Better Beer Blog

Having the opportunity to go out and visit different places has been a welcome byproduct of authoring a beer blog. It’s almost a certainty that we end up meeting interesting and different people every place we go. This weekend, Sammy and I drove down to Fresno to visit some good friends of ours. While in town, we were able to swing by one of Fresno’s two breweries, Full Circle Brewing Company.

To label Full Circle as just a brewery would be misleading. In fact, beer was the last thing Full Circle made. Homebrewers Don Anderson and William (Bill) McCory started off brewing mead. In fact, it’s their mead that brought Sammy and I to their brewery to begin with.

Full Circle has a sweet mead, an Orange Blossom mead, and a pomegranate mead. We tried samples of the three and brought home a bottle of each. The sweet mead is traditional, it is sweet and easy drinking.

Their orange blossom mead is probably the ugliest looking beverage in the world. In all seriousness, it looks like drain water, gray-ish brown, opaque and thick. Thank goodness it doesn’t taste like drain water. The smell of orange and honey is definitely apparent but the other aroma that caught me off guard was the smell of walnuts, actually, the coating of a wall nut. When you crack open a the shell of the walnut, there is a thin membrane that separates the nut from the shell. That membrane has a particular taste and aroma that I find in their orange blossom mead. I don’t think it detracts from the mead at all but I think it’s an interesting and unexpected flavor characteristic.

Their pomegranate mead is their best selling mead, and for good reason. The aromas and flavors of pomegranate are readily apparent. I even pick up some chocolate notes and maybe a hint of wood. It is sweet and tart but not unbearably so. The pomegranate flavors seem to dominate a little more than the honey. Depending on what you value more, this could be good or bad thing. At the end of the day, this is a good tasting beverage.

Most meadmakers tend to mix honey with water and then add whatever fruit or spices to the must, or unfermented mead, to flavor. Full Circle takes a slightly different approach. Brewmaster Bill McCory told me that when making their pomegranate mead, they basically blend honey with pomegranate juice. The same process goes for their orange blossom mead. If I remember correctly, Full Circle tries to source their honey from local producers.

In addition to their line of meads, McCory and Anderson also have a red wine they produce that is equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel. The believe this blending and ratio of blending brings out the best in each grape. I can’t speak first hand about that since we didn’t try their wine.

What we did try was a sample of their pulque. Pulque (pull-keh) is pulque, to describe it any differently would be incorrect. Put another way, maguey is to pulque, as wine is to grapes, as honey is to mead, and as malted barley is to beer. It is the main agent of saccharification. However, Full Circle uses Agave to make their pulque instead of traditional maguey. The result is an interesting beverage with the aroma and flavor of tequila without the harshness of the alcohol

Despite the eight paragraphs preceding this one, Full Circle does brew beer, seven different styles to be precise. They brew a brown ale (5.5% ABV), an 1850 London Porter (5.5% ABV), red ale (5.3% ABV), a Russian Imperial stout (11% ABV), Cluster Fuggle Cream Ale (5.6% ABV), an American Wheat Ale (5.2% ABV) and their Badass Barleywine (11% ABV). Of these seven, we sampled their porter, the cream ale and their barleywine. They were out of the brown ale.

I didn’t take any notes so much of what I am writing comes from memory. Described as an “extra stout porter”, the 1850 porter is moderately roasty but not overwhelmingly so. It is medium-full to full in body with a bit of creaminess to it. Unlike other porters, there is no husky graininess, astrigency or bitterness in the flavor making this a smooth drinking porter. I did notice a slight sourness in the finish. While it is not uncommon to have some optional sourness in a dry stout, it is not normal in a porter. Some historical porter recipes were made with brettanomyces which may explain the sourness but I doubt that would be the case in this example. From another historical context predating the definition of the stout style of beers, English brewers would brew a porter of “stout” body and strength. So the “Victorian Age” 1850 Porter would today be defined as a dry stout, which would explain the sourness. Even though this beer was approximately 5.5% ABV, it was still too heavy for the hot Fresno afternoon and something lighter was called for.

Doing a complete 180 degree turn, I ordered their Cluster Fuggle Cream Ale as well. The cream ale is their best selling product and it’s easy to determine why. Fresno gets hot, triple digit hot. Luckily for us, we didn’t suffer through triple digit temperatures but it was still very warm. In a climate like that, you’ll need a cold, easy drinking beer and the Cluster Fuggle fits the bill. By all standards, it is a good example of the style. Neither the malt nor hop aromas dominate but there is a detectable sweetness in the aroma. The beer is straw colored with a lasting, white head. I don’t remember the malt nor hop flavors dominating, more subtle with low hop bitterness. The slight sweetness is apparent but far from cloying. The beer is light on the palette. By this point in the evening, I have a pretty good buzz because of the porter I drank combined with all the pulque and mead samples prior. Feeling warm, I lament nor ordering this beer first and sticking to it.

Lola, our bartender, mentioned in passing that they have a sour mash available for tasting as well. With our interest piqued, we ask Lola for a taste. While this our first time meeting with Lola, it may also be our last as it was her last night at work. With two other jobs, she didn’t seem heart-broken that she was leaving Full Circle but at the same time, when one of the owners is your father-in-law, I’m sure there will always be a light on for her. Lola returns with the sour mash sample. Not a fan of the sour ales, Lola can’t imagine why we would be into the sour ale. It was initially supposed to be a Red Ale but as with many unintentional sour mashes, infection got the better of the beer. The beer is a reddish amber with no head. There is a detectable sourness in the aroma but not as intense as other beers. The malt and hop aromas are low but that is within the style. I sample the sour ale and am disappointed in the lack of intense sour flavors. I think my palette is busted because I only enjoy strong flavors and this is more of a slightly sour ale. The beer attenuated well and was dry. Not too much residual sweetness left and I don’t recall tasting any strong malt or hop flavors. For whatever reason, Bill felt it best to leave the beer as is to see what would happen. Two silver medals laters, the sour ale seems to be doing just fine. From what Lola says, the beer has mellowed out considerably over the years

Sometime during the evening, Bill shows me his brewery set up. I am amazed at how relatively low tech it all is. Their mash tun is basically a wooden box. Built with a removable wooden lid, the mash tun is built onto a pivoted support system that allows Bill to easily empty the grains by tilting the tun onto its side, locking it in place and then scooping out the spent grains. Their boiler is steam powered. Unlike conventional boilers that are heated from below with open flame, their system relies on a built-in coil where steam is pumped in to bring the wort to a boil. Bill explains that this system is more expensive upfront but the long term savings are great and outweigh the initial cost. Having steam heat the wort also assures that the wort will never scorch. In addition, the bottom of the boil kettle will last much longer. Even the heat exchanger to cool the beer is home grown and was made for less than $1000.

