Better Beer Blog

Every good beer bar usually specialized in one thing, that’s what makes them good. The Trappist in Oakland specializes in Belgian beers while San Francisco’s Toronado has more of a craft beer flavor. The Bistro located in Hayward is another great beer bar that specializes in hoppy beers. This is never more evident in the beer festivals they hold, like last Saturday’s IPA Festival.

Having judged the San Mateo County Fair Homebrew Competition earlier in the day, we didn’t arrive at the Bistro until mid-afternoon. There was a good buzz of people in the outside, front patio and when I entered to pick up my tickets, I found it wasn’t all that crowded inside. The Bistro isn’t that big of a place and it didn’t take long for me to figure out that everyone was outside in the tented area.

For $25 you got a souvenir tasting glass, a list of participating breweries and 6 drink tickets. With over 50 participating breweries, 6 tickets doesn’t nearly seem like enough love but after judging a flight of IPAs that morning, I felt okay about that. IPAs are aggressively hopped beers to begin with but when you start talking about American IPAs, then it’s almost an entirely different beast. Americans love everything bigger, better, faster and more and it’s no surprise to see many American IPAs have an International Bittering Unit (IBU) rating above 100. For comparison’s sake, the human tongue can detect only so much bitterness, usually topping off at the 100 IBU mark. You can imagine then, a whole festival, where a good number of the beers being served are more bitter than humanly possible to taste.

Here is a quick rundown of the beers I tried with what little notes I took (I will update this post with IBU numbers when I get home and if I can find the list of brewers and beers):

• Moonlight Brewing Company “Bombay by Boat” - I was expecting a lot from the beer. I enjoy many of the beers this company makes but I was disappointed by Bombay by Boat. I didn’t pick up much piney, citrusy, floral hop characteristics the IPA style is well known for. Instead, I picked what I felt was a “cheesey” aroma. Not sure what to make of it, really.
• Santa Cruz Ale Works IPA - I’ve seen their beers at the local BevMo’s but I havent’ bought any yet. I decided to sample their IPA and… wow… aggressively hopped! Compared to Bombay by Boat, this just smacked me right in the face. I felt like the dude wearing the furry green jacket in the Foo Fighters Everlong video who got smacked down by Dave Grohl’s ginormous right hand of pimp-slapping justice. Strangely, I did not find the Foo Fighter’s drummer dressed in drag unattractive. Now let us never speak of this again.
• Mt. St. Helena IPA - This was an oak-aged IPA and the most mellow of the bunch. I found this beer to be fairly well balanced between the malt and the hops. While I have no direct evidence to support this claim, I believe the oak aging process mellowed out the hop bitterness of this beer. Compared to the beat down I had previously, this was a nice change of pace.
• Eel River IPA - This is an organic IPA. Thought this was just “ok”. Nothing really memorable with regards to flavor or aromas. From some of the folks I spoke with at the festival, this beer tastes much better at the brewery.
• Auburn Alehouse - First time participant in the IPA festival, everyone I spoke to rated this beer highly. It was strongly hopped, had a nice hop aroma and was well balanced. I could actually taste malt flavors to support the high hop bitterness.
• Butte Creek - Another organic IPA. Balanced per the style, good hop flavor, bitterness and aroma while not loosing any malt characteristics. More memorable than the Eel River.

Here is the list of the People’s Choice award winners:

• Pizza Port Solana Beach (gold)
• 21st Amendment (silver)
• Auburn Alehouse (bronze)

When I went last year, I didn’t really see too many people I knew. In fact, I basically went by myself. My best friend got sick (flu-sick, not drunk sick) and took a nap in his car. His lady kept him company which left me to my own devices. That meant I got drunk.

This year, I only drank my 6 tickets worth. I ran into Steve Donahue from Firehouse Grill and Brewery in Sunnyvale, Brian from Beer and Winemakers of America homebrew shop, and BetterBeerBlog buddy Brandon. There were a few other beer writers in attendance as well.

Overall, it was a good event. The Jimi Hendrix cover band rocked hard and there were plenty of good beer still left to try by the time we left. Hopefully when I return next year, I can bring a small contingent of folks so we can sample more beers.

