Better Beer Blog

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

Last Saturday, May 3rd, I drove up to Toronado in San Francisco to take the BJCP examination to become a beer judge. This is something I’ve been working towards for the past 3 months or so. If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you’d know I’ve been attending a BJCP study class in preparation for the exam. So it all came to head last Saturday.

I arrived at Toronado roughly by 9:30am. The last time I was at Toronado that early was for their Barleywine Festival. The place was quiet, eerily so. Usually Toronado is bustling with activity, not necessarily packed with people but busting with a healthy number of folks all enjoying good beer. The exam was held in the side room that they only open for special occasions. By the time I got in, there were already a small handful of exam hopefuls already seated. Many of them I knew from the class and a few that I’ve never seen before.

As the clock struck 10am, the test began and I would not stop writing for the next three hours.

While I can’t tell you what questions were on the BJCP exam I took, it’s easy enough to find accurate study guides on the BJCP website. The test basically breaks down into two main sections: an essay section and the tasting section. The essay portion of the exam is worth 70% of your overall score and is composed of fill-in the blank questions, T/F questions and essay questions. Of these three, the essay questions will take up the majority of your time. The tasting portion of the exam will have you tasting 4 different beers and judging them on appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel and overall experience. The person giving you the exam will tell you only what style beer you are having and it’s up to you to remember the finer points of that style.
You’d think that experience would have taught me be more prepared but in the end, old habits die hard. In my collegiate years, I’d have crammed the night before. This time, I crammed for three consecutive nights. In hindsight, I should’ve been studying all along but hell, three nights is an improvement over one. If you are thinking of taking the exam, here are a few pointers that should help you out:

• Memorize the BJCP Style Guidelines to the best of your ability. The test pretty much revolves around this.
• Study the BJCP Study Guide as it is a very accurate representation of what to expect.
• Study at night before you go to bed as you will retain this information longer
• Practice answering the study guide questions. The test is 3 hours long and you will be writing for 2 hours and 55 minutes of it.

Technically, I am now a BJCP judge with the rank of “Apprentice”. It’s the first rung on the Beer Judge ladder but everyone has to start someplace. Since the BJCP is a volunteer organization, it will take some time before I get my test results back, roughly 3-4 months. I hope I did enough to pass the test and move up the latter to “Recognized” but that remains to be seen.

Feel free to shoot me an email at betterbeerblog(at)gmail(dot)com if you have any questions about the exam or the BJCP or leave a comment to let me know how you did on your test if you’ve taken it before.

February is typically a bad month for beer. It’s a month that is in a brewing limbo, so to speak. While winter is a season for stronger, maltier beers, most breweries have already brewed their winter seasons and have started their spring seasonals. So with the strong winter beers dying out and the spring beers not quite ready, what’s a beer enthusiast to do?

Well, if you’re lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, February is Strong Beer Month. A celebration of strong beers between 21st Amendment Brewery and Magnolia Pub and Brewery in San Franciso that showcases 12 different beers, 6 from each venue. If you’re lucky enough to have drank all 12 (they give you the entire month of February to do so, so don’t worry), you’ll have earned yourself a commemorative glass.

Toronado is having their Barley Wine Festival this month as well. This is another hugely popular event and I have been advised to arrive early as the popular beer will sell out quickly. For those of you who don’t know what a Barley Wine is, it’s basically a beer (don’t let the name fool you!). A big beer. It’s high in alcohol (8% - 12%), intense malt flavor with matching hop flavor. Check out the BJCP style guideline for more information.

Also up in San Francisco, the Beer Chef Bruce Paton will be hosting Beer and Chocolate Beer Dinner Event on Friday, February 15, 2008. It is easily one of his most popular dinner events. Unfortunately for us, BetterBeerBlog is having a Beer and Food Pairing Event that night inspired by Chef Paton’s event and can’t make it. We definitely plan on attending one of Chef Paton’s dinners this year though.

This Saturday, February 9, 2008, the Bistro located in Hayward will be holding their 8th Annual Double IPA festival. I was able to make it to last year’s IPA festival and I had a blast. Because the IPA is hugely flavorful and hoppy beer, my palette was pretty much shot after the 4th tasting of the day. I think I had 7-8 tastings at that time. I look forward to having my palette blown away by the 3rd tasting this time around.

The Bay Area Mashers Homebrew Club is currently soliciting entries for their 2008 World Cup of Beer Homebrew Competition. Entries should be received by March 8th. Judging will be on March 22nd and 29th at Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley.

Finally, Celebrator beer magazine is celebrating their 20th year Anniversary with Beerapalooza 2008! Wow. 20 years is an awful long time to be around and it’s definitely worth celebrating. Visit their website to get more information.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on in February in the Bay Area to celebrate beer. I suggest you go out and try something different. You never know what you may end up liking. Just remember to drink responsibly, drink in moderation, and to drink better beer.