Hanger 24 Craft Brewery

On a trip down to my old stomping grounds over the Labor Day weekend I had the good fortune to hear about (Thanks CP)and visit a little gem of a brewery tucked away at the Redlands Municipal Airport.... not once but twice.

A mere 45 minute drive down the hill from the heart of the Cultural Wasteland this 2+year old brewery already boosts which could quite possibly be the entire Inland Empire's finest collection of craft brews.

It may be only a small, little, tiny coincidence that our visit coincided with the presence of one of their latest 2010 creations. The nearly 9% double IPA produced for this years American Craft Brew Week.

I suggest a visit to their website to see their full line of offerings for I can only tell you here about the Orange Wheat, The Pale Ale, IPA, Double IPA, Chocolate Porter. Oh wait... apparently I did try a few of their standards besides the Double IPA after all.

The Orange Wheat was as refreshing as anyone could dare expect with a big orange nostril bite and a clean unfiltered thirst quenching quality. The Pale Ale boasted a palate full of Amarillo hops and out did the IPA which was a bit too balanced for our weird tastes. Ours being myself and my old buddy Ralph who oddly was later in the weekend destined to embark on an unexpected sojourn into the murky realm of mixed gender martial arts body mass superiority demonstrations. Ya....you're right....don't ask.

But that's another story for some other blog because here we're all about the hops.....or in the case of the Porter.... chocolate.... and lots of it. A great beer for chicks if they'd get over the color of it....beautiful medium mouth feel with coffee and a slight vanilla presence.

So ya... a bunch of great beers.....uh..oh ya....and that West Coast style hop brute Double IPA that makes any trip to that airport well worth the occasional bumpy roads. All my favorite hops are in this baby...Columbus, Amarillo, Simco and Citra which just unleashes serious citrus and tropical fruit aromas. There is a lot going on in this beer.... apparently including some local honey.

The Hanger 24 growlers are unfortunately the expensive dumb kind that are difficult to haul and store but we bit the bullet and ended up walking out of there with four of them.

That was Saturday and on Monday we revisited with more of the Hop Hunter clan and refilled the empties with more excellent goodness for the long road home to Nor-Cal. A full growler rests quietly in my fridge at this very moment......

Now there is good reason to go to Redlands aside from the famous bicycle race.

HOPPIN TO BE PICKED SOON

The most prolific of the three plants. Cascade. The other two plants are Centennial.


Not sure what the Red in photo 2 is all about...maybe the Cascades are cross breeding with the roses.

Expecting to harvest some cones in a week or so.

2010 Hops

Rye IPA's

Lately I've noticed a trend of more and more brewers experimenting with Rye in their ales and particularly in their IPA's. I find this trend most enjoyable and tasty.

Within the past year or so I have had the good fortune to stumble across a nice list of Rye's in bottles and in breweries I've visited.

Bear Republic - Hop Rod Rye......OK, OK I know.... this workhorse has been around a while and fortunately has become really easy to find. Available now in 4-packs as well as in the traditional 22oz bombers. A great 18% rye/80 IBU hop monster that is an all-time favorite in the garage fridge.

Alpine - Nelson .... This gem is yet another masterpiece from Pat McIlhenney's little mountain brewery East of San Diego. Brewed with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand it appears impossibly light in color and equally as impossibly hoppy and smooth. I prefer the tap and growlered versions but the bottled version can be pretty darn good as well although perhaps a bit heavier if not fresh. An almost too delicate a beer for bottling.

Auburn Ale House - Rye Not? ..... This Remarkably refreshing Pale Ale has it's roots in an old recipe that I remember traveling to obtain for several years before Elk Grove Brewing closed it's doors. Brewmaster Brian Ford and Brewer Bill came up with another fantastically drinkable ale that frankly I hope will be a yearly seasonal in their lineup.

AAH also just released another Rye called Rye-Nocerous to mark their Third Anniversary. A bigger beer than the Rye Not it reportedly boasts a grain bill of over 30% rye....more than I've ever heard of in a rye recipe. It also has a huge hop flavor that meshes with the smooth crisp characteristics of the Rye perfectly. Slightly sweet with just mild carbonation. I believe it is still currently on tap in Auburn and I hope to get some more before it runs dry.

Bootleggers Brewing - Rustic Rye IPA .... this little Fullerton brewery brews and bottle one of the best of the bunch. I visited this hole in the wall Industrial Park location last year and was blown away by all their beers but predictably fell in love with their Rustic. They claim it's 85 IBU's...which seems a bit high considering the great balance of Rye and hops. I also just found it in Orange CA at Hollingshead Deli in 22oz bottles. If you are in Southern LA Basin and Orange County you should be able to find it

Ale Industries - Ryed Piper..... I found this inspirational rye beauty at the West Coast Brew Fest in early May. The brewer was himself pouring, and with a smirk, told me that there was merely 5.6% rye in the beer..... After I expressed my amazement he explained that they pulverized the rye which they felt extracted every bit of rye flavor without the inevitable gumming clean-up factor that most rye brews leave in their wake. I actually know very little about this brewery in Concord CA...but of course I plan to rectify that situation in the very near future.

Sequoia Brewing - Rye IPA..... I completely stumbled upon this beer like I always do.....stopping in Fresno on one of our trips down South to visit the parents in the Mojave Desert Cultural Wasteland. I always look forward to brewer Kevin Cox's seasonal creations and this year I was just so stoked I think my grin may have tripped Terri on her way in the door. I was really glad that I remembered a growler so I could bring a sample for my good buddies to try down that way. I'm sure they will comment here so you can see how great and drinkable this hoppy crisp Rye truly is.