Way back in my younger years, I tried to keep organized by carrying around a day planner. The plan was to get my life organized. I was to have all my contact numbers at my fingertips just in case I got a page and a calendar at the ready to properly plan my time out. Well, I didn’t need my contact numbers “at my fingertips” because I had a friggin’ pager where the number of the person calling you shows up. After the first couple of days, I realized I didn’t need a calendar to plan out my events as I didn’t have any. My youth was but a waste of both money and time.

Nowadays my cell phone has all of the numbers I need and my wife has been keeping the calendar. Time is a luxury I no longer have. Gone are the days where I had absolutely nothing to do as my weekends are pretty much booked for the next two months. You can bet this blog has kept me busy.

With so much on the horizon, I thought I’d share some of the future events we will attempt to be at in the coming days/weeks. Maybe I’ll see some of you there:

• 2008 Monterey Beer Festival
  Saturday, August 2nd, 2008, 12:30 to 5pm, Monterey Fairgrounds
  • As much fun as this sounds I am not 100% sure if we will be making it. A good friend of ours will be having her birthday part the night before so there’s no guarantees we won’t be hungover already.

• 2008 IPA Festival
  Saturday, August 9th, 2008, The Bistro in Hayward
  • Last year, I went with my best friend who ended up getting sick (summer cold, not drunk) and leaving me to my own devices. It’s amazing how wasted one can get when left to their own devices. Anyway, this is an event we will probably end up being at, just much later than I want to because…
• 2008 San Mateo County Fair Homebrew Contest
  August 8 - 17, 2008, San Mateo County Fairgrounds
  • I have volunteered to judge the beers at this competition. I don’t know how long it will take to get through everything but if we have enough time, I’ll make sure to head over to the IPA Festival at The Bistro.

August is shaping up to be a very busy month here at the BetterBeerBlog and it doesn’t look like we’re going to be slowing down until after Halloween. As always, I’ll try and take you along for the ride.

This post is pretty much a continuation from our Safari West Weekend. You can read Part 1 here. I broke this weekend up into smaller chunks to avoid one massive post. Those are hard to write and I’m sure they’re hard to read. Anyway…

Walk about half a block down from Sweet Spot Pub & Grill and cross the street to your left into Courthouse Square and that’s where you’ll find Flavor Bistro. The first thing I noticed when walking up to Flavor Bistro was a big banner promoting the fact that they’re now open on Sundays. Seeing as it was a Sunday when we strolled up for a visit, I was mighty glad they made that change.

First of all, I have no idea what a bistro is. It looks like any other restaurant, just with a French sounding name. The very first time I ever heard of a bistro was on Three’s Company. After all those years of going to culinary school, Jack finally opened up his small restaurant unoriginally named Jack’s Bistro. Unlike the set on TV, Flavor Bistro was anything but small. It’s not huge by any means but it was certainly a lot roomier than I was expecting.

What prompted me to search out Flavor Bistro for a visit was their beer selection. To be specific, they serve Moonlight Brewing Company beers exclusively. Finally, what looks like a casual, fine-dining restaurant that pays attention to their beer list as much as they do their wine list. On the day they showed up they had four of Moonlight’s beers on tap: Lunatic Lager, Moonlight Special, Death & Taxes, and Twist of Fate (I would link the beers from Moonlight’s website but they’ve redesigned it using Flash so I can’t link to them directly).

Sammy and I ordered a beer each. I had the Moonlight Special (seasonal) called “Out to Lunch”. The beer is burnt gold color, slightly hazy with a white head. At the time, the beer was pretty cold and I wasn’t picking up much aroma. A little bit of malt sweetness with a spicy, peppery flavor from either they yeast or the hops. This beer has very low hop bitterness. This could be Moonlight’s interpretation of a Belgian Wit, although it was too clear for the style. I felt it was medium bodied with medium-low carbonation.

The bartender wasn’t too knowledgeable regarding the Moonlight beers, so I didn’t have any information regarding “Out to Lunch”. Imagine how retarded I felt when I looked it up and found out it was another hop-less beer, much like “Working for Tips”. *sigh* So much for my credibility. According to The Thirsty Hopster, “Out to Lunch” is a “golden colored ale brewed with blood oranges, cherries, and black pepper”. At the very least, I got the spicy, pepper flavors right. I wasn’t picking up on any overt orange aromas or flavors but I may have picked up on more sublte citrus notes when the beer was cold, hence me calling this an attempt at a witbier. I didn’t pick up any cherries at all, though.

