Monday, March 17, 2008

Best of Sacramento?

It's that time of year again when local news folk put out their surveys to list their 'best of', however they name it. I don't normally do these, but for some reason the KCRA A-List has had me voting for the last couple years. The winners annoy me to no end, perhaps I feel as though my vote really will count sometime. Just to give you an idea, here's some of last year's beery winners.

Best Beer Selection
  1. Elixir Bar & Grill
  2. Streets of London
  3. Bonnlair
  4. Yager's
  5. Fanny Ann Saloon
My list would not have seen Elixir at all, and Streets of London must be riding the coat tails of days past, when they were something worth talking about. BonnLair is great, Yager's is decent. Vino's Wine and Cheese was good last year, but how quickly they have fallen! But hey, they're for sale now, so there's hope.

This year my vote went to Manderes.

Best Brewpub
  1. Pyramid Alehouse
  2. Elk Grove
  3. Placerville
  4. Brew It Up!
  5. Rubicon
Wow! You've gotta be kidding me, right?! Last year Pyramid didn't even brew in Sacramento, it was just a beer bar. Elk Grove makes good beer, Placerville can too. Brew It Up can be great, but can also be less-than-stellar. My list (last year) would have seen Rubicon at number 1, BJ's at number 2 (again, last year) followed by Sacramento Brewing. Sacramento really started coming on strong about this time last year, and news of their turnaround is still working its way through the community.

This year I voted for Rubicon at number 1, but if they're not careful they may soon be overtaken by Sacramento Brewing or Auburn Alehouse. Funny/sad thing about this year's voting, they didn't even include Auburn Alehouse! Come on KCRA guys, use your brains and amazing internet searching abilities!

Missing from the Ballots

Something else screwy with this year's ballots, they include a best wine bottle shop category, but not a beer bottle shop category! If I were voting for that, here'd be my selection.

Best Place to Buy Bottled Beer
1. Total Wine
2. Corti Bros
3. Nugget Markets
4. BevMo (Arden)
5. Whole Foods tied with a bunch of others that are almost there.

Vegetarian selections don't include Sunflower?! Now, they've done gone nuts there at KCRA I tell ya...

I'll consult the powers-that-be at PBN and we'll put a bit more thought into a real beer enthusiasts "Best Of" list for you all.
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