South Bay, Los Angeles County, California

By Jim Hilbing

State of the Beer

During our trek to Portland for NHC'98, we managed to try a number of really good beers at various brewpubs. Some of the best ones are described here.

Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe
617 4th Street
Eureka, CA 95501
(707) 445-4480
www.lostcoast.com

On the way to Portland, my wife and I stopped for the night in Eureka, near the Redwoods State Park. That night we dined at the Lost Coast Brewery and Café. Brewmaster Barbara Groom has created a number of really good beers. Some of these beers are distributed here in the South Bay; I've seen both the amber and brown ales at local grocery stores.
Alleycat Amber Ale: A malty, medium-bodied beer, probably made with Cascade hops.
Downtown Brown: Their flagship product. Almost better as the Raspberry Brown Ale, which has had real raspberries added as flavoring.
Great White Beer: OG 1.048, FG 1.010, 4.8% abv. This Belgian-style White ale is made with malted barley, unmalted wheat and rolled oats; the beer is flavored with coriander and a secret blend of herbs; Liberty hops are used exclusively for the hop contributions.

Jefferson State Brewery 400 Front Street Crescent City, CA 95531 (707) 464-1139

The day after leaving Eureka, we drove through the Redwoods State Park before heading towards Oregon. Our route took us through Crescent City as we made our way from Highway 101, through the mountains to Interstate 5, which then goes all the way up the Willamette Valley to Portland. In Crescent City we stopped for lunch at the Jefferson State Brewery, where we tried their excellent beers and received a little history lesson. Back in the 1850's, a statehood movement began in the Oregon and California territories and reached its peak in December 1941. The purpose of this movement was to create a state that encompassed part of southern Oregon and northern California. While early attempts to form this "State of Jefferson" were serious, efforts in the twentieth century were more of a way to voice concerns over the poor roadways in the region. The statehood movement was shelved after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and today it has more tourist than political overtones.

Although the brewpub was in a building that wasn't anything special, the beers turned out to be excellent. The brewery is using a number of authentic yeast strains, making beers which are true to style.
Jefferson State Wheat Beer: An authentic Bavarian style wheat beer, with the aroma of banana, clove and vanilla.
Democracy Pale Ale: A red-amber pale ale with a floral hop aroma.
Brother Jonathan Belgian-Style Ale: Brewed in the tradition as the Belgian Abbey Ales using an authentic yeast strain.

BJ's Pizza, Grill & Brewery
825 NE Weidler
Portland, OR
(503) 288-0111
www.bjsbrewhouse.com

On the day of the hop field tour, we ducked into BJ's Pizza, Grill and Brewery for a quick lunch and beer sampling before the tour. BJ's has a number of locations in the area, and I'll admit I'm always a little skeptical when it comes to brewpub chains. Fortunately, BJ's is making excellent beers, including some very interesting and different styles and interpretation of styles.
Pirahna Pale Ale: OG 1.057, 5.5% abv. A hoppy, American-style pale ale, bittered with Chinook and dry-hopped with Cascade hops.
Jeremiah Red: OG 1.072, FG 1.018, 7.1% abv, 35 IBU, 15 SRM. An Irish strong ale, brewed with five specialty malts. Silver Medal winner at the 1996 GABF (Strong Ales), and at the 1998 World Beer Championships (Amber Ales). Very good.
PM Porter: OG 1.060, 5.7% abv. A nitrogen-conditioned porter. Unusual for this style.
Tatonka Stout: OG 1.086, 8.1% abv. An Imperial stout; full bodied and alcoholic. Excellent.

Pelican Pub and Brewery PO Box 189 (503) 965-7779 Pacific City, OR 97135 www.pelicanbrewery.com

On Saturday, the day after the conference ended, we made a trek of the Oregon coast, traveling west of Portland to Tillamook (home of cheese), before following the coast line south to Pacific City (home of the Pelican Pub and Brewery). The Pelican Pub is located right next to a public coastal access, with plenty of parking and a view of the beach. In addition to good food, the pub offered great beers and sells kegs in various sizes for off-premise consumption. Heiferweizen: An unfiltered wheat beer with an unusual name. Remember, it's dairy country around there.
MacPelican's Scottish Ale: Their interpretation of the Scottish Export style. Brewed with a touch of roasted barley and hopped with Willamette hops.
India Pelican Ale: OG 16 P, FG 4.3 P, 6% abv, 55 IBU, 8 L color. This IPA is made with pale and caramel malts, and hopped with Cascade and Chinook hops. Very bitter; very nice.

In addition to the four brewpubs described above, we also visited the Eugene City Brewing Company / West Brothers Bar-B-Q at 844 Olive Street in Eugene; Portland Brewing Company's Flanders Street Brewpub in Portland; and the Thompson Brewpub / McMenamins at 3575 Liberty Road South in Salem. For food, we'll give the West Brothers Bar-B-Q the vote. The West Brothers made an 8-day trek across the US, tasting Bar-B-Q in Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia (among many others). The food at the brewpub was influenced by what they encountered on this trip, and photos from the various out-of-the-way Bar-B-Q establishments hang on the walls. The food was very good. Their most interesting beer was a Honey Orange Wheat, fermented with an authentic yeast strain to give that great Bavarian character. Portland Brewing is home to MacTarnahan's Scottish Amber Ale (OG 1.052, 5% abv, 30 IBU), made with caramel malts and Cascade hops, and widely available in this area.

Many of the brewpubs listed above were represented at the Oregon Brewers Festival, held at Tom McCall Waterfront Park over the weekend of July 24th. The festival featured the beers of over 70 microbreweries, as well as offering a variety of foods and some entertainment. Admission was free, although a $2 souvenir mug was required for tasting. Beer tokens were $1, which bought a small taster portion of beer. Three tokens were needed for a full 14-oz mug of beer.

While the festival was fun, it was packed. Last year they had about 90,000 attendees over the entire weekend. One drawback of the festival is that it ends a little early. Token sales stop about 8:30 PM, beer sales extend only until 9, and the festival gates close at 10. Needless to say, the Portland district near the waterfront is flooded with people after the festival.

On our vacation beer trek we found exactly what we expected before leaving home: the "State of Beer" in northern California and Oregon is extremely healthy. The most memorable beers of the trip were BJ's Tatonka Stout, Rogue Ales Brutal Bitter (both at the conference and the Oregon Brewers Festival), and the India Pelican Ale at the Pelican Pub and Brewery.

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