Category: Brewery Tour

A concise brewery bio

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BarrelHouse Brewing

A “small batch barley and hop project” is open down the road from Firestone-Walker in Paso Robles…say hello to BarrelHouse Brewing Co.

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Here is the current list of beers being brewed:

Templeton Ale – Kolsch style blonde ale brewed with American hops
Belgian Wit – Belgian style wheat ale brewed with chamomile, coriander and orange peel
Pale Ale – American style pale that combines West Coast hoppiness and East Coast maltiness
India Pale Ale (IPA) – Our everyday IPA…drinkable and hoppy
Milk Stout – Dark and delicious bitter, sweet stout

They are open from Wednesday through Sunday.

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Arizona Beer – Dragoon Brewing

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Our next stop in Arizona takes us to Dragoon Brewing Company was founded by Bruce Greene and his son Eric “with a simple goal in mind: to increase the quantity and quality of local beer in the Arizona market.” And I say kudos to anyone who is brave enough to take the leap from home brewing to the pro ranks.  It is hard leap and sometimes people who write about it forget that.

After Eric founded a homebrew club (Northern Arizona Homebrewers) and studied at the  American Brewer’s Guild and Harpoon Brewing, he returned to Tucson and with Tristan White, another home brew member created Dragoon.

After perusing their website, I decided what three beers would have to be in my initial taster tray if I find my way to their brewery….

Stronghold Session Ale

This beer starts at a relatively low gravity, and thus finishes with a low alcohol content (about 4.8%). Make no mistake though, it is by no means a light beer. It is rich with roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate, and a touch of herbal hop flavors. It is made from a blend North American and British base malts with rolled oats, chocolate, brown and caramel malts. We finish it with a great big dose of earthy American hops (Sterling, Willamette, and Northern Brewer).

Ryelander

Ryelander is a beer that’s easy to wrap your head around: it’s a big, spicy, hoppy Imperial IPA. It ravages taste buds, decimates olfactory receptors, and leaves even the heartiest neuron begging for mercy. It is brewed from a blend of pale, crystal, and rye malts (with just a touch of roasted barley for color). We add many pounds of hops to the boil, and many more directly to the fermentation vessel. The result is an undoubtedly aggressive beer, but like its namesake, it shows a surprising depth and complexity. Bière del Bac
Named after San Xavier del Bac, our Belgian-style quad is deep reddish amber in color, with the aroma of dried fruit, caramel, and a hint of peppery alcohol. It is brewed with piloncillo sugar and dark Belgian candi syrup for complexity. It’s perfect for those cold winter nights.
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Arizona Beer – Fate Brewing

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Our first brewery stop in Arizona is Fate Brewing whose “beer philosophy is to make a little bit of great beer, a lot. With a small-batch, 7 bbl system we’re afforded the opportunity to brew often and consistently rotate what’s on tap.”

They  have traditional and modern favorites (hefeweizen and pale ale), seasonal, experimental and cask conditioned ales (Black IPA and a root beer too).

And coming soon are an Imperial IPA, American Brown Ale, Irish Red and an Imperial Irish Red

Plus, I love their tagline, you will be “pleasantly surprised by what Fate has in store.​”

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Green Jack

From Lowestoft, UK, comes the easternmost British brewery, Green Jack.

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Here is what the importer Vanberg & DeWulf have to say about them, “All Green Jack beers are brewed with Flagon winter barley, all grown and malted in Norfolk (which Dunford says is in most growing seasons the best barley in the world.) Moreover all are fermented with the same four strains of English ale yeast which can be traced back over 100 years and use whole flower hops. 90 percent of production is cask, 10% in swing top bottles”

I will be on the look-out for these two offerings:

Trawlerboys
“A Full-bodied and a copper-coloured premium bitter brewed with English whole cone hops, rich and malty with fruity hop flavours. This Best Bitter has been named after the nickname of Lowestoft Town Football Club as Green Jacks new flagship brewery is opposite Lowestoft’s Crown Meadow stadium. The pump clip features the Lowestoft-built (1978) stern trawler the Boston Sea Stallion launched by none other than Mrs. Thatcher.”

Green Jack Rippa
“This 8.5% ABV English triple was named Supreme Champion Winter Beer of the UK by CAMRA in 2007, this is an amber ale redolent of peach and grape with an herbal, tropical bittersweet taste and a fruity bitter finish. RIPPA is brewed with pale ale malt, caramalt, maize, wheat, and sugar. UK Challenger hops lend a black pepper spice aroma, and Slovenian Celeia hops add bitterness.”

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Tennessee Brewery # 2 – Smoky Mountain

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Smoky Mountain Brewery currently has four locations around east Tennessee; Knoxville (Turkey Creek), Maryville, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Setting aside that Turkey Creek and Pigeon Forge are awesome names for towns.  It is good to see that Smoky Mountain is spreading good beer around the Volunteer State.

And these are the brews that caught my eye and would probably catch my palate as well…

Thunder Road Pilsner

“Honey colored lager infused with the famous Czech Saaz hops. Full hop flavor and aroma while maintaining a balanced hop bitterness.”

