Comments on: Three Brewfests, brew news and a brew rumor

By: Stickie

Stickie — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:35:07 +0000

You’re right, I totally missed the 19th Anniversary, dammit. That’s a great beer. Spot on with the Great Basin, but I skipped Sac Brew in lieu of an in person visit this week, where I am looking forward to trying the Peterson’s Pride.

By the way, readers, if you really want to know what’s going on with West Coast brewing, check out Rick’s work at http://pacificbrewnews.blogspot.com/ .

By: Rick

Rick — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:51:21 +0000

Re: Russian River - The new brewing facility should be operational by year’s end. Early next year Vinnie DOES hope to distribute kegs to trustworthy accounts along the I-80 Corridor. Also of note is the new bottling line they’ll have allowing them to bottle Pliny and Blind Pig. I doubt RR products will be widely available though, only at the premier spots that Vinnie trusts to care for his beer - and pay the price to serve them.

Re: Two Rivers - Vincent does so many wonderful things…

Re: quality of festival - I hear ya man, but you gotta love a fest like this, casual setting, good people having a good time and very good beer. I think you’re focusing on the wrong brewers - Great Basin and Sac Brew brought 4 beers between them that were both experimental and wonderful. SN brought their Torpedo, which isn’t easy to find. Deschutes had their 19th Ann, also hard to find.

By: mt sacramento

mt sacramento — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:41:48 +0000

Unfortunately the one Nest beer they have there isn’t one of their best - not bad but a little sharp-tasting if I remember correctly. But he said they’d be getting tall corked bottles of the Nest Red Rice Ale soon which is quite a delicious & unique beer.

By: Stickie

Stickie — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 21:32:31 +0000

Ooooh, I’ve been meaning to try the Hitachino Nest, thanks.

By: mt sacramento

mt sacramento — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:42:47 +0000

I debated going on Saturday & you just confirmed the exact reason I decided against it. I think at this point the interest in beer is high enough where there can be a better balance struck that makes it enjoyable for novices & beer fanatics alike. Though I did just read about that 2 Rivers still cider over at Pacific Brew News & that sounds fantastic. Maybe Vince will give some up to the Rubicon?

I did notice this weekend that 58 Degrees wine shop is expanding their beer selection & the guy I talked to there was excited & pretty knowledgable. I told him about the new North Coast La Merle Saison & he left a message with his North Coast rep to get some as I was standing there. Pretty cool. I think right now they have the La Chouffe Houblon, Allagash Curieux & White, Unibroue 16, Hitachino Nest & some others.

By: Stickie

Stickie — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:41:43 +0000

Edit: There was one outstanding contribution that was worth the trip. Two Rivers Cider made a sour cask conditioned apple cider in American oak. Outstanding. Kudos, Vince!

By: Stickie

Stickie — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:20:42 +0000

Review of the California Brewers Festival:

Meh.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many fantastic breweries there. Lots of great beer.

Here is my problem.

I’ve been doing this for a long time. When I go to a beer festival, I am looking for three things:

1. New beers from established brewers
2. New breweries
3. Superior brewers, even though I am familiar with their product.

I get the feeling that the brewers attending this fest feel that it is attended by amateurs, so they are not going to waste any super-duper experimental beers. New Belgium, for example, brought Fat Tire and Skinny Dip. What, no experimental Belgian sours, like at past fests?
Lagunitas, for example, is another fantastic brewery. What did they bring? IPA and Dogtown Pale. What, no Imperial Red (their current seasonal)? No Kill Ugly Radio (their limited edition Frank Zappa tribute beer)? Grumble….

Advice: Beer novices and casual beer lovers will thoroughly enjoy this festival. I, however, was bored with the selections, and really only wanted to try about a quarter of the offerings.

By: Stickie

Stickie — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:19:02 +0000

I got it freshly sawed from the rumor mill!

By: mt sacramento

mt sacramento — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:51:32 +0000

Beyondstoked is Russian for “very happy” by the way.

By: mt sacramento

mt sacramento — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:50:25 +0000

Oh, wow. Where is this Russian River rumor from? I will be beyondstoked if this is true!

By: sac-eats

sac-eats — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:31:38 +0000

I really enjoyed the Rotary Brewfest last year, and if I wasn’t planning on being out of town, I’d be there this year.
Thanks for the RRBrewing rumor, too. That would be totally badical if they dropped anchor in town.