The Beer Chronicles, Days 8 & 9 - Central Coast Suds In Abundance

May 20 Maintenance
Rule #1 when it comes to responsible road tripping.  Keep your car maintained.  The last thing you want is to break down because you forgot to get the oil changed. Or blow a tire because you didn't get them rotated and balanced.  You know, the mundane things that come with good car ownership.

One of the many BevMo offerings. 

And thus, we had to show that level of responsibility as our first action of the day, taking Guinevere to the local Toyota dealership for her 10k maintenance.  This gave us an hour to wander around and get our morning walk in, which was surprisingly chilly.  We wandered down to the nearby BevMo, the west coast's favorite booze "super store" to see what they had to offer.  Of course, we knew that we were unlikely to purchase anything, seeing as how our souvenir priority was locally bottled brewpub fare and mass-distributed beers just seemed too... mundane. Yes, that may come across as a snobby attitude to have but when there are so many good options at local places, big box stores just don't have the same appeal.

On a side note: the Toyota dealership in SLO is awesome!  They quickly (and with no cost to us!) completed our maintenance, well before we had time to wander over to the nearby Whole Foods so we were back on the road in no time.  Lunch was next on the list, largely to ensure that our future beer consumption would come at little cost to my inebriation.

Prohibition Pub

Upstairs at Barrelhouse Speakeasy

After a quick and tasty lunch in downtown- yes, we once again faced the dreaded Higuera traffic, this time wisely opting for metered street parking a few blocks away- we happened upon a new offering in downtown SLO.  Of course, from the outside it looked like an old-fashioned barber shop, transplanted straight from the 19200s, an intriguing motif for a craft brewery to say the least.  Turns out this fun little establishment was the Barrelhouse Speakeasy, an extension of the much larger Barrelhouse Brewery & Beer Gardens up in Paso Robles.  The theme of this place, an underground lair for clandestine beer drinkers hiding from the feds and their rigid enforcement of Prohibition, gave this downstairs establishment an air of cozy but naughty hedonism.  The lighting was set low and ambient, highlighting the "secret" nature of this off limits purveyor of forbidden libations.  In amongst the bare brick room of dark wood trim and beams were oil lamps, wall phones, bolt action rifles, bookshelves of ancient tomes, and other century-old decor, which helped complete the tenor of illegal fun.

Pulling pints at Barrelhouse Speakeasy

Fortunately, we were some of the very few reprobates here on a mid-afternoon Friday so we took our seats at the bar and proceeded to chat with our bartender, a hirsute 20something who was more than happy to wax poetical about spoliated barley water, one of my favorite pastimes.  Since Barrelhouse was tapping over twenty offerings on this day, we opted for two flights, the logic being that my lovely sis would take the brunt of the drinks so I could successfully drive us to join our hosts for dinner later. And taste we did, powering through 16 different beers, each better than the last.  While some of the more typical fare- such as the golden ales, milk stout, and such- were fine, it was the more exotic brews that really titillated my palate, starting with their amazing Rye IPA, a well-balanced hop fest that resembled a favorite pale ale of mine, the Devil's Ale from SanTan Brewing Company in Chandler, Arizona.

Prohibition era decor - Barrelhouse Speakeasy

But things got better from there, as Barrelhouse was tapping not one but FOUR different Berliner Weisses, each one better than the next. In no particular order, they had their regular, unflavored Weisse, slightly tart & infinitely sesssionable at only 3.2% ABV.  And that was the saving grace of all these weisses, each coming in at 3.2 so I could actually enjoy a bit more than usual and still remain upright.  Next up was the Tahitian Weisse, an infused wonder where ginger and pineapple balanced the sour very nicely.  Not to be outdone, the tart sweetness of Pomegranate graced the next Berliner Weisse, the fruit taking the edge off the natural sourness of the brew.  Finally, I thought I was strolling the rural paths of southern England with the next Weisse, an Elderflower-infused sour that just reeked of the English countryside in all the right ways.   And finally, not to be outdone by the magnificent sours on the menu, Barrelhouse was also tapping their staggering Curly Wolf, a Maple Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout, on regular and nitro taps and both equally delicious.  At 9.4% ABV, this was a bit lighter than some of the more extreme beers we'd had on this trip and so much the better for it.  You could actually drink some of this without getting blotto.

While I have come to SLO for many years now, I never made it to one of downtown's beer institutions, the Creekside Brewing Company, which closed its doors last year before I had a chance to try it.  Fortunately, Barrelhouse Speakeasy is an magnificent heir to downtown's beer throne and should do well in a city where people appreciate eclecticism in all it's marvelous varieties.

Banging the Drum at My Local

It may seem odd to think that I have a local in a town that is 900 miles from home but Bang the Drum Brewery is just that kind of place.  I discovered it last year, rough four weeks after it opened its doors, and made a point of going there as often as possible during my two week stay in SLO last year.  It helps that it's a short half mile walk from where I stay, making it the perfect place to hangout if you want to get your drink on.  Now, that isn't always the case; a brewery actually has to make a decent pint and the space needs to be inviting as well.  Bang the Drum excels at both, most especially with their Adonis, an absolutely spectacular Strawberry Wheat Beer, the best of it's kind I've ever tasted.

Bang the Drum

Last year, this place had a bit of a rocky start: they had inadequate and oddly-sized glasses so you never knew what size of drink you would get when you ordered a beer.  Let's say you ordered an Adonis.  One time you might get a 12 oz pour, another a 16 oz, still another a 20 oz.  But you'd pay the same amount each time! Despite that strange and slightly off putting issue, I was taken by the shear goofiness of the place.  The taproom itself- a tiny shack with few tables and the smallest performance stage I've ever seen- was dwarfed by the enormous outdoor patio area, an uncovered garden of tables & chairs of varying sizes & shapes. Surrounding this al fresco tasting room were half walls, windows that separated open air with open air and an old attached shipping crate that had been converted into the brewery's restrooms.

Bang the Drum Patio

Fortunately for the guests here, the glass issue has been resolved this year and consistency has graced this place with a modicum of sanity; that's a good thing to balance how bonkers the actual setting is. While most breweries that don't have kitchens rely on food trucks to satisfy a patron's hunger, this place has a food tent, where a disheveled-looking owner grills up steaks, burgers and sausages with charred abandon. Games are common here; we couldn't help but notice a nearby group laughing themselves silly as they played the hilarious but very NSFW Cards Against Humanity while we tried our hand at a Jenga tower, all the while diving into an incredible golden stout called Surprise Me, coffee and chocolate notes defying its golden color.  All in all, Bang the Drum may not be the snazziest brewpub around nor do they have the best beer but as far as settings go, it's at the top of my list of places to visit, have a brew, and just relax.

May 21 The Forest & The Rock

Morro Rock from the Elfin Forest

After a much needed nights rest, we made our plans for the day.  My sister was intent on cruising out to Morro Bay, something I am seldom against.  Morro Bay is one of my very favorite beach towns, a stuck-in-time wonder where the crowds are seldom substantial and the weather usually cloudy. While the latter is not an attraction to most beachgoers- who prefer the sunnier climes of Pismo or Avila to the south- the cooler cloudy weather suits my hate-all-heat aesthetic.  So I decided we'd take the long way there, driving up Los Osos Valley Road to the even more rustic town of Los Osos and then cruising along the Morro Bay estuary and South Bay Blvd up to Morro Bay.  For me, this is one of the single greatest scenic drives of the Central Coast if not all of California, the parched hills to the east lined with trails and the estuary to the west- an undulating marsh of meandering streams that empty into Back Bay and the Morro Bay State Marine Reserve.

Morro Rock & Bay

Nested on the cliff overlooking this estuary is the aptly named Elfin Forest, a 90 acre state preserve of scrub oak and manzanita through which a boardwalk and dirt trails snake around, giving visitors ample opportunities to see the abundance of flora and fauna within the forest itself and down in the estuary below.  We roamed the forest, covering it's myriad of trails and the mile long boardwalk, my sister snapping more pictures with her iPhone than I thought possible.  We also managed to grab a few geocaches, placed since the last time I was here, even recruiting a little girl and her dad to help me find one.

