Russian River Blind Pig

I've just been out for the evening to see AFC Wimbledon put a reserve/youth team out against a decent Dulwich Hamlet side in the London Senior Cup. It was cold, so cold in fact that it took me the entire bus ride home to get feeling back in my fingers and toes.

I did a favour for some friends a couple of weeks ago and in return got a couple of bottles from the Russian River brewery in Santa Rosa, California. I had the foresight to put one of these beauties in the fridge before going to the game this evening.

If you asked for a Blind pig during the prohibition era at a bar you may well have been given a beer. It was a secret code between customer and barman if the customer wanted a beer. If you ask for one nowadays you'll get this....

Blind Pig IPA is 6.1% abv and really doesn't taste like it! It's so easy drinking and I remember now why I got so drunk in San Francisco when we were over there. The nose is all fruit, primarily Pineapple and Grapefruit with a bit of pine in there for good measure. The citrus really comes through on the palate too along with the pine, what a beautiful brew! It's smooth and fuck me it's got some lovely hops and malts in it, so balanced and  drinkable that I may have to move to Santa Rosa.

Oh and the score was 3-2 to AFC Wimbledon if you wanted to know.

Beerymoon Part Five

Where was I, oh yeah, San Francisco.
Next up is a great Brew-pub, it's Russian River, it was a two hour bus ride from where we were staying but it was totally worth it. The day was blinding hot, once we'd got off the bus it was a ten minute walk to the pub and Santa Rosa was completely deserted! It was Memorial day weekend and pretty much the whole town had disappeared. Oh, no they hadn't they were all in The Russian River Brew-pub! It was rammed, we were hungry, grumpy, dying for a beer and and I really wanted to sit down and take it all in, there were pushy customers getting seats so I got pushy and we eventually got seats.
I liked the decor, there are old hop sacks hanging up all over the place which add some grandeur in my opinion, it gives you a sense of love for the beer and the inner glow of well being, even if you didn't know what a hop was it still looks like there was something nutritious in them!
I started off with an Oude Blond, a really thirst quenching blond ale that really hit the spot on such a hot day! Mrs RBF had the same and we were soon ordering our food like it was our last meal!
Next I went for the RR IPA because I'd never had it(that I remember) and it was hoppy as hell, took me most of our meal to finish it was that bitter.
We ordered some BBQ chicken wings and pizzas and got in contact with Dave who had given us so many other pointers because he was only about 15 minutes away apparently.
Our Pizza's turned up before our mains oddly enough, the service in general was a bit 'all over the place' but it was friendly, which frankly makes up for a lot in my books.
The food also made up for the erratic service and the atmosphere was almost akin to our night at the Rogue bar.
Just over halfway through our meal and Dave and Liz turned up and we had the next round, I forget what the wife had but I had Parking Violation, very light, nice and bitter, again just what I needed.
When I went to the bar the barman refused to serve me a half of what Dave wanted because it was the same price as a pint, even though Dave was driving, this is the only thing that I thought was negative about the visit, someone needs to talk to the barman and make him realise that some people might be having one then driving, especially out of the city.
Felt like a sour beer would sort me out next so, on Dave's advice went for a Temptation, which, ironically they ONLY serve in halves and I had had before. Still as good as I remember, if not better.
We were wanting to get the bus back before it got too late but I couldn't leave Russian River without getting a Pliny the Elder on draught, why would you, leave I mean....
Alembic and 21st Amendment still to come folks!