Seattle International Beerfest 2013 Day 1

Day 1 proved to be an excellent kickoff to the beerfest.  Our professional beer drinker status was secured when we were able to  taste beers for 5 1/2 hours and still left the festival on our feet and relatively sober.

List of beers from day 1:
Bainbridge Hoptopus - ok
Pike Space Needle anniversary IPa - excellent hop flavor and aroma
Chickanut Rauch Bier - subtle smokiness
Pike XXXXX Stout
De Garre Tripel - strong.
Sound brewery Monk's Indiscretion - a little fruit and a bit of hops,  this is best so far
Rueben's Brew Imperial Rye IPA
Silver City Whoop Pass - alright,  lots of hop aroma but missing in malts
Uinta brewery Hop Notch IPA - alright
Green Flash Le Freak
Boneyard Hop Venom - refreshingly good
Big Al Brewery Big Bertha
Old Lompoc Old Tavern Rat - meh

Beers in print

The 'Monty' comic strip (once called 'Robotman', then 'Robotman and Monty') has always been a favorite, but the stupid SF Chronicle has a horrible selection of comics, so I don't get to read it often. A while back I found it online, and occasionally I read it. Fate was calling today when I decided to check it out.



It's good to see a wide range of beer styles mentioned. Hooray for beer!

Calgary baseball

The past ten days or so have been extraordinarily busy, and it was all kicked off with a short trip up to Calgary for a few days of work, or I should say, business meetings. I sure don't want any Canadian immigration/customs officials coming after me for erroneously stating the purpose of my visit up north.

While in Calgary, I didn't have much free time, but a few key facts meant that I was able to make the time for a quick minor league baseball excursion. Most importantly the weather was absolutely awesome - blue skies, scattered clouds, and mildly warm temperatures. Plus, I happened to be staying within walking distance of the baseball park. Then the most important part, there actually was a game scheduled for one of the nights that I was there.

So on Tuesday evening, I took a walk over to the stadium to see the Calgary Vipers take on the Edmonton Capitals in an independent Golden League game. It was not a pitching or defensive showcase. Lots of hits and runs plus quite a few fielding mistakes let the game drag on for quite a while. I didn't stick around for the whole game, but it was refreshing to relax outside on a nice evening and watch some baseball.

The only disappointing part of the evening was that the selection of beer consisted of cans of Budweiser, Bud Light, and Kokanee. I chose Kokanee, but it's a pale yellow, mild tasting, fizzy beer that's a little more unique that a can of Bud. It was better than nothing.

Finally trying Social

The newest, and closest, brewpub to the homestead had been difficult to try. With limited operating hours (5 pm to 10 pm), it was difficult to find a convenient time to stop in. That fortunately changed in the past week, as the Social Kitchen and Brewery can now be checked off the list of brewpubs to visit.
A week ago, I was in the area around 5:00, so I stopped in to try a beer or two. Overall, the beers have been above average, though no super standout, but I'll get into those details in a moment. We also had a chance to try their food last weekend. We happened to walk by at lunch time and saw that they were open. It turns out that it was their first day to be open for lunch, so we took advantage of our good fortune.
The food was quite good. I had a very good cheese burger - well cooked meat, slightly charred, fresh toppings, and crunchy fries - and Ginny had a Vietnamese Fish Sandwich that looked great and she agreed. We'll definitely be going back for lunch/dinner when we have the opportunity (I might sneak over there while Ginny's in labor - it's about an 8 minute walk from the hospital).
As for the beer, there are five options currently offered:

• Social Koelsch - very light (taste and color) and refreshing, though drinking it while eating their house-made mustard resulted in it being really overpowered.


• Old Time Alt - Closer to a brown or a mild ale, this smooth beer could use a little more malt to balance out the dark grain and hop flavors.


• Easy IPA - A mildly hopped IPA (for the west coast) that's easy drinking


• Rapscallion - A low alcohol Belgian-style beer, dark in color and full bodied and flavorful. This was my favorite and it paired nicely with all of the food.


• L’Enfant Terrible - A higher alcohol Belgian-style beer (sort of between a double and a triple), that's light in color and full of Belgian-funkiness. Not as drinkable as the Rapscallion, but quite good.

