Going to California...

er, actually, we already went and came back. BUT while we were there we had the opportunity to taste some brews that aren't normally available here in the tri-state area. We flew to L.A. and drove with our friend Josh to San Francisco. Once there, we had 2 main beer destinations in mind (aside from all the other non-beer-related awesomeness that is San Fran), Toronado and City Beer Store.



Toronado was a relatively long walk from our hotel, but it was well worth our venture. It's got a great atmosphere as well as delicious beer at very fair prices. We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw that all four Russian River brews were either $4 or $4.50! I guess NYC has tainted us a little bit in that respect.



The next day before we had to leave SF we stopped at City Beer Store. Lots of good stuff here. Picked up as many Russian River beers as we could for our camping trip. Unfortunately didn't have the time to try their taps. Here's what we came away with:

Russian River Damnation
Russian River Temptation
Russian River Redemption
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Port Brewing Hop-15

and a few other random singles including a watermelon beer. Needless to say, it'd be nice to have Russian River and Port distribution back here on the east coast. Also worth noting was the Blue Palms Brew House in Hollywood. Good beers at decent prices, right on Hollywood Blvd.!