Mark your calendars, the fall brewfests have arrived. Remember to plan ahead, as all three festivals offer a discount for advance ticket purchases. All three events benefit local children’s charities.
September 15 is the California Brewers Festival at Discovery Park. The good news is that there are always a number of excellent breweries from across California, and more. The not-as-good news is that the organizers have gotten an unfortunate reputation as “beer nazisâ€Â. The Point West Rotarians mark the plastic cup with a dotted line to encourage small pours. Tokens are also required for tasting (10 tokens free with the $30 admission) and additional tokens can be purchased ($1 a piece). I have never had a problem getting plenty of beer at this fest, but it is a grumbling point among many attendees.
Suds on the Green is September 22 at Land Park. This is the first year for the event, but it is being put on by Creative Cats, who have been producing local brewfests for a decade. It is an interesting concept, I am curious to see how it will play out. See, it is a beer fest during a golf match. Sacramento has a professional golf team, the Sacramento Eagles, and they will be hosting a home match in the National Golf League. Brewers will be set up next along a hole with great viewing and ample opportunity to mock the opposition, which includes the East Bay Power, the Davis Zone (mellow, maaaan), and the Silicon Valley Drivers. Unlimited tastes for $20. No air horns allowed.
Fair Oaks’toberfest, another Creative Cats production, will be September 29 at Fair Oaks Park. Attendees from last year may remember the near beer riot when the kegs started running dry with an hour to go. Sleep well, beer lovers, festival organizers have assured me that this will not happen again. Last year, the organizers made the mistake of scheduling the fest on the same weekend as the Great American Beer Festival, resulting in a serious shortage of attending breweries. This year, there will be more brewers and more beer. Unlimited tastes for $25.
In beer news, I heard that Sacramento Brewing has hired a new head brewer away from Bison Brewing in Berkeley. Sac Brew has good quality beer, but I am a much bigger fan of Bison’s lineup, so I am excited to see what will come of this change. Will organic beer come to Sacramento?
Finally, rumor-has-it that Russian River Brewing is scouting for locations for a taphouse in Sacramento. If true, this will be a major score for local drinkers, as Russian River is unquestionably one of the best breweries in the United States.
The Sac Rag 
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.
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Oh, wow. Where is this Russian River rumor from? I will be beyondstoked if this is true!
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Beyondstoked is Russian for “very happy” by the way.
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I got it freshly sawed from the rumor mill!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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Ooooh, I’ve been meaning to try the Hitachino Nest, thanks.
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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.
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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.
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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/ .
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