Overall, I'm excited to have a brewpub close by (20 minutes walking, 5 minutes by MUNI on a lucky day) and am looking forward to trying more beers in the future.

B2B weekend re-cap

The 99th running of the Bay to Breakers race was last weekend in SF and it was a crazy, busy, fun weekend that was kicked off on Thursday afternoon with a good baseball game at AT&T park. The Giants-Padres game was one of the fastest I've ever seen - just over two hours. We only had time for like one beer it was so fast. We made up for it the rest of the day and during the ensuing weekend.

Here's the beer summary for the weekend:

• Tasty beers at the 21st Amendement - a few Golden Dooms (Belgian Strong beers), Gigantes IPAs, and awesome Rammstein (strong dunkel weizen).


• Denied beer at the new Social Brewpub because they close at 10:00 pm due to a stupid provisional liquor license.


• A quick stop up in Headsburg at the Bear Republic Brewpub to down a Hop Rod Rye (great double IPA with Rye - nice subtle spice), Ryevalry (another double IPA fermented with Belgian yeast), and a small sample of Racer X (yet another big IPA).


• Half a can of Red Oval Classic Lager that cost me 50 cents and was stolen by a rouge SF cop who could have instead been doing something useful like arresting pot-smoking hippies, un-licensed food vendors, public urinators, and ugly naked people.


• Some homebrew.

Outside of the beer, we made it to a few good restaurants, too:

• Waterbar - after the baseball game, we stopped in for $1 oyster and happy hour cocktails. It was an excellent pitstop.


• Zuni Cafe - Great 'comfort' food and great service. Probably my favorite restaurant in SF


• La Mar - Awesome Peruvian food. Some of the best ceviche and the most tasty small plates I've ever had. This place is near the top of my list for seafood in SF.


• Home Cookin' - I split a pork tenderloin, stuffed it with chopped basil, garlic, dried chilies, and a couple of thick-cut pieces of bacon, and then grilled it. I done did good with it!

Bay to Breakers was full of the usual craziness. Lots of good costumes, good music, scary naked people, and the occasional really odd sight. I didn't get many decent photos. Here's a couple of the more interesting:
The Pimp-looking dude on the right side may or may not be in a costume.

Youngest drummer of the day - he looked at the oldest 5

A squadron of Star Wars X-wing pilots

Artistic Beer

We just returned from the 19th Annual Hunters Point Shipyard Artists Spring Open Studios and Sale (www.shipyardartists.com) and it was rather mind-numbing. Several hours of looking at about 70 artist's paintings, photos, and sculptures just left me wanting some beer.

There were a couple of artist that incorporated beer into their work:

• Irene Hendrick was showing a few paintings focused on old men drinking beer in pubs. One can be viewed here.
• Judy Reed had some large photographs (like 3' x 4') of crushed Budweiser cans. It was a bit odd.
  

My discerning eye always finds a few gems.

Beer, Baseball, and Tulsa

I spent last week in Tulsa working way too much and not having any fun.
Baseball
I did however take the chance to check out the brand new downtown ballpark for the AA minor league Tulsa Drillers. It was the season opener and inaugural night for the new stadium, and I couldn't get a ticket, so I just wandered around the outside of the ballpark. They were playing the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros AA) and the only player that I recognized was Koby Clemens, son of Roger "Roidman" Clemens.
From outside the fences, one can actually see a good bit of the field and game. I've had worse views of a game inside a stadium. As an added bonus it is only a 5 minute or so walk from my hotel, so I was able to casually stroll over, watch a little baseball, then grab some food from a nearby restaurant.
Beer
In general, the beer selections in Tulsa are a little limited. The best beer bar that I have found is McNellie's in the downtown area. They have a good beer selection from around the world and the US, and they even have Racer 5 on tap. They also carry beer from a local brewery, Marshall Brewing. I tried a couple:

• Atlas IPA - A 6.5% ABV amber IPA that has a good amount of bitterness, though it was lacking in hop flavor and aroma. Just a little more hop flavor and it would rate above-average. I've had this on previous trips and I have fonder memories, so this keg might have been a bit old.


• McNellie's Pub Ale - Malty and smooth drinking, this was much more pleasing than the IPA. It paired nicely with the taco and tamale dinner that I ate that night.

