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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

What’s Brewing In California? This Fertile Ground For New Trends Has Turned Beer Making - And Drinking - Into A Gourmet Endeavor

Steve Johnson Universal Press Syndicate

Wine glasses are clinking across Napa Valley, but not all of them are filled with fermented grape juice. Almost as many are likely to contain fermented barley juice. In other words, beer.

That beer should be enjoying a rebirth in California is only fitting. It is a place where people live their dreams and where new ideas are born or popularized. The wine movement gave birth to the beer renaissance, not because California is fertile ground for barley and hops, but because it is fertile ground for new trends.

Just as the boutique wineries started and spread from the Napa and Sonoma valleys in the ‘60s, so too did craft breweries about a decade later. They were initially called “microbreweries” which created a distinct mental image. The term evolved into “craft brewery” because it became apparent that the size of the brewery was not important. What was important were the traditional methods and ingredients used to make the beer.

A later arrival and offshoot of the craft brewery was the brewpub. A brewpub is a craft brewery that has a bar and/or restaurant where customers can buy the beer and drink it on the premises.

In the 18 years since the first boutique brewery opened in California, 90 more have sprung up across the state. From Northern California, the trend has spread up and down the West Coast, penetrated the Rockies, crossed the plains and reached all the way to the East Coast. More than 500 new breweries have opened nationwide. An additional 200 are expected to open in 1995.

Fast on the heels of the gourmet beer movement has been a trend toward beer tourism. This is because there is a fundamental difference between beer and wine: Wine improves with age; most beer deteriorates. You can enjoy a bottle of cabernet sauvignon in Santa Rosa, Boston or the North Pole. But beer is best when consumed where it is made. So beer lovers have hit the road to experience the product where and when it is at peak condition.

The delights of the California wine country are no less pleasurable for the beer aficionado. Up and down these scenic valleys are a culture and economy devoted not only to the fruit of the vine, but to the ordinary joys of life as well. Neat rows of grapevines line the valleys, winery estate houses perch on the hilltops and towns and villages snuggle in the valleys.

All are laced together by a network of country roads and highways that roll up and down the valleys, plains, hills and ridges.

There’s something worth seeing or doing at every bend in the road: country inns, hot-air balloon rides, pear and walnut orchards, geysers, mud baths, colorful restaurants and shops, canoeing, jazz festivals, historic homes and rustic farmhouses.

But we’re here for beer. To tour the five brewpubs in the Napa Valley - and do little else - allow a long weekend. Start in Santa Rosa, the southern terminus of wine country and only an hour’s drive north from San Francisco. The Santa Rosa Brewing Co., on the corner of Seventh and B Streets, opened in 1988 as Kelmer’s Brewhouse and has since changed owners and theme. What was once a dimly lit English sports pub is now a California pub with a light and airy look.

Santa Rosa co-owner Frank McCullough has teamed up with the original brewer, Tim O’Day, and they are making some flavorful and interesting brews. The hoppy Santa Rosa Red Ale and the Chocolate Stout are especially good. (Chocolate lovers, note: There is no chocolate in the beer, but it sure tastes like it.)

From Santa Rosa, U.S. 101 follows the Russian River, noted for its redwood-covered mountains and valleys dotted with wineries - Piper Sonoma, Souverain and Korbel - along its course.

There are a number of river resorts in Guerneville, and the nearby Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve is a good place for a picnic and a hike.

At Cloverdale, Highway 128 branches off U.S. 101 and runs a pleasant 25 miles north through apple orchards, vineyards, cattle ranches and redwoods to Boonville, home of Anderson Valley Brewery/ the Buckhorn Saloon. It’s hard to miss because of the huge grain silo in front proclaiming beer country.

The brewery was started in 1987 by local chiropractor Ken Allen and his wife, Kim, on the site of the Buckhorn Saloon. Built in 1873, it was the oldest bar in town. The gift shop in the front occupies the original site of the saloon; the rest of the building is new and is the first building in California designed as a brewpub. It has skylights and windows that look out on the Octopus Mountain. During the summer the beer garden’s horseshoe pitching pit is open.

