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The Pilgrimage — Russian River Brewing, Windsor, CA

June 30, 2019 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

{Editor’s Note: All quotes in this post are from Natalie Cilurzo. Got tired of thinking of clever ways to stick attributions in.}

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Like a lot of beer nerds, Russian River Brewing has long been one of my all-time faves. My first taste of Pliny the Elder at a long-ago Bistro IPA festival was amazing, my first of Younger even more so. I was thrilled when co-owner Natalie Cilurzo agreed to an interview here a couple of years back. Really gave me a feeling of legitimacy.

So on the drive to their new brewery and restaurant in Windsor, I felt like a kid heading to an amusement park. Only here, the featured attraction is beer.

I got there a little early (and yes, I did go to the right place this time) and waited in the spacious main lobby, featuring several comfy leather chairs around a stone fireplace.

Unlike the original Santa Rosa pub, a long, narrow space stuffed to the brim most days, spaciousness abounds here. There are separate spaces for tours, gift shop, and restaurant, each with its own entrance.

Large groups are accommodated by two communal tables made of long, wood planks, separated by a half-wall across from the bar. More seating is behind the bar, and still more seating, plus another bar, is beyond in an auxiliary, sun-room type space.

All of this is surrounded by windows, filling everything with light. Another departure from Santa Rosa.

Natalie cheerfully greeted me (of course), and we were off on the tour.

RRBC’s Field of Dreams

Windsor is truly a ground-up facility. The site was previously an empty field. They did everything, from prep work and grading, to installing all needed utilities.

And, also unlike Santa Rosa, the site includes two acres of free parking, “which was vital during Pliny the Younger,” says Natalie.

Controlling all aspects of construction allowed them to minimize their overall environmental footprint.

“We could incorporate a lot of sustainable things if you do it from the ground up. Our parking lots are very green, we actually don’t have any storm drains on the property. All of that water either gets absorbed into the ground or flows out to the wetlands.

We have four acres of wetlands to the west that we own, it’s quite beautiful. I was out taking pictures this morning of some egrets, we have baby egrets out there. We have geese and ducks and red-tail hawks.”

When the people responsible for a triple-IPA release that gathers international attention get the chance to build a brand new facility from scratch, you’d expect everything to be state of the art.

And you’d be correct.

Over the (Open) Top

The new brewhouse features open-top fermenting, which allows the yeast to move more freely in the wort because the CO² that’s produced is allowed to escape. Imported from Germany, these specific tanks are only used by two other facilities in the U.S. — Sierra Nevada (North Carolina) and Wisconsin’s New Glarus.

The ventilation system is so advanced the fermentation space resembles a clean room. All fresh air pumped into the room goes through a Hepa filter AND UV light.

They’ve built their own sensory lab, for employee education as well as to maintain consistency between their Santa Rosa and Windsor breweries.

They also now have a yeast propagation cellar, so they can grow their own yeast.

According to Natalie, they still buy yeast “but we’re trying to get away from that for cost and quality control. It takes a lot of wort to grow yeast, so that’s been kind of expensive for us. We’re waiting until we get our new pilot brewery installed, that way we can make wort and not waste it.”

The new brewery is truly an international affair. The majority of their brewhouse came from Ziemann, another German company. And their new, high-tech bottling line is from GAI in Italy.

“This is quite a bit bigger than our last bottling line. It can do up to 200 bottles a minute, right now we’re running at about 130. That’s all we really need to do.”

Watching a bottling line can be pretty mesmerizing as it is, but the palletizer is where the magic really happens on this system.

After the boxes are folded, filled, and glued, they run down a conveyer to a pallet. Every few boxes or so, a portion of the conveyer belt’s sidewall kicks out, turning the orientation of the box, not unlike turning a Tetris piece.

The pattern continues, with every few boxes turned, so that the maximum number fits on each layer of the pallet. It also gives each pallet more stability, as not each layer is arranged the same way.

Trust me, it’s almost hypnotic to watch as each layer gets stacked. Even a veteran like Natalie says, “I can watch it all day!”

“Anybody who’s ever worked on a bottling line, this is their favorite part.”

Heading to the Altar

She then leads me to the sour, or what they call the “funky” brewery.

“One of the reasons we built a new brewery was we wanted a separate area for our sour beers. This is actually a separate building that’s attached to the other building.”

In the old Santa Rosa production brewery, the regular and sour breweries were in the same space, albeit on opposite ends. The threat of cross-contamination was constant, to the point that all equipment used in the funky space, down to hoses and buckets, were marked with red tape so as not to be accidentally walked over to the other side. Anyone who worked on the funky side had to stay there for the entirety of their shift.

They have about 900 barrels in the sour wing, and they’ve utilized their old bottling line here. “That way we don’t have any cross-contamination. We have one brewer that this is the only place he works.”

Then I was led to a place that can only be called a cathedral, down to the gothic door that opens into it.

“We got this door on e-bay, isn’t that funny? It’s old wood with new construction, which I appreciate. I’d rather have the modern hinges, right?”

This is the Koelschip room.

A Koelschip (or coolship) is a big, shallow, open tank. Hot wort is pumped in and allowed to sit. In the evenings, the windows that surround the room are opened, allowing the breezes to cool the wort.

These breezes also carry wild yeast, which inoculates the wort and begins fermentation. These “wild” beers are the closest approximation to what winemakers call “terroir.” Brewers usually use very specific yeast strains when brewing, as they know exactly what that yeast will do to a beer as it’s fermenting.

But when using Koelschips, brewers are at the mercy of the local yeasts flying through the air. Wild beers are truly fascinating, filled with all kinds of funky flavors. They are also quite expensive, as brewing with this technique is very labor intensive and only makes a small amount of beer.

This kind of brewing can only be done during the cool winter and early spring months, otherwise the wort won’t get cool enough overnight.

Even the materials used in this sacred, wood-clad space have a story.

“All of this wood is from Sierra Nevada Mills River (North Carolina). We told [owner] Ken [Grossman] what we wanted to do and he said ‘I have a bunch of lumber left over from harvesting all of the trees for the brewery.’ He had a barn that was full of wood, and we got it … Yellow and White Pine.”

The Good … and Not So Good

We finish up the tour with a quick look through the self-guided section. Windsor offers two types of tours. The scheduled guided tours are $15 and include tasting.

(Pro-tip: try to book a tour during the Younger release in February. Younger is included in the tastings, and it’s probably the only way you’ll get to try it without a long wait.)

Self-guided tours are free and don’t require reservations. No tastings, though. Although, nothing’s stopping you from ordering a beer at the bar and taking it with you as you check out the facility.