Other than some Shiner Bock and a few free beers at the hotel 'Priority Club' lounge, there was not a whole lot of beer-adventuring to be had. Next visit, I hope to actually sit down in their new baseball stadium and see if Bud/Miller/Coors tastes that same there as in other baseball stadiums around the country.

Los Gatos Beer

I'm posting a whole week late, but better late than never I guess. We took an adventure down towards Santa Cruz and met friends for dinner and beers in Los Gatos. Dinner was planned at Los Gatos Brewing Company, and we had a bit of a wait, so we first stopped at the local dive bar.
The Black Watch, 141 1/2 N. Santa Cruz Ave, is a fairly basic bar, almost too clean and orderly to be called a dive bar, really. It had a small but decent selection of beers on draft, and we snagged a booth to enjoy our beverages. It was quiet while we were there and seemed to have a good crowd.
Once we made it to dinner, I managed to try three of the house brewed beers. The Cask Conditioned Porter was first, and it was smooth and very fresh. It was a bit milder than many porters, though full bodied and very drinkable. Next up was the Scottish Ale and maybe the porter whacked out my taste buds, but the Scottish Ale was very mild. I was expecting a little more malt flavors and it seemed just a little too bland. I quickly moved onto the Oktoberfest and I found my favorite of the evening. It had a good level of caramel flavor, nice hop balance, and a clean dry aftertaste. If this had been my first of the night, I would have stuck with it for the evening, but I guess for the sake of adventure, I'm glad it wasn't.

Baltimore Beer

Though time for beer adventuring was limited during our few days in Baltimore, I was able to find a brewpub that had some tasty beers. We were staying in the harbor area (I highly recommend touring the sailing ship, Constellation) and the closest beer destination that I could find within walking distance was the Pratt Street Ale House. It had a large selection of cellar brewed ales under the brand Oliver Ales. I had a great burger (blackened beef with blue cheese), but the service for the large group (8+) that we brought in on Sunday was not very good. Time was limited and I was only able to try two of their offerings, but both were good beers:

Scottish Ale - Rather sweet ale with subtle smokey flavors. The 7% alcohol was evident on the trailing taste.
Irish Red Ale - Clear, red, smooth and a little malty, this one was good but very subtle. A very drinkable beer that I probably would have liked more had I not been nursing a little bit of a hangover from the big wedding party the night before.

As part of the wedding events, it was evidently required that we drink lots of Natty Boh, aka National Bohemian. This is a easy drinking lager that, I guess, is made in Baltimore and all hip people drink lots of it. It was tasty, wet, and local, so I can't really complain too much.

One last bit of beer fun: the after party for Catherine and Yann's wedding was held at a local pub that had a good selection of Flying Dog beers. It was late, and I tried a few, but heck if I can remember what they were. I've had many of their beers before, so I don't think that I tried anything new, but until I invent my time machine or under go some kind of hypnosis, those beers are lost to history.

DC ain't just for stupid politicians

I think that my previous visit to DC occurred when I was a super cool high school trumpet player and our Symphonic band was given the chance to play at a few venues in the area. That would have been the late 80's and I don't really remember much about it, but I think that my most recent trip was more fun.

We missed a week of blizzards and horribly messy cold weather, so when we arrived, there was just snow and slush everywhere. During the daytime we ventured out to hit a couple of the Smithsonian Museums and wander around the National Mall, but at night we sought out refuge from the cold with some good food and beer.

Good Food
The visit was short, but we manage to enjoy two great meals out on the town. The first night we made it to Matchbox. It's a rather hip upscale pizza joint with a large brick pizza oven that dominates the two story open-floored eating and bar area. We feasted on some great thin, crispy crusted pizzas, a few mini-burgers, and then we washed it all down with a few beers from their good draft selection. In an apparent coup, we managed a pint of Bell's Hopslam before the keg floated, but more on that in the beer summary below.

Our second night was an even hipper and tastier experience, as we gorged on Mexican small plates at Oyamel. We ate too many things to list them all here, but table-side-made guacamole was a table pleaser and a couple of my favorites were roasted brussel sprouts in an arbol chili, pumpkin seed and lime dressing and a pork taco with crispy pork rinds. Mmmmm, pork tastes good.

