BetterBeerBlog

This post is actually overdue. I started writing this post last weekend with the event still fresh in my mind. In my typically unnecessarily lengthy style of writing, I had written a novella chronicling what can easily be described as “dinner in San Francisco”. Halfway through the my magum opus, I accidentally clicked on an icon on my blogging software that should’ve been named “fuck you, blogboy” and deleted all of my progress that night. So here I am, starting over.

As a graphic designer I rely on my eyesight for everything I do. My whole job is predicated on what can I see. Essentially I would be, as the Google French would say, Jusqu’à merde ruisseau sans paddle, should I ever loose my vision. My worst case scenario would be to go blind. Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to do so.

Sammy and I accompanied our new friend Danthy to San Francisco to “dine in the dark” at this new restaurant called Opaque. The basic premise of Opaque and her sister shops in San Diego and Los Angeles, is fine dining in total darkness. Sammy and I first heard about this experience on the evening news and thought it was a crazy idea that we’d like to participate in one day. Coincidentally, the restaurant can’t be seen from the street as they have no visible sign. Look for the address above a door next to Indigo restaurant on McAllister and Gough.

Normally I wouldn’t even write about this on a beer blog but the experience was too interesting for me not to. The owner of Opaque, Ben, is one of the few Germans who don’t like beer. So automatically, he gets knocked down a few points. In addition, for a fine dining restaurant, they have a lousy beer list. If I were the owner of a fine dining establishment, dark or not, I would’ve made sure everything was high quality. There’s just no excuse, especially in San Francisco where there is a robust craft beer scene. The only beer of note is Anchor Steam but the rest are the same seven in every other bar. As a result, I drank wine.

After arriving, the three of us were given menus to which we can choose our meals. I chose to be completely surprised and I let the hostess pick my meal. While waiting for our waitress, a representative from CitySearch.com interviewed us about why we were there. When I last searched, there weren’t any videos up yet but I’m not holding my breath.

The staff of Opaque let us wait just outside the entrance to the dining area. It’s a small space with only a few ottoman style chairs and small, glass coffee tables. The doorway to the dining area is pitch black. You can hear the noises and conversations of the diners within but you couldn’t see anything. That is, afterall, the point. It was then our blind waitress Suna appeared out of the dark to lead us to our table. It all hits home at this point, fine dining from a blind person’s perspective.

Forming a single file line with one hand on each other’s shoulders, we entered the dining area. What I thought was a straight shot was actually a short series of cutbacks necessary to keep out the dim lighting of the waiting area out. Suna’s voice is firm and reassuring, it has to be. The total darkness of the dining area is disorienting and uncomfortable. I can easily understand why Suna is continually asking us if we’re alright.

As with many restaurants, we are given bread and butter to tide us over while the first course is being prepared. Having all of my senses, the little things that I take for granted are instantly magnified a hundred-fold when my sight has been taken away. For example, I grab a piece of bread and butter it with what I believe to be a butter knife. I take a bite of the bread only to realize I have seriously over buttered my bread. The ratio is totally off. It would’ve been more accurate to say I “breaded my butter”.

It got better as the night wore on but the learning curve was steep. My hands effectively became my eyes as I used my hands to map the table dimensions and location of my plate, utensils and beverages. After about an hour, I had learned where everything was and eating was becoming much easier.

Our eyesight accounts for 80% of our sensory stimuli. That’s a huge friggin’ percentage! Up until our food arrived, I was having trouble adjusting to the total darkness, so much so my eyes began to hurt as they strained to find even the smallest shred of light. Maybe it was having something to preoccupy me or a refocusing of my senses but once our food arrived, my eyes stopped hurting. I have cousins who sleep with their eyes open. It’s strange to watch them sleep because even though you know they’re sleeping, they’re watching you back. If you know someone who sleeps with their eyes open, you know how their eyes look and that’s how I felt my eyes had become by the end of dinner. I could feel my eyelids partially open as my body had adjusted to the darkness.

The food was fantastic. Everything tasted wonderful and felt good. I can’t say the food looked good because I obviously couldn’t see it but it sure felt good on the plate. I know this, literally, first hand. I figured that it’s pitch black, no one can see me, so I ate with my hands. While many people consider it unclean, I find eating with my hands gives me an intimate relationship and understanding of my food that utensils will never give me. It’s an acceptable thing do to in my culture. Besides, it’s only unclean if you don’t wash your hands and I made sure to have done so before dinner.

