Brew Pubs and Seasonal Beers

I've been to a few brew pubs. I once thought that they were microbreweries, but I learned that a microbrew which serves its own beer in its own restaurant is called a brew pub. I've visited several brew pubs with my wife, Shannon. In Sacramento, we have several nice brew pubs, although a few have closed recently. Sacramento Brewing Company is one that had good beer and excellent food. That was the first actual brew pub I ever had a sampler at, and I will definitely miss them.

There are a couple of excellent brew pubs in Sacramento worth mentioning, which are Hoppy Brewing Company, and Pyramid. Hoppy makes good brews, and has an excellent jambalaya. Pyramid is in the downtown area, right on the light rail line. Their beer is also very good. You can buy Pyramid brews in local supermarkets. I've been there a couple of times, and to Hoppy at least three times.

Other brew pubs I've been to are McMinimans in Oregon, and Full Sail in Hood River. I have taken to ordering fish and chips every time I go to a brew pub. I like the idea of beer batter. The Full Sail restaurant had the best fish and chips I ever ate at a brew pub.

Whenever we visit brew pubs, we like to share a sampler, and comment on the flavors of the different types of beer. Usually, you can get seven different brews, five or six which are the regular brews, and usually a couple or three seasonal brews. I never really understood the idea of seasonal brews, but I am starting to get a glimmer of the idea, because of the temperature of my bedroom closet in the winter, and how warm it will be this coming summer. I will learn more on this later on, I'm sure.

So, at this very moment, I have fifty bottles of Amber Ale, which were started one month ago. They were fermented for two weeks, bottled, and let to mellow for a couple more weeks. They should be ready right now, but I am going to wait a couple of days, to make a really big deal out of drinking my first home brewed beer. I also have a brown ale, also in fifty bottles, and also maturing for a couple of weeks. I will probably try it near the end of February, just to give it plenty of time.

Finally, I brewed a batch of Red Ale, during the Big Game last Sunday. It bubbled a bit for the first couple of hours, but that turned out not to be fermentation, and it was quiet for almost two days. Then, it became very active, and yesterday, it was swirling and bubbling like nobody's business. I enjoy lying in bed at night, listening to the bubbling sounds coming almost every second. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. I intend to let that wait for a longer time before transferring it to the secondary. Then, it has to stay in the secondary for a bit longer than the Amber Ale does, so I won't be able to start bottling Batch Four until two more weeks go by.

In the meantime, I have two bottles of Amber Ale in the fridge, chilling. I will make a big deal of it, and post in a couple of days.