Last Weekend's Beer Haul
Here's the beer haul from when I shopped at two brewing companies in Mendocino County on our North Coast California road trip last weekend.
The five six-packs of cans are from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. I bought two packs of Boont Amber Ale because I've really enjoyed it the few times I've bought it in stores but it's often hard to find. Time to stock up! Winter Solstice is a winter ale. The brewery wasn't open for tastings but I've generally like winter ales so I decided to give it a try by buying a whole pack. Ditto Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. And, for that matter, Black Rice. Black Rice's name doesn't give away what it is- other than the fact it's actually brewed with black rice- but the folks at the store told me it's basically a dark lager, like Negra Modelo. I love Negra Modelo so I decided to buy a pack of Black Rice.
The bottled beers I bought at Mendocino Brewing Company in Fort Bragg, CA. Red Seal Ale is, well, a red ale. I like red ales and I've had this one a few times before. Pranqster and Le Merle are both Belgian ales. Le Merle runs on the sour side but I surprisingly like it a lot. It's also one of those hard-to-find-in-stores beers, so I grabbed some while we were at the brewery. Ditto Pranqster, which I haven't had since visiting the brewery four years ago, so I decided it was time for a pack of that, too. There were at least two other varieties at Mendocino I considered buying but chose not to because a) they are available in local stores (I checked online while shopping) and b) I was fast running out of room in the trunk of our convertible to store all this stuff! 😂
The Can Can!
BTW at Anderson Valley I asked the staff there about the brewery's decision to sell most of its beer in cans. Years ago cans were considered way inferior to glass for preserving beer's flavor. That's changed with advances in technology. Cans always had the advantage of not letting light through like glass does, the staff explained. Strong light changes beer's flavor- for the worse. Cans also pack less air in with the beer, which keeps it from losing its flavor. Finally, cans take less energy to produce than glass bottles, so they're better for the environment. A key improvement in cans that's led to them being much better than decades ago is the technology for lining the inside of the aluminum. Without that the metal imparts a flavor on the beer pretty quickly.
The five six-packs of cans are from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. I bought two packs of Boont Amber Ale because I've really enjoyed it the few times I've bought it in stores but it's often hard to find. Time to stock up! Winter Solstice is a winter ale. The brewery wasn't open for tastings but I've generally like winter ales so I decided to give it a try by buying a whole pack. Ditto Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. And, for that matter, Black Rice. Black Rice's name doesn't give away what it is- other than the fact it's actually brewed with black rice- but the folks at the store told me it's basically a dark lager, like Negra Modelo. I love Negra Modelo so I decided to buy a pack of Black Rice.
The bottled beers I bought at Mendocino Brewing Company in Fort Bragg, CA. Red Seal Ale is, well, a red ale. I like red ales and I've had this one a few times before. Pranqster and Le Merle are both Belgian ales. Le Merle runs on the sour side but I surprisingly like it a lot. It's also one of those hard-to-find-in-stores beers, so I grabbed some while we were at the brewery. Ditto Pranqster, which I haven't had since visiting the brewery four years ago, so I decided it was time for a pack of that, too. There were at least two other varieties at Mendocino I considered buying but chose not to because a) they are available in local stores (I checked online while shopping) and b) I was fast running out of room in the trunk of our convertible to store all this stuff! 😂
The Can Can!
BTW at Anderson Valley I asked the staff there about the brewery's decision to sell most of its beer in cans. Years ago cans were considered way inferior to glass for preserving beer's flavor. That's changed with advances in technology. Cans always had the advantage of not letting light through like glass does, the staff explained. Strong light changes beer's flavor- for the worse. Cans also pack less air in with the beer, which keeps it from losing its flavor. Finally, cans take less energy to produce than glass bottles, so they're better for the environment. A key improvement in cans that's led to them being much better than decades ago is the technology for lining the inside of the aluminum. Without that the metal imparts a flavor on the beer pretty quickly.