Lost Coast Brewery & Café - 8-Ball Stout

This smooth oatmeal stout has won well over a dozen additional gold, silver, and bronze medals at various beer competitions since first bringing home a silver for Lost Coast in the 1997 World Beer Championships. Presenting a deep, rich brown on the pour, capped by plenty of fluffy light brown foam, 8-Ball offers up luscious aromas of dark chocolate and well-roasted coffee, with some hints of smoky char and a bit of an earthy character. Look for a core of roasty-toasty malts on the palate, joined by some scorched caramel and a mild char note, with the flaked oats helping contribute to a nice round and creamy feel. We loved the interplay between the light residual sweetness on one side and the dry roasty notes and hop bitterness on the other, with the drying notes ultimately overtaking in the end. We like 8-Ball Stout on its own, but it also makes a great match with onion rings & spicy BBQ sauce, or a BBQ bacon burger topped with cheddar cheese. Cheers!

Though Humboldt County in Northern California may be well-known to some people as the primary home of California’s grey-market cash crop, cannabis, it’s also home to a sophisticated beer culture and plays host to a number of fine breweries and brewpubs. Lost Coast Brewery & Café is one such establishment, and is also notable for being a woman-owned brewery – unusual (but refreshing) in the brewing industry, which is often regarded as a man’s world.

Lost Coast’s story begins in 1986 when founders Barbara Groom and Wendy Pound were bit by the brewing bug and set out on the path to own their own brewery. Years of intensive homebrewing and education ensued. Groom formally studied brewing at UC Davis as well as Chicago’s famed Siebel Institute, and the pair traveled to Britain to visit dozens of pubs across England and Wales. After quitting their day jobs (Groom was a pharmacist and Pound a family counselor), in 1989 they purchased an historic building dating from the late 1800s to serve as their brewpub location in Arcata, CA. They spent the remainder of 1989 and the first half of the next year renovating the building, known as Pythian Castle (the former local home of The Fraternal Order of the Knights of Pythias), and installing brewing equipment. Finally, in July 1990, Lost Coast Brewery & Café opened to the public. 1990 proved an excellent time to open a brewery as the American craft brewing renaissance was on the cusp of building up a massive head of steam. Lost Coast grew strong and steady, and by 2000 their brewing operations had outgrown the Pythian Castle location. A larger building was acquired nearby in Eureka, CA to house a larger brewing system.

To learn more about the brewery, their brewpub, or their very solid lineup of beers, visit them at www.lostcoast.com or give ‘em a ring at 707-445-4484. And, if you’ve ever considered a drive along the northern California coast (Route 101), do it. The mixture of gorgeous ocean views and awe-inspiring redwood forests is amazing, and when you reach Eureka you can enjoy the inviting atmosphere, great food, and well-crafted beer of Lost Coast Brewery.