I'm discovering the joys of happy hour. Well, re-discovering. Some happy hours in my youth were not...dignified. I've, uh, forgotten them.When I read about restaurant and brewery Brix 42 on Ben Wideman's the sky is big in pasadena, I decided to try it. Ben is Pasadena's resident beer expert. He knows every brewer within miles, proving that just because a man's a seminarian doesn't mean he's a party pooper. If Ben recommends a place, you know the beer is good.
When Andrew Pratt, Brix42's manager, found me nosing around the brewing tanks, I told him I'd heard about the place through another blogger. "Oh, you mean Ben?" he said. Then he gave me a tour.
I liked Brix42. The calamari was succulent, the French fries were practically a meal, and one of my friends had a beef and potato dish that I'm going back for.
But the real reason you go to Brix 42 is the beer. They brew five different beers right there. Of course I ordered the sampler.
I liked all of these beers. They're tasty and distinctive, not to mention pretty.By the way, when Ben posted about Brix 42 at the end of April he was concerned because it wasn't crowded. But don't worry, Ben, the place is catching on. There was a good happy hour crowd the night we were there. People were having a dignified, good time that they will likely remember.
30 comments:
It's good 2 know our 2 daily photobloggers appreciate their alcohol. I think.
(Just try to remember the golden rule: No blogging while drinking!)
I figure you have to experience both kinds of happy hour in order to decide which is the better to remember.
Lechayim!
P.S. At first those brewing tanks struck me as part of a bomb shelter. I guess this weeklong drill we are having here is getting to me. hehe
Mum and I recently rediscovered the delights of the old-fashioned Shandy {beer with lemonade, in case it's not known there}. I'm more of a wine or G&T girl than a beer drinker, but a little touch of shandy on a summer day can be quite refreshing!
Hee hee hee... I've been waiting for a reason to post this.
Looks like fun. Man, it's been ages since I had decent Calamari.. :(
Love their color, I bet they tasted just as good! Hope you didn't drive afterwards... (;
Buenos Aires Photo
ginab: Hee hee is right. Reminds me of spy vs. spy vs. spy.
What a great sounding place! And nothing goes better with a delicious sampler of micro brews than fries and calamari. Add this one to my list!
The head brewer knows my NAME??? That is AWESOME! I need to go meet him in person.
He sure does, bw! In what sense dough, I dunno...
Don't worry, Cafe. Those were five very little beers.
Dina, you're tenacious. I'd have left long ago. Lechayim right back at you. But not in a retaliatory way.
Beer with lemonade? Mixed? Maybe, if it's really cold.
Laurie, all I have to say to you is this.
First time I've ever had fat calamari, Ted. I always thought of it as little, thin, crisps.
Buenos Aires: like I said, they were very little beers!
Hee hee Gina B.
Come again, Katie, we'll go and we'll take Ben. He might be able to get us some deals.
It was the manager, not the brewer, Ben. He knew of your post. These guys keep track of what's online, I guess. Probably has a Google alert going. I would. But hey, maybe if we go early we can meet the brewer and he can make a special brew called Ben's Beer. Somebody should, don't you think? They could put it in a special bottle called the Wide Man. It would be delivered to all the local pubs by bicycle.
You? Undignfied? Impossible. Nice shots. Also, I would try an shandy.
As a beer lover you have to introduce me to Ben when I visit Pasadena! :-)
Both shots are just great!
Ah, thanks for the clarification Petrea. A beer named in my honor would be wonderful, but maybe it should be named in honor of the whole blogging community!
Either way, it has been a while since I last visited Brix 42. Time to go back.
JM, always nice to meet another beer lover. Look me up when you get to Pasadena.
Come visit, JM! It would be fun to have a massive blogger party at Brix 42, or wherever Ben tells us to go.
What's a shandy?
Beer, not just for breakfast anymore. I haven't had a beer in Paris but I can take care of that tomorrow! What a great place. I'm hungry and thirsty!
V
CP,
No drinking while blogging? I've never blogged without it. That might account for my remarks stupide and typos. Why change now???
My mouth is watering! A beer sampler and french fry meal? Count me in. :)
just say when....i'm so there!
Yes, Petrea, you need to organize a massive boozer party! Just maybe, just maybe, that's one bw would come to.
Virg of France: the 1st step is to admit your problem - good to see you have! 2nd, is to make an apptmnt once u get bak into the country with Doc Burchard. 3rd, is to bring me bak some French croissants.
Beer & lemonade? I'm there.
Hot summer night … sitting on the flagstone porch above the Mianus River, reading the Declaration of Independence aloud … lighting sparklers and attracting moths … smoking cigars and getting drunk and debating politics … & then, more than a year later, chipping ice off the stones, finding the rusted spines of the sparklers frozen in the snow of February—& in my memory I could just taste the homemade brew …
Is a sampler 5 shots of beer, or were those glasses? If so, sounds like a good time, indeed!
I cannot wait until I am 21 and legally allowed to drink in public...
Shawna's Study Abroad
{Hooray, some takers on the Shandies!}
I've never seen beer as beautiful before but that shot certainly is! I do occasionally fancy a raspberry flavored one from a brew pub. It all needs to be just a little sweeter for my tasters. :)
Welcome, Shawna--all the way from Turkey, no less! I want to take my next vacation there but the way things are this year it'll be Santa Barbara if I'm lucky.
To answer your question, the glasses were not as small as shots, but the waiter explained that taken together they'd all add up to about a pint.
Shan, another Pasadena blogger, Susan C, has two blogs and BOTH of them have been recent blogs of note. I'll bet this post will interest you.
Thanks Petrea! Ahh, the spiked fizzy drinks of youth! The sweeter the better says the lady with glucose trouble. ;)
You Pasadena gals are truly on fire over there with your noteworthy blog fodder!! Maybe if I ever visit my poor neglected brother in San Fran, I'll make him take me over to Pas/Alt for a good look around!
Shan, if/when you visit SF, let me know and I'll come up. I have a poor, neglected brother there, too, plus there's Katie. The least we can do is drink lunch at the Wharf in Dive's honor.
Post a Comment