Tag: Beer

Smart Eats- Grub and Trivia Nights

Ok, maybe you’re not quite as obsessed with trivia as I am. Not too many folks consider Ken Jennings, all-time JEOPARDY! champion, a personal hero. But to me, anyone who can house that much info in a human brain is impressive beyond category.

So if you’re looking to test your wits against other folks and looking for a good meal while you do it, it’s hard to beat the area’s trivia nights and pub quizzes. Here’s a list of some of the most popular knowledge nights with a few suggestions on meal pairing to go with your brain teasers.

Streets of London– Probably the longest running pub quiz in town, the Sunday night quiz at Streets of London is also one of the most challenging. Quizmaster Ken Koch, the grand daddy of local quiz purveyors, can be jovial, bombastic, or even downright surly, but he’s always fair. It’s a written quiz, so don’t even try to shout out the answer or you will receive a tongue lashing to remember.
To keep your stomach from grumbling and keep the brain fed, try Street’s fish and chips. It’s one of the best in town. Or for the more adventurous, go for the Scotch egg, a hard boiled egg rolled in ground sausage and deep fried. I’m told it’s an acquired taste.
Where: Streets of London, 1804 J St., Sacramento
When: Fridays, 9PM (also held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at their Folsom and West Sacramento locations respectively, both at 8:30) Continue reading “Smart Eats- Grub and Trivia Nights”

Cal Brewers Fest ’09

Sacramento’s two largest brewfests coincide with the coming and going of summer. The West Coast Brew Fest always seems to be on that first 100 degree weekend of the year, and the California Brewers Festival is always on the freshly moistened ground of the first rains of the coming Autumn.

This Saturday is the 15th annual California Brewers Festival hosted by the Point West Rotary Club. It is held every September to coincide with the beginning of school, as the beneficiaries of your $30 donation is Operation School Bell, a project of the Assistance League of Sacramento. Children in 34 schools throughout the Sacramento area will have new clothes for school thanks to this program and Sunday’s 4,000 swollen livers.
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Midtown Community Festival

I’m glad that Sacramento is getting into the habit of closing more streets for community block parties, and one of the best is this Saturday. Rubicon Brewing is the primary sponsor for this annual fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Sacramento that takes place on Capitol Avenue between 20th and 21st streets from 1pm to 6pm. Admission is free, but you’ll want to check out the beer garden that features Rubicon and about a dozen other NorCal breweries. Beer garden admission is $25, but you can stop by Rubicon before Saturday for a $20 advance ticket. There are plenty of games and fun for the kids, including a cake walk and a walkathon, great BBQ and local bands. If you cannot attend, please consider making a donation to the Boys & Girls Club through their website!

Sacramento brewers best in state, again

28 beers and ciders from Sacramento were recognized at the 2009 California State Fair Commercial Craft Brew Competition.

Sac Brew Master Brewer Peter Hoey is proud of his creations! (photo courtesy of Rick Sellers & Tracy Bethune, Pacific Brew News)
Sac Brew Master Brewer Peter Hoey is proud of his creations! (photo courtesy of Rick Sellers & Tracy Bethune, Pacific Brew News)

The 2009 California State Fair has faded off into fond memory, but you can still enjoy many of the beers that were honored at this year’s Commercial Craft Brew competition. In case you are confused by the judging results, beers (and ciders and meads) are entered into one of 28 categories (and 93 styles), are awarded both a designation of overall quality (gold, silver, bronze) and and an overall ranking in their beer style (1st, 2nd, 3rd). Congrats to our local brewers and thanks for all the great beer!
Continue reading “Sacramento brewers best in state, again”

State Fair Drinking Guide

Your guide to the best beer and wine at the California State Fair!

The California State Fair's incredible wine garden
The California State Fair's incredible wine garden

The California State Fair was created by the legislature in 1854 to celebrate and promote California agriculture and industry. I choose to celebrate The Fair’s historical origins by seeking out the finest alcoholic beverages in the realm of Cal Expo. If you choose to join me on this quest, print up this handy guide to the best beer and wine offered at The Fair.

Since 1854, The Fair has honored California’s winemakers in what is now North America’s oldest wine competition. This year, almost 1200 wines were designated as bronze, silver, gold or double gold award winners. At the Save Mart Wine Garden, you can choose from more than 100 winning wines. 100! How can you decide? Before I get to the recommendations, I’ll give you tip #1. If you plan on enjoying more than a few wines, invest in the souvenir wine glass. For $5, your wine purchase will double from a 5 oz pour in a plastic cup to a 10 oz pour in a reusable, stylish glass.

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IPAllooza at SacBrew!

hopsSacBrew will host their first IPAllooza tomorrow, featuring 30 India Pale Ales from across California and beyond. I can already feel my taste buds dance and my liver complain.

For the uninitiated, the IPA is a liquid celebration of the Humulus lupulus, commonly known as the hop. Hops have been used for hundreds of years to preserve beer, but their intense flavor made them a welcome and mandatory addition to the ancient recipe of water, grain and yeast. Dozens of different hop varieties are used based upon their acid content, which imparts different aromas and flavors that can be bitter, sweet, floral, fruity or any combination of the above, depending on the type, the amount used and the skill of the brewer.

The India Pale Ale originated in the British Empire, which added copious amounts of hops and alcohol to reinforce their standard pale ale for the long journey to the troops occupying India. Today, the IPA is unofficially the official beer of the West Coast, with hundreds of different versions brewed each year. Year after year, brewers attempt to out-do each other by packing as many hops as possible into their creations while keeping the beer delicious, resulting in styles such as Imperial IPAs, Double IPAs, Triple IPAs and the paint stripping Quadruple IPAs. Aficionados of such beers have dubbed themselves Hopheads.
Continue reading “IPAllooza at SacBrew!”

West Coast Brew Fest 2009

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:

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Beermann’s, Greenhouse closing

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.

Women in Brewing at Rubicon

womeninbrewNothing 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.

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It’s OK to be Judgmental When We’re Talking beer

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”