After the tour, I asked Natalie if the new facility has worked out as planned in relieving pressure at the original Santa Rosa pub.

“Yes … especially during Pliny the Younger. The waits downtown were not four or five hours, they were one or two, or maybe three hours. Even on the weekends downtown isn’t as crazy.”

Although opening their new location has pretty much gone as planned, as they’ve grown to 200 employees, staffing is a constant struggle.

“We have record low unemployment in California, and we’re in a serious housing crisis right now. The fires that hit us in the middle of construction didn’t help. We’re having a really hard time finding employees and keeping them, and being able to pay them a wage where they can [almost] afford to live here.”

Did they envision this kind of success, to be able to build a gleaming new facility on this scale, with all its bells and whistles?

“Yeah, this is exactly what we envisioned. I mean, it’s bigger than what we originally envisioned, but the job of the design team is to take our vision out of our heads, put it on paper, and then build it. So yes, this is exactly what we envisioned, and then some. It was a grand vision.”

One for the Road(house)

August 12, 2018 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

Due to my limited travel (and time) budget, most of the breweries I cover are in pretty close proximity to Beerverse HQ in San Francisco’s beautiful East Bay. Or at the very least distribute here.

So when I get a chance to taste something I don’t normally see, I jump on it.

Roadhouse Brewing Company (RBC) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming recently shipped some samples to announce their entry into Southern California (they currently distribute in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Idaho), and the recent release of their first canned offerings.

RBC was founded in 2012 by a home brewer and a chef, each wanting to create fare to pair with the other. Their first brewery was a converted billiard room in the already existing Roadhouse Pub.

The brand embraces the spirit of adventure and the outdoors embodied in their mountain location, with beers like Trout Whistle Pale Ale, Mountain Jam IPA, Highwayman Belgian Session Ale, Loose Boots Session IPA, and Teton Pass Pilsner.

At the same time, they don’t take themselves too seriously. They suggest pairing their Mountain Jam Hazy IPA with “wild trout tacos, Nine O’Clock sunsets, and three-finger banjo pickin’.”

Being surrounded by National Parks, Roadhouse’s core values embody preserving and sustaining their wilderness environment. They’ve partnered with many local groups to promote active, creative, and eco-friendly lifestyles.

To that end, their solar-powered brewery conserves energy by recapturing and recycling steam from the brewing process, shipping spent grain to a local ranch for cattle feed, having louvers built in to their cooler walls to incorporate the biting cold winter air, and sourcing their ingredients as locally as possible.

RBC is definitely in growth mode, having opened their facility just about a year ago. They recently closed the original pub with the converted billiard room and are opening their new space on Jackson Hole’s Town Square this summer.

As to the samples, you guys know I don’t typically do reviews, so keep that in mind as you read the following:

Family Vacation American Blonde Ale (4.9%) — hazy light straw color, a touch sweet and creamy, a slight bitterness that finishes clean, with a dab of Belgian funk.

Mountain Jam Hazy IPA (6.5%) — a collaboration with Bridger Brewing of Bozeman, Montana. This hits all the HIPA notes — murky, juicy, 6.5%, although a touch more bitterness at the back than most I’ve had. Overall a solid pick.

Wilson West Side IPA (7.5%) — leaning west coast, pours cloudy gold, standard pine aroma on the shy side, grapefruit palate with a touch of peach, firm bittering on the finish.

Beyond the usual lineup of IPAs, pale ales, blondes, pilsners, and stouts, Roudhouse offers some deceptively smooth Belgian styles. Be careful, these will trip you up if you’re not paying attention.

Avarice & Greed Belgian-Style Golden Ale (9%) — pillowy white head that dissipates quickly, banana/bubble gum esters that continue on the palate, clean bitter finish. Hides its strength a little too well.

Siren Song Belgian-Style Imperial Ale (14%) — pours bronze with a frothy head that again fades fast, mango/ripe plum aroma, peach, cantaloupe, and a smidge of ginger on the palate. Alcoholic heat only becomes evident as it warms, and even then only slightly so. Very, very dangerous.

So if you’re in SoCal (and maybe sometime soon in the Bay Area??) and you can’t make it to the Tetons, bring some of the Tetons home with you. It’s worth the trip.

BTW, if you’d like your brewery featured in these pages, contact me to arrange shipment of samples. If I dig ‘em, you’ll read about it here.

Just a Stone’s Throw Away…

July 24, 2018 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

I’m typically for the underdog.

I love going to tiny, local places, where the owner/brewers have sunk everything they have into a few tanks and a small bar, and are thrilled to see you and share their creations.

Larger players with a national, even world-wide reach? Generally, a pass.

But I was excited to visit Stone Brewing’s new Napa brewery and taproom. I’ve dug pretty much everything they’ve done since my first Arrogant Bastard, and I was eager to try their special Napa-brewed releases.

And the added bonus? I love historic buildings, and therefore was really interested to see how they rehabbed their new Napa home, which dates back to the late 19^th century.

A History of Saving History

Stone Liberty Station is part of the former San Diego Naval Training Station. Their specific building, the mess hall, was one of a handful of existing buildings when the station was dedicated in 1923.

Liberty Station (as it was later known) was decommissioned in the early ‘90s due to military downsizing. The site is now a sprawling complex of retail shops, restaurants, hotels, art galleries and studios, fitness centers, and medial practices.

Stone Berlin is the site of a former gasworks complex built in 1901. The campus includes a 43,000 square-foot main building housing the brewery as well as restaurants, event spaces, and a store.

As for Stone Napa…

Felix Borreo, an immigrant from Genoa, Italy, constructed the building in 1877, assembling foot-thick walls of native stone quarried from nearby Soda Canyon.

While Borreo ran his grocery business on the main floor until ultimately selling the building in 1908, he leased the second floor to a succession of tenants, including a carriage shop, feed store, boat house, and shirt factory.

The 20^th century saw a revolving roster of businesses, including a cellar for a local winery, a library, a yacht club, a motorcycle repair shop, and, from the ‘30s though the ‘50s, an Oldsmobile dealership. Its last tenant was a moving and storage company, and the building had been vacant for many years prior to Stone’s arrival.

Give Me a Sign

Because of the parcel’s isolated nature (bordered on two sides by the Napa River), the parking lot is a couple of blocks away, across Soscol Avenue beyond the Wine Train tracks. There’s only a short driveway next to the building for drop-offs and deliveries.

And that driveway’s your only real clue how to enter the building. As is the case with most Stone locations, there’s no signage. They expect patrons to do their homework and seek them out. Just a sandwich board in front of two large side doors indicates the entrance.

