Author: Stickie

Odonata Saison Release Party

Odonata's beautiful new saison
Sacramento’s newest brewery, Odonata Beer Company, is making the big leap towards wider distribution and bigger sales. Sure, a handful of us have had their fantastic Rorie’s Ale, Beersel and Rosa and their name has gotten a bit more well known through their Water Witch, but their new Saison is intended to put them on the map as a larger player in the regional beer scene. Taps will be scattered throughout the area and bottles will soon be available at most places you buy beer.

Odonata is a boutique brewery owned and operated by Peter Hoey and Rick Sellers. Peter is the former brewmaster at SacBrew, while Rick is a well known beer journalist. Their focus is European-style beers, many of which are aged in the wine barrels from Odonata Wines, made by Peter’s brother Denis. While their other beers have been bold and adventurous, the saison is food friendly and approachable yet with deeply nuanced malt flavors. A few years back, Hoey’s saison won the gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival, so expect the best from this beer.
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Great beer, great causes on Saturday

Sacramento area beer folks are constantly donating product and raising money for local charities. Two great events on Saturday invite you to enjoy great craft beer while giving back to your community.

Rubicon hosts the 4th annual celebration of Women in Brewing all day Saturday, starting at 11AM. This year, they feature 13 beers from 7 breweries, all brewed by women. Selections will include a nitro choco-mint, a red IPA and a double IPA from Rubicon, Summerfest and a scotch ale from Sierra Nevada, Scarlet Harlot Red IPA from Auburn Alehouse, scotch ale from Lost Coast, Hell’s Export Lager from Moylan’s, a ginger/meyer lemon beer from Blue Frog, Witches Wit from Santa Cruz Mountain, Red Rocket from Bear Republic and two Belgian imports from Urthel, their Samaranth and Hop-It. Local businesses have donated prizes for a silent auction. This event benefits WEAVE.
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Sudwerk Imperial Pilsner Release

Spring is the beginning of beer season, warming us up for May and the weekly regional beer festivals. There are several great local events before May to wet your whistle. Here’s the next.

Tonight, The Davis Graduate hosts Sudwerk Brewery for the release of their Signature Series Imperial Pilsner. This is the second of several Sudwerk beers released to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. Their standard pilsner is one of the best on the market, so I am really looking forward to trying a mega version of it.

The Grad has been throwing great parties on almost a weekly basis (Last week was a giant tasting of Lost Abbey and Port Brewing), make sure you check them out if you are a craft beer fan.

Paso Robles Wines coming to Sacramento

Paso Robles is the third largest wine making region in California and the fastest growing, but seems to get neglected out there on the Central Coast. Let’s face it, with Napa, Sonoma, Lodi and the Sierra Foothills boasting great wineries only a spit bucket away, many Sacramento vinophiles aren’t going to make the 6 hour journey out to San Luis Obispo County unless they know that they are going to get stellar wines at a fair price.

This is why the good folks at the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance have decided to take their show on the road. 30 of the region’s best wineries are coming to visit us next week to hopefully seduce us into making the journey. I have visited this area several times and keep finding new hidden treasures tucked away in the rolling hills. One advantage to the remote location is that you truly feel like you are visiting a hidden paradise of wine. Unlike Napa Valley, you are not going to get caught in a traffic jam of limos and tour buses.
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Help KYDS

We here at The Rag have frequently sung the praises of KYDS, El Camino High School’s student run radio station at 91.5 on your FM dial. Even though their annual budget is a mere $2000, they manage to be one of the least boring radio stations in the Sacramento area. Their annual Spring Audiothon takes place this weekend starting today at 3pm. If you are a fan, please consider helping them out with a small donation to pay their FCC fine. (see update at end of story)

As The Bee reports, KYDS was fined $1500 for failing to file their FCC license on time. I suppose this is a hazard of having a radio station run entirely by students, as the FCC license renewal process was reportedly and understandably overwhelming for a kid. As a consequence, the forms were a few weeks late.

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Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos

The Avid Reader at the Tower continues its impressive author lecture series with discussion of a new book that has particular relevance for Sacramento. Seth Masket from the University of Denver will be in town to discuss No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures. Masket’s book focuses on California politics and how extremist political views are encouraged. If you love politics but are frustrated by California’s status quo of hyperpartisan clashes and gridlock, this book and discussion are for you.

Thursday, April 8, 2010
7-9 pm

More weirdness with SacBee comments

Here’s one I have not seen before. In the 911 blog, there is a story about a 16 year old kid who had a pipe bomb, flammable liquids and bomb making instructions. His mom found these things and turned him in to the police.

The story takes an interesting turn in the comment section. A reader who goes by the name ilikepiee claims to be the boy who was arrested. He admits that he is guilty and discusses his plans to blow something up just for fun, not to hurt anyone or destroy anything. It is just me, or does this bring up all sorts of strange legal issues?

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Iceland burns down

No, not the country.

Last night, Del Paso’s historic ice rink was lost in a five alarm fire. Fortunately, no injuries are reported and firefighters were able to keep the fire from engulfing any neighboring businesses.

Skating enthusiasts still have local rinks in Folsom, Roseville and Elk Grove, but Sacramento will feel a little less civilized without our own spot. The building was not insured and I cannot imagine that a new ice rink would be profitable unless it is attached to a larger project, such as a new sports arena.

Smashburger coming, seeks hungry rockers

Boring food calls for wacky PR stunts, like child shrinking
Citrus Heights is getting NorCal’s first Smashburger on March 31. My carnivorous friends scattered across the country generally agree that Smashburger is a decent burger, but I don’t really care. I won’t be eating there, as I generally avoid franchise restaurants like the plague, especially if they don’t serve draft beer. And do we really need another pre-programed burger joint in a city full of local businesses serving great, even famous, burgers? Hell no, says I.

I am, however, highly amused by the PR 101 tactics being employed to attract attention. Bands of Sacramento, are you ready for the big time? Are you ready to ROCK SMASHBURGER? (The caps indicate that you are supposed to mentally read that phrase in your most rocking DJ voice. I choose to hear Shadoe Stevens in my head at his most Fred Rated extreme.)

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