Laguinitas Maximus

I was at a geo geek meetup last night held at Trulia's offices.  They offered stacks of pizzas and ice cold beer.  Nice spread!
I tried Laguanitas IPA Maximus Ale.  It was quite good.  It didn't have that acidic taste that I get with many high alcohol beer even though it was a good 8.2% alcohol.  But, thanks to this alcohol and the fact that I drank two bottles, I had a nice buzz going by the time the presentations started.

Racer 5 @ Alices

Ooops!  I meant to shoot a photo before drinking it but it went down so well after a hard mountain bike ride!  Bear Republic's Racer 5 is quite good on tap.  I have had it in the bottle before and it seemed pretty standard but on tap... let's just say it went down very quickly and was greatly enjoyed.
I did not know until I went to Bear Republic's own brewpub earlier this year that Racer 5 is a reference to Speed Racer (a.k.a. マッハGoGoGo).

I consumed this at the wonderful biker bar Alice's in the hills above Woodside.
I strongly recommend their Norton Burger with blue cheese and bacon.
Alice's
17288 Skyline Blvd
Woodside, CA 94062

Ale Arsenal

We tried two IPAs here.
101 North Heroine IPA
and
Palo Alto Brewing Nelson Rye IPA.
Both were pretty awesome. The Heroine IPA (on the left in the photo below) had a great first impression. She was attractive, sweet red head. I am looking forward to trying more beers from this new brewery. (101 North Brewing)
The Nelson Rye IPA did not create as strong of an immediate impression but really improved over time.  It had a very sweet, almost butterscotch flavor.  Similarly, I am looking forward to seeing more from Palo Alto Brewing Company.

Ale Arsenal
971 Laurel Street
San Carlos, CA
 

Refuge

Forget the beer for a second.  Their Reuben sandwiches rock!
Ok, back to beer.
I don't normally drink Belgian beers.  In fact, many of us homebrewers call our failed batches "Belgians" since they tend to have a similar taste...

For the first time in years I had a Kwak.
Compared to normal Belgian beers, it is pretty good.   It's still 8% alcohol but it still tastes like beer.

My companion had the Koningshoeven (10%).  This was just ok.

Location:
Refuge
963 Laurel Street
San Carlos, California 94070

Bear Republic

After our experience at Mendocino Brewing Company, it was good to be back at a true pub-like brewpub. I ordered their Columbus Rebellion IPA. It was pretty standard. Yes, it had a slight citrusy taste but nothing out of the ordinary.

Since I was not that excited by the Columbus Rebellion, the bar maid gave me a sampler of the 06300 Rebellion IPA. This was very unique and interesting. I cannot describe what it was that made it that way, but I liked it.

Bear Republic
345 Healdsburg Avenue Healdsburg, CA 95448

Mendocino Brewing Company

Finding Mendocino Brewing's tasting room was a bit of a challenge. We drove to their brewery but there were no signs showing where to enter. Finally, a man raking gravel in front said we had to go back towards where we came from; the tasting room is in a strip mall about half a mile off. The tasting room was set up like a bar with a pool table and all, but not that attractive. It is a challenge to make such a place attractive in a strip mall. Given the not-so-attractive atmosphere, we limited ourselves to trying 4 samplers. Here are my impressions: Black Hawk Stout - good, but standard stout White Hawk Select IPA - very average Butte Creek Porter - Sweet and tasty. The best of the four. Talon Double IPA - too strong

Mendocino Brewing Company
1252 Airport Park Blvd.
Ukiah, CA

Russian River Brewery

Their Happy Hops is more or less a standard pale ale. It had a good, sweet but had-that-before taste.

Their Row 2 Hill 56, like its name, is much more unique. It is almost a smokey pale ale. I could see this beer becoming a habit.

As for the restaurant and the pub itself, they served very good, thin crust pizza. I also have to give them credit for very professional marketing with nicely designed t-shirts, growlers, and fun beer names.

Russian River Brewery
725 4th Street
Santa Rosa, CA

Introduction

I love beer.
Hardly a day goes by that I don't drink some.
I brew beer, so most of the time I am drinking my own beer.
Like the bumper sticker which says "I love my country but I think we should start seeing other people," I need to start actively trying other beers. 
That is prolly the only way to expand my horizons.