BetterBeerBlog

I have lived in the Bay Area for all the important years of my life and I hadn’t heard about Jack’s Brewing up until, maybe, last year. I found them through The Beer Mapping Project website about a year ago when researching what breweries and/or brewpubs I could visit that were in the East Bay. You’d think that I would’ve heard about them through advertising or by word of mouth but it never happened. I promised myself that I would eventually visit the place and do a review.

Interview with Will Ericson, Jack’s Brewing Company brewmaster

When Sammy and I pulled into a parking spot near the entrance of Jacks, I noticed a solitary figure sitting out in their patio space. For whatever reason, I had a feeling that person was Will Ericson, brewmaster at Jacks Brewing. Not sure what it was that gave him away: the laid back demeanor, the copy of Celebrator magazine in his hand, the Jack’s Brewing t-shirt or perhaps the hostess pointing towards him when I asked, “Is Will around?”. I suppose I will never know.

Background

Will comes to Jack’s Brewing with a wealth of brewing experience. Upon receiving his formal brewing education from the Brewers Guild, he cut his teeth working at Butterfield Brewing Company (now Sequoia Brewing Company), Golden Pacific Brewing, Mammoth Brewing Company, Great Divide Brewing and, most recently, Moylan’s Brewing Company. Will even did a stint at Ironstone Vineyards. Not unlike Vinnie Cilurzo, Will took the position at Ironstone because they had expressed interest in opening up their own brewery. Things didn’t work out the way Will had intended because Ironstone ended up purchasing another winery.

Will started working at Jacks on May 1st of this year. Prior to Jack’s, Will worked at Moylan’s Brewing Company. While he had nothing but good things to say about his experience at Moylan’s, Will jumped at the chance to be the head brewer at Jack’s because there’s nothing like the challenge of being the head brewer. Moylan’s, he says, is pretty much set on their beers. Everything is dialed in and there’s not much creatively a brewer can do. Will’s marching orders were pretty simple: brew great beer and brew enough for two locations. Wait… what? Two? I’ll get to this in a minute.

Brewing Philosophy

Will’s brewing philosophy can be summed up with the phrase complexity through simplicity. It’s not too difficult to add $20,000 worth of hops to a beer and call it complex. The true challenge, Will believes, is to take a few, high-quality ingredients and brew up something deceptively sophisticated and nuanced. The complexity lies in the brewer’s skill to coax out as much from the few ingredients he is using. In fact, this is something he kept coming back to, the idea of simplicity. It struck me as going against the grain. Many brewers I’ve had the chance to speak with are all about adding things to their beers, which isn’t a bad thing. Who doesn’t want more hops in a beer? Who isn’t interested in a barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout? Will is the first guy to have said he wants to keep things simple and use just a few, choice ingredients.

Challenge was another things Will kept bringing up when talking about his brewing philosophy. He seemed like the kind of man who relishes a challenge; whether it be becoming the head brewer of a small brewpub or coaxing the most out of his recipes. He spoke a lot about wanting to brew lighter colored beers because of their inherent difficulties. As any brewer can attest to, brewing a good light colored ale or lager is difficult because there’s no place to hide. If the brewer has messed up, you’ll know right away the brewer messed up.

Personally, I am excited to hear about this. His minimilist brewing style piques my interest and I am looking forward to tasting his latest brews to see if they stand up to his vision.

Future Plans

The owners of Jacks are expanding. In addition to their current Fremont location, they will be opening up a brew pub in San Ramon. The brew pub will have the facilities to brew beer on-site but the majority of the brewing will still be done in the Fremont location. The San Ramon location will have their pilot brewery, where their special and seasonal beers will be brewed.

Regulars (and non-regulars) of Jack’s Brewing should be excited to know that Will has been hard at work tweaking Jack’s current recipes. It will be a gradual change so as not to shock long-time fans but change is coming. In addition, Will is already planning an Anniversary beer for Jack’s that will be either a barleywine or doppelbock. The two beers couldn’t be more different but it both cases it sounds like it will be a big beer. Fans of barrel aged beers should take note as well. Will has purchased a couple of bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill Distillery for a future barrel aged beer. He didn’t give me a timeframe on when this would be brewed, let alone ready, but he has them. At this point, getting the San Ramon location up, running and self-sufficient is the priority. Finding a place for the barrels is second. I did offer my garage as a storage space but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Currently Jacks has a 10 BBL brewhouse built by Bohemian Brothers. Wrapped in beautiful copper, the Bohemian Brothers brew system was designed to be compact and work in smaller spaces. Will is limited in his production by the 4 fermentation and serving tanks. He would like to make more and different types of beer but having 4 taps is limiting his production.

Speaking of beers, here is a list of the beers Jack’s currently has on tap: IPA, Boys of Summer Wheat*, Apricot Mango, Hardwood Pale Ale, Grid Iron Amber Ale, Extra Special Bitter (ESB), Penalty Shot Porter and Hefeweizen*. The IPA was surprisingly easy to drink, showed balance and had an adequate amount of hop character, flavor and bitterness. The Pale Ale was also easy to drink and balanced. The Apricot Mango beer had a great aroma but could’ve been a little more complex in it’s flavor, while the Penalty Porter has a deep, roasted malt flavor and aroma that was reminiscent of coffee and dark chocolate. Overall, their beers are good but now that I have a base, I am looking forward to seeing the changes Will has in mind for some of these beers.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Travis from www.sudsorduds.com for his new gig. I may be spoiling things a bit but Travis will be working at Jacks Brewing in Fremont as an assitant brewer. It’s a career change for him but he has a passion for beer and that will only help him in his new career. Second, I’d like to thank Travis for hooking me up with this opportunity. Because of his newfound Jacks Brewing connection, I was able to visit Jacks Brewing and get an interview with their new brewmaster Will Ericson. Lastly, a good number of the photos in this post were taken by Travis.

On the way up to The Good One Santa Rosa Beer fest, Sammy and I decided to stop by Hopmonk in Sebastopol for a late lunch. This isn’t the first time I’ve been to Hopmonk, I sorta forgot to write about it the first time. Anyway, Hopmonk is a craft beer bar/restaurant/music venue that is owned by Dean Biersch. If that name sounds familiar, it should as Dean is the “Biersch” part of Gordon Biersch Brewing Company. Having sold off his share of the brewery quite a few years ago, Dean had been absent from the world of craft beer for several years. Hopmonk is his latest foray back into the world of craft beer.

Located in Sebastopol, Hopmonk is in a building that looks like it once could’ve served the railroad industry. I say this because it’s kinda barnyard-ish in shape but the most telling feature is that it is built on a raised foundation. At this point it’s just speculation. We walked inside and made a bee line right for the bar. The main dining area of Hopmonk holds about a dozen or so booths for slightly larger parties while the rest of the seating is made up of 2-3 person tables. The bar is located on the left side of the building while the kitchen on the opposite side. Hopmonk has about 13 beers on tap featuring house beers such as kellerbier, tavern ale, dunkelweizen as well as other breweries such as Gordon Biersch, New Belgium, North Coast, Moonlight and Firestone Walker just to name a few. Their bottle selection is very nice as well featuring beers from Franziskaner, Napa Smith and Anderson Valley.