Here’s a quick bulleted list of our meal. It was supposed to be 3 courses but they added in a few things to keep us guessing:

• Mouth Tease - Chunk of smoked salmon, ginger and risotto (I think) served on a tablespoon. It is a tease, afterall.
• Baby Arugula with Ruby Red Grapefruit, Laura Chenel Goat Cheese, Toasted Walnuts and a Champagne Vinaigrette (description taken from the Opaque website). This was a good salad. I tried to be civilized and use my salad fork but after a few dropped pieces of food, I gave up on “fine eating” and used my hands.
• Vegetable plate consisting of brocollini, red bell peppers and celery served with wasabi creme fresh, a curry-based dipping sauce and red pepper aioli.
• Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Puree, Roasted Broccolini Green Peppercorn Sauce, Truffle Butter (from website). I loves me some meat and this was an excellent meat plate. Man o’ man was that steak good. Eating mashed potatoes by hand is a very interesting thing.
• Bittersweet Chocolate Cake, Bing Cherries in Mint Sugar, Vanilla Whipped Cream (last course). This was more like those “lava cakes” where the inside is still piping hot and “raw” cake batter. So rich and gooey. I don’t have a sweet tooth to begin so I didn’t finish but that was some good dessert.

I would like to give props to our waitress Suna. She was one of the most attentive wait staff I have ever had. She was there often enough to make sure we were good but never hovering just over our shoulders (She might’ve been, it’s dark, I can’t tell.). Suna is very personable as well. Turns out, she wasn’t always blind, she lost her eyesight some time back. What really trips me out about her is that she’s also a fashion designer. “Colors,” she says, “You never forget colors”. I look at her and I see what my options are should I loose my own eyesight.

Despite the endless rambling of dining in the dark using your hands, I did manage to have some good beer. When Danthy, Sammy and I first arrived, we chilled out at a bar called Jade which was right around the corner from Opaque. It was a warm day and I ordered the Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewing Company. While light, crisp, refreshing and flavorful, I found the beer to be “okay”. It’s a good beer but I felt the flavor profile wasn’t a good example of the style. The malt flavors didn’t taste of pilsner malt and the hop level was below even the low end of what is acceptable for the style. I suppose I’d order another pint of nothing else was around but thankfully, there was.

My next pint was only half a pint as they keg ran out of beer. I tasted Mt. Tam Pale Ale from Marin Brewing Company. This is an awesome beer and I kick myself in the ass for passing on it soo many times at the BevMo. Mt. Tam, please accept my apology and I vow from hereto forth, to never ignore you again. This pale ale has an awesome fruity, floral, citrusy, fresh hop aroma with a flavor to match. There is just enough malt flavor to support the hops but the hops are the starts in this beer. Jahmmy!

After dinner, we headed back to Jade to hang out a little bit more. Sammy had ordered the Pt. Reyes Porter, also from Marin Brewing Company while I drank the Alaskan IPA. I enjoyed the Alaskan IPA. I found the aromas to be very pleasant, a good mix of malt sweetness and hop character with an emphasis on the hops. An excellent precursor to the taste. The IPA had pronounced hop flavors and strong hop bitterness with medium malt characteristics. As good as this beer was, I think I enjoyed the Mt. Tam even more.

Sammy’s Pt. Reyes porter was a great tasting beer as well. Sammy doesn’t really like the dark beers such as porters and stouts. They are not sweet enough for her and the roastiness of some porters and stouts overwhelm her palette sometimes. She liked the Pt. Reyes though. As Sammy put it, “This tastes like chocolate espresso coffee. It’s bittersweet and chocolatey.”

All in all, this was an evening to remember. Dining in the dark at Opaque is an experience I would readily recommend to people who enjoy good food and new experiences. Keep in mind though, it’s a prix fixe menu. I found the $99/person price point a bit steep, especially if it’s just for the food. Because of the combination of food and experience, I found the price worthwhile. I would recommend you wash your hands before dinner and to avoid wearing white if you plan on eating with utensils. There’s a good chance you’ll get food someplace you weren’t expecting. I would hope that Ben would look at Opaque holistically. If he’s going for a fine dining restaurant, everything should be “fine dining”, including your beer list. Jade is also a cool place to hang out with some good beers on tap.

If you do go to Opaque, I’d love to hear about your experiences. I love reading comments.

For as many times as I’ve written about my homebrews, I have never review any of my beers on this site. Part of me thinks that I can’t be objective. I don’t necessarily think that I’ll rate myself undeservedly high, it’s the opposite, in fact. I think I just might be more strict when judging my own beers that that of others. That being said, I had it all lined up where I’d review both my Märzen and my Altbier but something happened on the way to the homebrew store. Well, not on the way, more like, at the homebrew store.

I was purchasing ingredients for next home brew when Rich, the owner of Beer and Winemakers of America, told me about the upcoming Bay Area Brew Off (BABO) homebrew competition held by the Draught Board homebrew club. On a whim, I dropped off my two entries.

It seemed to take forever but the BABO winners were finally posted on the Draught Board website. Draught Board President Roger St. Denis sent an email out to all the participant earlier in the week but I hesitated posting how well I did until Draught Board updated their website as well.

Now that they’re up, I can proudly say that my Märzen took 3rd place in the Amber Lager category while my Altbier took 1st in the Amber Hybrids category!!! Now I can add “Award Winning Homebrewer” to my short list of achievements, ha, ha, ha! Then again, I probably shouldn’t toot my horn too much as not only did my Märzen had an average score of 21 points (Misses the mark on style and/or minor flaws), there were (it would seem) only 4 entrants into the category. My Altbier fared better scoring an average of 30.2 points (Generally within style parameters, some minor flaws) with also 4 entrants in the category. It was an ugly win but a win nonetheless.

Jon from Beer Obsessed once emailed me to say that should I place, I would be bitten by the homebrew competition bug. I would be lying if i didn’t say I am more inclined to enter more of my beers into competition. On one hand, I would’ve been happy just to place but for one of my beers to take 1st in a category is pretty good. On the other, when you start at the top, it’s a long way down. Granted, I didn’t win BOS (Best of Show) but it’s a good feeling nonetheless.

It validates to me that I am a decent homebrewer. It also raises a valid question, do I brew for myself (as I have been) or do I brew for competitions? One would think that both are the same thing but in reality, it’s not, it’s a completely different mindset. For now I think I’ll continue to brew for myself and as competitions come up, I’ll send in whatever I have on tap at the time.

This time, I finally got my dates right. Last night was the tapping of Gordon Biersch’s new seasonal brew, Sommerfest. Gordon Biersch describes Sommerfest as a “Kölsch style pale ale”. It is a brilliantly clear, straw/pale gold colored beer with a white, moussey head. I found the aromas to be subtle but I felt the malt aromas to be slightly more dominant than the low hop aromas. I found the flavor of Sommerfest tended to lean more to the malt side of the spectrum with low hop flavor and bitterness. If my memory serves me correct, I found this beer to have been a little sweet as well. The finish was refreshing and crisp. With a med to med-lo body and a med to med hi carbonation level, this is an easy drinking beer, perfectly suited for the summer season from which it gets it’s name.

When I compare what I remember Sommerfest to the BJCP guidelines for a kölsch style, I find the Sommerfest fall short on a couple of points. First, I thought the hop bitterness level of the beer was a little low. I’m not expecting it to be on the level of a pale ale or even a pilsner, but when a beer is described a “sublte Pilsner”, I would expect it to have a little more hop bitterness and flavor. This makes me wonder if the hop shortage has forced the GB brewers to change up their recipes a little bit and make a less hoppy beer. I also felt that the sweetness level of the beer was higher than expected. I anticipated this beer to have been fully attenuated and a little on the dry side.

Overall though, I found this beer to be very refreshing and flavorful beer. For the most part, Sommerfest hits all the main points for the style. Still, I can’t help but wonder what a true kölsch from Köln, Germany tastes like. From all accounts, we get close to the real deal but not quite there yet.

This tapping has been the busiest of the year so far. Sammy and I arrived there at around 6:30pm and thankfully the line for Sommerfest was relatively short. It wasn’t until we two-fisted our way to the table where our friends were that I realized how long the line had gotten behind us. For a while, it seemed to stretch on for almost the length of the outdoor patio area. Brewmaster Dan Satterthwaite and another GB employee were busy pouring for almost the entire two hours the event was on for. I wanted to chat with the but between the noise of the band and the people there, it was hard to have a decent conversation. At one point, they ran out of the plastic GB cups and started using their regular beer glasses. The upside was two-fold: a better container to drink the beer out of (yet not the recommended glassware) and larger pours.

