Mmmmm, 19 handcrafted beers…since it was only about 11am when we arrived, there were only a handful of people at the restaurant, and our waitress was super friendly and sent the brewer over to chat with us. He mentioned that the pub’s first anniversary had just passed, and expressed his passion for brewing creative beers. So…19 beers, how to choose? I spent many minutes pondering the possibilities. The beers were listed on cute illustrated chalkboards:

Our waitress explained that there were two different seven-brew samplers offered, one of them featuring the stronger ales on the draught list, and I knew that destiny was calling me. With the sampler, I received tastes of: The Regulator Plum Ale, Highland Heather Scotch Ale, Spring Maibock, White Lightning, Sommer’s Espresso Stout, Old Wylie’s IPA, and Nobleman. I also got to taste Last Chance Vienna Lager, Shepard’s Crook Scottish Ale, Wicked West Coast Stout, and Perfectly Pomegranate – eleven beers tasted out of a possible 19 – not too bad for a Saturday morning!

So how did they measure up? I was actually surprised by some of my top picks! Breaking away from my traditional loves, I was quite smitten by some of the original flavors Rivertowne had to offer.

Nobleman – A German Alt Bier, with clean fresh hoppy flavor and a good level of bitterness, it struck me as an IPA-lite, in the best possible way – not overly thick or cloyingly bitter, this was refreshing and flavorful.

White Lightning – A spiced Belgium White, White Lightning also had a clean, fresh finish. This was a well-balanced beer – mildly fruity/flowery from the orange and grains of paradise, with just a hint of spiciness to tease the palate but not overwhelm.

Espresso Stout – Sweet and strong, with great coffee flavor, one of the best coffee beers I’ve ever tried.

Perfectly Pomegranate – Fruit beers are hard to get exactly right, but this is one of the exceptional ones – fruity and smooth, refreshing but not too sweet, this is a perfect summer beer.

The Plum Ale (a little bit of knock-you-over-the-head plum fun) and the IPA are also worth a shout out, though not quite as exceptional as the rest. Everything was actually quite pleasant and drinkable; the only one I probably wouldn’t drink again is the Lager – a fine example of its style, but not one of my favorite things. Also worth noting – the Pacino sandwich with homemade chips – yummy! Overall, Rivertowne was really great, and I’m happy that it was our first brewery visit of the trip.

Since we were new to Faultline, I decided to get acquainted by way of the sampler:

The Winners:

Kolsch - a solid example of my favorite style of light beer (local Lightning Brewing makes my favorite), crisp fruity flavor that doesn’t overwhelm

India Pale Ale – I was skeptical at first, since they claimed to brew it in the English style, and I’m a West Coast IPA kinda gal, but this had strong flowery aroma and clean bitter flavor – good stuff.

Spring Bock – malty with a fresh bitterness to balance.

The Not-Quite Winners:

Hefe Weizen – Couldy, fruity, and fresh, everything a good hefe should be. Didn’t quite crack the top three, but I liked it.

Irish Stout – More smoky and less smooth than I was hoping, but an enjoyabe brew.

Best Bitter – draft and cask versions – I wanted to like this beer a lot, but it fell into the “drinkable but not exceptional” category. Not something I would have again on cask – it’s lacking the strong, rich flavors that make cask beers great, this one just seemed like a draft beer gone warm and flat.

Beers I wouldn’t order again:

Dunkel Weizen – like the Bitter, I really wanted to like it. Since I liked the Hefe Weizen, and this is ostensibly similar but darker, I actually thought I would…but I did not. I guess the fruity flavors overwhelmed the dark malty flavors, I just didn’t find it well balanced or compelling.

Golden, Pale Ale – these two were virtually indistinguishable to me, even in side-by-side tasting – light, bland, boring. Granted, these are not my favorite styles in general, but a lot of mircobreweries make their versions with enough flavor to be interesting, and a good Pale Ale (Stone, Sierra, Kona) should be hoppy enough to have some character . At Faultline, I’ll happily stick with the other styles.

We’ve visited El Toro Brewing in Morgan Hill before, so I was already aquainted with some of their beers. Worth mentioning are their “Extra Hoppy” Poppy Jasper Ales, where they start with their signature beer and add dry hop it with different varieties of hops, so you can order them side-by-side and compare the finishing characteristics of different kinds of hops. This is cool. This time, I was in the mood for extreme hoppiness, so I tried a Duece Imperial IPA, which delivered all of the bitter hoppy goodness I was after. I followed that up with a Blackraspberry Ale, a darkale infused with fruit concentrate – no subtle flavors here, this was fruity! Not something I’d have everday, but fun once in a while. El Toro is definitely worth a visit – the beer list is long, and they’re all quite drinkable. Next time I just have to remember to wander about town and find some Poppy Jasper jewelry to go with my Poppy Jasper Ale!