So I just read an article today saying that Des Voigne Cellars and B Side Brewing are the first combined winery/brewery in the state of Washington. Well, I can only hope that this is just the first in a new model.  As some of you know, this blog really started out about wine. I used to be a huge wine drinker then I started travelling to states where beer was in demand as much as wine. Then I became a huge beer aficionado. Now, I drink a little of both– probably a bit more beer but who is counting.

Anyway, I was glad to see that someone else in this world appreciates both beer and wine. I think it is becoming more and more common, but it is still a rarity to find good wine and good beer in the same place. Doing so gives you so many more options and allows everyone, even those with different tastes, to enjoy an experience at a winery/brewery.

I have to mention the wines, as it would be odd not to do so, the wines were generally good. There was nothing that stood out as great to me, but I did enjoy the tasting. I even bought a bottle of the red blend to take home with me.

However, this blog is about beer, so I need to spend my time talking about the beer. I was told the brewer here was a long time home brewer and I can imagine that he did a great job on his homebrew system. The scale up to a larger system didn’t seem to hurt the quality and style of the beers served. As they have recently started brewing, there were only three beers to try: a pale ale, an IPA, and a porter.

The great thing about these beers is that they were very true to style. Nothing was spectacular but when you ordered a pale ale– you got a pale ale. The pale ale was a bit on the hoppy side but I like a pale ale with flavor. It was nice and light with well balanced flavors. The nose did reflect the hoppiness, but it still maintained the pale ale label.

The IPA also had a hoppy nose but much more so and with the scents of grass and citrus. This had a good hoppy flavor but was not overwhelming. It did have bitter flavors but they were still in check with other malty flavors in the beer.

The porter was, again, true to style. It had a nice coffee nose with a hint of sugar. The flavors here were very traditional but there was a just and underlying hint of smokiness.

I am looking forward to returning to B Side when they have more styles and tastes available. I really appreciate when brewers aren’t doing fancy but are doing right.

For those of you who know me, you know that my family is originally from the great (really not) state of West Virginia. My ancestors were there before the state even existed and played various important roles throughout the state’s history.  My father recently passed and had wished to be buried up the road from his family’s home in the mountains of West Virginia. Of course, this meant a trip to Charleston, the state capital.

I didn’t really intend on ending up at the only brewery right in town, but, of course, it called to me. A fellow beer lover and I tried to go to the Charleston Brewing Company on New Year’s Day but the establishment was closed. Therefore, I had to make it a point to get back a couple of days later.  I am glad that I did. I was really impressed by the quality of beers coming out of this brewery. While as my friend pointed out, they are not always true to style, the beers are overall of high quality and quite tasty.

The Raj was recommended to me by my beer loving friend and was classified by him as their best flagship beer. I did enjoy this IPA. It had a very nice citrus nose with good hop flavors that were a bit bold. Overall, however, this was a good solid IPA.

The Montpelier was touted as an east coast style IPA. It had a very light nose. The taste was a bit odd at the end, like a slightly sour candy; however, the bitter flavors of the hops still prevailed. The beer was also very light in color. Overall, an interesting beer.

Europa was touted as a pale ale but I found it to be a bit on the malty side. It had very caramel flavors up front and those malty flavors prevailed through each sip. Overall, this beer was way too malty to be considered a pale ale and I really didn’t get much of any hop flavors.

Sweet Pot was the pumpkin ale. Pumpkin ales are generally either very good or very bad in my opinion. This one was a bit too sweet for my taste. The beer didn’t have much nose but had good pumpkin spice flavors that were unfortunately hidden a bit behind the sweetness.

The Citra IPA was my favorite beer here. This was a light colored IPA that exploded with the grassy and citrus flavors of the Citra hop. My favorite hop, I rarely come across a Citra IPA that I don’t like.

A surprising find here was the Grisette. Touted as a farmhouse ale, it really wasn’t but did have a great combination of flavors.  A friend absolutely could not get enough of this beer! It had a nice spice nose with a lot of citrus, the beer also was largely sour, citrus flavored. There were light herbal undertones but the citrus and sour prevailed.

As a testament to the quality of the beers (and food) here, this was the only place with a substantial crowd on a Saturday night in downtown Charleston. We went looking for another place to go, but found empty bar after empty bar. When we left this place, it was still hopping.  Let’s quickly mention the food, the burritos and sandwiches are huge and quite tasty but reasonably priced. This is a must stop if you should find yourself in Charleston, WV.

 

Dru Bru has a lot potential. Although, I don’t generally like European style beers, Dru Bru has never really let me down. I am lucky enough that they regularly provide their beers around my town, even their specialty ones. If you follow me on Facebook, you have probably seen that I have been lucky enough to try most of them– including an impromptu tasting flight at the local Zeke’s pizza, which happened to have been visited recently by the Dru Bru rep.

I just really wish my experience at the brewery had been a little better.  Granted I did choose to go to the brewery, which is located right next to the Snoqualmie ski area, during a period of high ski volume. I knew it would be crowded and this is my fault.  However, I don’t expect as a paying customer to have a group of children, who are not paying customers, be using the majority of seats in a brewery. I am sorry, I don’t really understand taking children to a brewery. There is nothing for kids to do in a brewery and drinking then driving  your kids down a snowy mountain is not a good idea in any way, shape or form. Dru Bru does offer a limited menu but there is no kids menu and many of these parents had brought outside food and drink for their kids to enjoy.  I really think brewery management need to consider this, especially during peak times. Paying customers walk out the door.  Because of the lack of seating, I drank my flight and left. Next time I visit it will be summer.

Now on to the beers, which were the saving grace of my experience–

Hop Session had a light grassy nose. It was lightly grassy in flavor and slightly bitter. A good run of the mill session style beer.

The IPA has less nose than the Hop Session and was very bitter up front. I didn’t find that it was a very well balanced beer.

Oktoberfest had a slightly malty nose, less than other similar style beers. It was very sweet up front but finished more malty. In fact, I found that it ended a bit too malty.

The Pumpkin Ale had a very cinnamon nose and was very cinnamon upfront in taste. However, it finished like a cinnamon candy and was overall a bit too sweet.

The Winter German Sticke Alt did not have much nose but had good coffee flavors up front.

The Schwartzbier was not much different than the Winter (in fact they were almost the same beer). However, the Schwartzbier was a bit more coffee in flavor.

In addition to these beers, I have had their Alt and Kolsch while around town. Again, they tend to make European style beers, which are generally not my favorite, but overall they are fairly true to style and decent beers.  If I see them on a local menu, I will grab one to support my local brewery.