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Craft Beer Tour 2019: Weed, CA

These photos were taken Friday, October 18, day 19 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Mt. Shasta Brewing Company and Weed Ales & Lagers, both of which are located at the same location in Weed, California.

When I left ColdFire Brewing I still had a 6 1/2 hour drive to Chico, and that was just not going to happen. When I do these trips I try to avoid driving at night because I cannot see this new landscape in the dark. I knew if I stopped in Weed it would only be a 2 1/2 hour drive to Chico, and the Hop Harvest Festival didn’t start until 2:00 PM. I also knew that Weed Lager & Ales was located there; so I head south for four hours to Weed, CA.

I know I have driven south on I-5 through Mt. Shasta before, but I must have gone through at night because I do not recall ever seeing the view I had of Mt. Shasta before. It was truly magnificent with its snow caps and the cloud of snow above it; I had to stop and take a couple photos, but it was cold and windy as heck so I didn’t spend a lot of time there. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: Eugene, OR

These photos were taken Friday, October 18, day 19 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Falling Sky Brewing House and ColdFire Brewing Company, both of which are located in Eugene, Oregon.

I bid farewell to Matt and Dom on Friday morning and began my drive south to Chico where I would be attending Sierra Nevada’s Hop Harvest Festival on Saturday. After a couple hours of driving I realized I would be going through Eugene. I visited Eugene last year when I went to Ninkasi. I knew I was arriving in Eugene too early to return to Ninkasi, so I pulled over at the next rest stop to see if Eugene had additional breweries, and whether or not they would be open. As luck would have it, they had two that were open and not too far from each other. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: Redmond, OR

These photos were taken Thursday, October 17, day 18 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Initiative Brewing, Wild Ride Brewing, and Porter Brewing, a few of the breweries you can find in Redmond, Oregon. The first few photos were taken on the drive from Oregon City to Redmond.

Those of you that follow my travels closely may recall that last year I stayed with Matt and Dom like I am doing this year. Last year they drove me all over the state to different breweries, and they don’t even like beer! They like me, and they like ciders; and Matt really likes to opportunity to show off his home, Oregon. This year Matt and Dom were getting ready to leave to country; so Matt could only spare one day to show me the state. When I arrived at his home he asked me if I was familiar with Central Oregon; I wasn’t sure what that consisted of. He responded by asking if I had visited Bend or Redmond. I spent a couple days in Bend last year so suggested we try Redmond. While he had a friend he needed to visit there anyway he was okay with it, but he didn’t think Redmond was big enough to have a brewery. I had a feeling they might have one, or two. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: Oregon City, OR

These photos were taken Wednesday, October 16, day 17 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at McMenamins Oregon City, and Shattered Oak at The Hive Taphouse, both of which are in Oregon City, Oregon.

I awoke to a wet and dreary Oregon morning, so any plans I had of returning to Portland went down the drain; walking for blocks with a dog just wasn’t as enticing a proposition as you might think. I decided that I would do a little more exploring of Oregon City, which is where I have been staying with my friends Matt and Dom. Since Matt and I are planning a mini road trip tomorrow, I used today as an opportunity to get lunch as a group so we headed to McMenamins. Continue reading

Craft Beer Guy 2019: Portland, OR

These photos were taken Tuesday, October 15, day 16 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Breakside Brewery and Great Notion Brewing, both of which are brewpubs in Portland, Oregon.

Unlike my last visit to Oregon, the friends I am staying with are taking care of business before taking their own vacation, so I am guiding myself for the first couple of days here. I asked on my Facebook page about dog friendly breweries, but it seemed every recommendation was for places that specialized in sours. While I enjoy a good sour as much as the next guy, I am here for fresh hopped IPAs. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: Camas, WA

These photos were taken Monday, October 14, day 15 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Grains of Wrath (GOW) Brewery & Restaurant in Camas, Washington.

I decided I was going to visit Grains of Wrath as I was walking from the GABF Awards ceremony to the morning session of GABF. On the way, I ran into Michael Hunsaker of Grains of Wrath Brewery, who had just won a silver medal at GABF for their Vienna lager. We had only met once before, in February of 2017 at their collaboration release with El Segundo Brewing of Super Beer Bros, but we both immediately recognized each other. I knew he was somewhere in Oregon or Washington, but wasn’t sure where relative to Portland it was. When he told me they were just across the river, it became my destination. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: Yakima, WA

These photos were taken Saturday, October 12 and Sunday the 13; days 13 and 14 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Hop Nation Brewing, Bale Breaker Brewing, and Single Hill Brewing.

After leaving Side A Brewing, I continued up I-84 to Yakima.

After getting my room in Yakima I took a look at Facebook and saw a post from a long time friend that was enjoying a fresh-hopped IPA at Hop Nation, so that is where I headed. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: La Grande, OR

These photos were taken Saturday, October 12, day 13 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. These photos were taken at Side A Brewing in La Grande, Oregon.

I left Boise this morning and headed towards Yakima, Washington. When I am at new breweries I like to chat with people and frequently end up with recommended breweries that I will be driving past. I had been given a suggestion for a brewery in Baker, but they didn’t open until far too late for my plans. I took solace in the fact that I knew of another brewery 50 miles up the road that had been recommended to me last year in Boise, Side A brewing in La Grande, Oregon. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: Nampa and Meridian, ID

These photos were taken Friday, October 11, day 12 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. The photos were taken at Crescent Brewery and 2C Family Brewing in Nampa, and Ram Restaurant and Brewery, in Meridian, Idaho.

As this was going to be my last day in Idaho, my friend Catherine and I decided to head out to the Nampa area. This is my second year in the Boise area, and I have always wanted to check out Mother Earth in Nampa, but they are only open three days a week and they don’t open until 4:00 PM. I figured there had to be something else there, and sure enough I found two; within a five minute walk of each other. Continue reading

Craft Beer Tour 2019: Boise and Garden City, ID

These photos were taken Thursday, October 10, day 11 of Craft Beer Tour 2019; my annual craft beercation taken before and after the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. The photos were taken at Edge Brewing and Woodland Empire in Boise, and Bella Brewing in Garden City, Idaho.

As I am spending three days in the Boise area, I wanted to split my time up evenly; and have new places to visit the next time I come here. Edge Brewing had been mentioned by a friend or two; and Woodland Empire was recommended by Charlie; the guy I had met at Square State Brewing; his recommendation of Western Collective was enough for me to trust his recommendation of Woodland Empire. Continue reading

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