Wednesday 7th of August 2013 07:39:33 PM

link
5 brewpubs - 55 beers - under 3 hours!

That wasn't the goal but that's what wife Persimmon's and my journey to Temecula ended up being....a rousing good Sunday afternoon.

Wiens was our 3rd brewery. Literally next door to Refuge, this is a huge place - bigger than the others in the valley but they need the space; they produce wine as well as beer. Understandable. Temecula has become quite the winery destination with 38 vineyards in the vicinity along with those 5 breweries.

The customer service here was impressive....I wish I could say the same for the beers. All were enjoyable; some more than others but no stand-outs with one exception, The chocolate porter was amazing. Chocolate exploded in my mouth. With a porter, one would normally expect hints of coffee but with this, there were none and that was a pleasant surprise. It came close to a liquid Hershey bar and as a friend of mine said once; there ain't nothin' wrong with that.

However, a good selection of beer for all tastes including a 11/5% ABV Barleywine that was less fruity than you'd expect for that style and we found that to be delightful as well. And, an excellent addendum is that all breweries in the valley served us at least 11 beers so we certainly a full range of style to sample. Plus, all but one (Black Market) agreed to pour 2 ounces rather than 4 and charged us accordingly, no questions asked - no raised eyebrows. (Persimmon and I share. We're experts and know how to pace ourselves. C'mon! 55 beers!!???)

A fellow beer traveler told us when we said Wiens (Pronounced 'Weens') was our next stop that it would be a "waste of time." Although the brews weren't anything spectacular, the customer service made up for that....and that porter? As George Takei (Sulu) used to say...still does...."Oh My!"