Cerveceria Dos Aves Blog

Cerveceria Dos Aves now has a blog and you can follow what's happening around the brewery events and activities here Dos Aves Blog
Please bookmark or follow to stay up to date on our progress here in San Miguel de allende!

Set up from last year.

brewing event participation

sabor sma served the session beer we brewed 2 kegs with brett mixed it up with release of our others equip. needed energy expended feed back garnered only brewery in attendance better than a beer fest future events exhausting satisfying tricks I learned more?

Pumpkin Beer

Since this is the season for brewing pumpkin type beers I thought I'd chime in on my opinion about brewing these types of ales along with the process I use for my own version.

First off, I don't particularly like the taste of pumpkin beers but I know a lot of people do like them or at least like the idea of them as a way to celebrate the Halloween/thanksgiving season. And so, since I am gleefully wanton of the income that comes from the sale of pumpkin type beers I’m all aboard the Ichabod Crane pumpkin train. Yes, I'd sell my soul for the resulting pesos that come from exploiting peoples desire for nostalgia and the taste of the season. But my soul doesn't come cheap and I have one rule as I exchange it for the mighty peso and that is that if I brew a pumpkin ale, it better be damn good beer!

Most people associate the flavor of pumpkin pie with the spices that are used to make what is for the most part a pretty unexceptionally flavored squash. Cinnamon, all-spice, clove, nutmeg and ginger provide the very essence of a delicious pie. Take that away and I doubt anyone would be begging for another slice of squash pie. So, let's be real, the pumpkin is really the minor player here. In fact, if you could make a pumpkin pie without actually using any pumpkin, I expect even more people would like it.



Pumpkin Beer in San Miguel de Allende
 

This leads me to an important decision when making my pumpkin beer, leave out the pumpkin. Yeah, I'm like a lot of men who don't really care for vegetables so why would I want them in my beer. In fact, that's the last place I want 'em. Sacrilege.

So my primary and in fact only interest when brewing is to have the best beer when all is said and done and this applies when I approach a recipe for a pumpkin beer. I want a good beer first and foremost, one that can stand on it's own. and I want to follow that with the flavors that I associate with pumpkin pie. Not overbearing but subtle, flavors that will enhance the experience of the base beer. To achieve this I came up with a selection of malted barley that produces a beer along the lines of an American brown but with a lower bitterness from one hop addition. I didn't use any late hop additions because I didn't want that flavor to compete with the malt and spice balance. I use a combination of 2-row, crystal 20, crystal 60, Munich malt and chocolate malt. For this beer I wanted the slight fruity qualities you get from White labs English yeast along with the excellent flocculation to achieve a nice clarity.

I add pumpkin pie spices in the last minute of the boil and again later in the keg when I racked from the primary fermentation. I found it necessary to add the spices in the kegs to reach the level of flavor that I wanted and the advantage to doing it this way is that I could even add more later if the flavor was wasn't up to the level I was trying to reach. In this particular case it wasn't necessary to add any more than the initial dose.

This beer ended up being quite nice. A full bodied, super clear brown ale with a semi-sweet malt backbone that is enhanced with a mild but clearly evident pumpkin spice profile that even I am enjoying.

I only produced eight cases of this beer so it will be gone quickly but there may be a few out there in some of the restaurants that stock Dos Aves. You can also get a chance to taste this beer at the beer/food pairing on November 17^th. At La Frontera in San Miguel. Seating is limited so call Noren for a reservation soon. Cheers!

California Beer Fest 2012

Have I suddenly become old? Hardened by years of beer related activities? Am I now a jaded homebrew geek too caught up in his own pretension to have fun anymore? These are the questions that flooded my mind as I attended a recent beer festival.

This year I again played a minor role in supporting the California Beer Festival held at Aptos park on Saturday. In the midst of the spectacle (height of pandemonium?) I had a life altering revelation. Out of the blue it became crystal clear to me that I don't care too much for beer festivals anymore. God help me, I think I may have outgrown them.