Looking back at my notes and comparing them to what I was able to find out about the beer, I would have to say Brian Hunt, Moonlight’s brewmaster, did an excellent job with this beer. Not conforming to the defined style of beer, he experimented and pushed the envelop of what beer is. “Out to Lunch” managed to dupe me into thinking it was one thing when it was something else entirely. This raises the question of “what is beer”? If we stick to the strictest of interpretations, “Out to Lunch” is more a malternative not unlike your Smirnoff Ices or Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Yet, if we follow common sense and the tried and true idom, “if it walks like duck and talks like a duck”, “Out to Lunch” is more of a beer than the standard American lagers I was first exposed to. In any event, this was a great beer and in retrospect, I regret not having another.

Sammy ordered the “Reality Czech-style Pils”. When compared to the Lagunitas Pils from Sweet Spot, Sammy feels that “Reality Czech-style Pils” was a little more hoppier, light in body but heavier than the Lagunitas. The beer is a hazy, straw color with a white head that left good lacing on the glass. After the beer warmed up a bit, the Pilsner malt aroma started to come through and the flavor had a sweet, grainy character to it. Between the two, she favored the “Reality Czech-style Pils” over the Lagunitas Pils because it was more complex.

It’s a shame that no one in the South Bay carries Moonlight beers. If I ever open my own place, you can bet I’ll do what I can to bring Moonlight down to the South Bay. From what I’ve heard anecdotally, Brian Hunt is basically a one-man company. He brews all the beer, kegs it and distributes. I will sometimes stress out over a brewing a batch of extract-based beer. Extract! He’s working all-grain… sometimes no hops. It’s all a matter of perspective, really.

Even though I found the beers to be really excellent, what surprised us all was the quality of the food at Flavor Bistro. To tie us over until we headed back to the condo for dinner, Sammy and I ordered a 3-cheese plate (marscarpone, triple cream and blue cheese) garnished with honey and fruit compote and caramelized nuts. As simple as this dish was, the flavors were awesome. I found myself going back to the wine poached pear and other fruits. They were the unexpected surprise of this dish.

We also ordered an endive and pear salad with balsamic glaze and topped with walnuts and Dolce Gorgonzola. Not sure why but I was expecting Belgian endives. Belgian endives remind me of bok choy in the way they are cupped and can be stuffed. Endives have a slight bitterness to them though. Even though the gorgonzola was creamy, it retained it pungency. This was an interesting counterpoint to the slighly salted walnuts and greenery. A simple salad with complex flavors.

Sam (Sammy’s sister) ended up ordering a grilled chicken salad with bacon, avocado, crumbled blue cheese, tomato and egg while her husband Mike ordered the fish of the day. I didn’t get to taste the grilled chicken salad but I did try the fish. It was a white meat fish served with skewered shrimp and served on a bed of mashed potatoes (creamed, more like it, soo smoove). Mike wasn’t sure what to make of it until he tried it. OMFG. I love seafood and this was one of the best dishes I’ve had in a long while. It was soo good that it’s a little over two weeks later and I am still craving seafood, that dish in particular. The fish was slightly buttered with a little lemon flavor. It practically fell apart as soon as you put a fork to it. The mashed potatoes where a different texture to the grilled shrimp and fish but held their own without over powering. I have to say that when I return to Santa Rosa, Flavor Bistro is definitely on my list of places to visit.

While not technically a “beer bar”, Flavor Bistro does pour out a few beers from what I consider to be the most underrated micro brewery in the country. Moonlight Brewing Company continually brews up beers that push the envelop of what beer is without compromising good taste. Just that by itself is reason enough to go but we found the food to be excellent all the way around, from appetizers to salads to seafood. Not sure if it was because we were sitting at the bar or not but the service was excellent. I would definitely call Flavor Bistro a “must visit”.

The first time we were at The Trappist, Sammy and I ran across a flyer that promoted a Belgian beer tasting class to be hosted at The Trappist by Nicole and Nate. Unfortunately, we didn’t RSVP soon enough so we ended up missing out on that one. Lucky for us, the event generated enough interest that Nicole and Nate added a second date that we immediately reserved spots for. We had tentatively planned another event for this same day but we decided to bump it in favor of tasting Belgian ales.

