This weekend is shaping up to be epic with regards to craft beer and mead. Here’s a brief list of things happening this weekend:
Friday
First Fridays at Drakes Brewing Company
Drakes Brewing Company has reintroduced First Fridays. Here are the details:
Who: Drakes Brewing Company What: First Friday Tastings Where: 1933 Davis Street, Building 177, San Leandro, CA 94577(their tucked away behind Walmart)map When: Friday, August 6, 2010 @ 4pm - 8pm Cost:
$5 per person voluntary donation, to the non-profit organization we are supporting, at the gate. (Children with their parents free)
$15 for a Drake’s tasting glass and 3 tokens for 3 full pours. Additional tokens can be purchased separately ($3.50 each, with net proceeds going to the non-profit)
Great food available for purchase
Notes: Drakes will be pouring their Aroma Prieta IPA, Bass Akwards IPA & Hopocalypse IPA.
Growler Fills at Devils Canyon Brewing
Not really a special event, per se, but another option for craft beer starved people
Who: Devil’s Canyon Brewing
What: Growler Fills
Where:111 Industrial Way, Belmont, CA 94002map When: Friday, August 6, 2010 @ 4pm - 6pm Cost: No cost to go, just pay for the beer you want.
Firkin Fridays at Tied House Brewing Company
Tied House has been tapping firkins on Fridays for several months now.
Who: Tied House Brewing Company
What: Firkin Fridays
Where: 954 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041map When: Friday, August 6, 2010 @ 5pm Cost: No cost to go, just pay for the beer you want.
Notes: These firkins are usually tapped by a special guest. Sometimes they get it right in one shot, sometimes they don’t. Fun either way.
Saturday
The Bistro 13th Annual IPA Festival
I wrote a post about this event a little earlier in the week. You can view full details here.
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Anniversary Party
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers is having their 13th Anniversary party at their brewery this weekend as well.
Who: Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
What: 13th Anniversary Celebration
Where:1195 Evans Avenue San Francisco, CA 94124map When: Saturday, August 7, 2010 @ 2pm - 7pm Cost: No admission but I think you’ll have to pay for drink tokens.
Notes: They will be releasing their special Anniversary beer, Midnight Run India Black Ale (IBA).
Mead-making Demonstration with Micah Dubinko
Saturday is also Mead Day. Mead Day was started in 2002 and is a way to foster community, camaraderie between mead-makers while growing awareness for mead. What is mead? Well go to this event and find out!
Who: More Beer! (Flavor) homebrew shop
What: Mead-making Demonstration & Tasting featuring Micah Dubinko Where:991 N. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, CA 94022map When: Saturday, August 7, 2010 @ 2pm - 4pm Cost: $10 donation to cover the costs of honey, yeast and light snacks. Seating is limited so please RSVP to this event by sending an email to Micah Dubinko at mdubinko@yahoo.com.
Sunday
As if there wasn’t enough beer and mead going around on Friday and Saturday, I will be hosting a Sunday Beer School, featuring American Craft Beer, at Wine Affairs. Details below:
Who: Wine Affairs
What: Sunday Beer School - A hosted tasting of 6 American Craft Beers Where: 1435 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126 map When: Sunday, August 8, 2010 @5pm - 6pm Cost: $20/pp, call 408-977-0111 to make your reservation today! Walk-ins also welcome.
In case I forgot to mention any other events, feel free to add the details in the comments section. I hope to see some of you at a few of these events. Have fun!
Who: Lindsay Wildlife Museum, featuring Ale Industries and Grand Affair Catering What: 1st Annual Chef & Brewmaster Dinner Where: 1001 B Street, Hayward, CA 94541map When: Friday, August 13, 2010 @ 6pm Cost: $85/pp; Call Mary at (925) 627-2951 to make your reservations or go to their website at www.wildlife-museum.org/brewmaster to purchase tickets directly.
Notes: This dinner is a benefit for the museum’s education and wildlife programs. Both Chef Koskiniemi and Brewmaster Morgan Cox will be on hand to talk about their pairings; a visit from one of the museum’s animal ambassadors is also on the menu. Speaking of menu…
Menu
First Course
Food: Seared Ahi Tuna Beer: Orange Kush, 4.4% ABV
Second Course
Food: Chilled Gaspacho Beer: Bliss, 3.5% ABV
Third Course
Food: Liberty Duck Confit Beer: Rye’d Piper, 5.8% ABV
Fourth Course
Food: Baked Chevre and Summer Truffle Beer: Extra Pale Ale, 5.3% ABV
For more information regarding the beers of Ale Industries, click here. To learn more about the Lindsay Wildlife Museum and all the awesome, animal things they do there, click here.
Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I will be there, although not necessarily in the capacity you would normally expect. Curious? Sign up for the dinner and find out what we’re up to.
A lot of people make a lot of fuss from beers all over the world. Belgians beers are some of the most exotic and most flavorful available today. The spectrum of flavors coming out of Belgium almost defy description and are best enjoyed with an open mind and open palette. No less flavorful, German beers are rigid and dependable; almost stoic by contrast. The German brewing tradition as long as it is decorated. Yet, for my money, the best beers in the world are made right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A.
I don’t mean to brag or anything but last time I checked, us ‘mericans make a pretty mean Belgian-style ale. And we can hold our own brewin’ the lagers as well. In fact, there isn’t a style out there that hasn’t been brewed well by an American brewer. Our skill in brewing is such that even the Belgians and Germans are starting to takes pages our of our brew books. I’ve seen Belgian ales brewed with American hops in a style unseen in traditional Belgian brewing. Germans, on the other hand, are starting to think this whole dry-hopping thing has some merit to it after all.
That being said, Monday was the start of American Craft Beer Week: a declaration of American Craft Beer independence; a celebration of American craft beer and the people who make them. Last year I got an unfortunate and unexpected surprise when, for American Craft Beer Week 2009, I arrived at my local brewpub only to see its doors shuttered and brewing equipment gone. This year, I know for sure that won’t be the case. *knocks on wood*
How will you be celebrating? Hopefully drinking an American craft beer. You can find our what breweries are participating in your local area by clicking here. Here is a list of events happening in my neck of the woods:
Rock Bottom Brewery
1875 South Bascom Ave., Unit 700, San Jose, CA 95008 map www.rockbottom.com
Description: Bringing back 3 strong aged seasonals on a rotating handle
Imperial Stout 9.6%
Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Red 9%
Blitzen Belgian Triple 8.9%.
