Best of the breweries

A big portion of my trip through the West was to visit some of the best breweries not only in the country but the world. Here are the best:

10. Big Sky Brewing, Missoula, Mont.
A shed near an airport never produced stuff that tastes this good. Big Sky is known for its Moose Drool brown ale, but they have more adventurous stuff on tap. The brewery skews nice on the inside with lots of swag for sale.

9. Kettlehouse, Missoula
Big Sky gets all the Missoula props,, but Kettlehouse makes better beers. Cold Smoke Scotch ale is their top-seller, but their IPA is darn good. The brewery is a dump -- basically a loading bay. It's usually packed with University of Montana students. Cool atmosphere.

8. Stone, Escondido, Calif.
This is by far the nicest brewery I've ever visited. It's in a huge pristine building. It has a swank restaurant. It even has its own hiking trail that surrounds a beautiful outdoor beer garden.There's a free tour with free tastings. I like some of their beers -- Double Bastard is awesome -- but most don't do a whole lot for me, which is why Stone doesn't rank higher.

7. Avery, Boulder, Colo.
I've been there three times, and it never gets old. They make some awesomely over-the-top beers. Maharaja Imperial IPA is amazing. The Beast is darn good, too. It's all available at the taphouse for $1-4 for small tasters. They offer a free tour but no free booze. The guys there are cool, as are the fellow drinkers.

6. Oskar Blues, Lyons, Colo.
In between Boulder and Estes Park is Oskar Blues. Their known for two things: a great Imperial Stout called Ten FIDY and for being one of the first craft breweries to can their beer. But it's also a very fun place to drink. I had an unfiltered IPA called Gubna that was a really interesting beer. Plus, the ladies tending bar are really cute.

5. North Coast, Fort Bragg, Calif.
As if making the amazing Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout wasn't enough, the brewery sits right along the rugged Northern California Coast. The English-style bar features all the North Coast favorites and a few experimental beers. The brewery is being renovated and wasn't open for a tour, which is a bummer.

4. Ninkasi, Eugene, Ore.
This is one of the top up-and-coming breweries in America (probably behind only The Bruery in the LA area, which I unfortunately didn't get to visit.) Ninkasi makes some really good beers, highlighted by the double IPA Tricerahops. The tasting room has a modern, bright feel. Plus it's close to the Pizza Research Institute, which is a very good thing.

3. Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, San Marcos, Calif.
The atmosphere is awesome in this one brewery that houses two brands. The tasting room is in the loading bay of the brewery. The chairs are kegs topped with bags of sugar. (The resident cat Amarillo is pictured above sitting on one.) The beers are incredible. The Lost Abbey beers are some of the best Belgian styles made in America. The Port beers are hoppy San Diego classics. I was the only visitor there one afternoon and ended up drinking Duck Duck Gooze with head brewer Tomme Arthur at the bar.

2. Russian River, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Best beer. Period. Pliny the Elder. All the world-class sours. When it comes to beer it can't be beat. And the vegetarian sandwich with big hunks of mozzarella and roasted red peppers didn't hurt things either. But Russian River lacks atmosphere. It's just a brewpub with no public tour. That kind of stinks, and it doesn't match up with its reputation. That said, the beer stands on its own. It's worth the trip just for the sips.

1. Diamond Knot, Mukilteo, Wash.
Four words: This place kicks ass. The brewpub sits on the Puget Sound. Just feet away, ferries shuttle cars to and from Whidby Island. A blond little person is the featured waitress. I wanted to be the heavily bearded bartender. Patrons crunch peanuts and toss the shells on the floor. And -- not to be ignored -- the beer is amazing. The IPA is one of my favorites ever. I could hang out in this place all day everyday.

Older is better

So I turned 30 today. It's really not that big of a deal to me. Birthdays never really are. The best part is that you get to do things you enjoy. So today, I ran three miles on a desolate Nebraska gravel road. I played football with my dad, son and niece. I held my adorable daughter a whole lot.

And, of course, I drank a beer I love.

Today, it was Pliny the Elder. And, man, do I love that beer. And since I'm officially an old man, it made sense.

It's a beer brewed by Russian River, which I've already written a ton about. It's super hoppy. Not as bitter as its son, Pliny the Younger, but still very piny and crisp. My friend Dustin said that bite gives it an almost apple-like flavor.

Elder also has some serious history. Russian River brewer Vinnie Cilurzo brewed the first double IPA at San Diego's Blind Pig brewery in 1994. The style has taken off since, and Pliny the Elder is very similar to that original.

I drank Elder on tap at a bunch of spots in the west -- Seattle, Portland and -- most importantly -- Russian River's brewery in Santa Rosa, Calif. Visiting that temple of beer was really cool -- plus I meet some cool people and ate some good food.

