Red, White, and Brew

3rd Annual SF Beer Run, Feb 12

2012-01-27T00:16:00.000-08:00

Another year, another SF Beer Week, another chance to "earn your beer." For the third time in four SFBWs, Derrick Peterman (Ramblings of a Beer Runner), Bryan Kolesar (The Brew Lounge), and I host the SF Beer Run!

The timing couldn't be better for me. A) I miss San Francisco. B) Putting on all that "sympathy weight" during Half Pint's pregnancy (It's a boy! More on the birth of Izzy Parker Yaeger, or I.P.Yae for short, soon) has rekindled my need to run more.

It's seriously a fun event. Meet at a brewery (Social Kitchen & Brewery). Run en masse through the east end of Golden Gate Park and the panhandle. Enjoy an optional beer at Magnolia (it's Strong Beer Month!). Run past the Flower Conservatory, some people throwing a Frisbee, and the swans at Stowe Lake in the park. Then dash back to Social for a beer. Bam, you just ran up to 5 miles. You've earned it.

I'd say don't take my word for it, but really, you should. If you don't, take Draft Magazine's Beer Runner's word for it (even if that's from last year's). Or, as I started, take my word for it:

That video was from the 1st annual, where we attracted some 9 beer runners. Last year we amassed well over 50. This year? We expect/would love to see a full hundy! To sweeten the pot, there's a fundraising raffle this year with tons of running gear and beer schwag to give away. Derrick laid out the details better:

When? Feb. 12th, 2012 at 11:00 am

Where? Run starts and ends at Social Kitchen and Brewery, 1326 9th Ave., SF.

How far? Approx. 5 miles. View the official course map. (Sorry, the course won't be marked.) If you get lost or 5 miles is a little beyond your ability, feel free to head back anyway you want to Social for the post run festivities.)

What are the post run festivites? Each finisher 21+ will get $1 off their post-run beer(s) at Social. But wait, there's also the post run raffle with lots of great prizes. The grand prize is a $50 gift certificate to Social Kitchen and Brewery. We'll be awarding other great prizes like "Earn Your Beer" T-shirts from Adventure Sports Journal, an East Coast Beer Basket from Bryan Kolesar, a PDX Beer Basket from Brian Yaeger, and more.

Money raised in the post run raffle will be denoted in memory of beer writer Bill Brand to the Contra Costa Food Bank and also to Autism Speaks.

Portland Year Anniversary

2011-12-06T21:33:00.001-08:00

It dawned on Half Pint & I that it's our one-year anniversary in Beervana. How exciting is that? The first thing I did once we landed was go to the Holiday Ale Fest, which is how I knew--finding myself sampling amazing winter warmers 'neath the heated tent city in Pioneer Square again--that it was time to start doing everything as a Portlander for the second time. Including layering and drinking winter warmers for the warmth and not just because they're so delectable.

As Portland approaches 50 breweries, probably by late next year if you count the surrounding nanobreweries, I've still barely hit half of them. Same goes for the beerfests, of which it seems there are already more than 50. Not that I'm complaining.

And of course, one fun way we found to participate in all things Brewtopia is by having launched Inn Beervana (also found on VRBO). More on this in forthcoming post, but suffice it to say, operating a B&B (Bed & Beer) is a fun way to welcome beer pilgrims to town and point out all the prime beer spots near us in the Southeast.

Having said all that, I suspect my local beer consumption might take a nosedive in the coming year with the arrival of our firstborn. Maybe that's why I've been championing smaller, responsible packages such as 375ml half bottles, stubbies, and 189ml nips. Follow our love of nips, too.

With that said, hope y'all had a great 2011 with an even better and beerier 2012 in store.

Special delivery beer pairing: Black Raspberries and golden apples

2011-08-25T03:43:00.000-07:00

My first and only visit to Cincinnati, like every trip, is forever associated with the food I ate. There are two classics that correlate to Cincy: Cincinnati chili (a la Skyline, Dixie, or Gold Star) and Graeter's Ice Cream. Everyone has a hands-down favorite among the former (after trying them all, I indeed have a favorite but ask me in private so as not to enrage particular friends there). As for Graeter's, I have a favorite flavor there, too, and it's oddly not my all-time flavorite (which is Mint-Chip): it's their Black Raspberry Chip. No surprise it's their top-seller.
This is premium stuff (and not just because the Mint Chip is not artificially colored). When my pregnant wife had a craving for coffee ice cream, the Mocha Chip hit the spot and her hormonal taste buds are prone to being disappointed rather than constantly enamored. I was equally fond.

When it comes to pairing ice cream and beer, the knee-jerk is rich creamy vanilla with equally rich yet chocolaty stout. Enjoyed side-by-side or increasingly popular as a float, I dabbled with both, selecting the unfortunately-named Dick's Cream Stout. Dick (Young)'s Brewery from near-ish Centralia, WA is ultra smooth and what I like about pairing with it is that since it's not particularly boozy (5% ABV), it keeps the float refreshing. Woe that we don't get Dick's Root Beer in Oregon, I selected the local Crater Lake Root Beer simply because it's local and natural. Fortuitously, the strong vanilla bean flavor drowned out the root beer's toothpastiness from it's trumped up wintergreen. If you think you're sensing a theme, you are.

Craft ice cream, just like craft beer, is best enjoyed provincially. When consulting with one of the founders of the forthcoming Cincinnati Beer Week, I recommended partnering with Graeter's to do a series of floats and pairings. (Let's see if they're game.) I hesitate to say ice cream needs to be fresh since, hello, it's frozen, but whereas eating Graeter's in Cincy or even anywhere in the vicinity of Ohio/Kentucky is a must, I'm not sure the benefits of distributing a flavor like Vanilla to the West Coast. Julie's and Alden's are excellent locally made vanilla ice creams and cost about the same a pint of Graeter's. (For a tragi-comedic story, click on BonAppetit's "Supermarket Standoff" where someone judged the winner because, in his or her words, "I like seeing the vanilla flecks."

The kicker here is that I heartily recommend rushing out and trying the Black Raspberry Chip. The berries are sourced from, where else, right here in Oregon! Why have I never seen a raspberry chip ice cream here before? If I'm going to eat a fruit flavored ice cream, it's gotta be something special. I love strawberries but can't stand most of this pink concoctions. Graeter's succeeds by making it almost taste like gelato. It's both true to the puree as well as immensely creamy, and really, what ice cream isn't ameliorated with chocolate chips, or in this case, shavings? To pair with it, rather than go with a difficult beer pairing that would play well with the fruit, the chocolate, and the cream, I went with an apple cider from Eaglemount. Several varieties showed up on the shelf at Belmont Station and I was relieved the simple yet sophisticated packaging (swingtop, too!) didn't belie the contents. The fact that the cider was decidedly fruity yet crisp and dry helped jar my palate without piling sweet upon sweet. Perhaps not as healthy as eating a fruit salad or apple-raspberry smoothie, but the pairing made for a light-feeling dessert and is anything but expected.

Beer roulette

2011-08-25T03:36:00.000-07:00

I hate Las Vegas. I used to find myself going every year at least once, usually for Punk Rock Bowling, but ever since the organizers moved the weekend and I moved farther away, I've seldom been back. I hate the cigarette smoke, I hate the fact that you get what you pay for when you get the $2.99 b-fast, and I hate that I was clearly addicted to gambling. Case in point: I hit rock bottom when a friend duped me into driving out to Lost Wages a few presidential elections past ostensibly to canvas, but it just so happened to be Halloween and he dragged me to a bunch of clubs. Let's just say he had a good time and I couldn't wait to get back home. So when I missed catching the Greyhound to leave a day early, I consoled myself at Binion's and tested my "fool-proof" way to win at roulette. Here, I'll share it with you. Figure out how much money you want to win and bet it on red. Or black. Or whichever one ISN'T the one that the ball just landed on 3 spins in a row. If you lose, just bet double that amount the next time. If you lose again, bet quadruple that amount (since you lost it once the first spin and twice the second spin). The only way this plan can fail is, if, say, hypothetically, you wisely don't bring a lot of cash with you but you foolishly forget to leave your ATM card at home and then impulsively withdraw the maximum amount and that, too, doesn't land on the color you're riding.

I guess the reason this is on my mind is that I'm excited to go to Vegas soon. My wife's new job has her going there for a store opening and I've never been to a brewery in Nevada so I'm tagging along. Back in the day, there was no craft beer scene to speak of, but now there is. And the hotel is paid for. As is the food so no $2.99 b-fasts all day. As far as vices go, I'm glad that I've become a beer aficionado that I enjoy responsibly and moderately. I'm better at doing beer reviews than casino reviews.

Oh, as for that ill-fated trip. My friend who dragged me and allowed himself to be subsumed by every single vice in his playbook ended up officiating at my wedding. He got married, too, and his wife is grateful that I turned her onto Dieu du Ciel's Peche Mortel Espresso Stout. A far cry better than what we drank that weekend in Vegas.

A limp reception to IPA Day. Hoppy beers make you flaccid

2011-08-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Rise up gruit drinkers, oh ye fans of unhopped ales. Lay down your swords IPA guzzlers, ye of the limpdicks. For you see, IPA producers, unlike The Church, don't want you to know about a medical condition known as "brewers droop."In my post today for All About Beer's Beer Soup blog, I examine this rarely discussed phenomenon that is particularly relevant as we celebrate IPA Day. It's one that Stephen Harrod Buhner saw fit to discuss quite often. Since I'm only alloted a limited word count for Beer Soup, I wanted to offer up some extra background from our friend Buhner not just on WHY hoppy beers produce brewers droop, but where such beers came from and why the Church actually had good reason--besides their own financial gain which is always the case behind any large entity's action--to oppose the implementation of hops. Excerpted from the full article found here.

To understand the radical change that is involved in the shift from gruit to the hopped beer we now drink, it is important keep in mind the properties of gruit ale: it is highly intoxicating - narcotic, aphrodisiacal, and psychotropic when consumed in sufficient quantity. The hopped ale that took its place is quite different. Its effects are sedating and anaphrodesiacal. In other words it puts the drinker to sleep and dulls sexual desire. Hops is extremely high in estrogenic and soporific compounds. The phytoestrogens make it great for women in menopause but never good for men. (In fact there is a well-known condition among inn keepers and brewers in England called "brewer's droop.")

When Hops began to be suggested for use as a primary additive in ale, the opposition was tremendous. Those who held a monopoly on gruit production in Germany (the Catholic Church) and on pure ale in England fought hop introduction through the legislatures, proclamations of the royalty, writings of the day's medical practitioners, and through church edict. Hops, until this time, was merely one of the plants used all along in the production of beer - the earliest mention of its use probably being in Hildegard of Bingen's (1098-1179) Physica, though she insisted that other than its preservative qualities "It is not much use for a human being, since it causes his melancholy to increase, gives him a sad mind, and makes his intestines heavy."

Perhaps the organizers ought to promote craft beer next year with another style of ale the macros don't produce: the historical gruit.
(And thanks to Motifake.com where I "lifted" the artwork from their Demotivational poster.)

Homebrew CSA: 2-3 pros, 20-30 cons

2011-08-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

Brew Lab SF is a CSA-style homebrew club. Community Supported Agriculture is an awesome idea that even the USDA supports, but notice it doesn’t support CSHB (community supported home brewing.) I found out about it through the SFoodie/SF Weekly food blog written by my friend Jason Henry who took over my beer blogging duties there when I ~~retired~~ moved out of San Francisco. It was also covered in Urbandaddy

Not to be confused with Pacific Brewing Laboratories in San Francisco, an entity that gets miscategorized as a nanobrewery but is really 2 homebrewers, Patrick and Bryan, who also share their beer with the public for free and accept donations. I don’t know if I “fully” support their set-up, but I do stand behind it because they are talented, creative homebrewers who aspire to go pro through the proper, legal chanels and their events are community-based and offer the conviviality that gathering and drinking beer produces unlike sticking a 6 pack in one’s fridge (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

To be clear, nanobreweries are legal breweries licensed by the TTB. Only legal breweries can legally sell beer. They also must pay excise taxes. So, while I’m sure that founders Sam Gilbert and Emily Ford are well-intentioned and enterprising individuals who started this for great beer-promoting reasons involving proselytizing the merits of homebrewing, I can only think of 2-3 good reasons for this club and 20-30 bad ones.

Pros:
1. Free beer. Who wouldn’t like that?

2. Feedback. Each homebrewer gets feedback on his or her brew and even gets some of the costs associated with the hobby reimbursed.

3. Waste not, want not. Even when I make 5-gallon batches it’s sometimes hard to get through it all.

Cons:
Where to begin?

1: Selling homebrew is illegal. I know the argument here is that it’s not “selling homebrew” but c’mon. In their own words: We can only cover the costs of brewing and running the organization with the help of membership donation, and so each batch we ask our members to consider donating to the cause. Good luck getting the free beer without paying the donation, which they do not specify the suggested amount.

2: Don’t be nervous. You put the donation on the dresser. Donations by and large are given to nonprofit or other charitable organizations, or to political campaigns, or to…prostitutes. Just like it’s illegal to sell homebrew, it’s illegal to sell sex*. (Though I think that vices like prostitution and marijuana should be legalized and taxed to high heaven. The Dutch seem happy.) I’m well aware of the huge difference between homebrewing and human trafficking, but just calling payment a “donation” doesn’t make it charitable. Ask Rick Santorum.

3: Hurts homebrewing hobby. Any club like this makes it look like we homebrewers are in it for the moolah. Or it gives us the very false impression that our beer is worth buying. Much of it is. That’s why I’m writing a book about it! But much of it is not, despite once having someone insist on giving me $2 for bottles I brought to a dinner. Yes, I broke the law by accepting that money, but I only did it because even after I explained I couldn’t accept it, the guy insisted, and I liked the ego stroke.

4: Hurts professional brewers. Every 6 pack of BrewlabSF you buy, that’s one 6-pk of craft you didn’t. I once heard a craft brewer call this “share of mouth.” Some craft brewer’s kid is going hungry if you participate in this club.

5. Like homebrewers need help getting feedback. What homebrewer doesn’t already have friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc. already willing to offer that, especially in exchange for “free” beer.

6. Quality of/qualified feedback. From whom exactly? These club goers aren’t necessarily BJCP certified. IF, if, if they give feedback at all, it’s in the form of 1-4 star ratings and then maybe a quick line. And they can (and do) post some anonymously. Club co-founder Emily Ford reviewed one of the beers called Royale with Cheese—a Simcoe and Amarillo hopped pale ale fermented with a Belgian yeast strain—as “Fantastic!” That was the entire review. I’m sure she’s right and I’d love to try that beer. But that’s not constructive feedback.

7. Slave drivers? OK, probably not, but this reeks of BrewLabSF folks profiting from the hard work of others. How much DO they pocket off this little venture? And how much goes to the actual brewers (who, see #1, aren’t legally allowed to make anything off it anyway)?

8. TTB/ABC. Commercial brewers went through tons of trouble and jumped through tons of hoops to be allowed to sell their wares. Now homebrewers get to skirt those orgs and laws? I love loopholes as much as the next guy. Figure out a way I don’t have to pay taxes or get to run red lights and I’m there. But…

9. TTB/ABC pt 2. It’s not like we’re talking selling homemade jam or bread here, two hobbies related to homebrewing. This stuff has alcohol. That’s why it’s so highly regulated. Can you imagine a moonshine CSA? If there’s one out there, they’re smarter than putting it on the world wide web.

10. Hooch. I have no clue what the authorities would do if they busted sellers and/or brewers. Probably assess a fine. Prisons are overcrowded. But before I started writing about beer, I wrote about music. (And I write about these things because I’m a better writer than I am musician/brewer.) One of the indie/punk rags I wrote for had a recipe on prison hooch. Crush a bunch of oranges in a trash bag, add a ton of sugar, fill with water, then wait and “burp” it as needed. Just to be on the safe side, let’s keep these homebrewers making quality beer.

11. 21+. How do we know the club members are of age? Yeah, there’s an “I am 21+ years old” button that they have to click saying they are, but are IDs checked before the sixer is dropped off or picked up?

12. Free beer is a bad idea. I know brewers hear all the time how amazing, borderline unfair it is that they get paid to make beer. But brewing is hard work with long hours. They DESERVE to get paid. Beer is WORTH paying for. This makes it seem like beer should ever be free. But of course, it’s not really free. Would they actually allow a member to NOT make a donation? C’mon!

13. For the geeks. I’m not saying only homebrewers should drink homebrew. Far from it. But is this really turning people on to brewing? I hear membership is so popular, they can’t allow everyone in. And most people who love and support homebrewing know where/who to get some from.

14. It’s a hobby. Why do any homebrewers believe their beer is worth buying? Of course, again, a good amount of it is. But they shouldn’t do this for that reason. That’s why it’s a hobby! Mountain bikers don’t get paid to mountain bike. Girls who go to Stitch’n’Bitch knitting sessions probably don’t sell their scarves that often. We ALL have hobbies, and just because you’ve been doing it for a few years doesn’t mean you’ve reached the major leagues. Hell, I started home masturbating decades ago. I got really great at it. Wanna make a donation? Want a 6-pk of what I’ve made?

15. Hobby Pt 2. Lots of great homebrewers aspire to go pro. But other than the fact that you’ll almost never see a rich brewer, another reason not to make the leap is it turns brewing from an avocation to a vocation. If the member brewers start thinking of it as work, it could take the fun out of it.

16. 40 bottles!? A 5-gallon batch yields roughly 2 cases. Sure, it’s supposed to yield 53 12-oz bottles, but c’mon, who’s gonna bottle the gook at the bottom of your carboy? So, the homebrewers go through all the trouble involved in a brewday just to get to enjoy a sixer or two of their own beer while the rest goes to strangers?

17. Those strangers. This may sound like #5 a lot, but if I’m going to share my homebrew, I want it going to people I know with palates I trust. It doesn’t have to go to people with the most sophisticated palate, but someone whose evaluation I value. Sorry club members, but maybe you really know how to enjoy and critique beer—and maybe you don’t.

18. Fresh’n’clean. You’d think that since the beer doesn’t go through any of the 2nd-tier channels, ie: a distributorship, that the club organizers are delivering the freshest beer possible. And it very well might be! But maybe the contributing brewers are using this as a bottle-dump to rid the closet of old or questionable bottles. Lord knows I’ve done that at parties. And while every good homebrewer knows the 3 essentials are sanitation, sanitation, and sanitation, there’s no guarantee the contributors follow all 3 steps the way commercial ones have to do if they want repeat customers. (Trust me, when word gets out about spoilage in a commercial brew, it hits them in the bottom line.) Lastly, look at the last batch of sixers that went out on their blog (scroll down). Green bottles?!

19. No CRV. OK, I don’t really think that Calif. Redemption Value is an argument here, just trying to stretch to get to an even 20.

20. As the story on Chow put it, BrewLabSF is a labor of love. I don’t know if they’re operating in the black at this point with their newfound popularity, but I doubt they’d continue to run it if they’re losing money on it. Still, it can’t be making them rich. However, the blog post ends: “it's only a matter of time before this idea is picked up by other home-brewers around the country.” And where others go with this idea and what they’re motivated by, I’m afraid to consider.

So, there ya have it. What do you think? CSAs like BrewLabSF a honky-dory idea or well-intentioned but ought not to exist? Do you have an additional 17 reasons to make the pros outweigh the cons? Or perhaps 10 more negatives to flesh out the “20-30” I thought I’d come up with. I expect this post to be updated frequently.

Cheers,
Brian

IPA Day and everyday

2011-07-12T01:02:00.000-07:00

I have a hard time keeping my Twitter tweets to 140 characters. And an even harder time keeping my posts for All About Beer's Beer Soup blog to 250 words (hence, they're often 350.) Here's what I cut it down from:

Whether it’s a litigious feud between those in the brewing industry concerning tap handles or an online flame war between those in the brewing community regarding label art, the collective beer world sure does seem to get up in arms a lot. That’s a shame.

The latest needling involves IPAs. Not who brews the best one or which part of the country makes them better. It’s about whether we should celebrate IPAs specifically or, in turn, craft beer in general. Or something like that. I’m not exactly sure. Somehow I fear these skiffs are less about I.P.A. and more about E.G.O.

Ashley Routson a.k.a. The Beer Wench is a co-creator of #IPADay, the twit-hop-love-fest scheduled for August 4. She says the virtual event “is about creating global awareness about craft beer through the celebration of one of our most beloved styles…There are more non-IPA drinkers in this world than IPA-drinkers… Maybe they don’t even know what an IPA is.”

And with that, beer-swilling tweeters were typing hashtags in front of the letters IPA instantaneously. Which is how soon Ezra Johnson-Greenough who goes by the nom de blog Samurai Artist, announced his boycott of social media on August 4 by snarking, “I was just starting to wonder how come there are not more IPAs, since I can never find them on tap.”

The kicker is that both beer personalities maintain Top 10 beer blogs, both are friends of mine, and both have made the issue about themselves (even when attempting to say it’s not), which is something only other diehard beer geeks would care about. Luckily, to put IPA Day into perspective, there’s a regular Joe.

Joe Tucker runs RateBeer.com and in his good-natured and unimposing way commented that, “beer is much bigger than us beer geeks.”

Nearly every one of us wears socks, but are we sock geeks? I’d wager that there are a few discriminating, passionate sock-wearers out there who scoff at those of us who buy pairs of socks by the dozen at big box stores. You may not even know what brand of sock adorns your feet. So Joe continued, “What we've found was that IPA is a sort of brandless brand to many beer fans across the United States. As a customer decides and drifts into brand confusion, the three letters IPA serve to inform his or her choice.”

