Wednesday Food: Beer and the West Coast

What can four women do over 2,280 miles, in seven days? Drink beer. A lot of beer. Where might they find this beer? In six different beer bars and seven brewpubs and breweries.

Yesterday, we returned. The only occasion was that two of the four had time, and the other two needed to take time away. Beyond that, a passion bordering on obsessive for all things beer brought four food and drink lovers together for an epic adventure. Luck was on our side as San Francisco was just beginning its beer week, Pliny the Younger was freshly tapped at Russian River, and the forecasted rain in Portland never arrived.

Highlights: an impromptu breakfast of half a pound of Cow Girl Creamery Cheese and baguette, served in the car; waking up to a lighthouse and impeccable mocha in isolated Shelter Cove; finding Michael Jackson’s out-of-print Beer Companion at Powell’s (for cheap).

Our places of respite and elation, by region: