Category Archives: Carpinteria

Happy New BEER Eve!

     Happy New Year’s Eve!!! Everyone seems to be doing resolutions in the blogosphere, but I’m still in the process of putting mine together. I’m one of those people who likes to spend the entire day thinking about new, exciting changes, jotting them down in pretty notebooks and then sharing them with family and close friends while we sit around eating shrimp canapes and sipping fine beers.

I’m fancy like that.

     We had a wonderful week with my brother and sister-in-law. I haven’t had so much beer in one week EVER. I’m definitely looking forward to a little detox – until MY beer is ready to try!
Speaking of which, it had a little bit of an overflow the other day. Overflow = VERY happy beer! My sis-in-law helped me save it.
MY ALMOST BEER!!! Took a reading with my hydrometer today and snuck a little taste.
HAPPY!!!
I got to try that scary Weasel Crap Beer that I’ve been fearing/desperately wanting to try. It was an experience! I can tell that it’s a good beer, but holy crap is thick! I was fine sipping it until I started thinking about how it was made. I had a total of half a glass and then couldn’t mentally handle it anymore.
Still glad I tried it!
We took “the brewers/vegans” out to Island Brewing Company in Carpinteria for a tasting while they were here.
Verdict from the beer snobs: GOOD BEER!
Yesterday, we all took a trip to the airport to ship them off to a cold, snowy place. It was sad to say goodbye, but we all had a wonderful time!
Miss you guys already!

3 Comments

Filed under 2010, airport, Carpinteria, Island Brewing Company, Kriek, Liefmans, Mikkeller Geek Brunch Weasel, New Year, vegan

Santa Barbara Boyz!

     I spelled boys with a Z. I hope you forgive me.

     Grayson, Sitler and Frank were seniors when I was a freshman at UCSB. They took me and my friends Joelle and Christina under their wings (and into The Brew – their awesome, yet slightly disgustingly dirty house) the entire year. Every time we get together is a wonderful overload of happiness and joy!

On Tuesday I drove up to Island Brewing Company in Carpinteria to meet with Grayson for a beer.
A glass of Jubilee and a view of the beach? Okay, if I must!
Gray decided to grow a beard to keep his chin warm for snowboarding season!
(His actual words)
     Whilst at the brewery, Grayson surprised me with the news that our friend Sitler was in town, and that I was being kidnapped. I would not be going back home that night. I didn’t resist, although my toothbrush was missed.
Grayson, mistletoe and Sitler?
Sitler looks slightly creeped out… Just a bit…
Apparently they sell this tequila for a few bucks in Mexico. We all stared in awe and fear at the bottle, but no one had the guts to consume any.
Frank the Tank sterilizing his keg.
Got guns?
Closet beer! Frank, when do I get to try this??
     We spent the night testing out freshly tapped homebrews, eating homemade eggplant parmesan and debaucher-ing (not a real word, but accurate) to our hearts content, just like old times. Then we all ended up crashing on the couch around midnight and watching the BBC, not like old times. Sleeping before 1am? I think we’re getting old!
     FLASHBACK TIME:
Becki and Grayson circa 2006
Becki and Sitler (and my lovely roommates Joelle and Christina) circa 2006.
Becki and Frank the Tank circa 2006.

I love my boyz!

1 Comment

Filed under beach, beer, brewing, Carpinteria, Frank the Tank, Grayson, homebrewing, Island Brewing Company, Jubilee, mistletoe, ocean view, Sitler, UCSB

The Big Reveal

     I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats wondering (okay, maybe not, but let’s just pretend), so prepare yourselves for way too many pictures of the day!

     I started the day off with a gigantic GM.

I also made some for the roommates 🙂
     My friends and I hopped in the car and headed up north to Carpinteria for the day! Our first stop was Chamomile Cafe for some organic breakfast.
We got the best seat in the house – seriously, the waitress told us that people wait in line for this booth.
We got there around 11am. The regulars had already left. No waiting here!
I got the pumpkin-pecan pancakes. Holy Heavens, these were amazing! Crunchy granola, sweetened pecans and a light-as-air pancake filled with lush pumpkin flavor: all organic ingredients and those strawberries on the side melted in my mouth!
My friend got the quiche – organic eggs, broccoli, tomatoes and cheese floating on a flaky crust, with an applesauce-covered potato pancake on the side. I may have stolen half of her quiche…
We spent over an hour lounging around enjoying the ambiance, and LOTS of coffee with soy creamer!
     The day was spent perusing through different shops. First was Porch, a whimsical little store with lots of driftwood.
 