Among beer drinkers who are not beer connoisseurs, such brand confusion does exist. How many times have you asked a waiter what’s on tap and heard, “Bud, Coors Light, Heineken, and Hefeweizen”? (Of course, it’s often pronounced Hefen-wye-zen or Hefer-we-sen.) Alas, these wait staff, and frequently the customer, don’t know that Hefeweizen is a style, not a brand, or that the majority of times it’s a Widmer Hefe. I suspect that most bars or restaurants that have an IPA on draft know—and clarify—which brewery made it.

In contrast to wheat beers, India Pale Ales are not gateway beers. The bold hops need to be acclimated to. My path certainly eased in with ESBs, then pale ales and so on until I now salivate at the mere sight of a Pliny the Elder or Sculpin. By contrast, Russian River Brewing doesn’t even bottle an entry-level beer and Ballast Point Brewing sells tons more Calico Amber than Sculpin IPA.

So if newbies to craft beer aren’t so much lured by the producer but by the product, it can be argued that IPA is the quintessential craft beer style. American IPA is the single largest category in competition at the Great American Beer Fest. I predict there will never be a Coors IPA or Bud Select 55 IPA or Miller Chill IPA. So by virtue of inspiring an uninitiated beer drinker and not a confirmed connoisseur to hoisting an IPA, truly the only thing to be gained on IPA Day would be to welcome new friends to the craft beer table. While you’re at it, let’s show them how nicely we play together.

Freelance update summer 2011

2011-06-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

I think I meant to do these freelance updates more frequently. Oh well. But happily there's a lot of my stories out there.

Technophobe though I am, let's start with the online stuff. I always know it's my birthday when people start talking about it being the longest day of the year (OK, I was born 25 hours after summer solstice). That also marks the opening of Summer Beer Fest Season. Craftbeer.com now has my tips for a successful season. I hope you'll LIKE that.

Far from being a Beer Soup Nazi, I'd like to think of myself as a Beer Soup Fuzzy Squirrel, offering adorable little nuts and nuggets of my quantum thoughts about anything beery that get posted on All About Beer's Beer Soup. I'm pretty good about sharing these on the ol' Facebook and Twitter. It started in early May with my pitch for brewpubs building brand disloyalty, and thrice weekly there has been, and will be, something new. Some of the more fun (dare I say popular) ones have been on pairing beer with exes, whether or not consistency matters, beers with fruit, veggies, and carrot cake, and my current kick: bringing back 7 oz. nip bottles (pt 1 & 2 with 3 on Fri.)

All About Beer the magazine primarily has me on Beer Travelers duty with the most recent column inspired by Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken. Covering beer roads less traveled, it's a guide to beer tripping through California's Lost Coast and North Carolina's Outer Banks (OBX). Being the over-writer than I am, there wasn't room to publish a third section on Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.), so look for me to sneak that into a future column. They also let me do other fun stuff, most recently entailing a look at how breweries give birth to new beers.Beer West also has me on a beer travel kick penning tips for a beercation through NorCal, L.A., and San Diego (who'd rather be called TJ North than LA South, so I gathered at the recent Nat'l Homebrewers Conference down there last week).

Drink Me's story on the Oregon Ale Trail may sound travel-related, but it's really more of a fun, albeit truncated, spin through Oregon's contribution to the history of the brewing industry. Yes, of course I worked in a shout to the Oregon Trail brewery in Corvalis that I just happened to have popped into.

Draft has a feature called Beer Me on the last page wherein someone in the beer biz waxes and mashes poetic about what the industry offers them (or vice versa). Sometimes these are written by third parties. Like me. Following up a rather incendiary one about Yuri Green's new Cherry Voodoo in the San Francisco Bay Area, fans of "wild" beers should be keen to try Chad Yakobson's Crooked Stave in the Denver/Boulder area. Also in the new issue, drinking craft beer in Death Valley. Even crazier, when I stayed at Panamint Springs Resort (they use the word resort loosely), I visited the Indian Wells brewery just outside the park in the Mojave Desert. Here's a picture facing toward the brewery......and standing in the same spot looking in the other direction.

SF Beer Guide

2011-05-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

As All About Beer's Beer Traveler columnist, I look to local beer experts all over the country (and beyond) since it behooves them to know every single hot spot a beer tripper might be interested in visiting. Yeah, I just wanted to work in the word behooves. When I hit up Jeff "Bull E. Vard" Haught, blogger behind the KC Beer Blog (Kansas City being home to Boulevard Brewing) for a burger-centric column, he kindly obliged. It turns out, I'm far from the first or last person who beseeched his in-the-trenches expertise, so he posted his KC Beer Travel Guide.

Wisely, it dawned on him that all city-centric beer bloggers should do likewise if they haven't already. While I'm too new to Portland to attempt this, not to mention that a comprehensive brewery and pub crawl in a city with more breweries than anywhere else would take superbeero strength and dedication. So, here's my guide to my beloved San Francisco. One personal note I like to point out about beer and SF is that Anchor Brewing Co. was established in 1896, one year and about one mile away from where my great grandmother Germaine was born.

Fritz Maytag created “craft beer" when he rescued and renovated Anchor in 1965, thereby making the SF Bay Area the epicenter of the beer renaissance (and, dare I say, the foodie movement, considering Alice Waters wouldn’t open her groundbreaking Chez Panisse across the bay in Berkeley until 1971.) After 45 years, he sold it in 2010 and the new owners plan on doing something ol' Fritz never would have--creating a "Center of Excellence." Daily tours have always been offered, but soon tours will include the Anchor Distilling corner, too, and welcome all comers. Stay tuned.

Today, the Bay Area is home to over four-dozen breweries, and The City itself boasts six beyond Anchor...and growing. Visitors do well by not renting cars and instead get around town by foot. Considering The City is only 7-miles long by 7-miles wide, it’s entirely walkable. Otherwise, beer lovers can turn to a pair of Web sites that help navigate local watering holes accessible by public transportation. Saving Wet Your Whistles for the focus on the Peninsula and exploring by CalTrain, turn your attention to Beer By BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit).

“There’s good beer – real local west coast ales and well-crafted brews – all over the Bay Area, and fortunately there is no paucity of good beer within walking distance of public transit,” writes BBB creators Steve Shapiro and Gail Williams.

Beginning with the best watering holes in order of BART stops, three are accessible from the Montgomery Station. If you’re looking for brewpubs, this is the stop to reach two of SF’s five: 21st Amendment and Thirsty Bear. “21 A” is almost spitting distance from AT&T Park and fills up like mad when the World Champion Giants play at home. Here you’ll find the beer that made them famous, their Watermelon Wheat (served with a watermelon wedge in lieu of the more commonplace lemon peel in other wheat beers.) But they have a hearty selection of other house beers ranging from sessionable to extreme and the food is delectable pub grub.

Thirsty Bear is adjacent to techie central, a.k.a. the Moscone Convention Center, so look for programmers galore quaffing anything from the nitrogenated Meyer ESB to whatever brewmaster Brenden Dobel taps seasonally. As for the food, it’s Spanish tapas all the way. Just be careful if you tell friends to meet you at this tapas bar, since there really is a topless bar across the street!

Incidentally, the base of AT&T Park is The Public House, where local Certified Cicerone Eric Cripe has selected 24 beers on draft plus a couple casks. It instantly made the baseball stadium one of the best ballparks to drink craft.

Next stop: Civic Center Station. From here it’s a short walk to one of the most celebrated retailers, City Beer Store, where you can buy singles and even drink them in the store for a buck as corkage fee, not to mention there are about six rare beers on tap at all time. This is the place to shop if you brought an empty suitcase you plan on filling up before heading home.

Also accessible from this station but a mile walk or short bus ride on MUNI # 6, 7, or 71 is the world-renowned Toronado. One of the oldest fine beer bars in the country, the Toronado boasts over 40 taps and a handpumped cask where pints of amazing beers cost as little as $3 during happy hour and only the dusty bottle list features anything over $10. It’s a veritable institution. When you get hungry—and you’ll definitely need to eat—most people pop into Rosamunde Grilled Sausages next door for mouthwatering gourmet dogs but I also like to jay-walk for the best bbq in town at Memphis Minnie’s. You’re free to bring either back into the bar for another round or three.

Note that "The T" is on Lower Haight and Magnolia Brewpub is on Upper Haight. As you've deduced, there's a healthy but manageable walk up a steep hill to get to the Upper Haight. At Magnolia you'll be rewarded with some of the best beers in town ranging from sessionable cask ales to robust Strong Beers (particularly during their February-long Strong Beer Month.) Be forewarned the wait to get a table to eat can be long (but worth it). Same goes for Magnolia founder Dave McLean's cocktail-centric small-plate destination The Alembic just a few blocks up Haight near the part of Golden Gate Park that tries so damn hard to hold onto the Summer of Love. Alembic's vintage bottle list is a work of art in progress.

One stop beyond is 16th Street Station in the heart of the Mission neighborhood. This is the foodie/trendy hub of The City. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you not to wander around here at night; it’s been gentrified almost to a fault. Case in point: Monk’s Kettle. This upscale gastropub is killing it. The bottles are pricey but the taps are usually decently priced and you won’t be able to get through everything you want to try. Vintage rarities often pop up. This is THE place to go for eating & drinking. Not only is the regular menu lip smacking, there’s also a daily special pot pie and bread pudding. Ask in-house Cicerone Sayre P. what he’d recommend to pair with them. (For the bread pudding, I can tell you right now you should get Black Diamond’s Imperial Porter brewed with cocoa nibs.)

Of course, if Monk’s Kettle is too chi-chi for you, there’s always Zeitgeist which is essentially a bike messenger hangout with dozens of more pedestrian taps and features an awesome beergarden that, on a sunny day, finds every single large picnic table jam packed. You can get house-grilled cheeseburgers or, if you’re lucky, Virginia the Tamale Lady will show up.

The last BART stop in The City is the 24th Street Station. There’s another location of Rosamunde on the same block that has a wider menu beyond grilled sausages and they have some good beer: 26 taps and almost thrice that in bottles/cans.

Another nighttime spot is Pi Bar, home of great pizza and a small but worthy tap list (a dozen drafts, always $5). They open at 3:14 p.m. and a slice of cheese is always $3.14. Double that and they’ll include whatever the beer of the day is.

Alas, BART doesn't cover the entire town. Two breweries you'll need to ride MUNI out to, along the N-Judah line or various buses, are Social and Beach Chalet. Social Kitchen and Brewery is where brewmaster Rich Higgins whips up intriguing and approachable beers (try the Rapscallian, a Belgian Golden that pairs with just about everything on the menu). That this neighborhood spot is two blocks from many attractions in Golden Gate Park is a bonus.

At the western edge and actually inside the park is Beach Chalet/Park Chalet. This is the one to go to if you want to soak up suds in the sun (given it's actually not fogged in). Live music and outdoor grilling are also part of its allure.

Depending on how much time you have to spend exploring San Fran, La Trappe in North Beach is a stellar Belgian gastropub and if you oddly can't find anything on their killer tap list with nearly 30 beers mostly from Belgium, their pages-and-pages long bottle list is a marvel. For bottle shopping and weekly creative beer sample sessions, check out The Jug Shop where the aforementioned Eric Cripe has turned the wall-length coolers into a shopping spree made in paradise. Perhaps the most chill place for a beer is Amsterdam Cafe directly in the Tenderloin, which is the last place most tourists would step. It's cozy, well-stocked, and certainly catching on with ale aficionados.

Sure, there’s also the Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Park, SF MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), and more, but didn’t you come to drink where craft beer was born?

Special delivery beer pairing: Clouds and Coconuts

2011-05-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, Tugboat Brewery. I flippin' love it

2011-05-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

I've lived in Portland for a mere 5 months and it's taken me this long to visit a mere half of the breweries in town. The 18th was Tugboat Brewery, perhaps the most misunderstood, maligned, and mysterious brewery in Beervana.

Pouring house beers since 1993, Tugboat remains in its original downtown location under the same owner/operator. If you look aside as you're entering Bailey's Taproom on Broadway at Ankeny, you just might spot it on the poorly lit side street-slash-alleyway. Inside, you're sure to find a sparse population that, I surmise, consists mostly of people drinking alone, but the errant couple, couple of buddies, or small group. You'll find not very many house beers and mostly guest taps because while the brewer may be a "professional," he's hardly working full-time. You'll also find a small menu of appetizing sounding nosh and a jar of serve-yourself salty snack-mix.

What you won't find are any beer geeks.

When I tweeeted from Tugboat that I had found my new downtown nighttime staple, Kris from Beer Musings from Portland tweeted back: I haven't been there for years & I was so underwhelmed I've avoided going back.

Perry from Brewmance NW twitplied: I haven't even made it there yet... damn I feel lazy right now.

And SNOB Ritch from Behind the Pint twote: there must be some mistake, did someone at Tugboat get a hold of your phone?

To be fair, Brady from The Daily Pull, Sean the Homebrew Chef, and some guy in Tokyo named Christopher either supported or didn't mock me for going. (UPDATE: Brady's all about the "MAGIC" sprinkled on the popcorn.)

While they had a whopping three house beers when I stopped in, the Chernobyl Russian Imperial Stout (14% ABV) was actually pretty good, if you like 'em leathery and cigary like I do. I generally don't dig beers named for their color (except Browns) but the Hop Gold was decent (because it was hoppy and tasted like the glass was garnished with grapefruit pith) and I couldn't bring myself to try the Red.

More importantly, I had a great time. The bartender was super friendly and chatty. The drunk on the barstool next to me appeared to be antisemetic at first until I deduced he really just missed his ex-wife who's Jewish. He also got up and stumbled over to the upright piano and started playing great backround melodies. And the other few scattered souls compared Beervana's brewpub scene to their inferior ones back home, which was various cities, respectively.

I asked the bartender (sorry, forgot his name) if Bailey's opening up directly across the street helped or hurt business. He admitted that it has grown to funnel more and more of their remaining customers. And I get that. If I'm downtown and I want a selection of great, interesting beers in a setting where I can actually see the people I'm talking to, I'll go to Bailey's. But Tugboat ain't nearly as bad as my cohorts say it is, and that's WHEN they even acknowledge it backhandedly as Beervana, The New School have done. Then again, Angelo at Brewpublic seems to know what's up. Though whether or not he's returned in the last 2 1/2 years I dunno. (UPDATE: Bill at It's Pub Night also appreciate's its charms.)

As a final note, of the fewer than 100 licensed brewing facilities in Oregon, Tugboat ranked 81st in production (138 barrels) for 2010 and that's with most of the nanobreweries behind them beginning their brewing operations midway through the year! My belated new year's resolution is two-fold. Get to the rest of Portland's breweries, and help Tugboat get up to 139 bbls.

Special delivery beer pairing: Matzah & Matzah

2011-04-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: Many bloggers receive free beer in the mail, then review it, but fail to mention they're reviewing complimentary samples. Not me. Sometimes I request samples for my stories; sometimes they're just sent. Lately, in addition to receiving emailed press releases about beers, I'm getting releases from various food publicists. The appeal of some of these foodstuffs showing up on my doorstep is fun, but I'm a beer writer not a food writer and it seems wrong to solicit them, then the publicist has nothing to show for it. I've never blogged reviews. Til now. Here begins my series of food sample + beer pairings*. (*IF the suggested beers are comped samples, I'll disclose that.)

Just in time for Passover, I received a box of matzah. Yes, matzah, that unleavened "bread" which is more like a supersized cracker that is enjoyed, or at least consumed, for the entire week that celebrates the Israelites' freedom from slavery in Egypt where, upon a hasty escape, they did not have time to let the bread rise. For this reason, Jews eschew leavened products. Already, pairing matzah with beer (fermented with yeast) sounds unkosher.

Osem Israeli Orange-flavored Chocolate-coated Matzah grabbed me because chocolate-orange is one of my favorite flavor combos. One of the last things I ate before moving from San Francisco was a pint of Swensen's Swiss Orange Chip ice cream. This is definitely a dessert or snack item and probably not something you'd find at a traditional Seder table. This appeals to both my sweet-tooth and my crunch-tooth. For you see, I crave crunchy foods. Each square of matzah is fully enrobed in dark chocolate that is detectably orangy, but they could've gone a lot further if they'd used natural orange flavor or, better yet, real orange zest! Having said that, I doubt those "Whack & Unwraps," y'know, those round balls of chocolate with various fruit flavors that are popular around Christmastime, have any real essence of fruit in them and those are pretty tasty, too.

For a beer pairing, a good choice may be Ramapo Valley's Passover Honey Beer, the only kosher for Passover beer in the world. This is achieved by brewing a "beer" out of honey making it actually more like mead, a honey wine. But between being impossible to find and being disgusting by all accounts, let's scratch that idea.

One obvious choice is Shmaltz's Jewbelation Vertical under the He'Brew brand. A blend of every Jewbelation from the past 7 years (Jewbelation 8-14), this whiskey barrel aged beer (sample provided) pours thick, almost goopey, and is rich to boot. While not a chocolate-beer, it is chocolatey, almost mocha-y, but also has fruit flavors like fig and date that compliment the chocolate-orange encrusted cracker.

Tied would be Ambacht's Matzobraü from Hillsboro, Ore., brewed with honey and actual matzah, but as it states on the label, it is not kosher for Passover. In fact, it's made right after Passover, using owner/brewer Tom Kramer's leftover "bread of affliction" which he adds right to the mash. You can only find this in about half a dozen bottle shops around Portland, unfortunately. More of a slightly fruity Belgian-style ale and less like liquid matzo brie (especially if you add onions to yours instead of cinnamon and syrup), while not in the least bit citrusy, the honey and banana flavors meld nicely with the hint of orange, and the like-minded bread flavors make this suitable for a mid-meal nosh.

Until the next package shows up, chag sameach Pesach

I love beer people

2011-04-10T00:39:00.000-07:00

OK, the Craft Brewers Conference of 2011 in San Francisco is in the record books and I’m beyond late night screeds fueled by the plethora of beers available at the closing round. In fact, I just found a window open on my laptop (I have roughly 45 browsers, Word docs, spreadsheets, etc. open at a time) that had the following intended blog post that I shall post because it’s late, it’s long-winded, and it still rings true:

So glad I got to try Brooklyn’s Sorachi Ace and enjoy more Alltech’s Lexington’s Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale as well as the gamut of New Belgium’s fruited-whiskey-aged iterations of Love on draft on the Toronado. I loved the shit out of the CBC. And it had very little to do with the beers I got to enjoy (including new great stuff from Weyerbacher, New Belgium, Russian River, Cantillon…). It had everything to do with the refrain about what the CBC (and other similar gatherings of the beer community are and yes I believe I’ll forever more refer to the “craft beer industry” as the more familial “beer community”). Family reunions.

The seminars and panels were great and the (selective) swag I picked up from the exhibitors at the trade show aspect are fun (I’m so buying hop oil soap in bulk), but what I loved most was catching up with people. I only left SF four months ago but I do miss it and certainly miss my friends. I get to travel around the country more than most but not as often as I’d like and getting to talk to friends from the road is a huge treat. Plus, there’s always new people to meet as well as faces and handshakes to put to the people/voices I interview as part of my gig. Sorry if I’m getting hippy-dippy/touchy-feely but I love the beer people.

I’m semi bad at keeping up with all the Tweets, Facebook status updates, blog posts, and the like. When I encountered Patrick Rue at the California Academy of Sciences during the opening reception, just outside the biosphere I often used to appreciate, I found out his awesome wife Rachel got rid of the baby bump I last saw her with because they are now the proud parents of 2-month-old Charlotte (coincidentally named after Rachel’s grandmother). Yes, he grossed me out with tales of wiping poopy bits out of her baby hoo-ha, but c’est la vie and I’m damn happy for them.

After all this time of half-assedly keeping their romantical tryst on the DL, I found out at the Fillmore party that Arne Johnson and Betsey Hensley are officially shacking up. How many times do you know a couple that you only like half of them? Not that I had doubts these two wouldn’t last, but I’m always up for people increasing the happy and almost wish I had moved into Half Pint’s old apartment (all 450 square feet of it) since it was in Arne’s (now Betzy’s) hood and we could go for a beer and a bite with them at The Belltower just up the block.

Immediately after, I bumped into Richard Brewery-Hay and his wife Allie. They like to say they each married a brewer (he was born Master Hay, she Ms. Brewer). But seriously, not sure if he’s luckier for finding a gal like Allie or finding someone named Brewer. They were on cloud nine since earlier in the day, Arizona shocked Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, and ‘Zona happens to be where they met. Couple this with celebrating her 40th b-day and having Mom back home watching their adorable daughters (I told Half Pint if she has kids they have to be boys but if they’re girls they have to as adorable as the Brewer-Hay’s.) As for beer-related discussions, Richard says progress marches on regarding turning his basement-based brewery into a genuine brewpub.

Of course, this sort of thing went on and on, which is why the week went by so quickly. But it was also great meeting new people since isn't that the whole point of the camaraderie about which this community thrives? While I've read this guy--and precious few homebrewers haven't--I found myself talking to John Palmer and while I suppose I could've spent that opportunity to talk homebrew (which we did, a li'l), instead we geeked out on Rush and I'm dying to see 'em again when they play here (OK, somewhere north of Vancouver, WA) in June. Totes! This was fitting because I'd started the week hanging out with recent SF-transplants William and Jessi who have co-written/designed a tome about homebrew...one gallon at a time. I guess it makes more sense if you live(d) in Brooklyn. But they're a great beer couple and I almost felt that it was cosmic how they landed in SF right about the time Half Pint & I departed.

