the lake to the city, we found the nearby Amsterdam BrewHouse, 245 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON M5J 2K9, which was to be our last beery stop of the holiday*. This was a large, modern glass and metal constructed building and, being Saturday afternoon, was extremely busy. We had to wait in line for a few minutes to get a table and then were guided by a very friendly and helpful waitress to our seats.
Busy at the BrewHouse.
We had a long slog in ahead of us, so sensible was the word, and I only had two, both brewed on-site: A 6% Space Invader IPA and a 4.9% Cruiser Pale. Both were pretty average, but it was a nice end to a perfect holiday.
It was a 14-mile drive to the Airport and a further eight-and-a-half hour flight back via Reykjavik. I only saw the canteen at the airport (where I was charged 14 quid for an inedible sandwich) but at least I can say I’ve been to Iceland!
Saturday’s route.
*We did actually have one more beer, breaking the journey down from Manchester airport at Real Ale Corner – 415 Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield S40 3AD, where I had a disappointingly average pint of C-BOMB 4.2% session IPA from The Brew Foundation. My first pint of cask since New York!
FINAL THOUGHTS
I loved everything about this trip, except for the constant humming of air-conditioning units! Granted, we only saw a glimpse of all the places we visited, but all the people we met were super-friendly and helpful (except for the driver on the Greyhound bus), it felt safe everywhere we went (and we walked – A LOT!) and everywhere was clean and seemed to run efficiently. Prices were reasonable, on par with home I would say, and the whole trip, including flights, hotels, Ubers, and spends cost less than £4k each.
The bustle of New York was not really to my liking, but even there you could find some quieter corners. Washington D.C. has some lovely green spaces also, but the most picturesque city for me was Pittsburgh. If I had to recommend just one city to visit, it would be Boston. It just felt a bit less hectic and I felt ‘at home’ there. And, of course, it’s home to the brilliant Trillium Brewery!
I was particularly impressed that everything is built for the purpose. The city blocks are constructed in a grid system so everything is reasonably easy to find. The car parks are huge and parking spaces are big enough to fling your car doors open without bumping next door’s vehicle. I could go on… I guess that all comes from being a fairly new Nation and having the space to build on.
I was less impressed with the amount of throw-away waste still being produced, for example, polystyrene plates and plastic cutlery being used in sit-down cafes when proper plates could’ve been used. I suppose it’s no different from other countries, but when you imagine how much rubbish is being generated every day in this giant country, it’s very worrying.
I’d like to thank my great pals Chris and Tracey for sharing this adventure with us and particularly Tracey for taking on the driving duties on the latter part of the holiday. Also to Mark and Sue for spending both time and money travelling the width of America to be with me on my 60th birthday and making it so special. I will cherish the memory forever.
Mrs. Belvoir and I have a trip to visit Mark and Sue in San Francisco pencilled in for later this year, but with all this Covid-19 malarkey, it’s looking increasingly doubtful. Rest assured though, when we do make the trip it will be fully reported in these pages!
We left our Pittsburgh motel around 10ish to start the 120 mile-odd drive to Erie, which is on the coast of Lake er, Erie. Having not taken advantage of the stale bagels back at the motel, we were all getting rumbly tumblies it was time to look for somewhere to stop for breakfast. After passing several off-ramps, we picked one at random, this one headed to Slippery Rock. And what a winner this turned out to be.
Rolling into the village down a long, green leafy avenue, it resembled a Hollywood movie scene. The sort of American idyll that we had thus far not seen on our journey, and it was lovely. There wasn’t a soul about to ask for recommendations, so we parked up and walked a few hundred yards until we came upon the Camelot Restaurant. We opened the door and found what must have been the entire population of Slippery Rock – the place was absolutely heaving! After waiting to be seated for 10 minutes and getting our order, it was easy to see why the place was so popular. Wholesome, home-cooked food at a reasonable price, served on proper plates with real cutlery (for a change). Excellent!
