Wines, lagers, and burs! Oh, my!

About a month ago, teh breezie and I took a trip up to Sonoma for some drinks and good times. Most folks go up to Sonoma for the wine. I say why stop there. Not only did we do the wineries; we did the breweries. Although only one of the three breweries we hit were actually in Sonoma, the other two are close enough that you should stop by if you happen to be passing through.

The first brewery we hit was Lagunitas Brewing Company. This brewery is actually in Petaluma which is along the way to Sonoma by way of Oakland. This is one of my favorite microbrews and probably the easiest of the three to find in a grocery store. Here is a pic of Susie taking a taste of a tasty brew in their tasteful tasting room. Here's to free booze!


Yeah, that's right; the tasting was free. I like almost every beer they make. If I recall correctly, their best seller is their IPA. The only one I don't like is called "GnarlyWine" which is their version of a barley wine. It's definitely gnarley. Here's a couple more pictures from the brewery.

I give you: The Motherload

And here are some shiny tanks:


And if you ever see their "Censored" rich copper ale, know that the original name of the brew was "The Kronic." Back when it was released, the Kronic moniker was considered in poor taste and was subsequently censored by our friends at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms aka the ATF. I find it hard to believe that they have nothing better to do than censor beer labels and come after me and my gunz.


The next brewery we tried was the Russian River Brewing Company in downtown Santa Rosa. Again, this brewery isn't quite in Sonoma but it's pretty close. I highly recommend checking this place out if you're in the area. I remember seeing this brewery featured on some TV show but haven't tried their brew prior to that visit. Here's their beer list:


Well, you can't see shit but it's there. I love trying new things and every single beer on that board was new to me. So, we decided to try them all with a sampler set.


Their best beer by far is their double IPA, Pliny the Elder. It's the one at 4 o'clock on the wheel o' bur. If you ever...evereverever see that beer on tap in LA, give me call and order a pint because I'll be on my way.

Here's the wheel 'o bur again except now it looks a little deflated. The two samples on the far side of the wheel came with the sampler as well but there wasn't enough room for them all.


The cheese stands alone...


And then there was none...


And the second best part (the first being pliny) about this whole visit was the bill. We had:

• 1 small lorenzo pizza
• 1 gorgonzola salad
• 3 pints of bur
• 1 sampler set
• an additional sample of pliny
  

total before tax & tip: $44.25


Not bad at all.

The last brewery we visited was the Bear Republic Brewing Company. This one actually is in Sonoma! Unfortunately, I don't have that many pictures of the place or the beers since we stopped by after a day of wine tasting. Needless to say, we were a bit tired and just wanted to sit back and chill. In my opinion, there best beer is their double IPA, Racer X. I haven't been able to find this in bars or restaurants. I have seen their Racer 5, though. I would say Racer 5 is a close second to their X.

We had a couple of beers and then had to bounce. Once again, I was impressed with the price of booze. Our bill was a whopping six doolars.


In LA, this would have easily cost $8~10. That doesn't sound like much difference but it adds up after a few rounds. As we headed out of the bar, I was suddenly attacked by a bear hiding behind one of their tanks. Susie just stood there and took a picture.


My instinct took over as I roared with anger and unleashed by torso mounted rail gunz on the ferocious beast. When the dust settled, my gunz and I stood over the dead bear. How many people can say that they've gone wine tasting, beer tasting, and killed a bear with their bare hands in a single day? Just one...

Bear wrestling aside, I learned a lot about beer this trip. It entirely changed my view on hoppy beers and it introduced me to about a dozen beers I haven't previously tasted. In closing, I highly encourage you to try the following beers should the opportunity every arise.

• Lagunitas IPA
• Pliny the Elder by Russian River Brewing Company
• Racer X or Racer 5 by Bear Republic Brewing Company
• West Coast IPA by Green Flash Brewing Company

I know I didn't talk about the last one on that list. We didn't go to the Green Flash brewery. We had the opportunity to try it at this bar in Santa Cruz called 99 bottles. Suffice to say that it's a good bur; I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

Cheers, bitches.