Actually, that's all I'd written. I probably started dozing asleep or something because the next sentence I'd typed was leading into a story I remember about some philandering Midwest brewers and I vaguely remember thinking how rare shit-talking actually is (and no, I was or will not name them or link to their respective beers they're responsible for). At the same time, it shows that beer people are just like anybody else...we drink, sometimes too much, sometimes talk about things we shouldn't, but in the end, we're family and we stick together, because we have no choice, and like it that way.

I hate "craft beer"

2011-03-27T00:49:00.000-07:00

It's the last night of the Craft Brewers Conference so, yes, I'm a mite craft beered out. But that's not why I'm saying I hate "craft beer," because the fact is, I'll always love it and I pledge my undying love for it. The fact that ANYONE can ever try it and then go back to "macro" or industrial beer is beyond me, but that's for another post, perhaps one about Ron Lindenbusch's "craft beer onion" that I heard him talk about (oh gawd, I think it was him...it's been a long, beerful week) at the Lagunitas Brewery where he serves as "Beer Weasel." OK, fine, since I'm on this tangent early on I'll stick with it and make it transition back to my subject at hand about how I hate "craft beer." He was talking about layers of craft beer drinkers being like the layers of an onion. How you have the diehard beer geeks at the small core. Then around it, a larger circle of folks who drink brands by larger craft breweries. One think I learned at the Lagunitas/Anchor retreat (among the many; man did they pull out all the stops!) was that the five largest craft brewers rake in 45% of the craft segment of the beer industry.
By the numbers: an interlude
For those that know me, you know I'm not a numbers guy. But I am a guy who knows the numbers. Here's some interesting and pertinent ones, and all of these are rounded up or down, so if I'm off a percentage point here or a million dollars there, just deal. The US Beer industry does $100 billion/yr. It does so by brewing 200 million barrels/yr. Of that, the craft segment accounts for 5% by volume (meaning 10 million barrels) and almost 7% by revenue (so almost $7 billion). That barrelage and dollarage is divvied up among the 1700 smaller breweries ranging from large regionals to mid-sized microbrewers to a ton of pint-sized nanobreweries. Collectively, the craft industry grew by 11% last year, continuing its steady growth, despite the economy and increased competition.

Ask the smaller guys and the competition is the industrial, foreign-owned brands. Ask the larger ones and they'll shy away from admitting that the competition is the other larger small-brewers. So let's get back to those top 5 and keep in mind that the largest 8% of the producers account for 80% of the volume, so sayeth the Brewers Association's industry publication The New Brewer. You know the ones. Boston Beer Co. (aka Sam Adams). Sierra Nevada. New Belgium (aka Fat Tire to some folks). Pyramid. And I guess there's one other, but for some reason it's not Widmer Bros or Widmer/Redhook/Kona/Goose Island. Don't ask me the reason, it's too long-winded. But, for better and for worse (but mostly for the better), these are all "craft breweries" and will remain so for the foreseeable future. How many craft breweries outgrow that title and become macrobreweries? Roughly none. But there's some wiggle room because of the likes of Widmer, Redhook, BridgePort, Pyramid, and others. And this has very little to do with the few things I don't like about the craft beer industry and nothing to do with what I hate about "craft beer."

OK, so quit beating around the bush, right? What I hate about "craft beer" is the title. I guess I agree that it's the best name it's been given, which is a result of a years-long marketing push by the BA and members of the craft beer community on the whole--community meaning those in the industry as well as fans and supporters alike. Originally it was "microbrew" but that'd be a super tiny beer, wouldn't it. Then the Big Boys fought back and there was a media backlash and it was cynically labeled "boutique beer." So now it's called "craft beer" and it makes my mouth tired having to say "craft" all the time and it makes my ears more tired hearing people say it.

It's "beer." Can't we just call it beer?!? Since we beer lovers, by and large, like making fun of wine people (they even have a fancy name for themselves: oenophiles), tell me your nose doesn't crinkle a little every time you hear the phrase "fine wine" or "a nice bottle of wine." It's a given that oenophiles are drinking fine wine, since no way would they be pounding goblets of boxed or jug wine. Likewise, no one reading this slams tallboys of Bud or does kegstands sucking down (or up) Natty Light (anymore). YES, Miller Lite and Schlitz and Sam Adams Boston Lager and Russian River Pliny the Younger are all technically beer even if we are remiss to refer to the first two as actually being so. But while the latter two are enjoyed by different crowds, consumers of the former two would never, ever imbibe a Sammy or a Pliny. That's because those consumers are sheeple. They do not know that beer is artful and indulgent and philanthropic and tasty. To them, and those manufacturers, it is a commodity. To those on the craft side, it is an artisan product.

As I've always said, take the music industry. There are major labels and there are indie labels. The majors record, release, and promote their products, which is how Justin Bieber blew up and why Miley Cyrus is huge. Those records are easily marketed to impressionable consumers but they are not art. It is a commodity, intended to be sold or downloaded by the millions/minions. In fact, the industry measures in terms of "units." Indie bands get their start in garages, much like microbrewery founders started homebrewing in the garages next door. And just like music is broken down into styles (bubblegum, rock'n'roll, metal, punk, folk, psycho-thrash-screamo-core) and beer is likewise (American Premium Light Lager, IPA, stout, Maibock, Barrel-aged Imperial Schwarzbier refermented with Brettanomyces), in the end, music is music and beer is beer. You don't have to like it all. But ideally, anyone who listens to the stuff that isn't commoditized can respect something else they don't purchase and anyone who drinks the stuff not advertised during the Super Bowl, et al can respect something they don't choose to imbibe. One thing craft/indie fans have in common is that we get all sanctimonious and say "(Insert Top 40 Band Here)? That's not music!" or "Bud Select 55?" That's not beer!"

So given that, why can't we just call "craft beer" what it IS--BEER. Why let 3-4 brewing concerns ruin it for the other 1700 by co-opting the term? Can't we call our side of the spectrum beer and label that side something else, perhaps "crap beer"? Why do the Big Boys get to be called "domestics" when not a single one of those companies is American-owned? All the true domestics have owners who live in our own communities. So let us never turn into people who might one day say "I enjoy a nice, little Berlinerweisse" or "Like a fine Bavarian Pilsner" because if it's worth your money, your time, and your consumption, of course it's good. It'd save 50% of our breath from uttering craft beer and we'd get to drinking it that much sooner.

Freelance update

2011-02-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

I'm a bad beer blogger. I don't post nearly often enough. But while this doesn't help my Wikio ranking, it's a good sign because that means I'm focusing on freelance gigs. (Or other events such as the "Bangers and Beers for the Birds" fundraiser I was invited to participate in at the G2 Gallery last week. My favorite person I met was the 70-year-old woman who said she buys 2-3 new beers each trip to the market.) Nearly all of them are for print media since I'm old school like that. Some people keep their to-do lists on their smart phones, I keep a dry erase board on my wall by my desk. I swear I'd use hieroglyphics if I had endless wall or cave space.
More and more, these magazines post content on their websites, so, looking for my latest stories, here's what I've found:

All About Beer: Being all about exploring good beer and road trips, I was stoked when they asked me to take over the Beer Traveler column. Not so stoked that it doesn't come with an infinite travel budget to go off anywhere I choose. But it does put me in touch with people-in-the-know all over the country and even the world to hit up when I personally visit the destinations I write about. The most recent on posted, fittingly, is about northern locales for beer tripping in the winter. Fitting b/c it's so cold here I'm wearing my fingerless gloves and drinking a Bridgeport Kingpin Double Red for warmth. I'm currently working on a story about hops which is all I'll say for now. God bless 'em.

DRAFT Magazine: Two recent stories are up. The first is mostly about parallel brewing--when a brewery releases a series of beers that tweak one ingredient or technique and it becomes an education for both producer and consumer. Naturally, I focused on Mikkeller from Denmark because of how many cool series Mikkel does. Then the story was upgraded to being about the "World Series" of stouts, incorporating Dark Horse's intriguing, dark releases.

Closer to home, and perfect timing as it coincides with SF Beer Week, the last page is Draft's column called Beer Me wherein someone from the industry (usually) writes about his or her experiences or take on a current issue facing the industry. On occasion, that person tells someone else their story, which is how I got to write a first-person account of the man behind Cherry Voodoo Brewing who debuted--earlier than expected--at the gala and their own launch party.

Drink Me: Based in SF, each month they put out a themed issue so it's fun to write in some really left field areas. As someone who focuses on the artistic side of the brewing world rather than the scientific aspect (great beer takes both!), I was apprehensive when they announced they were doing a "Science" issue. It forced me to don a lab coat and even bust out some Latin. I still managed to interview one of my favorite brewers to discuss the science of spontaneity (aka wild beers). What was really a treat was the "Heal the World" issue which, naturally, conjures up images of Michael Jackson. Thankfully, we have one of our own. I say have instead of had b/c he's always with us.

Oxford Companion to Beer: Not sure if I'm more humbled or honored by this, and I'll ruin it by making a prurient joke about being hummered, but I just got a most inspiring email from the OCB's esteemed editor, Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery, thanking all the contributors who helped compile the most comprehensive book on beer to date, thanks to Oxford University Press. Seeing my name on the 12-page list of contributors--many of whom are heroes and mentors--made me glow. If anyone knows how I attach a PDF, lemme know.

Willamette Week: So glad it didn't take much convincing on my part to get the local alt-weekly to kick up the beer coverage in Beervana. Tomorrow, look for me singing the Wheels on the Bus on the SE PDX shuttle for the 3rd annual Zwickelmania. It will help assuage my lugubriousness from missing SF Beer Week going on now. Speaking of which, I had 3 guest posts last week. One on Oregon brewers invading the Bay. One on the Beer Run (2nd Annual!) that I was present for at the beginning but not entirely present by the end if you know what I mean, thanks to Strong Beers enjoyed at Magnolia mid-run and at Social post-run. And of course a revisiting of our friends at Cherry Voodoo.

Gratefully, there's more to come.

The Session #48: Cask, keg, can, bottle?

2011-02-06T23:46:00.000-08:00

On Beer Session Friday, I passed on blogging about February’s topic, Cask, Keg, Can, Bottle? hosted by Simon H. Johnson at the Reluctant Scooper, not because I don’t give a flying fuggle about beer dispense per se, but because I don’t take any sides. Nor did I pass because I’m a wannabe Luddite who eschews everything technological including blogging, obviously, but I’ll get back to that in a few. No, when I’m out I generally order draft beer such as the Heater Allen Smoky Bob (Rauchbier) I had earlier today at The Horse Brass Pub (R.I.P. Don Younger). But I don’t buy kegs of beer (or I haven’t yet) so if I’mdrinking commercial beer at home, naturally it’s bottled, such as the bombers of Full Sail Black Gold (Bourbon-aged Imperial Stout) I picked up earlier at Belmont Station. And if I’m going to play disc golf or something, I always bust out the coozies to fill with cans, such as Caldera Pale Ale or maybe Oskar Blues Gubna (Imperial IPA) if I need something potent or to dazzle any friends I play with—the kind who smoke them funny cigarettes—to show them they’re no match for the dankness of this Summit-hopped brew. The one “format” I’m generally not partial to, I admit heretically, is ale on cask.

For anyone still reading and isn’t off checking how to revoke my Beer Geek membership, let me just say I chalk this up to being too American and that I want my beer a touch colder, a tad more carbonated, and an iota less samey. Sorry, but unless I’m in a London pub where I can chat with my mates over pints of bitter and some crisps trying to snog birds (something Half Pint, the wife, would surely frown on), I prefer carbonated or nitrogenated kegged beer. But that all changed today!

Was it because of the amazing cask of Bear Republic Racer 5 they have at the Horse Brass that my friend from Vancouver (“the real one” he says of his home in B.C., not the one just across the state line in Washington that Portlandians refer to as “The ‘Couve”)? Nope!
It was because our dog Dunkel escaped today. Twice. He’s never done that before, but I guess moving twice in the last 2.5 months is freaking him out and when Daddy (that’s me) left, he took it upon himself to dig a hole under the fence and go find me. (Luckily he was detained on the next block each time by nice people.) Now, after his first Houdini impersonation or in-dog-ation, Half Pint and I vowed to get him a dog tag even though he’s microchipped. After his second disappearing act, I immediately ran to the Fred Meyer supermarket across the street (hence why Dunkel looked for me there, because I often tie him up by the entrance) to see if they make tags. They do…sorta. Store employees pointed me toward this, this, machine, this mechanism, that lets you choose the tag (of the six-ish choices, I went with the classic bone shape) and then the touch screen lets you enter what copy you want engraved. And then it just goes right to it, visible to the purchaser, all in robot-fast and robot-efficient swiftness. It almost looks like a crane-grab game, only you get dogtags instead of stuffed animals and the exact item you want drops through the hole every time.

I was mesmerized by this machine. With absolutely no human interaction, I had a perfectly precise tag in my hands in the time it would’ve taken me to Google where to get dogtags made. Then, partly for fun but mostly because we actually needed them, I had extra keys made. From the vending machine next to the engraving machine!! I’m not shitting you. Enter credit card. Enter key. Receive duplicate keys in the tray below. If you want a receipt, enter email address on touch screen and it gets shot to your inbox.

The clerks behind me said they loved it. It was way quieter than hand-cutting keys and doesn’t take their time. But do they love that these machines put one of their coworkers out of a job and that once more self-checkout lines are installed (you’ve seen them, where you swipe your own purchases over the scanner and bag ‘em yourself and nary a checker do you greet in any form of human exchange).

So there you have it. I’ve long hated technology but it doesn’t stop me from keeping up with the 21st century. I have a Droid smartphone (love Apple’s iPhone but hate AT&T’s network), but I kinda hate it and wish my contract was anywhere near expired so I could get an iPhone. I drive a hybrid car that still feels space-age to me but my visiting friend was aghast that I parallel parked without the assistance of a back-up cam, since who uses their own eyes and intuition anymore? I have a laptop but asked a clerk in the tech section of Fred Meyer earlier today what adaptor I need to be able to use the HDMI cable I got to connect said laptop to the TV, which is when the clerk said I should buy a new laptop since mine is so archaic (it’s about 2 years old) that it doesn’t have even a Mini HDMI outlet. So yes, I keep accumulating this crap, but it always crashes, or gives me bad directions or gives me various error signs. I absolutely crave the good old days when stuff was done by hand…people with hands.

And that’s what made me appreciate the hand pump at the Horse Brass even when I’d somewhat taken it for granted mere hours earlier. Among the 3 of us and our 3 pints, the 2 kegged ones appeared a minute later. (And lest you think that’s too long, you’re in luck, since I predict every sporting and concert venue and even some high-volume sports bars with soon be dispensing pints out of this mind-blowing Bottoms-Up contraption that can fill something like 44 pints per minute. WOW/WTF.) But the hand pump one took a good 4 minutes! Furthermore, the beertender was a helluva nice guy. We’d ask about certain beers on tap and he brought us samples. He even put before us a half-filled pint of Mad River Double Brown (possibly on cask) saying something about a bad pour so he figured we wouldn’t let the elixir go to waste (and it happened to be phenomenal). No machine could ever perform that function. Whereas he was considerate and chummy and imperfect yet cognizant of it, technology is always, always, always efficient and lightning fast and cold.

A hand pump and the hands that pump it have no use for 1s and 0s, for Ghz or Mbps. And they don’t dispense industrial lagers. They dispense honest to goodness real ale brewed by artistic, thoughtful, lovable brewmasters. People have been brewing, drinking, and loving beer for millennia and if this is the only way to enjoy it the way it was over a century ago, before the Industrial and Technological Revolutions, then hell yeah, count me in.

Six weeks in. Still smitten.

2011-01-15T00:34:00.000-08:00

Portland is just so damn great. I've heard of people who move here from San Francisco and then have to move back. Naturally, I'll forever love SF. And we certainly miss our friends. But our plan is to proselytize them into moving up here. Seriously guys, quit your job, buy a food cart on the cheap, and make a go of it. That's the Portlander way. P-town may be called Bridgetown, Beervana, Cartopia, and Rose City, but it's also DIY-ville. Have something you love doing and wanna make it your job? I've seen that everywhere I go here (says the freelance beer writer). Beyond the chefs popping up at food pods, there are co-ops for art galleries, bike shops, music schools, etc. Oh, and more nanobreweries than you can shake a mash paddle at.

I wish I'd jotted down every feel-good encounter I've had in my first two weeks. It started less than 24 hours into being a Portlander when I volunteered at the 15th Annual Holiday Ale Fest. Let's just say the 2nd Annual Holiday Ale Fest I attended my last weekend in the Bay could pick up a trick or two. Nearly 50 breweries--mostly from Oregon and Washington--poured rare treats. Somehow I lucked out and manned the jockey box pouring Hair of the Dog "Jim" 2008 (next to Jim '09).

What's great and scary is that with all the exploring I've done, I feel like just my left pinky has scratched the surface. With thanks to Ezra "Samurai Artist" Johnson-Greenough who blogs at The New School and a rotating beer-obsessed posse as well as Lisa "Beer Goddess" Morrison, and some old-fashioned huffing it around the neighborhoods, I've imbibed at at least 10 beer bars that're worthy of being the best place to drink a beer. Meaning I only have at least 20 more to get to.

To play catch-up at this point would take forever. Because also in this time, we hiked around waterfalls in the rain, marveled that we're living in a place where the water in birdbaths freezes into large pucks of ice, spent a week in Hawaii escaping said ice, find ourselves in escrow on a house(!!!) and I've added 3 new publications to continue obsessing over beer in including the PDX alt-weekly Willamette Week.

So long Beer Area, hello Beervana

2010-12-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

It is bittersweet that I no longer find myself a San Francisco resident, tempered by the fact that I'm now a Portlander. The Bay Area is the undisputed birth place of American craft brewing (thanks to Anchor, New Albion, Sierra Nevada, Buffalo Bill's, Triple Rock, and more) but Portland didn't become known as Brewtopia for nothing (thanks to pioneers like Bridgeport and Widmer Brothers and the dozens of brewing brethren such as Hair of the Dog, Cascade, Amnesia, H.U.B., Laurelwood, McMenamins, and on and on).

In truth, because good beer is to be found everywhere these days, what I'll miss most is the community of beer lovers. I didn't go to beerfests and special tappings for the beer so much as the people at them. It's not that I only gravitate to those who appreciate good beer, but, quite

the other way around--it's that fun, adventurous people tend to be the ones who appreciate the finer-yet-affordable things in life and beer inhabits exactly that crossroads. "Beer" can be almost anything these days but it's certainly much more than the one-brand-fits-all stuff that most people continue to perceive it as. Maybe that's why only 5% of Americans always call for craft beer, or at least that's what the numbers would suggest since craft beer only constitutes roughly 5% of the total beer market.

Fortuitously, these same beer-lovin' riff-raff populate Portland. I can't wait to meet 'em.

The story of how Half Pint and Dunkel and I arrived here is simple. We love SF but as my wife says, "she's expensive." Between being priced out of the housing market, a job recruitment from a big o'l company up here that she couldn't say no to, the fact that we love PDX and new adventures of all sorts, and sure, toss in all the amazing breweries that are now within walking, biking, and bussing distance, and, well, here we are. The odyssey continues.

I've been a little negligent of this here blog, primarily because I did most of my beer blogging for the SF Weekly's SFoodie blog as well as the SF Craft Beer Examiner. I hope to right this wrong and chime in more often, even if just posting tidbits whenever I seek out any of the 35 breweries in PDX or our plans for "Foodcart Fridays" wherein we intend to kick off each weekend with dinner at a different food cart, pod, truck, or airstream. I should beerify it by offering beer pairing suggestions.

In any event, this is the start of a new, exciting adventure, full of new breweries and beers to explore, new brewers to befriend, and of course to kick work on my next book project about homebrewers into high gear. So look for me and Dunkel at the Lucky Lab hard at work and if you're there at the same time, I'm easily distracted.

Toast to Michael Jackson

2010-10-09T00:53:00.001-07:00

Alas, three years after the fact, the beer world still mourns the loss of our Michael Jackson. And while researching odds and ends about the renowned Beer Hunter for a story due this week* and having fun watching lots of videos I've either never seen or haven't watched in ages, I spotted one of the toast that Tom Dalldorf, publisher of Celebrator Beer News, gave at the Toronado when simultaneous toasts to MJ were giving across America.

Not being a heavy, heavy drinker, I knew I was there but it's not like I recall hamming it up for the camera which I didn't know was there. But if you watch the video, there I am, doing my part to join the beer lovin' community in raising a glass at our felled hero (1942-2007). OK, so, it'd help if you freeze the clip at the 43 second mark and again at the 3:21 mark. Look at the bar each time, squint, and there I am, glad to be at the Toronado but wishing I wasn't there for that reason.

*Quick question. Someone who's way techier than I, who deals with things like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for work, suggsisted (half suggested, half insisted) that I post all of my beer stories that are published on this here blog. Happily, that entails a lot of posts as I'm getting a lot of work (even if it means delaying progress on the next book). Is that something anyone would be interested in? For the stuff that appears online, I generally Tweet it. But how about the print stuff? Seems almost, I dunno, tacky to me, but I DO spend a lot of time working on these stories and if you don't subscribe to the magazines and the like, you'll never get the chance to see them. One such story, as I heard from the editor, received much exuberant response and the letters to the editor section in the following issue confirmed it. I don't generally read those, but in this case, it warmed my heart cockles. Shall I repost them?