Signs from old breweries and more than a hundred beer T-shirts from newer breweries cover the walls. Be careful when you sit down at the bar: The stools are topped with old tractor seats that have a saddle horn sticking up in front.

The real story at the Anderson Valley Brewery is the ales. High Rollers Wheat Beer is tart and fruity, made with a 50-50 mix of wheat and barley; then there’s Poleeko Gold, a hoppy-citrusy and well-balanced American pale ale; full-bodied Boont Amber provides a good dose of caramel malt flavor, and dark and rich Deep Enders Porter has a bittersweet chocolate finish.

At the head of the pack is the Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, a rich concoction with a silky body, brown-to-black in color and well-endowed with fresh hops and deeply roasted malt.

From Boonville, California Highway 253 winds over the Coastal Range back to U.S. 101. From there, 14 miles south is Hopland, site of the Mendocino Brewery/Hopland Brewery, Brewpub and Beer Garden.

As the name implies, Hopland was once a rich hop-growing area, which explains the hop motifs on the stamped tin walls. In the 1950s, a California hop vine blight and a crash in hop flower prices ended that forever. When the Mendocino Brewing Co. opened in the summer of 1983, it was the first brewpub in California and the second only to Yakima Brewing in Yakima, Wash.

Mendocino Brewing opened about the time the original New Albion Brewery went out of business in Sonoma. Some of the original brewing equipment from the New Albion is on display in the garden.

Because it was the first brewpub in California and because it was on the main route to the redwoods, Mendocino Brewing became a popular spot with locals and tourists. Tourists took home the 25.4-ounce bottles of Red Tail Ale.

Today the family-style restaurant, which specializes in American cuisine, still has a saloon-like ambience, with the classic old-time red brick walls, blond oak bar with brass foot rail and hardwood floor. In warm weather, the beer garden, covered by grape and hops vines, is open.

The beers are named after local birds, mostly raptors, and have beautifully designed labels.

Regular beers are the light bodied and fresh Peregrine Pale Ale, hoppy and malty Red Tail Ale, even hoppier and citrusy Blue Heron Pale Ale, and the rich and bitter Black Hawk Stout. For their anniversary party every July, they serve Eye of the Hawk Stout, a brew made potent by generous portions of malt used in the recipe.

Forty miles south of Hopland down a combination of U.S. 101 and California 128 lies the old town of Calistoga. It is an area blessed with natural attractions: mud baths, spas, a geyser and a petrified forest - and a manmade innovation, hang-gliding centers.

Downtown, in a white Swiss chalet-style building dating to 1887, is the Calistoga Inn/Napa Valley Brewing Co., a brewpub and bed and breakfast where you can spend the night for $40 to $60.

When the brewery was added to the inn by former owner Phil Rogers, he put the brewing equipment in the original water tower beside the Napa River and built a patio between the tower, the original inn and the river.

Making wine, the prevalent industry around here, can be hot and thirsty work. So when asked why he built a brewpub instead of a winery, Rogers replied, “It takes a lot of beer to make good wine.”

The old water tower, a brick patio with potted flowers and trailing vines and the soft tinkling sound of water from the fountain create an atmosphere made for peaceful contemplation. Taking his cue, perhaps, from this tranquil environment, head brewer Randy Gremp makes a delightful Wheat Ale with a soft floral aroma and a tart and fruity palate.

He also makes a fresh and hoppy Red Ale; a deeply rich Porter; and his Old Faithful Barleywine, which is fruity and strong. The Old Faithful is aged a full year to let the flavors mellow. (Most beers are ready to drink within two to four weeks, but the strongest beers, like wine, improve with age.)

About 20 miles south on California 128 is the town of Napa - in the heart of wine country - and the home of Downtown Joe’s Brewery and Restaurant.