The female wait staff working the outdoor patio during the tapping were all dressed up like the St. Paulie girl. This is the first time I’ve seen the GB wait staff in costume and I wasn’t complaining. Before the dinner rush set in, the mainly walked around the patio area handing out appetizers like pretzel bits with Dijon mustard, garlic fries and I even saw some pieces of pizza. In addition, we ordered their “spicy” wings as well as an order of fresh cut chips. The chips were very tasty but the wings were completely lacking any sort of (spice) heat. It’s not that they weren’t good tasting, just not spicy.

They’ve been using the same jazz trio to play these tappings, which is a good thing since they’re very entertaining. Every once in a while during their set, a “guest musician” would come on stage and play with them. That’s one of the reasons I’ve always found jazz to be an exciting genre of music as it gives everyone in the band a chance to be the center of attention. There’s a crazy amount of freedom with the style, yet it is always supported by a loose structure.

All in all, the tapping went very well. Gordon Biersch San Jose always does a good job with their tappings. The beer scene is pretty bad here in the south bay and to have a place like GB putting on an event like this is a good thing. While most people are admittedly there only for the free beers, they at the very least, are trying something they probably would never have bought themselves. And that, is a good thing.

As expected, the Sommerfest is a refreshing and highly drinkable beer with decent flavor. One of our friends summed it up best by saying, “If I’m going to be drinking a lighter beer, I might as well drink this. At least it has flavor”.

Just got an email yesterday from the good folks at Toronado. They’re holding a New Belgium Brewing Company beer night. The information below is taken verbatim:

New Belgium Brewing Co Night

Description:
New Belgium Brewing Co Night Wednesday June 24th at
6:00PM
Join us for the following rare draught selections.
Abbey Dubbel
Complex, sweet with some chocolate and banana aromas
and flavors. A full bodied, warming traditional Belgian
Style Dubbel.

Trippel
Phenolic clove and spice aromas are followed by a creamy
mouthfeel and some noble hop character. Alcohol is
evident in the palate, finishes bittersweet and spicy.

Eric’s Ale
This Peche, or Peach beer, started as an ale aged in 130 hl
wooden vessels called Foedres for 3 years. It was then
transferred and real peaches were added. A second
Strong Golden Ale was brewed and blended back into the
sour ale. Subtle peach, tropical fruit and tart aromas in
the nose, plus some vanilla and oak. The flavor is a
balance of sweet and sour. A drinkable and refreshing
sour beer hybrid.

Love #34
A single batch from a 60 gallon wood barrel. Not usually
kegged as it is used as the starter for all of New Belgium’s
wood beers. Started as a brown ale brewed with cherries
(no longer produced), barrel aged for 3 years, giving this
specific barrel a unique blend of bacteria and yeast, which
make the final product a manifestation of New Belgium’s
unique specialty styles.

Foedre #3
The base beer for the Le Terroir, hand selected by Dave
Keene at the brewery and kegged for him alone. We can’t
describe it yet because it has never been tasted outside of
the NBB facility.

Location: Toronado, 547 Haight, San Francisco, California
Time(s): 6:00PM
Admission: no charge

I really appreciate what Toronado does for the craft beer scene. These beer nights are an excellent way to get to know a craft brewer’s offerings in a way not normally possible. A lot of special beers come out as well as long standing favorites. It’s also an extra treat when you are able to meet the brewers themselves and are able to put faces to excellent beers.

Unfortunately for me, I won’t be able to make it to this event either (missed out on Drake’s). We attended the Gordon Biersch tapping of their new Sommerfest beer last night and expect a write up tonight. Good times were had by all and there were a few pleasant surprises as well.

It’s said that the first year of any business is the hardest and if you can make it past year 3, then you have a good chance of making it in the long run. Gordon Biersch is celebrating their 20th year anniversary this year and they have a pretty good party lined up.

Here’s their itinerary, fresh out of my email box:

Come and Celebrate 20 Years of Fresh Food and Great Beer!

This year is GB’s 20th Anniversary! In honor of this exciting milestone, we will be celebrating our birthday with a weeklong celebration tour in the Bay Area. Join us for our upcoming celebrations:

**Sunday, July 6th: Gordon Biersch San Francisco
Anniversary Brewers Dinner Hosted by Co-founder Dan Gordon
Cocktail Reception Begins at 6pm
Special Anniversary Toast at 7:30pm
**Only $60 per person - Call or stop by the restaurant to make
reservations today!

