City Beer Store Barrel Fest: The awesome beer events are coming in faster than I can count ‘em!

One of my goals now that I am ‘fun-employed’, so to speak, is to update the functionality of this website. There’s a lot more it could be doing right now that it’s just not. Most of all, I’d like to add a calendar function so that you all can more easily keep track of what’s coming up next. Until then, you’ll just have to use your brains. Sorry, I know it sucks, I don’t like to either, but sometimes it’s unavoidable.

So, here’s the next can’t miss beer event (really, series of events) to add the mental scratchpad:

Barrel Aged Beer Festival at City Beer Store

I love City Beer Store and am not over there as often as I’d like, mostly because I am lazy and lack an easy bus-transfer-free way to get there. But no public transit woes are going to keep me away from this one.

CBS’s Barrel Aged Beers Festival kicks off on Thursday and will run for 10 days from the 14th to the 24th. This means that all of their taps (there are six) will be serving barrel beers for those ten days. The selection will rotate, so keep coming back to try new stuff! The festival will also have special nights with featured brewers/breweries or styles that will be especially worth checking out:

Thursday, August 14th: Rodger Davis (aka Drake’s) Night

Though Rodger is now brewing for Triple Rock over in Berkeley, he’s behind many of the special release beers from Drake’s that will be served at CBS on the 14th. These will include:

• Brettamber: An amber ale fermented with brettanomyces and aged in merlot barrels. I had it at Drake’s Night at Toronado and thought it was fantastic.
• Chocolate Milk Stout: This one is bourbon barrel aged for 2 1/2 years. I haven’t had it yet, but can’t wait to give it a try.
• Imperial Stouts: They’re serving two varieties, which I assume come from a split batch. They’ll probably be the first thing I try since I haven’t had either before, and they sound so unique.
• • Version 1: Fermented with brettanomyces and aged in port barrels for 4 1/2 years(!) with blueberries.
  • Version 2: Fermented with brettanomyces and aged in port barrels for 4 //12 years with cherries

Friday, August 15th: Sour Night

It’s going to be all brett, all the time, on Friday.  They’ll be serving:

• Russian River Temptation
• Green Flash Superfreak
• Avery The Platypus
• Drake’s - TBD

Saturday, August 16th: Lost Abbey Impossible Bottles Day

Let’s face it, Lost Abbey isn’t ever easy to come by up here (though it’s starting to feel like it this week…).  And while every bottle from them tastes like a special release, there are those that are especially special, the ones most of us have never even seen in person, much less tasted.  Saturday’s your chance, with the following Lost Abbey beers available for sale in 330ml bottles:

• Cuvee de Tomme
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Angel’s Share
• Older Viscosity
  

Thursday, August 21st: Firestone Walker Night

Their barrel program just gets better and better.  Ever since I first tasted their big beers at Toronado’s Firestone Night, I’ve been wondering how I could get my hands on more of them.  Even at the brewery this was not possible, since they’re draft only and most weren’t on tap in the tasting room at the time.  But now that San Francisco has been showing them lots of love, they’re starting to show up here and there.  I’m definitely not missing my chance to savor these again.  They’ll be serving:

• Parabola Russian Imperial Stout
• Big Opal Wheat Wine
• Little Opal Saison
• Abacus Barleywine
• Walker’s Reserve Robust Porter
• Velvet Merkin Oatmeal Stout

They’ll also have a few special beers in bottles:

• Firestone 10: Barleywine
• Firestone 11: American Strong Ale

That’s it!  From the looks of CBS’s calendar on their website, they’re anticipating being all tuckered out after this barrel fest and going to need a week to recover.  I think I will too after tasting all this beer.

And she’s off! The Thirsty Hopster hits Pennsylvania

This is the first of (hopefully) many posts from the road, as I wend my way around the world (well, some northern parts of it) in supremely inefficient fashion. 

I’m in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, for my college roommate Kathryn’s wedding.  It’s an odd feeling being here for the weekend, since she’s the first of the eight of us roommates to get married and it’s the first time since college that I’ve seen some of my other roommates.  With four of us sharing a hotel room, it’s almost like being crammed into a dorm again, and again, it’s probably more estrogen than should ever be concentrated into so little space). 

