"Civilized life can't proceed without salt" - Pliny the Elder

 Or beer.

Industry developed around 100 AD after the Romans invaded Britain. Pottery and building materials were  needed to supply the Roman armies. Later, during the Third and Fourth Centuries AD, they got thirsty. 

Really thirsty.

Beer and salt among Roman 'mega-industries'

It's been a great summer for beers.

 Since our epic road trip, we have been on three more, albeit shorter, trips. We made all three in our BMW - the car that gave us so much grief earlier. The car did fine but we continue to pour money into it. Each time, Hubby declares that there isn't anything left to fix. That being said, we are heading to San Diego this weekend to get something fixed. (We are going there because it will cost $2k less than if we do it here which speaks to how much more money we plan to spend.)*

The argument seems to be this: While the repairs seem exorbitantly expensive, it's still less than a new car - versus - A new car will offer some peace of mind not to mention technological advances over the old car. 

You'll be first to know how it all gets sorted out. In the meantime, I will note that the upcoming repairs are to made at a BMW dealership. [Editor pause to dreamily look at new cars on BMW website.]

While we aren't planning any beer stops on this trip (it's a there-and-back situation), it won't be long before we hit the road again. Therefore, now is a good time to get caught up on where we've been.

Lately, we've traveled to or through four states: Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington. We stopped in eight breweries and sampled three beers at non-brewery locations:

ARIZONA

Fate Brewing (Scottsdale)

• Keller Pilsner - three of our party of four had it so I guess it was good. I had an Alesmith NA IPA which was not my favorite NA beer but I was taking it easy. We also enjoyed an order of wings and the chicken tinga tacos. The wings were quite spicy and the tinga tacos were incredible. Both were big enough to share. 

Saddle Mountain Brewing (Goodyear) - a regular stop when we go to Arizona.

• Sun-Scorched Kolsch - three of our party of four ordered this. (I'm always the odd one out.) Easy and reliable.
• 5G (American Wheat Ale) - served with an orange on the rim. I had ordered a Belgian-style ale but they were out and this is what they brought me. American Wheat Ales are less interesting to me.
• Taildragger's Clan-Destine (Scottish Ale) - this beer has won medals five times at the Great American Beer Festival and three medal at the World Beer Cup. Even when it's hot outside, this is the one to get. 🍻

CALIFORNIA

Kilowatt Brewing (Oceanside) - I've twice ordered the Peach Cobbler Imperial Sour, an award winner at the US Open Beer Championship in 2024 in the category of "experimental." The first time I was into it. The second time, I didn't enjoy it as much. If you're not into funky, take a look at their online menu before you go. They have several award winning beers but they're not listed as such on the menu at the brewery so it's worth doing a little advance planning.  (Also, stop at Sancho's next door for a burrito. Outstanding! You might also consider going around the corner to Stone Brewing's Oceanside taproom. Their beers are reliably good.)

Pizza Port Brewing (Carlsbad) - Worth a stop. It's a weird name but it started as a pizza joint that added a brewery. I don't know about their pizza but their beer is outstanding, winning multiple metals in multiple categories. The name of the brewery threw me and for a long time I never tried their beer because of it. I didn't have much faith that a pizza joint that made beer on the side could make good beer. I was wrong. Their beer is outstanding and they are a very popular spot in Carlsbad (one of their eight locations). Try the Sharkbite Red Ale.

Oscar’s Brewing Company (Temecula) - We found the beer menu was a little funky. The Kölsch was reasonably good but definitely not our favorite. The feature here seems to be the food based on what we saw coming out of the kitchen. It's a nice venue on a pond that seemed to be quite popular for large groups. We saw little league teams with parents and coaches. There also seemed to be a church crowd which seems at odds with a brewery. Even non-team affiliated groups were wearing matching or similarly styled clothes. It was a head scratcher. Interesting, but I would recommend going to a Karl Strauss instead.

Stone Brewing (Escondido) - amazing venue and outstanding food, not to mention really good beer. Stone is becoming a favorite and I'm starting to think they can do no wrong. Granted, they were bought out by Sapporo Holdings in 2022 but the beer is still good and the venues are still amazing. Hopefully, that legacy will continue far into the future. 

• Stone Pilsner🍻
• Stone Cali-Belgique IPA👣

OREGON

10 Barrel Brewing (Portland) -  Try the Validation Sequence, a Czech-style Pilsner which earned a Gold Medal at the Best of Craft Beer Awards in 2024. Hubby had the Sinister Black which was the beer I tried when we were at their Boise location. It won a medal in 2009 but I didn't dig it. Hubby liked it.

McMenamins Edgefield (Troutdale) - This place has everything: food, concerts, accommodations, distillery, winery, coffee roaster, par 3 golf, and secret passageways! Oh yeah, beer. We went to see Lake Street Dive which was sold out.  The Hammerhead Ale is reliable but if you want something really fun to do, check out their Passport Program. You'll eat a lot of tater tots along the way but you'll also see some really interesting venues. 

