Day 2

View Larger Map

To start off the second day, we headed out of Santa Barbara north on highway 101. Our first stop was actually in Solvang, a town centered around Danish traditions. If you ever pass through, you should stop for Abelskiver (Danish pancake balls with Raspberry jam). Our first brewery stop happened in San Luis Obispo at Downtown Brewing Company(B). We then walked a few blocks over to Central Coast Brewing Company. Heading north, we stopped at Firestone-Walker Brewing Company before pulling into Monterey that evening. Apparently, it's hard to find things to do in Monterey after 9pm. We looked high and low for places to eat and get a pint, and there were so few that the places we found were packed.

Lengthwise Brewery

The people of Bakersfield are truly blessed to have this awesome gem in their city. This brewery/restaurant has a very industrial feel to it, which is right up its alley being located in an industrial/commercial part of town. I don't know if I'll be able to sing this place enough praises. This place has a very local feel to it. Before entering, you encounter a corrugated metal awning supported by two keg columns. Upon entering, you realize that this place is one of the biggest brewpubs you have ever been to. You are told to seat yourselves and place your order at the bar. Not knowing they had a sampler, we just got one pint each of three different beers. For food, we ordered a basket of hot wings which were really good. The wings were hot from being freshly deep fried and smothered in a thin house-made hot sauce that had visible pieces of jalapeños in it. Overall, if I lived near to this brewery, I would be here several times a week.

• Centennial IPA - This IPA is not very strong, making it perfect for people easing into IPAs. The initial hoppiness turns into a smooth finish which makes for a nive compelte beer. When I drink mulitple beers, I never have more than one IPA because of the strength of their flavors. I could easily drink a few of these and not get tired of the IPA taste. Score 5/10

• Triple Hop Red Ale - This is my favorite of the beers we had at Lengthwise. It has a solid caramelly taste that is normally alcking in a Red Ale. Score 6/10

• Kern County Porter - This porter has a great hints of charcoal with a smooth aftertaste. I have never had a Carbon Dioxide / Nitrogen mix in a beer before. This was an awesome combination for this beer. It seemed to make it super smooth while adding the a hint of texture from the CO2. Score 5/10

Brewbakers

This brewery/restaurant is located in an awesome place in downtown Visalia. Unfortunately, their beer does not reflect the awesomeness of the space that contains it. Their beer and hand-made sodas all taste watered down.

• Rootbeer - Tastes like Mug Rootbeer. It was served with ice, so the watered down taste might have come from that, but I find that unlikely as all everything tasted watered down. Score 1/10

• Orange Creme - Tastes very close to Thomas Kmeper's Orange Creme but unfortunately watered down. The creme taste coupled with the orange created a taste very much like the orange crème ice cream bars. Score 1/10

• Green Apple - This disappointing soda tasted like a Green Apple Jolly Rancher which has been watered down considerably. Score 1/10

• Raspberry Apple - I had high hopes for this cider after the disappointing sodas earlier. This is a straight forward apple cider with a raspberry flavoring. It does not have the weird malty aftertaste that a lot of apple ciders have which is the only reason it didn't receive a score of 1. Score 3/10

• Apple Cider - This cider is a perfect melding between sparkling apple cider and alcohol. This apple cider didn't leave any of the typical aftertaste of most apple ciders. I have always been turned off of apple ciders for this specific reason and have been searching for an exception. Because I seem to have high standards for apple ciders (maybe unwarranted), I gave this a 5 out of shear surprise that there was an apple cider that actually met me half way. This was the only beer that I actually liked. I didn't get it when each of us got a pint because it didn't fit my mood at the time. Score 5/10

• Honey Wheat - No honey flavor what so ever! I would have been better off just drinking water than wasting time with this beer. Score 1/10

• Schwartzbier - I have never had this style of beer before, but I am sure that it wasn't suppose to taste like it did. My first thought after tasting this beer was that it tastes like teriyaki sauce. Now at first, that greatly disturbed me. But, if you drank this beer with sushi or other asian dishes, this might be a great beer for that. Not being a great fan of Asian beers in general, I would drink this beer before them when going to restaurants that I can pair this beer with. Score 3/10

• Sequoia - It's an alright red ale. That's about it.... I think I have said that these beers are all watered down enough... Score: 3/10

• Sherman Stout - This very plain stout has hints of charcoal, just like a stout should. That's about all to say about this lackluster beer. Score 3/10

Sequoia Brewing Company

Sequoia Brewing Company is one of two micro-breweries in Fresno, CA with the other being Full Circle Brewing Company. Most of the beers in this brewpub/restaurant left a lot to be desired. Their food was alright, but most of it wasn't fresh. My burger came with a BBQed frozen patty inside which I ordered medium-rare that came definitely well done, All in all, this is an alright place to go to if you are ever in Fresno, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go here.

