| Posted: 26 June 2010 at 11:26am | IP Logged | 3
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I've gone on record time and again about the kinds of beer I enjoy, so I won't rehash what people probably already know about me. I will, however, talk about two companies and three brews that I have discovered over the last couple of months. I'm a huge microbrew guy. I rarely drink beer from Bud, Miller, or Coors. They taste like watered down piss water to me and are the ones that have given America the reputation for, let's face it, really bad beer. So I will spend a little more to get a beer that is heavy on taste and light on mass production. Let's start off with Stone Brewing Co. They're located in Northern San Diego County. Of all the types of beer that are out there, my favorite are Porters. I try them all. I love the thick, full bodied taste. A couple of years ago, I got turned onto Alaskan Smoked Porter. Unfortunately, it's a seasonal beer for them, brewed and bottled in small quantities. For this fan of Porter, it was a great to discover the year-around beer Stone Smoked Porter: 
Simply put, it's one of the most delicious Porters I have ever tasted. Thick, chocolaty, and dark, it goes down smooth no matter the mood. I love it and am a huge fan. Discovering Stone Brewing Co. with the Smoked Porter, I decided to venture out and try their signature beer, Arrogant Bastard Ale. The founder of Stone said in the excellent documentary BEER WARS that when his brewer offered him the first taste of Arrogant Bastard, it was a revelation. I tried it just a week ago and I've got to agree. It's that good. 
This is one of the most flavorful Ales I have ever experienced. It's got a deep, rich taste that puts anything made by the Budweisers of the world to shame. The next time I'm in BevMo, our local liquor store that carries a fine selection of beer from all over the country and world, I'm stocking up on this beer. Needless to say, the next time I find myself traveling to San Diego, I'm going to make a pit stop at the restaurant and brew house Stone operates. Try the food, take the tour, enjoy the beer! Looking forward to that. Finally, about a month ago my wife and I spent a weekend in Seattle visiting her friends. We stayed at the home of one friend that was a five minute drive from the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville, WA. They've got a restaurant attached along with a tour. We had lunch, which was excellent, and then took the tour. I had never tried Redhook, erroneously associating it with Red beer which I detest, so to say that I was happily proved wrong would be an understatement. We got to try five of their signature brews and I came away with a love of their Long Hammer IPA (bought a six pack for consumption that afternoon!), Black Hook Porter (unfortunately only available at their two restaurants as tap beer), and their signature brew, Redhook ESB: 
It's a little lighter than I'm normally used to, but that doesn't mean it's light on taste. It's a really good beer, just not as thick as a Porter or the Arrogant Bastard Ale I've immediately grown to love. That said, I really enjoy it, so much so that I looked for it at the aforementioned BevMo. Not only found it, but 12 packs were on sale! Unfortunately, they don't carry Long Hammer IPA, so I'll have to ask them about it on my next visit. As you can tell, I'm really passionate about my beer. I love it. The best beverage on the planet by a country mile. I read about the history of the beer industry, watch documentaries on it, and even got a subscription to Beer Magazine as a Christmas gift from my wife this year. It's a little more expensive to go the microbrew route, but oh so worth it.
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