An artist was dropping of her driftwood mirrors when we stopped by.
 My favorite: A BP-Free-Tree – I named it myself! I’m such a nerd…

     We wandered down the main road to check out the campground (I told you there’d be tents! I’m wishing we’d gotten a site there now, but it was really packed for the 4th of July weekend).
They ended up having an outdoor movie screen there for all the vacationers. What an awesome way to spend a weekend! Not that I’m jealous: I’m glad to be working Saturday and Sunday :P.
     Have you stopped to visit your local museum lately? We did! Well, it’s not quite local, but we found the Carpinteria History Museum, and stopped in to check it out. 
This is a record player from one of the first houses EVER in Carpinteria. The gentleman who worked there turned the crank and showed us that it actually works! It was absolutely amazing to listen to the music while looking at the school room:
Everything in here was donated from an actual schoolhouse in the 1940’s!
The kitchen was stocked full with old cans and furniture that were taken from that first house which was sadly torn down to make way for new construction.
This is a dollhouse that was made by a high school class as a group project in 1936 (forgive me if the dates are a little off). It was so intricate and beautiful! Of course it was updated with a little electricity so museum-goers could enjoy all the minute details.
This place has no government funding, so we all chipped in a little cash to help keep it alive. I’ve always been a sucker for museums. I find it fascinating to look at things from the past and envision the people that used, cared for, and enjoyed them – like this carriage that probably carried entire families through the town, up on the cliffs that overlook the beautiful Pacific.
     We let the history soak into us a bit, wandered around, and found a really cool little art gallery on a side street: Anderson Art Collective. My favorite pieces there were the Sexy Skulls <– You’ll want to click there :). One of the artists was there in the studio working, and happens to be incredibly gorgeous. Ladies, beware, his smile can melt you, AND the wax. Here’s some of his work
     Before we headed to the main attraction, we hit up Siam Thai for some fuel.
Pad Kee Mao with beef (I’m really failing on this Flexitarian thing…).
Pad Thai with chicken.
     Next comes the main event of the day: Something I’ve been wanting to do for a looooong time!
Island Brewing Company in Carpinteria!!!
We all started off with a sampler. Paradise Pale Ale – not a fan: too bland and bitter. Island Pale Ale: much smoother and a little more depth. Jubilee: Love in a glass – sweet and silky and smooth, with a nice caramel aftertaste. Blackbird Porter: smelled a little nail-polishy, but tasted good! And finally, the Holiday Cask Ale: Smelled strongly of molasses and was very rich, and the roommates thought it smelled and tasted a bit like brandy (I wouldn’t know, never having tried brandy), but definitely was an unexpected punch to the face (9% ABV).
We went with the Jubilee and the Weiss (the brewery’s Hefeweisen, in case you didn’t get that 🙂 ).
     After spilling half of the Jubilee (I was a total idiot and spilled the glass all over my friends while telling a story with excessive hand motions – did that after only having the sampler, thank you very much), we finished the dregs of the glass and I apologized to the staff excessively while hiding my face behind my hands. My friend kindly and generously bought me an Islands Brewery sweatshirt to make me feel better :). Okay, all better!
     Dinner was next! We stopped at Giovanni’s and split a mini pizza between the three of us.
This pizza was delicious, and REAL! The sauce had tons of oregano and rosemary sprinkled throughout. I had two slices with ham, pepperoni, mushrooms (which I picked off), olives (which I picked off), green peppers and sausage. I was serious when I said I was failing the Flexitarianism!
     After wandering around the town, we stopped at the beach to watch the waves and the sunset.
 
A beautiful ending to an amazing day!
     Now it’s only 10pm, and I have to go crash because I’ve got a full day of work starting at 8:30am. Woohoo. Can’t wait. Oh! And I get to watch the LBM (Little Blurry Monster for all you new readers) again, so my post tomorrey will be a little late, or it might have to wait until Sunday – my bike has been calling me from its stand in the garage. I can’t ignore it for too much longer!
All you normal people, enjoy your weekends and be blessed!!!
  

6 Comments

Filed under beach, beer, Carpinteria, Chamomile Cafe, Islands Brewing Company, organic, pad kee mow, pad thai, vegan