Behind the bar is Shannon. She takes our order, Belgian-style mussels and fries for me and salmon for Sammy. As for our beers, I order the Kellerbier while Sammy has Lil Opal from Firestone Walker.

Kellerbier, Hopmonk, 5.3% ABV

Kellerbier pours out a cloudy, gold in color with a fluffy white head. There is an earthy and spicy character to the hop aroma and flavor that is backed by a biscuity malt character that is also apparent in the aroma and flavor. Kellerbier has a medium hop bitterness not unlike a pale ale. This beer is medium bodied and has a prickly carbonation level. The mouthfeel is slightly dry yet refreshing.

A kellerbier is essentially a beer brought up from the cellar while still hazy. At least that what it says on their website. More simply stated, it is an unfiltered pilsner. If you’ve had a German-style pilsner in the past, this beer will be similar but “unfinished” because it’s not filtered. Personally, I like the change in pace of this beer. All the pilsner character you like in the style but unrefined, raw if you will.

Lil Opal, Firestone Walker, 4.3% ABV

Lil Opal is cloudy and a slightly lighter gold color than the kellerbier. It also has a white head. The aroma is sweet-ish with honey-like notes with some fruit esters thrown in for good measure. There is no discernable, at least to my palette, hop aroma. Malt flavor is sweet, wheat-like with a slight spiciness and yeasty finish. There is also some fruit notes that I cannot put my finger on. This is a medium-light bodied beer with medium carbonation.

Lil Opal is an interesting beer. You can download the full info sheet here. For those of you who can’t be bothered, I can give a quick overview. Firestone Walker brews a wheat wine they call Big Opal. Instead of letting the remaining malt go towards cattle feed, the brewers are Firestone Walker decided to brew a beer from the second runnings and ferment the wort made from those runnings with a Saison yeast. The process is a bit more complicated than I make it out to be but who really cares how they made it as long as they made it good, right? Sammy and I both enjoyed this beer.

When our food arrived, Sammy and I cut the chatter and grubbed down. We left San Jose a little late and were famished. I’d have to say my mussels and fries dish was absolutely delicious. The mussels were cooked well, not at all rubbery if they were overcooked. The star of this dish was the sauce the mussels were steamed in. Full of flavors. The garlic fries that came with the dish were great as well. Sammy’s salmon dish was a very good dish as well. Also very flavorful but I only had small bites and I couldn’t really comment on the quality of this dish. The only bad thing about our food, my dish in particular, was that they didn’t serve it with any bread. I could’ve used a few slices to sop up the remaining soup in from my dish.

In addition to the main dining area, Hopmonk also features a spacious “beer garden”. Mostly made up of decomposed granite, the few plants that are growing are great choices for the area. Hopmonk is also the home of the Abbey. I would think that Dean is a huge fan of music to have built a theater for himself. Hell, if I had the money, resources and will, I probably would’ve done the same thing.

In any event, if you are able to stop by Hopmonk, go on in and grab a pint or two and maybe even somthing to grub on. We like the place and would recommend it for dinner and drinks.

The first time I heard about Buckbean Brewing Company it was on the beer47.com website. I had never heard of them before but I thought it was pretty cool that they canned their beers. Buckbean brews out of Reno, Nevada. Since I don’t gamble at all, it would be a while before I make it to Buckbean. I was resigned to the fact that I’d have to wait quite a while for this beer. Then Boonville came around. While drunk and drinking Big Daddy from the Speakeasy campsite, I just happened to run into Buckbean Brewing Company President and Co-Founder, Doug Booth. Truth be told, I don’t remember much of what we spoke of that night. I doubt many people remember what they talked about that first night. What I do remember though is giving him my BetterBeerBlog business card and he promised to send me some beers in return. Imagine my surprise weeks later when a package with my name on it shows up with Buckbean beers in it. So here we are.

Black Noddy, Buckbean Brewing Company, 5.2% ABV

Black Noddy, like the rest of the Buckbean beers, is served out of a 1 pint can. Black Noddy pours out a very dark brown with ruby highlights and a beige/tan head. There is a slight initial sourness that gives way to a deep roasted malt aroma with dark chocolate undertones. Hop aromas are very low to none. Black Noddy has a deep roasted flavor with a slight caramel sweetness with a medium-low/medium hop bitterness that doesn’t stick. There’s a very low chocolate undertone and I can detect a very low sourness in the flavor that carried over from the aroma. This beer is medium-low to medium bodied with a medium carbonation that is creamy in texture. There’s also a slight roasty dryness in the mouthfeel.

Black Noddy is an example of the Schwarzbier style of beer. Simply put, a Schwarzbier is a dark lager. Some people may confuse this style with a porter or a stout but Schwarzbiers should have some Munich malt character and no esters at all. There’s a lot more to it but click on on this link to learn more. I like this beer. It’s a decent example of the style and it’s an easy drinking, yet full flavored beer.

Original Orange Blossom Ale, Buckbean Brewing Company, 5.8% ABV

Orange Blossom pours out a clear, burnt amber color with bright amber/orange highlights and an off-white head. This beer has a strong estery character that has a big orange/citrus profile that is very floral in nature. Sammy says it reminds her a lot of incense. This is a great smelling beer, almost too good really. Should I drink it? Should I use it as an aromatic? I don’t know. Orange Blossom has a sweet malt character that has a slight Munich quality to it but huge, huge, floral orange flavor with a slight honey note in the finish. The hop flavor is low, as it the hop bitterness. This beer is medium-bodied with medium-high carbonation.

This beer doesn’t fall into any of the traditional BJCP categories. It could be a fruit beer or it could be a specialty beer. In all honesty, it really doesn’t matter. This is an interesting and flavorful brew that defies categorization really. I don’t think it’s for everybody though. If you’re not into fruit, orange flavors in particular, then you might not be into this beer. I’m enjoying it and I think it’s definitely worth a try.

Due to a variety of factors, the depressed economy being a huge factor, the company I work for is being forced to take some actions to keep its doors open. In addition to the tightening of budgets and cutting down of spending, my company is forcing us to take 5 days off before July. Upper management handed down this mandate without much warning so many of us are scrambling to choose which days to take off. I’m not really complaining about this though. The time off gives me time to live life. Work has been stressful and my weekends are more enjoyable now than they’ve ever been. So, instead of bumming around with nothing to do, I’m going to make my days count and go do beer stuffs.

Drakes Brewing Company, 1933 Davis Street #177, San Leandro, CA 94577map

Drakes is an award-winning brewery that was established in 1989 and claims to have been one of the first microbreweries in the Bay Area. They were recently bought by the same people who own Triple Rock and Jupiter, Reid and John Martin. They have an Amber, a Blonde, a Hefeweizen and an IPA that they brew year-round as well as four seasonal beers and three more specialty beers. You can find more information on their website here.

I got the idea to visit Drakes when I was monitoring my Twitter feed. I had exchanged a couple of tweets with Drakes every once in a while so I contacted them to see if they’d be able to entertain a blogger on a Friday afternoon. John Martin, who manages the Twitter account, sent me back a DM and we set up the meeting through email. Unfortunately he couldn’t be at the brewery to give me a tour personally as he would be out of town on a camping trip but he gave me the contact information of Jono and assured me that Jono would be taking care of me. Not wanting to waste a brewery tour on myself, I called up my buddy Jason who found the time to accompany me up to San Leandro.