Getting here was probably about as easy as I could have hoped, given that I had to:

• Ride the commuter rail to the SFO airport train
• Ride the airport train to the right terminal
• Fly from SFO to Las Vegas
• Fly from Las Vegas to Newark and get picked up by my college roommate Alexa’s and her fiancé Dave
• Drive with Alexa and Dave to Boiling Springs, which is about three hours from everywhere and anywhere

Any one of these five modes of transit could have broken down, and I half expected all of them to, since that’s what happened three weeks ago as I was flying to LA for another wedding.  At one point on that trip, the BART operator had actually climbed out of the train, onto the tracks, and was manually readjusting them so that we could move forward.  But, not this time! It was smooth sailing. 

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When I arrived in Las Vegas, I thought that if there were ever an airport outside the Pacific Northwest that ought to have a decent brewpub, this would be it.  People are expecting to drink and lose money — what better way to lighten your wallet than over a few microbrews?  Well, apparently I must be out of sync with the rest of Vegas-goers (who’d have guessed?), because not only was there no good brewpub - there was no brewpub at all!  At an airport!  How can this be?  Every airport has one now.  Well, not Las Vegas.  They have a Gordon Biersch going in soon, but it’s still under construction.  I consoled myself by putting $5 into the slot machines.  It was a short-lived solution, and five minutes later when it was all gone, decided that I ought to hold onto the rest of my money if I’m going to make it through Japan without going broke. 

After that, I packed myself into my window-seat for the red-eye to Newark, and settled in for the duration.  I’m lucky in that the low pressure in airplanes works on me in such a way that it’s almost impossible for me not to fall asleep.  Even on 45 minute flights.  Even in the middle of the day.  Sometimes I know we’ve landed because I feel the jolt when the tires hit the runway, but I can’t make myself wake up.  It’s bizarre, but lucky considering the trip to Newark by way of Vegas was just the first pair of flights out of the 14 flights that I’ll be taking in my month of travel. 

Once we touched down, at 5:30am EST/ 2:30am PST, Dave arrived bearing a life-giving cup full of the second elixir I depend on for my survival: iced coffee (the first being beer, of course).  Not only did he bring coffee, it was the holy grail of coffee: Dunkin Donuts.  Now, I know there’s a gasp going up in the crowd right now, because Dunkin is to coffee what Coors is to beer.  I know, I know. But hey, we can’t all be enlightened on all subjects, and frankly, I’m not sure I want my eyes opened to the disparity between regular and craft coffee, because if I get picky and finicky and can’t get my caffeine jolts when I need them, how will I ever have the energy to write about beer?  I swear, Dunkin coffee is the only thing I miss about Boston, and the day they expand to SF, I will be a very happy woman. 

A bit later, Alexa arrived and we got on our way.  I’d just like to note at this point that there is a lot more corn in Pennsylvania that I anticipated.  It’s everywhere!  I had never seen a corn field before, and since I have no plans to head to Iowa any time soon, I had thought I might never see one.  It was entertaining for just about all three hours of our drive.

We stopped at a gas station at one point, and I eagerly scooted into the store thinking that I might pick up some bottles of local brew for drinking later in the day.  No dice.  I should have remembered that they wouldn’t carry beer from all of Lew Bryson’s posts on Pennsylvania’s arcane alcohol distribution laws, but I was disappointed nonetheless.

That evening, we set out again, this time specifically on a beer run for the pre-wedding ‘girls night’.  I intended to stop in at Market Cross Pub or Alibi’s in Carlisle, since those two bars seemed to have the best reputation around for beer selection.  However, we ran out of time before we had to be back at the rehearsal dinner, and cut our itinerary down to just picking up a couple crates of beer for later that night. 

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We asked around for a liquor store, and got weird stares.  Again, apparently the Pennsylvania laws make that a foreign term around here.  We were told we could get six packs for carry out at the pubs, but that if we wanted more (which, obviously I did), we’d have to go to a ‘distributor’.  Hmmm… I wasn’t really sure what this meant, but I thought it would be like the state liquor stores I saw in Utah, which are essentially just like other liquor stores, except owned by the state.  Nope!  PA is all about the entirely comical concept of the ‘Brew Thru’.  I had heard of these before, but had never seen one in person and wasn’t really expecting it.  You drive your car into the liquor store!  It’s a big warehouse with beer everywhere, and you just drive in, place your order with a person who comes to your window, and then they load up your car.  I am pretty sure we came off very much like city slickers when I (A) got out of our car to go poke around the tiny microbrew section of the store instead of ordering Bud like everyone else, (B) tried to pick up a case of beer myself before the burly guy at the store came over to take it out of my hands, and (C) posed with the beer for pictures to document how fun and weird this was. 