For a special treat, Bill walks me to the back of the brewery and pulls out an old beer sculpture made from old kegs. I am awed as I look upon Full Circle’s first brewing set-up. The entire sculpture is built with metal pipes around a central support system. The mash tun on this system is also surrounded in wood and looses only 1° F per hour. Even in the beginning, on what looks like a, home grown homebrew beer sculpture, Bill was getting favorably comparable commercial efficiencies.

Even though they’ve been a commercial brewery for several years, I can’t help but feel as if the homebrewer in Bill never quite left him. One look around the brewery premises only proves this observation. A lot of the equipment Bill uses to brew were either repurposed from other defunct breweries, donated or built by Bill and Don.

None of the Full Circle Brewery products are filtered either. Bill prefers to let the natural aging process clarify the beers. Proudly he tells me, “None of our beers are two weeks old. I don’t filter because if you leave the beers alone, they’ll clarify on their own. I won’t server a beer until it’s good and ready”.

Yet the most damning thing about Bill is that he still uses 5 gallon corney kegs to serve his beer. In an age where 15.5 gallon kegs are industry standard, I see Bill on his way to change out a few empty taps with corny kegs in hand. I am told by Lola that they’ll eventually be switching the bar opposite of where it currently is and will connect all the taps to the bigger tanks directly.

As the night winds down and people begin to file out of Full Circle, Sammy manages to take a picture with George the Giant. George is a towering man. Standing at 7′3″ in height, he is the world’s largest sword swallowing. All during the night as Bill and I spoke, George was performing various “freak show” stunts on stage. Some of his stunts ranged from the previously mentioned sword swallowing, to spitting fire, walking and then jumping on broken glass. The number of kids and adults sipping on the house root beer was a testament to how relaxed and comfortable the atmosphere at Full Circle is.

Full Circle Brewing Company is old skool. They are the homebrewer who turned pro that never forgot his homebrewing roots. Despite their small size, they are not afraid to dream big. With a pizza kitchen to be added soon, Bill has his eyes set to brew sake next. Not many places can lay claim to having such a diverse portfolio of products. If you are ever in Fresno, I recommend visiting Full Circle Brewing Company. It is an experience unto itself.

This post is actually overdue. I started writing this post last weekend with the event still fresh in my mind. In my typically unnecessarily lengthy style of writing, I had written a novella chronicling what can easily be described as “dinner in San Francisco”. Halfway through the my magum opus, I accidentally clicked on an icon on my blogging software that should’ve been named “fuck you, blogboy” and deleted all of my progress that night. So here I am, starting over.

As a graphic designer I rely on my eyesight for everything I do. My whole job is predicated on what can I see. Essentially I would be, as the Google French would say, Jusqu’à merde ruisseau sans paddle, should I ever loose my vision. My worst case scenario would be to go blind. Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to do so.

Sammy and I accompanied our new friend Danthy to San Francisco to “dine in the dark” at this new restaurant called Opaque. The basic premise of Opaque and her sister shops in San Diego and Los Angeles, is fine dining in total darkness. Sammy and I first heard about this experience on the evening news and thought it was a crazy idea that we’d like to participate in one day. Coincidentally, the restaurant can’t be seen from the street as they have no visible sign. Look for the address above a door next to Indigo restaurant on McAllister and Gough.

Normally I wouldn’t even write about this on a beer blog but the experience was too interesting for me not to. The owner of Opaque, Ben, is one of the few Germans who don’t like beer. So automatically, he gets knocked down a few points. In addition, for a fine dining restaurant, they have a lousy beer list. If I were the owner of a fine dining establishment, dark or not, I would’ve made sure everything was high quality. There’s just no excuse, especially in San Francisco where there is a robust craft beer scene. The only beer of note is Anchor Steam but the rest are the same seven in every other bar. As a result, I drank wine.

After arriving, the three of us were given menus to which we can choose our meals. I chose to be completely surprised and I let the hostess pick my meal. While waiting for our waitress, a representative from CitySearch.com interviewed us about why we were there. When I last searched, there weren’t any videos up yet but I’m not holding my breath.

The staff of Opaque let us wait just outside the entrance to the dining area. It’s a small space with only a few ottoman style chairs and small, glass coffee tables. The doorway to the dining area is pitch black. You can hear the noises and conversations of the diners within but you couldn’t see anything. That is, afterall, the point. It was then our blind waitress Suna appeared out of the dark to lead us to our table. It all hits home at this point, fine dining from a blind person’s perspective.

Forming a single file line with one hand on each other’s shoulders, we entered the dining area. What I thought was a straight shot was actually a short series of cutbacks necessary to keep out the dim lighting of the waiting area out. Suna’s voice is firm and reassuring, it has to be. The total darkness of the dining area is disorienting and uncomfortable. I can easily understand why Suna is continually asking us if we’re alright.

As with many restaurants, we are given bread and butter to tide us over while the first course is being prepared. Having all of my senses, the little things that I take for granted are instantly magnified a hundred-fold when my sight has been taken away. For example, I grab a piece of bread and butter it with what I believe to be a butter knife. I take a bite of the bread only to realize I have seriously over buttered my bread. The ratio is totally off. It would’ve been more accurate to say I “breaded my butter”.

It got better as the night wore on but the learning curve was steep. My hands effectively became my eyes as I used my hands to map the table dimensions and location of my plate, utensils and beverages. After about an hour, I had learned where everything was and eating was becoming much easier.