In case you’ve never been, The Trappist is located in downtown Oakland, close to Oakland’s Chinatown. It is a very intimate bar, which is to say it’s small. The seating capacity is limited to 49, or so people. By the time we found parking and arrived, the bar area was full.

Nicole and Nate were our hosts for the event. Nicole and Nate both work at The Trappist. They are both recent BJCP judges (having taken the exam a week after myself), and Nate is an award-winning homebrewer. Unlike myself, where I took first and third in different categories, Nate has won Best of Show multiple times. In a nutshell, these people know their stuff and I like talking to and learning new things from people who know their stuff.

Normally in a tasting, you would go from lighter to darker, subtle flavors to more robust flavors, less bitter to more bitter and lower in alcohol to higher in alcohol. This is done primarily to avoid palette fatigue. Also, when dealing with a wide variety of beers, you would arrange your tastings to those guidelines to ease into the event. But if you really take a look at what you’re serving, it’s okay to change things up a bit. Afterall, these are just guidelines.

That being said, Nicole and Nate decided to pour out the tripels before the dubbels. While the tripels are higher in alcohol than the dubbels, the dubbels have a flavor profile that tends to stick a little more and have a mouthfeel heavier than the tripels.

For whatever reason, I always assumed that Tripels were an older beer style when they weren’t. The styles was “invented” at the Trappist brewery Westmalle shortly after World War 2. These beers were brewed in response to the lighter beers (lagers) coming out of Germany at the time. Despite the lightness in color, these beers pack a punch and have an ABV that ranges from7.5% - 9.5%. The higher alcohol content is said to come from a Belgian law banning distilled spirits from being consumed in public. Here are my notes in the order we were served:

• Witkap Tripel - The Witkap Tripel was the lightest beer of the day. With noticeable peppery, pear and apple aromas in the nose, some citrus and slight clove and banana notes. This was a very pale, straw yellow ale. The flavors matched the aroma as I tasted some of the pear and apple flavors balanced by the spicy, peppery flavors from the yeast. There was very low hop bitterness and flavor. Medium-low in body, good carbonation, it as a good beer to start off with.
• Westmalle Tripel - Westmalle is a Trappist brewery, one of only seven in the world. I initially smelled a very, slight sourness in the aroma when I first took a whiff that eventually went away. Some yeastiness in the nose with a good amount of spiciness. When compared to the Witkap, I found the Westmalle to be fuller in body, similar carbonation but with more spicy/peppery notes in the flavor and aroma.
• Chimay Cinq Cents - Of all the Belgian breweries we would be trying today, Chimay is the Trappist brewery most concerned with commercial output. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that any of their beers have been “dumbed down” for mass consumption. This beer, like the two other before it, shares many of the same characteristics that make it a Tripel. There are the spicy/peppery aromas and flavors, the pear and apple fruit aromas and flavors, citrus aromas and flavors, as well as the clove phenolics and banana esters. Unlike the other two beers, the Chimay Tripel is noticeable hoppier than it’s predecessors.
• La Rulle Tripel - This was probably the most interesting Tripel of the day. It is brewed by Brasserie Artisinale de Rulles and is the youngest of the breweries having been started in 1999 by Grégory Verhelst. Sweeter than the others, this Tripel had a slightly different hop flavor than the others as well as noticeable citrus notes. I asked Sammy to confirm this but I also got a whiff of fish sauce in the aroma. Served warmer than the other, this Tripel had noticeable alcohol flavors and aroma. What makes this beer especially different than the others was the use of American hops varieties, Amarillo and Warrior. This gave the beer a different flavor characteristic as well as bringing out American citrus characteristics. A good and interesting beer.