Tuckaleechee Porter

“Dark ale with a chewy, roasty character derived from the use of caramel and dark roasted malts.”

Harvest Fest Lager (Autumn)

“Amber lager modeled after the famous beer of the Munich Oktoberfest. Balanced with Bavarian hops and extremely drinkable.”

Tall Ship IPA

“Complex, hoppy British style pale ale. Unfiltered and dry-hopped for a cask-like flavor.”

 

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Tennessee Brewery # 1 – Saw Works

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Our first stop in the Volunteer state is Saw Works Brewing Company of Knoxville.  Saw Works started life as Marble City in 2010 but has, as they put it, “hit the re-set button” and are now under a new name and housed in old Wallace Saw Works building.

Their current rotation includes a brown ale in an English style that, “reflects the chocolate malts as it first rolls across your tongue.  This quickly changes as the dark toffee flavors begin to play with the spicy and earthy hop characteristics.”

Second up is their English Pale Ale with enough hops to satisfy an American palate.  It has a malty profile and just enough woody or lightly floral hops for balance.

You can take a brewery tour and if you are a member of the Century Harvest Farm you can pick up your grass fed, hormone free beef and then get a beer.  (Beer makes strange and wonderful bedfellows).

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DC Brewery # 3 – Port City

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Our final District of Columbia stop is at Port City which is based in nearby Alexandria, Virginia but was voted best local brewery by the City Paper of DC.

They also reached the 2nd year milestone earlier this month and these are the beers that I would like to put into my ‘fridge and then into a pint glass….

First would be the Tartan Scottish Ale
“Our Tartan Ale is crafted by Head Brewer Jonathan Reeves. It has a deep, copper-color and is produced in the 80-shilling style. It offers a slightly fruity flavor that complements the luscious malty roast caramel flavor and faint hop aroma.”

Followed by…
“Tidings Ale is a strong Belgian style blond ale is brewed with local Maryland wildflower honey and Virginia wheat. These special ingredients store away the flavor and essence of summer, and later warm us during the cold winter months. It is gently spiced with coriander, cardamom, fresh ginger and grains of paradise.”

and then I would finish with their flagship
“Essential Pale Ale is a deep golden color with hop aroma reminiscent of fresh fruit. The pleasing bitter taste from American hops is balanced with English and German malts, and offers a complex full flavored character that is smooth and refreshing.”

Or maybe I would go the other way around.

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Anchor 2

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Those worried about the future Anchor Brewing when Fritz Maytag sold them should be less so as of a week ago.  That is when Anchor teamed up with the San Francisco Giants to announce plans for building on Pier 48 part of what San Francisco is calling the Mission Rock Development Project.

Here are the press release details that are most important (in my mind):

Anchor will continue to operate its facility in Potrero Hill, but will greatly expand its operations with the development of the Pier 48 facility. The two facilities will allow the company to quadruple its annual production capacity from 180,000 barrels to 680,000 barrels.

Pier 48, the southern-most structure of the Port’s Embarcadero Historic District, will be fully rehabilitated and re-established as an industrial hub of the central waterfront. The new Anchor facility will feature production facilities for brewing, distilling, packaging, storing, and shipping; a restaurant, museum and educational facility in the headhouse of Pier 48; and a restored walkway around the entire pier apron that will connect pedestrians to the Portwalk and allow views into the Anchor brewhouse. Anchor will offer tours of the facilities and educational seminars with a focus on the history of craft beer, the art of craft distilling and Anchor’s history in San Francisco. The construction project beginning late 2014 will feature the use of green and sustainable materials, setting the standard for a modern urban brewery.

The Anchor Brewery expansion project also represents the first major tenant of the Mission Rock Project – a new, mixed use urban neighborhood currently being developed by the San Francisco Giants. The Anchor Brewing facility will cover 22% of the overall project site.

In addition to Anchor Brewing’s new facility, the Mission Rock Project will include more than eight acres of parks and open space, 650-1,500 residential units, 1-1.7 million square feet office space, parking structure to serve ballpark and Mission Rock patrons, and up to 250,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, and public amenities. In total, Mission Rock is expected to create 4,800 construction jobs and 6,400 permanent jobs.”

This announcement is one heck of a way to put a cap on the 2013 SF Beer Week.

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DC Brewery # 2 – Atlas Brew Works

Combine an experienced home brewer with a former brewer from Telegraph and Pyramid and you have the makings (along with a shared history at Vanderbilt University) for Atlas Brew Works.
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Here is the back story for this DC area start-up:
“Experienced homebrewer Justin Cox is teaming up with longtime friend and accomplished commercial brewer Will Durgin to bring the District of Columbia fresh craft beer from Northeast DC. Atlas Brew Works plans to install its 20 barrel brew house at 2052 West Virginia Ave NE and begin producing unique local brews in the first quarter of 2013.
Atlas Brew Works’ beer portfolio will include American style craft ales and lagers along with an extensive sour and barrel aging program. The beers will be crafted with careful consideration to food pairings and a flare for experimentation.”

I hope to hear more about their beers and brewery in the future!