Our eyesight accounts for 80% of our sensory stimuli. That’s a huge friggin’ percentage! Up until our food arrived, I was having trouble adjusting to the total darkness, so much so my eyes began to hurt as they strained to find even the smallest shred of light. Maybe it was having something to preoccupy me or a refocusing of my senses but once our food arrived, my eyes stopped hurting. I have cousins who sleep with their eyes open. It’s strange to watch them sleep because even though you know they’re sleeping, they’re watching you back. If you know someone who sleeps with their eyes open, you know how their eyes look and that’s how I felt my eyes had become by the end of dinner. I could feel my eyelids partially open as my body had adjusted to the darkness.

The food was fantastic. Everything tasted wonderful and felt good. I can’t say the food looked good because I obviously couldn’t see it but it sure felt good on the plate. I know this, literally, first hand. I figured that it’s pitch black, no one can see me, so I ate with my hands. While many people consider it unclean, I find eating with my hands gives me an intimate relationship and understanding of my food that utensils will never give me. It’s an acceptable thing do to in my culture. Besides, it’s only unclean if you don’t wash your hands and I made sure to have done so before dinner.

Here’s a quick bulleted list of our meal. It was supposed to be 3 courses but they added in a few things to keep us guessing:

• Mouth Tease - Chunk of smoked salmon, ginger and risotto (I think) served on a tablespoon. It is a tease, afterall.
• Baby Arugula with Ruby Red Grapefruit, Laura Chenel Goat Cheese, Toasted Walnuts and a Champagne Vinaigrette (description taken from the Opaque website). This was a good salad. I tried to be civilized and use my salad fork but after a few dropped pieces of food, I gave up on “fine eating” and used my hands.
• Vegetable plate consisting of brocollini, red bell peppers and celery served with wasabi creme fresh, a curry-based dipping sauce and red pepper aioli.
• Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Puree, Roasted Broccolini Green Peppercorn Sauce, Truffle Butter (from website). I loves me some meat and this was an excellent meat plate. Man o’ man was that steak good. Eating mashed potatoes by hand is a very interesting thing.
• Bittersweet Chocolate Cake, Bing Cherries in Mint Sugar, Vanilla Whipped Cream (last course). This was more like those “lava cakes” where the inside is still piping hot and “raw” cake batter. So rich and gooey. I don’t have a sweet tooth to begin so I didn’t finish but that was some good dessert.

I would like to give props to our waitress Suna. She was one of the most attentive wait staff I have ever had. She was there often enough to make sure we were good but never hovering just over our shoulders (She might’ve been, it’s dark, I can’t tell.). Suna is very personable as well. Turns out, she wasn’t always blind, she lost her eyesight some time back. What really trips me out about her is that she’s also a fashion designer. “Colors,” she says, “You never forget colors”. I look at her and I see what my options are should I loose my own eyesight.

Despite the endless rambling of dining in the dark using your hands, I did manage to have some good beer. When Danthy, Sammy and I first arrived, we chilled out at a bar called Jade which was right around the corner from Opaque. It was a warm day and I ordered the Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewing Company. While light, crisp, refreshing and flavorful, I found the beer to be “okay”. It’s a good beer but I felt the flavor profile wasn’t a good example of the style. The malt flavors didn’t taste of pilsner malt and the hop level was below even the low end of what is acceptable for the style. I suppose I’d order another pint of nothing else was around but thankfully, there was.

My next pint was only half a pint as they keg ran out of beer. I tasted Mt. Tam Pale Ale from Marin Brewing Company. This is an awesome beer and I kick myself in the ass for passing on it soo many times at the BevMo. Mt. Tam, please accept my apology and I vow from hereto forth, to never ignore you again. This pale ale has an awesome fruity, floral, citrusy, fresh hop aroma with a flavor to match. There is just enough malt flavor to support the hops but the hops are the starts in this beer. Jahmmy!

After dinner, we headed back to Jade to hang out a little bit more. Sammy had ordered the Pt. Reyes Porter, also from Marin Brewing Company while I drank the Alaskan IPA. I enjoyed the Alaskan IPA. I found the aromas to be very pleasant, a good mix of malt sweetness and hop character with an emphasis on the hops. An excellent precursor to the taste. The IPA had pronounced hop flavors and strong hop bitterness with medium malt characteristics. As good as this beer was, I think I enjoyed the Mt. Tam even more.

Sammy’s Pt. Reyes porter was a great tasting beer as well. Sammy doesn’t really like the dark beers such as porters and stouts. They are not sweet enough for her and the roastiness of some porters and stouts overwhelm her palette sometimes. She liked the Pt. Reyes though. As Sammy put it, “This tastes like chocolate espresso coffee. It’s bittersweet and chocolatey.”

All in all, this was an evening to remember. Dining in the dark at Opaque is an experience I would readily recommend to people who enjoy good food and new experiences. Keep in mind though, it’s a prix fixe menu. I found the $99/person price point a bit steep, especially if it’s just for the food. Because of the combination of food and experience, I found the price worthwhile. I would recommend you wash your hands before dinner and to avoid wearing white if you plan on eating with utensils. There’s a good chance you’ll get food someplace you weren’t expecting. I would hope that Ben would look at Opaque holistically. If he’s going for a fine dining restaurant, everything should be “fine dining”, including your beer list. Jade is also a cool place to hang out with some good beers on tap.

If you do go to Opaque, I’d love to hear about your experiences. I love reading comments.

This time, I finally got my dates right. Last night was the tapping of Gordon Biersch’s new seasonal brew, Sommerfest. Gordon Biersch describes Sommerfest as a “Kölsch style pale ale”. It is a brilliantly clear, straw/pale gold colored beer with a white, moussey head. I found the aromas to be subtle but I felt the malt aromas to be slightly more dominant than the low hop aromas. I found the flavor of Sommerfest tended to lean more to the malt side of the spectrum with low hop flavor and bitterness. If my memory serves me correct, I found this beer to have been a little sweet as well. The finish was refreshing and crisp. With a med to med-lo body and a med to med hi carbonation level, this is an easy drinking beer, perfectly suited for the summer season from which it gets it’s name.

