Ah, the first Friday of the month. You know what that means, time to join in with the crowd and do the themed post also known as the Session. This month, the theme is brought to us by local (to me anyway) blogger Brian Yaeger of Red, White and Brew. While his blog seems more fitting for a July hosting gig, he’s taken the reigns for June wth the following topic: write about the farthest brewery you have ever visited and the best beer you had while there.
For this month’s post I am going to take you away to a land of wonder and amazement. Hidden among the fog and redwoods, there is a community unknown to the outside world. Where salmon and lumber rule the day, these people known the true meaning of Northern California doesn’t end with the Golden Gate but with the strip of coast they call home, the Lost Coast. It is easy to get lost on your way through Humbolt County. Maybe it is the consumption of botanical goods that strand many a sailor on these shores, sipping their ales and swapping stories of Odysseus and Jerry Garcia. Yet if you are brave enough to risk not returning home, you will encounter a brew that brings back early memories of homebrews past.
The brew I’m talking about is Double Trouble from Lost Coast Brewery. You might be thinking to yourself, “Hey, I’ve had Double Trouble before, but I’ve never been to Eureka.” This isn’t surprising as I said the same thing when I tried it. RateBeer lists 18 other beers with Double Trouble featured in their name, one even local to the San Francisco Bay Area. So why does this one stand out for me? Simple, it tastes like something I would brew.
Now don’t take that the wrong way. I’m not claiming to be a professional caliber brewer, nor am I saying this beer reeks of the flaws that dominate my beers. What I mean is that this beer tastes like one of the first recipes I “created” as a homebrewer. Start with an amber-ish base, add a little specialty malt, double the hops, add a few more, maybe increase the grain bill, then dry-hop it. What you end up with is an amber ale pushing 8-9% with a huge hop bite.
I am certain Barbara’s recipe formulation is far more intricate than that, but the beer has the spirit of experimentation that makes homebrewing so much fun. Months ago when I first tried this beer, I asked her about the recipe and she told me this:
You are right [Double Trouble] doesn’t fit in a category. I never really like brewing beer to a category. The Downtown Brown is not an English or American brown. It falls in between. The Great White is not a Belgium Wit. It has more of a Southeast Asian twist with the Kefir lime leaf. I’d rather brew to my own drum.
This is why Double Trouble is my favorite beer from far away. It reminds me of the things I love about beer, namely the creativity that goes into brewing our favorite stuff.
So you might ask, how far is Lost Coast from where I reside? Well, it depends. If you’re driving the 101, Google says it takes nearly 4 hours. If you’re giving a growler to your Father-in-law while he’s on a Memorial Day trek up the coast, it takes about 6 days for the beer to arrive. Yet, for me, the Lost Coast is farther than any of these quantitative measurements of time and distance. You see, I’ve never been to Eureka (no, I haven’t found it), so to me, this place is as distant as any other I have yet to visit. I will be making an appearance in the near future though as I have a trip planned for late August. Ah, the distance is getting shorter already.
Sidenote: I wanted to thank my friends from the District for sharing the growler of Double Trouble with me during their brief stay in Santa Rosa. Esther, Erin, Judy, Helene and John; I hope you enjoyed the company and the beer. As E would say, the evening was lovely.