If I lived here, I might have wanted a wider selection of craft beers for purchase, but given that I came with the intention of picking up some local Pennsylvanian brands, I came away very satisfied with a mixed crate of Troegs and a mixed crate of Victory.  The beers we had are:

• Troegs Dreamweaver Wheat
• Troegs Pale Ale
• Troegs HopBack Amber Ale (Not the Nugget Nectar… I was very disappointed)
• Troegs Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale
• Victory Lager
• Victory Prima Pils
• Victory Golden Monkey Tripel
• Victory Hop Devil Ale

Friday night, I had the HopBack Amber, which was definitely pretty hoppy for an amber, not of the sweet caramely variety like Alaskan.  It was almost like an APA just with a touch more color. 

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Next up was the Rugged Trail Nut Brown.  I thought it was pretty forgettable.  Even in the moment, I couldn’t really think of much to say about it.  This is my problem with browns in general; they just don’t have a whole lot going on. 

After that, I needed something that I knew would make things a little more interesting, so I pulled out a Golden Monkey Tripel.  I had a feeling it would go over well with the girls, and sure enough, it was the hit of the night.  I think the spices and the 9.5% ABV made it interesting, and the Belgian esters, low hops, and light color made it approachable. 

At the end of the evening though, we still had half of the beers left, so that left us with 24 good beers for drinking at the wedding the next day. 

The wedding itself was a beer-and-wine affair, no hard alcohol.  The beers were both cans, and when I saw that one was Coors Light, I was about to tune out entirely, and then I noticed the other was Yuengling Lager.  I hadn’t tried it before, but I know it has a bit of a cult following.  I thought it would be a bit (actually large bit) too snobbish to bring the leftover Troegs and Victory beers into the wedding reception, so we saved them for the after party and I opened up a Yuengling.  It was not half bad!  Actually that’s not true, I really mean the opposite.  It was only half bad.  The carbonation was way too much, and the body was lighter that I’d usually prefer, but you could actually taste the somewhat sweet, grainy, biscuit-y malt!  That’s a far cry from a Coors Light. 

I am now sitting in the Harrisburg airport (as of 4:30am local time) waiting for my flight and enjoying what must be the world’s worst muzak.  They seem to have a penchant for songs with extreme repetition (One just played that has a refrain that goes, “Say what you need to say” about 400 times in a row.  Argghh!  I knew it!  I just looked this song up and it is John Mayer.  Every single John Mayer song I’ve ever heard is more abominable than the last, but this one really takes the cake.) Their other fave is early nineties soft rock, particularly Celine Dion (Right now we’re being treated to Celine Dion’s song about being someone’s lady, and how he’s her man).  Thank god they are calling my plane for boarding now.

Updated Beertinerary

As you may or may not have noticed, depending on how often you check in here, I haven’t posted since Thursday.  This is the longest I’ve gone without posting since starting this blog, and I’m feeling completely guilty about it.  The worst part is, I’m not going to be able to make it up to you all right away, since I’m going on vacation as of tomorrow night!

Don’t disappear entirely though.  This will be a “working” vacation, if the definition of working can be stretched to include drinking beer with friends in exotic locales and then blogging about it.  My posting schedule will probably be more erratic due to time zone issues and intermittent internet access, but I promise that you’ll hear about every biiru, sahti, real ale, and west coast IPA along the way. 

I’ve given you all a brief overview of my destinations before, but now that I have a better sense of where I’ll be going for beer within each of those cities, I think it’s time to post an update. 

