Hi Steemians! I've been slammed busy lately, working a ton - making it hard to find time to write on Steemit. But, I miss ya'll and I'm going to be making time again to share cool content about Wine Country living and culture. I've also been busy planning a trip to Washington, DC, where I head for work and fun next week.
Anyway, I wanted to share with you a cool new place I discovered in Napa. I'm publishing this article in Sonoma Magazine later this week, but, wanted to share it here first. Cheers!
The emergence of Wine Country as the Beer Country continues with a new "nanobrewery" in Napa: St. Clair Brown.
St. Clair Brown opened four years ago as an urban winery nestled amongst a culinary garden and with tastings offered inside a charming glass greenhouse. Since it's opening, St. Clair Brown has offered weekly music, locals' nights, and wine tastings of their small production wines, which include sauvignon blanc, muscat, rose;, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon.
Now, both wine lovers and beer fanatics can toast together with the opening of St. Clair Brown's nanobrewery.
The long-time dream of St. Clair Brown co-founder and winemaker/brewmaster Elaine St. Clair, it's the first of its kind in the city of Napa, which has seen an uptick in breweries over the past few years, as locals and visitors alike who crave a break from wine.
St. Clair, a former winemaker at Domaine Chandon and former brewmaster and co-owner of Napa Ale Works, created St. Clair Brown with co-owner Laina Brown with the intention of creating small batch wine (they make about 1,000 cases a year!) and small production, craft beer. "I've always wanted to get back to beer," shares St. Clair, "If we were going to be here for the rest of our lives I really wanted to be able to do both again."
They offer ten beers, about 60 gallons of each batch. They pour three beers daily on tap, with weekly rotations through the lineup. Their current beer offerings include a little something for everyone: pilsner, honey wheat ale, farmhouse saison, pale ale, red ale, Scottish ale, brown ale, black IPA, porter and oatmeal stout. Tastings, glasses and growlers are offered.
The beers St. Clair makes are unfiltered, naturally carbonated, and malt-driven, with a preference for less bitter or heavily hopped profile. "I'm a traditionalist in my palate choices. I want to make beers that are just wonderfully balanced," says St. Clair.
St. Clair Brown Winery & Brewery is located at 816 Vallejo St., Napa, CA 94559. 707-255-5591. stclairbrownwinery.com.