Tied House Microbrewery & Cafe
954 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041 map www.TiedHouse.com
Description: We have a very special Red American Lager in honor of Craft Beer Week. Only five kegs were filled. The recipe is the brainchild of our Brewmaster, Ron Manabe, and Brewer Peter Licht. Viva craft beer!
Description: 7 Beers for 7 Days. Pick Your Day, Pick Your Beer, Pick Your Perfect Meal! Join us in celebration of craft beer with one of our Daily Featured Handcrafted Beer & Food Pairings for $14.95. Monday, 5/17 - BJ’s Brewhouse Blonde® + Fish ‘N Chips; Tuesday, 5/18 - Harvest Hefeweizen® + Balsamic Glazed Chicken; Wednesday, 5/19 - Piranha® Pale Ale + Cajun Pasta; Thursday, 5/20 - BJ’s Jeremiah Red® + Small Pepperoni & Mushroom Pizza; Friday, 5/21 - Nutty Brewnette® + Grilled Chicken Pasta; Saturday, 5/22 - BJ’s P.M. Porter® + Texas-Style Chicken Fried Steak; Sunday, 5/23 - Tatonka® Stout + Small Sweet Pig® Pizza. Promotional pricing available where permitted by law. Oregon customers please visit your local BJ’s to find out what specials might be available in your area.
Hopefully I’ll be able to see some of you around! Cheers!
Update 3: Hopefully this will be the final update. Fritz Maytag and owner-to-be Keith Greggor went on KQED this morning to answer a few questions regarding the deal. Some of what I wrote about below is confirmed in the interview. It’s my hope the critics will just let sleeping dogs lie. It’s no use accusing someone of something when nothing’s been done in some sort of “Craft Beer Minority Report”.
Despite the global reach of the craft beer world, it is a relatively small community of brewers, aficionados, media and fans. A pebble, in the form of a tweet from @beerandnosh, resulted in a virtual tsumani of “whaaaat?” that seemed to overwhelm the craft beer community. “New blog post: Anchor Brewing Sold” it said. After the initial shock wore off, reactions have varied from awe to anger.
To be perfectly blunt: what’s the big deal?
The general sentiment seems to be that “groups”/”corporation” are faceless, evil entities intent on destroying the world, ruin “mom and pop” businesses, commodifying all in sight, and who answer only to greedy, money-grubbing shareholders. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but not all corporations are evil. I readily admit that there are many well-documented examples of corporations who operate unethically but I am also willing to bet there are just as many “Mom and Pop” stores that aren’t much kinder or fair to their employees either. Oh, and those “greedy, money-grubbing shareholders”? Take a good look in the mirror; chances are good that you’re one of them. Do you have a 401k? You’re a shareholder. A Roth IRA? Yep, shareholder.
Our country and its citizens seems to have a strong dislike to change; unless of course we’ve given our consent. Even in the instances where we have, we still fight against change, sometimes tooth and nail. I find this mindset ironic, especially in a country built upon progressive ideals and values; where innovation and entrepreneurship in the face of opportunity, are often the precursors of change.
Change is inevitable. Fritz Maytag is 72 years old and has been in the craft brewing business since 1965; he probably just wanted a change of lifestyle. He has a beautiful vineyard (York Creek) in Napa I’m sure he’d like to spend more time at and a true, family run dairy (Maytag Dairy Farms) that he can focus on. Unlike Sierra Nevada patriarch Ken Grossman, who’s son Brian is now a brewer at Sierra Nevada, there is no heir apparent for Anchor Brewing; no F.L. Maytag IV to follow in his father’s footsteps and take over the reins of the company. Actually, if my brief time interviewing Fritz Maytag provided me with any insight to the man whatsoever, I think he’d actually frown upon giving his son the company and would make him work for it; that or make his mark in a different industry.
In fact, there’s a lot of things I learned about Fritz during my interview with him. Fritz is a traditionalist, he is a big believer in carrying on tradition and respecting history. He is also a deliberate man; someone who does his “homework” before doing anything or making a decision. Fritz has forgotten more about beer and the beer business that I may even learn.
That being said, Fritz’ decision to sell Anchor Brewing to the enigmatic Griffin Group should be seen as an endorsement upon their character and intention. The purchase of Anchor Brewing was not some “hostile takeover” but a willing transaction between two parties that may have been months, if not years, in the making. Despite all the “doom and gloom” people may be experiencing, the Griffin Group may be a good thing for Anchor.
The Griffin Group, led (or composed solely of, no one’s really sure) by Keith Greggor and Tony Foglio, cut their teeth on the Skyy Vodka brand bringing it up from obscurity to global prominence. They are also have a majority stake in Priess Imports (most of their products are distilled spirits) and a minority stake with the infamous Brew Dog Brewery.
The Priess Imports connection is significant in that it may help to expand awareness and reach of the Anchor line of distilled spirits (whiskey and gin). Most importantly, the acquisition of Anchor Brewing now gives Brew Dog a stronger toehold in the U.S. Market. In addition to being exposed to the lines of distribution Anchor beers are privy to, there is the possibility of Brew Dog beers being brewed at the Anchor facility. Theoretically, this could bring the prices of those beers down slightly as well as ensure a fresher product. Whether or not extreme beers such as Tactical Nuclear Penguin or Sink the Bismarck! will be produced locally remains to be seen but the thought intrigues me.
We didn’t see this coming. Not by any measure and I think that is what is making this news particularly difficult for many people. I was at the Anchor Brewing/Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Dinner a few weeks ago and there was nothing in Fritz’ attitude, demeanor or speech that night to give any indication that something was up. Would not want to play poker against this guy. This doesn’t surprise me in any way as I think Fritz tends to play things close to his vest.
