It Takes a Lot of Beer to Make Wine

On Wednesday, the LA Times’ Food Section had a cool article about the growing Santa Barbara beer circuit. Mentioned in the article were the town’s new brewpubs, Hollister Brewing Co. and Downtown Brewing Co., as well as good ol’ Firestone Walker.

It’s exciting to think that Santa Barbara, which is mainly known for its wine, seems to be emerging as a new haven for craft beers. Watch your back, San Diego.

One thing’s for sure, I need to visit the new Hollister Brewing Co next time I’m in SB for a pint of their Smoked Hemp Ale.

From the LA Times:

The pub is a big, airy place with stylish slate-gray walls. A low wrought-iron fence worked in a pattern of barley and hop plants separates the outdoor dining area from the sidewalk. Beyond the dining room is the brewery, displayed behind a big plate glass window in a room lined with gleaming white tile. Beside brewing here, brew master Eric Rose is also planning to age some beers in used barrels — dark beers in the Bourbon barrels, he speculates, maybe a Belgian ale spiked with dates in the Pinot barrels.

The beers he makes at the moment include a couple of pale ales, an organic amber ale and a jokey “smoked hemp ale” (”The J”), made with smoky German yeasts and sacks of sterile organic hempseed, which gives a subtle nutty flavor.

Rose has far wilder plans, including some beers fermented with 100% Brettanomyces yeast. This is wine country heresy — most winemakers are desperate to stamp out the dreaded Brettanomyces, which gives a flavor variously compared to meat, mushrooms, leather and elastic bandages. But Rose likes its effect on beer. His eyes shine as he exclaims, “It gives a sour lemonade finish!”

Read the rest of the article by LA Times staff writer Charles Perry: Something’s brewing in Santa Barbara wine country

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