Once inside, past the host station, the glassed-in brewery is to the right. Next to that, plenty of swag for purchase. Straight ahead, large doors lead out to the patio overlooking the Napa River.

To the left is a bar with a wall of taps and two giant video boards above scrolling a dizzying array of selections. And bonus points for multiple sizes — everything’s offered in 5-, 10-, or 16-ounces, ideal for sampling.

Since I was only there to sample and didn’t plan on eating, I ordered a small pour of the Zubin Pilsner (brewed on-site) and handed over my card. I figured I could run a tab there and just pop into the restaurant to take a look.

The server came back with my beer, my card, and a receipt for $3.50. I asked to start a tab, and that’s when they explained I’d need to go the restaurant upstairs to do that.

Would have been nice to know that.

There was a stairway past the bar, but I only saw staff using it, so I thought it was the kitchen entrance.

When I asked if I could bring my beer upstairs, they said certainly, and pointed to that stairway.

The restaurant is beautiful … once I found it.

That was my only real beef with my experience. The layout is not very intuitive, and first-timers like myself could use a little help with navigation. A little directional signage would be helpful.

Let There Be … Garage Doors!

Once you get upstairs, the space is, magnificent. Most of the original windows were either kept or replicated. The spacious u-shaped bar sits in the middle of the space, surrounded by tables. Both bars, upstairs and down, were fashioned from timber salvaged during the renovation.

Something old (reclaimed wood bar), something new (giant window).

An alcove at one end features a fireplace (with a giant Stone logo above) with plenty of chairs and couches. A lively game of charades was taking place while I was there.

The entire scene is capped by a gorgeous arched wooden roof. Again, old wood timbers are ingeniously used as light-fixtures. Original stone walls were kept exposed wherever possible.

For most of its early history, the building was at the east end of a row of buildings. Since other buildings directly abutted it, no windows were possible along its western wall.

Those buildings burned in the mid-‘40s, leaving the Borreo building alone on the parcel.

Stone took advantage of the exposed wall by carving out two massive openings, framed by large roll-up garage doors, one of which was wide open to take advantage of a feature the building never had before — sweeping views of the Napa river and downtown.

In spite of the large doors, this brand-new restaurant has an instant sense of history. The wood-plank floors, dark wood tables, and comfy Spanish-style chairs add warmth and echo the wood beams in the ceiling. Rusted copper and metal cage pendant lights lend an industrial edge.

The food menu was still fairly limited as of my visit, although they did offer a salad, a poke bowl, several sandwiches, and a few starters, including a $15 meat-and-cheese board that was more than enough for the couple next to me. If you can feed two people for $15 in downtown Napa, you’re doing something.

The beer selection, however, was NOT limited.

Freedom of Choice … is What You Want

The menu is helpfully divided into “regions” — the core-lineup from World Headquarters in Escondido, five Napa-brewed beers, and one each from Liberty Station, Richmond (Virginia), and, yes, Berlin.

Stone made their bones on IPA, and the beer list reflected that. Fully 13 of the 20 taps were various strengths and styles of lupulin juice, not counting two pale ales and the Arrogant Bastard.

But those whose palates aren’t hop-focused weren’t ignored — two sours, a pilsner, a stout, and a Berliner Weisse (from Berlin, duh) were also on tap.

After sampling, um, several 5-ounce pours (the highlight of which was a DAMNED tasty Skedaddler IPA, a collaboration with Societe Brewing, also of San Diego), I ventured back downstairs for a couple of crowlers.

You know, I can’t decide. Just give me one of everything.

I’m not a whale hunter. I don’t need to run to a nearby (or not-so nearby) place for whatever-release-day. There’s so much already there on store shelves and in those tiny local taprooms, there isn’t need.

But I gotta say, having a couple of crowlers of limited-release, locally-produced brews with Stone’s logo on it is pretty freakin’ cool.

I’ll definitely be back.

Masters of the Beerverse: Natalie Cilurzo

January 14, 2018 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

WAY too famous to be this nice. (photo courtesy Natalie Cilurzo)

The biggest interview of my life, and I nearly blew it.

I’m still anonymous enough in this industry that if Natalie Cilurzo, co-owner of one of the most famous craft breweries on the planet, grants me time for an interview, well, that’s like interviewing the President for your podcast.

Hyperbole? Maybe a little. But still, people from around the world line up for hours for a chance to drink a certain brew only available for a couple of weeks every February.

And I got to talk to one of the people that makes it possible.

So it was with equal parts excitement and trepidation that I walked through the door at the pub in downtown Santa Rosa and mentioned I was there to interview Natalie for my blog.

Quizzical looks.

Eventually I spoke to the pub manager, who explained that Natalie was at their production brewery.

A couple of miles away.

Where her office is.

Where we had arranged to conduct the interview.

D’oh!

Like an idiot, I assumed her office was at the pub. And of course, since I took the train to Santa Rosa, I didn’t have a car.

The manager called her and, after some back-and-forth, she agreed to come to the pub. But, she had a conference call at Noon that she couldn’t miss.

If you ran this place, your office would be here, right? Right??

By the time she got there, it was 11:40. We had 20 minutes.

I’ve heard it said that, despite all the success and accolades they’ve received over the years, Natalie and her husband Vinnie are two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, in or out of the brewing industry.

Not only did I get that impression the first time I’d met her, but once she got to the pub, SHE was the one who apologized.

Are you kidding?

Anyway, once we got the hurried pleasantries out of the way, we had a great conversation. We discussed the pub’s critical role in helping the community cope with the Wine Country fires, the status of the new Windsor facility, and how her background in the wine industry helped her handle the challenges of running a brewery.

We began by talking about Sonoma Pride, the enormously successful fundraiser for victims of the fires.

The Beerverse: You must be really gratified at how well Sonoma Pride fundraising’s been going.

Natalie Cilurzo: I’m very moved by the tremendous response from the beer community. People were reaching out to US, they weren’t responding to an inquiry or a solicitation from us to help out. We had friends from all over the world reaching out, asking “What can we do, how can we help?”

BV: So you didn’t even put out a call, they just came to you.

NC: We didn’t. When we decided to mobilize our efforts and repurpose our Sonoma Pride brand, we started with local breweries. Bear Republic was the first we spoke with and they came on board. We ended up with about 60 breweries making Sonoma Pride beer, which also required signing a trademark license agreement.

BV: I was wondering how that process worked.

NC: It’s not a collaboration, we’re just licensing a brand out to a bunch of breweries. We had to stop it about 60 breweries. It was just too much. All we were doing was coordinating breweries and it became too burdensome. We weren’t able to focus our efforts on trying to raise money, which was the whole purpose.

