BN Army Blog

San Francisco Beer Week: Part II

JP — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:51:38 EDT

One thing there is no shortage of during SF Beer Week is, of course, beer events. Another is a real good description of what the event actually is. It's hard to make an informed decision when all you have to go on is "tap takeover from Sierra Nevada". Might as well say "hey you - just come here". It's easier.

In looking for something to do Monday Night, I found a great event at the world-famous 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco called simply a "library stash tasting". A chance to drink some aged 21A beers in an intimate setting, away from large crowds, farts, and large farts from crowds? Perfect! It was also a chance to try out my new camera - the sleek Canon 60D!

Sampling beers that are almost 8 years old and still being blown away by them is a rare treat. Too many breweries are quick to say, "Age this for 2-4 years....trust us". Yeah right. I have never had a beer I was told to age be better than when it was maybe six months old. But perhaps that's just me...

Standouts from the 21A event include a 2009 Monks Blood, which gave me a nice and soft marshmallow sweetness, capped off by real nice caramel notes and a very subtle cocoa powder thing going on. A hint of dry cherries came through as it warmed, and I have to say, I was impressed right off the bat with this beer. The 2005 Lower De Boom American Barleywine was very interesting, as I thought it had a surprising amount of hop bitterness left in there for such an old beer. It was almost like the thing was re-hopped before serving! The bitterness contrasted the deep brown sugar notes that prevailed throughout. Very well done, and very well cared for. Contrast that with the 2009 version, which was more hop forward, less bitter, and had a lighter brown sugar note.

Strong beer tastings are pretty new for me, seeing as I don't really drink them. Which made it even more important for me to make it to this one, because I need to get out of my comfort zone every so often and give my liver a workout. You hear "strong beer" and you might just think everything is going to be sweet and have a high ABV, which is true, but if you are like me and don't drink one every now and then, you forget just how much they change as the beer warms up. After a couple of these beers, I was letting them just sit for 20 minutes before really jumping in because I knew it would be a totally different experience.

As per usual, the final event of Beer Week was the anniversary party for Celebrator Beer News. This one was their 25th and was held at the Marriott Hotel in Oakland (the site of NHC 2009), and it was an outstanding party. Like any great event, it's not packed. Good festivals know how much room their guests need, and Tom knows how to walk the fine line between comfort and discomfort.

And just like that, SF Beer Week is over. I didn't get to too many events, but the ones that I did go to were a lot of fun. To me, that is how you handle something like this - choose carefully. Sure, there are lots of good places to go and I'm sure there is great beer at each and every one (except for that one. And maybe that one), but you have to survive if you are going to make it to the next one. Pace yourself. It's just beer.

San Francisco Beer Week: Part I

JP — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:37:29 EST

San Francisco Beer Week is hard to describe, as it's not 100% about San Francisco beer, nor is the time limited to one singular week. It's more like a collection of small beer festivals scattered around what is a very loose definition of the San Francisco Bay Area. I think it's a huge testament to the love for craft beer that we have in this State, and it's pretty neat that there are even enough venues around to hold this many events!

Each year, SF Beer Week gets a bit larger, with the number of events this year topping 500. I was determined to attend a small number of them in order to bring a portion of what we go through to you, the folks at home. I suffer for you, I really do.

The first event we went to was more of a pre-opener at the Anchor Brewery as they unveiled their newest beer, California Lager, which is a re-release of the beer they brewed last year for their Zymaster Series, but are shifting it into full-time production this year. The beer is a nod to the very first lager brewed in California by the now-defunct Boca Brewing, up near the Truckee River. The label that Anchor designed took several elements from the old Boca Brewing labels, and brings back the heritage of this beer. Looking at it, you get a real sense of history. Or it could have been the beer in my head. For more info on this beer, hit up Anchor's Blog.

I thought the beer was great. I got some nice, spicy/sweet notes, along with some good fruity esters (green apricots). Very much reminded me of a Mexican Lager, but with more body...if that makes any sense. Grab some, you'll like it!

If you are into the whole outdoors thing, Anchor is donating a portion of the sales of the California Lager to the California State Parks in order to preserve the places that snakes and bugs and spiders call home, and where regular folks like you and me get lost. And eaten. By animals. But don't let the fact that you are just staving off a parking lot or an IKEA prevent you from buying this beer - it's fantastic!

We got to interview Keith Greggor, the CEO of Anchor, about the new beer, which was a real pleasure. Keith said that the partnership between Anchor and the State Parks was a "natural one, and much more meaningful than a sponsorship", which is a great quote.

Anchor puts on an event like no other - tons of great food, and the beer flows and flows. Lots more photos of the event on The Brewing Network Facebook page...