Cheers.

Bell's Brewery coming to California...

2010-09-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Well, okay, I can only hope. But my wishful drinking, to borrow a phrase from Carrie Fisher, didn't come out of thin air. Michigan Live reported that Bell's, makers of my and a million other people's favorite wheat beer Oberon, is embarking on a $52 million expansion. They're in 18 states now including almost the entire eastern US and of course the upper Midwest since they're from Kalamazoo, Mich. But they entered a western-ish state this past year--Arizona--which I know is just testing the waters for manifest destiny--California!

When I visited Larry Bell in 2006, he was preparing for a major expansion, one that would see brewing capacity climb to 120,000 barrels. Such production seemed way off. After all, he opened in 1985 using a 15-gallon pot. By 1991, he'd actually surpassed the 1,000-barrel mark. But just last year, Bell's produced an impressive 115,000 barrels. This new expansion will start by bringing in more fermentation tanks and keep 'em on track for planned 20% growth--annually.

So like I said, is it possible that by 2012 we'll be drinking HopSlam IPA or Expedition Stout here in the Golden State? If I were a betting man, I'd say Yes. Of course, that does nothing to get the bottle of Batch 5000 back that I brought into my friends' apartment to chill and share over four years ago after I drove from K'zoo to Chicago but they just stuck it in the back of the fridge. No beer-o-philes they, I fear it was casually gulped as an after-work beer for one of them. Having a fresh supply of Oberon would go a long way to assuage that hurt.

The week in heavy drinking. Day 4: Cherry Voodoo chiefs at Alembic Bar

2010-09-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Far from complain-ing, I have a lot of stories on my plate of late. And in this line of work, that means a lot of "meetings over pints." One that's right up my alley is for Draft Magazine's Beer Me column. Without giving it all away, there's a new brewery on the horizon here in SF called Cherry Voodoo Brewing. One of the founding fathers' name is Yuri and he has a big mouth as far as his claims about their guaranteed success, but at the same time, he's not the type to write a check his mouth can't cash. He's had phenomenal success in the tech world, the elite athletic world, and, fingers crossed, the beer world next.

Six months ago when I first met him to hear about his brewery plans, he and Bryan over at Clara Street Brewing brewed up a crazy idea for a beer I had. Chocolate Kumquat Porter. They called it Truffle Pig. I've heard wavering reports of its tastiness. Alas, I haven't tried it yet, but I BELIEVE Bryan has a bottle stashed away. Please, please, please. In any event, part of Cherry Voodoo's mission is to brew crazy-out-there beers. Having said that, the other part of their mission is to convert the masses. Impossible dichotomy? Probably, but is that crazier than a 410 lb. man becoming a winning triathlete within a year? Because that's part of Yuri's story. And it's the one I heard all about over some Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, some Moonlight Death & Taxes, and some Orval at Alembic Monday night. At some point, life story time ended and we just shot the shit. We also killed an entire pizza at Escape from New York next door. Like I said, I'm far from complaining.

The following night: Blind Oktoberfest tasting panel for my monthly SF Weekly feature.

The week in heavy drinking. Day 3: Bear Republic Pre-GABF party

2010-08-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Praise Beer by Bart'ers Gail & Steve...for driving me up on Sunday to Healds-burg in Sonoma County (why is there no train yet?), home of Bear Republic Brewing. Their best known beer--their flagship--is Racer 5 IPA. It took home a gold medal not for American IPAs but for Strong Pale Ale at last year's Great American Beer Festival. So how many medals are they shooting for this year? 23!

Sunday, founding father-son team Richard and Richard ("Rich" or "Ricardo") Norgrove, along with their crack team of brewers welcomed a crowd of about 100 to the patio area behind the brewpub to taste any and all of the 23 beers they will be submitting to GABF in Denver in a couple weeks. (I'm looking forward to my 4th fest, now in its 29th year.) I got to 13 of them.

I started out with the light'n'low ABV to high strategy, but after a few lagers, I realized I'd never get to the fun, bold flavorific end of the spectrum. First up was the Volksbier, which Bear Republic is entering into category 29-D, American-Style Premium Lager. In other words, it's trying to take the crown from Coors Banquet (Miller High Life got the silver). With 4.1% alcohol by volume (ABV) but 30 international bitterness units (IBU), this leapt into the realm of one of my favorite lagers of all time. I can't say the same for the next two I had, El Oso amber lager (I rarely cotton to ambers) (#33-D) and Late Harvest Oktoberfest-style lager (#28-B), but kudos for being one of the few American breweries to even do an Oktoberfest, especially this far west of Milwuakee.

I sampled every rye ale since it's a flavor I like but still ascertaining which ones I truly dig and which ones are just on the bandwagon. I can tell you that between the Roggenbier (#8-B, German-style Rye Beer), Hop Rod Rye from their annual line-up (#58, American-style India Black Ale), and Ryevalry (#15-A, American-Belgo-style Ale), I heartily concur that Hop Rod belongs in the year-rounders. The Roggen is fermented with Hefeweizen yeast so the spicy rye and banana-y Bavarian yeast don't gibe on my tongue. The Ryevalry is fun and tasty, but the Belgian yeast made it too fruity for my liking. Whether or not Hop Rod belongs in the IBA category without roasted or carafa malt making it truly black is for someone else to debate.

And among the sours, I tried all three. Entering in category 20-A, Wood and Barrel Aged Sour Beer, I think I preferred the lighter Toyon Brut (aged in French Oak and wine barrels) to the muskier Cuvee de Bubba (a special blend aged in wine barrels) but suspect that the latter will appeal to fans and judges more as it was more like a Flemish Red. The Prickly Pear Barrel Aged Grizz (aged 10 months in neutral oak on roasted prickly pears) was darker than I expected and I felt the wild yeast flavors were too subdued by the caramel maltiness.

Among the beers you shouldn't get your hopes up to try at the brewpub so I'm glad I got 'em while I could, Bob Peak's Pro-Am Marie Laveaux III black pepper Pilsner tasted like a great pils but should've been pepperier if you ask me. And finally, there was Clobberskull. Here's their description: This English Estate October Ale is brewed with 10% raw wheat and 10% split peas. Fermented with our house Scottish ale yeast and barrel aged for 100 days in French Oak barrels. Not sound like that falls under any category you've ever heard of? That's because it's #4-A. A new one. "Field Beer." Don't look for it to be as crowded as American IPAs or Sour beers; in fact, if Bear Republic is medal fishing, there's no guarantee their flagship Racer 5 IPA will repeat with gold in #46 American Strong Pale Ale but my money is on Clobberskull to win, place, or show... especially if there's only three entries.

Oh, and on the way home, we stopped for dinner at Flavor, a new gastropub I’d yet to hit in Santa Rosa. The gnocchi was awesome and you can never, ever go wrong with Moonlight Death & Taxes.

Monday night's bar-venture: Alembic Bar with two of the principals of the upcoming Cherry Voodoo Brewing.

The week in heavy drinking. Day 2: X-mas in August

2010-08-28T15:27:00.001-07:00

Some time after the holidays, my friend Chris noticed he had a bunch of holiday beers leftover. I think I suggested he have a "Christmas in July" party. Maybe it was his idea and I just named it. Maybe I'm giving myself credit where none belongs. In any event, July turned to August and he finally got down to it. And he brought it.

The Evite called for winter warmers and holiday beers of every ilk. It also called for guests to don their most hideous Christmas sweaters or outfits, to bring cheapo gifts for a white elephant exchange, and there was the promise of Santa Claus making a surprise off-season visit. He didn't. But the Christmas playlist which included the Wham chestnut "Last Christmas" to lesser known nuggets from Jimmy Buffet more than made up for it.

Dave and Tiila brought Three Floyds Christmas Porter and Captain Lawrence Nor'Easter. Both excellent. Jesse and Eliana, fresh from their honeymoon in Italy and Belgium, brought a vertical of Shmaltz's Chanukah beer, Jewbelation. Jason showed up late but was forgiven when he pulled out a bourbon-aged Santa's Little Helper from Port Brewing and a quixotic Alameda Brewing winter warmer from '09. What'd I contribute? My mixed pack of 12-ouncers included a Shiner Cheer, y'all. Hey, it's not like Chris busted out his Bruery Partridge in a Pear Tree or vertical Samichlaus or anything.

I wish I had a photo of Half Pint and I wearing our furry hats with ear flaps we scored in the white elephant exchange! I'm sure that will surface soon.

If I keep drinking like this, Rudolph won't be the only red-nosed reindeer around here.

Tomorrow: Bear Republic Pre-GABF Cellar Party.

The week in heavy drinking. Day 1: Eat Real

2010-08-28T14:53:00.001-07:00

I'm a lightweight. I mean, my weight isn't light (due to my beer consumption), but I can't consume all that much beer. So I went on a one-week wagon in preparation for the coming week, which began yesterday in Oakland at Eat Real.

I was interested in all the ice cream carts and fusion taco trucks, but if we're being honest, I was there for the beer shed (over 20 local breweries) and to participate as one of the 10 judges of the first annual homebrew competition. We were given the option of which of the 5 categories we wanted to judge, and while I would've been happy with any of them (session, hoppy, farmhouse, strong, and taco), I opted for the later to see what area homebrews thought constituted a taco-worthy beer. For the record, no, they didn't have to be made with carnitas or cumin or queso fresco, they just had to pair well with tacos. There were only four entries (the winner was an herbal number, possibly jasmine or lavender and ground ginger, maybe grains of paradise; the runner up was a jalapeno stout but it lost points for having a strong root beer flavor, perhaps from fermented in a carboy or keg that previously held root beer). Of course, the sampling continued through the Best of Show round, which went to a Bretty farmhouse ale. Whoever the winners were--congrats, and thanks for entering. Ditto for those who entered the jam competition. I loved sampling 'em all and while I believe the blackberry-chocolate was going to win, my hands-down vote was for the Lemon-IPA marmalade!

From there, it was over to the beer shed. I was surprisingly disappointed with Sierra Nevada's Tumbler (autumn brown ale) because their new releases have really been killing it. But fortunately, I got to try Ale Industries' Rye'd Piper and Black Diamond's Saison (from the description, it tasted like Red Headed Stepchild).

As I was leaving Jack London Square, I cashed in my remaining drink ticket at the juice stand and the perceptive rep from Odwalla steered me toward a tropical number with coconut juice ("It has extra potassium"), hence, while I had an easy-breezy BART ride home, I did not wake up hungover.

Tonight: a Christmas in August Beer BBQ.

Honoring Hosers in Houston

2010-07-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

I have been honored with a request to speak at the 27th Annual Dixie Cup Homebrew Competition in Houston, which takes place this year on Oct 14-17. It will be my second year attending, but last year I hit it as part of my "research" trip, my second national beer odyssey. This year they're looking for a preview of the next book I'm working on, which in case you haven't heard or read, is about homebrewers. Basically, if Red, White, & Brew was about the people in the professional brewing industry, this one (Title T/K) is about the people in the homebrewing community.

But what I'm really excited about is the theme for this year's Dixie Cup. Every year they have a theme for a decidedly non-BJCP beer style. Past cups have seen "styles" such as Breakfast Cereal Beer, Malt Liquor, and... The Beer That Burns Twice. This year, in honor of my favorite hoseheads from the Great White North, the theme is Strange Brew. If I can get motivated, I even know exactly what I'd brew in accordance with the rules (seriously, click that last link). Hint: while I thought about it, I will not brew up a Franks'n'Beans Ale.

Three months away. I better get brewing so fermentation can...take off.

The Session #41: Craft beers inspired by homebrewing

2010-07-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

This month, the Wallace bros. from Lug Wrench Brewing Co. ask Sessioners to blogtificate about "how has homebrewing had an affect on the commercial beer we have all come to love?" Talk about open-ended.

It's no stretch at all to say that every single craft beer out there is an extension of a homebrew. Unlike the days of yore in the countries of olde, where brewing fathers begat brewing sons and the trade passed down generationally, 99% or more of today's master brewers began making their own beer in their kitchens or garages and are largely self-taught. Sure many talented ones went to brewing academies like Siebold's or UC Davis, but those are really like finishing schools after they were home schooled by the likes of Papazian, Eckhardt, and more recently, Mosher, Daniels, Palmer, and the gang.

Some would claim that homebrew-inspired breweries out there only constitute the new kids on the block, the ones making newfangled beers like Short's Key Lime Pie, Cigar City's Mochaccino Bolita, or the Bruery's Autumn Maple featuring yams. One trend among these particular beers is that, well, they're all pretty desserty. And if your mama taught you anything, you can't eat dessert till you've had your dinner. "Growing food" as my sister beseeches my nieces to eat. Somehow, in these people's eyes, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale,

Widmer Hefeweizen*, and New Belgium Fat Tire are so far removed from small batch craft beers that they border on behemoth corporate concoctions. It's called "fundamentals," son. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, these beers were first brewed on systems smaller than most mid-sized craft breweries' pilot systems. (*Granted, the young Widmer bros. intended for their Alt to be their flagship, not their wheat beer, but the market demanded it.)

By contrast, even the Big Two, a.k.a. BMC, are proffering not "craft beers" but "beers that are crafted" and include everything from the hotcake-selling Blue Moon witbier to misguided attempts such as Michelob Hop Hound Amber Wheat. The point being, virtually every American-made beer not being advertised at a major sporting event is, in some way, inspired by homebrewers be they Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada), Jeff Lebesch (formerly of New Belgium), Mark Carpenter (Fritz's right hand man at Anchor whose future there is now

TBD), or mid-revolutionaries such as Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head), Dan Carey (New Glarus), and Alan Sprints (Hair of the Dog) to the new bumper crop mindblowing talents including Patrick Rue (The Bruery along with head brewer Tyler King), Scott Vaccaro (Captain Lawrence), and possibly anyone reading this who has high hopes of opening his or her own brewery.

And with few exceptions (sorry, I've never met an Amber or a Helles I liked), as a beer lover, I love 'em all and am indebted to all brewers: both home and pro alike.

Photos by me: (top) Ken Grossman with two of his kids--Brian and Sierra--at Sierra Nevada. (bottom) Homebrewer Ben Miller who won the Sam Adams Longshot competition AND Great American Beer Fest's Pro-Am competition on the same day.

The Session #40: Session Beer

2010-06-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Erik over at Top Fermented hosts this month's version of the Session and chose a topic that's homophonically appropriate. Session beers. Erik asks:

What is your definition of a session beer? Is it, as Dr. Lewis suggested at the Craft Brewers Conference this year, “a pint of British wallop” or is your idea of a session beer a crisp Eastern European lager, a light smoky porter, a dry witbier, or even a dry Flemish sour?
Is it merely enough for a beer to be low alcohol to be considered a session beer, or is there some other ineffable quality that a beer must hold in order to merit the term? And if so, what is that quality? Is it “drinkability”? Or something else?

This will be short'n'easy (if any of you make a crude comment about my brand new wife, Half Pint, yer all in big trouble. Yes, I've been remiss about blogging since I stopped doing it long enough to get hitched to the greatest chick beer drinker in the land) since I'm a devotee of session beers, which to me is just anything I can drink several pints of without having my

keister meet the floor. For me, and I'm not saying this because I think Fritz reads my blog, it's Anchor Steam. 4.9% ABV and the one that started it all. It's got malt, it's got hops, it's got bubbles, and like barbeque sauce (otherwise, whip cream), it goes with everything. Since I live in an apartment in San Francisco, I wouldn't know from a lawn, but if I did, the first thing I'd purchase after a ridable John Deere would be a case of Anchor Steam. Yes, I love trying 14% RIS's and whatnot, but it boils down to this: I'm a lightweight! If I don't have enough food and water in me, I'm schnockered. I've never once left Bell's Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo sturdily on my own feet. But I do walk out of my local Magnolia Pub because as is their wont in being a British style gastropub (albeit with mounds of California accentuation), they brew loads of session beers. It's even on record that I rehydrate with their 3.6% Dark Star Mild after the SFBW Beer Run. Does a low alcohol session beer have to be

mild? No way, Jose. Whenever I find it, I'm sure to treat myself to the Bruery's Hottenroth Berlinerweisse, which, at 3.1%, I can't fathom how they cram so much tartness and deliciousness into such a light beer. A personal shout out to the boys down there for making a beer I can drink copiously without embarrassing myself. All hail the session beer.

Dropped Anchor. End of an era

2010-04-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

Though I covered this in the SF Weekly's SFoodie blog and the SF Beer Examiner blog, the sale of Anchor this week keeps me pondering. Don't ask me to rattle off everything great about craft beer and the industry, but one thing I've discussed frequently is that all the forefathers, the pioneers, the movers, shakers, and brewers who got the keg rolling are, for the most part, still around. What other industry could that be said for? Luminaries such as Boston Beer's Jim Koch and Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman are still captaining their ships, still vibrant and show no signs of slowing down; in fact, both of them keep ramping up great projects. This is what I set out to discover when I started working on Red, White, & Brew. While there was Dick Yuengling and Jake Leinenkugel whose great-great-grandfathers built the breweries they now preside over, I met with D.L. Geary who founded the first microbrewery in New England, Larry Bell who started Michigan's first, Carol Stoudt, the first female craft brewery owner, and more. While all of them have kids now who are working for them and learning the ropes in the hope that one day they take the reins from dear old Dad or Mom, the undisputed father of American craft beer is Fritz Maytag who bought the sinking Anchor Brewery in 1965. This week, after 45 years, he sold it. Just up and sold it.

While not the same level of severity as Kennedy's assassination or a man walking on the moon, I'll never forget when I heard the news. I was at the New Orleans airport returning from Jazz Fest Monday night when Half Pint texted me the news, informing me that our friend Jesse from Beer and Nosh was the first to post it. The shock hasn't really worn off.

Maytag is 72. Last month, Ken Allen, 70, sold Anderson Valley Brewing Co. As the pioneers

reach retirement age, this will happen more and more. It's inevitable. Change is constant. Even among the breweries I selected for RW&B, where longevity was a top criterion, half of the 14 have undergone major changes. And the fact that I picked 14 to represent just 1% of the then-1,400 breweries means it is likely that half of all breweries have experienced such transitions. To wit:

Leinenkugel's was already owned by Miller. But the SAB-Miller/MolsonCoors merger of their US operations means that Leinie's is now owned by MillerCoors.
New Belgium is employee-owned, but founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch were majority shareholders. They seemed an odd pairing--her nurturing and talkative, him taciturn and retiring. I just found out they are recently divorced and Lebesch has been completely bought out.
Grand Teton was quietly sold by founder Charlie Otto after some 20 years.
Widmer Bros. merged with Redhook, both already partly-owned by Anheuser-Busch, to form Craft Brewers Alliance with Kona and Goose Island falling under their umbrella.
Anchor, the very first craft brewery, sold, along with its distilling business which was also a revolution in craft adult beverages.
Electric Brewing in remote Bisbee, Ariz, everybody's favorite chapter, was sold to a couple of guys who recently opened Dave's Electric Brewpub in Tempe (founded by Electric Dave in 1988, one of the new owners name is also Dave). Far worse, Electric Dave was recently in a life-threatening car accident but is recovering in Bisbee.
Dixie Brewing in New Orleans continues to be contract brewed in Wisc. and its return to the Big Easy grows ever unlikely.

Names and faces are changing. Fortunately, beer continues to get better and better. Go enjoy an Anchor Steam and count your blessings.

Cheers

Keep yer milk man, gimme a beer man

2010-04-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

I get all forms of news-letters, press releases, tweets, pings, pongs, pangs of jealousy, and information about beer happenings both locally and across this great craft beer soaked nation of ours, but this one made me nostalgic for a time I never knew.

From the email of The Bohemian, a killer B&B I stayed at in New Ulm, Minn. on my initial Beer Odyssey so as to visit the August Schell Brewery (the 2nd oldest in America and 26th largest overall and currently run by Ted Marti and his sons--the 5th and 6th generation descendants of the founder), here's the latest in giving the people what they want. On a sad note, this offer is only good for residents of New Ulm, Minn.

This weekend marks the delightful reintroduction of home delivery. It's a limited event, but a superb attempt at honoring nostalgia, history and, by golly, the local folk that fuel the enthusiasm of...our local brewery. The Milk Man, many remember, but around here, beer was also dropped off in earnest at the door. When news of this event surfaced, thoughts raced through my head of how many guests I could fit 'within the city limits' at my address! Everyonewanted to move to New Ulm, and with me, at least they could for the weekend. Only two cases were allowed at any door step, but I was still on my game, even though devastation was looming as the orders were filling fast and only so many available. I called Ted and Jodi Marti, pathetically maybe, but I really thought this idea was the next best thing to sliced bread! Upon no answer up front, and reading the fine print: This offer was for RESIDENTS of New Ulm. I did what any savvy girl would do, ran to the liquor store, got my order in and will just have to crack the cases when they arrive for the weekend! In other words 'share': my love of New Ulm, a brewery that rocks, incredible marketing and a good time. So, for one, call 507.354.BBNU. Oh, we are going to have to raffle, or maybe wrestle, for the signed cases from Mr. Ted Marti, which I suppose will be, uh, empty after we are through on the porch.

Wetting my Whistler

2010-04-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Great White North, eh. For the most part, it's hard to think of Canada as a foreign country, but considering how cold it is in Whistler (snowing every day in late March) and how expensive a six pack of beer is (about $12, and the US-Canadian exchange rate is virtually even!), this feels pretty foreign.

But their flag is red and white, so this still qualifies for red, white, and brew.