While the directions we received from Yahoo Maps looked easy enough, finding them was a small adventure into itself. I thought I had entered Jono’s cell phone number into my phone but when the time came for me to ring him up for directions, his number was nowhere to be found. Luckily for me, I remembered what John had tweeted to me prior, “we literally brew right behind a Wal-Mart”. Those words proved to ring true as they did brew right behind a Wal-Mart. Having been there once already, it’s not that hard to find but you really need to drive to the back (well, kinda to the side of) Wal-Mart to find them. Drakes is housed, as with many production breweries, in an industrial building that is very nondescript.

Upon entering the tasting room, Jason and I were greeted by Jono. Jono then introduced us to assistant brewer Brian Thorson who would be giving us the tour. Brian received his formal brewing education from UC Davis. He has brewed for Trumer Pils and Harpoon Brewing Company as well as spending some time at Coast Range Brewing Company as well. In a past life, he used to be a computer science guy. With a glass of their Double Dry in hand and Brian leading the way, we started the tour.

Having been on a handful of brewery tours already, once you’ve seen one place you’ve basically seen them all. I still like to go on tours though as it allows me to get a sense of the people who make the beers I like to drink. Plus you never see two breweries that run exactly the same. The “big picture” is always the same but the devil is in the details and I got to see a lot of detail from Drakes. Even though we never really got to ask questions about their bottling process, Drakes happened to be bottling some of their beers when we first arrived. There’s a huge disconnect here in America between the consumer and their food, or drink as the case is. When strolling through BevMo picking up beers, I don’t give it much thought. I figure having your bottles on the shelves means you’re a pretty big brewery but that’s not always the case. Seeing how a microbrewery like Drakes bottles and packages their beers in a two man team really drives home the reality of things.

As with many tours, it all starts with the grain. Drakes has a smaller than expected grain silo in front of their brewery. It’s one of the distinguishing features in an otherwise undistinguishable neighborhood of businesses. The grain silo leads to their grain mill where, through the various augers, mill and move grain up to their mashtun. I suppose it shouldn’t be too interested but I found it very interesting that their mashtun is located at the highest point in their brewery. I guess this shouldn’t be all that interesting as I suspect that the may have a gravity-fed system (as opposed to pumps) to move the wort to their brew kettle, which happens to be the second highest piece of equipement at Drakes. Drakes has a 15 BBL (barrel=31 U.S. gallons) brew system. By comparison, the Gordon Biersch brewpub in downtown San Jose has a 7 BBL system and Firehouse Brewery in Sunnyvale has a 20 BBL system (I never knew Firehouse has such a huge system, I mean it’s really much, much bigger than their space warrants). After the brew kettle, the beer is “whirlpooled” and is sent to one of their 14 BBL fermentation tanks. During transmission from the brew kettle to the fermentor, Drakes directly injects oxygen into the wort. While not as efficient as using an oxygenation stone, it works for them. Brian explains that they harvest the yeast from a previous batch to use in their new batches and that they only use their yeasts for no more than 15 generations. While there, Jason and I noticed vigorous fermentation activity going on in about 4-5 different tanks. Some buckets were frothing while others were just bubbling away.

Brian also went on to explain how their filter their beers with DE, or diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth is the fossilized remains of an algae called diatoms. In addition to being used as a filtration element, DE (as it’s most commonly known) is also an insecticide and a mild abrasive. I joked that I could use a bucket of DE to get rid of the ants that plague my home but Brian tells me that it can be a dangerous substance, especially when inhaled, which is why they wear masks when dealing with DE. In addition to learning about their filtration practices, Brian took us out back where we got to see the heart of their glycol cooling sytem. All of the fermentors in Drakes (as with most breweries) are jacketed that allow for accurate temperature control. Not many breweries will give you a tour of their glycol systems but we happened to be curious so we took a look at how the pros do it. While out back, Jason and I also saw their huge dumpster filled with their spent grain. Drakes pays a farmer to come by and pick up their spent grains to be used as cattle feed. In addition to feeding cattle, the occasional hippie will come by asking for spent grains as well. Drakes, feeding cattle and hippies since 1989.

To polish off the tour, Brian allowed us to sample several beers right from the fermentors, some of which included a session-strength Belgian-style ale and an IPA. Drinking a beer right from the fermentor is a totally different experience from the polished product you’ll find in the bottles. Beers drawn right from the fermentors tastes like how the final product would, just very rough and (obviously) unfinished. A filtered beer also tastes much different than an unfiltered one because filtering does strip away some flavor components (yeast). While a beer filtered to brilliant clarity is very pretty to look at, there’s just something about an unfiltered beer that I enjoy.

Just when I though the tour was over, I asked Brian if they have a wood aging program and his eyes lit up in an, “Oh yeah, I can’t believe I almost forgot about these” sort of way. Of course I could’ve been reading his eyes all wrong and they could’ve instead been saying, “Crap, I thought I was finally done with these two guys but they just had to mention wood-aged beers. I have work to do, c’mon!”. Brian led us through their office space an into the area where they have their barrels. They had far more barrels than I had given them credit for. When I initially asked about their wood-aging program, I totally expected to see a half dozen barrels at the most because I haven’t really heard of their beers being wood-aged before. I am happy as hell to have asked as I am a huge fan of wood-aged beers and this was a real treat.

Altogether Jason and I were able to sample 4 of their wood aged beers. The base beer in each case was an Imperial Stout but they were all from different different barrels from different years. I noticed some barrels had IPAs in them as well but Brian mentioned that Imperial Stouts seemed to take to the wood very nicely. The first beer we tried was an Imperial Stout aged in a 2006 port barrel. From what I remember, this particular beer was a collaboration between Drakes, Triple Rock and Iron Springs. This beer, by far, was the best one of the day. It has all the characteristics of the base beer, just a bit more mellow, as well as a very noticeable and pleasant wood character (in the aroma and flavor) that had a tart/sour finish. Jason argues that the sourness is more “dill” (as in dill pickle) while I think it’s leans a little more towards the lactic. In any case, this was a mighty fine beer. An interesting thing Brian shared with us about their barrel aged beers is that they will often pull out beer from their various barrels (for special ocassions and festivals) and then top them off with new beer as space becomes available in the barrel. I’m not sure if this is industry standard or not but it’s interesting to hear. The next two beers were from the same batch but aged in different barrels, one in a merlot and it’s sister in a pinot. These two beers had a much more subtle flavor profile than the first, the wood is less, there’s virtually no tartness but they are both very good tasting wood-aged beers but the merlot was more subtle than the pinot. The last barrel was also and Imperial Stout aged in a bourbon barrel. I enjoyed this beer as well because the bourbon character was a background note instead of being the primary flavor. Brian mentioned that he’s had some tasters mention that it didn’t have enough bourbon flavor so they were looking into brewing up another batch with more bourbon flavor. I think that it’s pretty good as it is.

Jason and I stuck around a little bit longer to play Washoes. I had never played this game before but it’s apparrently a very popular brewery game. Simply put, you’re basically pitching washers into holes. First team to 21 without going over wins. It was at this point I got to meet the rest of the Drakes team, Brad and Josh, as well as throw a few washers around. For the record, I am 1-and-1 in washoes with the last game being an epic battle between veterans and a n00b like me. The last game was notable, at least for me, as the two teams were broken up into brewer/blogger teams. I was teamed with Brian and Marcel (from www.craftondraft.com) was teamed up with Josh (at least I think it was Josh).

