At the Meat the Brewers beerfest last weekend, I had the opportunity to speak with Ramon, the beer buyer at the Los Altos Whole Foods. He was pouring their Juniper Black Ale, a beer he brewed with other Whole Foods reps at Sierra Nevada during their Beer Camp program.
Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp is a program designed for people in the beer industry, not necessarily brewers, to get a hands-on experience with beer by brewing up a very limited, special batch of beer. The types of beers brewed vary from class to class. Several people from Whole Foods were invited to Beer Camp from a number of states to participate in brewing the Juniper Black Ale.
From what Ramon told me, there are only about 8 kegs of this floating around California and Good Karma Vegetarian Cafe will be hosting a tapping party to celebrate this beer. Here is the information:
Who: Whole Foods, Good Karma Vegetarian Cafe, Sierra Nevada
What: Juniper Black Ale Tapping Party
Where: Good Karma Vegetarian Cafe, 37 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA map
When: Friday, February 19, 2010 @ 7pm
Why: You doin’ anything better on a Friday night? If so, let me know. 
Cost: As far as I’m aware, free to get in but you’ll have to pay for your beer
I really like the idea of a Beer Camp. It’s a great way for Sierra Nevada to not only pimp out their own beers and philosophy but to also educate people about beer. Even if the beer buyers don’t end up purchasing Sierra Nevada beers for their stores, they are at least more educated about beer and can purchase the craft beer and imports that they do like and are potentially open to ordering beers we request. The fact this tapping party is in San Jose is cool in the sense that interesting craft beer is making its way here. I encourage people to attend this tapping party to show that good craft beer is wanted in San Jose and people are willing to come out to get some.
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