I'll say one thing for craft brewers here, they sure are up on their terroir. I bought a sampler pack from Rickard's, unaware at the time it's an imprint brand of Molson. The sampler had a Red (red ale), White (white ale), and Dark (porter brewed with maple syrup, though it hardly looked or tasted porter-ly).

When that ran out, I got a sixer of Granville Island Brewing Kitsalano Maple Cream Ale. Again, where's the maple?

In search of real maple syrup flavor, third time's a charm. I got two bombers of Cannery Brewing Maple Stout. The Web site says it's brewed with real maple syrup though the label lists among the ingredients "maple flavour." Still, it went great with our Nanaimo bars.

As for Cannery's Blackberry Porter and the awesomest named beer of all time, Russell Brewing IP'Eh, I'll have to wait til I share these with the hosers back home.

Take off, eh.

The Session #37: The Display Shelf: When to drink the good stuff

2010-03-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

This month's Session hosted by The Ferm is about when do we actually get to drink our prized bottles that we hoard. It's a topic recently touched upon in the LA Times, and those cats down in LA take "cellaring" to an on-the-real level. I still have a bunch of junk in my parents' basement down in LA, but certainly no beer. And just to get this off my chest, I'm still not entirely comfortable with how the beer community has joined winos in turning cellar into a verb. But I do appreciate the irony in essentially "lagering" our fine ales.

I've blogged about my Beeradise in the past. I recently thinned the herd to make more room in the Beeradise (aka malt vault), which of course one again overfloweth. I figure, it's proof I don't have a drinking problem (just a collecting problem). The good and the bad part is that Half Pint has put her foot down and limits our stash to whatever can fit into the armoire-half and the chiller-half (and whatever I invariably sneak into our hall closet, until such time as it starts to block access to her shoes).

As such, I don't buy a case of beers like Anchor Old Foghorn or Sierra Nevada Old Bigfoot every year. A few I do procure annually are Anchor Our Special Ale, Alaskan Smoked Porter, and Deschutes The Abyss. I don't think anyone would fault me there, right?

But the question at hand is: when do you actually stop mentally masturbating over looking at them like high-gravity centerfolds and actually have your way with them? Like a kick to the head, I feel I’m snapping out of my hoarding mentality. Life is uncertain. What if a piece of blue ice falls from an airplane and fatally knocks

the shit out of—or into—me and I never get to try those 300-ish bottles including the three-year vertical of Cantillon Blåbær peacefully laying at rest in there? No way, Jose. I’m

gonna drink those bad boys sooner than later. Late May/early June sounds good, shortly after my wedding and honeymoon. That’s as good a reason to celebrate, yeah?

As for the other 297-ish, I never really need my arm twisted to find a reason to rejoice with good beer and good friends.

Ten-day SF Beer "Week" is too long

2010-02-19T23:21:00.001-08:00

I love love love that I live in the best beer drinking region and that we have our own San Francisco Beer Week to put on a fancy show for the locals and diehard beer lovers who make the pilgrimage. But c'mon, ten days of balls-out beer bashes is a bit overboard.

At least I seem to recall it was.

Within a couple days, I was having a hard time remembering what I'd done and what beers I tasted a couple days earlier. I know I kicked things off with the opening gala which was a hoot. I remember Speakeasy Brewing bowled me over as the showstealer of the night with both their Zin-aged Payback Porter and bourbon-aged Scarface Stout.

I actually remember the Bistro's Double IPA Fest (only because I actually ran a half marathon early the next morning!) As a result of the run, Half Pint & I felt more than entitled to splurge at the Anchor beer lunch at Hopmonk Tavern. As always, a great meal and, as always, a treat to hear the godfather of craft brewing, Fritz Maytag, pontificate on craft beer and Anchor's role in establishing the rules of the game. Sitting in the warm beer garden alongside Joe Tucker and Mario Rubio from Ratebeer.com (and its blog the Hop Press), hearing Fritz spin his yarns while drinking Liberty Ale or Anchor Porter, well, it just made the Super Bowl viewing party that followed that much sweeter, as did the Saints' triumph. Geaux Saints.

I seem to recall moderating the first ever SFBW panel, which was on a favorite subject of mine, barrel-aged beers, but beyond that I can't recall much. Oh sure, I could post one of the dozen short videos that Half Pint shot using our new Flip videocam, but that would require me learning how to post a video and I'm too much a technophobe to do that. Besides, you should've bought a ticket and attended. In other words, attendance was light but that just meant more beer (and St. George Whiskey) for all of us. But yes, it was highly educational and the following nights' panels on technical brewing and pioneering/trailblazing brewers moderated by the Brewing Network's Justin Crossley are reported to have been equally exhilarating.

Speaking of barrel-aging, I seem to recall hitting Barrel Night--my favorite event from the inaugural SFBW--at Triple Rock.

Seriously, that was only Tuesday night. The whole "week" is a blur. And the Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton's 8-course (really 9-course) beer dinner didn't lighten the load any. It was a staggering accomplishment. It was tasty as all get-out. It was... a lot.

Good thing I went on another run that week. A beer run. Make that a Beer Run. Inspired by Bryan Kolesar from the Brew Lounge (who, alas, was snowed in in Philly and couldn't make it) and with help from Derrick Peterman, the Bay Area Beer Runner, we actually pulled it off, and all before the Toronado's Barleywine fest!

Watch this video.

All I know is, when it was over, I vowed to take a week off of beer. But who am I kidding. I haven't been able to take a single day off from having at least a single beer. Regardless, thank God it's not for another 51 weeks, and I'll be counting them down.

Thinning the herd

2010-01-18T03:59:00.001-08:00

When your "beer cellar" is capable of holding, oh, say around 300 bottles, and it's packed to the gills to the point where you have overflow piling up in boxes on the floor, well, if you have a fiance like mine who doesn't like to see piles anywhere, there's only one course of action to take. Thin the herd.

So I invited a few local, friendly beer geeks over. Nuthin' fancy. No grand pairings. Just a simple open-season on the Beeradise. True, I made some suggestions by chilling down a bunch of bottl

es, but almost anything in the malt vault was fair game. In the end, eight of us killed 15 bottles (OK, a bit more including something akin to homebrew but more potent). Not just 15 bottles, but bombers and 750s and we even closed out the ceremony with a magnum. I believe the beers ranged from 9-18% ABV. Here's a rundown of what we polished off, maybe some notes, and my personal score out of 10. Because they were hand-picked, it's no surprise many were highly rated.

Goose Island's Demolition (Belgian Golden). I appreciated how light it was=9

Southern Tier's Pumking (pumpkin ale). I agree it's the best pumpkin beer there is. You'd swear there's even graham cracker crust=9
Boulevard's Somestack Series Double-wide (2IPA). Proof a great IPA can even come from Kansas=8

Blvd's (Somestack) Seeyoulator (Doppelbock). Aged on cedar? To a wood fan like me, super tay-stee=9
Rodenbach's Vintage 2007 Vintage (Oak-aged Sour). I'm not all about sours, and Rodenbach is often over the top for me, but this was easier to get into=9

New Belgium's La Folie (Oak-aged Sour). This bottle was handed to me by New Belgium co-founder Kim Jordan herself back in '07. For that I gave it an extra half point=8.5

Blvd's (Smokestack) George Brett (Saison). Why do people think that merely adding Brettanomyces makes it complex? Further proof "horse blanket" is not a flavor I condone=4

Odell's Woodcut No. 1 (Oak-aged Old Ale). You never know what will happen when you get into a discussion with a liquor-store-owning beer geek in Wichita. For me, it meant obtaining this glorious bottle. It substantiates that the best part of wood-aged beers is the wood (not a particular spirit or wine). Oaktastic!=10

Odell's Woodcut No. 2 (Oak-aged Strong Ale). Picked this bottle up in Denver, first. I liked it, but way to sweet (and I'm a sweet-tooth)=6

--Interesting side note. Of the 8 people who tried both WC#1 & #2, it was an even split. 3 guys and 1 gal preferred No. 1 and the same for No. 2. Ain't subjectivity great?

Nogne O's Sunturnbrew (Smoked Barleywine). Made me want to slow-cook an entire forest's worth of animals just to see what would pair the best=9

Dogfish Head's Fort (Framboise). 18%! It burns, oh, it burns. Not even the raspberry patch's worth of raspberries could save it. Shoulda waited several years?=4

Church Brew Works' 2000 Triple (Triple). Pittsburgh's Church Beer Works is easily the most remarkable brewpub in the country in terms of appearance. This subtle triple is also praiseworthy=8

Charleville's Triple Wit (Witbier). 8

Bluegrass Brewing's Horse Piss (piss lager). Truth in advertising. Picked this up in Kentucky, just because. I threw this in the mix as a test to make sure our palates still worked. Regrettably, they did=1

Alltech's Lexington Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (bourbon-aged). Most bourbon-aged beers are based on Imperial Stouts or something where the flavor is predisposed to mask the bourbon notes. By using a lighter, golden ale as the foundation, the beer becomes a pedestal for the fresh barrels culled from just down the road. A boilermaker in a bottle=8

Anchor's Our Barrel Ale (Barrel-aged Strong Ale). Now that Anchor's entree in the barrel-aging world has a year on it (it debuted at the start of last year's SFBW), we opened this one last. Despite being a magnum and the fact we were all schnockered, it went the quickest=10

The 8 imbibers other than myself were Jesse Friedman of Beer & Nosh, Gail Williams & Steve Shapiro of Beer By Bart, Damian Fagan, Jason Henry, Chris Cohen who, once he moved to SF, is on the accelerated beer geek path, Eric Cripe of the Jug Shop and a veritable Certified Cicerone (TM), and toward the end, my own Half Pint.

Session #35: New Beer's Resolutions

2009-12-31T18:25:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 to one and ale. This month's session is hosted by Christina Perrozzi and Hallie Beaune, currently of Beer For Chicks (but soon to be at beerforchicks.com), ask us beer bloggers--chicks and dudes alike--

What was your best and worst of beer for 2009? What beer mistakes did you make? What beer resolutions do you have for 2010? What are your beer regrets and embarrassing moments? What are you hoping to change about your beer experience in 2010?

Starting with the best and worst beer, that's such a toughie. Namely because once again, I tried hundreds of new beers in 2009. And they weren't all during the 4 tasting sessions at the Great American Beer Fest, either. In fact, that leads to a beer regret that I'll get to later. But this is my blog and I don't have to use that old-standby answer about "I could never pick one favorite because so many are remarkable" if I don't want to. But in all truthfulness, it was a tie.

Founder's Canadian Breakfast Stout (Grand Rapids, MI): Generally, I find most beers with the word 'breakfast' right in the title to be delectable. This one tops them all. It's got all the velvety oatiness you want in a sweet stout, ameliorated by decadent chocolate and robust coffee notes and then pushed over the top by the maple barrel aging that gives it more of a pillowy softness than overt syrup accent.

Midnight Sun Oak-Aged Imperial Pumpkin Chocolate Stout (Anchorage, AK): As much of a mouthful as the name is, the beer itself is a gorgeous elixir that boasts equal parts silky milk chocolate and spices redolent of homemade pumpkin pie with the spiciness offset by the pumpkin's creaminess.

As for the worst beer of '09, that's also a tough call because I had some doozies, but two stand out the most:

The Stable Marzen (St. Louis, MO): I visited here during my beer odyssey and tooled around Greater St. Louis with Bryce Eddings. Having visited some great breweries such as Schlafly, O'Fallen, and Square One, it unfortunately ended on a sour note at this brewpub across from the historic ruins of the Lemp Brewery. Sour beers may be popular, but not when it's due to spoilage like at this place.

Sun Valley Brewing Co. (Hailey, ID): Spoilage is just about the worst offense ever. I'm aware it can affect an errant batch, but I had two different beers from two different locations while in Sun Valley for a wedding. Both were waaaay off. One bartender tried to wave it off by calling it "an acquired taste" that the locals dig. Is that so.

The most awesome part about my ex-beer-iences in '09 was that I joined the ranks of homebrewers. After years of insisting I needn't bother because the pros do it well enough for me, I realized that's far from the point. Of course, I have other incentives. Suffice it to say, my homebrew odyssey is exciting and will keep me busy straight through '10. My goal to finish my next book is right about this time next year.

Far and away the biggest development for me this past year is that, much like how I'd vowed to never homebrew and then changed my tune, Half Pint somehow tricked me into reversing my mission to stay a bachelor my whole life. One of my favorite things in the world is sitting at a brewery with a brewmaster we or she has never met and watching his eyes bug out when he hears her assess his beers and nail them. She's got a knack that far surpasses my own palate. I just hope she likes the homebrews I'm working on for our wedding and that it doesn't stop her from saying Yes.

We got engaged at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It was during our annual road trip to GABF in Denver. Despite my best intentions, it's so hard to pace myself there. I really thought I was doing all right--I blame that mid-day mead tasting event. Anyway, I was pretty useless most of the Saturday there and did not get to take advantage of the special session that day.

All in all, 2009 was an exciting year, personally and in the world of craft beer. My Beeradise literally overfloweth. It's how I gauge that my problem lies not in drinking too much beer, but buying too much. My resolution is to share more of my great bottles than I already do with friends, old and new. I think it's time to open the Goose Island Imperial Brown Goose that Half Pint bought for me in Chicago (at a great wine store called Lush with a small but impressive beer chiller) back in '08. And Mario Rubio and Jesse Friedman and I need to put our grand Old Stock tasting on the books (my bourbon-aged Cellar Reserve, Mario's brandy-aged C.R., and Jesse's 3-year vertical). To say nothing of the '05/'07/'09 Cantillon Blabaer Lambiks, though we'll see if I jump on the Sour bandwagon in '10 that picked up tremendous speed in '09. Brewmasters, please, more Lacto and less Brett in 2010. I still find the sour category very hit and miss. Though, for the most part, stuff I tried from Cascade (Portland, OR) and a lot of New Belgium's stuff not yet in bottles is winning me over.

As for resolutions for 2010, I resolve to take my homebrewing to a higher level (which hopefully entails kegging. I'm kinda over the bottling thing), maybe study and go from Cicerone Certified Beer Server to actual Certified Cicerone (TM), and, after the grandness of SF Beer Week '10 (which can't come soon enough and will be over too soon), figure out a way to keep from wearing my beer intake on my sleeve, er, waistline. At least long enough til Half Pint says I Do.

Cheers to the brotherhood/sisterhood of the beer community,

Brian

Beer dinners past and future

2009-12-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

Beer is making me fat.

That's not exactly stop-the-presses news. But it's been something that's been on my mind, and gut, lately. It seems

the more beer dinners I go to (most recently this kick-ass Dogfish Head dinner at Hopmonk. Left: Half Pint w/ chef Billy Reid; Right: Half Pint with Dogfish rep Bryant Goulding. Each shown actual height!) and the ones in the near-future as part of SF Beer Week 2010, the more out of shape I get. It's a trend I hope to reverse, which is why Half Pint and I registered for a half marathon.

We have no delusions of slender. It's on Super Bowl Sunday. And at the start of SF Beer Week. And we're going to the Anchor beer lunch or dinner at Hopmonk Tavern that day.

We're doing this for our health and for other reasons. Seriously, check out said reason which you can read about in this post at Bryan Kolesar's Brew Lounge.

So, yes, I'm in training. But I'm not the most resolute runner. And with events like this recent Samuel Adams Utopias beer dinner at Monk's Kettle I didn't have the resolve to turn down, it's no wonder I'm still a far cry from being in tuxedo shape.

I know what my New Year's resolution is. What's yours?

Half Pint @ Trinity, Colorado Springs

2009-12-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

Brief intro: I'm usually the one beer blogging from the road, but Half Pint's work has her going to points throughout K-radio territory. As such, she came up with the rather smashing idea of guest blogging when she's the one continuing the beer odyssey and I'm anchored at home. I like when couples do this. She's currently in Colo. Springs--a city I've never visited--and her last trip took her to Madison, which made me quite jealous, but doubt I could get her to blog retroactively. So without further ado...

This is Half Pint and I want you to all know that I'm a good fiancee. When I travel without my Growler (that's Brian for those of you who don't know), I always have beer on the brain - or rather where I can taste local beers - and make him jealous. Oh and I always bring some home to him.

I'm in Colorado for work and made the drive from Boulder to Colorado Springs today in the snow. I asked B to research brew pubs for me so I'd know what my dinner options where when I got to town. He suggested Trinity at the top of the list and when I browsed the Web site and saw words like "Artisanal," "Beer," "Slow Food," and "Conscious People" I knew I was in.

I showed up and sat at the bar. MJ, mother of two and super cool, helped me out immediately. Turns out she works a couple nights at Trinity more as a hobby - I thought, wow, if this place is her "get away," it must be awesome.

Being a girl who likes IPAs and Stouts the most, I was conflicted on what to order. They had Awaken Stout and Flo IPA on nitro and I was curious as I don't recall having an IPA on nitro. I asked her if I could taste it. MJ brought me all three - and said she likes her IPA a bit crisper. When I tasted the one on nitro, I completely agreed. I liked the Stout but opted for the regular Flo IPA which was super yummy. I also consulted MJ on food - the menu was long and tempting - another reason to wish B was with me. I opted for a salad and the Sweet Potato Mole Enchiladas which were AWESOME.

When I saw the medal, I remembered that they won a Gold at GABF in the experimental category. Unfortunately, this is the only beer they bottle and while I was tempted, B doesn't love all sour beers, so at $18.95 for the 750 ml, it wasn't really worth the risk.

They have lots of live music which I was bummed to miss and wish I was going to be in town on Christmas Eve for:

"Drain the Kegs" Cherry Awaken Stout Tapping...we only brew 2 kegs of this beer each year. Last year they were both gone in 1 hour and 57 mins!!! Let's beat our record!

I won't be able to make it but definitely look forward to bringing B back here someday...

Cheers!

Half Pint

America the Beertiful

2009-11-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

After 5 weeks, 12 states, 21 new breweries, and 7,500 miles, I'm happy to be back home on my bar stool (literally, Half Pint found a great bar stool made of wood, brass, and green leather from a hotel's liquidation sale). I always seem to return from these beer odysseys a little more patriotic and a little pudgier, and really, aren't they related? Perhaps not surprising is that the beer itself isn't the most cherished aspect. Don't get me wrong. Beer is good stuff, and I'll get to a few highlights in a minute, but it's the people, isn't it, that make the trip.

In Arizona, Half Pint and I stayed at A Shooting Star Inn near the Grand Canyon where Tom, the proprietor, happens to be a homebrewer. I can't wait to crack open the bottle he

gave me as a parting gift. But he also cooked us a great meal and gave us a little concert to celebrate our engagement. And in Colorado, Matt at the Ska Brewery gave not just me, but Half Pint's whole branch of her family in Durango a VIP tour. As for Colorado, I kind of have to skip over GABF, on account of it was a fun-filled blur. Um, I blame the altitude. (Photo: Half Pint, Dan Carey from New Glarus, me)

In Kansas, Hank spent a day with me at his Hank is Wiser Brewery in a town called Cheney, then also invited me into his home to show off the largest private collection of Anheuser-Busch memorabilia I've ever seen. The same day, Rob at Goebel Liquor featuring Rob's World of Beers in Wichita spent the afternoon shooting the shit and talking beer-shop with me, but in his stories, I learned a bit about his sons (one of whom I met at the store), his dad, and his granddad. 4 living generations of Robs. And one wicked strong beer fest coming up for them.

In St. Louis, my friend's folks put me up for a couple nights. They also had warm saurbraten waiting for me when I arrived. Then his dad took me on a pub crawl even though he's not the biggest beer drinker. Then again, he's German, so it's not like he's immune to the stuff. And the next day began a feeding frenzy in Cincinnati where Darryl took me on an illicit tour of locally distributed beers all within a 20-pace radius. He also got me my first taste of Cincinnati chili c/o Skyline. I not only tried the other major chili chains, I stocked up at a Kroger to conduct my own Cincinnati beer'n'chili tasting at home. That beer is c/o Mike and Kathleen Dewey who founded Mt. Carmel Brewing--in their home. The brewery's still there. They've since moved out. And of course, a special "Ja-eeeeeep" to all the Bloatarians who welcomed me.

As for my quick stop in Southern Kentucky, let's just say it turned into an over-nighter c/o Austin and Blake and a magical growler of Founder's Canadian Breakfast Stout and then some. Pretty much the only thing I remembered in the morning was the Kentucky hospitality and plans to drive to SW KY for the best barbeque, and Anita did not disappoint. Considering the fact that 2 days later when I arrived in Memphis Rendezvous was closed, I didn't have to compare the two and R&S BBQ in Thompkinsville won in a landslide. Needless to say, I didn't eat much salad on this trip.

I've now been to 47 of these here United States, having crossed 2 more off my list. In Arkansas, I met James from Basic Brewing, homebrew podcaster extraordinaire, who was generous with his time, time he didn't have. In Oklahoma, the High Plains Draughters congregated on a special night just for li'l ole me. Afterward, Gary offered me the 3 necessities--food, shelter, and homebrew. Speaking of which, he's the new OKC Home Brewing Examiner. Mazel tov. Thanks guys, and especial thanks to Chris for opening Learn to Brew on his day off. Good luck kinda-sorta getting OK off the list of the remaining 3 states to not allow homebrewing!

