99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

by Bryan Gros

I just visited Santa Cruz and discovered a new microbrew bar there. It's called 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, kind of a silly name I thought. It is on Walnut Street, just off of Pacific St., which is a pretty active area on the Saturday night that I was there.

The pub was very comfortable, with an open feel and some seating on the sidewalk. The menu was pretty varied, with a selection of standard appetizers, nice looking salads, pub food, sandwiches and burgers, and "California" sandwiches. The prices were very reasonable, and the sandwich I had was fresh and big for the price.

As you would expect, the beer list had 99 selections, including the mystery beer of the week and imports from Belgium, Scotland, and other countries. About 30 of the beers were on tap. The majority of the brews were from the west coast, but they did have Samuel Adams and Dock Street beers from the other coast.

I got the feel, though, that the owners were trying to get into the microbrew business without knowing much about the beers they were serving. The first clue was the listing of two beers as "Anchor Steam Amber" and "Anchor Steam Porter". I chucked out loud reading this. They also included three or four offerings in the light American lager category, and the two guys next to me were enjoying a Corona (no lime though). The beer descriptions on the beer menu seem to come from the breweries' marketing people themselves.

They have a wall devoted to the names of those regulars who have sampled one of each beer, with subcategories that I couldn't figure out. I tried a Saxer "Three Finger" Stout, which the beer menu described as the nation's only bottom fermented stout. I guess it wasn't technically a stout, then. It was a nice beer, with a pronounced roasted character, but a little thinner than I prefer. One of the guys next to me was interested in the bottle, and he joked that his buddy drinks these all the time. I decided the time wasn't right to try to described the different styles of beer.

Also, there was a big closed sign on the door of Live Soup. I was disappointed in this, since the one time I had been there before, I enjoyed the beers. It was fairly unique for a brewpub, with more of a cafe feel than a bar feel. There were many patrons that looked like students reading on couches in one section near the bar. Another section had more tables and a stage for local bands. The food offerings was minimal, if I recall correctly, but I remember the salad I had was good. The sign on the door last week said "Sorry Live Soupers, We'll Miss You". I looked in the window, however, and there were a couple of people in there, so they may have just closed that week. I don't know who the brewer was, but he should have no problem finding another position.