brewery33

Can’t a guy get a good beer in this town?

Since my site is called brewery33, and all I have been talking lately is my diminutive take on hyper local politics, let’s bring it back to the beer. My current quandary that plagues my thoughts is the lack of representation any beer other than Coors, Bud or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale get at the local restaurant taps.

When I go out to dinner, I am always concerned about the beer selection to be had while I enjoy my meal. Unfortunately my little City of Stockton does not harbor too many restaurants, or bars for that matter that cater to my need for anything other than Bud Light and Coors Light. And since I enjoy tasting my beer more than I enjoy peeing this proves to be quite the dilemma.

As the unofficial voice of beer in Stockton I thought I would get the conversation started by taking a cue from Jay Brookston and his book The Bars of Santa Clara County, A Beer Drinker’s Guide to Silicon Valley, and talk about a few places I like to frequent, based solely on the selection of beer and above average food. The food is not as important as the beer, so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that according to Mike Fitzgerald, we bloggers are merely hacks(listen to the interview) that aren’t professional and should not be trusted. With that said, here are four that pop right into my head.

• Alder Market - They might be calling themselves Alder Bistro, but they will always be Alder Market to me. This place has unique food that is well presented and an OK beer selection. If you are going to go out with your wife and family and really want good food and good beer, for a little more money than going to Elephant Bar, try them. Their beer selection is just OK, a slight rise from better than normal. They just put on tap Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (personal seasonal favorite of mine). Other than the Celebration placement, the selection kind of commercial, some Shock Top, Blue Moon, Heineken. They don’t get real adventuresome, but they try. It still tops my list, mainly because my wife likes the food and I can get away with going on a Tuesday night and only pay half price, while I enjoy the Celebration.

• Cafe Acacia - This is a steady Stockton joint. The guy that owns it is a guy that I went to Delta with. They started real strong by offering some Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Aside from the taps, they had a bottle selection that was better than the best liquor store in Stockton for micros (Herbst Liquor). Three words, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. The moment my brother mentioned that this beer was present and available to drink indoors at a bar, I rushed down to see if it was real. I have since been back a few times, the beer selection has not held up. The management tells me that the distributor is the culprit. Whatever, they still maintain a notch above the usual suspects of Bud, Miller and Coors.

• The Beach Hut - Hands down best selection of beer in Stockton. They claim 20 beers on tap, I have not counted, but one in particular caught my eye. Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA. I am a sucker for Dogfish Head, so if there is one present I usually buy it. People either love or hate this brewery. Industry people have a slighted view of the place, but in my opinion they are just jealous that Sam is crushing it. I always end up going to this place for lunch and since I don’t advocate drinking and returning to my work on the Grand Jury, I don’t get to sample their beers often. I will say that this is a must for a pre-Thunder hockey game stop. Not only will you get a buzz, but a very tasty buzz. Not to mention that your lame friends that still think craft beer tastes like crap, will be appeased by the equal opportunity tap selection. In other words they pour Bud Light.

• Centrale - The jury is still out on this dark horse. This falls into the category of my wife likes the ambiance, the food is OK and the beer selection is sporadic. Let me digress, I was pumped that another restaurant that wasn’t Applebee’s had chosen to brave the population of Stockton, who think that if there isn’t all you can eat breadsticks it is not worth their 8.99. They also came out strong with Dogfish Head beer, Chimay and a few wheat beers (I can’t remember which ones). They are definitely one to watch. I hope the fact that I returned with my wife completely pumped to enjoy a hop fueled, alcohol rich IPA only to find that they had changed their beers, was just a misstep. I am no beer nazi, but the most adventuresome beer that they were currently pouring was Sierra Nevada Porter. This is a good beer and definitely not a standard on most tap handles, but come on, you go from IPA to porter? With that said, the food, not as good as the first time either.

So goes my first installment of beer in Stockton restaurants. Maybe my quest of getting some decent swill in the tap handles of my local eateries and watering holes is futile. So what if my intentions are completely selfish. I think that as people become more educated on the variety of beers that are available, the more diverse our dining experiences will become. We just need a few restaurants that are willing to embrace the beer. Beer can complement food, just as well as, and sometimes better than wine. All it takes is a well informed wait staff that can tell what to expect from the beverage. Until that happens, we are doomed to accept that the most adventuresome beer available is Sierra Nevada, you know the dark beer that isn’t Bud Light.

If you have a restaurant in Stockton that you enjoy their beer email me at andy@brewery33.com. I am always on the hunt for good beer.

Where is the conversation?

First and foremost, a shout to my fellow blogging gang homey, @slickdiaz, who shouted out the brewery33 voice over on his turf. He fights the good fight of intellectualism while staying fresh with brevity. If I am giving props to one of the Stockton peeps then I can’t leave out the one and only @podcaststockton. Matt puts an actual voice to the plight of “most miserable” City in the United States and shows you that you can’t believe everything you read (especially anything here). If you are interested in either one of these guys I have placed some links over on the right hand side of the blog for you enlighten your Stockton mind. .

And now the news………..

Amongst all of the hubbub surrounding the latest uprising of the 6 people in Stockton that use social media, I have tried to find clarity within the questions of new media tactics implemented by our public sector. Of course, me being the geek that I am, I would love to see them make use of this brand new and shiny technology that currently is the object of my desire, besides my wife and daughter naturally. Just look at the success that I have realized within the space, I can now “talk” to 6 other techno-weenies just like myself and we can go on and on about the latest client application’s strengths and weaknesses.

I hope that my sarcasm present in the above text has jumped off the page and punched you out. I have been told to successfully use sarcasm in text form is the mark of a master. Since I am only a hack blogger, I must make you aware of my futile attempts at using the advanced literary tool.

I think that it is in the best interest of the establishment to at least attempt to create a conversation regarding the new media issue. That is all this whole thing we call the social web, or web 2.0, or new media, is, a conversation. We have evolved from the static web of the ‘90’s to the interactive web of today. Our browsing habits are changing as information is aggregated. Gone are the days of copy and pasting links to yourself in emails to read it later, now we can bookmark. Remember when you used to have check in on a site every day to see if your favorite portal posted any new nugget of information that you could then ravenously consume? Yep that is gone too with the advent of RSS.

The means of communication are in the midst of an awkward growth spurt that is akin the adolescent male battle with puberty. The change is discomfited. We are uneasy. We don’t understand why we are growing hair in strange spots. OK, except for that last descriptor, the similarities are uncanny. But think of this, the State of California thinks that the pubescent changes that your body experiences are so confusing that curriculum has been conceived to educate our grammar and middle school brood. So why do we shy away from the use or implementation of the uncomfortable yet inevitable change in transmission of information.

The implementation of this new dimension of discourse that is available to our communities can only heighten the awareness of our issues. This use of the shiny new technological toy can only be useful upon educating ourselves about the capabilities and limitations of the medium. In order to educate a community of people regarding the power of new conversation, is to do just that converse. Along with that conversation we should do a little experimentation.

I don’t claim to have the answer to the quandary, but I will say that I have at least recognized that there is opportunity to be realized. Another thing, if I decided that my way was right, wouldn’t that be the antithesis of my concern? I invite the critics. I want to hear the concerns surrounding this nary talked about issue.

So I invite all the Stockton Tweeps to blog, tweet, hell if you want to get out from in front that 22” widescreen monitor and talk to some actual people then have at it. Stockton has the potential to lead a informational revolution, as we are one of the most diverse cities in the good old US of A. What if we had an actual intelligent conversation regarding the use of new media?

Excuse the curt ending to this post, as my mind was just blown.