Good Beer
Thought nothing we drank was actually brewed in the immediate area, most of it was new to me and not available out on the west coast. It's always good to know that while the politicians in DC can't make a decision worth a damn, the beer drinkers can. Good beer seems to be thriving, based on my two day's experience.
Here's a sampling of the beer downed in the nation's capital:

Yuengling - I've had this previously, but it's worth mentioning. It's a smooth crisp lager from the oldest brewery in the US. (from Pennsylvania)
Bell's Hopslam Ale - A malty big bodied, high octane beer with copious levels of hop flavor and aroma. It's a limited release beer, so we were lucky to be in town at the right time and place, as we by chance found it on tap just before the last keg died. It's similar to my favorite, Racer 5, so this was very welcome after a long day of traveling. (from Michigan)
Bell's Two Hearted Ale - This was my second choice after Hopslam ran out. Lots of hops came through in this IPA, though I'd like to try it again when my taste buds haven't been previously 'slammed'.
Great Lakes Eliot Ness Amber Lager - Rich caramel hue to this malty, crisp lager. (from Ohio)
Troegs Nugget Nectar - Another seasonal brew that we were fortunate to be in the area for during its run. Labeled as an Imperial amber, it has definite caramel flavors with a strong dose of hops, though much more restrained that the Hopslam or other 'Imperial' beers.

Even though my pregnant travel buddy couldn't partake of the beer bonanza, I think that she had a great time with the food, venues, and company. Many thanks to Daria and Kevin for being excellent tour guides and beer finders.

More Strong Beer - Second Magnolia Visit

I made a brief return to Magnolia in order to try a couple of more beers - and numb the pain of twisting my ankle yet again. The beers proved to be excellent pain inhibitors.
First up was Smokestack Lightning Imperial Stout (10%). It was very roasty with almost a bit of tannin in the mouth feel. I was at first reminded of a wine, though the beer was decently balanced. I think that the alcohol really comes through which led me to the wine flavors.
Second was the Promised Land Imperial IPA (10%) It was super grassy, slightly citrusy, hoppy goodness. With amber color, a good body, and a bit more carbonation than some of the other strong beers, this is a very good beer. An excellent send off prior to our trip to the East Coast.

Strong Beer - 5 down, 7 to go

I made the long trek across town to try a few of the strong beers at the 21st Amendment. Since the travels were long and Muni was annoying, I forced myself to try three beers.

Imperial Jack (8.7%): great body with a roasty malty kick and only a subtle hint of the alcohol. There's just a touch of lingering hops on the finish. I could drink this all night - or at least until I pass out.
Two Lane Blacktop IPA (9.4%): Hoppy aroma, hoppy flavor, and black as night. It's very malty, but not much roast or chocolate is making it through the hops. Awesome freakin' beer, in my humble opinion.
Beer School (9.1%): rather smooth beer with a hoppy aftertaste. It's very pale and effervescent, with a light body and crisp taste. Even at 9.1%, this comes across as a very mild beer.

While drinking the Beer School, I enjoyed their Buffalo Chicken Cobb salad which was quite good. It was nice and spicy on it's own, but it really stepped up a notch when bit of spicy chicken was followed by a swallow of beer. Flame on!

SF Beer Week - Linden Street Tasting

The old neighborhood bar, The Page, had a beer tasting and meet-the-brewer event on Wednesday night. I hadn't heard of Linden Street Brewery out of Oakland before, so I thought I'd check them out. The beers were on special, and I never found the brewer, but it was a nice event that allowed me to try a couple new beers.

Burning Oak Black Lager - slight roasted flavor and definitely on the sweet side. First sip reminded me of German Schwartzbier, though not quite as malty and with a much cleaner yeast character.

Bill's Amber Glow Lager - slightly sweet with a clean crisp taste a a little bit of noble hop flavor. I'll proclaim this a good warm weather session beer.

They both seemed well made, though for me, I would enjoy them more with some food and sitting outside in the sun. If it's ever sunny and warm, I'll give that a try.