OK...well...I guess that's all the rye I can think of at the moment. Kinda makes me feel like going to get a Reuben sandwich or some Pastrami or something. Maybe I can get Rick to drive me to Fresno for lunch tomorrow....it's only 3 hours away and the rye bread sandwiches must be as good as the beer right? Ya.....dream on.

FIRST STREET ALE HOUSE - A LIVERMORE GEM

Traveling to Livermore California last weekend I looked forward to making my usual appearance at The First Street Ale House located at 2106 First Street in downtown. My last visit was in February so it was my first look since they finished their move into the more spacious building right next door. I was a little worried that the new place wouldn't have the great pub feel of the original but I needn't have worried.

Despite the fact that the place seemed to have quadrupled in size I still felt immediately comfortable...and of course thirsty. The bigger building also brought with it more tap handles...24 in all now I believe.

The Ale House has always had a nice eclectic mix of local and regional craft brew favorites along with excellent imports like Paulaner Hefewizen and Spaten Franziskaner. The day's line up when I was there included the Paulaner... two wheat beers from Pyramid, North Coast Skrimshaw Pilsner, Alaskan Amber, Stone Brewing IPA, Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Snowshoe Grizzley Brown, Snowshoe Stout, North Coast Old Rasputin, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid and Port Brewings Wipeout IPA. If memory serves me well, which it rarely does anymore, I believe they also had an Anchor Brewing Beer, PBR and Woodchuck Pear Cider among others.

The beautiful thing is FSAH is on the 'A' list of pubs and always brings in the finest seasonals from all around Northern California and beyond. It's always a good time to check out the taps on First Street...you never know what you might find. Last year I just missed the tapping of one of their Russian River Pliny the Younger kegs.

The extensive pug menu is stellar as well and will keep your stomach happy after your fourth or fifth pint makes you wobbly...er I mean...your second pint.... and remember always drink responsibly....give some to me for safe keeping.

West Coast Brew Fest

I noticed in my beer notes that last Saturday marked the 6th consecutive year that I have attended the West Coast Brew Fest in Miller Park. I believe I read that the now iconic yearly event made it's start back at the turn of the century. The tree lined setting along the Sacramento River is one of the reasons I always come back...well....that and of course the beers.

This year was no exception. Although the number of breweries seemed to decline a bit from years previous (I would blame the recession and the fact that the Raley Field Beer Fest was held the evening prior) the quality of the beer was just as stellar as ever. I'm not going to list them all here...they have a website for that purpose. I will merely focus on the beers that stood out for me....in no particular order.

Rye'd Piper - Ale Industries is a new brewery out of Concord that just blew me away with their 5.8% hoppy Rye beer. Reminiscent of a lighter version of Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye....co-brewer Stephen Lopas explained to me that they only 5.7% Rye but virtually pulverized it to get that big rye flavor.

Scarlet Harlot - Auburn Ale House. I've had this brew in Auburn at the source but when I seen it at the AAH booth I had to have some more. A very interesting and unusual red that is dominated by roasted malt, Simco hops and a beautiful dry finish.

Old Wire - Dust Bowl Brewing Company is another new California brewery. Located in Turlock CA they have only been in business since 2009. I was originally drawn over for their Hops of Wrath IPA but left with a better opinion of their Old Wire Pale Ale. Very fruity, light and perfect for this day out in the sun. Interestingly Brewmaster Don Oliver won the 2006 Samuel Adams Long Shot Award for his Old Ale.

Southern Harvest - Sierra Nevada's now yearly fresh hop ale made exclusively from New Zealand Hops. A spring favorite that seems to have raised the standard again this year. Very drinkable SN classic, balanced with a nice snappy hop spiciness.

Maibock - Primator. This genuine Czech Republic Maibock just hit the spot perfectly after a few hours of hoppy beers. That unique Maibock Grain profile was like the desert following a long lingering meal.

Anyway...that was few of the beers that stood out for me. Of course there were plenty of others like the AAH Gold Digger IPA and Deschutes Hop Henge...but mainly the hot late spring day was an occasion for the lighter beers. Long Board Lager and Sudwerks Pilsner were nice finds as well. Thanks to Dwight and the boys for once again putting on a great event. I suspect next year I will be making it a lucky seven in a row.

Mothers Day is for Killing Budweiser

What better way to spend Mothers Day than taking your mother out to shoot the new 20 gauge shotgun she got for Christmas? Which is exactly what my kids did on Sunday May 9th. In fact the new Mossberg was merely one of the firearms that we used to kill off a 30-pack of The King of targets...er...uh.... I mean beer. In the mix was also a .22 semi-auto, a couple of 9mm's, a .38 special, one .357 magnum and one Super BlackHawk hog leg....or as Dirty Harry liked to call it " a .44 Magnum that can blow your head clean off.

Fortunately on this day we were safe in the woods of Foresthill and there was nary a bad guy to be found. We were happy with three paper targets and the ooh's and aah's of the nicely exploding yellow fizzy beer can geysers.

Not only was it Terri's first go around with the shotgun that my Dad gave to her just a couple weeks before he passed on; it was Oralia's first time every discharging a firearm. As you can see both ladies were eager to put some lead downrange. Here are a few of the great photos that Rick took that day.

Maybe if he's feeling generous he might add the link to the more than 100 photos he took.

And Just in case anyone is wondering...no beer was consumed prior to...or during the firing of the weapons despite the fact that the target area reeked of a college frat party. Oh I see Terri's photo made the line-up twice....well...she deserves it..it is mothers day after all..... I must also give many thanks to Breann's Mom Cina as well... after the shooting and all the rain that stopped it she and Jim still let us in the house and fed us a nice dinner and put up with our antics. Definitely one of the better Mothers Day's I've had this year.