• July 11 - 12: Boiling Springs, PA, for a friend’s wedding
  • Troeg’s Brewing Company (brewery), Harrisburg, PA: If I can find a driver, I intend to try my first pint of the much esteemed Nugget Nectar
  • Alibi’s Eatery & Spirits (beer bar), Carlisle, PA: I hear they have about 12 taps, including Bell’s and Troeg’s
• July 13 - 14: In transit from 6am Sunday to 4pm Monday getting to Japan
  • Old Dominion Brewing Company (brewpub), Dulles, Concourse B: This is a north Virginia microbrewery with another pub location near the airport.  They seem to have a limited selection (about 4 beers), but one of them is an oak barrel stout, so I’m hoping they’re open when I arrive from Harrisburg. 
  • Not The Firkin and Fox (pub), Dulles, International Terminal: I saw this first and got excited when I saw ‘Firkin’ in their name.  However, upon perusing their website at greater length, this looks like a very mediocre airport pub that wouldn’t know a firkin if they stumbled over one.  But, it is amusing that they suggest “beer pairings” from their (it seems) almost exclusively macrobrew selection (Stella and crab cakes, anyone?). 
  • Probably nothing at LAX, LAX, all terminals: There’s nothing less satisfying it seems than a job half done.  We’ve got brewpubs all over this place now (Gordon Biersch, Karl Strauss, Manhattan Beach Brewing Co, Redondo Beach Brewing Co), but not a one of them is worth the effort.
• July 14 - 18:  Kyoto, Japan
  • Kizakura (brewery), Kyoto, Japan: This is a sake brewer with a small beer brewery.  I don’t know much else about them, except that they supposedly have a decent saison.  I hope so, because I can’t imagine anything nicer for countering the heat we’ll be facing.
  • Unfortunately, that’s all I can come up with so far!  C’mon - there’s got to be a good beer bar somewhere in Kyoto! I may just have to ask the concierge at our hotel for a recommendation
• July 18 - 23: Tokyo. Japan
  • Beer Club Popeye (beer bar), Tokyo, Japan: The first recommendation off everyone’s lips, no matter who they are, no matter what their interest in beer.  I wouldn’t miss it!  As their website url advertises, they have 40 beers on tap, usually 3+ beers on cask, and lots of Japanese microbrews.  We may have to go more than once!
  • Baird Taproom (beer bar), Tokyo, Japan: Baird started as one of the first, if not the first, microbreweries in Japan not to have originally been a sake brewer.  Their original microbrewery and brewpub are in Numazu.  They just opened their second location, in Tokyo, this year, which will serve all of the Baird beers, as well as Belgian styles. 
  • T.Y. Harbor Brewery (brewpub), Tokyo, Japan: This place has a lineup of regular brews that’s nothing out of the ordinary (American-style wheat, amber, pale ale), but I’ve heard that if you ask nicely they have ‘special’ brews, including… a mint beer?  I’ve never heard of such a thing before, but am willing to give it a try. 
• July 23 - 27: San Diego, CA
  • Lost Abbey (brewery), San Marcos, CA: I won’t leave before I get a chance to pay homage to the place where Tomme Arthur works his magic.  I hope to pick up some bottles of stuff I can’t buy up here, though I’m sure the extra-rare brews (e.g. Angel’s Share) will be impossible to get, even at the brewery.
  • Stone (brewery and pub), Escondido, CA: The Lost Abbey is in the old Stone site, and the Stone is now in… you guessed it, the new Stone site, which is apparently beautiful and everything you could ever want in a beer garden.  I might have to hit this one up on Sundays, when lambics and other sours are 25% off!  Then again, they’re filling growlers with their “Belgique” IPA on Friday and Saturday.
  • Toronado (beer bar), San Diego, CA: This is the SD offshoot of my regular watering hole.  It just opened in the last 3 to 4 months, so I can’t wait to check it out.  There are 50 taps and an extensive bottle list, just like the original.
  • Hamilton’s Tavern (beer bar), San Diego, CA: This must be the day of new vs. old comparisons, because quick on the heels of the Lost Abbey/Stone switcheroo comes Tim’s recommendation to me of Hamilton’s, “It’s more like the old Toronado than the new Toronado is.”  Does this mean cranky bartender roulette, years of grime and stale beer smell, and more taps than you could run through in a month?  I hope so. 
  • The Pizza Ports (brewpubs), Carlsbad & Solana Beach, CA: Each of the Pizza Ports (there’s one more in San Clemente) has their own Head Brewer and creates their own unique beers.  Sometimes the regular beers in their lineup seem uninspiring, but you never know when the seasonal is going to be atTENuation or Cuvee de Tomme. 
