Bruce O.
Yelp
Eel River Brewery, Fortuna, CA - August 28 2023
We arrived at Eel River Brewery just a little before noon on a Monday. A brewery open for lunch on a Monday! Not always the case. Of course we verified it ahead of time on their website. Yelp said they were open too, but we always like to double check.
We always seem to land at Eel River Brewery when we're passing by. On this day, we were driving from Trinidad, California, on to Westport, California in our motorhome. I've never had a problem getting parking on the street right next to the brewery. The brewery parking lot itself is also pretty expansive.
The brewery is housed in what I imagine was an early 1900s building that has been converted into its current state. Tall vaulted ceilings built from sturdy timbers. There are both indoor and covered outdoor seating. Indoors has a very lively and warm feel to it. Outdoors, the music creates a festive atmosphere. Most of the patrons seemed to be locals, and it seem like a lot of people knew each other. There was laughter and joy all about, even at noon.
We were greeted immediately by two servers with a smile as we walked in. We got Laura, who proved to be a complete delight. We decided to sit indoors. We got menus and waters, and began to figure out what we wanted.
Of course they have lots of great beers. I've always enjoyed their West Coast IPAs, of which they had a few, including the Triple Exultation 80 IBU IPA - 9.7% ABV, and the same beer, bourbon barrel-aged in 2015, same IBU, but 12.5% ABV. I'm wishing now I would have at least done a taste of those, but I knew I still had a two hour road trip in front of us with some pretty twisty, turny, up and down roads, so I think I instinctively knew not to at the time.
I got the standard West Coast IPA, called organic IPA - 40 IBUs, 7.5% ABV, and my wife ordered a handcrafted Sequoia Sazerac. I ordered a small basket cheeseburger, which came with a side salad, and my wife ordered the bowl of clam chowder. The drinks and food were very tasty.
They do have a nice selection of swag, shirts and the like. Needing more crowler cans for my collection, I ordered a crowler of the West Coast organic IPA!