With the South Lake Tahoe fire 85% contained, the town seemed to sigh in relief. Most of the tourists had choosen not to visit Lake Tahoe this July 4th weekend and it created the perfect atmosphere to relax in.  Continuing my Lake Tahoe tour, I ended up at a Pizzeria and Brewpub named The Brewery at Lake Tahoe. Located on Lake Tahoe Blvd, this hot spot is known to fill up fast on days with good weather. We ordered a couple of beers and a few pizza pies and grabbed a choice picnic table outside with a mountain view.

After looking over the microbrew menu it became clear that I needed to branch out from my traditional order of IPA and try some of the other microbrews The Brewery had potioned up. This led to a bit of worry, until I spotted the "Beer Flight" listing on the beer menu. I immediately warmed to the idea, and ordered it up. Our waiter took the order, and ten 4-ounce glasses of assorted beer were put in front of me. Here’s a quick run down of each one:

• Washoe Wheat Ale – An American style wheat ale – Mild and very refreshing. Their lightest beer in body and color.
• Needle Peak Ale – An American style pale ale – Golden-blonde in color with balanced hops and toasted malts.
• Prince of Pales – An English style pale ale – Dry and Crisp, with a slightly bitter finish. An ale in the tradition of a British pub pint.
• Alpine Amber Ale – An American amber ale – A classic amber ale light in body with a pleasant caramel malt finish.
• Indian Pale Ale – A Traditional IPA – An aggressively hopped brew, golden-amber in color with pronounced bitterness and aroma.
• Paramount Porter – A Brown porter – An amazingly light bodied porter, with a pleasant chocolate essence and malt flavor.
• Bad Ass Ale – A style of its own – Their brewers handcraft this ale to be a perfect balance between its barley and choice hops. Deep burgundy in color, high in alcohol, this beer is always “Bad Ass”.
• Belgian-Style White Bier – A Belgian Wit – This wheat beer made with Curacao orange peel and coriander should be your first choice on a sunny Tahoe day.
• Oatmeal Stout – An Oatmeal stout – An extremely dark and full bodied beer, roasted barley and rolled oats give this beer its rich roasted flavor that any beer drinker will love.
• Captain Dick’s Nut Brown Ale – An English style brown ale – Using specialty malts from 4 different countries, this brown ale has a unique nut flavor and an intense long lasting malt profile.

While not all of the beers in the sampler were my personal favorites, I would recommend trying this out at least once. You get to try a variety of tasty homebrews (different every day, and often seasonal), and, at just under ten bucks, it’s not a bad deal. Also, if you chug each and every glass, you can get drunk rather quickly if you continue to order the sampler like it’s going out of style.

Lake Tahoe offers many exciting thrills for skiers and climbers as well as those with a taste for fine cuisine and fine brew. Thousands flock to Lake Tahoe every year to do a bit of sight seeing and many will run across a great little brewery called The Brewery at Lake Tahoe.

Located on the main drag at 3542 South Lake Tahoe Blvd, this pizzeria/brewery is the perfect spot to unwind after a day on the slopes or on the many trails that circle the lake.

The brewery is known for its unfiltered and copper fermentation process, which results in craftbrews that have wonderful aromas of rich malt. There Indian Pale Ale stands up against some of the best IPAs on the market including Stone’s Ruination IPA or Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA. It’s hazy copper color and rich malty aroma tells the story of what’s hidden inside. It’s just slightly floral in the nose with flavors that weigh heavy with malt at first and then gliding into a forest of hops. Very, very bitter. HopHeads love this one. The finish is crisp and bitter. One of the better IPA’s we’ve ever tasted.