after what can only be described as excessive indulging in food and drink with family down in LA and SD, AP and I roadtripped it back up HWY 1 with AP, EP, AP, and DP in tow.

• during a wet spot on our second day up the coast we rolled into santa cruz for a pit stop.
• as usual, AP had done her homework and picked out a great spot at seabright brewery.
• seabright had the total package – our waitress, busboy, and bartender were all great and energetic.
• I started with the blur, seabright’s IPA.  it was citrusy and fresh, without too much of a bitter finish.
• unfortunately, as I was a driver in the caravan, I was relegated to tasters after my first pint, but I got to try desmond, a warm and slightly sweet barleywine tapped two days earlier, as well as sacrilicious, a very hoppy red that had a great malt and hop balance.  the two APs were fans of seabright’s amber.
• while I was at the bar, I couldn’t help but notice 5 or 6 trash barrels filled with 2-row in the adjoining brew room, so I snuck in for a peek at their sweet setup.  large lagering tanks in a cooler room were visible in the eating area through large windows.
• overally, seabright brewing was a top-notch establishment.  the food and beers were great, and the service was even better.  I can’t understand the mediocre ratings for this place on beeradvocate, but if that means a shorter wait for a table on my next visit then I guess I’ll just keep my mouth shut…

Tags: desmond, ipa, sacrilicious, santa cruz, seabright amber, seabright brewery, the blur

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 9:45 pm and is filed under beers, places. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.