Mammoth Blues and Brews

http://www.mammothbluesbrewsfest.com/breweries.html

Great weekend.
Mammoth 5.5-6 hours North on the 395. Their is about 2.5 hours of desert driving so wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants or suffer a wicked farmers tan. Also I brought along my plant sprayer with water in it that I sprayed on my sun exposed parts while driving. Evaporative cooling is great and yes it even helps with the AC on.

The Blues and Brews setting is out in a stand of pine trees. There are more breweries every year and the bands this year were great. Even though it was hot out, there was ample shade and a cool breeze blowing. Their were plenty of choices for food booths and they have added additional porta johns which was great. As per my M.O. (5th year running) I ran around to try different brews for about the first 45 minutes. The goal is to find a new or interesting beer that is clean dry, crisp and properly hopped for it's style and their was a lot of them. Getting slightly intoxicated is not a goal, but it is a pleasant side effect.

I was impressed with Huntington Beach Beer Co. it was a really quality I.P.A. Russian River, Lagunitas and Bear Republic are always putting out a quality product and it was a pleasure to see that and San Diego had 5 or so breweries represented including Stone! My So. Cal. favorite. The guys and girls from The Kern River Brewing Company were there and it was great to check in with them and taste some of their great brews.

After the first burst of tasting (which usually includes some serious smile at the brewer and dump the beer at the nearest convenient tree) I settle in to EJ Phair and enjoy just pouring and shooting the shizzle with whoever comes by the booth. JJ had brought an English IPA and Shorties Revenge which is a strong amber ale. He puts out some of the best beer that I have had and if your in the East Bay Area, Concord to be specific look up his Ale house. I'm not just saying this because he's a good friend but the food is great and the beer is better and it's close enough to a BART Station that you don't even need to risk a dumb drive home. The night ended with dinner at Nevados (really good quality and tasty but spendy) and a cigar under the stars at Mammoths upper lodge. Somebodies got to do it...


Than there was the fishing... Next Post.