Finishing up a satisfying breakfast at the Camelot, we came back out into the sun and, only 20 yards away, was the North Country Brewing Company – 141 S Main St, Slippery Rock, PA 16057, a beautiful wood-constructed pub originally built as a cabinet maker’s shop in 1805. The place was lovely inside and, more importantly, they brewed their own beer. To wash down breakfast, I ordered six, just to make sure: Locals Only 4.5% Session IPA, Paleo 6.2% IPA, Cascade AF 4.6% APA, Summer Dew 5% Honey Beer, Bucco 4.9% Blonde, and the 4.5% Kölsch .45. Six beers already and it was before midday on a Sunday. Me likeee! Slippery Rock was an ace chance find and I was really happy we made the decision to choose that highway ramp at random.
North Country Brewing.
Back onto the Perry Highway 98 and a few miles north, there was a severe weather warning broadcast on the car radio. Within a few minutes, it had started to rain. And by rain, I mean RAIN! Now I know it sounds a cliché, but I’ve never seen rain fall as hard and fast as this. We had to pull over and stop for some time, waiting for it to abate somewhat before continuing on our journey. Frighteningly, cars were still passing us at full speed during the downpour. Maybe they’re used to it!
Reaching Erie around two hours later, we parked up for a quick reccie, this time finding the Lavery Brewing Company – 128 W 12th St, Erie, PA 16501. Lavery seemed to specialise in recreations of classic beer styles. None of them turned out to be spectacular, but I thought I’d better try six (just to make sure): Amarillo Apricot 7.1% IPA, Pretty Visitors 6% APA, Out Come the Wolves 10% DIPA, Vanguard 5% Lager, Rauch Bier 5.8% smoked Lager and a Gold Leopard 5% Farmhouse Ale. It was time to find the hotel whilst we were still capable (although Tracey was in charge and sober).
We found the Avalon Hotel & Conference Centre about 20 minutes away and this place was well posh, for the money we had paid. By 5 o’clock we had all freshened up and it was out again. Lake Erie is mahooosive. If you didn’t know, you would think you’re at the seaside. And the girls wanted to go to the beach, so we ordered an Uber from the hotel to Pettinato Beach, dropping us lads off at the Sandbar Drafthouse – 2835 W 8th St, Erie, PA 16505, on the way. This place was a bit of a rough-and-ready dive but preferable to the sandy shenanigans that the girls wanted to get up to.
It looks like the Sandbar is another victim of closures since our visit, but frankly, I’m not really surprised. We still spent a couple of pleasant hours here nonetheless, during which Scary thrashed me at pool (I blamed my bad shoulders), and I sampled a pint of 6% Nu Skool IPA from Southern Tier and a 7.5% Fully Loaded IPA by Timber Creek, both average but enjoyable anyhoo.
We had arranged to hook up again with the girls at 7 o’clock, but by half-past they hadn’t turned up and seemed to be out of phone signal area so we decided to go and look for them. We walked as far as the Sara Coyne Campground to try the phone again. This place was manically busy, with vehicles queuing to get into the car park. After several tries, we got a call through to find that there had been a traffic accident somewhere between them and us and the tailback was causing delays. They eventually caught up with us and we joined the long queues of folk at the food cabin on the side of the car park. I chose a hot dog. I wish I hadn’t bothered – it was utter shite and a waste of money. It’s astounding what some people will put down their necks!
Meet the Simpsons.
Another Uber was called, which dropped us back in town, and then we found the nearby U Pick 6 Tap Room – 333 State St #110, Erie, PA 16507, a smallish corner bar with 22 taps on the back wall. Another two pints in here before making our way back to the hotel for some well-earned kip. I tried the Fresh Haze, a 6.5% NEIPA from Deschutes, and an 8% Hopsouloution DIPA from Bell’s.
It had been a brief stop-off in Erie, but I found it to be a lovely place and the little visit to Slippery Rock had been a nice Brucie bonus.
Sunday’s route.