**Monday, July 7th: Gordon Biersch San Francisco
“GB Celebrates 20 Years…80’s Style!”
GB Anniversary Party from 5pm - 8pm! Enjoy a live DJ playing your favorite hits from 1988, anniversary gift giveaways, special toast, and much more!

**Tuesday, July 8th: Gordon Biersch Palo Alto
Anniversary Brewers Dinner Hosted by Co-founder Dan Gordon
Cocktail Reception Begins at 6pm
Special Anniversary Toast at 7:30pm
**Only $60 per person - Call or stop by the restaurant to make
reservations today!

**Wednesday, July 9th: Gordon Biersch Palo Alto
‘Back to the Future’ at Gordon Biersch!
Anniversary Party from 5pm - 8pm! Meet Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch- the co-founders of Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant. Enjoy anniversary gift giveaways, live music and anniversary toast from the co-founders themselves!

**Thursday, July 10th: Gordon Biersch San Jose
“Totally Awesome 80’s Night at GB!”
Anniversary Party from 5pm - 8pm! Don’t forget to dress up in your favorite 80’s outfit. Enjoy live 80’s music band, anniversary gift giveaways, anniversary toast, and much more!

**Friday, July 11th: Gordon Biersch San Jose
Anniversary Brewers Dinner Hosted by Co-founder Dan Gordon
Cocktail Reception Begins at 6pm
Special Anniversary Toast at 7:30pm
**Only $60 per person - Call or stop by the restaurant to make
reservations today!

**Saturday, July 12th: Gordon Biersch Brewing Company in San Jose
Join us from 12pm - 7pm at the GB Brewery! Admission includes GB authentic German style beers, food and live music! Only $40 per person. Visit the following restaurants to purchase tickets: GB Palo Alto, GB San Francisco, or GB San Jose or visit www.gordonbiersch.com/brewery/

Exclusively, just for you…

We’re celebrating this special occasion with a number of extraordinary events, and we look forward to seeing you along the way. Be sure not to miss out on all the fun and purchase your all-access pass today! Visit the Bay Area restaurants to purchase your all-access pass for a week to remember! See below for details…

$300 GOLD PACKAGE- This exclusive pass includes:
*All access to GB Brewers Dinners in GB San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose.
*All access to VIP area during the 20th Anniversary Parties at GB San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose. This includes complimentary appetizers and beer.
*One ticket into the 20th Anniversary Party at the San Jose Brewery.
*Anniversary Celebration Commemorative Retail Package.
*Autographed glassware from Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch.

$200 SILVER PACKAGE - This exclusive pass includes:
*All access to GB Brewers Dinner at one of the following locations: San Francisco, Palo Alto, or San Jose.
*All access to VIP area during the 20th Anniversary Parties at one of the following locations: San Francisco, Palo Alto, or San Jose. This includes complimentary appetizers and beer.
*One ticket into the 20th Anniversary Party at the San Jose Brewery.
*Anniversary Celebration Commemorative Retail Package.

Pretty good party lined up, eh? Unfortunately for me, I’m going to be in Santa Rosa for a good part of the festivities. Then again, with the craft beer scene in Sonoma and Napa counties, maybe I’m not missing much at all. As it looks, we’ll probably be able to make it to the Wednesday night brewer’s dinner with Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch, so I’m looking forward to that.

As a reminder, GB’s Sommerfest tapping is tomorrow night. This time, I got the date right! Hopefully, I’ll see some of you there.

Tomorrow is the start of the Alameda County Fair. The fair runs from June 20th through July 6th making the duration of the event a little over two weeks. I’m almost ashamed to say that this will be my very first county fair. For whatever reason I never visited the Santa Clara County Fair and, for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t seem like I ever will as the fair has gone the way of the dinosaur and the Champ Car race.

Looking at their website, the Alameda County Fair promises to have a variety of activities and entertainment. There will be horse racing, concerts, parades, fireworks and distractions for the kids. My main interest for the fair and the sole reason I’m even writing a post about it is because of the homebrew competition.