  • AleSmith (brewery), San Diego, CA: If for nothing other than a taste of the much raved about Speedway Stout, this has to be on our list.  And we’re in luck: tours are just once a month (???) but they fall on the last Saturday of the month, which works perfectly with our schedule. 
  • And if I have time, I’ll also hit up Green Flash, Ballast Point, and/or Alpine
• July 28 - 31: San Francisco, CA
  • I pop back home for a quick stop to wrap up things on the work front, do my laundry, and re-pack for part II of the adventure
• August 1 - 4: Helsinki, Norway
  • Oluthuone Kaisla (beer bar) Helsinki, Finland: This bar supposedly has 25 taps and the website promises “Tasty enjoyment for friends of beer”.  What more could you want?
  • Oluthuone Poirotti (beer bar), Helsinki, Finland: ‘Oluthuone’ is essentially Finnish for taphouse, so even though the listing above is part of a chain, this listing is for a bar that is not a member of that chain.  They do not have too many taps, but have a reputation for rare beers on tap and hard-to-find Belgian ales in bottles.
  • Stadin Panimo (microbrewery), Helsinki, Finland: They brew three kinds of Sahti, which is like a gruit (non-hopped beer spiced with traditional herbs), crossed with a wile ale (brewed with wild yeast that gives a tart and/or earthy flavor), crossed with gin (you know what that is).  It’s like these three drinks in that it has no hopped, but filtered through juniper twig beds during the sparging process.  It is fermented with wild Finnish baker’s yeast, instead of a traditional ale or lager yeast.  The brewery also makes several American-style ales, which is interesting since most of the other Norwegian breweries seem to stick to German-like light lagers. 
  • Suomenlinnan Panimo Sveaborgs Bryggeri (brewpub), Helsinki, Finland: These guys make British-style beers, but what I like best about them is that they are located on a fortress island!  At least we’ll know that we’re safe from Vikings while drinking our pints.   
• August 4 - 8: Florence Italy
  • Lots of wine: I know, I know, I’m a traitor, but I’m mostly going to be drinking wine in Florence.  My dad and brother are the wine experts (my sister and I are the beer gurus, and I’d say my mom doesn’t have subject matter expertise in beverages, but if she did, it would be gin), and they’ll be taking us on winery visits. 
  • Birreria Artigianale Il Bovaro (brewpub), Florence, Italy: It looks like they just have three beers: a pils, a “double malt” lager, and an amber (this could be a bit off, given that my Italian is a little rusty, as in non-existent because I’ve never taken Italian). 
  • Il Fauno (beer bar), Florence, Italy: Hmmm… a loud, poorly serviced sports bar… with rare Belgian beers?  That’s the word on the street.  This is at the bottom of my Italy list, unless it turns out their Belgians really are rare.
• August 8 - 11: London, England, UK
  • Great British Beer Festival (festival), London, England: I can’t wait!  I didn’t even plan to overlap with the GBBF on purpose, but I just worked out that way.  I’m going to go to the last day of the festival (Saturday) and meet up with Chris and Merideth from The Beer Geek.  Bring on the real ale!
  • Fuller’s (brewery), London, England: Between the two hour long brewery tour and the vintage ales for sale, going back as far as 1999, it would take a pack of wild dogs (or at least a few really threatening bees - I hate bees!) to keep me away. 
  • The White Horse (beer bar/pub), London, England: A long beer list, 6 or 7 cask ales, some hardy brews, some Belgians, and lots of beer geek cachet put the White Horse on my list, even if it is out in the suburbs.
  • Jerusalem Tavern/St Peter’s Brewery (beer bar/pub), London, England: The first of several tiny places on this list, this one is old and cozy (and by cozy I meant both quaint and crowded).  They have four or five cask beers and apparently if it’s crowded, standing in the alleyway is ok.  Since it will be summer, I’m sure we won’t mind!
  • Ye Olde Mitre (beer bar/pub), London, England: Though it’s tiny and notoriously hard to find, Ye Olde Mitre is known for being a historic, unfussy, untouristy, and downright charming. 
  • Microbar (beer bar), London, England: Since this place is pretty tiny (about 6 taps), and the name (at least from a far) sounds like it is straining for hipness, I initially failed to understand why people like it so much.  Then I caught wind of the fact that they have Westvleteren occasionally.  Well, that will drive up the cult factor.  I may have to go try it.
• August 11: San Francisco
  • Home at last!