MONDAY 3/9/18
Another 100-mile drive to Buffalo today, and two short stop-offs at Aldi in Dunkirk for some supplies and the Eden Seafood and Pizzeria in Eden for some nosebag. Alas, no beer at either. No matter, we were in our hotel, checked in, and Ubered back into town for a 2 o’clock drop-off at the Buffalo RiverWorks – 359 Ganson St, Buffalo, NY 14203. This was a Massive ex-industrial complex for various sporting events and concerts with large sprawling bars and dining halls. The six enormous ‘Labatt Blue‘ towers at the entrance immediately put us off and, after taking a quick look around one of the bars, we decided not to linger.
Impressive, but not today, thank-you.
Back the way we came, walking adjacent to the railway lines, we reached the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery – 76 Pearl St, Buffalo, NY 14202, a large and imposing building with a balcony all around it and a lovely garden terrace on the top floor. Now, this was more like it! We found a table on the terrace to take advantage of the sun while it lasted – ominous clouds were gathering on the horizon. I elected to try a pint of Lake Effect 6% APA, brewed on the premises. We were right about the weather; there was soon a downpour and we had to seek shelter inside. It soon abated, however, and after an hour we decided to have a walk to another couple of nearby brewpubs.
What we didn’t realise, or obviously plan for, is that this was Labor [sic] Day in the US and almost everything was shut here (apparently everyone goes out of town for the day). Indeed, walking around town in the warm drizzle, we found Buffalo to be a near ghost-town, not even the tram service was operating. We reached the Big Ditch Brewing Company – 55 E Huron St, Buffalo, NY 14203. CLOSED! Next was theSato Brewpub – 110 Pearl St, Buffalo, NY 14202. CLOSED! We decided to cut our losses and go back to the Pearl Street and have another whilst we waited for an Uber to pick us up for the ride to what would, in my opinion, be one of the beery highlights of our entire trip. I had a pint of aptly-named Nautical Disaster NEIPA, which was delicious.
Thin man – OPEN!
12 minutes and two miles later, we were at Thin Man Brewery – 492 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14222. I’d not heard of this brewery before our visit, but it has since become one of my favourite US breweries. The rain had stopped and the sun was back out, so we chose to sit on the balcony, taking in the last of the day’s rays. Truly fantastic, world-class beer here. I had a Bliss 8% DIPA, Badger Assassin 5.5% Sour Berliner Weisse, and Burning Money 6.6% IPA, all brewed on-site, plus a None of Them Knew They Were Robots 7.4% IPA by Barrier. We spent almost four hours in here, savouring these splendid beers to the full, before making the seven-mile taxi ride back to base for some sleepy times. Tomorrow we were off to Niagara Falls.
Monday’s route.
TUESDAY 4/9/18
We started out at around 10 am in the hire car from the hotel for the 20-mile journey to the Niagara Falls State Park, arriving about an hour later. We grabbed some brekkie before going to the visitor centre to buy tickets for the Falls. Coincidently, it was outside here that we encountered the only roundabout of the whole trip. Apparently, they’re not a ‘thing’ out there!
The Falls experience was, to use a cliché, ‘awesome’. This natural feature is truly breathtaking and the power of the water has to be seen to be believed. It’s hard to imagine that, just three months later, we saw on the news that the Falls became totally frozen. But not today! Tracey and Chris did the ‘Lady of the Mist’ boat ride into the death pool, but Mrs. Belvoir and I chose to watch them from the relative safety of the parapet above!
Spot Tracey – The only one without a poncho!
After a really pleasant afternoon visiting the Falls and exploring the adjacent park, it was back to the hotel to freshen up (and dry off). Beer time was approaching. On the way back in, we discovered the Hotel bar – the Twigs Lounge – 2040 Walden Ave, Buffalo, NY 14225. Scary and I decided to do the decent thing whilst we waited for the girls to get ready, so I had a pint of 7.2% Hayburner IPA by Big Ditch, which was very tasty and made the wait somewhat more tolerable.
The Uber arrived and took us out to Gene McCarthy’s Old First Ward Brewing Company – 73 Hamburg St, Buffalo, NY 14204, a lovely traditional-style brewpub in the middle of the sleepy Old First Ward neighbourhood which was full when we arrived, apparently due to the weekly quiz that was already underway. We managed to squeeze to the bar and get drinks, which we took outside and sat at one of the benches so we could enjoy the last of the evening sun.