The Bay Area Brew Off (BABO) is sponsored by the folks from the Draught Board Home Brew Club based in San Leandro. Their membership is mainly made up of East Bay folks but isn’t restricted to just East Bay folks. BABO is in it’s 21st year and I entered in two of my beers, a märzen and an altbier on a whim. I’ve been chomping at the bit to see how well I did but the results won’t be up until tomorrow. Hopefully I did well and entered the correct bottles for the correct categories. I should consider labeling my beers in the future.

If you’re into baseball, the Oakland A’s are having their Oakland A’s Beer Fest this Saturday. Unfortunately for me, I already have plans. Besides, I don’t like baseball (for a number of reasons) but if you do, you can get in free with a purchase of a game ticket. Here are the details along with the extensive list of brewers:

The Oakland A’s Beer Festival will take place on Saturday, June 21st from 4:05 p.m. - 6:05 p.m. in the East Side Club at McAfee Coliseum. Enjoy over 30 different breweries, live music from Bay Area cover band Notorious, and other festivities. Special acrylic souvenir beer mugs and 2 microbrew tastings will be available for purchase for $10. Admission is free with a game ticket and additional tastings are available for purchase at the event.

Participating breweries and beers to be poured are:
Anchor Steam, Anchor Summer, Bear Republic Red Rocket, Bear Republic Racer 5, Blue Moon, Blue Moon Summer, Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, Coors, Coors Light, Corona Light, Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Dos XX Lager, Eal River Amber, Eal River IPA, Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale, Firestone Walker Pale Ale 31, Fosters, Gordon Biersch Blonde Bock, Gordon Biersch Pilsner, Guinness, Harp, Heineken, Heineken Premium Light, Hoegaarden, Kona Longboard, Langunitas IPA, Langunitas Pale Ale, Michelob Ultra, Michelob Ultra Amber Ale, MGD, Miller Light, Modelo, Mount St. Helena IPA, Moutn St. Helena Palisades Pale Ale, Mount St. Helena Jackpot Lager, New Belgium Fat Tire, New Belgium Skinny Dip, Pacifico, Pilsner Urquell, Pizza Orgasmica Golden Ale, Pizza Orgasmica Peach Pale Ale, Pyramid Curveball, Pyramid Hefeweizen, St. Pauli Girl, St. Pauli Girl NA, Sam Adams Boston Lager, Sam Adams Summer Fest, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada Summer Fest, Smithwick’s, Stella, Tecate, Tsintao, Trumer Pils and Widmer Hefeweizen.

Ticket and Mug sales will end at 5:30pm, with last pour at 6:05pm. Must be 21 or older to purchase tastings. For information please call 510-638-4900 ext. 4040.

One of the more unusual events coming up this weekend is the Campbell Highland Games and Celtic Gathering. The event is in its 30th year, which is impressive to me in the sense that this event has been going on for almost as long as I’ve been alive. As the name implies, there’s going to be a lot of kilt wearing men, strength based Celtic (pronounced Kell-tic, with a hard “C” and not “Sell-tic”, as in the basketball team) games and Celtic crafts and food. While not necessarily a beer fest, the Highland Games will be pouring Moylan’s beers exclusively. Thanks to William Brand for bringing this to my attention.

Hot off the digital press! Just got an email from Gordon Biersch (GB) that they’ll be tapping their Sommersgold Kolsh tonight next Tuesday at their San Jose location. Here’s the marketing speak copied from their email:

Come join us for the tapping of Sommergold, Tuesday, June 24, 2008 from 6pm to 8pm. This Kölsch style pale ale is light and dry with just a hint of fruitiness. Bring a friend and enjoy our Sommergold seasonal menu. Enjoy such items as Shrimp and Crab Tower, Asian Chicken Salad, Prime Burger, Roasted Half Chicken, and Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi.

In the past, this email would’ve been sent out a week in advance, maybe? Now, they send it the day of. I can’t say I blame them though. The response to free beer at past tappings has been so overwhelming that they’ve actually run out of the beer before the event was even over. There’d still be people in line waiting for a glass that would never come. Now everyone should have the opportunity to at least taste the new beer.

