Heading to the States over Christmas.

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argon

firmitas, utilitas, venustas
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Heading to the States over Christmas. 3 weeks in total. 2 weeks in Phoenix where family live and a week in LA for Disneyland with the kids. This will be my 3rd trip over there and the 1st where I had any concept of good beer.

Won’t have time or the inclination to visit any pubs/bars/breweries so will be finding a few liquor stores where I can get myself a good selection to sip on in the evenings with the family.

Will be starting the list, obviously with Pliny the Elder and anything from Russian River. Anything by Green Flash, as I’m a massive fan.

Saw a post a while back (bum I think) with a list of beers worthy of trying, can’t find it now. But remember thinking that there were a heap of beers there worth getting into.

So the list goes at this point;
Russian River
- Pliny the Elder
- Actually anything from Russian River, however never had one of their beers
Green Flash
- West Coast IPA
- Trippel
- anything else, big fan of the brewery
Stone
- Arrogant *******
- Ruination IPA
Lagunitas
- IPA
- Maxiums IPA
- Imperial Red
Sierra Nevada
- Bigfoot
- Fresh Pale (probably a go to beer at restaurants etc.)
- Fresh IPA
- Any special releases I come across
Rogue
Dogfishead
Bear Republic
New Belgium… had a few Fat Tires (available everywhere)when there last, thought nothing special of it. Maybe different perspective now.
 
Availability is weird over there. Don't go in with a list of stuff you HAVE TO try because you'll come away disappointed. Just try everything you see. Grab stuff from breweries you've never heard of. Way less hit-and-miss of an option than it is here.

Have a great trip.
 
Thanks, good tip. The only one I HAVE to try is Pliny preferably on tap.

The others I'll try to find, but just like here I think I'll see what looks interesting and pick what's at hand.
 
Definitely tap for Pliny if you can swing it. Pretty big difference, IMO. Russian River's sours are amazing too. All their beers are good but Pliny and the sours are just tops.

That's a good list you've got there. Definitely grab anything you see with a Lagunitas label. Hoping (against hope) that I'll get to the brewery when I'm (sorta) in the area in a few weeks.
 
Firestone Walker
Karl Struass

Jamils (heretic)
 
My grandparents lived in Sedona after they retired. I've been there twice. Interesting part of the country. Some of the best jerky I have ever eaten came from a toothless man by the roadside about an hour out of Phoenix on the way to Jerome.
 
You sure you can't wrangle a night or two in San Francisco? You'd be able to get most of the stuff on your list from City Beer and there's a couple of great beer bars. Lagunitas, Russian River, Bear Republic and Anderson Valley are all on the same drive heading north of SF to boot. Some good scenery in the area too.

LA is an ugly shithole and probably the worst city in California for craft beer, having said that I saw Firstone Walker on tap at an Angels game there a couple of years ago (in Anaheim, where Disney is).
 
Kranky said:
LA is an ugly shithole and probably the worst city in California for craft beer
It's pretty rooted for breweries but you can't move without tripping over bars with decent taps and the bottle-os are a friggen wet-dream.
 
bum said:
It's pretty rooted for breweries but you can't move without tripping over bars with decent taps and the bottle-os are a friggen wet-dream.
It has been a few years since I was there, I only found a few bars I thought were good and I lucked out on bottle shops with hard to find craft beer. Having said that I was at the end of a 3 week beer drinking trip and I was over it, my liver was in bad shape.
 
NewtownClown said:
San Diego for a plethora of breweries...
If you're staying in Anaheim a day trip to San Diego is very do able but you will need a car and preferably a designated driver, it's pretty spread out and there's no public transport. There are many, many great breweries in San Diego.
 
As much as I would love to visit a brewery or 2. The itinerary is set and too many kids in tow for any of that.

Did a quick google of the area if Phoenix where I'm staying. Within walking distance I can get a 6 of Dogfishead 60min for $9.99 or 6 Lagunitas IPA for $8.99 or 4 Stone Ruination for $9.99. Holy shit I'm gonna be drunk half the time!
 