Many of our friends, like Allagash and New Belgium, said, “we know what you need is money.” So they wrote us some very sizable checks. We just got an email from Alvarado Street who wrote us a sizable check.

It’s been wonderful, and very humbling.

BV: One of your fundraisers was to raffle line-cutting privileges for Pliny the Younger. How did the winners react?

NC: Nobody really flipped out, people just really wanted to help. This has been a very somber experience, it hasn’t been a party, at all. People were like, “I just really wanted to contribute to the cause. I’m excited, but I would have come anyway even if I couldn’t cut in line.”

BV: How’s it been since the first few days? I know you were one of the first businesses to open as a space for people to gather. It must have been nice to have this available for locals who were affected.

NC: If you think about it, most people were without power and water and gas, or were evacuated. We were the only place people could come to get a hot meal, a cold beer, see the television, have access to wifi.

For those who lost their homes, this became one.

BV: Did you lose power at all here?

NC: We didn’t lose power at all, we were really lucky. We’re on the Memorial Hospital grid, and that was the only Santa Rosa hospital that wasn’t evacuated. So we rarely lose power here, thankfully.

Most of our employees were evacuated, or inconvenienced by not having power, but they came to work anyway. Everybody rallied. Everyone here was part of the community for the couple of weeks that the fires were burning.

Over time, people from out of the area started coming back. We’re still not back to 100%, but there’s also no place around here [for tourists] to stay right now, as the hotels are filled with evacuees. FEMA and other agencies are here helping out, so there’s not a lot of vacancy right now.

BV: Has the mood of the locals lifted a bit with time?

NC: Absolutely. Everybody is in recovery mode, rebuilding mode, and looking to the future mode. I think the trauma is starting to wear off and people are wanting to feel normal. And that’s what we provided, a sense of normalcy.

We had a lot of people who lost their homes, or they were here when they found out they lost their homes. For many who lost their homes, this was the first place they came. Many didn’t know for a long time.

People said they came here because this is their other home, this is where they feel normal. They just wanted to forget about things for a little while.

Our staff has been really amazing. They’re primarily young, and relatively inexperienced with traumatic, life-changing events, and they had to be therapists. They had to be the shoulders to cry on, and sit down and listen to people’s stories. It was hard, we would all leave work exhausted.

BV: I bet! But at least you were here. In spite of everything, it must be gratifying to provide that for people.

NC: Oh yeah, we had to. We were only closed one day, because no one could get here because the freeways were on fire and everyone’s houses were burning down. I wouldn’t have even considered opening, I wouldn’t have had any employees to open with!

Our staff has been really amazing. They’re primarily young, and relatively inexperienced with traumatic, life-changing events, and they had to be therapists. They had to be the shoulders to cry on, and sit down and listen to people’s stories.

BV: Speaking of opening, how’s the new facility in Windsor coming?

NC: Windsor’s coming along great! Our brewhouse arrived [recently] on the ship. I went down to Marin Headlands and got some pictures of the ship going under the Golden Gate, which was amazing. It was a beautiful day. You can track ships these days, it’s kind of cool.

Walls are starting to go up, things are happening.

BV: Did the fires affect the construction schedule?

NC: Yes. We were down for a few days since the air quality was so bad. On the morning of the fires you could see northern Santa Rosa on fire. The fires were burning in the hills right across the freeway from the brewery, so you could actually see flames. It was weird, you could see a glow in the sky, but it wasn’t the sun. Then you could see smoke, flames, then the sun actually came up, and then it got really dark because of all the ash in the air.

We did a big concrete pour that first Saturday after the fires, while the fires were still going. That was the morning Rincon Valley was evacuated. But we didn’t get behind. We’re all caught up [on construction] and everything’s fine.

On the morning of the fires you could see northern Santa Rosa on fire. The fires were burning in the hills right across the freeway from the brewery [construction site], so you could actually see flames. It was weird, you could see a glow in the sky, but it wasn’t the sun.

BV: So it’ll be ready to help out for the 2019 Pliny the Younger release?

NC: Yeah, we’ll be doing Pliny the Younger at both locations. We still have some time to figure out exactly what that’s going to look like. For now the vision is it’ll be pretty much the same at both breweries.

Obviously we would not recommend going to both breweries on one day, because we wouldn’t serve you. We don’t care who you are, we can tell when you’ve had three Youngers! But it would be fun if you wanted to go to one brewery one day and one brewery the next day, and have a completely different experience.

The new brewery is going to have a lot more to offer — guided tours, self-guided tours, a growler-filling room. We have a lot of customers who just want to get in and get out. They’re just passing through, they’re locals, they know what the beer tastes like, it’s the Holidays, the Super Bowl, etc, etc. They want to fill their growlers with Pliny or Blind Pig or whatever, and get on out of here.

And we’ll have a real gift shop that’s bigger than that little room [here in the pub].

BV: When do you expect the new brewery to be online?

NC: We expect to start brewing in the summer, around July/August, and plan to open to the public probably September/October-ish.

BV: Between your work here and being President of the Board of Directors of the California Craft Brewers Association, you wear a lot of different hats. I would ask what a typical day is like for you, but I imagine no two are the same.

NC: I don’t think so. I think a typical day is one that is very fluid, and I actually thrive on that.

As a business owner, you never really shut down. You don’t get the luxury of being able to check out, even if you’re on vacation. The phone’s going to ring in the middle of the night, or you’re going to sleep thinking about something, or you wake up at 3am thinking about something, or blah, blah, blah.

I wake up in the morning, feed the cats, make my coffee, and sit down and starting checking emails. It’s not a normal, Monday-Friday, 8-5 kind of job.

BV: I’m amazed at anyone who can be an entrepreneur. I don’t know how you do it.

NC: It requires a lot of passion, and you have to be enthusiastic about what you’re doing. If you don’t like what you’re doing, it’s not going to work out. You have to be flexible, you have to roll with the punches, get a thick skin. You have to develop a lot of things that don’t always come naturally to people.

As a business owner, you never really shut down. You don’t get the luxury of being able to check out, even if you’re on vacation. The phone’s going to ring in the middle of the night, or you’re going to sleep thinking about something, or you wake up at 3am thinking about something…

BV: I imagine a natural enthusiasm will carry you a long way.

NC: It helps if you’re passionate about what you’re doing. If you keep your eye on the goal, or are just constantly able to move forward, the speed bumps you hit in the road just end up being only speed bumps, regardless of their size. You’re always looking forward to the future. You always have things to look forward to.