Visiting Drakes was a perfect way to spend my Friday afternoon. The tour was so much fun that I was late for an impromptu wedding reception later on that night. Brian, at the expense of some of his duties, was an excellent host. He broke down their process as well as granted us access that I think few people get when on a brewery tour (let’s hear it for glycol!). For all I know they may treat everyone who asks for a brewery tour this well but I like to think I’m special, in a non-short bus sort of way, of course. I’d also like to thank John for helping to set this up, Jono for pulling Brian off his important tasks to take care of us and for Josh and Brad for their hospitality as well. Look for a Beer in Review featuring the beers from Drakes in the near future!

It is almost inevitable that I will forgot to prep accordingly for The Session. I vaguely remember that it happens on the first Friday of each month. It’s probably not until late Thursday night, or in my case early Friday morning, that I finally remember. This month, Lew Bryson of Seen Through a Glass is hosting The Session #26: Smoke ‘Em if you Got ‘Em. As the title might imply, the focus this month will be on smoked beers.

So far, my quest to fulfill this blog post isn’t go very well. Here in the South Bay, getting good beers is a Sissyphean quest unto itself. The BevMo is my local go-to source for beers but, despite their size, their selection is limited by all the wine they carry. I know for sure they have Alaskan Smoked Porter and a few bottles of Rauchbier but other than those offerings, nothing I haven’t already tried.

I gave my local brew pubs a try as well but my initial online searches haven’t yielded any results. Gordon Biersch, Firehouse, Tied House, Faultline, Rock Bottom, El Toro, and BJs all resulted in a negative for smoked beers. The handful of South Bay bars I thought that might’ve stocked something worthwhile wasn’t much better. I’m starting to think that if I want to drink an interesting smoked beer, I’d have to put an interesting beer in my hookah pipe and smoke some malts through it (Hmm… maybe I should… nah, nah. That’s just too crazy, too crazy. Or is it?).

What are smoked beers?

As the name would imply, smoked beers are beers that have a strong smoke component to its flavor profile. This is usually achieved by smoking your specialty brewing malts, not unlike they way you would smoke some salmon or pork or beef, and then brewing with it. The original smoked beers came from Germany and are called Rauchbiers. The classic Rauchbier is a märzen/Oktoberfest that is brewed with a German Rauchmalz (beechwood-smoked Vienna-type malt) that makes up anywhere between 20%-100% of the grain bill. As you can probably guess, the more smoked malt you use, the greater the smoke flavor and aroma.

Homebrewers and American craft brewers started to get into the smoked beer scene as well. One of the most recognizable smoked beers on the market today is Alaskan Brewing Company’s Smoked Porter. Developed in 1988, this beer was the result of a collaboration between Alaskan Brewing Company and the Taku Smokeries who happened to be located within walking distance of the brewery. The difference between the Alaskan Smoked Porter and the classic Rauchbier is the use of alder wood, instead of beechwood, to smoke the brewing malts. As a result, Alaskan Smoked Porter is highly reminiscent of smoked salmon because alder wood is used to smoke both the salmon and the brewing malts used in this beer.

As with anything else, the key to a good beer is balance. With smoked beers, there should be a good balance between the smoke flavor and the base beer style. In the case of a smoked porter, the smoked porter flavors and characteristics should still be noticeable while the smoke flavors and aromas become a balanced part of the mix and not dominant.

Imperial Smoked Porter, Sierra Nevada, 7.5% ABV

This beer pours out very, very dark brown, with a tan head. There is a definite smoke component to the aroma that is reminiscent of smoked salmon. I can also pick up the deep roasted, pretty much burnt, malt aromas as well as a slight sweetness. Like the aroma, the flavor has a medium/medium-high smoke component to it. It is like smoked salmon but I can also taste a deep roasted malt flavor that has chocolate undertones and an overall sweet flavor. The hop bitterness is enough to balance the malt character but definitely plays second fiddle in this beer. I am surprised at how full-bodied this beer is; it is thick and creamy, almost cloying. As the beer warms up, the sweetness becomes more apparent and manifests itself as molasses-like in character. Even though this beer weighed in at 7.5% ABV, I couldn’t really detect the alcohol quality amongst the other flavors and aromas. It kinda warmed up my tummy but this beer had no noticeable alcohol warmth going down.

Wow, what a big beer. Big aroma, big flavors, big bodied. This beer isn’t fat, it’s just big boned. Frankly, I was not in the mood to drink a smoked beer tonight. Smoked beers are definitely and acquired taste and can be overwhelming. It took me a while to put this one back. Overall, I think this was a decent smoked beer. It had a good amount of smoke character but the only drawback I found was that it was heavy, really full-bodied. This is definitely a hearty, cold weather beer and in California’s mild winter climate, perhaps a little too big. Then again, had I been camping and hanging around the campfire, this would’ve been the perfect beer to have in hand.

Rose & Crown, 547 Emerson Avenue • Palo Alto, CA map

Rose & Crown (R&C) is an English-style pub located in Palo Alto off of University Avenue in Palo Alto. I have to mention R&C because this is where I picked up the beer. I didn’t want any smoked beers that I already had and lucky for me, R&C had something new. For those familiar with the area, it’s a little past Pizza My Heart. R&C is not really visible from the street but you can see it from the parking lot directly in front of it. By the time Sammy and I arrive at Palo Alto, it is past 10pm and the lot in front of R&C is already full. We find parking a block away.

R&C is a tiny, tiny place. They have a small “patio” area outside (it’s more like an outside hallway) while the inside has a few tables, a few seats at the bar and a pair of dart boards. R&C has quite the draught board, about 21 beers on tap, and a good bottled beer selection. From what I’ve heard, the addition of Belgian ales was a relatively new thing but it’s great to see them stocking some personal favorites.

R&C is crowded by the time we arrive. There are no tables available and the bar is full. Sammy and I end up standing directly across the bar at a ledger that doubles as a “table” of sorts. We picked the suckiest place to be as we get all the foot traffic of people coming in or leaving or going to use the restroom. R&C was packed and I enjoyed the diversity of the people there. Some were older, others college aged, all there for good times and good beer. I’m glad we were able to stop in and check the place out but we both wished we were there on a less busy evening.

With my wife out of town on a “girl’s road trip”, I wondered what I would do for the 4 days she’d be away. I don’t mind being by myself but when you have nothing planned, it’s the boredom that gets you. I typed out a few emails, clicked away a few texts and made a few phone calls to see if I could get a “guy’s night out” sort of deal to go through but alas, it was almost not to be. Thankfully I got one taker and so we went, rolling 2 deep.

Sonoma Chicken Coop, 200 East Campbell Avenue, Campbell, CA

When Sonoma Chicken Coop first opened it doors in downtown San Jose, it was an immediate hit. Their menu boldly advertised no dish to be over $10 and, from what I remember, the most expensive dish weighed in at $9.99. The food was good and inexpensive. For those who have never been to Chicken Coop, they basically specialize in simple Italian dishes, rotisserie and a few BBQ items. You order your food from the counter and pick it up when it’s ready. There are no waitstaff, just busboys. Despite the self-service, Chicken Coop took off. So much so they now have 4 locations. San Jose was the original but I was at the Campbell location because that’s where the brewery is.

