San Francisco Chronicle (Sunday)
Breweries craft tasty beers to pair with enticing food
It takes a lot of great beer to make great wine, according to a familiar wine business saying.
While Lodi is known for its wine, many industry workers drink beer when temperatures spike. And for beer enthusiasts, a hoppy IPA or German Pilsner can be the perfect way to end a long day of sightseeing.
The city’s brewery scene has grown in recent years, allowing ample opportunity to sample a tasty, cold brew.
Side Hustle Brew Co.
Erin and Rick Taylor started Riaza Wines more than 10 years ago and converted a warehouse space on Lodi’s south side into their very own craft winery and tasting room.
Closure during the pandemic inspired them to recall why they started down the wine path in the first place. They want to do something they love, share their passion with others and not have any regrets. Having toyed with the idea of adding beer to the business for years, they decided to make their side hustle official in 2022.
Sharing the Riaza Wines tasting room, Side Hustle Brew Co. features craft beer with clever names like Jesus’ AstroVan dark lager, the Stepchild Red Ale, Rye’d or Die Rye IPA, No Brakes (All Gas) O.G. Pale Ale and the Pineapple Xpress West Coast IPA. The tasting room also features rotating food trucks, live music and beer 101 events focused on specific beer styles.
Five Window Beer Company
With a logo featuring two yellow Labrador retrievers hanging out in the bed of a bright red truck, you know that Five Window Beer Company is down for a good time. The pet-friendly brewery features a rotating selection of about 15 craft beers, from a Double Hazy Juicy IPA with Mosaic and Mandarina Bavaria hops to a Sasquatch Porter to a light, 4.2% ABV Session IPA.
If you can’t decide which beer to try first, it’s much easier to choose five samples for a tasty beer flight. The open-concept space with a large outdoor seating area makes for a fun and family-friendly place to spend an afternoon with pizza from the wood-fired oven, free popcorn, games of shuffleboard or corn hole and live music on weekends. Buy some of your favorite beer to-go in growlers and 16ounce cans.
Idol Beer Works
Housed in a remodeled tire shop, Idol Beer Works represents a dream fulfilled for Grant Hamilton. The owner and head brewer wanted to have a craft brewery that showcased traditional West Coast IPAs as well as Germanic beers, and he opened Idol to the public in 2017.
Sourcing ingredients from around the world to make the most authentic beer possible, Idol’s beers include Smutty Fraulein (a German Blonde Ale and the first Idol beer), the Bruce (a Scottish Ale) and Spotlight (a German Kolsch).
Bring some home for later enjoyment in growlers or 16ounce cans. Not in a booze mood? Try an Idol-Aid kombucha instead. Whether you grab a stool in the taproom or head out to the beer garden, guests can enjoy events like some taproom trivia, frequent live bands and a variety of food trucks.
Lodi Beer Company
Walk right in to Lodi Beer Company’s Old World atmosphere and feel at home. The recently expanded restaurant and brewery is a welcoming place for all ages and home to a range of house-brewed beer from Umna Hefeweizen with aromas of cloves and banana to School Street Brown with a lightly roasted malt character to Gold Coast IPA with Chinook, Amarillo and Citra hops.
There’s a full bar and wine list if you’re traveling with non-beer drinkers. The restaurant menu includes standard pub grub, salads, steaks and slow-roasted baby back ribs.
Dancing Fox
This restaurant and winery has long been a Lodi favorite, and a recent expansion into brewing and distilling gives guests even more liquid options to enjoy. Each of the Dancing Fox’s beers is brewed in small batches which means they rotate often.
Try tropical-tasting Down the Rabbit Hole (an American IPA brewed with Centennial and Amarillo hops and dry-hopped with Mosaic hops), fruity Lover Down Under (a New England IPA brewed with four different Australian hops) or even Crushed Pils (a German Pilsner ideal for hot Central Valley summers).
High Water Brewing
The result of a smart career change, High Water Brewing emerged from brewmaster Steve Altimari’s 15-year brewing career after previously spending 12 years in the tech world of Silicon Valley. Open since 2019, the High Water taproom is home to 36 taps and an outdoor beer garden.
Swing by to taste brews like Pink Boots Pale Ale (brewed in conjunction with the Pink Boots Society, which encourages women and non-binary individuals in the beverage industry), Hop Riot IPA (named after the Wheatland hop riot, which was among the first major farm labor confrontations in California) and Mama’s Boy Blonde Ale.