Greggor and Foglio have been saying all the right things in the press release and limited interviews they’ve done to date. They fully intend on keeping Anchor Brewing a San Francisco institution as well as uphold the traditions put forth by Fritz Maytag. It would be in their best interests to do so. Make no mistake, the craft beer world will have their collective eyes on them and any slip up will be broadcast at the speed of tweet. That being said, Greggor and Foglio should be given the benefit of the doubt. While they may have yet to earn the trust of the craft beer world, they have earned Fritz’ and that should count for something.
In an age where 8 out of 10 business fail, making it to year 3 is considered to be a success. Now, multiply that times 10 and what you get is Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - one of the pioneers of craft brewing - celebrating their 30th Anniversary.
Ken Grossman started off as a homebrew shop owner. He then decided to get out of the homebrewing business and make the jump to the brewing business. Grossman never looked back and 30 years later, Sierra Nevada is the ultimate amateur-going-pro story.
To celebrate 30 years in business, Sierra Nevada has decided to brew a series of 4 collaborative beers with other pioneers of the craft brewing industry. The first of these 30th Anniversary beers - Fritz and Ken’s Ale - was brewed in conjunction with Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing Company. The celebratory dinner was held at Anchor Brewing and here is my recap of the event.
First Course
Food: Crisp, poached farm egg, peppered salmon bacon, poached asparagus, Meyer lemon. Beer: Sierra Nevada Weizenbock & Anchor freshly fermented beer (in between courses).
Food Tasting Notes: Poached egg is crispy, seemingly panko crusted. Despite this, the yolk is still gooey and runny. The asparagus were well done, soft yet still crunchy. The salmon bacon, slightly salty and fried, makes for a nice counterpoint to the soft, gooey egg and asparagus. I felt the dish paired well with the beer, the wheat character gave the course a little “breakfast” feel while the alcohol of the weizenbock helped to balance out the thickness and richness of the egg yolk.
Weizenbock, Sierra Nevada
Cloudy, gold color with white head. Lots of banana and lemony citrus esters in the aroma. Slight alcohol note but only after the beer warms up some. The flavor echos the aroma with a slant towards the lemony/citrus flavors. There is also a noticeable wheat malt flavor. Hop flavor is low, as is the hop bitterness. This is a full bodied beer with medium-low/medium level of carbonation.
The interesting thing about this beer, according to the distributors at our table anyway, is that you cannot get this anywhere. They pulled this out specifically for this event. I normally expect weizenbocks to be darker because I often think of their flavor profile as being a 50/50 split exhibiting nearly equal characteristics from both a traditional hefeweizen and a bock. But I remember that Maibocks and Helles bocks are lighter in color but still pack the punch of a regular bock. That’s what this beer is like.
Anchor Freshly Fermented Beer
Very hazy, nearly opaque burnt orange color. Aroma is wort-ish, slightly sweet, grainly malt & a little yeasty. Flavor has a muddled sweetness with medium hop bitterness, hop flavor is woody with an earthy/yeasty flavor throughout. The body is medium-high with no/low carbonation. This beer is 2-day old Anchor Steam pulled fresh from the fermentor.
I thought this was an interesting beer to try. It’s an unfinished beer and tastes as much. I often try my homebrews in various stages of completion and it’s cool to get a peek into the brewing process from the vantage point of my tastebuds.
Audio of Ken and Fritz from around the first course. Ken talks about the weizenbock while Fritz muses about the craft beer community. (2:18)
Second Course
Food: Malted Barley Cake, ragout of Sonoma duck and morels, pea puree Beer: Anchor Humming Ale and Sierra Nevada Estate Ale 2009 (served in between courses)
Food Notes: Duck is lean yet tender; flavorful without being fatty. The barley cake is a little difficult for me to describe as there’s nothing in my regular diet that comes close. It’s like a thick, grainy/barley porridge that was made into a cake, breaded and then fried. I liked it a lot. The white morels have an earthen richness and melanoidic sweetness. The Humming Ale’s assertive hoppiness really cleansed the palette but may have dominated the pairing a bit.
Anchor Humming Ale
Slightly hazy, gold color with a sudsy white head that left good lacing on the glass. Aroma is pungent and earthy. Humming Ale’s flavor is hop forward with a medium-high hop bitterness while the bready malt flavor takes a secondary role in the beer. I had a bit of trouble trying to pull out the hop flavors though. This is a medium bodied beer with medium carbonation. It is dry with some of the astringency in the mouthfeel coming from the hops.
Brewed to commemorate 30 years of brewing at their current location (if you take a moment to think about it, Anchor has been brewing at the same location for as long as Sierra Nevada Brewing has been around), Humming Ale is a showcase of the little known New Zealand hop Nelson Sauvin. If I remember correctly, Fritz Maytag said they picked up these hops from a small, family run hopyard.
Sierra Nevada Estate Ale 2009
Clear, amber colored beer with a white/off-white head. Aroma is pungent with slight citrus an piney notes. Malt aroma is slightly sweet with caramel character. The hop flavor is similar to the aroma while the hop bitterness is medium. The malt flavor is toasty with caramel notes. This beer is medium bodied with medium/medium-high carbonation. Hop bitterness lasts into the finish.
While not really related to the dinner at hand, this beer makes me want to grow my own barley, reap it, malt and kiln it just so I can say I brewed my own “estate” ale.
Audio of Ken and Fritz talking during the second course. Ken and Fritz talk a little about their company’s respective histories, geek out about brewing science and give the details about the Estate Ale, freshly fermented Anchor Steam and Humming Ale. (16:42)
Third Course
Food: Beef Short Rib “Carbonnade”, cippolini onions, favas, spring carrots, smoked potato puree Beer: Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Double IPA and Anchor Porter
Food Notes: Short rib was awesome; perfectly cooked, juicy, fall-apart tender and a nice balance between meaty and fatty flavors. Onions were a bit heavy handed with rosemary flavors while the spring carrots were a good balance between softness and crunch firmness. This dish went well with both beers for different reasons: the porter because the smoked potato puree and melanoidic quality of the rib echoed the flavors of the beer while double IPA’s bitterness really helped to cut through the fat of the dish to cleanse the palette.