Once satisfied that we had sufficiently explored the forest, we headed to Morro Bay for lunch, where I treated Cheryl to one of my all time favorite places, the poorly-named Taco Temple; while it sounds like a run-of-the-mill taqueria or Mexican food joint, what this place really does is serve amazing fresh fish and carnitas for the red meat lovers, all presented in what they laughably call a taco, a massive plate of fresh veggies, cheese, meat or fish, sauce, and garnish all laid on top of a two corn tortillas.  Trust me; this is a not a taco you can pick up and eat.  This is a knife and fork place only. And bring cash!  They don't take credit cards.  Don't be fooled by the seemingly high prices.  One taco is enough for two people and the burritos are outlandishly large.  It doesn't help that they have an all-you-can-eat salsa and chip bar that accompanies your order.

Libertine Brewpub - Morro Bay

Satisfied but not stuffed, it was time to walk, taking in about three miles along the strand that connects the Morro Bay waterfront to Morro Rock itself.  We managed to enjoy the antics of seals playing the bay and snag another geocache before thirst gripped us and we wandered down to the waterfront, where we happened upon Morro Bay's only craft brewery, the original Libertine Brewpub, the very same place that we soured ourselves up with the first night we came to SLO.  But this was no rustic warehouse of cask-aged sours; instead, this lively beach pub had a huge rotating tap of beers from around the country, along with a few house made sours.  Naturally, I revisited the fabulous Wild IPA they specialize in but otherwise drifted to other offerings, trending towards the dark to slake my sister's thirst for the black stuff.  We sampled Goleta's M. Special Brewing Company's lovely Dozer Special Brown, a satisfyingly hoppy ale, following by a foray into Heretic Brewing Company's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter, a slightly nutty take on stout's progenitor varietal. Finally, we went back to familiar territory with Bend, Oregon's most famous brewery, Deschutes, and their always pleasing Obsidian Stout on Nitro.

The Old Kid on the Block

With a bit of time to kill before meeting up with our hosts for a movie in downtown SLO, I decided to take my sis to one of the oldest kids on the block, the Central Coast Brewing Company, a mere 15 minute walk from the movie theater and one of the more rustic breweries around.  With a small bar, a few tables right amongst the fermentation vats, and an outdoor patio with seats that look out on the street below, this small craft brewery has been doing the Central Coast proud since 1998, making it the venerable master of the young craft beer scene.  Interestingly, I have found that some of the older craft breweries are quite set in their ways and as such, make beer that is less interesting and more mundane, far closer to the mass produced pap you'd see a frat parties.  Not so with Central Coast.  Their beer is top notch and since they were tapping 11 different brews today, we had to try all of them.

Central Coast Brewing Patio

Our tapper was an absolute sweetie, giving me a "professor" discount on account of the brewery's proximity to Cal-Poly and because we were actually nice and not demanding.  Along with a collection of excellent IPAs and Pale Ales- chef amongst them being the award-winning Lucky Day IPA and the beautifully rich Catch 23 Dark Cascadian Ale- my favorite from this place has to be their uniquely spiced Chai Ale, an ideal accompaniment to a curry or chicken tikka masala.  My sister, on the other hand, was taken by their excellent Stenner Creek Stout, an English style sweet stout made with flaked oats.  As this was the only beer they had canned or bottled (this place sells out fast!), we grabbed this as our souvenir.

Not completely satisfied that we'd had enough beer for the day (!!!), we were absolutely delighted to find out that not only did the movie theater have reserved seats, they also had beers on tap, including the awesomely well-balanced IPA from TapIt Brewery, a place we didn't manage to visit this time around as we ran out of time (and the ability to drink anymore for the day).  Let me tell you: Captain America is a fine movie but an even finer one with a great beer to enjoy while watching!

Next time, Day 10: where the good (some of the best beer) is balanced by the bad (the worst traffic). Stay tuned!