The Beer Chronicles, Day 7, Part 2 - SLO Town

Second Home
California is definitely like a second home to me.  I was born in Los Angeles, spent the first 12 years of my life living in six locations all over Southern California and the Central Coast, and have visited virtually every year- usually more than once- since graduating college. Back in the day, I would have said that San Diego was my "second home" in Cali, having worked there for six months in the early 90s and traveling their frequently to visit friends, go to concerts, and such.  But 25+ years and 2 million more people later, I can't say that anymore.  Los Angeles is a fascination but definitely not a second home. Ventura comes very close, with its laid back LA vibe but substantially less people.

But if I'm honest, San Luis Obispo is really where I'd call second home.  I've been there every year since 1996, sometimes more than once a year, and every time I find new things about the place that delight and amaze me.  At roughly half the size of my hometown of Las Cruces, it has a quiet, cool California feel, laid back but not too laid back, owing a substantial part of its character to Cal Poly, the university that breathes life into the place.  Of course, affluence abounds but not in the Santa Barbara, see-my-amazing-Spanish-hacienda way but emanating a more chill-to-the-bone atmosphere. There's a not-so-secret nude beach nearby, wineries galore, and a sense that things are just alright in SLO.  It's no wonder that SLOTown is the nickname; it describes the place to a tee.  So despite some of the inconvenient oddities of a town of 45,000 people- such as hideous parking in downtown and the stupidest street sign font this side of Comic Sans- it is a place that resonates with me.  And now they have beer... in abundance.

The craft beer seen has taken off over the last few years; prior to 2014, the only brewpubs in the area were the mediocre but fun SLOBrew and the excellent Central Coast Brewing Company, which opened its doors back in the 90s.  We'll discuss the latter in a future entry as we didn't visit there until Day 9.  Today it was all about new places and the amazing Farmer's Market.

A quick drive through the lovely Edna Valley, past fields of vines, and the SLO airport and we were knocking on our hosts doorstep, ready for an evening of fun!

Libertine Walk
The late afternoon was cool, perfect for the two mile walk into downtown for Farmer's.  My sis and I were eager to set out so we said goodbye to our hosts, who would drive down and meet us at the market later.  In fact, we had one big pitstop to make before hitting the market: Libertine Brewing Company.  This strange and satisfying pub opened it's doors at the beginning of 2016, having been established up in the Morro Bay for a few years now.  But it's in SLO where the real action takes place. See, this place specializes in making Wild Ales, Sours, and Saisons, a recent passion of mine.  And the brewery here in downtown SLO is where it all happens, the tasting room planted smack dab in the middle of their aging casks.  Apart from the taps, which gives it away as a beer place, this could pass for a rustic winery in Sonoma or Mendocino.  The smell of oak barrels permeates the place, giving it an ambience unlike any we had seen up to this point. And the seating matched the rustic nature: tables were spent barrels themselves, chairs mere simple wooden pillars that would find themselves quite at home in a monastery.

Sour Flight - Libertine Brewing Company

Let me be the first to admit: this place is not for everyone. You have to have a real taste for sour here, a flavor profile that left many of my companions grasping for something more traditional, like an IPA or lager. Me?  I positively thrived in this environment.  Of course, I love all things tart and sour, the more fermented the better.  From kim chi to sauerkraut to kombucha, I love it all and devour it all with relish.  However, even I was challenged by some of Libertine's more powerful offerings, such as the Fonce Pants, a sour saison infused with blackberries.  On the other hand, I was right at home with the amazingly refreshing Framboise, which takes the Belgian style, removes all of the sweetness and replaces it with powerful raspberry tartness.  Similarly, the fabulous Soccer Mom is a citrus-infused wild ale that takes the best elements of Campari and fizzes them up with sour citrus joy. But best of all was the staggering Wild IPA, a hopped up sour ale with huge citrus tasting notes like no other IPA I've ever had.  What was particularly awesome is that most of these beers are bottled so you can take some home as expensive souvenirs, which I happily did with the Wild IPA, plopping down a whopping $17 for a bomber of this elixir.  I can't wait to see what my hophead friends think of this one!

Farmer's Market

SLOTown Police Viper

Since Libertine is only a few blocks from Higuera Street, the one way street that along with Marsh Street traverses the whole of downtown SLO, we marched down to the market, which lines about five blocks of Higuera on Thursday nights.  This market is really more of a giant street festival every week, with vendors of all sorts hocking their wares, from Tri Tip (a favorite of the Central Coast) to fresh fruit and veg to organic soaps to most anything you could think of.  There's even activities like climbing walls, musical acts and sometimes even fire breathers... it's a real menagerie of eclecticism merged with small town FFA hometowniness.  Even the police get in on the act, bringing out their souped up Dodge Viper for all the town to gawk at.  

SLO Farmer's Market at Dusk

Michelle, one of my lovely hosts, shopped for produce while I took in the surroundings, only to be distracted by another interesting offering, new to the market: a both from a new business called Whale Bird that makes in house, craft kombucha!  In case you didn't know, kombucha is a fermented beverage, usually less than .5% ABV so it is considered nonalcoholic, that just bursts with probiotic goodness.  Like beer, it is brewed through a fermentation process but never achieves the state of alcoholic bliss, instead focusing on a broad spectrum of healthy by-products of the process, such as amino acids, active cultures a la yogurt, b vitamins and antioxidants.  And it's usually quite tart and not very sweet, despite the fact that sugar must be part of the process to ensure fermentation occurs. The two taps that Whale Bird offered on this night were a bit sweeter than the usual kombucha, but still with sugar content less than a third that of a typical soda.  On this evening, they were tapping their Ginger Sarsaparilla and their Jasmine Bliss, both of which use tea as a base for the beverage. Both were slightly sweet and refreshing, a perfect companion for the remainder of our walk through the market.

Next time, Day 8 of our travels, where we go back in time to the Prohibition Era and spend evening Banging the Drum... slowly and steadily.  Stay tuned!