When I first fell in love with beer festivals I was just beginning my homebrewing journey and like a heat seeking missile, I sought out anything beer. I remember fondly my first festival. It was at Booneville and as I think back about my experience, I recall that the beers were all exceptional, the crowds were small, enthusiastic and excited to try the new beers available for tasting. Occasionally, a groundswell of a cheers would rise up each time someone accidentally dropped and shattered their tasting glass. The contagious waves of shouts and groans quickly spread from the epicenter before reaching a crescendo and then just as fast die out. Everyone had a smile on their face, the weather was mild and beautiful and the day ended before you could say "a wee deek on boont harpin's" and we headed off to our campsites to continue the drinking, raising a toast with our newly befriended comrades.

That was a lot of festivals and many years ago now and it's sad to say that I've come to a point where I frankly just don't care anymore. Now the crowds seem huge and aggressive pushing forward in unending lines to sample the most generic of beers. My enthusiasm has been drained and it makes me see people as less friendly. Sad reproach passes over my face as I receive my taster glass that's now made of plastic. In the old days, before I lost my enthusiasm, the people that dressed in costumes to celebrate the day, amused and delighted me, now I look at the spectacle through critical eyes and try to staunch the flow of cynicism as I watch grown men dressed as giant hop flowers sweat through green face paint while caricatures of 'Duff' beer cans stagger sideways leering through their beer mug shaped sun glasses.

The festivals haven't changed but I have and as much as I want to believe my loss of interest is due to a sophistication that comes from exposure, the truth is that my tolerance for much of the experience has grown thin. It reminds me of the late 70's when I reveled in the solid walls of sound during the arena rock concerts I attended. Mile High stadium, surrounded by thirty thousand people, clambering toward the front of the stage for a view of Peter Frampton singing "Do you feel like we do?" (chances are I'm one of those screamers in the audience on the 'Comes Alive' album) or Steve Miller or Fleetwood Mac. I lost myself in the glory that was not only musical bliss but a group experience that included mind altering drugs. Then, as time went by and I grew older I found that the crowds became a detractor and that I could enjoy the music more through a good home music system. It wasn't about the group experience anymore but about the quality of the product. Does this make me old? Simply put, yes.

My discovery, my revelation was that now at this point in my life and with the experiences that I've had I prefer focusing on the end product, the beer. I'm discovering that a smaller venue where I can experience rare or unusual and unique or just plain well crafted beers shared with close personal friends is my preference.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to disrespect. Naturally, the beer festival still serves it's purpose and I'm all for continuing the practice.  It's a great place to gather as a community and be exposed to a wide variety of beers and enjoy some that may not be available locally. If it wasn't for the many festivals that I've attended in the past I would not have had the opportunity to meet some great people and to have access to dozens of beers in one convenient location. Another inherent value that kept me returning year after year is the chance to discover new breweries. During this last festival I came across a small start-up called Riley's Brewing located in Madera, California. The owner Dan Riley was on hand to talk about his line up of beers and it was great to be able to talk one on one with a brewery owner. Another benefit to attending beer festivals is the occasional special beer that shows up. Karl Strauss Brewing Company had some bottles of their Russian Imperial Stout that I've never seen in the stores here and it is an excellent beer. Finally, another rare opportunity was Lagunitas's 'Little Sumpin Wild' that was being served by Santa Cruz's own Red Restaurant and Bar. Very good beer. At the end of the day, these are excellent benefits for beer enthusiast like myself and they often only happen at beer festivals.

But for me, I'm moving on to the next venue. I'm not sure what that will look like but it probably has a pretty short line to the taps.

The Launch Of The 'Gringado' Blog

Just when I thought I had nothing left to say, I'm launching a new blog. As Susan and I head south for the winter, we thought it would be fun(?) to write about our Mexican experiences in a kind of 'he said'-'she said' format. We will be covering the activities we share together and writing individually about them from our own perspectives. Please click on the image to go directly to the Gringado website and then click on the follow button to join us as we explore the people, events and culture of Mexico and develop our own creative writing styles.

In the mean time I plan to continue posting here at Beer Diary...  as I search for decent beer and interesting beer stuff in Mexico. Muchas gracias!

Thanksgiving Road Trip

I've been busy with family stuff recently, along with getting ready for another trip to Mexico. These events are taking up a lot of my beer and beer blogging related time. Once I get to San Miguel de Allende I will be checking out the local beer scene and reporting my findings here. We'll see you there.

Drawing by Susan Dorf

Cone Top Beer Cans - Sort Of

The interest in beer cans instead of bottles predates prohibition, but the challenge for manufacturers was finding affordable materials that could withstand the pressure of carbonated beer, not to mention concerns that the metal would negatively effect the flavor of the beer.