Anchor Porter
Very dark brown, almost black with a tan/brown head. Aroma is slightly smokey with coffee undertones and a noticeable alcohol quality. Anchor Porter has a low/medium-low level of malt sweetness with an almost burnt malt flavor with a little bit of smoke and molasses character. Hop flavor and bitterness are both low. This is a medium bodied beer with medium carbonation and a slightly dry mouthfeel.
Hoptimum Double IPA
Clear, pale amber color with an off-white head. Hop aroma is pungent, citrusy, catty/garlicy with slight pine character. Malt aroma is sweet, almost syrupy. The flavor is similar to the aroma with a pungent and citrus note and fresh garlic character as it warms up. Hop bitterness is high. Malt flavor is sweet enough to be noticed but definitely takes a back seat to the hop character of the beer. This is a full bodied, medium carbonated beer with slight hop astringency in the mouthfeel.
You won’t find Hoptimum Double IPA in bottles or on tap. If you do, consider yourself lucky as this beer was the result of Sierra Nevada’s infamous Beer Camp.
Audio of Ken and Fritz talking during the third course. Ken talks about the Sierra Nevada Estate Ale, Hoptimum while Fritz talks about Anchor Porter, they both talk about the difficulties of selling a “new type” of beer in the early days and Fritz pokes fun at the English. (13:49)
Fourth Course
Food: Maytag Blue, panna cotta, walnut-pepper brittle, warm cornmeal maladeines Beer: Our Special Ale (Anchor Christmas Ale) 2000 and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine 2005
Food Notes: Maytag Blue was soft, creamy and salty. Caramel madeleines were good while the citrus pieces were intensely tart. Putting all the pieces together resulted in a rich, flavorful and layered dish with each flavor distinct yet balanced. While I felt that both beers worked with this dish, the Christmas Ale’s seemed to work a little better.
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2005
Clear amber color with no head. The aroma has sherry and almond notes indicative of oxidation as well as noticeable alcohol character. The flavor is similar to the aroma augmented with a surprisingly medium-high level of hop bitterness that lasts into the finish. This is a medium/medium-high bodied beer with medium-low carbonation and a slight warming sensation from the alcohol.
While I have often said that I like to drink beers when they’re fresh, as that’s the way most brewers intend you to drink their product, there’s something to be said about the flavors that develop from slight oxidation. Not enough oxidative character lets you know the beer has flaws while too much oxidative character will render a beer nearly undrinkable. This beer is right on the edge of having just the right amount of oxidation and too much with the balance leaning towards too much as the beer warmed up.
Christmas Ale 2000
Very dark brown with amber/ruby highlights and no head. Has a woody aroma and prominent spice character that reminded me of mulling spices. Woody/spiced note in aroma translates well into the flavor but the malt character of the beer is flat while the hop character is faded. The beer is medium bodied with medium-low carbonation and is slightly dry.
This was a weird beer. I was glad to have tried it but I’m even more glad that it was served in a smaller amount as I don’t think I could’ve finished off a pint of this stuff. I am not a huge fan of spiced beer, there’s something about mulling spices that I never really took a liking towards and after 10 years of aging, the mulled spice character really comes forth in this beer giving it a woody character and a spice note I can’t discern. I’m sure I’ll remember it once Christmas rolls around again and I’m at Michael’s shopping for ornaments and other decorations.
Anchor head brewer Mike Lee wasn’t particularly enamored with either of these beers as he’s an old school brewer who believes that a fresh product is the best product. He is not a fan of aging beer and he is especially not a fan of intentionally soured beers either. Unsurprisingly, he’s a man cut from the same cloth as Fritz Maytag as Maytag has the same opinions about beer.
Audio of Ken and Fritz talking during the fourth course. “Good publicity” from Fritz, aging of Bigfoot from Ken, the Christmas Ale characteristics from Fritz and many more stories. (23:07)
Fifth Course
Food: Warm TCHO Chocolate-Old Foghorn Cake, caramel, Old Foghorn ice cream, raisin compote Beer: Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Ale – Fritz and Ken’s Ale
Food Notes: Raisin compote is cloyingly sweet for my tastes; there is a caramelization in the flavor that is reminiscent of Belgian Dark Strong Ales. The cake is moist and tastes like bittersweet chocolate. The ice cream provides a nice compliment to the chocolate cake. I think the beer overpowers the cake and ice cream a little but but if you add in the compote, it makes for a little better pairing.
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Ale – Fritz and Ken’s Ale
Very dark brown, nearly black with a brown head. The aroma has a deep roasted, nearly burnt quality with a moderate level of smokiness. The flavor is slightly sweet; the malt character is mellow with burnt and smoked malt character. Hop bitterness is a surprising medium-high/high level. This is a full bodied beer with medium-high carbonation.
I was pleasantly surprised by this beer. Knowing what I know about Fritz, I find him to be a man of tradition, especially when it comes to the beers he brews. That being said, I fully expected the stout to be strongly rooted in the Russian Imperial Stout style. I didn’t expect the smokey character of the beer at all but I like it’s inclusion. The beer changes character as it warms up and will change over the years, at least that’s what the majority of the brewers I’ve spoken with have said. Anchor head brewer Mike Lee told me that a couple of test batches were developed at Sierra Nevada’s pilot brewery and the 30th Anniversary Ale – Fritz and Ken’s Ale is the result of the tasting process. It’s a straight-up recipe, no blending with any of the other test batches.
Audio of Ken and Fritz talking during the fifth course. Both talk about the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Ale and a final toast. (5:32)
Overall
For the most part, I felt that dinner was a success. There were some pairings that worked better than others but nothing really stood out as unsuccessful to me. I felt that the beers that were chosen for this evening were interesting, especially when it came to the older vintages of beer. What I really would’ve like to see, although it probably would’ve been a pain in the ass, would’ve been a side-by-side comparison of the vintage beers with their fresh counterparts. As anyone who’s aged beers knows, a beer’s character changes over time. With some of the night’s vintages hovering around the decade mark, juxtapositioning the vintage against a fresh pint would’ve been quite the treat.