When I compare what I remember Sommerfest to the BJCP guidelines for a kölsch style, I find the Sommerfest fall short on a couple of points. First, I thought the hop bitterness level of the beer was a little low. I’m not expecting it to be on the level of a pale ale or even a pilsner, but when a beer is described a “sublte Pilsner”, I would expect it to have a little more hop bitterness and flavor. This makes me wonder if the hop shortage has forced the GB brewers to change up their recipes a little bit and make a less hoppy beer. I also felt that the sweetness level of the beer was higher than expected. I anticipated this beer to have been fully attenuated and a little on the dry side.

Overall though, I found this beer to be very refreshing and flavorful beer. For the most part, Sommerfest hits all the main points for the style. Still, I can’t help but wonder what a true kölsch from Köln, Germany tastes like. From all accounts, we get close to the real deal but not quite there yet.

This tapping has been the busiest of the year so far. Sammy and I arrived there at around 6:30pm and thankfully the line for Sommerfest was relatively short. It wasn’t until we two-fisted our way to the table where our friends were that I realized how long the line had gotten behind us. For a while, it seemed to stretch on for almost the length of the outdoor patio area. Brewmaster Dan Satterthwaite and another GB employee were busy pouring for almost the entire two hours the event was on for. I wanted to chat with the but between the noise of the band and the people there, it was hard to have a decent conversation. At one point, they ran out of the plastic GB cups and started using their regular beer glasses. The upside was two-fold: a better container to drink the beer out of (yet not the recommended glassware) and larger pours.

The female wait staff working the outdoor patio during the tapping were all dressed up like the St. Paulie girl. This is the first time I’ve seen the GB wait staff in costume and I wasn’t complaining. Before the dinner rush set in, the mainly walked around the patio area handing out appetizers like pretzel bits with Dijon mustard, garlic fries and I even saw some pieces of pizza. In addition, we ordered their “spicy” wings as well as an order of fresh cut chips. The chips were very tasty but the wings were completely lacking any sort of (spice) heat. It’s not that they weren’t good tasting, just not spicy.

They’ve been using the same jazz trio to play these tappings, which is a good thing since they’re very entertaining. Every once in a while during their set, a “guest musician” would come on stage and play with them. That’s one of the reasons I’ve always found jazz to be an exciting genre of music as it gives everyone in the band a chance to be the center of attention. There’s a crazy amount of freedom with the style, yet it is always supported by a loose structure.

All in all, the tapping went very well. Gordon Biersch San Jose always does a good job with their tappings. The beer scene is pretty bad here in the south bay and to have a place like GB putting on an event like this is a good thing. While most people are admittedly there only for the free beers, they at the very least, are trying something they probably would never have bought themselves. And that, is a good thing.

As expected, the Sommerfest is a refreshing and highly drinkable beer with decent flavor. One of our friends summed it up best by saying, “If I’m going to be drinking a lighter beer, I might as well drink this. At least it has flavor”.

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.

I’ve been making it a point to search out breweries or brew pubs that I’ve never been too. It’s always interesting to see how each one is run, how they’re put together and, most importantly, how good their beers are. Seeing that I was going to be in San Francisco for the week at a conference, I decided to hit Thirsty Bear Brewing Company since it was within walking distance from Moscone West.

Thirst Bear Brewing Company (Thirsty Bear) is pretty non-descript from the outside. They have a sign that’s easily read from the road but their façade isn’t that wide. The most memorable thing about their location is that they’re often referred to as being “across the street from the Gold Club”.

I walked in and got a seat at the bar. Thirsty Bear has a well designed interior that is modern, spacious, industrial and warm all at the same time. In many ways, it reminds me of Gordon Biersch in downtown San Jose. Behind the long bar is the brewery portion separated from the restaurant by what looks like Plexiglas. All of their beers are written above the bar on individual chalkboards. Some of their beer carry are thematically named to match the name of the brewery as well as allude to what style of beer you’d be having. For instance, they have Polar Bear Lager and Brown Bear Ale. Not all of them are named in such a manner but it works out well.

Surprisingly, it’s a 50/50 chance that I’ll know more about beer and the brewing process than most of the people who work at brew pubs. For most people, it’s just a job, something that pays the bills. After some time, I’ve stopped expecting the people who work at a brew pub to know about their products in any great detail. So you can imagine my surprise when Patrick, the bartender, ends up knowing as much if not more about beer than me. Really, that’s how it’s supposed to be. I enjoy going to brew pubs where the people know more than me. It gives me an opportunity to learn.

Patrick, who used to work as the head sous chef at a brewery in Arizona, mentions they have a “Black Bear” schwartzbier on tap as their seasonal. Seasonal beers are great in the sense that they are usually fresh and tend to be more interesting than the regular beers on tap.

Thirsty Bear’s Black Bear schwartzbier pours an opaque black. The head is tan, not long lasting but leaves some nice lacing on the glass. The aroma is roasty and clean. As the beer warms up, sweet malt aromas start to show up in the bouquet. How a beer smells is a very good precursor to how it will taste and this was no exception. Roasty, grainy notes hit my palette first followed by coffee-like flavors characteristics. Hop flavor and bitterness is low, just enough to remind me this is still a beer. Black Bear is medium bodied with medium-low carbonation and a dry, clean finish. I found the beer to be good tasting, refreshing for a roasty beer with characteristic lager finish.

Based upon Patrick’s recommendation, I order the hangar steak burger. When my sandwich arrives, I find the steak to be on the pink side but that’s just how I like it. While I didn’t take much notes on the steak, I did try it with the Black Bear schwartzbier and found the flavor combination to be a pleasant one. The char on the steak was echoed more prominently by the roastiness of the beer. The only thing that threw me off was the inclusion of the blue cheese in the burger. As you may (or may not) know, blue cheese has a very distinct flavor, it’s strong and rustic yet tasty. I found the blue cheese overwhelmed the burger a little and overpowered the beer. Had I known, I’d have ordered the burger with the blue cheese on the side. On the plus side, the garlic fries were extra crispy but not overwhelmingly garlicy.

