“2010 SF Beer Week” is the latest episode of One Pint at a Time.
This year’s celebration of Bay Area beer culture comprised over 240 events, from Santa Cruz to Sebastopol. Last year, we only attended events on the weekends. This year, we went all out; only taking two days off of the ten.
We drank lots of beer, attended our first Pliny the Younger release, first Double IPA Festival, Toronado Barleywine Festival and host of other events. And we can’t forget the sausages, cupcakes, cheese and ice cream that accompanied all that beer.
So enjoy our beer adventures at the second annual SF Beer Week…
For all the episodes of One Pint at a Time go to beergeekTV.
We used to go to the Running Iron in Carmel Valley quite frequently. Only a quarter mile from our house, it was easy to pop in for a cold brew or two, play a game of Scrabble and chat with friends. The beer selection was nothing special at what we affectionately call our ‘redneck bar,’ but we were always able to get a pint of either Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Firestone Walker DBA. Once the Ol’ Factory Cafe opened, we stopped going to the Running Iron.
An unexpected sight at the Running Iron
On Thursday evening, Merideth and I headed into town to go to dinner with her mom. Driving by the Running Iron, Merideth spied a sign on the fence around the outdoor seating. “I think there’s a Ranger IPA tasting at the Running Iron,” she said. Since I was driving, I didn’t seen the sign myself. There are rarely beer tastings around here and to have one featuring an IPA at the Running Iron was pretty unbelievable. Thus, my response was “Huh?… what?… when?” While Merideth missed the date on the first pass, we later learned the tasting was on Friday night from 5-6pm.
Although I’m not a huge New Belgium fan, I did feel it was important to show our support of craft beer events in our Beer Backwater. We arrived nearly prompt at 5:03pm. Walking in, we found that the Running Iron was just as we left it a couple of years ago. Some of the staff might have been new, but everything else was the same, including the customers.
There were no signs of a beer tasting, but since we were there, we thought we might as well have a beer. So we grabbed our regular seats, ordered a couple of pints of Ranger IPA at the bar, and wondered if we got the date wrong. After a few sips of our beer, we overhead the bartender say “I don’t think the Ranger Girls are coming. They’re a half hour late.” I had visions of scantily-clad women in tiny Ranger outfits. Basically, a classier version of the Coors Light Girls. My fantasy didn’t play out as the “Ranger Girls” were our local reps for New Belgium and the distributor. In quick order, Ashley, the New Belgium rep, handed out free samples and pint glasses. After a while, Rhea, the distributor rep, joined Ashley, Merideth, and myself at our table. We enjoyed chatting with them and I think they enjoyed talking with real beer people.
Ranger IPA is a nice beer
Ranger IPA is a nice beer and ranks up with 1554 as my favorite in the New Belgium regular lineup. At 70 IBUs, Ranger is hopped with Chinook, Cascade and Simcoe. Possessing a good malt background, the distinctive Simcoe hop is the the dominant flavor in this brew. Merideth, who does not like overly hopped beers, liked the balance of flavors and even drank 2 whole pints of it.
In the crowded IPA market, I’m not sure how much of an impact Ranger will make. But in our Beer Backwater, we can count on one hand the number of American-style IPAs on draft and have a couple fingers still left over. Ranger is a very welcome addition.
Hopefully, the event was a success. It would be nice to see more beer tastings in the Beer Backwater we call home, especially ones so close to our house.
Yes, it’s true. But the good news is it’s over. Started on February 16th, Merideth and I wrapped up our 29 day beer hiatus today, St. Patrick’s Day.
I had been thinking about this crazy idea for a few months. After almost three years of constant beer travel, we were starting to get a little burned out. After each trip, it took us a bit longer to recharge our batteries. To give you an idea of our pace, it took Merideth and I roughly 14 years to reach 300 breweries. If all goes to plan, we’ll do the next 300 in just four.
With the busy summer beer season rapidly approaching, we needed to take a break, and the end of SF Beer Week seemed like a good time to begin our beer hiatus.
I knew it would be a breeze for Merideth. I, on the other hand, was a bit worried about whether or not I could do it. Will power doesn’t come easily for me. In the end, it really wasn’t the test of will power that I imagined. It was just, for the lack of a better word, odd. On occasions where I would normally have a beer (after hiking, watching the Olympic hockey gold medal game) I thought, “I need to get a beer.” But then I reminded myself that I wasn’t drinking for 29 days. And that would be it. There were no DTs, no shaking, no irrational snapping at Porter or Stout for not getting me a beer.
Living in the beer backwater helped. There was no beer bar to tempt us. There was no cool beer event we HAD to attend. Friday and Saturday nights, we spent cozy on the sofa with the pups watching DVDs. The one instance I stared temptation right in the eye, I didn’t flinch. At a Monterey Beer Festival meeting, organizer Jeff Moses pulled out three Michigan brews that I have never tried and a bottle of Fantôme Hiver. I politely declined.
In a funny twist, due to a few different ailments, I felt like crap for a majority of the time. The medicinal qualities of beer might have helped.
It's going to be a party!