The Campbell location of Sonoma Chicken Coop is quite storied and related to Firehouse Brewery & Grille in Sunnyvale. Before Firehouse, there was Stoddard’s Brewery & Eatery. Firehouse brewmaster Steve Donohue, then working for Stoddards, recalls how the placed was packed. Business was very good and the owners decided to expand and build another brewery in Campbell. Steve designs the brewhouse and up opens Stoddards in Campbell. For a variety of reasons the Campbell location doesn’t do well. Ownership ends up selling it and it then becomes Campbell Brewing Company. Campbell Brewing Company folds after some time and it becomes Sonoma Chicken Coop.

The Campbell location is located right in the heart of downtown Campbell on it’s main strip, Campbell Avenue. The neighborhood has undergone a mild gentrification with the addition of other restaurants, bars and shops. It used to be a quiet and quaint downtown but it is slowly turning into something a bit livelier. When I arrived, the sidewalks were alive with people getting their dinners and enoying a warm and sunny California evening.

I walk into Sonoma Chicken Coop and it is packed. Upon entering into the main doorway you will find yourself in receiving space. If you go right, you will see the main dining area with the counter to order your food at the very back. To your left is the bar area. A band is setting up to play and the place is packed. There are a number of flatscreen TVs hanging from the walls and they all have one college basketball game or another. I find my buddy at the end of the bar, he’s already started on his first beer.

Sonoma Chicken Coop has about 6 beers on tap: a kölsch, hefeweizen, pale ale, brown ale, an ESB and their seasonal. This time of year, their seasonal is a called “Liam’s Irish Red Ale”. My buddy’s already drinking a brown ale and I go ahead an order the Irish Red Ale to start off.

Liam’s Irish Red Ale, Sonoma Chicken Coop

Liam’s pours out a clear, dark brown with reddish hues and a thin, white head. The aroma is malty with a slight nutty quality and low roast notes. Liams is malty sweet with an initial nutty character that is supported by a light roast component and balanced by a medium hop bitterness that lasts slightly into the finish but is not harsh. The beer is medium bodied with a matching carbonation level. I’m finding it is slightly dry and has a slight tannic astrigency. I am enjoying this beer immensely. The color is fantastic and what I love most about this beer is that it is carbonated and not on nitrogen, like so many other Irish beers.

I still remember the first time I tried a Sonoma Chicken Coop beer. I was there with a couple of other friends and I ordered the pale ale. I thought the bartender made a mistake as the beer didn’t taste like a pale ale. It was thin bodied and the flavor balance was decidedly malty. Where were the hops? I ordered the pale ale again to make sure the bartender poured from the correct tap and she did. I tried the beer again and it was exactly the same as my first beer. That’s when I stopped driking their beers.

Fast forward a few years later and I’m enjoying their beers. Their current brewmaster is Mike Barker and he’s been brewing for about 10 years or so. He started off brewing at Big Trees Brewing Company in 1997 (closed in 2001). After that he worked for Rock Bottom Brewery at their Chicago, Arlington and Campbell locations, followed by a stint at El Toro Brewing Company before settling down at Sonoma Chicken Coop. His signature style is his kölsch which he’s won multiple awards for.

ESB, Sonoma Chicken Coop

The next beer I try is their ESB. The ESB pour out a clear, brown color with ruby hues and amber highlights with an off-white head. When compared to the Liam’s Irish Red, the ESB seems a little lighter brown in color, not as red but with amber highlights. The ESB is also nutty, malty sweet and with a hop bitterness that is medium/medium-high. This is a medium bodied beer with medium-high carbonation. As I let the beer warm up some, I notice a powdery chocolate quality in the aroma.

The ESB seemed to be a little high on the hop bitterness. As a style it should be fairly balanced but a slight nod should be given towards hop flavor and bitterness. In any event, I thought it was a decent beer and I was enjoying it. When I compare it to the Liam’s, I enjoyed the Liam’s more.

While Sonoma Chicken Coop is primarily a self-service sort of place, you can order food at the bar and they’ll bring it out to you. Having had only a cup of soup that day, I order the calamari and the shrimp spaghettini. I have always enjoyed Chicken’s Coops calamari. They’re light, quick-fried I believe and served with a horseradish/marinara dipping sauce. My shrimp spaghettini is good but nothing too exciting. It had a slight bit of spicy heat while the shrimp seemed a tad bit overdone and the pasta slightly soft, not at all “al dente”. Still, I couldn’t complain because I killed everything on my plate. I contemplated ordering another beer but my buddy wanted to head out so we called it day at Sonoma Chicken Coop.

All together, the Campbell location of Sonoma Chicken Coop is a good place to grab a beer. While the food is no longer sub-$10, it is still reasonable and good. Their beers are a vast improvement over the first time I tried them and the crowd seemed to mainly be comprised of friendly locals. I will definitely be visiting this brewpub again.

JJ’s Blues, 3439 Stevens Creek Boulevard, Santa Clara, CA

The live band that played at Sonoma Chicken Coop specialized in classic rock. After we left by buddy was in the mood to catch a live band but had no idea where to go. I suggested we hit up JJs Blues in Santa Clara and off we went.

JJs Blues is a tiny bar that specializes in live blues performances. It is discreetly tucked away in a stripmall next to an Army surplus store and an equally small pizzeria. Despite having eaten at the pizzeria (which is right next door to JJs) he has never been to or seen JJs before.

The two of us walk in and are greeted by the door girl who informs us there will be a $10 cover to see the band play. JJs is a dive bar. It is much longer than it is wide. The stage is up front where they have tall tables with barstools oriented toward the stage and even a little room for a dance floor. The bar is in the phycial center of the place and we grab a seat close to it. In the back is a pool table and a side room with couple of couches and music equipement strewn about. In the very back is the restrooms. The one thing you’ll notice about JJ’s is that there’s a lot of history up on them walls. A lot of people have come through to play at JJ’s and a lot of their photos are up on the walls. I’m amazed at how, despite appearances, significant JJ’s is with regards to the blues scene.

Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pabst Brewing Company

As you can imagine with any dive bar, the beer selection isn’t going to be very good. I decide to “slum” it that night and order a PBR. I didn’t take a photo of this beer for a number of reasons, the biggest being that everyone already knows what this beer looks like. PBR is a brilliantly clear, pale yellow beer with a white head. There is very little aroma, neither hops nor malt dominate. The flavor is very, very subtle. I get faint whispers of malty sweetness and no hop bitterness to speak of. This is a light bodied beer with high carbonation. It takes me a while to put this one away because it’s tastes a lot like tonic water only less good.

John Garcia is the blues artist performing that night and as soon as he plugs in he is tearing it up. The blues he is playing is more inline with traditional blues but there are a few songs that rock, some are funky while others are straight, depressing blues. I am in awe at his skill on the guitar and the range of styles he’s able to play. For many reasons, my buddy is really feeling the music. It’s touching him at his core and he comments that he’s not sure why. I tell him it’s because he just broke up with his lady and he’s feeling the blues.