I tried two, both brewed on the premises: The 5.8% This is Not a Pale Ale (which WAS a pale ale) and the 7% Hoppy Oasis IPA. Both were delicious. Whilst we were sipping our drinks, I noticed another brewery a little further up the road – Pressure Drop Brewing – 65 Vandalia St, Buffalo, NY 14204. We took a short walk towards it, but it soon became obvious that they had already shut up shop for the day. Shame.
Gene McCarthy’s.
After a pleasant couple of hours, we decided to move on and take another four-mile taxi ride to the Resurgence Brewing Company – 1250 Niagara St, Buffalo, NY 14213. Another two pints here: A CitMo IPA and a Passionfruit Sour, both 6.5%, both brewed by Resurgence, and both delicious! We stayed here until about half 10 before calling it a day and returning to base.
Tuesday’s route.
And that was the end of this leg of our journey. Again, only fleeting visits to Slippery Rock, Erie and Buffalo, but from what I saw they were all lovely places that I’d heartily recommend to anyone. Tomorrow we were going over the border into Canada.
For this leg of the journey, we decided to get a hire car, which Tracey had volunteered to drive. Although I was very grateful and more than happy to have her do the driving duties, it was a little disconcerting that she went to get in the car on the wrong side when we set off 🙂 It was almost 300 miles to Pittsburgh so most of our time would be spent travelling today.
It was gone 10 o’clock before we got on our way. We made a stop at Brecknock Township in search for something to eat at around 2ish. Asking for recommendations in a ‘gas’ station proved fruitless, but one of the other customers overheard our request and offered to show us to ‘the best diner in town’. He got in his car and proceeded to lead us around a couple of blocks, where he indicated for us to stop. He even got out of his car and opened the door for us to go in. What a genuinely nice man!
The Hilltop. Thankfully, Bates wasn’t in residence.
About five hours later, we reached our destination – The Hilltop Inn, our first taste of an American Motel. And it was everything I expected! Tatty magazines, stale cakes and broken coffee machine in the reception. Peeling woodwork outside, grimy tobacco-stained walls and frayed curtains in the room, and a television which looked like it was made in the ’60s, with a coat hanger for an aerial. All that was missing was an Anthony Perkins lookalike. But it was cheap and comfortable and although some of the residents looked a bit scary, they seemed chatty and friendly enough. We booked in and freshened up and as time was marching on – it was about 19.30 by this time – it was beer o’clock.
An eight-mile taxi ride took us to the Grist House Craft Brewery – 10 E Sherman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15209, and it was busy here tonight. The tap area was a wooden built lean-to off the main brewery building, spilling out onto the yard, where there were several marquees and a food van selling British ‘FISH & CHIPS’. ‘Yes, we DO mean fries’ read a sign attached to the van! After queueing at the van for half-an-hour to get some nosebag for the girls, I was finally allowed some beer. It was worth the wait: pints of Hazedelic Juice Grenade 6.4% NEIPA and Space Cactus 6.8% NEIPA, both brewed on-site, both spectacular. One of the locals told us about another brewery that was literally a few minutes’ walk away, and what a contrast that was!
Great atmosphere at the Grist House.
Strange Roots Experimental Ales – 501 E Ohio St, Pittsburgh, PA 15209, a small, one-roomed bar set back off the street was empty when we got there, which we thought odd for this time on a Friday night. When we tasted the beer though, it became apparent why! Now, I’m all for experimentation, but I’m not so keen on being the guinea pig. I tried two here: Desert Wolf 5.1% IPA, which was just about neckable, but the Summer Ghost 5.1% Farmhouse Saison was undrinkable and hands-down the worst beer of the whole trip. In hindsight, I wish we’d stayed for another one at the Grist House, but no matter, onward to the next stop.
