Pliny the Younger and Cheese Please

My plan was to not chase Pliny the Younger around the same way I did last year when Elder arrived in the area. However, here I am pointing out the movement of the 3IPA as it invades Philly. I had my inaugural glass at Capone's last Sunday and as long as Younger continues to pour in the area it wont be my last.

If you need the California hop fix head to Tria (Washington Square) today from 4-7pm (or until it kicks) for Pliny the Younger and Salvation. The beers will be specially priced and paired with two California cheeses, Fiscalini Vintage Bandage Wrapped Cheddar and Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk.

Journey to the Left Coast

After two wonderful weeks we have returned from our honeymoon. The trip took us to Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco and Maui. Everything from the food, to the wine, to the island activities was top notch. I will skip the details of most of the food and wine we consumed and go straight for the beer. I made a point to stop at as many beer locations as possible with out driving Kelleigh over the edge. I have to hand it to my wife (that still sounds funny to say) she was more than a trooper when it came to exploring breweries. A lesser person would not put up with my beer geek ways. That's one of the reasons I married her.

Our first day was in Santa Rosa, CA and we started the beer exploration on a very high note. Russian River Brewing Company was the first beer stop. I wont say that everything after this was downhill but the bar was set high. It's very hard to beat sitting at a bar drinking fresh Pliny the Elder and Salvation with lunch. The room was wide open with a half wall that split the dinning room and bar area. High ceilings and huge windows across the front of the building add to the airy feel. A few chairs and table were also set up outside in front for those who want to enjoy the California sunshine. The bartender was very attentive but then again it was only 11:15am and Kelleigh and I and a few locals were the only ones in the place. He made sure to give us some good info on the beer and even tossed in a few samplers along with our orders. I drank Pliny the Elder, Salvation, Damnation and shared a sampler of Belgian style beers. I can't say anything bad about the place, all the beer was amazing. If I lived in Santa Rosa my butt would be planted on a bar stool at Russian River on a regular basis. Unfortunately this is not home and we couldn't spend the whole day here. So once we finished lunch I grabbed a bottle each of the barrel aged Supplication, Beatification and Temptation and continued our tour.

The second stop in town was Third Street Ale House which was only three blocks from Russian River. Walking in the first impression I got was this place feels like a beach/shore bar. That's not necessarily a bad thing just not what I was anticipating. We were there just after 12:30PM so the lunch crowd was flowing in but my guess is the place is packed with twenty somethings on Friday and Saturday nights. Kelleigh was set to start the wine tasting part of our trip so I had only one beer here, the Marzenfest. If I was smart I would have taken tasting notes. All I can remember is the Marzenfest was deep amber in color, fairly malty and had a well balanced roasted taste. Although the one beer I had was good I couldn't help but think that this brewpub and it's beers are always in the shadow of Russian River Brewing Co. Hopefully both will continue to comfortably coexist.

Next stop Healdsburg CA