By contrast, the Dubbel style is one of the oldest styles of beers made today. This particular style of beer was developed in monasteries during the middle ages. Dubbels are also brewed with Belgian candy sugar which is developed from beets (instead of sugar cane) and are caramelized. Brewing with candy sugar ups the alcohol level and thins out the body slightly. Here are my notes for the Dubbels:

• Westmalle Dubbel - Unsurprisingly, Westmalle brews a Dubbel as well. This beer has a sweet, complex, malty aroma with the spicy yeasty aromas less prominent than in the Tripels. There are some banana esters, biscuit aromas and dark fruit aromas as well. The flavor is well indicated by the aromas as the complex malt flavors are sweet, with hints of caramel, molasses and dark fruit flavors. This is a medium bodied, high-carbonated ale.
• Koningshoven Dubbel - According to Nicole, Koningshoven and Westmalle have a bit of a rivalry going on. Their Dubbels are in direct competition with one another and usually people either love or hate one or the other. While I don’t necessarily hate the Westmalle, I do prefer the Koningshoven. Out of the seven Trappist breweries, this is the only one not located in Belgium but in the Netherlands. Koningshoven has the “black sheep” label among the Trappist breweries as they, at one point in time, lost their Trappist status only to get it back. Ah, the drama of the beer world! This beer is sweet with slight sherry notes, dark fruit aromas and flavors, with slight banana esters. The flavor is reminiscent of the Petrus Oud Bruin, just without the sourness. My favorite so far.
• Serafijn Donker - From what Nicole and Nathan said Serafijn Donker is brewed by Microbrouwerij Achille, or Achille Microbrewery. Despite the exotic, yet refined name, Microbrouwerij Achille is little more than a large scale homebrew operation. It’s always good to hear an “amateur” turn “pro” in this industry, gives hope to the rest of us. This is a dark, caramel colored beer with ruby highlights and an off-white head. Sweet, complex malt flavors, some dark fruit and some nut flavors as well.

At the end of the tasting session, we were able to get a full pour from whatever The Trappist had on tap. I ordered the Allagash White while Sammy ordered the Oud Beersel Framboise. Here are my notes for each:

• Allagash White - Brewery out of Portland, Maine, they have been crafting beers since the summer of 1995. Allagash White is their interpretation of a Belgian Wheat Ale. This beer was a hazy, pale gold color with white head. Clovey, spicey phenolics dominate the aroma and flavor. It is light in body with good carbonation. Within the range of acceptible flavors of a witbier, the Allagash White favors the spicey end of the flavor spectrum. While a refreshing beer, I don’t recall tasting any of the slight tartness usually associated with the style. This beer is not as sweet, either. By comparison, a Hoegaarden is sweeter with less phenolics. 5% ABV.
• Oud Beersel Framboise - This is a lambic style ale flavored with raspberries. I only took a quick sip of this. There is a noticeable tartness in both the aroma and flavor with almost no hop aroma, flavor or bitterness. The raspberry flavors are upfront but are balanced out by the sour flavors. When compared to the widely accessible Lindemans Framboise, the Oud Beersel is a more traditional interpretation of the style. The Lindemans is almost cloyingly sweet and the trademark sourness of a lambic is a shadow of the Our Beersel Framboise. For first time fruit lambic drinkers, I’d recommend the Lindemans but if you’re the adventurous type, I would recommend the Oud Beersel instead. 6% ABV.

As with most beer events we go to, Sammy and I were able to meet some new people. We were able to talk to Nicole more while I was able to speak to Nate more in depth. He is very down to earth and an accomplished homebrewer winning Best of Show at the 2008 BABO (Bay Area Brew Off), where my altbier took 1st in it’s category. He also did very well at the 2008 World Cup Homebrew Competition. Nate is supposed to stop by Beer and Winemakers of America and Rabbit’s Foot sometime in the future and I invited him to contact me whenever he’d be in town so we could grab a couple of beers.

We also got to talk with briefly with Will, Andy, and Frank. I wanted to speak with them a bit more but I got carried away talking with Nate.

Sammy and I also had the good fortune to speak with and get to know Roland and Holly as well. Roland is a regular at The Trappist (Lucky!), visiting about twice a week. His original goal was to try all the beers in the “Bible” as he calls it (actually The Trappist beer menu) but has since changed his mind as the remaining beers are Belgian styles he isn’t too enamored with. Roland was kind enough to introduce me to his “poison”, as he calls it. Here are my notes:

• Mahler Dark Brut - This is a big, beautiful beer. Even though this beer clocks in at 12% ABV, you don’t taste any of the alcohol, nor is it in the aroma. This beer is a cross between Duchess de Bourgogne and Petrus Oud Bruin. The aromas are complex, with sweet malt, dark fruit, sherry, and wood at the tip of the aromatic iceberg. The flavors are no less complex as the sweet malt, dark fruit and even coffee flavors have a rave in my mouth. Despite the sweetness, this is a dry beer. I completely understand why Roland describes this as his “poison”. At $36/bottle, this will easily kill my discretionary spending budget!