Ceramic 'cone top' beer can.

In 1933 the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Co. of New Jersey took the risk of packaging their beer in cans referred to as 'flat tops'. Beer in cans soon became quite popular and by 1935 Krueger was buying 180,000 cans a day from the American Can Co. At this time, Schlitz Brewing got on board with the canning craze and introduced its lager beer in cans but instead of the the 'flat top' they chose to use the unusual 'cone top' cans made by Continental Can Co.

Ceramics before painting and glaze.

By the mid 50's it became clear that the 'flat top' style of can would beat out the 'cone tops' for market share mainly because they could be filled easier and stack more economically in the store shelves and the consumers refrigerators.

Where does this all lead to here at Beer Diary...? Well, friend and ceramic artist Liz Crain has created a series of amazing replicas of the 'cone top' beer cans from that era.

Liz has been producing a variety of  stunning faux metal ceramic cans recently. The type of old rusty cans you find in your grandfathers shed out back or in his musty basement. Old oil and kerosene cans or dented linseed oil and turpentine containers. Those cool metal cans that lived during the 50's before plastic took over and left us feeling wistful for our history with steel.

Liz's take on the cone top cans is at once authentic and nostalgic and nuanced with her creative influence that moves beyond the literal. Incredible realism considering all the pieces are solely made from ceramics but artistic in the subtleties of the shapes and glaze finish. How she manages to get them to look like metal is one thing but to look like rusted metal is quite another.

Faux can on left next to the real thing.

All of her work in incredible but I particularly enjoy the beer cans for some inexplicable reason.

If you happen to be in the Santa Cruz area this weekend and next, Liz will be participating in the Open Studios tour exhibiting and selling her work and she is not to be missed. Go here for a link to her site and here for a link to the Santa Cruz Open Studios tour site.

Tell her you heard about her beautiful artwork here.

Beer Tasting

I don't know where to begin, except to say that there are no simple answers. So, I'm posing this question to you who happen to stumble upon or are following this blog. But what is the question you ask? Simple.

How does one decide on a selection of beers if you're conducting a beer tasting class?

The reality is that there are twenty three recognized classic styles of beer not including mead, cider, melomel, and perry (whatever that is). In addition, there are a total of seventy nine subcategories that make up these styles. Break that down even further by considering the companies that brew these beers and you've got thousands of beer out there to choose from.

Now, your mission if you choose to accept it is to pick just eight of those beers to present in a three hour tasting session.

Making the choice of beers can be a creative process and that is how I approach it. I begin this process with an intention. For instance, I may make the decision on my selection based on beers of historical interest, like 'Why monks make beer and when did they start doing that'? I could decide to based the choice on similar qualities, a selection within a style for instance, like Russian imperial, sweet, foreign, oatmeal, American or dry stout. Or maybe a comparison between English and American pale ales and introduce some West coast American pales ales for good measure? A variety of seasonal German lagers?

The recent beers from the tasting class include Belgian tripel, quad, grand cru, grand cru vintage 2007, gueuze, homebrewed dry stout, pumpkin porter, homebrewed Russian imperial stout, Drake's aroma coma IPA and Hop Wallop IIPA.

Any of these ideas would be enjoyable to create a tasting around but there are other consideration that must be addressed. What comes to mind are the students. Their understanding of brewing and exposure to beer. Their preferences and past experience in tasting. In most of the classes that I have conducted, for the most part the students are inexperienced in tasting and have little exposure to beers outside of the mainstream swill. They come with a sincere interest in tasting new beers, learning the process of critically tasting and also want to enjoy a nice afternoon of sipping beers, an entertaining brew event. The reasons for them attending a beer tasting and the level of there experiences must be considered when designing a class. In addition to the novice there will occasionally be homebrewers and beer appreciators that have a wider level of knowledge and experience and their reason for attendance maybe slightly different and must be regarded also in the presentation.

So, back to the beer choice. Here we have 1000's of beers to choose from, a mix of attendees with varied knowledge and experience and lastly, a limited amount of time to not only educate, broaden their interests in beer and entertain but also to reward them with the feeling of satisfaction that they made a good decision by registering for and paying good money to attend a beer tasting.

Go.

