Intro to Redlands

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Wednesday, we helped out at Elevation 66 Brewing again... and this time I got to see them keg & transfer for the first time..

 

This weekend, Izzy & I did a quick road trip down to Redlands, California to see her mom for the holidays. Basically we made pretty good time in getting down there in about 7 hours during rush hour from downtown San Francisco out to Riverside (where our hotel was). The only real note was… we had our first bottle bomb… while sitting in traffic… on the freeway… in the back of my Jeep. We had loaded a few bottles to give to Izzy’s mom… and one of them was our Cali Common recipe from a few months ago… and apparently this one had a little too much pressure… and we both just about sh*t ourselves thinking that somebody had shot out one of my windows with the loud pop and feeling glass on the back of our heads. Here’s the thing… it was in a Trader Joe cloth bag… back behind the rear seat… and the glass went THROUGH the bag… off the window, ceiling, whatever… and still hit us a little bit in the front seat of the Jeep. Needless to say, it could’ve been a LOT worse. We’re probably going to keg the rest of our Cali Common (2-3 gallons?) to avoid not only the danger… but losing a lot of our bottles. Them things ain’t cheap, ya know…

 

Saturday morning, we met up with Izzy’s mom at her home, and then we headed out to Oak Glen in the mountains, which is famous for their apple & other fruit orchards. Here are some pictures…

 

After a few quick stops, then it was off to Hangar 24 Brewery located near the Redlands Airfield. This brewery just started up in 2008 but is already expanding at an exponential rate… and they have some great beer. We had a quick tour of the facilities, tried some of their samplers, and even grabbed a variety 12-pack to enjoy back at home. I highly recommend checking them out if you’re in Redlands… here are pictures…

 

After a few samplers, we realized that we hadn’t really eaten in a while, so we went to Mill Creek Cattle Company for some great barbecue & burgers. I have a Reuben and the ladies had Tri-tip sandwiches… they were both delicious & great portions. We even had leftovers for evening snacks. DEFINITELY check them out if you’re in the area.

 

Just before sunset, we headed over to the Kimberly Crest Mansion to see how the upper echelon of society lived back in the day. Unfortunately we just missed touring hours, but we got to see some of the exterior…

 

 

 

Sunday, we met up and went to the Mission Inn in Riverside to see some of the surrounding churches & this iconic hotel. They were really busy with a few weddings going on, but we walked around the hotel a bit & then checked out their on-site museum. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what it looked like…

 

 

After that, we grabbed a quick slice of pizza and started the drive home to San Francisco… making it in just under 7 hours. Overall, a fantastic little trip… and it was good to spend some time with my ladyfriend & her mom before heading off to Utah later this week. Anyway, more on that later… have a great day everybody!!!