Beer Me! — Butterfield Brewing #1 — Fresno, California, United States

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Butterfield Brewing #1

(Closed)

777 East Olive Avenue
Fresno CA 93728
[Update]

Notes

Visited: January 30, 1994

Opened: 1989

Annual Production: 3,000 bbl

Updated: November 30, 2003

Beer List

Alt

German-Style Brown Ale/Düsseldorf-Style Altbier
- Date: June 24, 1995 (#1069)
  
  Package: draught
  
  Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA
  
  Score: 13½ points
  
  Overall Impression (2½)
  Brown, low carbonation, good head. Some hops, some caramel. Caramel, too much for style. Sweet brown finish.
- Date: November 9, 1994 (#590)
  
  Package: draught
  
  Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA
  
  Score: 17 points
  
  Overall Impression (3)
  Amber. Thick white head, good carbonation. Fruity nose. Good (unexpected) maltiness. Nice and bitter...pretty clean. Remarkable!
- Date: June 14, 1993 (#87)
  
  Package: draught
  
  Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA
  
  Score: 17 points
  
  Overall Impression (3)
  Hazy, a little. Very nice amber color. Beaucoupx de bubbles! Faint aroma...can't identify anything. Excellent body. Just enough sweetness and just enough hops. Carbonation bite brings out all the flavors. Outstanding beer! Outstanding! Good for hot weather or just for pinting. Outstanding beer.

Anniversary Ale

Barley Wine-Style Ale

Date: April 27, 1995 (#892)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 17 points

Overall Impression (3)
Dark red, low carbonation, thick white head. Spicy hop nose. Chewy, bitter, and strong. Mighty tasty. "Brewed once a year in March, this is a Strong Ale."

Bavarian Dark

European-Style Dark/Münchner Dunkel

5.00% abv.

Date: January 30, 1994 (#302)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Score: 14 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Red. Sparse bubbles, good head. Some caramel malt aroma. Mike Deliman thinks it's overhopped, and I don't disagree. Good body and flavors. Cascades are way too strong.

Bridal Veil Ale

American-Style Pale Ale

Date: January 27, 1995 (#733)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Amber, great head. Some caramel aroma, some hops. Lots of caramel flavor. Sweet, but not (too) cloying.
Date: January 30, 1994 (#300)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Score: 12 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Red-amber. Not many bubbles/head. Very very faint caramel and hops aroma. Thick. Lots of caramel flavor. Hops OK but maybe too bitter?
Date: May 9, 1993 (#50)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 9½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Amber ale appearance. Soapy smell. Thin, good crystal flavor, but not enough body to carry it.

Date: July 28, 1995 (#1114)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 12½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Red, clear, OK carbonation and head. Some hops in nose. Malty, slightly metallic. Faint black malt in finish.

Date: August 11, 1995 (#1126)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 15½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Brown-red, good white head. Brown malt nose. Thick, very brown flavor, especially in finish.

Date: August 24, 1993 (#251)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 18 points

Overall Impression (3)
Dark, but not particularly dark. Actually pretty red. Nice thick head. Nice burnt aroma! Unusual for it to be so pronounced in a Dunkelweizen, but really nice. Very nice indeed! It's a wheat-porter. Thick and roasty, with a wheat sweetness in the finish. Just a bit cloying, but then maybe it should be. Also somewhat astringent. 18 points? It's good, but not quite that good...I'm just not sure where to deduct and why.

Date: June 5, 1995 (#996)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 13 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Amber hazy, low carbonation. Slightly vegetal hop aroma. Great body...flavors pretty clean. good but kinda cold.

Date: April 4, 1994 (#397)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 16½ points

Overall Impression (3½)
Big white head. Golden amber. Not many bubbles at all. Malty nose, not very assertive at all. Some darker notes. Nice and malty. A bit of flowery hops at start. Slow lightly bittered finish...goes to sweet. Good beer.

Date: June 24, 1994 (#1067)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Overall Impression (2)
Yellow, chill haze, not Hefe. Perfumey, very vegetal. Bitter vegetal perfumey swill. Surprisingly bad Butterfield beer.

Date: February 2, 1995 (#745)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Black. Thick brown head. Some black malt aroma, not very assertive. Thick and black and bitter...long finish, not very strong. Don't notice much alcohol flavor.

Date: July 12, 1995 (#1102)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 15 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Amber, OK head. Very spicy aroma. Spicy flavor, but good malt balance. Very pleasant hoppy finish.

