Better Beer Blog

Jay Brooks of the Brookston Beer Bulletin had the sparkling idea to name July 18 as International Brewers Day. Helping to not only spread the word but to contribute, I headed over to Firehouse Brewery in Sunnyvale to have some lunch and to hang out with Steve Donahue, their brewmaster.

The first time I met Steve, I was having lunch at Firehouse with my co-worker. The seasonal beer at the time was a Scotch Ale. Not being very familiar with Scotch Ales, I asked our waitress if she could tell me more about the style. Well, she couldn’t so she asked Steve to come out from the brewery area and explain to us what a Scotch Ale was. Not only did he explain to us what a Scotch Ale was, he took us to the brewery area of the brew pub and showed us around. I’ve been hanging out there ever since.

As with many brewmasters, Steve has brewed at many places. He used to brew at Stoddards (where Firehouse is now) in Sunnyvale and in their Campbell location (it is now Sonoma Chicken Coop) as well. In fact, he was the person who designed the layout of the brewery at Sonoma Chicken. In addition, he used to brew at Coast Range and has been a guest brewery at several brew pubs and breweries.

Currently on tap, Firehouse has an IPA, Pale Ale, a Hefeweizen, Brendan’s Irish Stout, and a Maibock. Currently fermenting away is an Oktoberfest. They also carry Trumer Pils and Two Rivers Pomegranate Cider as guest taps.

While at lunch today, I tried the IPA. It is amber in color, clear with a short-lasting, light, beige head. There is a sweet malt aroma followed by a moderate hop aroma featuring citrus notes. The flavor is similar in taste to the aroma. Because this is an IPA, there is a larger, sweet malt presence at front followed by a moderately strong hop bitterness and flavor. As the beer warmed up, the aromatics improved and so did the taste. Steve used Amarillo, Centennial and Magnum hops. Clocking in at 7.5% ABV, this IPA would be many other brewers’ Double IPA.

I asked him if the hop shortage has affected him much. Steve said his next Pale Ale has been reformulated slightly using Centennial hops exclusively whereas he used to use Cascade in previous batches. With hops at $31/pound he was happy enough to have bought enough to brew with.

After lunch, my co-workers and I were treated to a special tasting of Steve’s barrel-aged Imperial Stout. Pouring out a dark mahogany color it was opaque with a tan head. There are roasty, chocolaty notes right off the bat with a hint of vanilla and coconut as well. I also was able to pick up wood notes. He aged this beer in a used bourbon barrel for only 3.5 months. Currently, this beer is only available on bottle and the bottle label has just been sent for approval so it won’t even be ready for public consumption for a few more weeks. As the beer warmed up, the alcohol became more noticeable. Despite being 11% ABV, there is no harshness or solvent alcohol characteristics. I mentioned how this beer, once warm, reminded me of Maui Brewing Company’s Coconut Porter.

If you’re not able to visit Firehouse Brewery and Grill, he will have his beers available at the IPA Festival hosted by The Bistro in Hayward August 9th. Steve will also be pouring at the Monterey Beer Festival on August 2nd. And if you happen to be at GABF, he will be pouring there as well.

So next time you’re in the area, stop by Firehouse Brewery and Grill to have a pint and say, “Hello” to Steve if he’s there. He’s a great guy and a good brewer. Let’s hear it for International Brewer’s Day!

Class this week ran long. We started a little after 7pm and didn’t get out until about 11:30pm. It’s not like we dilly dallied around either, we just had a lot of beers to taste. Good thing it was a family of beers I like.

This week the class is covering the porter and stout family of beers. These are two lineages of beer that are very similar, so similar in fact that it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. Historically, the porter was developed first. It wasn’t so much of a style than it was a blend of different beers at the same time. The porter style was given its name based upon those who mainly consumed it, the river and street porters.

Stouts were developed as stronger porters. Initially, a strong porter was referred to as “stout”. After a while, “porter” was removed from the name and stout stuck.

You can read up more on the history of porters and stouts here.