Another 8-mile Uber ride and we were dropped off at Hitchhiker Brewing – 190 Castle Shannon Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228. This was a bijou town-centre tap room (although the brewery is in another part of town) which, though busy, wasn’t overcrowded. I tried a flight of three in here: a 15th & Canal 5.8% APA, 7.1% Spatial Influence NEIPA (which was superb) and an Into the Fade 8% Double NEIPA. Much needed after the shite we’d just suffered back at Roots.
Superb NEIPA at Hitchhiker.
Time was getting on now, but we had to make up for a lost day’s drinking due to the car journey! Another short cab ride took us to the Korner Pub – 4 Bower Hill Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228. Looking like a supermarket from the outside, with a big neon-lit Coors sign in the window, I wasn’t expecting much. It turned out OK. Stepping through the doors to find it rammed with customers, we managed to find some table space, sharing with some locals, and I ordered a pint of Hop Knife 6.2% IPA by Tröegs Independent Brewing which was a very tasty nightcap before calling it a night. It was nearly half-past midnight by now and it had been another very tiring day. Tomorrow we were going to explore the city.
Saturday’s route.
SATURDAY 1/9/18
A little sightseeing this morning, starting at the PNC Park, home ground of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, followed by brunch (it’s like a cross between breakfast and lunch, apparently) at Nola on the Square, 24 Market Square, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, a New Orleans-style restaurant. It appears to be another venue that has closed since our visit which is a real shame as it had excellent table service and some really delish food here, accompanied by a 7% Two Hearted Ale IPA from Bell’s which wasn’t anything special but started the day off nicely.
Our bit of non-beer culture for the day was the Andy Warhol Museum, where we spent an interesting hour-and-a-half before getting all pop-arted out and having to find more beer, this time at Mike’s Beer Bar AKA Beerhead – Boggs Building LP, 110 Federal St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. An amazing beer supermarket-cum-bar with over 500 beers, 80 of them on tap, plus a great food menu. Beerhead is one of a franchise of specialist beer bars springing up around the NE of the States. A great concept, I wonder where they got the idea from? Anyway, back to the beer. We sat out on the street and I ordered three: Strawberry Mango Smoosh 7.8% Milkshake DIPA from Separatist Beer Project, 6.2% Victorious IPA #2 NEIPA from Victory and a 6.3% Misfits & Misanthropes #13 from Helltown, which was totally wowsers!
A small section of the menu at Beerhead.
Suitably refreshed, it was time for a bit more sightseeing and me and Chris decided we’d take the girls up the funicular, fnar fnar! The Duquesne Incline has a 19th-Century wooden cable-car running up and down every few minutes. There were fairly long queues and the short ride cost $5 but, once at the top, the sweeping views of the city below were totally worth it. By the quaint little payment kiosk (built in 1877), we found the Coal Hill Steakhouse, where we sat on the balcony sipping glasses of ice-cold Pepsi (no comments, please) and taking in the views below. Without a doubt, Pittsburgh was the most picturesque city we had visited on the whole tour so far.
On the way back into town, we passed The Tap Room, 555 Grant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, and thought we’d pop in for one. We shouldn’t have bothered. A very lacklustre choice in here. We should’ve left but we all needed a rest and some respite from the sun. I opted for a 6% 60 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head, which was decidedly average. Move on there…
Next was a quick one at Sharp Edge Bistro – 922 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, where I wasn’t expecting much of the 6.8% Samuel Adams NEIPA from Boston Beer Company, but it was surprisingly good. Just the one here before we made the two-minute walk to the Proper Brick Oven & Tap Room – 139 7th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, where we spent another hour and I had a pint of 7.5% Jal Alai IPA from Cigar City, which was OK, at best.
Grand views over Pittsburgh.
We all elected to finish the evening back at Beerhead where we spent another hour until 10 o’clock, when we decided to call it a night. I chose a 6% Wild Sour Series: Synchopathic from Desthil, which was stupendously good and the perfect end to our short stay in Pittsburgh. Tomorrow was a long drive toward the Canadian border and our next stop, Erie.
Saturday’s route.
Pittsburgh was, from the little we saw of it, a lovely, safe and well-organised city with lots of green and community space and a thriving craft beer scene. Highly recommended for a visit.