SF Beer Week - Delarosa

SF Beer Week commenced last Friday, and the first thing we've been able to make it to is a beer pairing menu offered at Delarosa in SF's Marina district. The food and pairings were great, and we'll be returning in the future to try more of their regular menu. Here's a rundown of the pairings:

Danish Lager and Meatballs: Moist pork meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce - The Danish Lager (Devil's Canyon Brewing, Belmont, CA) is slightly sweet, smooth, and crisp with a good bit of hop flavor. It paired great and the alcohol content didn't cause the spiciness to become overpowering.

Steam Beer and Chicken: Grilled chicken over white beans, mushrooms, and rosemary - The Imperial Common (SF Brewer's Guild) is a rather hoppy, in the range of a strong pale ale or mild IPA, strong steam beer. It really pulled the earthiness out of the bean mixture. This was my favorite pairing of the day.

Sparkling Beer and Donuts: Fresh sugar coated donuts with a chocolate dipping sauce - The Sparkling Cassissona (Birrificio Italiano, Lurago Marinone, Italy) is a weird one. It at first reminded me of an orange Fanta, as it was that fizzy and orangey. Separately, I'd probably not drink too much of this one, but a slight citrus flavor in the donuts complemented it nicely and this was a good dessert pairing.

Strong Beer Month 2010 - kickoff!

It's my first return visit to Magnolia, since moving out of the old hood, and I plan to try my luck at imbibing all 12 of this year's Strong Beer line up. Not in one sitting, of course.
As an interesting aside, I've not been in here since the big remodel, which may have been 2+ years ago. The distressed wood furniture and wall coverings give it an old saloon feel which is quite nice. The old hippy-scape mural is gone, and it is really missed. It was unique and really tied this place to the history of the Haight area. The replacement gold leaf walls just seem to be begging for something more. It's just a bunch of dead space now. I've never really been enamored with this place and that has not changed.
Anyway, moving on...First up is Delilah Jones Rye (10.2%). It's got a good amount of grassy flavors, which I'd attribute to the rye. There's not much of a nose and it's rather light bodied. A little bit of hop-induced bitterness is detectable, but no real flavor. It's very drinkable and hides the alcohol well, but I'm a little disappointed in the overall beer.
Next down the gullet is Four Winds Quadrupel (9.1%). It's an immediate explosion of flavor! A slight dried fruit aroma, maybe a whiff of prune, and lots of funky flavors fill the mouth. It's very full bodied and on the sweet side of the spectrum. This will probably be my favorite, but we shall see.

The Evil Empires' holdings

A couple of real bloggers have recently posted some interesting lists, so I thought I'd put a link to them on my blog. Check out these links to see what brands of beer fall under AB-InBev and MillerCoors:

http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/the-big-brewers-brands/
http://beerwarsmovie.com/2009/12/01/who-owns-what/

While most of the beers in this list don't fit my current tastes, it's always interesting to know where your beer money goes. I prefer to keep mine as local as possible.

Burger Bar SF - Beer Fun

Last week, we managed to make it into the somewhat new Burger Bar in the Macy's at Union Square. The burgers were awesome, but an unexpected surprise was the beer selection and beer-centric items.
There was a wide selection of local craft brews as well as micros from around the US. During our visit, a house specialty beer was on tap that had been brewed by Speakeasy, though it might just be a re-named version of their blonde or Pils. I passed on the lighter beer and went for the Racer 5 that paired very nicely with my Black Jack Burger. As for the burger, the meat was a bit charred on the outside and juicy on the inside and the tapenade added a nice zesty zing to it all. Most excellent.
I filled up quickly on the burger and fries, so I didn't get to try some of the fun things like beer floats and beer cocktails. They offered a platter of 5 different beer floats (taster size) that ranged from porters to Belgian-style beers and vanilla to fruity sorbet. The beer cocktails all sounded a little scary, but they were definitely unique. This was the middle of the day, and my wife wasn't going to put up with more shopping plus a drunk husband, so we wisely moved on after the great lunch.
It all points to many reasons to make a return trip, though the 30 minute wait for a table might get a bit tiresome if it keeps up.

One night in Calgary...