While we were waiting for our return flight at PDX (home of the world's most famous carpet), I enjoyed a 

RPM IPA by Boneyard Beer (Bend OR) while Hubby had a Promiscuous Blonde from Heathen Brewing (Vancouver WA). Both reliable beers and a nice way to pass the time while hanging around an airport.

WASHINGTON

On our way to the airport, we crossed the border into Washington for a quick stop at Ben's Bottle Shop. They always have a well varied selection of good beers on tap. I tried the Don't Dance by Irrelevant Beer which is a brewery in Vancouver, Washington, that is so new that as of this writing their website is "coming soon" (however you can find them on FB or IG). It's no coincidence that they are located next door to Relevant Coffee. Not only was the beer good but I was blown away that there was a new brewery in Vancouver that I knew nothing about. I will definitely seek out this brewery the next time I'm in the 'Couve. In the meantime, there's a good writeup here, in Oregon Live.

*UPDATE: The trip to San Diego is cancelled due to the fact that the "repair" was preventative in nature. New information indicates preventing this particular failure could, in fact, lead to other problems and that we should just leave it alone unless or until there are indications that failure is indicated. Keep your fingers crossed!

Economics by the glass

 Hubby and I just had a serious exchange concerning the price of beer. Specifically, how to maximize the discounts offered by a local brewery.

One is an annual VIP Membership which will allow the purchaser to get a 20 ounce beer for the price of a pint. That's a 25% more beer. But, for a price.

That same brewery usually sells gift cards around Christmastime. Buy $100 worth of gift cards and get $120 in value, for example. That's 20% more value. 

We both reached the same conclusion but disagreed on the math. The point being, there was math. Not only that, we went back and forth on this issue. We argued about percentages and corrected calculations. Ultimately, we arrived at a formula that supported what we wanted in the first place. 

(Still, I'm tempted to build a spreadsheet to prove my point. Seriously, I need to build a spreadsheet.)

(Okay, I couldn't help myself. It's beautiful. Not only that, it undeniably supports our decision to go one way versus the other.)

See, kids. Math is useful.

This post has been interrupted to bring you the following . . .

 I came across the following post that I started months ago and then, apparently, forgot about. Since then, we've traveled quite a bit and sampled beer at numerous breweries along the way. By my count, we have visited 33 different breweries since the beginning of the year.  (We visited all but three since the beginning of June.)  Most of them were new to us; 11 or 12 of them we've been to before.

On top of that, we have had 22 different beers outside of breweries - in taphouses, beerfests, airports. At least 13 were beers we'd never tried before. This doesn't include all the beer still in my fridge that we haven't gotten around to yet!

Needless to say, it's hard to keep track of it all, assuming that's something to which one should aspire. Theoretically, my next post will be of the just beers we tried during our last three road trips. 

If you're following along, you may recall that we made a major roadtrip to the Pacific Northwest (Roadtrip! #BeerTravel). Since then, we've made smaller trips to Arizona, San Diego, and Portland and wouldn't you know? We sampled more beer!

My unfinished post is below. My next post will follow once I get it all organized. (You can imagine with so much beer, it's hard to stay focused.) Until then, stay cool and stay hydrated. 🍺

* * *

Pictured is only what we've sampled recently.

Through the benevolence of a visitor, we came into a treasure trove of beer.  We had cases of beer brought to us from the Pacific Northwest. So much that my refrigerator didn't have room for any food. Some of the beer was necessarily stored in the laundry room. Food was stuffed into vegetable drawers.

I considered setting up a neighborhood beer exchange program. In fact, I did make a couple of exchanges. In March, I traded some Even Par from La Quinta Brewing for some Zona Pilsner from 12 West Brewing Company (AZ). Both are award winning beers.

Later, after I came into my bevy of beer, I exchanged a couple of Pilsners from Pfriem (OR) for some Cutthroat Pale Ale from Uinta Brewing (UT) with a neighbor. It was a this point, I thought I would start writing about the various beers I was trying and exchanging with other beer lovers.

As these things happen, I never got around to that and in the interim, my inventory has been severely depleted. And for the record, I think I came out on top with both those trades. 

The Zona Pilsner from 12 West was highly drinkable (🍻) while the Even Par is an IPA with and ABV of 7.2%. Cutthroat (an award winning beer from Uinta) was more in the style of an English-style bitters than an American pale ale - more malt and pine rather than pale IPA-light. While not heavy with alcohol you could make a meal out of a Cutthroat in flavor.

As you can see from the picture, we also received some RPM IPA from Boneyard Beer (OR). Another IPA (not pictured because we drank it all) was Shadow Shinobi from Loowit Brewing Company. Both were outstanding. I've strayed from IPA in recent years but these were so good that I may need to find a way to get more. I'll just out on a limb here: IPAs from the PNW are the best. 

We still have some of the Pyxis Pilsner from Ecliptic Brewing which is quite tasty and something we had not tried before. (Neither the brewer in Oregon, nor their beer anywhere.)

Still remaining in inventory are

[This post has been interrupted.]