At the end of our time there, Sammy and I had a lot of fun. As much as I like to think I know about beer, it is always great to go someplace to learn more. I was already familiar with the Triple and Dubbel styles but this tasting has given me a greater respect and understanding of these two Belgian styles. I would thoroughly recommend anyone who is interested in beer to attend a tasting session hosted by The Trappist. At the very least, you’ll be able to figure out what’s on their beer menu!

Tripel and Dubbels Tasting at the Trappist Click to view complete gallery

This post is way overdue, almost by two weeks. Things have been very busy “behind the scenes” here at the BetterBeerBlog and as a result, my postings have been less frequent. In order to spare you the pain that was the East Bay Brewery/Birthday recap, I’m going to break the next post down into three parts. You can read Part 2 here. It’ll be easier to read and easier to write. With that being said…

As part of my birthday weekend, my wife decided to do something different this year by booking us an excursion to Safari West Wildlife Preserve near Santa Rosa. We’ve been to the area multiple times already, surprisingly for the beer, and not the wine. Inspired by Mario, I did a pub crawl of downtown Santa Rosa.

Sweet Spot Pub & Grill was first on my list. Despite the near neon yellow-green of the walls, Sweet Spot was dimly lit. Only a handful of people were in the place. At first glance, the bar seems almost indistinguishable from any other sports bar. Then I got to the list of beers available and I instantly knew what set this place apart.

While Sweet Spot carries some commercial European beers that are descent, I came to them specifically to try their line of Lagunitas beers. If I remember correctly, Sweet Spot currently has the Lagunitas Czech Pils, Kronik, and Lucky 13. Seeing that it was a fairly warm day, I decided to order the Kronik while Sammy ordered the Czech Pils.

The Czech Pils is gold, brilliantly clear and with a white head. There’s a slight sweet malt aroma and a moderate low hop aroma that increased as the beer warmed up. The sweet pilsner malt flavors were restrained, allowing the hop flavors to take center stage without overwhelming. The hop bitterness is only moderate in strength. Well carbonated, the Czech Pils is effervescent and clean on the palette. A good example of the style and very, very nice on this warm afteroon.

The Kronik American Strong Ale stands at 5.7% ABV. It is a clear and amber in color with a low-lasting off-white head. Sweet malt flavor upfront with moderate/moderately low hop flavor and bitterness. Unlike the Pils, the malt plays a more pronounced role. This is a really good tasting beer and surprisingly refreshing. The aromas are restrained as the beer is cold. This is a medium bodied, medium carbonated beer.

It took a couple of minutes for the bartender to take our order once we got in and we didn’t hear from her or any wait staff the entire time we were there. Granted, we at at the window area, effectively segregating ourselves from the rest of the bar. Still, you cannot underestimate the positives of attentive staff, even if it’s just a casual, “Everything okay?”. Sometimes, that little phrase is the difference between me walking out the door and ordering another beer.

Sweet Spot also has a kitchen but we didn’t order any food since we ate hot dogs prior to going. While featuring primarily typical, American pub fare, I found the few items “inspired” by Belizean culture to be interesting. Reading the ingredients list, all I could tie in was that Belizean food is spicy food. Maybe those dishes are really true to culture or maybe it’s just clever marketing. I’ll have to find out next time I’m in town.

Received a quick email this morning from the good people at the Bistro. They are promoting their July events schedule as well as the date for their annual IPA Festival. Details below:

July is here with all the smoke you can ask for…………

Smoking is no longer allowed in the city of Hayward as of June 28th, 2008. But that will not change our commitment of having the best musical talent and freshest beer available all the time.

We are open Independence day Fri. 4th of July, so come on down for the festivities.

The summer street party this month is Thur. July 17th.

Mark you calendar the 11th annual IPA Festival is Sat. August 9th.

