Blue Frog - Liberation Ale

I had the pleasure of spending a day in Fairfield, CA this past weekend with the wife.  She had an appointment at the salon, so I did what any good husband would do.  I went to BevMo, bought some beer, then headed to the nearest Brewery for a pint to pass the time.  Lucky for me, both BevMo AND a brewery were within a couple miles of the salon.

Fairfield's only microbrewery is Blue Frog Grog & Grill. They are a recent operation, probably less then 10 years old. The ambiance of the place is really quite nice. I sat down at the bar, which had glass windows behind it looking into all of the brewing equipment. Recently, they have started to distribute a couple of their beers throughout the Bay Area. Being as that is, I wanted to try something unique that I couldn't get at my local beer store. Written on a chalkboard behind the bar was "Levitation Ale, 6%". That's all the convincing I needed, so I ordered one up.

Right off the bat I was impressed. I have no idea what type of beer it was and didn't ask because I was more intrigued with the Cal/OSU game on the LCD tv's. However, it had a very deep amber color, almost reminding me of an old dirty penny from the 40's or 50's. Holding it up to the light coming through the brewing equipment, you can pretty much see anything through the beer, it was that clear. I took my first sip and it was just WAY too cold to taste anything. After letting it warm up a bit, it turned out to be a very good beer. Nice balance between malt and hops without having the heat of a high ABV value, with a nice medium bodied finish. I really wish they sold this in stores.

As of right now, you can only get the Blonde Ale, Red Ale, IPA, and Double IPA. However they also sell a hefeweizen they sell at the brewery. I picked one up and realized why they probably don't sell it in stores. The label is screen printed upside down and urges you to store it as such. There is a description of the beer stating that doing so will re-activate the yeast upon opening to give the beer a more complex flavor.

Overall it is a very promising brewery. They brought in Nick Campbell, a new brewer, in 2004 and it appears that he is making some quality stuff. I expect them to start distributing in more places soon, so keep an eye out fellas.

Cheers to more beers!