After several previous trips in Calgary that consisted of all work/sleep and no play, I finally had the chance to check out some local establishment for the consumption of beer. I was stuck at the airport hotel for the night, but managed to find the local bus (#57) that got me to the C-train station (Whitehorn) that whisked me into downtown.
On the way into downtown I got to see two homeless dudes beating the crap out of each other in the middle of a street. After seeing that, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect for the evening, but I then quickly found Bottlescrew Bill's, which claims to have a couple of hundred beer options. They appeared to come close to that claim, but lacked many Canadian options. I did try their house beer, Buzzards Breath Ale, which was an okay amber ale without much hop flavor or aroma. Then I found the best beer of the night in a Brown Ale brewed by Wild Rose Brewery located in Calgary (they also brew the house beer). It was very good. Malty, bisquity, and slightly nutty, it really hit the spot and went great with my almost rare Alberta bison steak.
I then wandered for a few blocks until I saw an interesting place called Belgo. It attempted to be a Belgian Brasserie, and had plenty of Belgian beers on tap and in the bottle. It even had some Rogue Ales from the US. They did a good job of pouring and presenting the beers and the decor was nice. I did get a weird vibe from the place - it wasn't very crowded, and the manager/door guy seemded to be turning people away, and even remarked to me that I was 'allowed to stay'.
To wrap up the night I witnessed another fight on the train platform as I was headed back to the hotel. It was three against one and it did not end well for the one. At least the police got involved in this one.
That's all the fun for my one night in Calgary.

Belgian Beer in Bangkok

I had a plan to sample the Bangkok nightlife for foreigners, so I set out for the Sukhumvit area, which is just a long road with lots of bars, restaurants, shops, and tables of illegal DVDs, CDs, and clothing that cater to foreigners. I hoped to stop into a few pubs looking for a non-watery beer or two. I even heard a rumor that there might be a brewpub or two hidden along the way. I never found a brewpub, but I did meet some crazy people and lots of Belgian beer.
My first stop in the early evening was at a English style pub with a few pool tables called Bullys (on Sukumvit near Soi 2, I think). I almost never left. Part way through my first beer I was befriended by a rather boisterous American currently living in Hong Kong and in Bangkok for some obscure reason. Come to find out he used to be a band dork – played trumpet and was hard core into the marching band. One of his acquaintances showed up soon after, and he too was a trumpet player, though gave up on marching band after a year. So here I was, at a bar in Bangkok drinking beer and talking about marching band, favorite trumpet players, and jazz band. It was an excellent start to the evening. Sometime later, the group grew into a crowd of about eight (no more trumpet players, though) and I came to find out that the goal of the evening was to check out the Belgian beer festival going on at some bar down the street.
We soon headed out to HOBs (House of Beer) which was more than just around the corner. It was several kilometers down the road (at Soi 55, maybe). A couple of cabs were flagged down and off we went. HOBs turned out to have quite the nice selection of Belgian beer on tap. Though about 10 had already floated, they still had another 30 or so available. I didn’t try anything new, but a couple of Chimays were a refreshing change from the light lagers that I had been consuming all week. The bar, into which I never actually stepped, had taken over the parking lot and set up a nice beer garden with live music. I could have done without the lounge-style music, but it was a cool night for the tropics, and an overall nice surprise experience. After a few rounds of beer I found out that I missed the last train back to my part of town, so I headed back to Bully’s for one last beer and after closing time found a cab ride to my hotel.

Have beer will travel

So I’m bad about updating the ole’ blog, but the spirit is there, just not the 24-7 internet access…
So on the long flight over, I learned two things: 1) people who leave their overhead lights on while on an eleven hour flight are annoying, and 2) United now charges for drinks, which really sucks. I hate you airlines.
Now onto beer news, I drank my first beer in Japan on the my three hour layover in Narita, so that definitely counts as a country visit. The beer in Bangkok isn’t much to write home about, but I’m drinking it anyway. Singha is good in hot, sticky weather and excellent as a fire extinguisher for Thai chilies, but that’s about it. I miss hops and flavor. Speaking of chilies, the locals that I am working with have been doing a great job of stuffing my belly with great food. I’ve made the mistake of chomping down on a few chili pieces, and they’ve brought tears to my eyes and sweat to my face. Each meal has spicy pastes and sauces that can be added to your liking, and I keep messing up and adding too much to the already spicy dishes. I guess it’ll either kill me or I’ll learn to avoid them eventually.