When I first got to the bar, one of the chalkboard signs above mentioned “cask-conditioned beers $3” on Tuesday. Lucky for me, it was Tuesday. The guy who set up the firkin was the same guy who poured Thirsty Bear’s offering at the Firkin Festival in Berkeley a few weeks back. Similar to then, the cask-conditioned beer was their Kozlov Vanilla Stout.

The Kozlov Vanilla Stout poured out black, with a long lasting tan head. Good lacing was left behind as it slowly dissipated. I was getting roasty notes from the aroma, not unlike the schwartzbier, only more so. The vanilla, placed directly into the firkin to soak for about two weeks, played a more subtle role and was in the background of the beer’s aroma. I was picking up roasty flavors as well as a strong chocolaty character. The vanilla, once again, played a supporting role. I’d like to think that the vanilla actually reinforced the chocolate notes I was getting in the flavor. As the beer warmed up, I started to pick up some wood flavors and aroma but to Patrick’s knowledge, no wood was used in the maturing of this beer. Despite being low in carbonation, the vanilla stout had a creamy, smooth mouthfeel with a moderately low level of roasted grain sharpness. Although I did notice a slight tartness in this beer, a characteristic that is both uncommon and usually unwanted. Overall, I found this beer to have good flavor and subtlety while remaining drinkable.

Thirsty Bear is a good brew pub with good food and knowledgeable staff. I was only able to try three of their beers, two of which I took tasting notes on. If those three are any indication of the rest of their beers, then I can safely say Thirsty Bear Brewing Company makes good beer. With the exception of the vanilla stout, there was nothing exceptional about their beers, which could be a double edged sword. On hand, I doubt anyone would be disappointed with any of their offerings. On the other hand, there was nothing ultra-memorable about them. I would attribute this to the type of crowd they service. Like me, most are corporate types or convention goers out on lunch. We corporate types aren’t necessarily the most demanding of beer aficionados so these well crafted beers are easy drinking hoping to appeal to a wide audience. I can respect that. Given Thirsty Bear’s geography and proximity to many business it would be bad business to brew aggressive beers that appeal only to “hardcore” beer lovers and not the casual beer drinker.

One thing I forgot to mention was that Thirsty Bear’s beers are certified organic. This means all their beers’ raw ingredients have come from producers who practice sustainable farming and who don’t use any chemicals in the farming of their crops. So, if you find yourself over in San Francisco attending a convention at the Moscone Center, I would recommend Thirsty Bear Brewing Company for some finely crafted, certified organic beers and food.

Dogfish Head at Toronado Click to View Gallery

Admittedly, my curiosity is what brought me to Toronado last night. I have head a lot of positive things about Dogfish Head beers and I wanted to know if there was any substance to the hype. Living in San Jose, it’s a bit of a drive up to San Francisco for a Monday night’s worth of drinking. It can get pretty difficult enough doing this on a weekend, but a Monday? I just hoped it would’ve been worth the effort.

I can honestly say that it was *so* worth the drive up.

As it is with most places in San Francisco, parking is a bitch. We spent a good 20 minutes cruising the immediate neighborhood looking for a spot. I’d either miss an opening or the spots I did find were too small for my pick-up truck. This time, I kept my composure and we eventually found a spot only a block away.

Unsurprisingly, Sammy and I walked into Toronado and found it packed to the rafters. While not as bad as their Barleywine event, it still took a bit of effort to make our way to the back area. Similar to the Barleywine event, they Toronado opened up an adjacent room usually reserved for storage and special events, such as tonight.

We must have ordered our beers at the peak of demand as it took a while for the bartender to get to us. As in driving and looking for a parking spot, patience was the name of the game. Not wanting to waste the bartender’s time, we Sammy and I ordered a flight of Dogfish Head beers, the Chateau Jiahu, Immort Ale, and the Old School Barleywine. At the front of the adjacent room Sammy and I retreated to were plates of three cheeses designed to pair with the flight of beers we had taken. Unfortunately, I didn’t write the name of the cheeses down. Good thing William Brand has them written down on his blog.

To be completely honest, I didn’t take any notes on how the beers tasted with their associated cheeses. There were many reasons for this, the primary being I was having a good time. It’s hard to “work” at these events where you are thoroughly enjoying yourself, the beers you have on hand and the people you are with. Here are my tasting notes of the beers we tried. Unless noted, all these beers are from Dogfish Head:

• Chateau Jiahu: Wow! Poured and opaque gold not unlike a hefeweizen. I didn’t get too much from the nose but the flavors were fabulous. The beer was tart enough to get your mouth watering but not so much to have you puckering like a fish. There was a noticeable fruit sweetness that wasn’t cloying or overpowering. Creamy mouthfeel. Derived from residues found from 9000 year old preserved pottery in Jiahu, Northern China, this beer has been reformulated with rice flakes, wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, malted barley, hawthorn fruit and Chrysanthemum flowers and fermented with sake yeast. As interesting a beer experience as it gets! Paired with Berkswell Cheese, a sheep’s cheese from England.
• Olde School Barleywine: Robust malt aromas supported by a floral characteristic with a little bit of alcohol on the nose. It’s surprisingly smooth, which doesn’t bode well for the uninformed of its 15% ABV. Paired with Fiscalini Bandaged Cheddar from Modesto.
• Immort Ale: Noticeable smoke on the nose and in the flavor, yet different than a traditional rauchbier. We found this beer to be balanced in flavor, although biased toward the malt side of the beer flavor spectrum. Noticeable alcohol on the nose as well. After coming back home and looking this beer up on the Dogfish Head website, it turns out their barley was smoked with peat. Juniper berries, vanilla and maple syrup were included and fermented with a combination of Belgian and English yeasts. Oak aged. Paired with Isle of Mull cheddar from Isle of Mull, Scotland.
• 90-Minute IPA: Completely unlike any other IPA I have ever tasted. It had a great floral nose. Despite the nose, this beer has an extraordinarily smooth hop bitterness. I mean, if you didn’t know this beer had a 90 IBU rating, you’d think it was in the pale ale range. It’s a big beer to boot with 9% ABV. Another “wow” beer.
• Midas Touch Golden Elixir: Marketed by Dogfish Head as the oldest-known fermented beverage in the world. Like the Jiahu, this beer was formulated from residues found in drinking vessels from King Midas’ tomb (hence the name). We found this beer to have very low hop flavors and aromas while having a pronounced grainy flavor. It’s a sweet beer, having mead-like qualities. This could be considered as another “wow” beer but after having the Jiahu first, Midas Touch Golden Exiler’s thunder may have been stolen. Still another fine, tasty beer.
• Palo Santo Marron: Roasty porter-like beer. Definite wood on the nose and in the flavors. Probably my least favorite of the evening but a good beer nonetheless. The Dogfish Head websites lists this beer as “an unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels”. Palo Santo is an exotic Paraguayan wood from which the tanks were crafted from.
• Roddenback Grand Cru: Sour ale brewed in the Flanders Red style. This beer immediately smells like vinegar but tastes anything but. We found this beer to be more tart than sour, with the tartness coming from lactic acid. It poured dark with little head.