Date: May 2, 1995 (#913)

Package: hand-pumped

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 16½ points

Overall Impression (3½)
Dark yellow, flat. Huge rocky head. Fresh herbal scent. Good body, bitter. Great creamy bitter finish.

Date: February 5, 1995 (#754)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Dark yellow clear. Good carbonation. Very spicy aroma. Bitter...big flowery flavor. Finishes reasonably clean.

Date: January 30, 1994 (#303)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Score: 15½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Good yellow. Good bubbles. Very fruity nose. Big hop flavor, bitterness. Not bad at all.

Date: July 13, 1993 (#141)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 13½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Yellow, thin head. Should be darker. Looks like a thick beer, somehow. Cascade aroma. Hoppy. Quite bitter but not excessive. Good body but not as thick as it looks. Pretty tasty beer. Faults are mostly cosmetic. Had this beer again at Pacific Coast 8/12/93: "Hazy, very hoppy aroma. Very hoppy, flowery, bitter...much more than I remember. Rates maybe a 15."

Date: January 23, 1995 (#742)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 15½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Black, huge head. Very smoky nose. Very thick and smoky flavors. High temperatures here kick up big stout heads. (Keg is under the bar, where it easily reaches 80°F.)

Date: May 7, 1994 (#317)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 15½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Amber, low carbonation. Brown-malty aroma. Thick and malty. A little astringent. Fairly short bitter finish.

Date: January 29, 1995 (#743)

Package: hand-pumped

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 15 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Brown head that you could walk on. Sharp black malt aroma. Extremely black flavor. Thick, almost smooth.

Date: March 1, 1993 (#1967)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Overall Impression
Thick. Same sweetness as all their beer, but not as bad. I'll drink this again.

Date: May 16, 1993 (#24)

Package: draught

Score: 13 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Very red. Raspberry aroma and not much else. Tastes like Hawaiian Punch. As fruit beers go, this is probably pretty good. I don't like fruit beers.

Date: March 23, 1995 (#819)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 13½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Red. Low carbonation. Short head. Hop aroma, not overpowering. Good body, very hoppy. Loooong bitter finish.

Date: November 27, 1994 (#619)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Dark red, big head. Spicy hop nose. Spicy bitter...strong herbal hops. Some black malt late.

Date: January 30, 1994 (#299)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Pale, but not really. Some head. Clean aroma. Delicate hops. Light body. Fizzy. Good malt/hops balance. Carbonation seems to dominate, though.

Date: March 22, 1993 (#1)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 19 points

Overall Impression (3½)
Perfect color...exactly what you'd imagine a "Gold" to be. Very clean aroma. Malt, no hops. Very full body. Rich flavor combinations. Very impressive! I find it Very Hard To Believe this is a Butterfield beer. Far and away their best effort yet!

Date: January 15, 1995 (#715)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 17½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Spectacular deep amber. Some aromatic smokiness...could be stronger. Good smoky character. Good full body. Finishes fairly quickly.

Date: September 12, 1994 (#428)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 14 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Good dark amber. Very clear. Head OK. Slightly smoky nose. Hops come through pretty clearly along with caramel malt. Smoke should be more assertive. Good body. Some smoke, lots of caramel, some black malt. Some astringency barely OK.

Date: August 12, 1993 (#158)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 15 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Holy cow. Look at that head...looks like a root beer float, only black. Bitter/hoppy aroma. Sort of black, but not really. Very smooth. Maybe too smooth...flavors should be a lot more assertive. Very smooth, though. 15 points? Yeah, maybe.

Date: March 13, 1995 (#801)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 15 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Deep red. OK brown head. Nice roasty note in nose. Coffee-hoppy flavors. Body OK. Cloying in finish...some astringency. 15 points is generous.

Date: January 30, 1994 (#301)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Score: 14 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Dark red, transparent. Some bubbles. Smells like a Porter, but could be more so. Good Porter...but overcarbonated. Nice bite.

Date: March 22, 1993 (#2)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 13 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Dark dark red. Minimal head. Chocolatey/coffee aroma. Thick, not too too sweet. But too sweet for (my idea of) a Porter. OK. Too sweet, especially considering the other beers on tap here.

Date: March 23, 1995 (#818)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 13½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Red-amber, thick head. Nice hop aroma. OK body. Bitter, but finishes clean.