With the Bay Area sweltering in 100 degree heat at the weekend, Ealish (official PlanetSeth wife) and I headed to the coast to cool down. We hoped to find a quiet spot with some shade where we could sit & read but fortunately it was so busy that we ended up at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

My first pint was their current brewer’s special Summit Special IPA. This is brewed with the trendy hop of the moment, the Summit. It’s good, very good. It’s enticing copper appearance shouts drink me (well this one did at least) and the closer to your lips it gets the better it is. The rich floral hop aroma smacks you with a plethora of citrus notes and then the taste hits you. Gorgeous grapefruity, tangeriney hoppiness. I think I like the summit hop. A lot.

Feeling I should sample a range my second and unfortunately last pint was their regular IPA, the Pillar Point IPA. It was lighter both in colour and aroma than the Summit Special. It seemed closer to a Burton style IPA than to the American version. The hop character was more muted and though some citrus zing was noticeable some was the traditional Burton character. A tasty beer without a doubt but a bit of a come down from the peak of the Summit.

If you can get along to HMB Brewing before the Summit Special runs out I highly recommend you do. Highway 1 from San Francisco is still closed at Devil’s Slide but it is due to reopen August 4th. If you’re in the city it’s worth the extra effort you’ll have to make to get their.

Time to wean myself back on to my old friend the Cascade hop.

Ealish (the official PlanetSeth wife) & I called into Vino Locale last night for a drink before deciding where to eat. Vino Locale (which for the language challenged means local wine) may sound a unconventional place to talk about in a beer blog but it is certainly worth a visit. When Ealish & I first started going to Vino Locale they were sticking closely to their aim for serving local wines and local foods, where local means about a 50 mile radius. They also exhibit local artists. Once we got to know the owners I began to suggest that they should also stock local beers. Whether or not my efforts were a factor I don’t know but they now stock a range of high quality local beers.

I forgot to note down their entire beer menu but managed to sample two different ales on this occasion. Both were from the Farmhouse Brewing Company in Gilroy. I had the Two Tractor Ale & Ealish had the Saison 7. Two Tractor (I love the name) is an American style pale. It is coppery in colour with a hoppy aroma with hints of citrus that suggests Cascade hops. It’s flavour is hoppy without reaching IPA levels though the bitterness of the hops stands out more the aroma. I enjoyed it but Ealish found it a little too bitter for her tastes. Saison 7 as you may guess from the name is a saison; a Belgian summer ale. It had a floral smell, almost like a Belgian wheat beer such a Hoegaarden. Light and indeed summery it had a nutty rather than hoppy finish. Very refreshing.

Vino Locale is well worth experiencing whether for the beer or for the wine which is also excellent and well priced. Their food is exceedingly tasty though at the nibbly end of the scale so if you have a real hunger you may need to order several items. The place has a great ambience with a lovely patio to the rear which is just perfect for relaxing on a summer evening. To top it all off, the owners Randy & Harry are two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, their staff being just as equally amenable & efficient.

I guess I’ll have to pop back to record the remainder of their beer menu. I suppose I can have one whilst I am there.

So I’ve just got back from Gordon Biersch (the original one in Palo Alto, CA). I only live four blocks so I go every couple of weeks or so. I used to go more often but that’s another story that I’ll save for later.

I started with their current seasonal beer, the Sommerfest. It is billed as a Kolsch style ale though most would think it a lager. Light golden in colour it has a faint but sweet malt fragrance. Flavourwise it is light with a little fruitiness but no discernable hop character. There are faint elements of the banana character often found in a wheat beer. There’s not a lot of body to the beer nor much carbonation. Overall, refreshing and easy to drink but neither particularly distinctive or tasty.

Next up was Gordon Biersch’s flagship beer, the Marzen. It’s rich mahogany colour raises expectations of a rich flavourful beer but it’s toffeeish malty aroma is lacking any complexity in flavour to back it up. It has little body or effervescence. The Marzen was never my favourite style of beer but I’m sure it used to be better than this.

Onto the Schwarzbier. Like the name suggests it is black (or really, really dark brown) but that’s pretty much it as far as this beer goes. It has negligible aroma, a thin roasted malt flavour and watery mouth feel.

Last up on this particular evening was the Hefeweizen. Like all hefeweizens it is an wheat beer left unfiltered so that the yeast remains. The yeast gives a haze to it’s yellowy brown colour. The GB hefe exhibits the classic citrusy banana aroma that characterises the style. A taste of the beer delivers citrus with some vanilla, a little clove and a wallop of banana. It has a pleasant palette with a slight tingle on the tongue. Definitely the best beer of the night.

It is true to say that Gordon Biersch has never been my favourite brewery as their beers tend to be dominated by a malty character whilst my taste run to the hoppier end of the scale. This withstanding I still believe that their beers have dropped in quality of the last couple of years. They seem much thinner and less characterful than they used to. Whether this was an intentional move to make them more accessible to the average beer drinker or just a drop in standards it is hard to say.

So why do I still go to Gordon Biersch ? I go because the staff are friendly & helpful and the places with better beer in Palo Alto are either dives or more expensive for the food. There is no perfect bar in Palo Alto so compromises have to be made and unfortunately sometimes it is the quality of the beer that has to be compromised.

Anyway, now that I’m home I can have an IPA to add the hops that were missing from the GB beers.