Of course, one of the highlights of the event was getting to meet Sam Calagione himself. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the guy. I mean, in the brewing industry, he is a bit of a rock star. I don’t ever recall a moment that night when Sam wasn’t in conversation with someone. Judging by the body language, it all seemed to be light-hearted in nature. Still, I was a bit nervous in approaching him. I wondered what I would say or even breach the conversation he was in. Even before I could come up with a plan, Sam beat me to it by approaching me first. That pretty much set the tone for the entire evening. I found Sam to be very down to earth, approachable, affable and generally fun guy. Sam had an ease and charisma to him that put people at ease. Having done formal speaking engagements and other such structured events, he mentioned he felt most at home in a bar.

What impressed me most about Sam was his ability to remember everyone’s name. I, admittedly, am horrible at remembering people’s names. Imagine being in Sam’s shoes, you are the center of attention at a bar where everyone wants to get their two cents in or ask their questions. It’s easy to remember his name because he’s the star, the man of the moment but throughout the night, whenever he would pass by or I would see him, he always remembered my name. I wish I could say I left some sort of lasting impression on Sam but he did this with everyone. It just shows me how much attention he pays to the people he speaks to and on how well he’s crafted his interpersonal skills to be able to remember people’s names. Very impressive.

The other, arguably, greater highlight of the evening was the many connections Sammy and I made. While meeting Sam and finally sampling Dogfish Head beers made the trip worthwhile, meeting new people and connecting with them made the event memorable. It’s not too often you can go, pretty much cold turkey, to a beer event and have such wonderful conversations. Many thanks to Cassandra, Brian, Kristian, Craig, Christen, Betsy and Joshua for making what was already a good event, an awesome event.

2008 World Cup Afterparty Click to view gallery

The Bay Area Mashers held their 2008 World Cup Homebrew finals March 29, 2008 at Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley, California. Even though I didn’t have any entries, the wife and I decided to drive up to Trumer to see how a homebrew competition is run. A few people from the BJCP class were going up so we’d know a few people, at least.

I had no idea what to expect. We arrived at Trumer and followed the signs to the after party. With the gate open, Samboun and I waltz right in and made ourselves at home. There was a fine selection of homebrew on tap along with a keg of Trumer Pilsner donated by the host company. Having never been to Trumer before, I expected them to be a brew pub but found they were a production brewery… that brewed only one style of beer, pilsner. Of the homebrews on tap that were being served, I enjoyed the witbier most, followed by the Trumer pils, then the 14% wheatwine* someone kegged later on in the day. Samboun especially enjoyed the wheatwine.

So far, Sammy and I have attended various beer festivals but this is the first time we’ve been to a homebrew competition. Usually at beer festivals, we get a chance to meet and talk to some interesting people who are primarily interested in drinking as much beer as possible. At this homebrew competition after party, we got to meet and talk to some interesting people who are primarily interested in drinking as much beer as possible… that they brewed themselves. It’s an interesting distinction in that these are people who have an intimate relationship with beer as both a consumer and producer. They are well aware of most aspects of beer making and of tasting. Sure, a lot of them ended up getting drunk nonetheless but at least they were very selective about it.

We got to the point where the organizers began to announce the winners of the 2008 World Cup Competition. What I completely didn’t expect (but should have) was the announcement of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from all 26 styles of beer. That’s a lot of writing and my little pencil and pocket notebook were not up to the task. I wish I could have a complete list of winners from each category but I don’t. Likewise, Samboun got tired of taking pictures of all the winners. She did get a couple of good shots including the winner of “Best of Show”. I must say that members of DOZE (Diablo Organization of Zymiracle Enthusiasts) where runaway winners of this competition. To say they dominated the field would be putting it lightly. I think they may have had a member place in almost each category. From what I was able to gather from the folks I spoke to, it was like this last year as well.The folks as Trumer Brauerei were kind enough to take the few of us who remained on a tour of their production facilities. I could sit here and write play-by-play coverage of the tour, but frankly, that would be boring to both you and me. Instead, click over to the event gallery gallery to view the pictures Samboun took of their facilities. Here are a few notes that I do remember:

• Surprising to maybe just me, Trumer only brews a pilsner. I would have expected a production brewery to make more than one kind of beer but they only do a pilsner. A very good one, in fact.
• The Trumer Brauerei location in Berkeley used to be a Pyramid production brewrey.
• Trumer has a production capacity of 50 barrels at a time. This is the largest capacity I’ve seen to date but I was reminded that the Anheuser-Busch breweries measure their capacities in the hundreds of barrels.
• They can fill a keg (15.5 gallon) in about a minute.
• They have a “pet” black widow that lives somewhere around the kegging machine.
• The Trumer guys are really cool and answered all of our questions.

By the end of the day, a few of the guys left were ready to head to Trappist for more beers but Samboun and I were going to call it a day. We had met some really interesting people (who I keep forgetting to email, sorry guys!) and we hope to see them around. Thanks to the Mashers for allowing us to crash their party, Trumer Brauerei for hosting the event and the cool people we talked to and/or met (Alex, John, Micah, the two Erichs, Crazy Jack and Adam).