Feel free to leave comments with suggestions of other places to visit, or places on this list to skip (those whose website designing outpaces their beermaking ability, tricking those of us researching from afar).

Great American Beer Festival tickets now on sale

This is just a quick announcement to make sure all of those readers out there who are not members of the American Homebrewers Association know that as of today, you can buy tickets to the Great American Beer Festival. 

What: The Great American Beer Festival is one of the very largest beer tasting festivals in America, as well as a beer competition for American breweries.  The festival organizers expect over 46,000 festival-goers this year, who will sample more than 1,800 beers from more than 400 American breweries. 

When: Attendees can buy tickets to single sessions or a four-session pack

• Thursday, October 9th, 5:30 - 10:00pm
• Friday, October 10th, 5:30 - 10:00pm
• Saturday, October 11th, 12:30 - 4:30 pm (AHA Members Only): “Saturday afternoon session attendees have a chance to rub elbows with brewers and be the first to sample award winning beers as the winners of the prestigious GABF Beer Judging competition are announced.”
• Saturday, October 11th, 5:30 - 10:00pm

Where: Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado

How much:It gets a little complicated based on all the different combinations, but the basic details are below.  There are some discounts for buying tickets for two people at once that are not noted here, but detailed on the GABF site:

• Single session (non-members only sessions): $50
• Single session (members only session, new members): $78
• Single session (members only session, current members): $40
• Four-session pack (new members): $210
• Four-session pack (current ): $175

Why: Here are just a few of the reasons why I’ve had my ticket since 30 seconds after they went on sale for AHA members about a month ago:

• You can try beer that will never be available where you live.  For me, this is a really big deal.  I’ve tried a lot of what there is to try in the Bay Area, a good share of what’s out there in California, a somewhat smaller percent of Pacific Northwest brews, and very little of what’s available in the midwest or on the east coast (except the Boston/Vermont area).  Until this past weekend, I had never had a New Glarus!  Now don’t get me wrong, I live in one of the best places in the country beer-wise, but even a San Francisco Bay Area local has to branch out beyond 21st Amendment, Anchor, Anderson Valley, Beach Chalet, Bear Republic, Blue Frog, Drake’s, Firestone, Lagunitas, Lost Coast, Magnolia, Marin, Mendocino, Moylan’s, North Coast, Rubicon, Russian River, Sacramento, Sierra Nevada, and Speakeasy every once in a while (you know I just listed all those to make the non-Northern Californians jealous — sorry, I can’t help but gloat every once in a while).  I’m looking forward to tasting Bell’s, Clipper City, Goose Island, Pelican Pub, Stoudts, Three Floyds, Troegs, and Victory, among many, many others.   
• Brewers from around the country will be there to enter beers in the GABFand others from around the world will be there to judge.  There are few other events that offer as great an opportunity to shake hands with your favorite brewer and ask him/her that question you’ve been dying to have answered, e.g. “So why don’tyou make [insert favorite discontinued beer here, Doppelbock/Oaked Imperial Stout/Wheatwine, etc.] anymore???”
• Organized activities hosted by the Brewers Association will be going on during each session of the festival, including:
  • In the Brewers Studio: “In the Brewers Studio (located at the stage) will explore the intersection where great brewing talents meet and where the creativity behind some of today’s most successful craft beer stories comes alive. Sit down, sample a beer and take a journey with some of craft brewing’s most provocative personalities and innovators as they share their stories, backgrounds and passions over a beer. Hosted by Tom Dalldorf of the Celebrator Beer News.”
  • Beer & Food Pairing Demos: “Beer & Food Pairing Demos will be located in the Beer & Food Pavilion at the center of the festival floor.  America’s creative craft brewers have produced a range of delicious beers to suit nearly every kind of food. Experience the art of beer and food pairings as expert chefs and brewers team up to tempt your taste buds with delicious beer and food pairing demonstrations.”
  • You be the Judge: “Ever wonder how beer is judged for the GABF competition? Judge for yourself! Stop by and review a beer and discuss your analysis with a real beer judge!”
  • Book Signing: “There will be several book signings at the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) booth. Please check back for more information.”
• Just think of all the other beer geeks you’re going to meet!  This is the beer version of the Democratic/Republican presidential convention for politicos, the Las Vegas Official Convention for Trekkies, or the Westminster Kennel Club Show for dog breeder types.  You can feel free to be your beer geek self and revel in it with tens of thousands of other like-minded people (and you don’t have to worry about the self-righteousness, costumes, or hairballs that come with the above-mentioned conventions).  I can’t wait!!