We return to the beer drinking world tonight. Scanning the beer fridge, here are some of the possibilities for the evening:
Hopslam – Bell’s Brewery
Mischief – The Bruery
Oude Tart – The Bruery
Rugbrød – The Bruery
O’Hara’s Leann Folláin – Carlow Brewing
Supplication – Russian River Brewing
Kristallweizen – Schöfferhofer
Urtyp 1878 – Würzburger Hofbräu
Weihnactsbier – Schwaben Bräu
Most likely, we’ll both fall asleep after splitting the first beer.
“Craft Beer Down Under: The Journey to Sydney” is the latest episode of One Pint at a Time.
Merideth turned 40 in December and she didn’t really embrace the milestone. Instead of making our normal holiday pilgrimage to Europe, we decided a trip to Australia was what Merideth needed to cure the turning 40 blues. This trip marked our first beer adventure outside of North America or Europe.
In two weeks of beer travel, we journeyed from Sydney to Melbourne and then back.
So enjoy the second part of our beer adventure in Australia…
For all the episodes of One Pint at a Time go to beergeekTV.
In the blink of an eye, it was the last day of SF Beer Week.
The previous nine days were pretty much a beer-induced whirlwind. We drank lots of beer, attended our first Pliny the Younger release, first Double IPA Festival, Toronado Barleywine Festival and a host of other events. Of course we can’t forget the sausages, cupcakes, cheese and ice cream that accompanied all that beer. But we still had one more day to go.
Sunday, Valentine’s Day, was going to be a relaxed, low-key affair. In the wake of Barleywine, Sunday was a day for mellow beer drinking and meeting friends to compare Beer Week stories and scars. Merideth and I began our day at 21st Amendment for Sunday Brewers Tea.
Merideth at 21st Amendment’s Sunday Brewers Tea
We arrived about half past eleven. Sausages were grilling in the side beer garden and a small crowd mingled about. Inside, we grabbed a seat in the bar area and ordered our first beers of the day.
Well, I ordered a beer. Merideth was going it slow and ordered a Mead Mimosa. I, however, went straight for Hop Crisis, 21A’s 10.3% ABV Strong Beer Month hopbomb. Hop Crisis is my favorite 21A brew.
A mellow Brewers Tea at 21st Amendment
Gone was the hustle and bustle of the previous nine days. It seemed almost like any other Sunday. Merideth and I chatted with friends at the bar and others as they filtered in and out from the beer garden. We reminisced about that wild first night and feeling like crap the next day. We talked about DIPA, Barleywine and beer ice cream. After the constant on-the-go feeling of SF Beer Week, it was all very relaxing. We could have spent all day there. But we needed to get over to the East Bay to be part of the setup crew for the Celebrator party.
Trumer Brauerei, host of the Celebrator party.
Our SF Beer Week concluded at Trumer Brauerei, the site of this year’s Celebrator party. Moved from the Oakland Convention Center, we were happy about the new venue for a couple of reasons. First, we always felt the Convention Center was really impersonal. We had fond memories of the 1998 Celebrator party at Pyramid and the sprawling Convention Center could never duplicate that feeling.
More important, this was an opportunity to add Trumer to the “List“. Despite it being easily located in Berkeley, we had never visited, mainly because of inconvenient tour hours. This would be our one and only new brewery during SF Beer Week.
As we are apt to do, we arrived early for our volunteer duties and got right to work. Our setup duties were typical; move a table, get some ice, direct a brewery over there. We were even entrusted with handing out the VIP wrist bands. When the festival started, I helped out at the front gate while Merideth handled the ‘merch’ table. Within 45 minutes of the opening bell, I was free to mingle and try some beers.
A party amongst the kegs and cases
The most important beer to have was Trumer Pils so we could add Trumer to the List. While Merideth was still on merch duties, I snuck my sample. For a few minutes I was one brewery ahead of her again. Happy Valentine’s Day Sweetie! But once she discovered what I had done, she abandoned her post to get her own share of Trumer Pils. And just like that, the balance was restored.
Not really in the hunt and seek mode, I wandered around trying beers that caught my fancy. Valley Brewing had their Bill Brandbic, one of my favorite brews of Beer Week. I had to get some of that! Hoppy brews were plentiful and I enjoyed Russian River’s Pliny the Elder and Triple Rock’s IPAX. And in what has become a Valentine’s Day tradition, I had some Russian River Rejection.
Yes, we have no Pliny the Younger
The big question of the day was whether Russian River would bring Pliny the Younger. Apparently, this was the query of the first dozen people who walked up to their table. An industrious pair, the Russian River guys made a ‘Sorry no Younger’ sign from one of their “Gone to Pee’ beer mats. The beer geeks had to settle for Pliny the Elder and Rejection. Later big bottles of Consecration and Supplication were opened. Oh, the horror.
By the way, I am now accepting bids for the ‘Sorry No Younger’ beer mat. It is a one of kind beer collectible.
Merideth and Dr. Fermento
Once Merideth was released from merch duty,we were free to mingle and talk with friends. More Beer Week war stories were exchanged. We reunited with our Alaskan friends one last time for this Beer Week and plotted our return to Anchorage in January 2011.
With an hour to go in the party, it was time to think about wrapping up our day. A few more beers and another walk around to say our good byes was how our 2010 SF Beer Week concluded.
Beer Week was ten days of great beer and hanging out with good friends. We were tired and happy it was over. Time now to start resting up for the 2011 SF Beer Week.
