Located in the hills near Sacramento, Auburn, California is known for its California Gold Rush history with gold discovered in 1848 and mined for many years. The town is now a California Historical Landmark and the streets are lined with beautiful buildings that take you back in time.

The city is also the home of the Auburn Alehouse Brewery and Restaurant which began craft beer production in 2007.  According to the Auburn Alehouse’s website:

“Gold was first discovered in 1848 in the Auburn Ravine that runs through what is now Old Town, and the community’s first brewery was built several hundred yards from the location of the Auburn Alehouse. The town grew seemingly overnight, and within just eight years of Claude Chana panning the first gold fragments, demand was sufficient to encourage the founding of the Kaiser Brewery in 1856, according to a piece in “Gold & Schemes. . .and Unfulfilled Dreams,” a collection of newspaper columns published by Bill G. Wilson in book form in 2002…According to Wilson, the brewery exchanged hands a number of times during its 52 years. Most notably, it operated as the Auburn Brewery and Broadway Brewery. When the brewery finally closed in 1909, it was owned by Ferdinand Rechenmacher, who purchased it from Julius Weber at the end of 1895. While he was brewer, Rechenmacher’s “steam beer” was highly regarded and, according to Wilson, won a “world prize” at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.”

I made a short stop at the award-winning Auburn Alehouse Brewery and Restaurant.

The massive, antique wooden bar may take your breath away at first but is a warm and welcoming place to sit. The brewery is on display and art work lines the walls of the restaurant.

I ordered the PU 240 Imperial IPA, named after the isotope essential for nuclear grade weapons. Auburn Alehouse states this “Weapons Grade Ale” is the hop bomb you didn’t see coming!

PU 240 Imperial IPA (8.0% ABV / 100+ IBU) pours a beautiful clear gold color with thick white foam. The beer has a pungent grapefruit citrus aroma with a hint of pine needles. PU 240 is medium-bodied with mild carbonation. Take a sip and you’ll get an explosion of grapefruit citrus and pine needle flavors followed by a background of malt biscuit. A dry finish with lingering bitterness follows. This beer made me radiate with delight.

I wish I could have spent more time at the Auburn Alehouse Brewery and Restaurant. This is an excellent stop that delivers historical ambiance and great beer.

After the Auburn Alehouse, we drove over to the town of Cool, CA to visit Cool Beerwerks.  To get to Cool, CA you have to drive on a two lane, curvy road through a small canyon that provides great scenery. The trip is worth it just for the drive.

Cool Beerworks is a microbrewery that is located in a small mall. It has none of the historical ambiance that I discovered at the Auburn Alehouse. However, sometimes you are very pleasantly surprised by the people you meet at brewpubs and this was the case at Cool Beerwerks.

At Cool Beerwerks we met an outstanding gentleman by the name of Hank. Hank lives in Cool and joined us for beer and conversation. His stories of family and community support and dedication were fascinating, touching, and impressive. My wife and I hope to meet Hank again soon. He is an admirable citizen and individual.

All the other locals we met at Cool Beerwerks were very friendly and made us feel very welcome. From clocks to tap handles, the brewpub offers eclectic pieces of art that complement the brewing facilities.

I recommend trying the Bourbon Porter (7.0% ABV), if available, and enjoying the bourbon, espresso coffee, and dark chocolate flavors that this beer delivers.

My wife and I were very impressed with the friendly hospitality we received at Cool Beerwerks.

Back in Auburn, we traveled to a brewery that has a strong cult following (including me). Knee Deep Brewhouse and Taproom is an award-winning brewery located on the outskirts of Auburn (Knee Deep’s main brewing facility is located in nearby Lincoln, CA but is not open to the public). Knee Deep is known for its hoppy IPAs (including 2, 3, and 4x IPAs) and their beers can be found throughout California and are also sold in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio and Idaho.

I’ve had a couple of Knee Deep beers in bottle and on tap before, but was very exited to visit the brewery and try a more extensive set. The taproom/brewhouse provides both outdoor and indoor seating. Picnic tables in both locations provide community seating and promote customer interaction.

The taproom/brewhouse is pet and children friendly. In fact, we made a new friend named Paulie (our server’s dog).

I sampled four of the most aggressive beers at Knee Deep Brewhouse and Taproom. My tasting notes follow.

Midnight Hoppyness (9.5% ABV / 100 IBU): This beer pours a dark brown (basically black) color with thick brown foam that left a “Brussels Lace”. Midnight Hoppyness presents a magnificent fresh scent of citrus, floral hops, and pine needles. The beer is full-bodied with mild carbonation. Midnight Hoppyness provides rich, delicious flavors of chocolate-like malt complemented by citrus, pith, and pine. There is a dry, bitter finish. This is an excellent beer with lots of flavor. Let this Midnight Special shine on me.

Hoparillo Triple IPA (11.1% ABV / 122 IBU): This beer pore a clear copper color with white foam that left sheets of lace. Hoparillo presents a pine aroma with tropical fruits and grapefruit citrus. The beer is full-bodied with mild carbonation and the back of my tongue was coated in hop oils. Hoparillo provides an intense pine needle and pine resin flavor with grapefruit pith. The finish is dry and bitter. I felt like I just swallowed a pine tree with a grapefruit tied to the top and I’m very happy about it.

Simtra Triple IPA (11.25% ABV / 131 IBU): This beer pours a clear copper color with white foam. Simtra has a dank aroma with presence of honey, grapefruit, grass, and herbs. The beer is full-bodied with mild, prickly carbonation. This beer is bitter and sharp with a hint of grass, plenty of grapefruit pith, and citrus tones. The finish is dry and bitter. Simtra provides enough hops presence for even the most diehard hop-head.

Hop-De-Ranged Quad IPA (13.1% ABV / ? IBU): This beer pours a clear copper color with white foam. Concentrated pine fills your nostrils with a background of caramel and honey. Hop-De-Ranged is full-bodied with mild carbonation. Hop oils coat your mouth. The hop bitterness is intense and the finish is dry. The name really does say it all.

Knee Deep is the brewery for intense hop lovers. For those that are getting IBU-happy, you should know that the average person can’t really distinguish bitterness over about 105 IBU.  No matter, there is a gold mine of hoppy flavors in Knee Deep beers.

My next entry will cover breweries in the Mount Shasta region.