Coast Range Brewing Company - California Blonde Ale

Coast Range's California Blonde Ale is a traditional American Golden Ale. Their interpretation is fermented cooler than most ales and is cold conditioned a week longer to give it a crisp finish similar to that of a lager. They use all American malts, which include light crystal, wheat, and 2-row pale. Mt Hood and Liberty hops give this blonde ale a spicy hop bouquet. This heavily accoladed ale - it's won too many to mention! - starts out with a pale maltiness and spicy hop nose. You'll get some hop fruitiness and sweet malt character in the body. It ends slightly bitter leaving you wanting more! Overall, the most full flavored blonde ale we've ever reviewed.

The Coast Range Brewing Company is located in Gilroy, CA, the Garlic Capital of the World, was founded in 1995. A family-owned and operated microbrewery that began as a draft-only brewery, Coast Range now brews and bottles their ales in 40 and 80 barrel batches.

Peter Licht, Coast Range Brewing Company's Masterbrewer and an owner, has been at the helm since they first opened their doors. He is a graduate of the UC Davis Masterbrewers program, a member of the Master Brewers Association of America, and an associate member of the Institute of Brewing in London. You could say he knows a bit about beer! His experience in the brewing industry has allowed him to cover a wide range of ales, cask conditioned bitters, hard iced tea, sodas, and various lagers.

A recent addition to the ownership of the brewery has allowed them to double their brewing capacity. They have added three 80-barrel fermenters and two 80-barrel bright beer tanks. Coast Range uses a 28 head Crown Cork and Seal Uniblend filler on their bottling line, which has been retro-fitted with double pre-evacuation to give the bottles maximum freshness and longer shelf life.

The brewery produces several ales, including Desperado Pale Ale, a Scotch Ale, an IPA, Maduro Porter, the Merry Maker (a holiday seasonal), and a blonde ale unlike any other we've ever tried, California Blonde Ale. Their beers have won many awards at both national and international competitions including the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Championships, and the World Beer Cup.

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (408) 842-1000 or check out their web site at www.coastrangebrewing.com.

Barbecued Stout Pasta Sauce

6 medium tomatoes
1 green pepper
1 sweet red pepper
1 hot banana pepper (optional)
2 medium onions
2 Italian or Macedonian sausages (roughly 1 lb)
1 cup stout
1 5-½-oz can tomato paste
1 large clove garlic
1 tbsp dried oregano
½ tbsp dried basil
½ tbsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Lengthwise, halve the tomatoes, peppers, and onions and barbecue them, along with the sausages, on a medium flame until the vegetable skins are slightly charred and the sausages cooked. (The sausages may be parboiled in advanced of barbecuing if time is a consideration.) Remove the vegetables and sausages from the grill and allow them to cool until they can be comfortably handled.

Peel, core and crush the tomatoes in a medium-size pot and stir in the tomato paste and stout until you have a deep reddish-brown sauce. Mince the garlic and add it to the sauce along with the seasonings. Stir well. After peeling the onions and peppers, chop them and the sausages into medium-sized pieces (except the optional hot pepper, which should be finely diced) and add them to the pot. Simmer the sauce for at least 30 minutes, adding more stout as necessary and adjusting the seasonings to taste. Serve over al dente linguini or other pasta. Feeds 4-6.

Dear Murl,

I've always wondered and never been able to find a good answer to the question: Who exactly were Anheuser and Busch?

Frances Vaughan

Auburn, ME.

Dear Frances,

I was hit with this one about three years ago and have been asked several times since so I guess it's time to respond in print once again. The answer to your question is obvious. WHO CARES?! Let's face it, darlin', if you try and put any of that stuff in a bowl when I'm preoccupied with rawhide, I'll be accidentally "marking my territory" in your living room. You might be able to sneak a Bud by the talkin' frogs and lizards, but we canines have a much more acute sense of taste. I mean, you don't see me woofing down flies with my malted beverage now, do ya?

Woof!

Murl.