After its demotion from "Gala" to simply "Opening Event", the official kickoff to the Week (that's not really a week) began two days after the Anchor event. In a hall full of craft beer from around the state (didn't I tell you it was more than just SF beer?), people lined up by the hundreds to get in. Of course, since I'm media, I got to walk around and try all the beers first. And they were great! Once the general public was let in, a huge chunk of them made a bee-line to...Pliny the Younger! Look, it's a good beer and all, but that hall was packed with great beers from new breweries and old ones alike, and after waiting for two hours outside, then 30 more minutes inside, why on Planet Earth would you want to wait an additional 30 minutes just to drink a half a glass of a single beer? I'll never understand that.

For me, there were a couple of standouts, one of which was Tree Beer - a collaboration between Drake's Brewing and my close, personal friend Mr. Rodger Davis and his new brewery, Faction. It was brewed with Grand Fir leaves (like the tree. Get it?) And that beer had a wonderful pine sap aftertaste that just made me smile. It was like getting drunk off of Christmas itself!

The most plentiful thing I saw at the fest was...the ironic handlebar mustache, in all of its twisted, curvy glory. Which, by the way, is not ironic any longer. It's just a mustache. Like a joke that has gone on too long, or a house-guest that has overstayed his welcome, guys were wandering around the hall, drinking IPAs and twisting their wispy face hair in a vain attempt to stand out from the crowd. It really made me hate going to The City, and I wish I never had to again.

Reed Brewing's Weizen-Eisbock

John Reed — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:57:57 EST

The Mid-Columbia Zymurgy Association held their Fall Megabrew last month, where (thanks to Ice Harbor Brewing Company) the club got to brew on a large scale commercial system. They made hundreds of gallons of wort, and each club member was able to take home a carboy to ferment themselves.

This particular monster was a Weizenbock, which I was not all that excited about - so, since the holidays are coming up, I decided to make a winter warmer out of it. I had a pilsner that had just finished fermenting, so I figured I would use the lager yeast from there and just dump my five gallons of Weizenbock on top of it - and it fermented down to 1.015 from 1.072.

I really wanted to experiment with this one, so I made a tincture consisting of 8 ounces of vodka with cinnamon, ginger, clove, and allspice. I let that sit for a week while the beer was fermenting, and once it was done, I dumped the tincture into a keg along with the fresh Weizenbock.

About this time, I caught a segment on The Session that covered techniques for making eis beer. Basically, it amounts to partially freezing your beer to remove a portion of the water, which will intensify the alcohol content, since alcohol's freezing temperature is -114 degrees Fahrenheit. Doc suggested putting a corny keg in the freezer for four days to let the ice crystals form, and then, when shaken, one can hear the ice sloshing around in the keg like a big beer Slurpee. The one caveat: do not let it freeze completely solid!

I thought this all sounded like a fantastic idea, so I contacted my local butcher, who was kind enough to let me throw my keg into his large meat locker. In it went on Tuesday evening, and that Thursday was Thanksgiving, which meant Friday was the earliest I could retrieve my keg. When I did finally show up at 9:00am on Friday, my keg was frozen solid. No sloshing sounds like Doc had suggested to listen for. Four days my ass, Doc. Perhaps home freezers do not get as cold as a commercial freezers?

So into my kegerator it went (at 45 degrees) for about two days, and by Sunday, I felt it slosh around enough to transfer the intensified beer out of the ice and into another keg via my handy dandy transfer hose, which uses CO2 to push the liquid from one keg to another.

In the end, I created a deliciously complex, slightly spiced, boozy, port-like Weizen-Eisbock that is strong as @#$%. Thanks to Doc for inspiring me to experiment and try this 'eis-keg' technique, but he is a lying sack and he was almost responsible for damaging thousands of dollars worth of meat from my ruptured keg. Alas - the resilience of corny kegs never ceases to amaze me.

Post Session 07-01-12: Goose Island Beer Co.

Moscow — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:48:15 EDT

After an insanely busy June, The Session returns this week in the first-ever broadcast from our new studio! Goose Island Beer Company CEO John Hall joins the Brewcasters and shines some light (and some beer) onto the goings-on at his legendary Chicago brewery a little over a year after the now-infamous Anheuser-Busch-InBev takeover. The show also features a recap of the 2012 National Homebrewers conference (where the BN once again took Club of the Year), a discussion with Ninkasi winner Mark Schoppe, and much more.

Justin is eager to get his hands on Nate's homebrewed pale ale

Beevo enjoying her time at the "man table"

A few of the Goose Island varieties sampled during the show

The Session crew, hanging out in what will soon be Beevo's isolation chamber

The BN is offline for the next several days

JP — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:44:11 EDT

These past seven years have been great for The Brewing Network. It's because of people like you that we are able to move our studios into a new location - a location that will allow us to grow and develop lots of great new content. The big move is underway now, and as a result, the BN stream, the app, and the store will all be offline so we can move out of our current location and set up in a temporary one while our new studio is being assembled. The archives are active though, so you can still get your BN fix!

Cheers to you BN Army, and our sincere thanks again for your support over the years. We all look forward to the next phase of the BN!