BV: You started working in the wine industry at 16. In what capacity?

NC: I worked at a little winery called Mengihni Winery in San Diego County. I’m still friends with the owners. My best friend and I would go in on the weekends and hand-label and hand-foil their wine bottles.

BV: How did your wine career evolve before you got into beer?

NC: I was in the wine industry for 19 years. I put myself through college, got a Bachelor’s Degree from Sonoma State. I ended up being in more of a sales/administration type role, then got into sales. I got to work with wholesalers and be in education, and I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.

BV: I’m sure a lot of those skills translated well into running this company.

NC: A lot of those skills did, working with wholesalers and learning the ins and outs of that world and translating it into the role that I’m in now. I got a lot of great advice [from the] relationships I made along the way, and a lot of [Russian River Brewing] investors came out of that job, too!

And with that, she said a quick goodbye, thanked me for coming, and rushed off to her conference call.

By the way, as we were talking she showed me those photos of the ship carrying the new Windsor brewhouse passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Expect to see those gracing the walls of the new pub once it opens.

After a very nice lunch, I spotted her as I was leaving and thanked her again for making the trip over and making time for me.

And, once again, SHE apologized for the location mix-up.

Masters of The Beerverse: Dave McLean

April 30, 2017 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

With the possible exception of Anchor Brewing, there probably isn’t a brewery more iconic to San Francisco than Magnolia.

To wit:

Dave McLean, the founder, got indoctrinated into the craft beer scene in the parking lots at Grateful Dead shows in the Boston area the late ’80s/early ‘90s, where many of the Dead’s followers brought brews with them from the West Coast shows. Once he settled in the City in 1991 (in the Haight, natch), he began home brewing almost immediately.

After finishing the brewing program at UC Davis, he found a space at Haight and Masonic just a few blocks from his home. The small space had an even smaller basement, in which he managed to cram a seven-barrel brewhouse in 1997.

That tiny brewhouse is still churning out quality brews to this day.

The location already had a colorful history before Dave’s arrival, with one of the former proprietors being the famous Magnolia Thunderpussy. Given that, you really can’t get more San Francisco than by naming your new brewery Magnolia (Dave continues the tribute with his barleywine — Old Thunderpussy).

Seeking to expand production, Magnolia opened Smokestack, a brewery/BBQ joint/whiskey bar in the Dogpatch district, in 2014. That name also comes from Dave’s love of history, a nod to the Dead’s remake of Howlin’ Wolf’s song “Smokestack Lightnin'”, as well as to the neighborhood’s industrial past.

(BTW, Magnolia also makes a damned tasty Smokestack Lightning Imperial Stout, which I was fortunate enough to enjoy during the last Beer Week)

Although all his businesses have been profitable (he also owns The Alembic in the Haight), Dave filed for bankruptcy in late 2015, seeking to restructure his debt-load from the expansion. All businesses have continued operations during the process, which continues. In fact, during this time Magnolia recently brought their first packaged products into market, Kalifornia Kolsch and Proving Ground IPA, both in cans.

Dave was kind enough to chat with me via email, and talks more about history, Magnolia’s bankruptcy, the Dead’s influence on his record-keeping, the can rollout, and the one collaboration he’d still love to do as Magnolia approaches its 20^th Anniversary.

The Beerverse: To get this out of the way, can you comment on how the bankruptcy is proceeding? Looking good to emerge from it?

Dave McLean: We’re diligently working on our steps forward to emerge and while it has taken longer than I had hoped, I’m pretty happy with how much we’ve been able to accomplish during it and how it hasn’t had any impact on the experience at our brewpubs nor our beer. It was a major milestone to launch our canned beer during this time.

BV: How has the can rollout gone? Is Blue Bell Bitter still on the horizon? Are there plans for others?

DM: The cans have been selling so well that it has been hard for us to keep up. It was incredible to see the initial reception in terms of how so many people know the brand and were thrilled to be able to take Magnolia beer home in a convenient format after all these years. We’re just getting to the point where we can spread some around to our other distributors outside of San Francisco and we’re beginning to work on the next releases. Yes, I really want to put Blue Bell in a can.

BV: Putting the bankruptcy aside, how has the Smokestack experience been? I know you changed chefs and tweaked the menu last summer. How has that been received?

DM: I feel like both restaurants are operating better than anytime in their past. We saw some opportunities to optimize the service model at Smokestack last year and there are always menu adjustments to be made at both restaurants. Everything seems to be well-received and we have a lot more in the works in terms of some additions to the Smokestack menu.

BV: Some big anniversaries are coming up in the Haight this year — the Summer of Love’s 50^th, and Magnolia’s 20^th. Any plans to commemorate the two? Any special anniversary brews?

DM: Both are big milestones and we’re excited to celebrate them with our community. The Summer of Love is coming up fast and our own anniversary is in the fall. I’m kicking around some ideas for a 20th anniversary beer. More to come on that.

BV: I’m a historical preservation buff (one of my columns is called “Beer Preserves”, featuring breweries in historic buildings). Can you talk a bit about the history of both locations?

DM: Sure, that’s something that really appeals to me, too. One of the first things I did when I signed the lease for the Haight location was to go to the San Francisco History Room at the public library and dig into what had been there before us.

Our Haight building has a pretty interesting history—built in 1903, it was a grocery store in the early days and then was a pharmacy for many of its years, with that era ending in 1964. It then became the Drugstore Cafe, one of the early hippie businesses in the Haight (they had to change the name to the Drogstore after a run in with the California pharmacy board).

And then a legendary woman named Magnolia Thunderpussy took it over and opened a cafe named after herself. She only ran it for a couple of years but those years stand out in a lot of people’s minds and we still hear anecdotes and stories about her and that era of our building. She moved on and took her name with her (next to the Boarding House on Bush, where she ran the kitchen and put out basically the same menu as she had served at her Haight location).

Our space became the Psalms Cafe, something of a hold-out hippie business after most of them fled and the neighborhood had a long hangover. It was a breakfast spot, Dish, throughout the ’80s until 1996, when I took it over.

While our Dogpatch space [Smokestack] doesn’t have quite as colorful history, it’s special in its own way, as is the history of that neighborhood.

It was the industrial heart of San Francisco for many years, and our building was part of the American Can Company, which started across the street in the early 1900s and expanded by building our building in the 1940s. Incidentally, the American Can Company produced the first beer can, but not in San Francisco (they had several plants around the country).

They shut their San Francisco plant in the 1960s and the buildings sat empty for a few years. The father of the current owner bought them and subdivided them into spaces for artists, artisans and craftspeople, and other creative types who wanted affordable space in a then-desolate part of town.

