Tag Archives: Grayson

Pliny and Friends

I’m freaking exhausted. Ora and I broke a new record for breaking down the booth today. An hour and thirty-two minutes! The first time I ever did this – 7 months and 12,800 miles ago, it took us four hours. So for this random post, mainly full of random pictures from the last week of things that make meĀ  happy, I blame 12,800 miles of driving for my job in the span of 7 months, the two flautas stuffed with guacamole and the margarita (and a half) that I had tonight.

Last Wednesday:
Hanging out with this blurry yet hot chica, eating massive amounts of sandwiches at a kitschy little coffee shop and talking until our throats were sore. There aren’t many girls that I can put up with – Sofia is one of a handful. Besides her being so awesome, she eats massive amounts of food like I do. For that (and her awesome personality I guess…), I adore her.

Last Thursday:
Amazing elementary school workbook. Is Fred a Hooker, or is Frank a Hooker? Oh, my terrible, immature mind.

Last Friday:
MOCHA CHAI! I had one in Monterey on my 21st birthday and never forgot. This one wasn’t quite as good, but I’ll eventually seek out that little coffee shop and relive the experience!

Yesterday:
Moustache Man! This epic mustache that stretched from each end of the jaw to the other made my day. I wish I’d gotten a full view, but I was being pretty obvious with my camera phone as it is…

Last night:
Lagunitas IPA at Grayson’s place. I drank it out of the bottle since I’d had it before and didn’t want to be a pain in the ass and make him wash a glass. I’m accommodating like that…
My first Pliny the Elder. JOY! I saw this on the menu at the pub we went to and flipped out. The nose on this is full of spicy hops and happiness. The first sip was sweeter than I was expecting, which was actually a nice change from most of the IPAs I’ve had lately. It’s nice to get some body and malt along with the bitterness of the hops. LOVE in a glass.
The largest of Grayson’s dogs. Queenie? Maybe that’s her name? Gray, if you had fewer than four dogs I’d know, but seven is just TOO MANY!
Two of my best friends and me. Caption: Grayson ponders the true meaning of the artsy photographs that Joelle (my roommate from college and LA) is perusing. I jump in wearing what looks like a piece of gigantic paper, but in reality is a cute off-the-shoulder shirt that has an unfortunately lame saying on it. I blame the Pliny. I blame the Pliny for that sentence, and for the shirt. I just blame the Pliny.
Food in a cup.

That is all.

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Filed under beer, FOOD

Faultline Brewing Company

I’m in Los Altos for the 32nd Annual Arts and Wine Festival this weekend, and got a chance to hang out with my friend Grayson at a brewery that he used to work at (as the brewer’s assistant).

We met in college. Grayson was a senior, living in a house of senior guys. I was a freshman, living in the dorms with my two best friends. Gray and “the Brew” as we so aptly named their house full of boys who brewed beer, basically took care of us the entireĀ  year, and we ended up becoming amazing friends to this day. Gray, have I told you how awesome you are?
We went to Faultline Brewing Company in Sunnyvale.
I ordered a style of beer that I’d never tried before – Best Bitter. I didn’t read the description before I ordered and had no idea it was nitro-pushed until it arrived.
Stupid evil bad camera blurriness.
That’s better! It was so pretty, watching all that gas as it seemed to cascade down the glass, dissolving into crystal clear beer. I have to say, I’ve never been a huge fan of nitro-pushed beers. I’ve found them to be bland and watery when they’re served on nitro, but this was amazing! Beautiful creamy head that lasted the entire glass, smooth body with a slight caramel note on the tongue, and a very mild kick of bittering hops. I have been converted!
Return of the evil, blurry camera. Apparently it didn’t appreciate my selection of food – I got fire roasted veggies tossed in a fresh basil pesto. They came with mashed potatoes, which I requested have tons of garlic and bacon in them. Needless to say, those potatoes were the first to go…
Gray ordered the tri-tip. My camera approved of his selection apparently…
I finished with Faultline’s IPA – very mild on the IBUs (50), but still delicious. I’ve yet to find a hoppy beer that’s too intense for me. Stone’s Ruination didn’t really blow my mind. I actually found Amazon Imperial Red to be more intense. Any suggestions?
Gray, being the genius brewer that he is (and also a Cicerone Certified Beer Server), has been helping me with my studying for the Cicerone Certified Beer Server test. I don’t want to half-ass this thing – If I get a question right because I guessed on a multiple choice, that’s not good enough. This is information I actually ENJOY learning about! Anyway, Gray was incredibly patient last night, teaching me about enzymatic mashes and how they’re needed for converting the long strands of starches into fermentable sugars. He also walked me through decoctions and kegging. Awesome.

Good food, great beer, one amazing friend.
Then I tried my first macaron and almost gagged on the sweetness! I finished it though. I’m not one to waste food.

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Filed under brewery, Drinks