But back to the birthday. I bought five bottles of Elder at Seattle's Bottleworks. I knew I'd be drinking one on my birthday. Is Elder better than Younger? When it comes to beer, I'm not so sure. It's a close argument. But in life, yeah, I hope as I age things will only get better.


The details:
Name: Pliny the Elder
Brewer: Russian River Brewing Co.
Beer Advocate rank: 6
Style: Double IPA
Alcohol: 8 percent
Cost: $5 for a 500 ml bottle; or $8 for a pint in an LA bar
My Grade: A+
Skinny: It may not be as sexy as Pliny the Younger, but it's still a damn good beer with a lot of important history. And it's a great beer to drink on your birthday. It's a big gift to yourself.

Some like it sour

A general rule: If anyone offers you a beer brewed by Russian River, you drink it.

That said, Supplication is a shocker if you don't know what's coming. I recently had it at a wonderful Seattle bar, The Dray. My friend and I each ordered Supplication. The bartender insisted we sample it first, just so we knew what we were getting into.

The simple explanation: It's sour as hell. It's brewed with sour cherries, and you can sure taste it. It's a surprising and -- let's face it -- off-putting taste at first. For most beer drinkers -- even those enlightened enough to enjoy intense imperial stouts and uber-bitter IPAs -- lip-puckering sour flavors seem foreign in beers.

And I get it. I want to like sours. The most refined beer-drinkers do. But it's hard for me. It took me about an hour to sip through the Supplication. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. It's a beautiful golden-brown ale, almost like a Saison, with a sharp sour bite. I appreciate it, but at this point I can't say I love it. A few more sours, and maybe I'll enjoy the Supplications of the world a bit more.


The details:
Name: Supplication
Brewer: Russian River Brewing Co.
Beer Advocate rank: 14
Style: American wild ale (sour)
Alcohol: 7 percent
Cost: $8.50 for a 12-ounce pour
My Grade: C+ (for my taste, though in the style it's definitely an A)
Skinny: A sour golden ale that smacks of the oak barrels it's aged in. As far as sours go, it's a great one. But my problem is, I don't really like sours. I'm trying. Honestly.

Chasing No. 1

So I'm on a road trip of the West. There are many reasons for it: Seeing friends, hiking, experiencing new places, mending from my failed marriage.

But another quest has developed out of the trip: Trying to drink as many of the top 100 beers in the world, according to Beer Advocate.

I bagged a big one last night: Pliny the Younger by Russian River Brewing Co. For the past week, Pliny the Younger has been in a battle for the top spot on Beer Advocate's list with an obscure Belgian beer. So, naturally, I had to taste it.

When I got to Seattle about a month ago, I began calling area distributors to see when they'd get it. Turns out the greater Seattle area only got 13 small kegs for all their customers. I tracked down a bar -- Naked City Brewery -- that was tapping Pliny the Younger on Fat Tuesday. I got up there an hour early and fought for a seat at the bar. They tapped the keg at 5 p.m. sharp and ran out of the beer at 5:06. Luckily, I got glass.

So how'd it taste? Like sucking on a hop cone. For someone who likes hoppy beers a whole lot, that was pretty sweet. Pliny the Younger is a triple India Pale Ale and it's a descendant of the double IPA Pliny the Elder. The Elder has a nice hop bite, but is highly drinkable. The Younger is a whole different animal -- every taste is heightened, exaggerated. It's very piny up front and very sweet on the back end -- almost like a very hoppy barley wine.

It was good, for sure. Having a successful hunt for it made it all the better.

Post script: A day later I went to another Seattle bar I heard was cool, Uber. I was the only person in there around 4 p.m. on a Wednesday, and I was talking with the bartender. I asked about Pliny the Younger. He said they'd be tapping theirs later, on the downlow. I ordered a Colorado beer I like -- Avery's The Beast, a very big beer -- and drank it. When I finished it, the bartender grabbed the glass and filled it up. He slid it to me and winked.

As I brought the glass to my mouth, a sharp pine aroma hit my nose. I smiled at the bartender. He'd tapped Pliny the Younger on the downlow for sure. He'd tapped it right in front of me and silently poured me one. It was even better the second time.

So I had the No. 1 beer in the world on back-to-back days. Not too shabby.


The details:
Name: Pliny the Younger
Brewer: Russian River Brewing Co.
Beer Advocate rank: 1
Style: Triple IPA
Alcohol: 11 percent
Cost: $5.50 for a 12-ounce glass
My Grade: A+
Skinny: It's considered the best for a reason. The piny aroma and the incredible hoppy bite makes the biggest first impression I can remember from a beer. The back end is incredibly rich, making this one ridiculously indulgent beer.