Now it is at the center of one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city and home to an amazing patchwork quilt of cool, independent San Francisco businesses of all kinds.

BV: I’ve never seen such detailed beer archives on a brewery website. The way your library can be cross-referenced and sorted is a researcher’s dream. Why is that so important to you?

DM: I can’t quite explain why, but it is, so we try to record it all. And there’s so much more along those lines that I’d like to add when and if I have time. I’ve always been that way about the Dead, too—identifying with the tapers and collectors who chronicled every version of every song, every setlist, etc. To that end (and sports can be this way, too), the stats and facts can tell stories, reveal patterns and give context to both history and the present. It’s also just fun to look back and be reminded of some of this stuff.

BV: Your list of collaborations is quite impressive. Are there any bucket-list collaborators you haven’t yet gotten to work with?

DM: Well, what has been most fun about our collaborations has been the organic way in which they have all come about, rather than having a master plan or wishlist. That’s important because to me it helps make the case for one of the things that’s special about the beer world. It’s an amazing community full of friends new and old and the inspiration to collaborate almost always seems to come for me out of a social moment with someone, usually over a beer. That’s what’s fun about it. There’s an element of not trying to hard and letting things unfold in interesting and satisfying ways.

That said, as we approach 20, I think a lot about how much Brian Hunt from Moonlight helped me make Magnolia a reality when most people didn’t think I could squeeze a brewery into the basement at Haight and Masonic. And yet, we’ve never brewed together. I’d like to fix that.

BV: Finally, I gotta ask — hazy IPAs, yes or no? Is the kerfuffle justified?

DM: I can appreciate the good ones and get the idea but I’m not all that into them.

Thank you, Dave! I really appreciate you taking the time.

A final note. Although Dave noted his collaboration brews usually happen organically, I think we as a community need to help him out just this once. A Magnolia 20^th Anniversary collaboration brew with Moonlight needs to happen. What better way for Dave to celebrate this milestone than with the guy who helped him out so much when he first started?

Mr. Hunt, if you’re reading this, whaddya say?

Friends of Mr. Hunt, if you could pass this note along to him, I’d really appreciate it. I think we all would enjoy the result.

Another Birthday Road Trip

June 4, 2016 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

One of the (few) perks my day job offers is birthdays off. The last few years I’ve taken advantage of the free day by hopping on mass transit and heading to some new (to me) beer joints. As the pace of openings shows no signs of slowing, there’s no shortage from which to choose.

This year’s stops — Bartlet Hall and Local Brewing, both in the City.

BARTLETT HALL

Today it's my Birthday! — Birthday stop No. 1

To be honest, I was a bit trepidatious about this one. Bartlett Hall (named for Washington Allon Bartlett, the City’s first mayor) is a full-on restaurant, with a full bar, just off of Union Square. It’s too easy for house-made beer to be an after-thought, or worse yet, an affectation, at places like this.

The usual touches apply here — padded leather barstools and banquettes, rich hardwood tables, the men’s-den swank accented by the pop of the brightly-lit bar with sleek marble top. Luxo-pub.

The selection didn’t exactly put me at ease — only four house brews were available. “Great,” I thought, “just make the minimum to make it look like you take this seriously and have at least somewhat of a selection.”

Did I mention two of the four were IPAs?

So, I started into the sampler set, and…

What’s that they say about books and covers?

The Bartlett Blonde was solid, if not spectacular. Straightforward, easy to drink, nice to order if you’re with a group and want to think more about the conversation than what you’re drinking.

The IPAs, though, were intriguing, and the highlight of the flight. Hop Sounds was the brash, bigger brother of the two. More hop spice, pepper, and grassiness.

Pio Pico was a bit more streamlined, refined, and zesty, full of citrus, with a clean finish. Both were nice, in their own ways, and it was heartening they offered two very different, and quite good, examples of the style.

The Dark Bullitt Chocolate Coffee Porter, unfortunately, was disappointing. Too much chocolate, not enough coffee. I can say it would make a terrific beer float. But on its own, it was just too sweet. Great chocolate cream flavor, but the finish was just too sticky.

The food was tasty, as well. The meatball small plate came with three, bathed in a rich Marinara sauce. The “side” of fries was a meal in itself, piled high in a bowl. Added bonus — two aiolis for dipping, as well as ketchup. Very good, all around. Although, as is my weakness, I could not stop eating the fries even though I should have.

Good thing it was a 25-minute hike to the next stop. I could use it.

LOCAL BREWING

My timing was perfect, I got to Local just as they were opening the giant roll-up door.

One thing I love about brewery tap rooms — you gotta seek them out. They aren’t in typical retail areas, shopping centers and strip malls. Mostly they’re in light-industrial, mixed-use areas, which is the case here. This lightly-traveled block of Bluxome, complete with head-in parking, is quiet and subdued. A nice contrast to the high-traffic main thoroughfares.

Although I was the first there, it filled quickly. The tall industrial space is warm and friendly, with sleek, low-profile stools, dark wood tables and bar, and oversized local photos adding a sophisticated touch.

I took my seat at the bar, got my generous six-beer sampler, and started in.

My overall takeaway — distinct, unique beers, very well executed.

The Bernal Equinox Belgian Pale was a great blending of both worlds, the Belgian twang enhancing, but not overwhelming the Pale hops. The Bluxome Black Lager was light on its feet with an interesting nutty streak (kind of like me, except for the light-on-my-feet part).

The Outer Sunset was hard to wrap my brain around. Billed as a Dark Saison, the competing components almost left a sour impression, in a good way. Tart and musty at the same time.

Nice view. Ingenious use of extra seating.

The Let’s Get Tropical Pale Ale was the most intriguing. A Pale Ale on Nitro, it was an interesting twist on the New England-style IPAs the kids are drinking these days. The lack of carbonation muted the spice and let the citrus flavors really shine, while also giving a bit of heft and richness. Very unique, and enjoyable.

The Sutro Tower Stout (also on Nitro) nailed it. As solid a stout as you will ever find — roasty, rich, bitter, and oh-so smooth. This should be in the dictionary for how to brew a stout. I could drink several to combat the usual SF chill.

And with that, another birthday’s in the books. So thankful of having the gift of many, many beer spots to explore so close to my home. Looking forward to the next one, and to finding many more before then!

Beer. There. Everywhere.

February 28, 2016 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

In the Bay Area, trying to keep up with the plethora of great beer spots opening seemingly on a daily basis is surely madness.

But why should I let that stop me?

