This is American Craft Brew Week, so wrap it up with the biggest brewfest in the Sac area all year. This Saturday is the 10th Annual West Coast Brew Fest. Several changes will happen this year to make it, are you ready? —-> The Best West Coast Brew Fest yet!!!! (You weren’t ready for that, were you?)

First, the nitty gritty. 60 breweries pouring more than 120 beers from 1-5pm. No tokens, just a glass, you, and beer ’till they run out or you are cut off, baby. $25 for advance tickets, $30 at the gate. Food, music, sun and fun at Miller Park, which will help to fight the hot forecast with heritage oaks and the cool breeze that cuts up the Sacramento River. Of course, carpooling, walking, biking, public transport, taxis or designated driving is highly encouraged.

Next, the improvements and specials for this year:

Continue reading “West Coast Brew Fest 2009″ »

Two more area breweries have closed their doors, both in Roseville.

The Greenhouse Restaurant and Brewery shut down earlier this month. They were open for less than a year and had an uphill battle with the high cost of organic beer and sustainable food. Unfortunate, as both the food and the beer were excellent.

This Friday, Beermann’s Beerwerks Brewery will also close. Beermann’s just celebrated their 10th Anniversary and have been operating solely out of their Roseville warehouse after closing their brewpub at the beautiful and historic Empire Ballroom in Lincoln in 2006.

Beermann’s fans should visit this Thursday or Friday between 3 and 8pm for a final brew-ha-ha. Come lift a glass and offer a toast of thanks for 10 years in our community. If you would like to join other beer lovers, the Hop Heads of Sacramento Beer Lovers Union will meet at Beermann’s Thursday at 6pm.

Nothing affirms the sense of renewal that comes with Spring like seeing mother critters care for their young. I’m lucky to have several bird nests in the backyard and have spent the past month watching hummingbirds zip about. At first, they were just mothers building nests, but now there are several tiny reminders of their diligence and care searching for bugs, learning to fly and yelling for mom.

Rubicon Brewing Company salutes women and their life-giving generosity with their annual Celebration of Women Brewers that benefits W.E.A.V.E. and the fight against domestic violence. Some of these beers are made specifically for this event, so be thankful that California has several members of The Pink Boots Society. Our hometown brewers are Darcie Quinn and Brenda Studabaker from Rubicon and Sarah Irwin from SacBrew.

Continue reading “Women in Brewing at Rubicon” »

Judging a beer contest is a surprisingly solemn event. It turns out that it involves a lot more sitting and thinking than drinking and shouting. One spends most of his time writing thoughtful criticism or simply staring at the brew in front of him trying to figure out whether the beverage’s color is more copper-amber or reddish-auburn.

Last weekend, at the Gold Country Brewers Association annual Celebrewtion, I was lucky enough to serve as a judge for their homebrew competition. Over 70 beers by dozens of proud Sacramento-area homebrewers were turned over to be judged by a panel of almost 30 judges. The range of beers went from palest light golden lagers to  syrupy thick meads to ink black imperial stouts.

Each panel of three judges was given a flight of beers, typically about eight beers in total, to judge on aroma, appearance, flavor, and overall execution. Being a first-timer, I was grouped together with a more experienced judge who could show me the ropes. We started by looking over our list of beers and going through the general rules.  We were in the stouts and strong ales category which included barleywine, old ale, and Russian Imperial Stout. Continue reading “It’s OK to be Judgmental When We’re Talking beer” »

On this St. Patty’s day, it seems a logical time to roll out a few choices when you really, really want to get your beer on.  While none of these places are your traditional choices for a pint of Guinness and corned beef and cabbage, they’re rather perfect choices for brewed goodness the other 364 days a year.

Manderes- From the Gulf of Mexico to the Sprout of Brussels, Manderes has scoured the Earth for the best beers on the planet.  With the motto of “no crap on tap,” the small, two-year-old beer bar and restaurant in Folsom has excelled at marrying unique brews and delicious food. And with twenty beers on tap and almost 100 in the bottle, there’s something for just about every taste. Hungry? Try the short ribs, shellacked with a generous Russian imperial stout glaze, and pair it with a pint of Bear Republic’s Hop Rod Rye.

Burgers and Brew- The menu might be a bit limited, and the tap might not be all that impressive, but the arm-long list of beers in the bottle (mostly Belgian) is enough to keep the ardent hop-head coming back regularly. Don’t stray too far from the titular menu items of beer and burger however, or you’re likely to be disappointed.

