Fifty Fifty Brewing
After a long day of snowboarding (yes, there’s still snow in the hills), there’s nothing more relaxing than loosening the boots and having a beer! And who doesn’t love a good happy hour? Whiskey Creek in Mammoth Lakes, California has a great happy hour where all the menu items are half-price, and pints and pitchers are discounted as well. Oddly, the one exception to the happy hour prices are desserts. Luckily after glutting yourself on all the food and beer that you order, there’s no room anyways. It always amuses me to see people order twice the amount of food because it’s half the price…
The second floor of Whiskey Creek is where the bar is at, and where this happy hour takes place. It is also the home of Mammoth Brewing Company. Overall, their beers are pretty good, with some styles being much better than the others. Two worth checking out are the Double Nut Brown and the Epic IPA. These beers both go well with the pub foods that are typical on their menu and are pretty true to the beer-styles in which they’re brewed. The crowd that this place draws after a good snow day is crazy, and since the happy hour only goes on from 4p-530pm be sure to get there early to grab a table!
Another great apres snowboarding place to hit, requires first that you be in the North Lake Tahoe area. But trust me, this place is well-worth the travel. Hands-down, one of my favorite brewpubs is Fifty Fifty Brewing Company in Truckee. They have a lot of great tasting beers and you can get a sampler for a fantastic price! If I remember correctly, you can get a generous sampler of 8 of their beers for around $15. Their beers taste great, and the food is also great. They also have growlers and bottles that you can take with you when you leave, and you’ll want to. Their Imperial Eclipse Stout is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout that is very strong and rich (the way most mountain cougars like their men). The deep vanilla and bourbon flavors in this beer are great and paired well with the chocolate mousse cake that we had for dessert.
Other good places for a refreshing beer after a day of snowboarding were mentioned in a previous post on Salt Lake City. And, of course, Colorado ski resort areas have no shortage of great brewpubs to visit. Traditionally, it seems like California has had fewer good breweries per capita than some of the other southwestern states. But it’s good to see that it’s improving and that California is on it’s way to being a heavy-hitter in the craftbeer world. So, what are you waiting for? There’s still time to play in the snow a little and enjoy some great beer and food afterwards. It’s the closest definition I’ve got to a perfect day in the winter or spring.