Drake’s Dealership, Oakland

Oakland may be ground zero with cool new beer spots. Let’s see … Beer Revolution, The Good Hop, Hog’s Apothecary, The Trappist, Diving Dog, Wood Tavern, Linden Street, Ale Industries, etc, etc, etc.

I’ve managed to make it to a few of these, but yikes!

I ask you, what place could be more relaxing?

I gotta say, though, I’ve never, ever felt as instantly comfortable as I did when I first walked into Drake’s Brewing’s new Oakland outpost, Drake’s Dealership. It’s Uptown, in a collective of shops, restaurants, and art galleries called The Hive.

The nondescript, off-street entrance opens to a spacious, comfortable beer garden, complete with tree-trunk stools, gravel, a canopied seating area, and small stage for entertainment. The space was formerly a Dodge dealership, and hints of its former life are still painted on the brick walls, from the Dodge 1500 truck ad in the beer garden to the Sales and Service sign above the bar.

The warmth continues inside, with wooden tables, stools, and a fireplace. I settled in at the bar and got to work on the massive beer board.

The Dealership doesn’t do flights, per se, but offers four-ounce pours of everything, so in effect you can create your own. I focused on the limited in-house specialties, such as the Rye Robustito Session Porter, the Anatidaephobia Black Saison (!), Rockridge Honey Farm Brown, War Pigeon DIPA, and finished with their Draconic, a silky Imperial Stout.

If you weren’t aware, a Drake is a male duck. Naturally, the duck theme continues through the menu, from Duck Confit to duck-fat fries to my lunch selection, Poutine with “double-duck gravy.”

Rich, warming, and comforting, just like the beers and the place itself.

Mare Island Brewing Company, Vallejo

Beer with a side of history. I so dig that.

Grab some knowledge with your Hydraulic Sandwich.

Mare Island Brewing Company (MIBC) is on the Vallejo waterfront, steps from the ferry terminal. While sipping your sampler, you can watch the passengers coming and going, or look at the historic buildings across the channel. You might notice a row of identical shed-like structures. These were coal sheds, to store the coal used for fueling the Mare Island Shipyard. One of these sheds will soon be their actual brewery (their beers are currently made off-site).

This place exudes a sense of, well, place. From the tables made from reclaimed wood, to the tap handles custom welded by Mare Island welders, to the historically named brews, it is all about Mare Island here. Their website itself is a lesson in local history. Check it out and be educated.

I ordered the sampler, which was of course terrific. However, one of their core beers was unavailable, so I was offered the Farragut’s Farmhouse Saison as a substitute.

Sort of.

Farragut’s Farmhouse is aged in white wine barrels prior to release, and normally isn’t offered as part of the sampler. I was given the original, pre-aged version, which was wonderful. Bright, crisp, and tangy.

Of course, I HAD to order the fully aged beer to compare. I mean, what kind of investigative reporter would I be if I hadn’t? Journalistic ethics REQUIRED it!

To be honest, I really didn’t have a preference. I loved the tartness of the “starter” Saison, but I also appreciated the toastiness and depth of the Farmhouse. Each great in its own way, but it’s always fascinating to taste different versions of the same beer next to each other.

Your Vallejo ferry commute would end here. Any questions? — Your Vallejo ferry commute would end here.

As I mentioned, MIBC is steps from the Vallejo Ferry. Maybe the more adventurous could do a Ferry Crawl? I dunno, maybe start with beers and lunch at MIBC, perhaps ferry over to Alameda and catch Faction Brewing (and possibly St. George Spirits and Rockwall Wine Company, as well).

Then, if your liver can handle it, an additional stop at the Ferry Building in SF for some Fort Point brews. And maybe dinner at Gott’s?

Just saying. Might make for a fun day.

Hopwater Distribution, San Francisco

Had some time to kill between an afternoon show and dinner, and the missus was kind enough to indulge me with a stop at Hopwater Distribution, a newish taproom not far from Union Square.

When we arrived, there were several people milling about outside. Dammit, they weren’t open yet??

We stood there for maybe 30 seconds or so, figuring out a Plan B, when Fate smiled upon us and the proprietors opened the doors.

Thinking of having my kitchen done in this.

Now, I’m pushing 50 (okay, maybe a couple of years to go), so I’m about as un-hipster as you can get. I head into any place in the City with some trepidation. But I must say, as the space filled (quite quickly after the doors opened), I appreciated the mix. All ages, genders, and several ethnicities. It was all good.

And I dug the aged industrial look. You gotta know where it is, as they’ve kept the dilapidated old Key Club sign from the ‘50s out front, and other than small neon signs in the windows, it might not be easy to spot.

Once you’re inside, the copper bar, brick walls, tall ceilings, and hazy front wall of windows welcome everyone.

The 31 taps are all California, and mostly Northern. And I gotta be honest. Aside from wanting to check out another new (for me) taproom, I had an ulterior motive with this stop.

BOCK BOCK!! (Double IPA, actually) — BOCK BOCK!!
(Double IPA, actually)

It was Henhouse Big Chicken DIPA release weekend, and Hopwater Distribution was one of the places pouring it.

And yowza! Ultimate freshness (it was kegged and tapped the day before), bursting with hops, and not a trace of harshness. Nice, nice, nice!

FYI, speaking of Henhouse, their brand-spanking-new brewery and taproom is under construction and should open shortly in Santa Rosa. (Remember what I said about keeping up…?)

I mentioned the wife earlier. She does NOT like beer, so any beer joint I drag her to HAS to offer alternatives. Fortunately, Hopwater has a small wine list, so she enjoyed a Gloria Ferrer Brut sparkler. She was happy, therefore I was happy.

BTW, this is how cool my wife is. For my birthday, she bought me a VIP ticket for Sierra Nevada’s upcoming Beer Camp festival in the City. She’s going, too, as a designated driver. She’s willing to just hang around while I drink beer for a few hours. Then drive my beery ass home.

I defy you to find a truer expression of love than that.

SF Beer Week 2016: Firkin IPAs, Packed in a Barrel, & My Last Meal

February 15, 2016 Dean BrightmanLeave a comment

Before this year’s Beer Week gets too far in the rear-view mirror (i.e.: I forget what I did), here’s a brief rundown of the events I attended.

First, a quick word about tasting notes. To be honest, I don’t really do them anymore. For all the beer I’ve had over the years, my palate just isn’t sophisticated enough. Other than vague generalities (balanced! smooth! malt backbone!), I can’t do each beer justice.

I can knock myself out crafting the perfect assessment, but everyone’s palate is different, so what’s really the point? From now on, most likely I’ll only make note of what’s most prominent and/or unusual for the style.

