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Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Idyllwild Trip report

Hi everyone,

In our run-up to Oktoberfest, Paulaner Girl and I have been busy sampling brews, and low and behold, we found a spot of Nirvana.

Idyllwild is a small mountain town located about 85 miles North East of San Diego. It's a great town, full of good restaurants, bars, Antique shops, and great views of the mountains. We went hiking and camping. The climbing is great there too. Idyllwild is located on the west side of San Jacinto Peak, which is next to Palm springs. You may have seen the Tram that goes up to the top. People who go from the Idyllwild side climb up Devil's Slide.

A friend recommended a place called Motzart. It is just out side of town. The first time we stopped it was closed for a hour between dinner and lunch. But it looked promising.



The second time was the charm. And the featured bier of the restaurant is... Weltenburger Kloster Bier!



They had the Dunkel, so I partook of the fine brew, on a sunny afternoon in their Beer Garden. Superb.

This makes it required that we visit the fine monks... I give it 4 1/2 Steins!

4 comments:

Chugger said...

Why do you look so content?

A great report Herr BarleyMan.

BarleyMan said...

I am drinking beer, enjoying the company of Paulaner Girl, and our youngest daughter, and it is a beautiful California day.

What's not to be content...

Anonymous said...

Barleyman,
Wow, talk about coincidences . . . we've (Eliska and I) been to Motzart Haus on a number of occasions. Our "other home" is in a place called Hemet, not far from Palm Springs and located only a 25 minute drive down the mountain from Idylwild. You're right, though, opening hours are at best sporadic there, but the beer is good and genuine German. If you are in the San Diego area for any extended stay, we highly recommend Gordon Biersch, if you want to enjoy true Muenchner-style lagers. (They'll give you flashbacks!) You probably have already discovered this, but Dan Gordon, the founding brewer for G-B, was educated at Weihenstephan, where all the great Munich brewers learn their trade. We have a G-B here in Honolulu, and there a number of others in operation, primarily on the West Coast. Here is the link for the San Diego outlet:
http://www.gordonbiersch.com/restaurants/san_diego.html
Cheers.
Larry Hawthorne

BarleyMan said...

Wow... who's the guy in the photos?

-Britney Spears