In 1994, Downtown Joe’s was voted “Napa’s best bar” by residents of the valley in a poll conducted by local radio stations. Dating from the late 1800s and with a remodeled Art Deco facade, Joe’s has a nice beer garden on the bank of the Napa River and beside Veteran’s Memorial Park. The focal point of the old front barroom is its copper bar top, and picture windows in the elevated the main dining room overlook the river.

Brewer Brian Hunt performs his magic in the gleaming copper brewhouse between the bar and dining room. There he turns out such beers as Lickity Split Lager (smooth and inoffensive), Ace High Cream Ale (a little more flavor, perhaps for the gambler), Tail Waggin’ Ale (as good as its name suggests), Past Due Dark Ale (dark, rich and roasted) and Golden Thistle Bitter Ale (a delectable California version of an English ale).

Hunt is part of a growing cadre of people who have developed a culture around the golden liquid.

And, yes, there are beer snobs. If you want to impress your friends (and don’t mind being taken for a snob), study the beer books on the market and be ready to spout such brewing lingo as “international bittering units,” “humulus lupulus,” “alpha acids” and “diacetyl effect.” If you really want to dazzle them, casually drop the phrase, “single-step infusion mash.”

But if you’re just more interested in beer and want a glimpse of its future, check out California.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: IF YOU GO -Anderson Valley Brewery/The Buckhorn Saloon, 14081 California Hwy. 128, Boonville, Calif. 95415; (707) 895- BEER. Calistoga Inn/Napa Valley Brewing Co.,1250 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga, Calif. 94515; (707)942-4101. -Downtown Joe’s Brewery and Restaurant, 902 Main St., Napa, Calif. 94559; (707) 258-2337. -Mendocino Brewing/Hopland Brewery, Brewpub and Beer Garden, 13351 U.S. Highway 101 South, Hopland, Calif. 95449; (707) 744-1361. -Santa Rosa Brewing, 458 B St., Santa Rosa, Calif. 95401; (707) 544-HOPS. Other sources of information: -Calistoga Chamber of Commerce; (707) 942-6333. -Guerneville Chamber of Commerce; (707) 869-9000. -Napa Valley Visitors Bureau, 1310 Napa Town Center, Napa, Calif. 94559; (707) 226-7459. -Russian River/Mendocino District Office; (707) 865-2391. -Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce; (707) 545-1414. If you’d like to take a break from the brewery tour and have a picnic at the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, call (707) 869-2015. For those who want to explore breweries throughout California, a good source is “California Brewin” by Jack Erickson (Redbrick Press). The book covers several California craft breweries and provides a history of the California craft-brewing movement.

This sidebar appeared with the story: IF YOU GO -Anderson Valley Brewery/The Buckhorn Saloon, 14081 California Hwy. 128, Boonville, Calif. 95415; (707) 895- BEER. Calistoga Inn/Napa Valley Brewing Co.,1250 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga, Calif. 94515; (707)942-4101. -Downtown Joe’s Brewery and Restaurant, 902 Main St., Napa, Calif. 94559; (707) 258-2337. -Mendocino Brewing/Hopland Brewery, Brewpub and Beer Garden, 13351 U.S. Highway 101 South, Hopland, Calif. 95449; (707) 744-1361. -Santa Rosa Brewing, 458 B St., Santa Rosa, Calif. 95401; (707) 544-HOPS. Other sources of information: -Calistoga Chamber of Commerce; (707) 942-6333. -Guerneville Chamber of Commerce; (707) 869-9000. -Napa Valley Visitors Bureau, 1310 Napa Town Center, Napa, Calif. 94559; (707) 226-7459. -Russian River/Mendocino District Office; (707) 865-2391. -Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce; (707) 545-1414. If you’d like to take a break from the brewery tour and have a picnic at the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, call (707) 869-2015. For those who want to explore breweries throughout California, a good source is “California Brewin” by Jack Erickson (Redbrick Press). The book covers several California craft breweries and provides a history of the California craft-brewing movement.