I thought I’d try something new. I often go to breweries/brew pubs/brewery restaurants but I never get a chance to do any write ups about them. For starters, I’m usually busy drinking and that leaves me very little time to actually jot down some notes. Second, I’m there to have fun. As soon as I whip out the pen and pad to take notes, I start to have less fun and after a few minutes of “trying to be a serious journalist”, I give up and go back to drinking. Thankfully Faultline Brewery is just down the street from where I work and I was able to make a couple of trips in order to get this write up done.

It has been a week since I wrote about Faultline debuting their dunkelweizen. I was able to try that, their Belgian Trippel, and their India Pale Ale (IPA). The day before I was able to try their cask conditioned pale ale and their kölsch during lunch. I was only able to take notes on their cask-conditioned pale ale and dunkelweizen though.

For those of you who haven’t been to Faultline, they’re located in Sunnyvale, CA right off of Lawrence Expressway and Oakmead. They’re tucked in behind an apartment complex and a hotel in the middle of an industrial area. The brewery itself is a bit nondescript from the street. Luckily, they have a grain silo (I think) out front and their corner location makes them easy to find.

Located primarily in an industrial area, the Faultline’s building echos the industrial theme. There’s corrugated steel paneling on the outside of the building near what I believe is the grain silo (not sure if there’s really grain in there). The interior further echos the industrial theme with concrete floors, more corrugated steel paneling, beautifully exposed wood beams and visible duct work. Despite the industrial-ness of it all, the main dining area doesn’t feel cold at all. There’s a fair amount of light coming in from the huge windows and in one area of the dining area, you get a nice view of the artificial pond out back.

The brewery portion is showcased in an area directly behind the bar. It seems cramped but I’ve never been back there so I can’t say for sure. As many times as I’ve been there, I’ve only met the brewmaster once. From what I hear, he mainly works from Monday - Thursday. They make the majority of their money during the lunch hour and they pull in a fair amount during dinner. Being located in an industrial area means that the people who work around you are your biggest clients. As such, the brewery is closed on weekends but you can book them for private parties.

The first beer I tried was their cask conditioned pale ale. Most beers at breweries are forced carbonated, which means that carbonation is added artificially to the beer. Cask conditioning on the other hand is a beer that is allowed to go through a secondary fermentation to develop its carbonation naturally. The “cask” is simply the container the beer is allowed to ferment in a second time, usually a steel keg. Cask conditioned beers generally are less carbonated than their non-cask conditioned counterparts and are usually served slightly warmer as well. Cask conditioning is more of nod toward traditional brewing methods and some would argue that cask conditioned beers tastes much better than their forced carbonated counterparts.

I found this beer to have earthy, rustic hop aromas with a soft malt aroma compliment. I also noticed a little bit of funkiness to the beer reminiscent of cheese. Slight sourness in the aromas as well. The beer pours out a surprisingly clear dark gold-amber color with an off-white head that doesn’t last very long. The beer has a mild hop flavor and smooth hop bitterness, just enough to balance out the subdued malt flavors. Strangely, I am getting what appears to be lactic acid sourness in the flavor profile. As the beer warmed up, the sourness became more prominent. The cask conditioned pale ale was medium bodied with low carbonation. I got a slight puckering sensation from the sourness.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from a cask conditioned beer. Based solely upon the flavor profile, I think the brewer was going for an English style pale ale and when you look at the rest of the beers on tap, it makes sense. I’ve had some decent english pale ales that weren’t cask conditioned and I like the style. English beers tend to be well balanced, subtle and complex all at the same time. I was expecting all of that plus a little bit more character because of the cask conditioning. What I didn’t expect was the sourness, which for the style, is an off-flavor. The beer was served from an authentic beer engine so I’m guessing that the sourness didn’t come from dirty tap lines. The only other reason was the beer could’ve had an infection or may it was on the downhill side of good. Generally, cask conditioned ales have a shelf life of only a few days. I finished my pint but didn’t order another one. Maybe when it’s fresher this beer would’ve tasted much better but I think it was over a week old by the time I was able to try one.
The second beer I was able to take notes on was the dunkelweizen. Almost literally translating into “dark wheat beer”, the dunkelweizen is very similar to a hefeweizen. They have similar aromas and flavors but there are distinct differences. Malt characteristics should be noticeable in the aroma and flavor of the beer. As the name suggests the beer is darker in appearance as well. I enjoy this style of beer for the added complexity the malt brings to the table. After drinking lots and lots of hefeweizens, this is a pleasant, slight change of pace.

I’m not sure if they do this all the time for their beer debuts but when I ordered the dunkelweizen, we got a free pint glass for doing so. It’s nothing special, just a pint glass with the Faultline logo but I admit it was one of the reasons why I went. The beer pours out a hazy brown color with an off-white head. The aromas from this beer are a mix of fruity esters such as bananas and clove coupled with a subdued malt character. Generally speaking, most beers will taste very similar to how they smell and this beer was no exception. The banana and clove flavors are apparent but less so than a traditional hefeweizen. Those flavors are balanced out by a bready, grainy, Munich/Vienna malt character. There is very little (if any) noticeable hop flavor or bitterness. The traditional yeasty flavors round out the rest of the palette. The mouthfeel is medium bodied but could be experienced as thicker because of the proteins and yeasts still in suspension. I found my beer to be fairly well carbonated.

Overall, a very decent beer that is to style. It has a good level of drinkability and if you like hefeweizens I would recommend this beer to you. When compared to the traditional Faultline hefeweizen, the dunkelweizen has less of the fruity aromas and flavors but that is balanced out by the malt characteristics. I must say that I was expecting this beer to have more malt character than it did. I wanted more malt on the nose and in the flavors but that’s the beauty of beer! This beer is to style but it’s interpreted in the way the brewer finds most appealing. When it comes down to it, I’d order another pint.