As for the Dixie Cup in Houston, I'm still struggling with how to put this event--one of the oldest and largest single-site homebrew contests in the country--into words. There was an alpine horn. There were hot ladies in dirndls. There were guys in bathrobes. There was Garrett Oliver not in a jacket and ascot but in a Western-themed shirt replete with embroidered hops, pouring his unreleased Brooklyn Wild 1, an American wild ale aged 9 months in Bourbon barrels then refermented with Brett. There was barleywine, oh my was there barleywine. And it started at 8:30. In the morning. A mere 5 1/2 hours after going to bed after the night before's en suite after party. And in the end, there was Rob with his Best-of-Show Eisbock and the more emotionally-rewarding Doak with his out-of-nowhere first place win for American Barleywine. To a Foam Ranger, winning American Barleywine is like a British Bulldog winning the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

My final visit en route home was in Albuquerque, or the suburb thereof known as Rio Rancho, where I met with Ben Miller. Talk about red letter days. This guy won the Sam Adams LongShot competition for his Mile High Barleywine (his first-ever attempt at the style) AND a gold medal at the GABF Pro-Am category for his Columbarillo IPA (brewed with Jeff at Chama River Brewing). 2 beers, 2 sets of the best BJCP judges, 2 amazing honors, both within 2 hours of each other. Ben poured me several of his homebrews including the above mentioned winners and a New Mexican-hopped Pale. Think this guy has a good start and good resume for when he decides to turn pro? Um, yeah. After getting his whole backstory about becoming a homebrewer, and a gifted one at that, we headed into ABQ-proper to meet up with Stan Heironymous briefly, and just spent the night chewing the fat over a couple pints at Marble Brewing. There was very little talk of beer.

Like I said, 5 weeks, 12 states, 7500 miles. But countless good times and great people. Helluva a beer odyssey.

Greeting from New Albany, Ind.

2009-10-08T09:47:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting in the New Albanian Brewing Co. Pizzeria listening to a 6-feet tall staffer with a thunderous, infectious laugh whose in a tear listening to an actor who gets roles as jockeys, maybe four-and-a-half feet tall, with a bushy mustache and Newsie cap spinning yarns. Two women just walked in and zeroed in on him; he's obviously somewhat of a local celebrity. He's discussing a new movie about Secretariat co-staring John Malkovich and Diane Lane. My sampler tray includes Hoptimus Prime Double IPA (10.7% ABV, 100 IBU).

On a pouring Thursday afternoon, somehow finding myself between Louisville, Kent. and Nashville, Tenn. with an inadvertent day to kill, I remembered the advice of someone earlier on this beer odyssey to check out New Albanian, even if I don't recall who offered it. It started as a pizzeria in 1987 that the owner started bringing in more and better beers. Fifteen years later, they started brewing in-house. For my sampler of 5 beers, I was faced with 14 option. To get a wide array, I settled on the aforementioned Hoptimus, Elector Imperial Red, Farm House Saison, 15-B Robust Brown Porter, and Beak's Best American ESB (in reverse order, of course).

My 6" pizza has 10 toppings because they let me.

So what have I been up to since St. Louis. Well, for starters, I DID score a bottle of Whiskey Barrel-aged Smoked Porter (and while yes, bourbon is whiskey, I think they should specify and call it Bourbon-Barrel-aged Smoked Porter). CanNOT wait to bust this baby open. I palled around with Bryce Eddings, my St. Louis counterpart as a Beer Examiner. We hit three breweries: Square One, O'Fallon, and The Stable. I highly recommend the first two.

From there, I drove 350 miles to Cinannati. It was my first but probably not my last time there. Great homebrewing community, and while it doesn't boast much of a craft brewing community, things are changing. I visited Listermann and Mt. Carmel breweries (opposite ends of the brewery cleanliness and ambition spectrums). The former grew out of a successful homebrew supply shop. The latter grew out of the owner's actual house (they've since moved out, to make room for the brewery). I also attended a board meeting of the Bloatarian Brewing League, a homebrew club co-founded by Randy Mosher, author of Radical Brewing. They plied me with great beers I can't get at home such as Three Floyds Gumball Wheat (no gumballs actually employed in the making of this beer) and Founder's Breakfast Stout (though I did buy a 4-pk to take home) and I introduced them to the beauty that is Russian River Consecration. No one had heard of it. Some loved it; some liked it. The 22-year-old daughter of the meeting's hosts tossed her pour over the fence. I should've charged her $3 for her share's worth.

I also had three various homegrown Chili establishments. Cincinnati Chili is only kinda-sorta chili. It's ground beer chili, but either has cinnamon (Skyline) or chocolate (Dixie) or both (Gold Star). And it's served on spaghetti. Or li'l hot dogs. With a heaping mound of shredded cheese on top. There's the standard 3-way chili (spaghetti, chili, cheese), 4-way with onions, 5-way with red beans added, or my favorite that I only found at Dixie, 6-way with garlic. I'm surprised Cincinnatians aren't fatter. I know I am.

That brings me to metropolitan Louisville, of which New Albany, Ind. is a part of. Somehow I thought I'd wake up and it'd be Friday, which is when the Music City Brew Off homebrew comp in Nashville starts. Any suggestions on what to do today? Head east a bit and tour a bourbon distillery? Check out Churchill Downs despite it not being Kentucky Derby season? Or just stay put her drinking New Albanian and wait out the rain? I think this pick of my pint of Kentucky Komon (an odd black beer soured not by lactobacillus or anything Belgian, but by leaving the corn & barley mash overnight to sour just like Jack Daniels sour mash) answers the question.

Midwest odyssey

2009-10-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Orf home in So. County, St. Louis. This is the home of my fellow beer-loving, beer-traveling, beer-brewing buddy Orf who aims to make the leap from am. to pro brewer down in Austin. Imagine my glee at sharing some pints with Papa Orf last night at both the Schlafly Bottleworks brewery (I had the dry-hopped APA) followed by Growlers Pub (I had Bell's Two-Hearted IPA, and yes, you're jealous).

So where'd I leave off? Oh yeah, Kansas. Sad that Free State Brewing owner Chuck wasn't on hand, I consoled myself with a lamb burger and a pint of Stormwatcher which is a brown ale/IPA hybrid. For dessert: a glass of John Brown Ale, which almost seemed like a light stout or imperial brown, so rich and chocolatey was it.

The next day started with a tour of Boulevard Brewery across the stateline in KC, MO. The new brewhouse (Brewhouse 2) is online unlike during my first/last visit a few years ago. Production is now up to 150,000 bbls, making them the 8th largest craft brewery in the country. My tourguide and tasting room companion was Rick, nephew of Bob Sullivan who is a legendary brewing figure of sorts in KC, and the inspiration behind their Oktoberfest beer, Bob's '47. Among the Blvd "Smokestack Series" beers I picked up: Seeyoulator Dopplebock (aged on Cedar), Saison-Brett (aka George Brett, a Saison brewed w/ Brettanomyces), and Double-Wide IPA (the imperial version of their regular Single-Wide IPA).

A long, wet drive to St. Louis and a great night's sleep and here I am, about to hit Square One Brewery with my Beer Examiner counterpart from St. Louis, Bryce Eddings. From there, it'll be off to O'Fallon Brewery (O'Fallon is a town just northwest of St. Louis), purveyors of Smoke, one of my favorite rauchbiers, and I hope to find their Whiskey-aged Smoke. Fingers crossed.

Beer Odyssey II: Homebrewers edition

2009-09-29T00:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Free State Brewing Co., a brewpub in Lawrence, KS, home to KU but also a Christian bookstore whose Politics section ONLY has GOP-friendly books about how faithful GWB is and what a schmuck the Rev. Jesse Jackson is.

I've been on the road for a week and a half, so apologies for this being the first blog post. As you'll see, I've been preoccupied.

Sept 19, Sat.

Drive 570 miles from SF straight to Vegas, well, Henderson. Stay with an old friend whom I met when I was 17, Arla, and her husband and her adorable kids Sage (6.5) and Gavan (4). And their zoo including dog, cat, turtles, desert tortoise, coi, and 5 birds. In the morning, I overheard Half Pint tell Arla she doesn’t like her last name and wants a new one.

Sept 20, Sun.

Drove 250 miles to Flagstaff, AZ, or 20 miles north of there. We stayed at A Shooting Star Inn, which is nearly alone in a clearing, a really nice one. Headed into town for dinner at Beaver St. Brewery (a brewpub, which is about to launch the Lumberyard Brewery). Ordered 2 great beers: IPA and Stout. I had the brewer’s special (2 brats and a spicy sausage w/ red cabbage, onions, garlic mashed potatoes. Overall, a great way to kick-start a trail of new breweries I'll be hitting this odyssey.

Sept 21, Mon

Breakfast at the B&B before heading an hour north to the Grand Canyon. Only my second visit by Half Pint's first. Her mom, over the phone, called it a "life-altering experience." Dun Duh Dunn. We hiked 4 out of 8 miles down the Bright Angel Trail. At the end, unpacked lunch and then told Half Pint that I had to further “lighten the load.” After all, I’d been carrying around a rock. Got down on my knee and asked, “Wanna marry me?” She screamed “Shut up!” Followed shortly thereafter by “You’re joking.” And then she started crying and said “Yes.” Then we had to hike back up 4 miles.

Dinner back at the B&B was, of course, great. The owner, our host, even busted out the ol' guitar for a short concert. One tune was a cover in our honor, with the poem i carry your heart by poet ee cummings as the lyrics. For those interested, here is the poem.

Sept 22, Tue

Woke up early (for me) to drive the 310 miles to Durango, CO stopping only briefly to pay $3/ea. to step upon the Four Corners (U,C,A,N).

Made it to Ska Brewing where we met Matt and Bill, co-owners. They gave us a flight of all 12 beers. Favorites were Modus Hoperandi IPA and Steel Toe Stout* (*The Stout would go on to earn Ska one of three medals in a few days). I got a pint of Modus to take on the tour, for which we were joined by Half Pint’s brother Dana, his wife Michelle, and their son Ryan (not on tour: daughter Lindsay). Matt, in honor of our engagement and being shown that the bottle of Ska Decadent DIPA is one of the few bottles saved atop our Beeradise, gave us 2 to celebrate with.

Sept 23, Wed

After b-fast at Half Pint's favorite b-fast eatery in Durango, Oscar's, we stopped by Durango Brewing Co. The tap room wouldn't open til 3 p.m. so we just chatted w/ ass’t brewer Damon who already had my RWB sticker on the door to their walk-in cooler! Fun.

While walking around Main St. we visited, but didn’t drink at, Lady Falconburgh’s beer bar. Visited and tried Zuberfizz (met owner: Banden Zuber), a bona fide micro soda maker in town. From there it was onto Carver Brewing Co. I ordered pint of Oatmeal Stout after conducting a few samples, which was bought by the bartender Zack (who just got married over weekend at Telluride Blues & Brews; they have a 10 week old baby). I also talked to Aaron who had me try their Raspberry Wheat, brewed with $800 worth of berries for 7 bbl batch! Tart.

For dinner back at Dana's, we picked up a sampler of Breckenridge Brewery beers. I marinated a bunch of chicken in Avalanche Amber but washed it down with their Oatmeal Stout. What can I say, I was in a st'outstanding mood.

Sept 24, Thur

Fueled up with a large iced coffee, large cinnamon roll, and b-fast burrito, then we hit Rte. 160 to 285 to Denver. Beatuiful scenery including light dusting of snow. Pulled into our hotel, only to discover it was the wrong one, then pulled into correct one. Rested for 2 minutes, then hit GABF. Sampled from some sought after breweries such as Cigar City (FL), Cambridge (MA) and a new Bay Area one, Sonoma Springs (CA). I was careful not to overdo it, so as to maintain some semblance of a professional decorum. After signing copies of RWB in the Beer Enthusiast Bookstore (way to go, Brewers Association) from 8-9, we, along with our hotel roommates Jesse Friedman (J-Fro) and the soon-to-be Elianna Friedman, hit Falling Rock. For the first and last time of this GABF.

Sept 25, Fri

Today started with a media luncheon from noon to 2pm. Several courses, each paired with beer, including The Bruery’s Hottenroth Berliner Weisse in 750s, but it wasn’t quite as good as draft. From there, the Denver Beer Tour bus took us first to the Falling Rock (d'oh, we returned) where we tried some (more) Breckenridge beers, then to Great Divide where I loved their 15^th Ann. Oaked IPA the best though the Fresh Hop made a solid argument, then to Wynkoop (previously owned by current Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, who addressed the media at the luncheon) for the tail end of the Pints for Prostates Rare Beer Tasting. Best beer tried: Highland Park's Big Butte Smoked Porter aged in whiskey barrels. Worst beer tried: "Mich Brett," actual Michelob Lager soured by Brettanomyces. What's that expression about putting lipstick on a pig?

And from there, Jesse and I hit tail end of the Redstone Meadery event where we missed the blend w/ Shmaltz ("2 Jews in a barrel"). This was probably a mistake as we’ll see later on.

Then onto GABF session 2. A few more samples including, I admit, some great sour beers such as Cascade’s Vlad the Imp Aler. It’d go on to narrowly avoid Gold with a Silver medal. The gold also went to Cascade for Bourbonic Plague, but that’s tomorrow. At the session, Half Pint and I scarfed down some food (and more beer) at the Farm to Table event. After my 8-9(:30) signing, the 4 roommates and I went for dinner. Rock Bottom Brewery. Where I foolishly had a pint of beer.

Sept 26, Sat

Ugh. Hungover. Dragged to Boston Beer Co. LongShot bruncheon (that should be a word) where Jim Koch announced the new Pro-Am winners. We ate w/ Stan Hieronymus who I met in person for the first time. Lots of who’s-who there. Best food: Challah French toast w/ Cherry Wheat Ale syrup. The namesake beer is just meh.

Then it was on to the early session. I could barely sample anything. I recorded 17 NorCal winners (15 in the greater Bay Area). Half Pint and I walked back to our room for a quick nap. I took an Advil. Drank some water. And finally, some time during my final signing session, I felt better. Just in time for my betrothed to be kaput, but she did work HARD selling books while I just smiled and signed.

Sept 27, Sun

Went to Snooze for b-fast but the line was 1.5 hours long. So we got our pancake flight to go and ate at the nearby Oktoberfest, ameliorated by an oompah band. Took my fiancé and J-Fro, and Eli to Denver airport, thus missing the Rockies game I planned to take in along with my chance to go to Coors Field and check out their Sandlot brewery. But it was for the best, since I went to Dry Dock Brewing in Aurora instead, winners of Small Brewery of the Year! Met Bill the brewmaster, Kevin the owner, and a homebrewer named Ed, who has brewed double stouts in Antarctica! Oh yeah. And their beers—Apricot Blonde, Vanilla Porter, IPA, were good. A worthy honor for a worthy brewery.

For "dinner," I downed a half pint of Extra ESB and order of fried green beans at Breckenridge Brewery. Probably a mistake.

Sept 28, Mon

Woke up late (as per usual). After finally checking out of the one and only nice hotel I'd find myself in on this beer odyssey (I was told I'm not allowed to sleep in my car this time 'round. The $33 motel I'd find 2 nights later was barely a step up), I headed east on I-70. OK, I headed west to buy a shitload of beer but went to the wrong beer store I'd later learn, then back east. Once I got to Kansas, I collected two “souvenirs.” First, the KSPD pulled me over for driving in the passing lane and got a warning. Then I got a warning for my busted tail light. In between, ate and drank at Gella’s Diner/Lb (Liq. Bread) brewery in Hays, winners of the Gold for American Stout. Indeed, Liberty Stout was deserving. My bierbock (think glorified hot pocket w/ ground sausage and yummies—a trad. German favorite) along with fried green beans for the second night in a row plus a fried dill pickle sliver ($.50) were great.

That just catches me up to Monday. As you know from the top, it's Wed and I'm in eastern Kansas, so when I get wherever I'm going tonight, I'll fill in the rest.

Happy travels to all my fellow travelers. Drink good beer to all my fellow beer drinkers.

Session #31: Summer Beers

2009-09-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

This month, Peter (& Sammy) at Better Beer Blog ask us beer bloggers to blog-tificate on Summer Beer; not necessarily beers with images of sunshiny beaches or picking peaches on Gramma's farm, but the ones that quenched our collective thirst this summer. And I had a helluva vacation this summer that, for the first time in a long time, was in no way a beer-cation.

The first beer I had in Puerto Rico wasn’t anything to blog home about, but I didn’t come for the beer. Half Pint and I went to Puerto Rico because it has a tiny, undeveloped island called Vieques afloat in tepid Caribbean waters that blend from cobalt to azure. It’s also home to hundreds of wild horses, a handful of restaurants that offer house-made infused spirits using native fruits such as quenepos and star fruit.

Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. American citizens don’t need a passport to travel there, and it only takes a first-class stamp to mail a letter home, but neither natives nor gringos can vote in federal elections (despite holding primaries!?), it possesses a decidedly second-world look and feel, and most telling of all, you can search alto y bajo and not find a single American craft brewed beer.

Half Pint did our vacation research. The kind where you go to get away from everything. I don’t think I’ve spent a week offline and without a computer at all since 1996. And certainly, as I mentioned, this was not a beer vacation. She found a rental casita owned by Joe and Mimi, ex-pats from Pittsburgh. They love their bare bones life on the island, but Joe would wrestle one of the wild horses for a can of Iron City beer. The fact that the water felt like Sapphire soup compared to the brain-numbing water I’m used to in the San Francisco Bay still didn’t keep me from craving a well-stocked fridge of Anchor Steam.

So back to that first beer I had. After almost a full day of traveling by seven modes of transportation from our apartment to our rental casita, Mimi had fresh-baked mango coffee cake (they have four different types of mango trees in their backyard) and some ice-cold Medalla Lights waiting for us, which helped combat the heat and humidity. Cervezeria India is the only production brewery in Puerto Rico. It’s indistinguishable from Coors Banquet, which is fitting because I was told only gringos drink Medalla Light and Puerto Ricans drink Coors Light. In this climate, the only thing you’d ever reach for is a lager, which is fortunate, since availability ranges from bottles of Dominican brewed Presidente to cans of Schaeffer. Yes, Schaeffer. I half expected to find a case of Fallstaff in a tiende.

Our week of sunbathing, snorkeling, and just floating in the Caribbean ended muy rapido. Too rapido. But instead of taking seven straight transportation vehicles home, we split them up and spent a night in Old San Juan on the main island. Primarily a seaport for cruise lines, the area houses all the chains we escaped, but with a grande added bonus. A bona fide brewpub!

But that, my friends, is another story. It's a story about the Old Harbor Brewery that will be published in Celebrator soon. It's a great brewpub, but when I think back about Vieques, my summer beer of 2009 was gold can after gold can of Medalla Light (ranging from 4-6% ABV, such is their QC program).

Beer buddies, Pt I

2009-09-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

If I haven't blogged about my ex-beer-iences in beyond yesterday's "Session," it's because I've been awash in great beer, or, more importantly, great beer experiences. Pt. I of IV starts with the Sunday before last.

I guess more accurately it starts with finishing my first triathlon down in Santa Barbara. To get the full story on how I got into running, which led to the idea to go from marathoner to triathlete, click here. I completed (though not competed) it with Half Pint, Papa Yaeger (67), and Mama Yaeger (almost 66). While a big breakfast was our reward, another one came when my friend brought me to the brand new Union Ale Brewing Co. (a tap house, not a brewpub). It was started by brothers Ben and Matthew Chrestenson. I'll say this; for their first foray into the gastropub game, they hit it out of the park.

The decor is stately yet inviting in dark woods with barrels about. The menu is comforting yet hip. And the beer, well, there are 20 taps ranging from the "accessible" (Red Nectar Ale) to the truly beer geek-worthy (Allagash Curieux, Green Flash Imperial IPA). It's nice that they had not one but two taps dedicated to their brewing neighbors, Telegraph Brewing. For the time being, their house beers are the Firestone-Walker brewed Pale (doesn't compare to Double Barrel Ale, 4.5%), Hefeweizen (bubblegummy! 4.7%), Blonde (surprising hop presence, 4.4%), and IPA (don't hate me; I prefer this to Union Jack, 6.8%) that they brew for all their pub accounts. There's also a decent bottle list and I got to try the Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse for the first time. They also created an extensive beer cocktail list. I know these things are hot, but I've pasted their offerings below for you to judge for yourself because while I enjoy cocktails, I believe beer tastes perfect right out of the tap/bottle.

Overall, a welcome addition to the Santa Barbara area beer bar realm. I'll always enjoy The Brewhouse, and after a day of ogling co-eds on campus there's the great Hollister Brewing Co. in Goleta, but for Santa Barbeerians (not just members of the homebrew club of that name), please welcome Union Ale.

Colorado Junkie Coors Light and Red Bull. Served over ice with lime.

Bloody Beer Union Ale California Pale, clamato juice, horseradish, spices.

Mexican Piñata Union Ale Honey Blonde, fresh mango and strawberry puree. Served over ice

with citrus garnish.

Three Lemons to Cuba Union Ale California Pale, fresh lemon, orange and grapefruit juice.

Served over ice with cinnamon, star anise and citrus garnish.

Kuala Punch Union Ale Honey Blonde, fresh kiwi and strawberry puree. Served over ice with

citrus garnish.

Lemon Aide Stand Union Ale Hefewiezen, hard apple cider, fresh squeezed lemon aide.

Served over ice with citrus garnish.

Shandy Sierra Nevada Stout, fresh squeezed lemon aide.

Summer Shandy Union Ale Honey Blonde, fresh squeezed lemon aide.

Belgian Chocolate Waffle Sierra Nevada Stout and Anheuser-Busch Shock Top Belgian White Ale topped

with whipped cream and bitter chocolate.