MGD, Miller Brewing Company

Once again, no picture because you all know what this beer looks like. It’s a brilliantly clear, pale yellow beer with a white head. The aroma shows slight malt sweetness with an equal corn component and no noticeable hops. The flavor is much of the same, slightly malty sweet with a noticeable corn flavor and almost no discernable hops on the palette. This beer is also light in body and highly carbonated.

Unlike the PBR from before, I am enjoing the MGD more. I can actually taste something in this beer unlike the PBR. When I got back, I received a tweet from one of my followers who disagreed with me and said he perfers the PBR instead. Personally speaking, these are both beer styles I don’t normally like drinking but I prefer the MGD simply because there’s some emotional attachment to the beer. I used to drink MGDs a lot and there are a lot of good times associated with that beer, so I’ll always have a soft spot for that beer.

If you’re looking for a great place to catch the blues, JJ’s Blues in Santa Clara is a tough place to beat. It’s real divey so don’t expect a great selection of beers. Still, if you’re going to JJ’s, chances are you couldn’t give two-shits about the beer as it’s all about the blues.

On the same night I paid a visit to Teske’s Germania, I walked the grueling 12 paces to pay Trials a visit. I had only visited Trials twice prior. The first time, I was out was for an evening business meeting to discuss a prospective freelance gig I was being considered for. The second time, was to meet up with a prospective girlfriend. In both instances, things didn’t work out in my favor. Ever the optimist, I decided to give Trials another shot.

Trials English Pub, 265 N. 1st Street, San Jose, CA

Trials is located in downtown San Jose a block or so north of Santa Clara Street. It is right next door to Teske’s Germania and is surrounded by relatively new condo developments and renovated Victorians. Conveniently, it is also located just a stone’s throw away from a Light Rail line so you can drink and not drive.

The building Trials is located in has quite the storied history. At various points in time, the building served as an auxillary facility for the County Jail, as a brothel and as the headquarters for the United Farm Workers. On a tangent, the United Farm Workers was started by Cesar Chavez, who also has a park named after him in the heart of downtown that is bookended on one end by a grandstand and a pile of dog poo on the other. There have even been reports of ghost sightings as well.

Trials boasts of having 17 taps on hand, 3 of them hand drawn, as well as being home to the “best fish and chips in San Jose” (Can you really say that without substantiation? Our lawyers would have our asses if we published anything like that in my day job.) as well as the “best curry this side of Edinburgh” (Considering the large Asian Indian population we have in the South Bay, I’d have to reevaluate that). Regardless, of what I may or may not think about their marketing speak, I’m here for the beer.

Outside of the overall cramped feeling of the pub, the one thing you will notice about Trials is it’s lack of pretentiousness. There’s an intimate feeling about Trials that stems far beyond it’s limited square footage. It was like I opened the doors and walked into a private party or something. The bartenders where bantering back and forth with their customers and the folks there were all very casual and just found a place where they could. A cast iron stove provided head up in the front of the bar while a fireplace in the rear purred more than roared.

My one great critique about Trials is with regards to the pub’s layout. In order to get to the back of the pub, you would have to walk through a space just large enough for a single person. It’s like when they shut down two-lane mountain roads and groups of cars have to take turn traveling across the remaining open lane. It’s a tight fit bottlenecking the flow of the pub. It was there when I went there years ago and it was still there this time around. You’d think they’d have addressed that sometime during the pub’s history but I guess it just becomes quaint or part of the pub’s character. Let’s see if you still feel the same when you have an overwhelming need to use the restroom and there’s a group of 20 somethings lollygagging (I have always wanted to use that word in a blog and it fit so appropriately when writing about an English pub. I swear I’ll fit in tomfoolery somewhere in this post as well.) in that bottleneck.

Joining me on this trip were the same folks who joined me at Teske’s: Jason, Nathan and Leslie. Leslie had arrived on the scene after I had finished eating at Teske’s so she wanted to order some food from Trials. She ended up ordering a soup and the fish n chips. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get to try the fish and chips to see if they truly were the “best in San Jose” but Nathan and Leslie nearly finished off the entire plate. Only a few chips were left straggling about in the remains of their culinary carnage but their respite was short lived as Jason mopped up the survivors.

But what about the beer?

Black Prince Porter, English Ales Brewery, 5% ABV

Black Prince Porter, named after King Edward III’s son Edward, was one of the 3 beers Trials has on tap that is cask-conditioned and poured from a hand pump. This beer pours out a very dark brown, almost black and nearly opaque with a very, light, tan head. Roasted malts are in the aroma along with hints of dark chocolate. The flavor echoes the aroma with roasted malt flavors and chocolate undertones. The mouthfeel is medium/medium-high in body with low carbonation as is fitting for a cask-conditioned beer. Despite that, Black Prince Porter has a smooth and slightly creamy mouthfeel. A straight forward porter, not deeply complex but very appropriate for the style.

Also on hand pump were English Ale’s Monk’s Brown Ale and Fat Lip Amber Ale, while their Pale Ale and Dragon Slayer IPA were on regular taps. I originally wanted to try the Dragon Slayer IPA but opted instead for the Black Prince. The night was cold and a heartier beer was needed. I did sample the Monk’s Brown Ale and my initial thoughts are that this is a very English brown ale. I found the flavor to be subdued, the aromas to lean towards the malt side but still subdued with low hop flavor and bitterness. I found the body to be medium-low/medium with low carbonation (as it is on hand pump). If you’re into Newcastle, then this would be the beer for you. Leslie ordered the Dragon Slayer IPA but as I had just met her that night, I felt it would’ve been in appropriate to reach across the table to take a swig out of her beer and a bite out of her fish and chips. Besides, as a fire dancer, I wouldn’t want to risk the wrath of a “woman scorned”. She could literally set my ass on fire. The best I could counter with would be a “yoga flame” using 151, followed up by “running away with arms flailing in the air”. It’s a devastating move normally reserved for only my most hated of enemies but I think I could pull it out just for her.

Overall, Trials is a cool, neighborhood bar that specializes in English Ales as well as a few English pub food favorite such as Shepherds Pie, Bangers and Mash and Fish n Chips. It’s an intimate spot due to both size and atmosphere. They have a variety of beers on tap but nothing special outside of English Ales Brewery offerings but even then, if you’re not a fan of English-style beers, then you might find this place at a loss. As many jabs as I’ve taken on Trials in this review, it’s not a bad joint but the potential to do so much more is there. I really wish they would take the initiative and become the spot for English ales. I wish they’d obliterate their current bottle list, which caters to the mainstream, and import some of the harder to find beers from England, and the UK in general. I guess I would want them to be like Churchills. Tomfoolery (aww… after the buzzer, doesn’t count!) .

Sometimes the thing you’re looking for is right under your nose. Take this one time I was in college. I was on my cell phone with a friend of mine. We had made plans to go out that evening and have dinner, grab a few drinks and hit a club or two. I was in a rush out of the house when I realized that I didn’t have my phone with me. In a frantic state, I looked around my room for my phone when I finally realized I was still on it, talking with my friend. Huh.

Tee Nee Thai, 1423, The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126

Tee Nee Thai is as the name sounds, a tiny Thai restaurant. The front door opens up into a very tiny waiting area that is essentially a hallway. In the hallway is seating enough for 18 people but only on tables big enough for two. The main dining area is really no bigger than my own living room space and can probably squeeze in another 30 people. The key word is squeeze in.