The last time we were at the Bistro was for their Hop Rhizome Festival. To date, my hop rhizomes have not even sprouted. I feel they may have gone bad sitting in the refrigerator for a week waiting to get planted. Sammy thinks they’re fine and will sprout up next year. It took our first hop plant a good year to get anything going so I still have hope. It was at their Double IPA Festival that Sammy learned to really love good flavorful beer so I’m hoping she’ll get a good kick out of this event as well.

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.

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.

I got this in my email a few days ago but I’ve been backlogged with my postings. Here it is, verbatim. We were planning on attending tonight but we are still in the midst of putting things together for the Spring Fling this weekend. If anyone goes, feel free to let me know how it went and how much I was a sucker for not going. I might even put you in as a guest contributor. ; )

Russian River Brewing Release At Toronado

Description:
Russian River
Special Release
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 6PM+
Fleurette
Come try this unique offering from Russian River Brewing
Company. A special beer brewed by Vinnie and Italian
brewer Augustino with black pepper, honey, violet, & rose.

Also Available on tap:
Temptation
Beatification
Supplication
Damnation
Pliny the Elder
Blind Pig IPA

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

If all you did was base your perceptions of a place strictly on their website, you’d think Toad in the Hole was going to be some Hole in the Wall kind of English style pub. Their website is horrible. HO-riffic if you will. So imagine my shock when we get there and we find a sophisticated, elegant, and clean beer bar. With burgundy colored walls and dark wood furniture, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to think Toad in the Hole used to be a wine tasting room. The few small televisions in the bar were tuned to football (more commonly known to us Yanks as soccer) and the walls were decorated punk-rock graphic art. We never did find out why there was recording studio audio absorbing foam on some of the walls and on the ceiling.

Beat from all that driving, Sammy and I both order New Belgium’s Mothership Wit. It’s a lighter beer brewing in the Belgian Witbier style. It hit the spot perfectly. Their chalkboard beer menu features western European mainstays such as Guinness Stout, Bass Ale, Stella Artois, and Newcastle Brown Ale. Not surprisingly, local breweries made the list with Anderson Valley, Moonlight, Lagunitas, and Bear Republic representing.

For dinner, I order the roast beef sandwich while Sammy gets the Cornish pasty, both with a side of cauliflower. My roast beef sandwich is decent. The bun is flavorful and the au jus dipping sauce is actually flavorful instead of being a small, bowl of overly salted brown liquid. The beef was a little overdone for my tastes, I like a little bit more pink in my beef.

Sammy’s Cornish pasty is basically a type of pie filled with ground/diced beef, potatoes, peas, carrots and onions coated with what looked like gravy. Historically, this is a simple dish for the working class, easy to make with cheap ingredients. The Cornish pasty at Toad in the Hole is a tasty dish and I could’ve killed two of ‘em as they remind me of the empanadas I used to have as a kid.

Jeremy suggested I talk to Paul, the owner of Toad in the Hole. As someone with aspirations of getting into the industry, I am always eager to speak to business owners about what they’ve done, what advice they’d give and what to look out for. Being the good host, Paul was busy talking to two of his customers. As soon as he was finished talking to them he was out. So much for that.

In addition to the Mothership Wit, I sampled Moonlight Brewing Company’s “Working for Tips”, a cask-conditioned ale made with redwood tips instead of hops. I remember this being an interesting beer as the flavor profile didn’t really fit in with any of the beers from the BJCP style guide. The malt flavors were familiar, falling into the amber ale category but the “hop profile” was all wrong, as it should be seeing as it’s a hopless beer bittered with redwood tips instead. That being said, I found this to be a surprisingly drinkable beer (technically, it’s a gruit) but one that will take some getting used to, especially if you’re a hophead. If no one ever told me this was a beer made with redwood tips, I’d have ordered another just try and figure out why this beer is a little off.

Toad in the Hole is a nice little joint in Santa Rosa that features traditional English cuisine with popular European beers as well as some good local craft beers. I devoted quite some time to this place in this post about Boonville because I like this joint. As much as I advocate buying local beers, it’s just as important to support your local establishments that carry local craft beers. It’s almost too easy and probably more cheaper to carry macro beers. Next time you find yourself in Santa Rosa, stop by Toad in the Hole and grab a pint and a pasty.