US beer

well I would never have tried London pride outside the UK, I did see bottled Golden Pride on a trip to SF many years ago, but the price put me of.

We saw an "English pub" (The Crown and Rose, Palo Alto), so we decided to see what it was like, for a laugh. All their beer was ice-cold and sparkling; but they did at least serve UK pints...

did you try the Tornado bar or the Magnolia brew pub, are they still around.

what I like about US brewing/beer culture is their creativity & willingness to brew international styles or learn from them and meld them with US ingredients. I think the 'extreme beer' movement is a bit daft sometimes (a big beer can be less than the sum of it's parts - too much of alcohol, hops & malt, can equal just TOO MUCH, if it's not balanced) but I have loved some of the beers it's produced (like the Marston's brewed Stone IPA in Wetherspoon's recent fest).

FYI, I've not been on the left coast (or indeed to the US at all for a good few years), but The Toronado (note the extra 'O', if you do mean this place?) still has a great reputation -

& The Magnolia seems to be going great guns too - cheers MikeMcG

I experienced that first hand in Rogue Ales - I tried to make my way through every "Imperial" beer on the menu. "Imperial Stout", "Imperial Red", "Imperial Pilsner" - my head hurt lots the next morning! The Stout was 11%, and I've no idea how strong the others were because they don't have to tell you across the pond :(

I guess it's possible to be more adventurous when you don't have to finish a cask of beer within a week, since keg beer keeps much longer. Still it was good to have a Bombardier when I got back to the UK.

Didn't get to either, but I'll remember them if I'm ever out again (which seems fairly likely).

Apologies, I got mixed up - the Japanese Wetherspoon's fest beer, Tokyo Black was brewed at Marston's - the Stone IPA was brewed at Shep's cheers MikeMcG

The Toronado and Magnolia are both still open and thriving, even in these difficult times. Best of all, the two are walking distance from each other, and there is regular and frequent bus service along Haight Street in San Francisco.

Also walking distance from the Toronado is Suppenkuche, on Hayes Street. Brilliant selection of imported European beers, heavy on German brews, but with a few others added in for good measure.

And there is more, lots more, and that's just in San Francisco. Driving a hire car north on Highway 101 will yield numerous rewards along the way (mind the alcohol intake!). One of the best is the Russian River pub and brewery in Santa Rosa, but several others are also quite good.

We haven't even gotten to the likes of Portland and Seattle yet.

They'll tell you if you ask. There's another Rogue-owned brewpub in Washington state, east of Seattle in the town of Issaquah (first one to figure out the proper pronunciation wins). The Issaquah Brewhouse's beer menu features OG and alchol percentage by volume for all the beers.

Hi

You can find decent beer in the most unlikely places in the USA.

"Main Street Station" in downtown Las Vegas is not only your typical Las Vegas Casino and Hotel but also boasts a prize-winning microbrewery (triple 7 brewery) - my wife and I stayed there a year or so ago.

I can also recommend "Eddie McStiff's" microbrewery in Moab, Utah; although last time I heard, the brewery was for sale.

An amusing Utah brewing story concerns "Wasatch brewery" in Utah who brewed a beer called "Polygamy Porter" and stuck up a huge placard in the middle of Salt Lake City proclaiming "Polygamy Porter - Why have just one". The (polygamist) Mormons on the Salt Lake City Council weren't amused and made them take it down again - no sense of humour, some people!!!

To be quite honest, if you are camping in the Southwest desert and have been hiking in temperatures approaching 100 degrees F, arriving back at the tent hot, sweaty and dying of thirst (possibly literally), even a Coors or a Bud Lite straight from the cool box tastes wonderfully refreshing!!! 8^)

Regards

KGB

I agree, last time we were over there (morris team tour of the West Coast) we did find many good microbrews, usually rather too strong and always served too cold, but some were over-the-top -- for example, I love hoppy beers, but a couple of the IPAs were so hoppy you could practically feel them stripping the surface off your mouth...

Ian

Come to the East Coast instead. We don't go for that sort of hop-based paint stripper! Even strongly hopped beers such as Dogfish Head 90 and 120 Minute IPAs are still balanced. And they are close to the extreme for hoppiness on the East Coast.

Pierre

for those who don't know about these beers, they are hopped by a bizarre method, in which a Heath Robinson contraption doses a few hop pellets into the copper every minute of the 90 & 120 minute boil, making IPAs with 90 & 120 bitterness units (massively bitter) & 9% &

20%abv! I had a few of their beers in Philadelphia & at the Rehoboth brewpub, before they really got into the extreme stuff & they were lovely, their 23% stout was in Safeway in UK a few years back.

I'm sure they're still not everyone's cup of tea, but as Pierre says, brewed with balance. i.e. loads of bitterness balanced with loads of hoppiness, plus loads of malt & loads of alcohol! But somehow still recognisably beery - complex, drinkable & good.

Likewise the excellent beers of another right-coaster - Victory (Downington, Pennsylvania). cheers MikeMcG