Noidish Pancake Sam Adams fresh squeezed orange juice.

Black and Brown Sierra Nevada Stout and Root beer.

Black and Apple Sierra Nevada Stout and hard apple cider.

Trojan Horse Sierra Nevada Stout and Coca Cola.

Music from the Beer Lands!?

2009-08-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

In my open letter to the record execs at Putumayo World Music, I take these beverage-and-music lovers to task for compiling music from the Wine, Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate lands, but neglecting the vast Beer lands! Who's afraid of a little oom pa pa?

Collaboration Fermentation: Sierra Fishhead

2009-08-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hopping on the collaborative beers brewwagon, I've started a series on my Examiner blog about such beers. I contemplated calling it Brewing in Tandem, but in the end, Collaboration Fermentation won out. First one up for scrutiny is one that's not even out yet, nor in the mash tanks. The grand poobah Ken Grossman at Sierra Nevada (1980) and the grand wizard Sam Calagione at Dogfish Head (1995), together, in the same bottle? Usually I discuss brewers as pouring their blood, sweat, tears, and souls into their beers, but in this case, it's their Life & Limb (10% strong ale) as well as Limb & Life (5% session beer). Read more here.

Session #30: Beer Desserts

2009-08-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

This month, David Jensen at Beer 47 asks us beer bloggers to blog-tificate on Beer Desserts, that is, dessert that features beer as an ingredient. You'd think by my last post that I'd already known this was the upcoming topic, but you'd think incorrectly.

Here's the snippet from my previous post dealing with this very subject that starts with two beers I chose to pair with the beer dessert I'd prepared:

O'Hanlon's Original Ruby Stout and Ale Asylum Mercy Grand Cru: I found this bottle of port barrel-aged stout at Beverage Warehouse in LA, and...I knew I had to try it. The Grand Cru...is of an ultra limited release from this Madison, Wisc. brewery and came into my possession c/o Tom Griffin, the Barrel Guy, which is an entirely different story altogether! I have many fine dessert beers in my possession, but for dolce, the mere appearance of port and the mere mention of Grand Cru made them custom-fit for a wine-themed beer dinner...These unique brews helped wash down the vanilla bean Tripel pot de creme, found on the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton's dessert recipe page. I've made creme brulee before, but this was my first (and certainly not last) pot de creme. It required reducing 12 ounces of the aforementioned Affligem Tripel into mere tablespoons, but it was worth it.

Now, just in case there's a story in The New York Times on beer desserts the way there was one on beer cocktails (cheers to Joe Ruvel), I posted a pre-scoop update on David's topic at SF Beer Examiner. Writing there about other area beer desserts, many of which are in ice cream form (stout flavors, stout reduction sauces, and one I've gotta try--21A Watermelon Wheat ice cream), I'm always puzzled when I see bitter beers suggested as dessert pairings. I love sweet beers (Gimme a bourbon-barrel-aged Imperial Stout over a DIPA any day), it's no surprise I think beer is the perfect dessert accompaniment, and "spice" as it were. I still wake up in a cocoa sweat when I dream about the Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse Sean made for the National Homebrewers Conference dinner--decadent mousse with two kinds of chocolate and Hazelnut Brown Ale, topped with malted barley and paired with a flabberghastingly great Chocolate Stout (both Rogue ales).

That's it. This is killing me. I know I've got some chocolate hazelnut gelato in the freezer. The only question is, am I going to float it in a chocolate stout, a coffee stout, or one of the chocolate coffee stouts I've got?

Beer dinner IV: Beer is the new wine

2009-08-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

Half Pint and I had fallen off the beer-dinner horse we started riding back before we even shacked up together, but got back on in fine fashion. Since it's been a while, a recap is in order. We invite four other people over (since our table seats six), devise a theme (Stoutstanding, Locavores, Bob's Yer Uncle, among other similar ones), plan a menu replete with beer pairings, and clear some space in the Beeradise.

The guest list called for Colleen & Hunter (Half Pint used to work for Colleen, and they've had us to their new house a few times) and Esther & Emmett (I forgot how Half Pint and Esther met, but I now play ultimate frisbee with Emmett).* Let's just say that C&H live in Marin and have an impressive wine stash; Esther was born in France. As we were dealing with oenophiles over beer enthusiasts, the chosen theme for our beer dinner was wine. A little proselytizing on my part, if you will. (*At the last minute, Emmett was called away on assignment by the New York Post, and Tanya graciously accepted our 11th hour invite.)

I first selected beers already in my Beeradise, and I'll explain how they fit the theme:

People say the perfect accompaniment to wine is cheese & crackers. I say it's homebrew. So as an antipasti, I poured my latest homebrewed creation, my Single Minded (single-hop: Centennial) American Pale Ale. It went over quite well, including the part where I explained to Esther that yes, this beer was made by me in my kitchen.

Telegraph Reserve Wheat and Dogfish Head Festina Peche: These Berliner Weise-style sour beers, 5% and 4.5% ABV respectively, are akin to the Sauvignon Blancs of the wine world. Just as you'd start a meal with this wine, why not pair the insalate with these beers. And what kind of salad to serve? The peach juice in the Festina Peche made me think: stone fruit and prosciutto salad. I grilled up organic peaches, white nectarines, apricots, and plums and tossed them in some sort of a dijon balsamic vinaigrette I whipped up. Plated on a bed of prosciutto with freshly-shaved parmesan and a chilled slice of green pluot. I ain't gonna lie, it was a tad weird, but I thought it was tasty and I'd make it all over again and pair it with the exact same beers.

Brooklyn Blue Apron and Napa Smith Lost Dog Red Ale: Here was my primary thought for these beers to pair with secondi. The only Brooklyn Brewery beer commercially available in San Francisco is this brown ale designed specifically for the menu at Thomas Keller's French Laundry. Any beer not just fit for, but requested, for what has been dubbed the very best restaurant in the country--in the heart of wine country--HAD to be uncorked at such a dinner. As for the Napa Smith beer, hello?, it has Napa in the title. Both are 7.2%, surprisingly malty, and both beckoned for a hearty meat dish. With some expert advice from Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, I marinated pork in Affligem Tripel along with cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, orange peel, and sea salt. The fact that I had all these on hand leads me to believe I'm more of a half-assed gourmet than I suspected. A day after the homemade marinade set in, the pork met our awesome grill built into the range, while some butternut squash that was in the same marinade (but swapping olive oil for beer) roasted to perfection. (Esther's tasty green beans also found their way onto the plates.) To my surprise, while I love brown beers and might opt for a pint of Blue Apron straight, the Red drew more praise in this round of pairings.

O'Hanlon's Original Ruby Stout and Ale Asylum Mercy Grand Cru: I think I found this bottle of port barrel-aged stout at Beverage Warehouse in LA, and wherever I picked it up, I knew I had to try it. The Grand Cru (which astonished French-raised Esther, who pronounced it tres bien) is of an ultra limited release from this Madison, Wisc. brewery and came into my possession c/o Tom Griffin, the Barrel Guy, which is an entirely different story altogether! I have many fine dessert beers in my possession, but for dolce, the mere appearance of port and the mere mention of Grand Cru made them custom-fit for a wine-themed beer dinner. Now it all makes sense, yes? These unique brews helped wash down the vanilla bean Tripel pot de creme, found on Sean's dessert recipe page. I've made creme brulee before, but this was my first (and certainly not last) pot de creme. It required reducing 12 ounces of the aforementioned Affligem Tripel into mere tablespoons, but it was worth it. Rich dessert, two rich beers, made for six rich tummies.

I fear I raised the bar for future beer dinners on this one. But ultimately, it's just about good friends and good conversation sharing a nice meal, and if I converted any winos into beeros in the process, so be it.

Recently at the Toronado

2009-07-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Last week at the Toro-nado here in SF, I rode there primarily there to meet Jens Ungstrup, the primary RateBeerian who, to date, has reviewed 13,546 beers. I’d recently interviewed him for a story on beer geeks in the August All About Beer and he happened to be in town for the Rate Beer Summer Gathering (which I was out of town for over the weekend:-(

In addition to chatting over several great beers (including http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/fantome-saison/7661/ provided by staff), Jens left me with a bottle of Amager Rated XX.

This Danish Double IPA boasts 23 different hops in this one bottle; I'm expecting to be overwhelmed.

Ultimately, it was a night of great drinking that proved yet again what is so great about the beer community, which is, that it’s not just about the beer. Here we were, total strangers (except that I knew something about him, such as that his mom is worried he drinks too much and he has a 12-year-old daughter who doesn’t know what to make of her dad’s hobby), and we spent almost 5 hours together trying 5 new (to us)

beers apiece. For the record, all of mine were winners: Telegraph Reserve Wheat (with lemon verbena and Brett), Russian River Publication (an Imperial Saison brewed for a gathering of publicans), English Ales Black Prince Porter (from a brewery in Monterey I’d barely heard of), the above mentioned Fantome Saison (gor-jus. Truly tasted like str

awberries), and El Toro Deuce DIPA (brewed with 5 hops including my fave, Simcoe).

We were joined by Steve Shapiro from Beer By Bart and his friend Mark, the T’s Betsy, and later Steve’s wife Gail Ann Williams. It was just one of those nights where nothing monumental happened, but the Duvel’s in the details.

Brewing 101

2009-07-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

How could I be the first to think of this? A brewery ought to open up along the major highway that runs up California's Pacific Coast, probably in the Central Coast, and call itself Brewing 101. The basics of brewing. They could offer many basic styles such as an Amber, Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Porter or Stout, and maybe throw in an IPA.

On the way back from a brief road trip to LA, Half Pint and I took the scenic Highway 101 back to SF, which is how I finally made it to the Santa Maria Brewing Co. It's easily one of the tiniest breweries I've seen. It stands on the north side of a "river" (I've never seen a drop in it) across the bridge that separates it from Santa Barbara County, which is why it's in the more easy-going Nipomo instead of restrictive Santa Maria, evidently. It's for this reason that I think it ought to be called the more accurate name of Brewing 101.

Inside, it's a jovial place with room enough for

perhaps 3 regulars at the bar--each with non-stop refills of $4 pints, and table space enough for 4-5 regulars to hang out with a pitcher and take-out from the highly regarded "Santa Maria Style BBQ" joint directly adjacent.

Since I was driving and had precious cargo in Half Pint and our dog Patsy, I only had one pint so I had to choose wisely. It was rather hot, so I figured the Wheat Beer was the safest. Let's just say the sample I asked for of the Belgian Brown proved I should've gone for that instead, as the Wheat that day had a slight infection. Not that anyone at the bar, or the jovial bartender John seemed to mind. And should any off flavors abound next time I pop in--and I will--I'll splurge the extra buck for a pint of the IPA. Should go great with a pulled pork sandwich from next door.

If my count is correct, this marks the 45th California brewery I've hit. Only about 200 to go.

SF Beer Examiner posts: Rum Month

2009-07-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

So many outlets (mostly online), so little time. When the Examiner rolled out the red carpet for their Rum Month project, I thought I'd be left out in the cold. Being resourceful, I found two ways to incorporate rum into writing about beer.

The first was to write about rum barrel aged beers as well as a beer-and-rum cocktail.

The second was to write about the 3 craft breweries that have launched craft distilleries that produce rums (if you know of any others, please leave a comment or email).

Yo ho ho, indeed.

Session 29: Will travel for beer

2009-07-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Beer by Bart's Gail & Steve ask us Beer Bloggers this month to pontificate about traveling, drinking beer, and melding the two concepts. I know a li'l somet'in'-somet'in' about going on a beer odyssey. Nowadays, I simply cannot travel anywhere without looking for the beer aspect.

Take last week for instance. The plan called for going to Sun Valley, Idaho for a friend's wedding. To get there, Half Pint and I planned to fly into Boise, then rent a car and drive to Hailey/Ketchum. Keep in mind these were Half Pint's friends first, but she allowed me to shanghai the beginning of our vacay by starting things out at one of five brewpubs in Boise. I researched everything about them and intended to hit Table Rock Brewpub, the first in town. I'll skip over the part about us spending 10 hours in SFO and let it be known that we did not get to make it to the brewery. After all, there was still Sun Valley Brewing in Haily.

(Note that the brewery isn't hyperlinked. That's because it's so rinky-dink, it doesn't have a Web site). Tragically, I tried two of their beers, both of which were tainted. I never did get to make it to the brewery, which might be for the best, but despite having a blast with our married friends, I think my trip was saved by the fact that the open bar at the reception featured two macro lagers and Au Naturale Blonde Ale from my friends in-state at Grand Teton Brewing.

The next time I know I'll be flying is in March, 2010. My family is going skiing in Whistler. So while I can't wait to hit the slopes with Half Pint and my nieces, I can almost taste that High Mountain Brewhouse pint of Columbus IPA now.

Brewpub spotlight: Schooner's

2009-06-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

With so many brewpubs in the Bay Area, it's an embarrassment of riches. Here's the first of what will be a very long series, this time focusing on Schooner's in Antioch (yes, it's technically the Bay Area). Here's my review, but what it doesn't mention is that Half Pint took me here for my birthday...and that they sold me a growlerful of Vin.de.cation. A growlerful!

Philad'ale'phia

2009-06-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Bryan Kolesar from Brew Lounge dropped me a line saying he was making it back to the Bay (just in time to miss the National Homebrewers Conference that blew my mind non-stop June 18-20). He asked "is there a venue that could work for bringing in some beers to sample...I've got a box full of local beer to bring."

Those who knew this was an offer too good to pass up: Jay Hinman, Chris Cohen (nascent homebrewer), Steve Shapiro, Jay Brooks, myself (no need to hyperlink to my blog. You're soaking in it.) Bryan Kolesar, and Damian Fagan. That's a lotta beer bloggers.

Bryan wasn't kidding:

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA
Victory Baltic Thunder

Stoudt's Heifer in Wheat
Sly Fox Saison Vos

Sly Fox Black Raspberry Reserve

Victory Hop Devil IPA (actually offered by Steve)

Victory Wild Devil (Hop Devil funkified by Brettanomyces)

Other beers consumed (not shown):

Stone's unreleased 13th Anniversary (hop bomb)

Sam Adams Longshot Double IPA by Mike McDole (hop bomb)

Skyscraper Honeyweizen

Four Peaks Kiltlifter Scotch Ale

A few homebrews

In the spirit of bi-coastal relations, I decided to offer homemade Philly cheesesteaks (three cheers to Half Pint for slaving over a hot stove).

Not exactly a beer-pairing event, more of a get-together over beers I won't see until I make it to PA again, though the chocolate raspberry whatnot in the box of pastries that Damian brought went perfectly with the Black Raspberry Reserve.
No talk of tulip glasses or stemware, no talk of lacing or mouthfeel, just a flood of beer-related banter about beer trips past and future, ideas about the ultimate beer dinners, and beer buds looking forward to the next session.

...Btwn Jesse Friedman from BeerAndNosh

2009-06-20T16:59:00.001-07:00

...Btwn Jesse Friedman from BeerAndNosh & Charlie Papazian of brewing legend.

Taking in Tomme Arthur's 'ingredients

2009-06-20T16:57:00.001-07:00

Taking in Tomme Arthur's 'ingredients 5-10' session @ Nat'l Homebrewers Conf. Downing generous Lost Abbey samples, sandwiched...

I'm a Beer Runner

2009-06-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Tim, for this fun profile as part of Draft Magazine's Beer Runner blog.

Ruthless. Gramma Yaeger, 1919-2009

2009-06-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

My grandmother, Ruth Yaeger, died this morning. Less than 2 months ago, I was in LA celebrating her 90th birthday.

She was in pretty good spirits that night with her whole family gathered around including her 2 great-granddaughters. Obviously, there are tons of things I will miss about her, but the one memory that sums her up most is the simple pleasure of taking her to breakfast at Junior's Deli in West LA. No matter how long the wait, we always got a table right away; that's what being a regular for 40+ years will getchya.

She used to her order her coffee molten lava hot. We called her Asbestos Mouth. If she were the woman who'd ordered coffee at McDonald's, she would've sued them for serving it too cold.

Though she wasn't a beer drinker, she was my #1 fan and as you can see from the picture, kept my book on her side table along with an empty bottle of beer, one that always made and will continue to make me smile--Ruth from Hair of the Dog Brewing in Portland. Here's what the label says:

All American Ale. Ruth is a light and refreshing American Ale, made with pale malt and crystal hops. She was inspired by my Mother's Mother, Granny Ruth because of her love and support. Don't be Ruthless. Have one on Granny.

In heaven there is no beer. But there sure is piping hot coffee. And some Mallomars. I love you Gramma.

Session 28 Roundup

2009-06-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings fellow Sessionistas. Welcome to the roundup of the June Session, #28, where I asked everyone to think and drink globally. Bottom line, the notion that if you’re going somewhere, you owe it to yourself to drink fresh brews there is a popular one. While it doesn’t seem any participants have visited breweries in Asia or South America (at least not as the farthest one from wherever home is), enjoy these globetrotting beer trips, separated by continent. And as long as we're reminiscing about brewcations, check out Beer By Bart's topic for The Session #29 on July 3.

Australia and Oceana vacation

The Beer Nut in Dublin, Ireland once found himself at the Speight’s Brewery in Dunedin, New Zealand, nearly 12,000 miles from home. He managed to track down a bottle of Speight’s Gold Medal Ale. I wonder if Kiwi hipsters order SGM like Yanks order PBR.

Jay Brooks from the Brookston Beer Blog in Marin County, CA traveled to New Zealand with the fam. That’s where he discovered the Hallertau Brewery and their Brett’ed Porter Noir. While you won’t find this on store shelves, guess who squirreled some back home.

Europe vacation

Stan Hieronymus from Appellation Beer (and The Slow Travelers) of Corrales, NM (near Abq.) had a tough time figuring out which brewery was farthest, finally settling on Birra del Borgo near Rome, Italy. Alas, while his favorite Re Ale isn’t available in Northern California where his slow travels currently find him, North Coast’s Red Seal Ale suits him just fine.

Ryan Knock, virgin Sessioner over at Ale Monthly in San Francisco, blogs about his visit to Brasserie St. Georges in Lyon, France, and the beers he enjoyed drinking from towering columns. Viva la girafe! Since St. George Ambree isn’t available back home, Ryan gets bonus points for posting his homebrew clone recipe.

Gail Ann Williams from Beer by Bart in the East Bay (CA), host of next month’s session, eschews Bay Area Rapid Transit for Norway, where she happened upon a quaint brewpub within the Arctic Circle (Oslo Mikrobryggeri). Any chance the British-style beers were aged on Norwegian Wood?

Allyson Shaw from Impy Malting, an ex-pat living in London. After utilizing three methods of transportation to make her way across the Orkney Mainland to Quoyloo (looks like the northernmost tip of the UK) just for some Dragonhead Stout of the Orkney Brewery. She then segues into Pete Brown’s new IPA odyssey, Hops & Glory.

Andy Couch from I’ll Have a Beer and a brewer in Iowa blogs down memory lane about visiting Andechs monastery brewpub in Munich, Germany. Because he preferred their Dunkles Weiss over their Weissbier with apples, and since it’s not available outside Germany, he likens it to the Schneider Weisse Munich Dark Aventinus

North American vacation

Derrick Peterman from Bay Area Beer Runner in San Jose, CA makes his Session debut and knocks it outta the park. Blogging about his visit to Rohrbach’s Brewpub in Rochester, NY, he gets in a history lesson, a gentle nudge that we should all burn off more of our beers, and, in light of not having access to Rohrbach’s Sam Patch Porter, compares it to his local El Toro Porter.

Nemsis from BeerTaster in Ontario, Canada drove 3 days to get to Ottawa to drink up the local pub and brewery culture. While the Pub Italiano was a better experience overall, still, that Scotch Irish Brewery sounds pretty cool and I wish their Natural Session Ale was available south of the Great White North.

Steph Weber from Brew.Cook.Pair.Joy blogs about her pilgrimage to GABF in Denver, CO and taking in a tour of Great Divide while in town. I’m jealous she gets their Espresso Oaked Yeti back near her home in Audubon, PA.

Matt C. from A World of Brews in Bakersfield, CA blogs about visiting Russian River in Santa Rosa, CA—but he was living in FL at the time. He has been to Germany, where he visited the Spaten Brewery giftshop, and calls “Drinking an ethnic beer like a mind vacation.”

Jon Abernathy from The Brew Site in central OR (I believe) has but a fuzzy memory of his visit to Goose Island in Chicago. At 13% ABV for that Bourbon County Stout, I’d have a hard time recollecting much of anything, too.

Since Ray and Mel from Bathtub Brewery in Delran, NJ blog simultaneously, they get 2 destinations. Mel recalled cooling off from the Las Vegas sun with a Gordon-Biersch festbier, which tops even her local Victory Festbier (nor does Victory Brewing make a goat cheese ravioli in brown butter sauce). Ray got some northern exposure at Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage, AL (where he downed a Kentucky bourbon-aged Scottish Ale).

Al from Hop Talk in the Washington, DC area once earned an all-expense paid trip to Hawai’i. How does it get even better? He stopped in at the Kona Brewery. He says his T-shirt is dyed with their beer, but I suspect those are just stains.

Another newbie, Geoff Kaiser from Seattle Beer News (guess where), has drank at the Nodding Head Brewery in Philly (and stood outside the gates at that “other” Bud in Ceské Budejovice). So what beer did he write about? Lagunitas Pils from Petaluma, CA.