Here’s a quick list of the other beers I tried with quick notes:

• Kölsch - Entry level beer. Closest thing they have to an American Pale lager. This beer could’ve had more fruity esters and more malt character to it for my liking. It is light, refreshing and easy to drink though. Like I said, it’s their entry-level beer. I don’t think I’d order another one unless it was blistering hot outside.
• Belgian Tripel - I enjoyed this beer. It’s a tripel which means it’s higher alcohol content makes this a sipper. The characteristic Belgian flavors are apparent and the fruit notes are more muted than in other versions I’ve tried. That being said, I found it to be one of their better beers. I’d order another glass.
• IPA - Good hop flavor and bitterness for an English version of the IPA. There’s a good balance between the malt and hops with an obvious favoring of the hop end of the taste spectrum. This beer is very much to style but don’t order it if you’re used to American IPAs because this will feel muted by comparison. I’d order another one.

In addition to the good beers, the restaurant portion of the brewery makes very good food. Having dinner here one time, I shared an entrée with my wife and the staff was kind enough to split it into two plates for us. I thought they had made a mistake as the split portions looked to be plates unto themselves. Generally I find the wait staff to be courteous and prompt and the location as a whole is well kept. They make most of their money during the lunch hour where corporate drones such as myself wander in for a pint before heading back to the grind. Dinner service features a simpler menu but the majority of folks are there for “happy hour” and mingle around the bar. It’s a very professional crowd of people.

If you’re in the area, Faultline is a very good brewery that specializes more in English variations of beer style. The result are beers of deceptive simplicity but restrained complexity and ultimately, easy drinkability. Being located in what is predominantly an industrial area may have had an effect on the beer philosophy of the place that touches all aspects from architecture to appetizers to beer. The beers are appropriately priced but the food ranges in the $11 - $25 range for entrées.

If you’re planning on going, let me know and hopefully I’ll be able to join you!

This past week the class covered the Amber Hybrid and Belgian ale styles. I forget now but at the time, I remember contemplating whether or not I should go to class. I am very glad that I decided to go as the Belgian ale portion of the class was really enjoyable. Talk about complexities! There’s a lot of beer going on in the Belgian ales. You could, literally, take an entire college semesters going over just Belgian ales. While there are a few broad categories, the sheer number of variations within those categories is staggering.

We’re talking about a country where beer is as much a part of the national diet as soda is for the United States. Sure, Germany has long been known for being the “beer capital” of the world but I think the ales that Belgium produces have so much going on and are consistent. There’s the subdued malts and hop flavors, the fruity esters and spiciness, the aromas and flavors… wow. Good stuff.

I know I used to do do individual beer reviews but they took a lot of time and effort. I get… reviewed out by the end of class and by then, I just really want to crack open a cold one for the sake of enjoyment and not because I have to work on it. I’ll bring the individual reviews back after the BJCP classes are over but for now, here are my tasting notes from class.

13th Annual Fairfax Brewfest 2008 click for photo gallery

With the weather threatening to put a damper on the day, Sammy and I make the drive up to Fairfax to attend their 13th Annual Brewfest. It was well worth the drive up as we got a chance to visit a part of California we’ve never been to as well as try out new beers and hopefully meet new people.

The brewfest was held in the Pavilion, located in downtown Fairfax on top of a hill. It’s a red, mulitipurpose building that suited the festival well. Despite being an enclosed building, the wide floorspace was open. The crowds concentrated mainly around the breweries and there was enough open space to be able to get around relatively easy. After experiencing both the Double IPA Festival and the Barleywine Festival, it’s nice to be in a venue where you can walk around freely.

Pleasantly unexpected, we ran into Brandon whom we met at the Double IPA Festival. It was through his email that I found out about the Fairfax Brewfest so I thank him for passing on the information regarding the event. I wasn’t expecting to see Brandon until the upcoming Firkin Festival in Berkeley because it’s closer to his neck of the woods. One good deed done ends up coming back to you as Brandon ended up winning a raffle with the prize being a box of Clif bars. Coincidentally, the Clif bar people are staring their own winery as well.

While I’m at it, I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Richard Pedemonte for passing on the information about the Brewfest. All the information came directly from the Director of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately for me, I never got a chance to thank him in person. Thankfully, my wife was able to find him and thank him on our behalf.

I had wanted to get to the Brewfest a little early in hope of chatting up the different breweries that were in attendance. It’s always nice to meet new people in the industry and maybe pick their brains a bit regarding some of the future topics I am interested in writing about. Since we were late, it was close to impossible to hold anyone’s attention but I was lucky enough to have spoken with the Jeremy, the New Belgium representative. It turns out the company moved him out to California and he works as the Norcal “Beer Ranger”. Even though it was a bit short, I just wanted to thank Jeremy for his email and I look forward to meeting up with him again soon.

Continuing on in my tradition of poor reporting, I bring you my list of beers Sammy and I tried between the two of us.

• Beach Chalet - Saison*
• Broken Drum - Double IPA
• Black Diamone - Belgian Blonde
• Lagunitas - Gnarleywine*
• New Belgium - Mothership Wit*
• Triple Rock - Pinnacle Pale Ale
• Marin Brewing Company - Hefeweizen
• Lagunitas - Czech Pilsner*
• Iron Springs - Brown Ale
• Broken Drum - Golden Lager

One of the brewfest staff members announced the fan favorite winners in three categories. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t write them down but Richard proved to be invaluable by supplying the the results via email. Here they are:

Lagers

1. Broken Drum - Golden lager
2. Magnolia Kolsch

Pale Ale

1. Broken Drum Hop Head Double IPA
2. Iron Springs IPA

Dark Beer

1. Triple Rock Stonehenge
2. Marin Brewing Pt Reyes Porter

I mentioned to Richard that my only critique of the Brewfest was the apparent lack of vendors when it came to food. Other than the Sausage and Garlic Fry place in the back, there wasn’t anyone else. Richard informed me there were sandwiches earlier on but I guess Sammy and I missed them because we arrived late.

Sammy and I ended the day by taking a leisurely stroll about town. We visited a toy shop, a garden sculpture shop and the corner taqueria for a bite before we headed out of town. The 13th Annual Fairfax Brewfest was enjoyable and I look forward to coming back next year.

* Denotes a favorite of either Sammy or myself.