The staff of the catering service was provided good service, in my opinion. They were all professional, helpful and accommodating. I’m not sure what kind of cooking set-up the catering company had but they did a bang-up job with the food.
Whether or not the actual cash value of the food and beers equaled that of the cost of dinner, $100 per person, remains to be seen. At that price point, I couldn’t afford to purchase another ticket for my wife to join me (which is too bad as I know she’d love a lot of the dishes served). Personally, the cost of the dinner is but a small price to pay to have two of the early pioneers of the craft brewing industry in one room at the same time talking about their past experiences. Ken Grossman has forgotten more about brewing than I might ever learn; this holds even more true for Fritz Maytag.
The two elder statesmen of craft brewing would come up between courses and talk about their experiences or answer questions. As respected as Grossman is within the industry, he readily deferred to Maytag in most instances. I don’t think Grossman had much of a choice as Maytag has this uncanny ability to just hold a room in the palm of his hand. The only person I know of today who has this same ability and charisma is Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head. More often than not, Maytag would finish telling one of his stories only for Grossman to stand there for a moment in contemplation before saying, “Yeah, I don’t have anything to top that”. Hilarious.
In any event, this was definitely one of those Once in a lifetime events I felt I needed to attend. I almost decided not to go because I’d be going by myself but in the end, I met up with many familiar faces so it didn’t seem like I was alone. Despite how I may have looked that night furiously scribbling away notes in my notepad, I had a wonderful time. In my haste to jot down my thoughts, I completely forgot to take photos with some of the people I met there. Thanks to Wes from @bjornidentity for keeping me company. Big thanks to Sierra Nevada’s Bill Manley for all his efforts in planning the menu and for putting on the event. Big thanks also to Mike Lee, Anchor’s headbrewer, who sat at our table and gave us insightful stories to add context to some of Maytag’s comments. There were a lot of other notable people there that night but I don’t want to seem like I’m just name dropping at this point.
There are some other photos I took that are at the end of this post. I hope you enjoy them and hopefully they’ll give a little more context into the evening. If I ever make enough money from my banner ads, the first thing I’ll do is upgrade my camera so that you won’t have to be subjected to crappy photography. In fact, head over here for some really good photos of the event.
I was enjoying a beer at a “Beer Depletion” get-together when Pete Slosberg turns my way to ask me a question, “Do you want to take a day off work to help us bottle at Russian River?”
“Umm… Hell-to-the-YES!” (Not my exact words but the sentiment was there.)
And that’s how I got invited to bottle Consecration, an ale aged in Cabernet-Sauvignon barrels with currants.
I leave my house at 5:30am in order to make it to Russian River by 8am. I ride with Arie, Pete and Dave. Despite having only 3-4 hours sleep the night before, I am excited to be going up to Russian River. Up until that morning, I had no idea we were going to be bottling Consecration. I was also under the assumption that we would be bottling the larger 750mL bottles but I was told we’d be bottling the smaller 375mL bottles instead. In talking to Vinnie later on in the day, the decision to move to the smaller bottles was more out of necessity than anything else. If I remember correctly, they couldn’t source the larger bottles any more. No U.S. based bottle manufacturer was interested in doing a custom run for just them so Russian River had to go out of the country to get these done. As reported by Jay Brooks, Lost Abbey and North Coast Brewing have gone in with Russian River to get these bottles made. They’re pretty cute, actually, resembling the 750mL bottles… just mini.
To be clear, Russian River does have an automated bottling line. The reason they bottle Consecration manually is because of all the little critters used to make it. Vinnie doesn’t want to risk contaminating his automated bottling line so it’d done manually. From what I heard, they will have an automated corker and cager on order, thus rendering my bottling services obsolete. Knowing this, I am even more grateful to have volunteered my time.
I have been drafted to run the bottle filling machine. The filling machine is gravity fed. You attach a bottle to one of the 6 filling nozzles below and in goes beer. It will stop automatically once it reaches the predetermined fill level. I likened this contraption to a mechanical cow from which I would be bottling the mother’s milk known as Consecration directly from its teats. In hindsight, I regret not taking a photo of me suckling from the teats of mechanical mother.
Basically the flow goes like this: I line up bottles below the filling machine, about 18 can fit under there. I put a bottle on each nozzle and then pull them off once they’re full, replacing them with one of the empties I set up prior. The filled bottles then go to Arie who corks them with another machine. Pete then takes the corked bottles and puts the cages on and fills up cases. Dave will then seal each case, stack them, refill corks for Arie and cages for Pete all while suppling the label machine with empty, bottles he has had to purge O2 out of with CO2.
Rinse. Lather Repeat… times 12.5 BBLs of beer.
Oh. My. God. By the end of the day, my entire body hurt. My back was stiff, the arches on my feet sore, my core sore from the constant twisting motion. My shoulders were in pain from the nearly endless repetition of lifting bottles one after another after another after another. My hands hurt from constantly gripping bottles and the teats of what I learned to be a cruel and uncaring metal mother. This was a painful day. At one point, I think my left shoulder went numb. It was the lucky one. I haven’t hurt this bad physically since… I don’t remember when I’ve hurt this bad from a job… ever. Running the bottling line is more physically demanding than anything else. The repetition of movement allows for muscle memory to set in and soon I was on cruise control, in the zone, so-to-speak. My mind was able to wander freely, when it wasn’t thinking of how much the rest of my body hurt.
Consecration is a barrel aged beer. This means that Vinnie and crew had to move the barrels from wherever they were, as I didn’t see them where we were working, lift them up on a forklift and use gravity to fill a tank where the beer is mixed with priming sugar and fresh yeast needed to bottle condition the beer. The tank we were filling from became our Nemesis. There was this sight gauge at the side of the tank letting us know how much beer was left. It was best not to look at the gauge because it never seemed to move. When you take on 12.5 BBLs of beer 375mL at a time, things will move slowly. Very, slowly. Adding. A. Period. After. Each. Word. For. Dramatic. Literary. Effect. Slowly.