Ethan Cox & Dan Conley at Beer-O-Vision who I believe are from Buffalo, NY almost stroll down memory lane to breweries they visited in Belgium and Scotland, respectively, but instead we watch as Ethan tours SF’s own Anchor Brewery via a bottle of Liberty Ale and Dan pours us a tour of the Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, MD c/o Horn Dog Barleywine.

Steve from All Good Beer in Houston, TX joins the Session by blogging about his liquid breakfast of Geuze from his favorite Brasserie Cantillon in Brussels, Belgium. “Experience standing in a 100+ year old family-owned brewery and sharing a beer with the brewer himself.”

Jimmy from Hop Wild in North Cackalacky posted a picture of the Steam Whistle Brewery as seen from the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. Which of their beers did he sample? The only one they brew, Steam Whistle Pilsner.

Bryan from In the ‘Burg, Fredericksburg, VA that is, links to a previous post about Google Mapping “Interesting Stuff” while in Tucson, AZ and winding up at the Nimbus Brewery. Old Monkeyshine anyone?

Another beer blogger from Fredericksburg, VA, David at Musings Over a Pint doesn’t do many beercations, but one favorite destination is Denver’s Great Divide and their Hercules DIPA.

Mental staycation

Mario from Brewed for Thought of Santa Rosa, CA sips from a growler of Lost Coast’s Double Trouble which, at 8.5% ABV, sends him on a journey to Eureka, CA. Sure it’s 4 hours by car, but where we’re going, you don’t need roads.

Session #28: Think/Drink Globally

2009-06-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

I’m an avid traveler and an avid beer drinker. So when it’s up to me to pick the topic for the June edition of The Session, I’d hope I could blog about the time I was in Kenya and visited the Tusker Brewery (more specifically, East African Breweries, Ltd.). While I didn’t make it to the brewery in Nairobi, I did wash down some grilled zebra and giraffe with Tusker Lager!

While studying in Russia, I attempted to visit the Baltika Brewery in St. Petersburg with my classmates, but tours weren’t offered at that time. Considering the director was assassinated after my semester abroad, it’s possibly for the best.

So the farthest brewery I’ve been to is Allagash in Portland, Maine. The city is picturesque, though not so the business park the brewery is situated in. I was actually there to interview Karen and David Geary, the once-married still-owners of the D. L. Geary Brewing Co. I think their London Porter is one of the best out there, but I’ve written sufficiently about them.

So back to Allagash. Brewer Rob Tod (that’s me pictured with him) started Allagash a decade after Geary’s in 1995. As such, Allagash was an early adapter in brewing Belgian styles here in the US. My sole familiarity with them before visiting Portland was their flagship Allagash White. Next to Hitachino Nest White, it’s still my favorite Witbier. And finding it on tap for a mere $3 was the bargain of my stop in town. But I also discovered their bourbon barrel aged triple, Curieux, which I’d focus on today, except it was the subject of my Session #24. So where does that leave me? Apropos of a guy who blogs at BeerOdyssey.com, I’m partaking of a brew day with buddies Greg & Ryan and amid our homebrew tastings, we’re popping the cork on my Allagash Odyssey pulled from my Beeradise.

Before I get into my notes about Odyssey, I should note that the kitchen I’m in is rife with a hoppy aroma that contradicts with the Odyssey. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. This beer is a 10.4% ABV wheat beer that’s been aged in both new medium toasted oak barrels (as such, part of Allagash’s excellent barrel-aged series) and part aged in stainless steel for half a year. On tap, I recall it having a much more billowy, wheaty character, but this 750-ml bottle presents a much roastier, toastier flavor. I've noticed that Allagash beers on tap are generally more subdued than bottled. The bottled Curieux is more bourbony; the bottled White is corianderier. In fact, I dare say I’m enjoying today's Odyssey more. Must be that it’s a new barrel and I guess “medium” toasted indicates toastier than standard toasting (though less so than charred oak).

Does it remind me of some lobster bisque I had back in Portland, Maine? No, main-ly because I don’t dig on lobster. But it’s a great reminder of the zymurgelogical wonders that Rob Tod conjures up and that, even if I can’t track down a bottle of his new Gargamel (a 375-ml corked beer that doubtfully tastes like Smurfberries), at least I know his brett’ed Confluence has made its way to the Bay and that I don’t have to make another 3,203 mile trek to drink fresh Allagash.

Single Minded Pale Ale

2009-05-28T01:54:00.000-07:00

Yep, I've gone and done it. Months ago I decided to start homebrewing, mainly to further appreciate how good the pros are. That's still the case, but the first time I had a single-hopped beer--Bear Republic's IPA brewed with Simcoe--it got me thinking about hop varieties.

While it's only my 3rd batch, I'm committed to doing a series of American Pale Ales; same grain bill, but altering the hops each time. I started with a moderately aggressive hop: Centennial. Gimme a month to let y'all know how it turns out.

I also heard somewhere along the way that instead of just composting my spent grains, I could bake them into bread. So I did. The result? I'll be composting it in the morning.

Lastly, if you're in the Bay Area and interested in single hop beers, there just so happens to be a tasting of Mikkeller single-hopped IPAs. The tasting is this Friday and here's the info.

The coldest beer I ever drank was a Summer Ale in San Francisco

2009-05-25T17:21:00.001-07:00

It's seriously in the chilly-50s and cloudy and doesn't feel like the holiday in which we usher in summer. But if we drink like we're Irish on St. Patty's Day, let's drink like it's summer in The City.

Don't forget to subscribe to this blog, and equally if not more important, my SF Craft Beer Examiner page.

Happy Memorial Day.

SF Craft Beer Examiner's 1st post

2009-05-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

Whether is boiling or freezing this summer in San Francisco, it's the perfect weather for a beer fest. Or several. Check out a list I compiled here.

If you or anyone you know is putting on beer-related events in the Bay Area or have an idea for something beery and local, email me and I'll see if it's Examiner-appropriate.

Update: Thanks to hamachi for bringing this to my attn. Moylan's Breast Fest on 7/18 in Novato.

This Bud's for 15M of You

2009-05-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

I just read this CNN story about pot. I learned many interesting things beyond the fact that there's a government weed lab akin to the Ft. Knox of dope or, since that was used in the story, I'll come up with my own: The Garden of Weed'n. Take this:

Although street marijuana in the early 1980s had an average strength of 4 percent tetrahydrocannabinol -- the drug's primary psychoactive ingredient -- the average was 10.1 percent last year, the government announced.

That sounds a lot like beer. When Prohibition was repealed, beer was mandated to be 3.2% alcohol by weight. Some states still restrict sales to "three-two beer." But 3.2% alc. by weight equals 4% alc. by volume (ABV). In the early '80s, when there were fewer than 4 dozen brewing companies in the US, beer had very little flavor, so it's no wonder Americans started drinking beer with fewer calories and less flavor, ie: Lite beer.

So whereas Bud Light is 4% ABV, it's increasingly popular to find beers brewed to 10% ABV or over such as Pliny the Younger, an uber-hoppy Imperial IPA. It is perhaps no small coincidence that cannabis (pot) and humulus (hop) are cousins within the cannabaceae family.

The article also mentioned that the DEA believes almost 15 million Americans toke up. Frankly, I think that's a low-ball number, but maybe because I walk around in San Francisco. It also stated that some confiscated weed clocked in at over 30% THC, (that tetrahydrocannib-something-or-other). Sam Adams Utopias boasts an impressive 25% ABV. Coincidence?

Well, Well, Well

2009-05-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out the URL that I can share that doesn't require membership. Starting last Wednesday, I've been participating in a 2-week long online discussion about Red, White, and Brew. It's hosted by The Well and it's fun, informative, and I'm enjoying the reader participation. Not that you can't ask me any old question about beer, or otherwise, any old time, but why not chime in here.

**Update: here's an easy short URL to send around: http://tinyurl.com/inkwell -yaegar/

(nevermind Yaeger is misspelled.)

Beer2Breakers

2009-05-17T13:56:00.001-07:00

Today is Bay 2 Breakers, akin to Halloween in San Francisco, minus the trick-or-treating, kids, and bouts of sobriety. It's basically a 12k "race" across town in costume, if wearing anything at all. Half Pint and I live right across the street from the route through Golden Gate Park, so we played some Backgammon and took in the spectacle. While open containers are allowed, bottles are not, so I refreshed myself with the only canned beer I had--someone's remnants from a recent bbq--Tecate. One young man derided me for drinking Mexican beer and thereby not helping the American economy.

Forget for a moment that said whippersnapper was carrying a Hannah Montana ball made in China and wore a T-shirt for a German bong manufacturer touting its outlet stores in Amsterdam, Tokyo, etc. When I informed this patriotic beer-o-phile that the Coors Light he was drinking is, in fact, Canadian, I think I figuratively pissed on his parade.

Sam Adams Headache

2009-05-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

During the interim phase of my beer drinking career between finding the cheapest way to get drunk and finding the best tasting beers regardless of cost, I occasionally ordered Sam Adams. There may have been more than one beer from the Boston Beer Co. out there, but all I knew was Boston Lager. But I'd more often than not opt for Grolsch (fun latch-top) or Moosehead (everything from Canada is fun). I found myself telling people "Sam Adams gives me an expensive headache."

I rarely imbibe Grolsch or Mooshead anymore. No Scarcely a good beer pours forth from green bottles. But I rarely drink Sammy either, mostly because while I respect what Jim's doing, I think there are always better examples of his styles.

So when I popped into BevMo (what? it's right next to the post office and I needed to buy Mother's Day cards in a hurry! Yes, they even had ones for my grandmas!) I walked out with the Sam Adams Long Shot mixed pack to try Tasty's DIPA, Alex's Bock, and the Cranberry Wit. I also got the Imperial Series' White and Stout since I've never had an imperial white and I love imperial stouts.

With dinner, Half Pint & I shared one bottle of the Cranberry Wit then a bottle of the Imperial White. Altogether, I had one full bottle.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a raging headache as if I'd consumed my entire haul.

After several Google searches for things like "Sam Adams, headache" and "whenever I drink Sam Adams I get a headache" I discovered I'm not the only one in this boat.

Is there some secret ingredient I'm allergic to even though I don't have any known allergies? Is it merely psychological? Does Jim Koch have a vendetta against me (even though I nominated him for the Mt. Rushmore of Beer in my book)? If anyone has any answers or theories, I'd love to hear 'em.

The Session #28: Think/Drink Globally

2009-05-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

No doubt we're all big advocates of supporting your local brewery. It's the right thing to do and a tasty way to do it. Since it is my pleasure to host this month's Session, I nearly had us blog about our local breweries, but after doing my homework by going through all the past topics of The Session, I noticed that Gastronomic Fight Club covered that exactly 2 years ago.

American Craft Beer Week is May 11-17. But us beer bloggers know that craft beer is to be supported year-round, and that it doesn't just come from America. So, in honor of Global Craft Beer Forever, I pose everyone writes about the farthest brewery (including brewpubs) you have visited and specifically the best beer you had there. Again, not your favorite or any old brewery you've been to, but the one that is the longest haul away, be it by airplane, car, ferry, rickshaw, whatever. (If you blog about beer but have never been to a House of Brewing, get on it!)

Then, the last part, since this exercise gives us an excuse to drink beer, do one of the following:

if you brought home a bottle while visiting the brewery and have it secreted away, crack it open.
if you don't have any left from that visit but the particular beer is available where you live (or if not your fave from said brewery, another brand from it), go get one.
otherwise, find a local beer of the same style and do a little compare and contrast.

Blogs go up on Friday, June 5. Post your link on this post, or the blog I'll be posting, or just email it to brian@beerodyssey.com.

Cheers!

Session #27: Beer Cocktails

2009-04-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Joe & Jasmine of Beer at Joe' s ask us for this month's Session to pontificate on beer cocktails. Considering I am about to head to the great American cocktail city, New Orleans, this may be an apt topic. Having said that, aside from the one Joe pointed out, Black'n'Tan (Guinness floating on Harp or some such combo), I'm not a beer cocktail person. I don't even care for Snakebites (Guinness floating on hard cider). Hell, when drinking spirits, I usually opt for single-malt scotch or bourbon with a splash of water over something with fruity vodka mixed with fruit juice and/or soda and/or bitters.

But there IS one beer concoction I can get into. Beer floats.

The funny thing is, I don't really go for root beer or vanilla ice cream, but gimme a root beer float and I'm in heaven. So since I like stout more than root beer, it only makes sense that a stout float is a thing of beauty. Someone once made me a float with Young's Double Chocolate Stout, a dash of raspberry liqueur, and vanilla bean ice cream, and it was tasty and refreshing. But I'm not in the habit of buying Young's. And while I do have a Beeradise full of various stouts--regular, coffee, imperial...all the way to Founder's Breakfast Stout (double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout) and Mikkeller's Beer Geek Brunch-Weasel (made with the world's most expensive coffee, kopi luwak).

I chose none of those. Instead, I opted to use my homebrewed Latte Stout (made with lactose and coffee). Tasty stuff, but believe me, it's not that carbonated, so it's not like I'm ruining the brew. I didn't have any straight up vanilla ice cream in the freezer, but Half Pint did kindly bring me a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Macadamia Nut, which is half choc/half vanilla, and I just ate all the chocolate-covered Macadamias before floating it.

The result? Not too shabby! I mean, it's no Bobby Flay, but as Half Pint said of it, "What's better than coffee, ice cream, and beer all rolled into one?"

So is it a beer cocktail or really just beer dessert? It's both! Drink up.

IBUs in San Diego...

2009-04-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

...are like STDs in a college dorm.

As an antidote, when I finally completed my 1,800-mile tour del SoCal last week, I treated myself to a chilled bottle of Anchor Small Beer (it's 95 degrees in my pad) and for dessert, the first bottle of my and Half Pint's Latte Stout! (Though undercarbonated, I think it's ferly successful.)

What was supposed to be a 6-day trip turned into 11. I drove from SF down to the OC, up to LA, then back up to San Luis Obispo, then Santa Barbara (for book-signing events at Creekside Brewing and Hollister Brewing, respectively. Both must-sees/must-drinks if you're cruising through the Central Coast of Cali). In the worst example of poor scheduling ever, instead of attend the LA premier of Beer Wars, I dutifully attended my own book signing Thursday night. Drinking at Verdugo Bar in Glassell Park, what with their stellar bottle selection and some prized taps, helped assuage the hurt. Big thanks to Kyle, and Wes, glad you enjoyed the Old Rasputin XI.

After celebrating my grandma's 90th b-day on Saturday night (respect the gramma!), I woke up early (for me) and headed to the San Diego area. First stop on tap, Stone Brewery, where they kindly let me discuss my beer odyssey in just about the best setting I've done an event. Originally called for the biergarten, we moved our intimate crowd to a shaded area still in the warm outdoor patio. Just like a previous Stone Book & a Beer Club event had actor/blogger Wil Wheaton speaking in front of fellow sci-fi geeks, this one allowed me to congregate with my fellow beer geeks (I doubt I'd play well at a Trekkie convention). Here are some pictures. (Thanks, Matt.)

Purchased: Cali-Belgique, 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, and 2008 Imperial Russian Stout.

The next day, after waking up on Jessica Jellybean's air mattress, she took the day off so we could hit a bunch of local breweries. It was one of those great days that, like the Stone IRS, will only get better with age. Brief run-down:

Port/Lost Abbey: To Jessica's surprise, she lives within stumbling distance of this beauty. Most of all the brewers in town were gone in Boston for the Craft Brewers Conference, so we didn't get to meet Tomme Arthur, but we did sample several Lost Abbey beers while one of the brewers, Mike, and the house cat who I believe was named Centennial or some hop variety.

Purchased: Devotion (and later in the day I found Carnivale)

Ballast Point: They definitely made big fans out of us. We started with a full flight of their regular and limited release beers. While my favorite was the bourbon-barrel aged Sea Monster Stout, we were only to happy to purchase other favorites available in bottles (see below). We then were offered a tour of the small brewery, including some top-secret stuff. If you're interested in finding out what, email me, but realize I'll have to kill you. Cheers to Yusseff.

Purchased: Sculpin IPA, Tongue Buckler Imperial Red. (Oh, and a Black Marlin Porter, which is great, but I quite enjoyed the bourbon aged variety I had at Verdugo in LA and Churchill's in San Marcos)

AleSmith: There's a reason Peter Zien won Small Brewery/Brewer of the Year at last year's GABF. Not only did he show us around and pull samples to our hearts' content, but he allowed for a decadent privilege.

Purchased: privileged information.

At this point, we opted for a late lunch (Japanese. Replete with a bottle of Kirin). The last brewery we hit was Green Flash. We basically hit up the lone brewer on hand for a sampler flight, I got a bottle of Le Freak (which, when Jessica asked how it compared to her cherished Stone Cali-Belgique, said lone brewer responded "It's like Cali-Belgique. But Awesome.").

From there, we popped into a great liquor store, Holiday Wine, staffed with the kind of knowledgeable beer geeks I've learned run rampant in San Diego metro. They really do put their SoCal brethren to the north to shame.

Purchased: Mission, Coronado, Lightning, Boulevard (all the way from Missouri) and possibly more.

Seriously, great beer sipping, touring, elbow-rubbing, and hunting. I get it.

Drinking in LA

2009-04-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Fortunately, some things in LA never change. See: The Apple Pan, 72-degree weather. Fortunately, some things do change.

On my whirlwind tour visiting friends and drinking with them, my first stop was a new place on E. 3rd St. downtown, past Little Tokyo, called Wurstkuche (with an umlaut over the 2nd U). Evidently, it's not pronounced "worst coochie." I've known Eric my entire life and he suggested this place because it specializes in Belgian beers--20 on tap and bottle--with an impressive German selection to boot. I opted for Houblan Chouffe, an esthery, not-too-bitter Belgian IPA ($8) and Eric's into Belgian wittes, so he tried Blanche du Bruxelles ($7.25). They also have 21 sausages! They range from standard brats to veggie options to nouveau offerings like mango jalapeno...to a selection of "exotics." I got the rattlesnake and rabbit with jalapenos ($7.75). Eric got the Austin Blues: hot & spicy, tri-peppers and hardwood smoked pork ($6.75). For the record, it wasn't the first time I've had rattlesnake, and yes, it tastes like chicken. (And get the while truffle oil glazed pomme frittes.)

The crowd is mostly hip Asian 20-somethings, the setting is chi-chi'ed up industrial, and I dig the communal picnic tables.

From there, we went about a mile back west to the Bonaventure Hotel in the heart of downtown. On the 4th floor, past a circuitous food court and work out stations(!) is the Bonaventure Brewing Co. Opened in 1998, this very tiny brewpub, sister-pub to Belmont Brewing in Long Beach, offers 4 house beers (Blonde, Strawberry Blonde, Pale Ale, and Belgian White). Nothing to blow your socks off, but at session-able ABVs and $4.50 pints, it'd be easy to knock these back all night on the rooftop patio.* BTW, I opted for the Pale Ale (5.5%, making it the strongest) and Eric had the White (4.2%, the lowest).

*We weren't allowed to drink our beers on the rooftop patio. There was a private party taking place in the bar, yet we were allowed in to drink beers. The small brewing system is right on the patio, encased in a glass shed. I believe it is the only brewery in the City of Los Angeles.

The next day I drove to Silverlake to meet my college roommate Alex and his wife, Emilie. (They met at one of my parties.) We went to Good, which is just that. Not great, but good. The beer menu is fairly huge, but heavy on questionable selections featuring fruit extracts and other novelties. Then again, I selected a 750-ml bottle of The Bruery's Black Orchard for the table (to get them over their fear of dark beers). Brewed in the Belgian wit style but using dark roasted malts, the result is a Black-White ale, employing coriander and chamomile. At $20, it was a hit. The food is definitely conducive to a good meal, too. Alex got an IPA-pan fried chicken sandwich, Emilie got the burger, and b/c it's LA, I got a salad with froo-froo stuff in it.

Afterward, we drove (this is why I moved out of LA) to a place I'd heard about, but had to see to believe. Lamill Coffee, on Silver Lake Blvd, isn't a coffee shop, it's an experience. Forget about waitresses walking around with pots of drip-coffee pouring free refills. Our waitress handed us menus explaining their philosophy about how coffee should be considered and enjoyed like fine wine, and when I saw the table next to us with a fantastic contraption, I ordered one just like it for our table. The contraption, called the siphon, prepares the coffee in a way only a physicist could understand, but I'll try to simplify. Luckily, I have pictures to illustrate:

A Bunsen burner is ignited to heat the 20-oz bulb of water. The heated water goes up through a tube into a chamber containing the grounds. Once the burner is shut off, the coffee runs through a micro filter and returns to the original chamber.

The result? Aside from the cup of authentic Kona coffee I had in Maui, it is the best pot of coffee I've ever had (including the Kopi Luwak "civet shit" coffee I had in Indonesia). The catch? From the menu, I thought it was going to set me back $15! Long story short, it was actually $20!!! Twenty bucks. For coffee. Outrageous? Yeah. But did you flinch as much when I said the bottle of beer was $20? And if you ever saw a bottle of wine for that much/cheap on a restaurant menu, you'd think it was dreck. While I did it for the experience and will never order the siphon-prepared coffee again b/c of the price, I had to know. I will return there, though. I need to find out what jelly donut coffee (with strawberry essence and "donut-infused milk") is. That's a mere five-spot.

Alas, when I DROVE to Culver City to visit Kevin and Michele, who are expecting a new house in about 3 months and a baby in 7 weeks, the BottleRock was closed, either because it was Easter or just Sunday night.