Awesome Gift Beers From Northern California
Jul 27, 2010 at 11:43 | Nor Cal Beer Guy My Aunt is in town and although she's not a beer fan, my cousin and her boyfriend are extreme beer fiends. Sadly they live on the East Coast where they might not be able to get the kind of beers I have access to (just like they have access to a ton of beers I've never even heard of from the East Coast). Every time she flies back I stock her up with some good beer for them.
If you find yourself needing to buy some great beers for friends and family and you don't know what you should be looking for, here's what you should consider buying. And to be honest, just about any of the beers from these breweries are amazing.
The percentages on these are strong for a reason — they'll survive the trip home better and are more unique.
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I know. Obvious awesome beer is obvious. But this is one helluva beer and it needs to be right here at the top. If there's anything that exemplifies the best beer the West Coast has to offer (or at least the best double-IPA) it's Pliny. I had a growler of the stuff about a year ago at a friends winery (Frey) where they also grow hops on their property. Matt handed me some hop flowers, told me to chew on them, and it tasted exactly like Pliny.
You must bring this back to people if you can't find it locally. They come in single bottles (about $6) so don't worry about having to a bring back a six-pack although that would be awesome.
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North Coast Brewing makes great beer which you can find all over California, but their barrel-aged Old Rasputin was for the longest time hard to get. Their first batch, XI, could only be found at the brewery restaurant up in Fort Bragg but luckily they worked their asses off for their second batch and it can be found all over the place. I even found a bottle tucked away in a beer store in Baltimore. If you see one at a store in California, snag one.
Old Rasputin Imperial Stout itself is delicious, but age it in Bourbon Barrels and it shoots to about 11% and pours like motor oil, pretty much my favorite stout out there. Bottles cost about $20 but they are well worth it. Buy a bottle or two and treat yourself, you never know when you'll get a second chance at this.
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Mad River Brewing is located all the way up the coast near Eureka, CA. While up there I spotted a 4-pack of their Black Ale (8.6%) called Serious Madness and have since been a huge fan of what they are doing up there. Their black ale is incredibly flavorful, rich, and dark as Hell. I know dark lagers and ales are the 'new thing' recently and if you want a great beer this is it.
The great thing about this beer is that I've spotted it on the shelves at BevMo! which will make it easy for you to grab a 4-pack. I haven't seen it anywhere else on shelves but who knows, I can't be everywhere at once!
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Lost Coast Brewing got me started on loving stouts years ago when I was at a bar in Seattle and I got my first pint. My only experiences before that were with Guinness which is more like water than a dark ale. 8-Ball Stout blew me away. Lots of hops, lots of roasted malts, and tasty as Hell. I bought a 24-pack last time I was up there but you should be able to find 22oz bottles of it at local beer stores.
The 8-Ball Stout is also not of the Imperial variety like a lot of widely available stouts in California. This way you can drink it during the day for lunch, at a ball game (if you sneak it in), or enjoy pint after pint at the pub. And for yourself, be sure and try their Tangerine Wheat beer if you can. I normally abhor fruit in my beer, but that one is damn tasty.
Brother David's Abbey Style Ale
Anderson Valley makes awesome beer. Their Poleeko Gold Pale Ale and of course their flagship Boont Amber are in a league of their own. Since a lot of that is common knowledge, I'm choosing to focus on their Brother David line of beers.
The Double is an awesome Belgian Style Ale which packs a punch (9%) but you'd never know it. It's smooth, really smooth, and the caramel flavors combined with the flavor of the Belgian yeast are a match made in heaven. It's got a ton of other flavors ranging from cherries to raisins which should keep you occupied for the length of your drinking just trying to decipher this beer. Always a good bet.
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When Bear Republic Brewing says that this is a beer you can sink your teeth into, they aren't screwing around. This thick black stout will feel like a meal when you drink it and will leave you with a thick coat of beer in your mouth which always makes me feel quenched. Forgo dinner, just drink a few of these and you will feel invincible.
You should be able to find bottles of them pretty much anywhere you can find 22oz bottles of Racer 5. They only come in 22oz bottles so I hope you got room in your luggage.
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A scotch ale? Named Kilt Lifter? Hell yeah. This beer from Moylan's in Novato makes me proud to be from the Bay Area. It's rich, malty, and perfect with a meal of haggis. Of course if you're not a fan of sheep stomach stuffed with everything else inside the sheep, I'm sure you could find another dish that works. You don't see too many scotch ales here in California so it works out great that at least one brewery is making a ton of it and making it good.
Maybe it's from watching Braveheart over and over, but drinking this makes me feel like charging a bunch of snooty English lords.
I know your luggage is getting kinda heavy at this point, but leave some room for just one more!
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Drake's has made some great beer over the years and 1500 is no exception to the rule. Get it on tap if you can, but a bottle should do just fine. The aromas of hops and oranges coming off the thing come from adding hops after the fermentation cycle. Think of it as a really hoppy pale ale. Drake's IPA is already off the charts delicious and you migth consider getting that too, but the 1500 has so much flavor it's hard to pass up.
You can find it just about anywhere in the Bay Area so no worries there.
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Well that's the list. A ton of great beers were left off and I hope to get around to mentioning them in posts down the line. Also beers you can only find at the brewery were left off since this is mainly store-buying beer (and in the Bay Area to boot). I'm hoping to write a post on beers to find on tap in California you can't get anywhere else (Moonlight anyone?).
Prost!
Reader Comments (2)
Great choices. You had a ridiculous amount of beer to choose from so I can appreciate the hard decisions.
The list could be huge for sure. I actually sent her back with a bottle of Supplication from Russian River since I happened to have one in my fridge at the time. Nothing like having a beer and feeling your gums retract back off your teeth!