Dunsmuir Brewery Works

The forested little town of Dunsmuir, California, is a convenient stopping point when driving I-5 between Portland and San Francisco.  That's a trick my friend Eric taught me years ago:  driving to California, Dunsmuir's old-school vacation cabins are an entertaining place to stay the night if you got a late start; driving back, it's a convenient lunch stop.  Dave and I pulled into the little town on the way back from San Francisco a couple weeks ago, with no higher hopes than to find some kind of mom-and-pop diner.  Lo and behold, there is a fairly new brewpub open on the main drag, Dunsmuir Brewery Works.

We had a decent bratwurst lunch there.  They only had two of their beers on tap -- an IPA and a porter -- because their customers have been drinking them dry, kind of like what happened a couple months ago to Breakside here in Portland.  The IPA was not all that great, a little flat if I remember right, but I thought the porter was pretty well done and I'd be happy to drink it again next time I'm passing through.  Ordinarily they would have five house beers on tap, plus a couple guest taps.  When we were there, the guest taps were Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat (the Widmer Hefeweizen of Northern California), Stella Artois, and the tasty Phoenix Red from Etna Brewing, a small brewery just southwest of Yreka.

Dunsmuir prides itself on the spring water that provides the city's municipal water supply -- the city website is subtitled "Home of the best water on Earth".  It is very good water -- though not quite as good as our Bull Run water -- and it's nice to see a local brewer take advantage of it. If you're on I-5 and need to stretch your legs or get a quick bite to eat, pull off in Dunsmuir and hit the Brewery Works.