And if you can’t wait either, just keep in mind that there are now less than 100 days left!  (99 days, 17 hours, 26 minutes, and 8 seconds left to be exact… yes, I have a countdown time running)

Mission: Refrigerator Cleaning (…out of beer)

It takes a night like last night (Saturday night) to remind me that for all the pomp and circumstance of fancy beer dinners, for all the effort I put into the events I host, and for all of the frantic excitement of festivals, there’s still nothing like having a few friends over and cracking open a great bottle of beer, or two, or… fifty.

I got to join a lucky group of twelve beer enthusiasts at Jay Brooks’ house to ‘clean out his refrigerator(s)’.  Nope, we weren’t scouring the crisper with Formula 409 or scrubbing the ice cube trays - we were charged with depleting his overflowing stock of beer.  It’s a tough job, but hey, somebody’s got to do it. 

In all seriousness though, it was tough.  It was almost heartbreaking to devote just a few minutes to sipping a one-ounce pour of a ten-year old anniversary ale and then gamely keep moving on through dozens more beers.  And then there was the journalistic instinct that cropped up a couple times as I kept my list of the brews we tried.  I’d want to take notes, but found it near impossible to (A) keep differentiating between one I-could-die-happily-after-tasting-this beer and another, and (B) keep up with the pace of the bottles being passed round the table.  So many of the beers were once-in-a-lifetime beers, either because they were special one-time releases, the products of now-defunct brewers, carried into the US from halfway around the world, or the handiwork of the exceedingly stubborn Westvleteren monks (someone needs to feed them a little more of their own craftsmanship and then while they’re tipsy, trick them into agreeing to increase production volumes).

When I showed up, the group was milling around the kitchen eat some cheese & crackers (including the incredible Red Hawk from Cowgirl Creamery) and some chocolates that Pete had made by hand.  We waited a few minutes for the last few of the enlisted beer disposalists to show up, and then got down to work.

The Mission: Eliminate Jay’s excess stock of beers (and have a little fun and good beer talk along the way)

The Team:

• Captain - Jay Brooks, writer of The Brookston Beer Bulletin
• Brent Ainsworth, writer of the Brent on Beer column and weekend editor for the Marin Independent Journal
• Rob DeNunzio, writer of Pfiff!
• Peter Hoey, brewmaster at Sacramento Brewing Company
• Arrne Johnson, brewmaster at Marin Brewing Company
• Jessica Jones, that’s me!
• Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef
• Rick & Tracy Sellers, Rick writes and records podcasts for Pacific Brew News and is the beer director for Draft Magazine
• Pete & Amy Slosberg, Pete is one of the pioneers of the entire craft brewing renaissance - he’s the founder of Pete’s Wicked Ale (now owned by Gambrinus) and a chocolate company called Cocoa Pete’s

The Rules:

• When it’s your turn, roll the die. The color that comes up determines which kind of beer you can pick:
  • Red = lager or hybri
  • Blue = ale (except Belgians
  • White = anything Belgia
  • Yellow with a white star = Jay picks from the secret stash in a cooler bag at his side
• We’d pass the bottle, which could be any size from a 12oz to a 750mL around the table and everyone takes a small pour. At the rate we were tasting, 1oz of each seemed like plenty.
• Comment or take notes all you want, just don’t hold up the tasting by failing to notice when it’s your turn to roll or when the current bottle has stopped at you (I was a frequent violator of this last rule - there was just too much going on to keep track of it all!)