The Shack- With an impressively eclectic tap that ranges from PBR to Belgian ales, and a bottle list that spans the globe featuring some of the best beers anywhere, The Shack has positioned itself as an incredible hangout for the brew connoisseur.  The new menu features bistro favorites like moules fritte and game hen for criminally low prices. It’s a win-win situation. Continue reading “Dear, Where’s the Best Beer?” »

Sadly, Sacramento Brewing Company closed its second location, The Oasis. This is the second brewpub we have lost in the past year, so let’s hope this trend stops. Thankfully, their super-awesome beers (and better-than-average brewpub cuisine) are both still available at the original Sac Brew location at Fulton and Marconi in the Country Club Town and Country Shopping Center. When I last visited them two weeks ago, they had 15 homemade beers on tap that ranged the gambit, from a pilsner to a bourbon barrel aged wheat wine.

Support your local brewery! You never know when you are going to lose it!

The Game Guy isn’t just some modern, fly-by-night nerd who focuses only on video games and fancy gaming systems.  No sir: The Game Guy has classic nerd running through his body that been transfused by years of comic books, TSR role play gaming, and Magic: The Gathering.  Despite the satisfaction video games can bring when that competitive itch comes up, there’s something sophisticated and classy about gathering friends together around a board or card game with some brews for a night of gaming.

It dawned me after a hard-fought night of Risk with friends, that Sacramento really needs a game-friendly pub where booths can be occupied by pints and players, without the need to fight against the tools trolling to get a piece at the bar- a place where I could gather at a metaphorical hearth and smoke my metaphorical pipe with other friends (who may or may not be metaphorical).

So I ask you, dear Raggers, do you know of any game-friendly environments at the established drinkeries in our town? I don’t mean the team trivia nights, but the kind where a guy and his five friends can show up with a copy of Zombies! in tow, pint-up, and get their nerd on?

Being the childhood home of Runnergirl as well as an historical and interesting place, Auburn has long held a special place in my heart.  However, it’s really only in the last few years that I’ve taken the time to really investigate the good vittles up there.  Sure there’s gold in them thar hills, but there’s also some pretty damn good sustenance to be had for the intelligent traveler.  Here’s a trio of options ranging from snowbum casual to trustfund-bum elegant. 

Ikeda’s- The iconic fruit stand cum pie stand cum burger stand is still standing strong.  This is great grub whether you’re on your way up the hill or down it.  Great burgers, great sandwiches, great pies, great fruit, even great salsas.  Don’t believe me?  Try the apple salsa.  Sure it’s more sacrilegious than insisting that God be your co-pilot (rather than letting him drive of course–what, you think you’re a better driver than God?) but the chopped apple, jalapeno, and onion mixture is fantastic, especially with homemade flour tortilla chips (by homemade I mean you have to make them, they’re not sold at Ikeda’s).  Continue reading “Auburn Restaurant Roundup: Beer, Burgers, and Bit of Fine Dining” »

Gary is on point this time.

During the holiday break I had the opportunity to catch the latest installment of “ViewFinder” on KVIE. This series is always on the money, but Episode 8 welcomed me with a cold pint of refreshing goodness…beer! And what a treat it was.

Hosted by Gary Gelfand, (I know, right, “The Sports Show” notwithstanding) this episode “chronicles the rich history and science behind brewing and takes a look at how the recent craft-brewing revolution was born right here in our backyard.” Mixed in with a little Sacramento history and “did you know” tidbits and I was hooked! I especially enjoyed the reference to the now-defunct Buffalo Brewing Co.

The episode airs again on Sunday at 6pm. You can view the full episode here as well. Please to check it out. You won’t be sorry.

This weekend, the two cornerstone businesses of Midtown will be having birthday parties.

Happy 35th to the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op and Happy 21st to Rubicon Brewing Company!

(I’ll give you time to do a little happy dance of celebration…. do do dooooo)

The Co-op Celebration is from 10-7 on Saturday and includes a street fair filled with local farmers, cooking demonstrations, music, education and a lot of great food at the Harvest Tasting Fair. Mind X and Jon Merriman will perform. Since Co-op means it is “cooperatively owned” by its patrons, they will have a membership drive with prizes through November. Join the Co-op!

Rubicon Brewing Company will wrap up their Hoptober celebrations on October 31 and November 1st by offering 21 of the hoppiest IPAs they could find in California (and one that snuck in across the border from Nevada). Pacific Brew News has the taplist here.