Besides, trying to describe something as I’m sitting there drinking it distracts from the enjoyment of it. I’d rather just take in the beer and the place and paint an overall impression of the experience. Were the beers enjoyable? Was the vibe welcoming and fun? Was the food and service up to par?

Laziness on my part? Perhaps. But I’m tired of worrying about it. Instead, the bottom line anymore is — were the beers (and food) good, were the people nice, and was it a great place to hang out, relax, and enjoy everything?

Single/Double/Triple IPA Firkin Flight, Triple Rock, Berkeley

Now, IPA flights are great enough. When you can try a brewery’s Single, Double, and Triple IPAs, even better.

When all three are pulled from casks — sign me up!

Coming here was a bit of a reunion of sorts. Hadn’t ventured to this venerable spot in a couple of decades, at least. Time has only added to its charm. The brewiana-covered walls, the air of beery civility — the place speaks of the tens of thousands of pints proudly poured there over nearly 30 years.

I arrived to an already crowded bar shortly after the 11:30am opening. Fortunately the three firkins were positioned on the bar in such a way that one corner seat was tucked in amongst them. I settled in and got to work.

The featured IPAs were the IPAX (single), Hop Salad (double), and Nod’n’Smile (triple). Great beers, all. The Hop Salad was probably the most hop-forward of the three. But what I really couldn’t believe was how smoooooooth the Nod’n’Smile was. The touch of sweetness at the end muted whatever alcohol kick it had.

Say hi to my friends -- the Firkins! — Speaking of friends, have you met the Firkins?

The 9-oz. pours were perfect — enough to thoroughly enjoy each one while still being able to leave under your own power.

A tasty Asian-marinated Salmon sandwich was the perfect pairing. The marinade tang mirrored the bitterness, while the fatty fish cut through the alcohol. And the service was wonderful. Although I was nearly hidden amongst the firkins at the bar, the very busy staff kept an eye on me and made sure I wasn’t neglected.

Cask beers are, of course, the best. And a chance to taste several in a flight is a delight. This was wonderful, and I hope they do similar events in future Beer Weeks.

Barrel-aged Beer Fest, The Trappist, Oakland

This was my first visit to The Trappist, and I loved it immediately. But be warned — if you’re claustrophobic, this is NOT the place for you. The front bar has barely enough room for stools, a walkway, and standing-height ledges along the back wall barely wide enough to hold your beer.

And say hello to my new friend! — And hello new friend!

The whole place is kind of a horseshoe. Walk past the front bar and the space widens a bit, with long bench seating along one dark-paneled wall, and the bathrooms on the opposite side.

Hit the back and open a door, and a small beer-garden is outside. Otherwise, hang a right to find more small tables and some stools along the dark back corridor.

Reach the end of that hall and hang another right. You’re heading back toward the front of building now, and the space opens up with several more tables and light filtering in from the front windows. This is the back bar area.

The odd and sometimes cramped shape of the space meant for long lines at the bars (more so at the front bar). But, as I’ve found at countless beer events, participants were cheerful and patient. And as a newbie, I quickly picked up the procedure.

Lines formed at the END of each bar. You don’t squeeze between people sitting at the stools. Study the printed menu while you wait, make sure you’re at the correct bar (the menu was divided into Front and Back Bar sections). Get the routine down and plan accordingly, and you will have a very pleasant experience and rarely have to wait long holding an empty glass.

I'm standing against the BACK wall! — I’m standing against the BACK wall!

First up was the Gigantic Brewing Pipewrench IPA, aged in gin barrels. That was a first for me, and the gin made for a more tangy, citrusy experience than most IPAs I’ve had. Really nice.

Next was Fieldwork’s Viking’s Lament Imperial Porter, aged in bourbon barrels with licorice and vanilla beans. I was a bit reluctant as I’m not a licorice fan, but to my delight the vanilla and bourbon flavors were much more pronounced, with the licorice providing just a bit of bite at the back end. Quite good.

Finally (and I couldn’t do any more if I wanted to) was Drake’s Barrel-aged Drakonic. This was just straight-up, in-your-face Imperial Stout time, with a bit of maple from the bourbon barrels. Subtle, it’s not. But still very delightful.

Overall, if you can deal with a lot of people in not a big space, it’s a great place to enjoy quality beer. I’ll have to return on a non-event day.

Dogfish Head Tap Takeover, Gott’s Roadside, Ferry Building, SF

A bonus stop after wandering around Super Bowl City. We got to the spectacle right about opening time on the first day, and boy, are we glad we did after seeing reports of the crushes of people on the days right before the game. Took us about 10 minutes to get in, and the crowds were very manageable.

And kudos to Speakeasy for getting some taps at the beer concessions. Nice to see some local beer represented.

Anyway, after checking the scene for about an hour, my wife was kind enough to agree to lunch at Gott’s. Now, I adore Gott’s as it is (although it’ll always be Taylor’s Refresher to me), but throw in some rare beers from one of the most off-the-wall breweries on the planet, and you’ve got yourself a deal!

And wow, did they have some hum-dingers available, including a couple of 17% monsters. If you’ve been to Gott’s, you know it isn’t conducive to pouring samples, so unfortunately flights were not available.

I opted for the Pennsylvania Tuxedo Pale Ale, brewed with spruce. A pretty straight-toward (for them) Pale, with the spruce adding a bit of spice.

I had to try one of the monsters, so I braved the Higher Math, a golden strong ale made with sour cherry juice and cocoa nibs.

At this point I must confess, and I may have to turn in my beer-lover’s card for this, but I do NOT like sour beers. Just can’t do them. Almost invariably, they are too puckery for me and wind up tasting like not much more than beer-flavored vinegar. I know, I know. I’m thinking of getting counseling.

Why pay $10 for a Super Bowl City beer??

Thankfully, that was not the case here. The cocoa took enough of the sour edge off to where it tasted pretty much like chocolate-covered cherries. Worked very well. And BTW, the 17% was NOT in evidence. Yes, it’s a sipper, but a light-on-its-feet one. Very dangerous.

I enjoyed these with one of my favorite meals off all time, anywhere — the Ahi Burger. You ever been asked what your last meal would be? This would be mine — a huge slab of rare Ahi with Asian slaw and Wasabi aioli. Normally I’d say with a Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc (I defy ANYONE to find a better food/wine pairing), but these Dogfish Head beers would work just fine, as well.

And with that, another Beer Week is in the books. Again, it’s friggin’ amazing to live in an area with so many hundreds of fantastic events to experience, and I’m thankful I got to enjoy a few. Until next year, then.