The enthusiasm I displayed at the beginning of my shift quickly gave way to loathing. What started of as, “Fuck yeah! I’m working at Russian River!” transitioned to “Fuck me! I’m working at Russian River”. I grew to hate the sound of Dave purging O2 from empties with CO2 because it meant we weren’t done yet. The teats of metal mother, which looked so inviting in the morning now mocked me with their cold, metallic indifference. Every so often a bottle wouldn’t seal properly on the rubberized portion of the nozzle and beer would gush forth. The slow hiss of leaking beer sounded a lot like, “Fool! You thought you could tame me and bottle my goodness without incident?! Hiss! You know nothing of goodness! Muhahahahaha!”
At the end of the day, despite all the aches and pains, I would jump at the chance to do this all over again. No question, no hesitation. If I get the call to jump, I ask, “How high?”
As a craft beer enthusiast, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the brewers that brew up my favorite beers. Knowing what I know about the brewing process, there is so much that can go wrong at any given time; to see a brewery not only brew up something spectacular, but to do so consistently year after year, case after case, bottle after bottle is amazing.
So it’s no wonder then, when I meet my favorite brewers, that I get a little starstruck. Even after going on dozens of brewery tours, I still get excited when offered to go on a brewery tour. There’s a real romanticization I have with professional brewers, and their breweries by extension. As an “outsider looking in”, I’ve always wondered what it would be like working for my favorite breweries. I can now tell you, from recent personal experience, it’s not all I thought it would be.
Experiencing a day in the life as a Russian River employee has pretty much wiped any romantic notions I may have had with the brewing industry. Those big, shiny, steel fermentors still shine brightly but I now notice their scratches and dents. The aroma of hops in the air? Still intoxicating but their constant presence in the air renders them almost mundane. The fantasy has become a reality; the dream job is now just a job.
It’s easy to wax poetic about my favorite beers, brewers and brewery from the safety of my desk. This is the fun part of the job, the drinking, the reviewing, the writing. It’s not until you’ve bottled hundreds of beers or hauled 50-lbs sacks of grain or pulled a 16-hour brew day do you realize just how much goes into the beer you are drinking. At least Vinny has a team of people helping him. I have a newfound respect for small brewing operations, even more so for the single guys like Mayfield Brewing Company who not only barrel age everything but bottle it all as well. I bitch like a little girl after one day of work and these guys do this day-in, day-out like it’s nothing.
What’s the written form of a standing ovation because, from this point forward, I think every brewer should get one.
I’ve taken a look behind the curtain, I’ve seen how the magic trick works. And you know what? I appreciate craft beer even more. I didn’t think I could but I do. The next time I stroll down the craft beer aisle at my local BevMo, I will look at all those bottles and hope all those breweries have automated bottling lines.
So the next time you see a 375mL bottle of Consecration, look for Batch 004X2. That’s the one we worked on. Look at the cage as well. The twisted part should be facing upwards. Russian River guys usually face them downwards. Open that bottle up, pour yourself a glass and take in a huge whiff of the aroma. Savor it. Close your eyes. Take a sip. Let the flavors dance around your tongue before swallowing. Take your time before opening your eyes. Let it sink into your head that there’s now a little piece of me, in you. Cheers!
Several sources have reported yesterday that Heineken is purchasing/has purchased Mexican brewery FEMSA (Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V.) for approximately $7.34B (as in Billion). This deal closely mimics similar deals such as Miller Brewing’s sale to South African Breweries for $3.6B and, more recently, last year’s sale of Anheuser-Busch to Belgian brewing company InBev for $52B.
This deal was less about acquiring “highly coveted” Mexican beer brands than it was about profitability and distribution. Latin America is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and this merger gives Heineken inroads to that market. Not to be given the short end of the stick FEMSA has acquired a 20% ownership stake in Heineken, instantly become one of their biggest shareholders.
If you want further details, you can check out this article from the N.Y. Times or straight from the horse’s mouth with this press release from FEMSA.
So the big question is: Does anyone care?
I have never been the biggest fan of Heineken. Their insistence to continue using green bottles has effectively ruined any chance that I’ll get to try any of their beers sans skunk. I’ve had a few canned versions that weren’t half bad but that’s about it.
FEMSA brands aren’t much better. Carta Blanca, Tecate, Dos Equis, Bohemia, Sol… the beers these breweries make are almost interchangeable.
It’s business as usual for the macro breweries. Increased profitability continues to underscore much of the publicized news of the macros. Is that so bad, really? At the end of the day, the business of brewing beer is still a business. Their employees are just like you and me with families to feed and mortgages to pay. Should we demonize the brewery that spills more beer in a week than our favorite craft breweries make all year?
It seems that macro breweries are merging on a yearly basis. At this rate, how much longer before “competition” is extinguished by the suffocating size of one, giant brewing zaibatsu? Will our favorite craft breweries be bought out of existence or priced out of the game as Macrosoft Brewing Company produces beer so cheaply craft breweries can’t compete? Even though many of our households are 100% craft beer, I keep forgetting that craft beer sales only make up 4% by volume (as of 12/08).
If you’re on this site, it’s because you’re a fan of craft beer. We enjoy beer with flavor, character and variety. It would not be a stretch to say that our promiscuous drinking habits encourage diversity in the craft beer industry.
That being said, help the “little guys” out. Buy beer from your local breweries or brew pubs. Buy craft beer. Click here for the SAB Miller portfolio of brands, or here for the Anheuser- Busch InBev portfolio. Some names may surprise you.
Cutting directly to the chase, Stone is considering opening up a brewery in Europe. At this point, a formal decision has not been made as to whether or not they will but they are beginning to explore all avenues to making this happen.
The impetus for starting a project of this magnitude came from the numerous inquiries from European Stone fans who have asked for their beers. With a firm commitment to quality, Stone has decided they’d rather ship kegs all the way to Europe where a number of things might happen to lower the quality of their beers. So now they’re putting out a RFP (Request for Proposal) and trying to see what options are available to them.