The beers we tasted are listed below, with minimal notes, due to my own desire to just kick back and enjoy:

1. Westvleteren 8 (Westvleteren, Belgium): Amy kicked us off to a fast start with a white star
2. Deschutes 19^th Anniversary Ale (2007, Bend, OR)
3. Eisenbahn Escura (Blumenau, Brazil)
4. Antares Porter (La Plata, Argentina)
5. Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2004, Portland, OR): my first favorite of the afternoon
6. Brasserie de la Senne Owa (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium)
7. Fuller’s Anniversary Ale 2005 (London, UK)
8. New Glarus Organic Revolution (New Glarus, WI)
9. Ithaca Beer Co. Old Habit Strong Rye (Ithaca, NY): another early favorite
10. Rogue Batch #2 Skull Splitter Ale (Newport, OR)
11. Cantillon Organic Gueuze (Brussels, Belgium)
12. Waheke Brewery Wharf Road Wheat (Waiheke Island, New Zealand)
13. Stone 7^th Anniversary Strong Ale (2003, Escondido, CA)
14. Epic Lager (Manukau, New Zealand)
15. J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (2002, Manchester, UK): my absolute #1 favorite of the night, very maple-y
16. Croucher 2008 Commemorative Brewni (Rotorua, New Zealand)
17. Dogfish Head Red & White (Milton, DE)
18. Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes Cuvee du 8ieme (Jura, Switzerland)
19. Castelain Blonde Biere de Garde (Benifontaine, France)
20. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (1998, Chico, CA)
21. Harviestoun Ola Dubh 30 (Alva, Scotland)
22. Iron City Brewing Premium Lager (Pittsburgh, PA)
23. Fuller’s Vintage 1999 (London, UK)
24. Maui Coconut Porter (Lahaina, HI, in a can)
25. De Proef Zoetzuur (Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium)
26. Brouweij Huyghe Floris Apple (Melle, Belgium): tasted like it should have been neon green
27. Green Flash Symposium (2008, Vista, CA)
28. Stone Symposium (2004, Escondido, CA
29. AleSmith Golden Strong (1999, San Diego, CA)
30. Mystery Beer no label

 At this point, it had been about two hours (3:00pm - 5:00pm) and we took a break for (what else?) sausages.  Then it was back to the grind…

1. Birra del Borgo Te (Borgorose, Italy)
2. Augustiner Weissbier (Munchen, Germany)
3. Ballast Point Double IPA (San Diego, CA)
4. Lost Abbey Veritas (San Marcos CA)
5. Cantillon Grand Cru Organic 2003 (Brussels, Belgium)
6. Drake’s Imperial Stout (San lLandro, CA)
7. Heavyweight Imperial Porter (Ocean Township, NJ)
8. Avery Fourteen (Boulder CO)
9. New Glarus Unplugged  Cherry Stout (New Glarus, WI): Loved it, up there in my tops of the night list
10. Sam Adams Ginger Honey Ale (Boston, MA)
11. De Graal  Tripel (Brakel Belgium)
12. Haines Captain Cook Spruce Beer (Haines, AK)
13. Siletz Spruce (Siletz, OR)
14. George Gale Prize Old Ale (1996, Hordean, UK)
15. Brasserie de Silenrieux Joseph Spelt Ale (Verfontaine-Silenrieux, Belgium)
16. Lagunitas Mehapouret Brau Bietzaro (Petaluma, CA)
17. Cloister Andechs Doppelbock (Andechs, Germany)
18. North Coast 10^th Anniversary (1998, Fort Bragg, CA)
19. Deschutes 20^th Anniversary Witbier (2008, Bend, OR)
20. Deschutes Black Butte XX (Bend, OR)
21. Sam Adams Millennium (1999 or earlier, Boston, MA) Jay had first opened this bottle of beer in 1999, drunk all but the last inch of it with friends, re-corked it and saved it over the last nine years, finally re-opening it for the first (and last) time with us.

Somewhere in the second half of this tasting, Sean brought out his culinary creation of the night: beer caviar.  He had made blinis topped with sour cream and little IPA tapioca balls.  They were light, subtle, and delicious.  The hop flavor didn’t hit you at first, but as the tapioca balls melted away in my mouth, all of a sudden the IPA bitterness swelled up in their place.  These were tasty and fun.

Mission completed? Well, fortunately/unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) we failed in our mission.  Of the four coolers full of beer when we began, each was probably still about half full when we left.  I smell a ‘Mission Refrigerator Cleaning II’ in the future… but, given the age of some of these beers we drank, the next one may not be for another eight years or so.