Kranky said:
I only found a few bars I thought were good
Well, I did specify the taps alone on purpose, haha. The bars are still full of Los Anglicans...

For example, the first time I went there after getting into craft beer (so the people I know there didn't know how the obsession works yet) a BIL takes me to some sports bar because he wants to watch the Lakers game (he's not beery, a spirits guy). Place is full of (and made for) blokes just wanting to watch the Lakers game. I just checked my notes (yeah, I'm that cool - who wants to touch me?) and I had Bear Republic's Racer 5, Lagunitas' Hairy Eyeball and Drakes' Denogginizer (which was kinda ordinary actually, but you see my point I am sure). A similar bar here would think its Kirin and Guinness taps are exotic as shit.
 
argon said:
As much as I would love to visit a brewery or 2. The itinerary is set and too many kids in tow for any of that.

Did a quick google of the area if Phoenix where I'm staying. Within walking distance I can get a 6 of Dogfishead 60min for $9.99 or 6 Lagunitas IPA for $8.99 or 4 Stone Ruination for $9.99. Holy shit I'm gonna be drunk half the time!
I've never been to Phoenix so I dunno if they're they exist there but if you see a Whole Foods (brand, not description) supermarket be sure to take a sneaky peek. They generally have really, really good (rotating) selections. Been to one or two that are not as good as the others but are still far and away better than any shop you'll find here.
 
Good call on the Whole Foods beer selections. Seem to have a high turnover so everything is generally pretty fresh. Seem to have a lot of season stuff. Decent place to get something healthy to eat too if you are that way inclined.
 
bum said:
Well, I did specify the taps alone on purpose, haha. The bars are still full of Los Anglicans...

For example, the first time I went there after getting into craft beer (so the people I know there didn't know how the obsession works yet) a BIL takes me to some sports bar because he wants to watch the Lakers game (he's not beery, a spirits guy). Place is full of (and made for) blokes just wanting to watch the Lakers game. I just checked my notes (yeah, I'm that cool - who wants to touch me?) and I had Bear Republic's Racer 5, Lagunitas' Hairy Eyeball and Drakes' Denogginizer (which was kinda ordinary actually, but you see my point I am sure). A similar bar here would think its Kirin and Guinness taps are exotic as shit.
There are some very strange bars in LA. In Santa Monica my mate & I wondered into an empty bar that had a number of good looking craft taps. The beer was old and flat and the barman started singing karioke, We didn't finish our beers. Luckily we found the Library Alehouse not to far away and it was great. Another odd bar was the Boogaloo Cafe at Hermosa Beach. Pliny the Elder for $10 but you get your second pint free.

Argon if you really want some Russian River beers a lot of places will hide it and only sell it to you if you ask for it, so if you are in a good bottle shop in California and don't see it ask for it. Usually there's a 2 bottle limit. Also the date should be printed on the bottle, for Pliny the Elder make sure it's fresh (I doubt this would be an issue given how quickly is sells).
 
if you like a big american IPA then see if you can spot 21st amendment's 'brew free or die' IPA. they're a san franciscan brewery but they should be all over the west in good shops. one of my favourite IPAs close behind pliny.

http://21st-amendment.com/beers/brew-free/
 
fletcher said:
if you like a big american IPA then see if you can spot 21st amendment's 'brew free or die' IPA. they're a san franciscan brewery but they should be all over the west in good shops. one of my favourite IPAs close behind pliny.

http://21st-amendment.com/beers/brew-free/
This is a great suggestion. If your into IPA's my go to was always dogfishead 60 or 90 minute. The 90 minute will cost you about 10 bux for a 4 pack. Well worth it and usually pretty easy to find. I would also recommend Dales pale ale if you can find it. Very strong pale ale from Rocky mountain brewing company, comes in cans.

Have fun. I'm headed back in May, can't wait.
 

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