I find the whole idea of an American craft brewery expanding to meet a global demand fascinating. Stone is inviting us along on this journey, it’ll be interesting to see how this all turns out, if it turns out at all. Although a part of me wonders if Stone will end up like the macro breweries they’ve rallied against in the past. They may not yet equal the brewing capacity of an InBud (InBev/Anheuser-Busch) but Stone already has great distribution domestically. Opening up a brewery in Europe would satisfy European demand for their product but it would also be a foothold in which they can expand their distribution lines enabling them to push some of the other craft beer brands they distribute to an international audience.
Regardless, if they can make this work, it’s great for buzz and business. Take a look at me for instance, Stone has essentially put out a press release talking about nothing of any substance… and I’ve written a blog post about it. Hook, line and sinker. You’d think that with the sway and leverage they have in the craft beer world they’d be able to convince BevMo of not putting their beers on an end cap facing the afternoon sun.
Firestone Walker just released their Quercus Alba Thirteen (XIII). XIII is their fourth barrel aged beer release and, as the name would strongly suggest, it is their thirteenth anniversary beer. Firestone Walker’s barrel cellar topped off at 120 but only 53 of those barrels were used to make XIII. Here is a very quick breakdown of XIII’s components:
6% - Rufus, Continental Imperial Amber Ale aged in rye barrels, 11% ABV
6% - Double Double Barrel Ale, Double English Pale Ale aged in retired Firestone Walker union barrels, 10.9% ABV
4% - Saucerful of Secrets, Belgian Strong Ale aged in bourbon barrels, 9% ABV
For a complete picture of XIII’s components, download a .pdf of Firestone Walker Brewmaster Matt Brynildson’s notes here.
Here’s a video of Matt talking about XIII from YouTube:
Last year, Sammy and I drove up to Toronado in San Francisco for the Quercus Alba XII release party. We missed it this year because it happened to fall on the same night as my Mom’s birthday. To make up for it, we decided to take the short drive up to Palo Alto where Rose and Crown was selling it for $28/bottle. Joining us were BJCP Grandmaster-level judge John Watson, Jen and Joey from Wet Your Whistles, Travis, Dean (510 Brewing) and their wives as well as homebrewer Jeff. I had no idea so many people were going to show up at R&C but it’s all good as there’s nothing like having good beer with good people.
So what about the beer?
Firestone Walker, Quercus Alba XIII, 12% ABV
Firestone Walker XIII poured a very dark brown, almost black color with a brown head. I picked up lots of oaky aromas initially followed by toasted coconut, some vanilla, a slight deep roasted malt notes and dark fruit character. The flavor is very similar; XIII has a malt sweetness that is like a deep, nearly burnt caramel with some roasted malt notes. I picked up some toasted coconut, vanilla while the dark fruit came through more in the flavor. This is a complex beer that seemed to get better as it warmed. XIII has a medium level of carbonation and is full bodied, with a light syrup viscosity and warming alcohol quality. This beer weighs in at 12% ABV. What a great tasting, layered beer.
As if XIII wasn’t enough of an experimental beer, Rose & Crown also had the Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head collaboration beers Life & Limb/Limb & Life on tap as well. The story of Life & Limb is an interesting one. Instead of paraphrasing it, let me just copy it directly from their website:
Life & Limb is a collaborative effort, the brainchild of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. Life & Limb is a 10% ABV strong, dark beer that defies style characteristics- brewed with pure maple syrup from the Calagione family farm in Massachusetts and estate barley grown on the Grossman “farm” at the brewery in Chico, CA. The beer is alive with yeast-a blend of both breweries’ house strains-bottle conditioned for added complexity and shelf life, and naturally carbonated with birch syrup fresh from Alaska.
Collaborative beers seem to be the beer du jour nowadays and it’s great to see a craft beer trailblazer like Sierra Nevada teaming up with a leading edge brewery like Dogfish Head. In a way it feels like a passing of the torch moment but Sierra Nevada is still going strong releasing well made and interesting beers like Torpedo and Kellerweis.
Limb & Life is the other side of the coin. This is a “small” beer made from the second runnings of Life & Limb. Once again, copy and paste to the rescue:
Limb & Life is a ’small’ beer, made from the second runnings of the larger brew, Life & Limb. Limb & Life has a roasted malt flavor reminiscent of dark roasted coffee and toasted bread, combined with a pronounced hoppiness from the use of bold and aromatic American hops.
Limb & Life is an easy drking ’session’ beer - an antidote to the heavy sippers, and a beer that begs for another glass. It is balanced yet flavorful, hoppy yet not without strong malt, and drinkable but still complex.Limb & Life will be an extrememly limited draft-only release.
Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head, Limb & Life, 5.2% ABV
We tried the small beer first. Served in a pint glass Limb & Life poured out a clear, dark brown in color with what looked to be an off-white/beige head. This was a hop forward beer that smelled overwhelmingly of pine, think spruce. The assertive hop character continued well into the flavor, dominating with a hop flavor I can only describe as piney/spruce that is not unlike the flavor of new growth evergreen tips. Any malt character was on the slight roasty side and played second fiddle the entire time. Despite all the hop aroma and flavor, the hop bitterness was on the medium-low side. Limb & Life has a medium level of carbonation and is very light in body, nearly watery.
I found Life & Limb Limb & Life to be a little disappointing. Sure, there’s a great hop character about the beer but I find it mainly to be unbalanced; it’s almost all flavor and aroma with not enough bitterness or malt character to make it a really enjoyable beer.
Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head, Life & Limb, 10.2% ABV
Served in a snifter, Life & Limb pours out a very dark yet clear brown, nearly black color with a beige/tan head. This beer had a lot of alcohol in the aroma, almost hot, that seemed to dominate. The flavor of the beer was more promising than the aroma vaguely hinted at. Life & Limb has a complex malt character that has bits and pieces of dark, roasted malt, molasses and syrup/sap-like flavors. Maybe it was carryover from XIII but I thought I tasted a slight oak/woodsy note. The hop bitterness, about medium-high in level, was enough to provide balance to the sweetness of the malt. This beer was medium-high in carbonation with a medium/medium-high body.