In other beer debuting news, Toronado will be debuting some funky beers coming out of Drake’s Brewing Company. Here’s the information:

Drake’s Brewing Company Special Release At Toronado

Description:
Drake’s Brewing Company
Special Release
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 6PM+
Biere Speciale
Aged 2 years with Trappist yeast
Brettamber
Aged 2 years in Merlot Oak with Brettanomyces
Batch 2000
Drake’s 2000th batch, a Belgian style tripple
Blend o’
Blend of the Brettamber and Batch 2000

Plus other selections from Drake’s

Location: Toronado, 547 Haight, San Francisco, California
Time(s): 6:00 PM
Admission: no charge
Contact Email: info@toronado.com

I wasn’t planning on attending this event but the mere mention of funky, possibly sour ales gets my taste buds going. Sure it’ll be a hassle to drive up and find parking and all but these are not your run-of-the-mill beers.

For those living on the northern side of the Golden Gate, Marin Brewing Company has just tapped their latest batch of White Knuckle IPA. I don’t see any mention of this particular beer on their website which leads me to believe this is a seasonal beer. From what I’ve been able to find on Google, it’s a Double IPA, so be prepared for massive hop flavors and bitterness with a potentially double digit ABV (alcohol by volume).

I am about 95% sure I’ll be at GB tonight for their tapping. I hope to see some familiar faces tonight. Be safe and drink well.

For whatever reason, I thought the tapping was tonight but obviously it wasn’t. This is why the wife is in charge of our events calendar. In any event, the wife and I had a very nice, simple dinner out. With the weather so pleasant, it was a nice change of pace for us.

Sammy ordered the GB Vienna lager and I had their pilsner. I found their Vienna lager to be a decent example of the style. Pleasant malt flavors, low hop flavor and bitterness but with a creamy mouthfeel and clean finish typical of a lager. Their pilsner was easy drinking with bready malt flavors and aroma. I felt there wasn’t enough hop flavor or bitterness for the style though. Makes me wonder if that’s how their recipe is or if they’ve had to cut down because of the scarcity of hops.

To many, Anheuser-Busch (A-B) is the epitome of the “evil empire”. They are the largest brewery in America, responsible for 48.8% of all beer sales. If a brewery starts to catch on, there’s a good chance A-B will buy them out (as they did with Latrobe last year). Imagine then my mild surprise when reports started surfacing of InBev’s offer to purchase A-B for $46 billion, or $65 a share. As big as A-B is, they are only number 4 world wide and InBev is numero dos.

The merger of the two companies would result in the largest brewery in the world, surpassing SABMiller as number one. How this will eventually shake down the beer industry remains to be seen. When looking at either company’s portfolio’s, the brands InBev carries seem to be more interesting to me simply because I haven’t had very many of them.

In an effort to hold off the merger, A-B has put an unsolicited offer of their own to take majority control of Mexico’s Grupo Modelo. Their offer of $550 million would give A-B 50.2% control of Grupo Modelo. It’s also amusing to me that A-B, or someone affiliated with them, has put up a Save A-B website. The rhetoric on the site is patriotic at best, propaganda at it’s worst. It is very amusing to see the “evil empire” taking on a “we’re the victims” sort of attitude. I don’t know what it is but no one ever roots for Goliath and I don’t mean to start now.

Normally I don’t write about beer industry politics like this. I work a corporate job in the day and talk of mergers and acquisitions doesn’t phase me at all. What all this business speak boils down to is money and the pursuit of more money. I don’t blame InBev at all for wanting to purchase A-B. I’m not a big fan of A-B’s products myself but it’s hard not to look at their 48% total U.S. beer sales and not want a piece of that. You don’t need a business degree to figure that one out.

I would like to think chances are good that should A-B get bought out by InBev, nothing would change for A-B. They’d still be making Budweiser, Bud Light and Natural Ice. The Clydesdales will still be on TV and we will continue to salute the “Real Men of Genius”. If anything, I would hope that some of InBev’s products would become more easily available. Nothing against BevMo but I would love to save a few gallons of gas by being able to pick up a sixer of Hoegaarden, Franziskaner or Spaten at the corner liquor store.

Should this deal go through, the only people to blame would be A-B’s shareholders as they’d be making $65/share on the deal and would have to approve the buyout. It’s all about the money. At the end of the day, I will voice my opinion and speak my voice through the power of my wallet. I will continue to purchase craft beers from local producers. Not because I’m all about the underdog but because I’m about the flavor.

I was finally able to put the Spring Fling menu online. If you are interested, you can view the event page here. If you try one of our pairings, we’d like to hear about it and what you think. We’re also open to suggestions so feel free to leave them in our comments section.