• Blossom Trail Honey Wheat - This is a really good starter beer. It only has a slight malty taste to it, which most new beer drinkers don't care as much for. For me it didn't provide much taste, and I probably wouldn't get it again. Score: 1/10

• Moto Brew American Pale Ale - This Pale Ale lacked all the flavor that I think that Pale Ales should have. Pale Ales are meant to be a kick in the mouth second only to IPAs. This beer lacked a kick what so ever and made me feel like I was drinking water. Score: 1/10

• Sequoia Gold German Kolsch - This beer had a super smooth taste with a mild aftertaste. This is a really good all around beer for someone who wants to have a refreshing pint after a long day. Score: 4/10

• Del Oro Mexican Light - Don't waste you time with this beer unlike you are a Corona fiend. It tastes exactly like Corona with a much higher price tag. Score: 2/10

• Tamarack American Amber - Tamarack Amber has a really nice amber caramel flavor with a smooth hoppy aftertaste. I could have drank a good amount of this beer. This is another great beer after a long day. Score: 5/10

• Mineral King IPA - This beer has a great hoppy and piney flavor. This beer reminds of me Russian River Brewing Company's Pliny the Elder without the immense kick in the mouth. This is the beer I got a pint of while here. I would definitely get another next time I'm in the area. Score: 6/10

• Black Oak Porter - This is a alright after meal beer. This porter has a standard porter taste that has hints of charcoal and chocolate. Score: 5/10

Day 1

View Larger Map

On the first day, we headed out early taking Highway 99 south towards LA. At about lunch time, we arrived at our first scheduled stop at Sequoia Brewing Company (B) in Fresno. We attempted to try Full Circle Brewing Company as well, but they were closed. We then visited Brewbakers (C) in Visalia, and Lengthwise Brewing Company (D) in Bakersfield. After, we headed for Santa Barbara where we stayed the night. That night, we tried Santa Barbara Brewing Company (E). Here are the reviews for Day One...

2nd Annual Beer Tour

Last year around this time, my friends Charles and Will and myself went on a two day road trip up the coast of Northern California to sample beers from as many breweries as we could find. This year we decided to do a 3 day tour that consisted of a loop down Highway 99, over to Santa Barbara, and back up 101. For those of you not familiar with Calfornia's roads, I'll include a Google map for each day of the trip. With reviews for seven breweries, it'll take me a few days to get everything posted. Stay tuned...

Blue Bottle Cafe

So after reading the New York Times article about the new $20,000 dollar coffee brewing apparatus that Blue Bottle Coffee had bought for their new location in SF, I just had to go and see what it was all about. I ended up getting directions off of Yelp since the Blue Bottle website didn't have directions or even an address. Well, I was a little apprehensive about my experience after reading some of the posted reviews.

I ended up arriving at 8:45 AM on a Saturday morning, and there were only a few people in the whole place. Upon getting to the counter, we were informed that the siphon brewed coffee didn't start until 10AM. I was a bit miffed considering that was something that should have been posted somewhere. I ended up ordering a cappuccinos, which ended up being a really good move. I had read on Yelp that they had really good caps but hadn't given it much thought since all I wanted was a $20,000 cup of coffee. My dad ended up getting a bottle of their organic apple juice which was surprisingly sweet but not too sweet. We ended up sitting down in front of the siphon coffee maker, and decided to wait, like at a rock concert, to see the process up close.

To pass the time, we decided to have breakfast. They only offered 4 things which insisted of toast, poach eggs on toast, and two other simple breakfast fare. The bread was from the ACME bread company which has a shop in the Ferry building. We ordered 2 of the poached eggs on toast, and I got a cup of drip coffee which is brewed Kono style.

Upon finishing, we ordered one of the first pots of siphon brewed coffee made that day. It was really a site to see, albeit somewhat amusing. They start off by filling a rounded beaker looking container with hot water and placing it over a halogen lamp. While the water is coming to a boil, another contained which looks like a beaker fitted with a glass tube to its bottom is filled with coffee grounds. When the water boils, the beaker is fitted over it and the two are sealed together by a rubber stopper on the glass tube. The water vapor pressurizes forcing the boiling water into the beaker above to mix with the coffee grounds. While this is occurring, the barista is slowly stirring the grounds with apparently a difficult type of stirring. I didn't ask too many questions because I didn't want to ruin the taste of my pot. Once all the water had been pushed to the top, they let it sit there a few minutes before slowly separate the bottom bulb from the beaker which lower the pressure in the bulb allowing the now brewed coffee to flow through a metal filter at the bottom of the beaker and into the bulb below. The bulb was then brought to us on a special carrier. The cups that they brought included a piece toffee for each of us, which was nice considering we had just spent $10 on a pot of coffee. Well, the coffee was really good. Considering that they couldn't have gone that wrong since the were using Blue Bottle beans, it was a really good cup of coffee. With that in mind, I want to say their drip coffee was far better than that from the siphon coffee maker. They were brewing a blend that day that was only sold there and at a certain restaurant (Fifth something) which was a bummer since I really wanted some. In general, you can't go wrong with going to Blue Bottle Cafe. Even though the siphon coffee maker costs $10, I think it's worth the show. At the very least, treat yourself to some of the best coffee in possibly this country at Blue Bottle Cafe. It is so good, my dad even enjoyed it, and he has always hated coffee! It also is an excuse to go to the Ferry Build Farmers Market. :-)