Up until today, if I wanted a Belgian beer fix, I’d have to travel all the way up to the Trappist in Oakland. While not incredibly far, it’s still a good 40 minutes away. They have a selection of Belgian ales on tap and on bottle that are with out peer here the Bay Area. But sometimes, you just want to get out of the house and have one or two beers. To date, there was really no recourse here in the San Jose, at least no place that I knew of.

So this is where Tee Nee Thai steps onto the scene. Highly recommended by Diane from Wine Affairs (just a few doors down), Tee Nee Thai has a surprising selection of Belgian-style ales. There are 11 monastic breweries represented with a rough total of 18 Belgian ales. Represented are Orval, Westmalle, Rochefort and Karmeliet. While not overwhelmingly impressive, they do carry Sierra Nevada, Gordon Biersch’s Marzen and PIlsner as well as Samuel Adams Boston Lager. They carry the standard Asian beer import list including Kirin and Singha as well as Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout and IPA and Erdinger Hefeweizen. Unfortunately, they also have Bud and Bud Light. You can’t win them all I guess.

For dinner, I ordered the Rochefort 6. Rochefort 6 pours out a dark, caramel/brown color with a lasting off-white/beige head. What was interesting about he head on my beer was that it wasn’t uniform in color. The waitress decanted the Rochefort 6 roughly, pouring all the yeast into the glass as well. No matter, I’d have drunk the yeast anyway. The aroma is malty with hints of chocolate, dried, darkfruits and a slight peppery spiciness. The flavor is malty sweet, toasty bread crusts, chocolate undertones and hints of raisins and dates. There’s a slight spiciness in the finish that may be attributed to the yeasts but could also come from the alcohol. Speaking of alcohol, there’s an alcohol presence in this beer that is smooth and slightly warming that contributes to the overall, slight spiciness of the beer. What I found interesting about Rochefort 6 was when it warmed up fully, there was a citric quality to the beer. Rochefort 6 clocks in at about 7.5% ABV.

For dinner, I order Pad See Ewe and Yellow Vegetable Curry. The yellow vegetable curry is pretty good. I don’t know how else to describe the yellow curry other than “it tastes like it should”. You can taste the tumeric, cumin, nutmeg, fish sauce and coconut milk. This curry is also pretty creamy which can be attributed to the coconut cream typically used in the recipes. The vegetables were crisp yet cooked, the potatoes soft but not mushy while the tofu firm. I felt this dish had just enough heat to add flavor without being unbearably hot. Unfortunately, this dish doesn’t go too well with the Rochefort 6. The dish is overwhelms the Rochefort’s flavor. The higher and average ABV of the beer also accentuates the spiciness of the dish.

The pad see ewe was a great tasting dish. It had a great aroma that was a mix between caramelized soy sauce, slight fish sauce, beef and “noodley”. The noodles had a wonderfully soft texture. There’s a great balance between the beef, egg and vegetable flavors. My sole critique of this dish would be that it wasn’t spicy at all. I don’t particularly enjoy super spicy food but some people might enjoy a spicier dish. My waitress didn’t present me the option of choosing my level of spiciness. In the end, the dish doesn’t need it but it’s always nice to have the option, y’know. Unlike the yellow curry vegetable dish, the pad see ewe worked much better with the Rochefort 6. The caramelized soy sauce flavors played right into the caramelized malt flavors of the beer and the intensity of flavors matched that of the beer.

I’d have to say the level of service and attention I got from the waitstaff was as good as I’ve gotten. I was seated nearly immediately (they weren’t close to being at capacity). After I ordered, my beer and food arrived much more quickly than I anticipated. The two waitresses who served the entire restaurant came back often enough to make sure things were okay without being “clingy”.

Overall, Tee Nee Thai is a great place to get some Thai food in the Alameda neighborhood of downtown San Jose. It has a great, neighborhood fee like you would find in more crowded cities like San Francisco. The food tastes authentic, the service good and best of all, they have a great Belgian beer selection. From now on, I think I’ll be visiting them for my Thai food cravings or but especially if I’m in the mood for a Belgian ale. Recommended!

For many years, I have been weary of Germania restaurants. Long story short, I’ve always believed they were meeting places for Neo Nazis or Klan members. This stems from an incident I had when I was much younger where I saw a man proudly sporting a Nazi-style swastika on an arm band crossing the street on his way to a Hopfbrau/Germania restaurant. Since then, I’ve just never gotten around to trying German cuisine. I’ve had more than my fair share of their beers though.  Well a few nights ago, at the recommendation of BetterBeerBlog reader Jason, I overcame much hesitation and made it over to Teske’s Germania Restaurant.

Teske’s Germania Restaurant, 255 N. First Street & Devine, San Jose, CA

Teske’s sits right on the corner of first and Devine. It is located north of Santa Clara street, next to some light rail tracks. The building Teske’s is in seems older and historic but I can’t really tell because it’s at night. I open the front door and instantly I am in the bar area. I look to my right and I see a pair of African Americans having a couple of beers. I breathe a sigh of relief. (Yes, I am aware that I am an idiot but this is my issue, not yours. You’d think in this day and age that racism isn’t an issue but there are parts of the country that I am afraid to go into because I’m not white. Living in the Bay Area is a blessing and a curse in that this is an area of high diversity but at the same time, it’s a bit sheltered and not at all an accurate sampling of the rest of the country).

I pull up to the bar and I ask what’s on tap. I order a half liter of Spaten Oktoberfest. Other than the Oktoberfest, Teske’s has a Spaten light, hefeweizen and Pilsner on tap. The remainder of their selection is on bottle. Oktoberfest beer has fallen out of favor with me lately but this beer pulls me right back in. I forget how good Munich malt tastes like. This beer pours a brilliantly clear amber with an off-white head. The Spaten Oktoberfest beer has a great Munich malt aroma and flavor. It is sweet initially with hints of toasted bread flavors and finishes crisp and clean. Hop bitterness is medium-low/medium.

In addition to just serving beer, Teske’s is a restaurant as well. I ask for a menu and I order the Rahmschnitzel ala Natural dazu hausgemachte Spatzle and Rotkohl, or Rahmschitzel for short. This dish is slices of veal sautéed in its own juices served with Homemade Noodles and Red Cabbage and is priced at $23. I balk at the price at first but what I don’t realize is you also get bread and butter, soup, salad, the entreé and a slice of apple strudel. All for $23. All of a sudden, $23 is a pretty darned good deal.

The soup is very reminiscent of an Italian tortellini soup, only thicker in body and resembling more of a stew than anything else. It is very good. The meat is soft, the pasta looking things cooked wel enough and the soup was very tasty.

The next course that comes out is the salad. By all means, the salad that arrives is basically tossed salad greens. What I didn’t find out until I started eating the salad was that saurkraut is added for another level of flavor. I am impressed by how the saurkraut mellows out the dressing on the salad.

Finally, my entreé arrives. The homemade noodles seem slightly are different from the Asian-style noodles I’m used to but the aroma coming from the chives and/or garlic have me dig in. Three pieces of veal lie inbetween the red cabbage and the noodles. The veal is so tender, moist and flavorful. The cabbage is surprisingly flavorful as well. I totally expected it to taste like the regular saurkraut but the red version taste like they’ve been prepared with beer. I’m sure I’m wrong but that’s what the flavor reminded me of.