I found Life & Limb to be a very complex beer. There were a lot of things going on, interesting things, but nothing in particular jumped out at me. This was a well-balanced beer, maybe a little too balanced. In any event, if I can find bottles of Life & Limb, I plan on picking up a couple of bombers to see how well this beer ages. Should be interesting. At the very least I’ll have good beer to drink when the world ends in 2012.
Overall I think I tried some very interesting beers. My favorite was the barrel aged XIII. There’s just something about the oak that adds such a complexity to the aroma and flavor of a beer that I thoroughly enjoy and find difficult to satisfy. Methinks I need to start experimenting more with wood in my homebrewing.
While Life & Limb was all about complexity tempered with balance, Limb & Life seemed to be a one-note wonder. Don’t get me wrong, it played that note really well but I think the experience as a whole would’ve been much more enjoyable with more balance.
It’s been a while since Sammy and have been to Rose & Crown. It was great to see so many people come out on a chilly, late fall California evening (well, as chilly as it gets for California) to hang out with us and drink some interesting beers. If I could afford it, or not feel guilty about doing so, I’d have purchased additional bottles of XIII to see how aging would change it’s character. Still, I can’t complain as I did have the oppportunity to try it. By the way, the mushrooms and fish & chips at the Rose & Crown are pretty damn good. The fish tasted fresh and the mushrooms moist and delicous. While not the ideal pairing for the beers we had this evening, they certainly hit the spot.
By the time Sammy and I pulled into our parking space, it is 15 minutes past the time Mayfield Brewing Company opened their doors. A select few of us had been invited to Mayfield to be one of the very first people to sample their 2008 vintage of beers from their Iconoclast series. It may seem odd that I’m using the word vintage to describe a line up of beers but that’s exactly what they are.
Unlike the vast majority of breweries, the Iconoclast series of beers from Mayfield Brewing Company (MBC) are all barrel aged beers. In a time when the sight of stainless steel fermentors and mashtuns are the industry standard, barrel aging a beer is a return to traditional brewing techniques. It’s easy to forget that brewing, the vast majority of alcohol production really, got its humble start within the confines of a barrel. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to find that a brewery is barrel aging a beer or two but the three Iconoclasts beers that make up the entire portfolio of MBC’s products are all barrel aged, in wine barrels no less. So yes, vintage is an appropriate term.
I have long lamented the wine industry’s lack of consistency in their product. I have always disliked the fact that certain vintages of wine were worth much more than others. Yes, yes, I am aware that certain years will yield a much better crop of grapes than another but it seems insulting that I should be charged a premium for good weather. Consistency is one of the reasons I am a beer guy. I feel confident enough to walk into any reputable bottle shop and pick up a sixer of Sierra Nevada tomorrow and know that it will pretty much taste just like the sixer I’ll pick up 5 months from now, which will taste just like the sixer I will taste 8 months from then. Consistency is comforting.
You can throw consistency out the window when it comes to barrel aging a beer. As if brewing a beer wasn’t complicated enough with having to juggle at least four key ingredients, a fifth is introduced when you add the flavor you get from wood; in this case, the barrel. I could even argue that it’s an ingredient and a half when the brewer chooses to use a second use barrel, or a barrel that once used to house something else such as a distilled spirit or wine. To barrel age a beer and come out with something palatable is a success unto itself. To barrel age a beer and have the resulting beers taste phenomenal, well that’s a testament to the brewer’s skill.
I first tried the 2007 vintage of MBC beers at the Boonville Beerfest earlier this year. Thanks to fellow beer blogger Mario from Brewed for Thought for the initial introduction. I can tell you this, the new line up of 2008 Iconoclast beers have addressed some of the issues the 2007 vintage had.
The Aurora is brewed as an altbier. The issue I had with the 2007 Aurora was that I felt it was a little lackluster. It wasn’t a bad beer, it just wasn’t memorable. The 2008 Aurora is a much better iteration of this beer with more noticeable wood and fruit character, Chardonnay flavors, floral notes, a hint of tartness and acidity, with a moderate sweet finish. What was once my least favorite of the trio is now a much more interesting beer.
Brewed as an IPA, the 2007 Eclat was an interesting beer with it’s noticeable oaky flavor and malt sweetness but once I knew it was an IPA, my impression of the beer was lowered because a key flavor was missing: hops! The 2008 vintage has remedied this issue for me. The beer has a malty, caramel-ish nose with subtle fruit notes and noticeable hop aroma. The flavor has a similar profile with caramel flavors hitting my tastebuds up front, a slight tartness in the middle and a moderate hop bitterness in the finish. If you’re a hop head, you’re not going to be confusing this beer with any of the aggressive West Coast hop bombs we’re used to drinking. Hops change drastically when barrel aged and it’s good to see a noticeable hop character in this vintage.
As the name would imply, this is a stout dark as night. I was a big fan of the 2007 Nocturna as the beer had an unexpected tartness in the finish that I found to be both interesting and tasty. The 2008 version we tried, uncarbonated, had all the flavors you would expect from a stout: deep roasted, nearly burnt malt character, enough hop flavor and bitterness to balance, with coffee and chocolate notes thrown in for good measure. Someone in the tasting room that day even noticed hints of tobacco flavors. This was a sweet beer. In talking with the brewer and others in the tasting room, all agreed that it was a good tasting beer but would end up being much better once it was carbonated with the carbonation balancing out the sweetness. Gone was the tartness I found so appealing with the last batch but MBC brewer John Alderete assured me that additional aging will bring those flavors back in.
Vintage. I will freely admit that I am still torn by the concept. Still, here I am eschewing its virtues in the craft beer world. If I step out of my own ego and ignorance for a moment, I’d be able to recognize the many things the wine industry is doing right that craft breweries can apply to their own businesses. While MBC is not the first company to be barrel aging their beers, they are the only brewery I know of that is doing so with all of their beers.
Be warned that MBC beers are not cheap. If you are nearby, I fully recommend visiting the brewery itself and picking up a bottle directly from them. It’ll set you back $30 per but it’s a savings from buying it retail where select Whole Foods sell it for $43 a bottle.