By this time, I am joined by my friends Jason (different guy from the one who suggested this place), Nathan and his friend Leslie. My dessert arrives the time Leslie arrives. It is a slice of apple strudel, heaving on the whipped cream. I give it a pass and hand it over to Nathan who was in the mood for a dessert anyway. Seeing as he killed the entire slice, I’m thinking the dessert was pretty good.

To finish off the evening, on the recommendation of Jason (this time, the guy who recommended the place), I order absinthe. Absinthe is one of those drinks where the reality doesn’t live up to the legend. Popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Part of it’s mystique was the beverage supposedly psychoactive effects. Absinthe does contain small traces of thujone which is derived from the herb wormwood. In all reality, you’d die from alcohol poisoning before you ever ingested enough thujone to do any real and long lasting harm.

The reality of absinthe is that it is a distilled spirit with a strong herbal character, specifically, anise. It is a high-alcohol spirit ranging anywhere between 90 to 150 proof. The bartender at Teske’s asked me if I wanted my drink in a shot or served traditionally. The shot is self explanitory but the traditional method warrants a little more explaining. I could explain what a traditional preparation is but let me go lazy and copy what Wikipedia has to say on the subject.

Traditionally, absinthe is poured into a glass over which a specially designed slotted spoon is placed. A sugar cube is then deposited in the bowl of the spoon. Ice-cold water is poured or dripped over the sugar so that the water is slowly and evenly displaced into the liqour until the drink is diluted to a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1. During this process, the components that are not soluble in water, mainly those from anise, fennel, and star anise, come out of solution and cloud the drink. The resulting milky opalescence is called the louche (Fr. “opaque” or “shady”, IPA [luʃ]). The addition of water is important, causing the herbs to “blossom” and bringing out many of the flavors originally overpowered by the anise.

The addition of water to “blossom” the herbs is not unlike ordering a whikey neat, or cut with a small amount of water. Enough with the technicalities! How does the damn thing taste?

Like black licorice.

My order of absinthe was served in a glass with the traditional slotted spoon. It is a hazy yellow-ish, pale green with strong anise (black licorice) aromas. In addition, there’s a herbal quality to the drink that I can’t place. As with the aroma, there is a strong anise component to the beverage with slight mint undertones. There is a strong alcohol component that is slighly harsh and hot. At the same time, I get a slick, oily feeling. The finish on absinth is reminiscent of how my mouth feels after spitting out a stick of Trident gum, original flavor. In all honestly, I will probably never order this drink again. It wasn’t a bad drink, I just don’t like black licorice flavors. To be fair, black licorice flavors are fine in very low amounts but to have it be the promiment flavor is too much for me.

Absinthe takes me back to when I was in college. My classmate at the time, this beautiful, Amazon of a Norwegian woman, would often throw house parties that I would readily attend. In addition to the myriad bottles of beer and distilled spirits available, she would mix what she referred to as “a traditional Norwegian drink”. Not being able to resist a pretty face, I would always take a drink. To my chagrin, this drink tasted like salty, black licorice. *shudder*

But I digress.

Overall, I believe I had a breakthrough that night I visited Teske’s Germania. I was able to overcome a decade’s worth of fear and ignorance and was rewarded with a tasty half-liter of Spaten Oktoberfest, a 4-course German dinner chased by the Green Fairy. If you are a large fan of German beers, I can think of no place that has the selection Teske’s has. Their tap list is very limited but their bottle selection makes up for it. Then again, I’ve only been to one German restaurant ever so I can’t speak for the rest but as a first step, it’s pretty good. Recommended.

Almost the entire time Sammy and I were in Fort Collins, Mike and Bonnie kept saying how we could just pick this up and that up at Wilbur’s. By the way they spoke of the place, you’d think that Wilbur’s is just another corner liquor store in a small college town. You’d have thunk wrong.

Wilbur’s Total Beverage is probably the best bottle shop I have ever seen. They are huge, easily surpassing BevMo in terms of square footage as well as selection. In the better BevMo’s, you will find maybe 4 aisles of beer with most of those beers on shelves. At Wilbur’s they have one aisle; one, very, long aisle. An aisle as long as the the store is as deep. And it’s refridgerated. Refridgerated! They also have another “standard” (standard as is relative to aisles in their store) that has some imported beers from Belgium and England as well as Belgian-style beers from American craft breweries.

In my awe, I forgot to take a picture. I was like a kid in a toy store; eyes big as platters with a grin to match. I couldn’t believe such a place existed. Great beer selection? Check! Great beer selection refridgerated? Check! Man, I could’ve easily spent hours and hundreds of dollars in there.

In the end, Sammy, Bonnie, Mike and I created a “mixed six-pack” to drink back at the house. Here are my reviews for the beers we drank. Keep in mind that we didn’t go through all six but here are the ones we did go through:

• Wilburfest, Ft. Collins Brewery - This beer was specifically brewed for Wilbur’s Total Beverage by Fort Collins Brewery. A märzen/oktoberfest style beer, Wilburfest pours beautifully clear, caramel in color with an off-white head. European hop character, slightly earthy with a toasty malt aroma. Slightly sweet with a toasty malt character, this beer has medium-low/medium hop bitterness. Very clean, low esters.
• Major Tom’s Pomegranate Wheat, Ft. Collins Brewery - Ft. Collins Brewery was the one brewery we didn’t make it to while in Ft. Collins. We just ran out of time. Brewed with pomegranate concentrate and lightly filtered. Major Tom’s pours out blonde/straw color. Light malt aroma - light sweet taste, medium-low hops. (Reviewed by Sammy).
• Wet Mountain IPA, Il Vicino Brewing Company - Sweet malt aroma and flavor characteristics with a citrus and floral hop aroma and flavor. The bitterness is medium-high/high but not long lasting. While I thought this beer was fairly good, this beer reminded me of those perfume knockoffs that get sold to tourists. They smell just like the brands they’re supposed to be but don’t last nearly as long. Same with this beer. It has all the right notes but they just don’t play the song for very long. Il Vicino is a wood over pizza joint with mulitple locations but it seems that all their beer is made at a single location that gets distributed to their other locations.
• Rocky Mountain IPA, Ft. Collins Brewery - Strong floral hop characteristics with sweet malt underneath. Sweet malt flavors give way to floral hop flaovrs and a high hop bitterness. Medium-high body and high carbonation.
• Nectar of the Hops, Redstone Meadery - Bonnie has been asking us about the bottle we brought over for some time now and this was as good as a time as any to crack this baby open. This sparkling mead was sweet smelling with slight hop aromas. The flavor is crisp, clean, sweet with hop undertones and a slight caress of hop bitterness. Not big fans of mead, Mike and Bonnie took a liking to this mead mainly because of it’s sparkling nature.

Yes, I do realize the irony of my review. I talk up on how awesome and diverse Wilbur’s is and then all I do is pick up Ft. Collins Brewery beers. I didn’t really realize it until I wrote the post. What can I say? We missed visiting Ft. Collins Brewery and picked up some of their beers instead. I just wish we picked up more of their beers. In any event, if you are ever at Ft. Collins, Colorado, give Wilbur’s a try. Let me know if you walk away just as impressed.