I also want to use this space to thank my TA's Brady and Teresa for helping me out with this recent tasting. Their support enabled me to focus on the presentation. Thanks also to Jan and Andy for providing home brewed Russian imperial stout and brownies that were baked with said same stout, delicious!

Now I'm getting geared up to begin the five week brewing course. I'm excited.

Suds On The Shore - Recap

How do the beers of the Midwest stack up against the west coast? I went to Michigan to attend the Suds on the Shore beer festival to find out for myself. (Oh yeah, and I visited my Mom too.)

The use of hops is a definite difference. Not only the types but the amounts used. I sampled beers from a dozen different Michigan breweries and found that the beers were good and the use of hops reserved. I found that, generally speaking, they don't go for the 'over the top' uber biers that I'm used to seeing here on the central coast. They keep the IBU's and the alcohol in check for the most part. But this doesn't stop them from producing some excellent beers with a balanced mix of malt and hops that make for easy drinking. I want to highlight the breweries that stood out for me in this annual beer festival that supports the United Way.

Top of my list: Old Boys Brewhouse out of Spring Lake with a nice selection of beers that nailed the style guidelines and frankly kept me standing at their booth wanting more. In particular was the  Kennel King IPA that featured a vibrant dose of Cascade and Citra hops. Brewer David Bayes was on hand to talk up the brewery. His take on the American wheat beer had the unique addition of blueberry which made it stand apart from the crowd of wheat styles and made an impression on me.

Next, I made my way over to one of the larger Michigan breweries  Founder Brewing Company out of Grand Rapids. I sampled their IPA and was impressed with the balance of malt and citrus hop and more impressed when sales rep. Beau Loncharte told me that the abv was 4.5%, I took another taste and was even more impressed. It tastes like an IPA but I'm not sure how they can claim that style when the abv is so low. In any case, it's a great beer with a full malty mouthfeel and a big hop bitterness, flavor and aroma. I then sampled their Breakfast stout which came in at 8.5% abv and had an incredible ground coffee flavor which was a truly stellar stout and the second most popular in Michigan after Bells Brewing.

I really appreciated this event because it was so easy to sample the beers. This is a smaller event with only vendors from Michigan. There were only 27 booths and a relatively small crowd of beer appreciators so there were no lines to file into to get a beer. I walked up to each booth without waiting and this really added to the enjoyment of the day.

Brewery Vivant  was the odd man out with their Belgian style pale ale. From what I could gather, the sour beers have not taken root like here in the West. I was glad to be able to sample some at this fest. Their Belgian pale is bold and broad with a number of levels of flavor that made me want more. A striking yeast profile with an abundants of hop flavor that balanced and supported a delicious malt backbone. Good beer with a truly classic take on the Belgian concern for ales.

As I made my way around the booths looking for the unique I ran into an odd pair of pirates who did not seem out of place at all, as they hoisted the local ales and posed for everyone's cameras.

I came across the Michigan Beer Cellars booth where I sampled what was a very West coast take on the Cascadian dark or black IPA. This is a brewery from Sparta, Michigan and no one else at this event was pouring this dark style of IPA and this was a delicious beer. Jamesport Brewing was also on hand but as I had a number of beers at the brewpub the night before I didn't stop to sample this day. You can read more about my Jamesport experience on this previous post.

The local homebrew club the Zymurgists, were on hand to demonstrate for the crowd the use of a three tiered brew sculpture as they brewed up a batch of beer and displayed samples of malted barley and jars of hops. I also ran across a couple fellow beer bloggers from Michigan Beer Blog who have a site that covers the beer scene in that part of the woods. If you visit, tell them I sent you.




One disappointment for me was the missing Jolly Pumpkin Brewery. Apparently the distributor didn't ship the beer to the fair. I was looking forward to trying something that I'm sure would have been strange and exciting. Although, a representative from North Peak Brewing Company was on hand and he had on a Jolly Pumpkin t-shirt. He indicated that Jolly Pumpkin was part owner of North Peak. So, that's something.

There was also mead and cider being poured. I didn't taste the cider but did get a chance to sample the mead from a meadery out of Detroit called B.Nectar. This was a nice fruity sample. a little on the sweet side but a very good mead.

All in all, this was an enjoyable way to spend a day in the muggy summer heat of Michigan. I didn't visit my mother just to attend a beer festival, really, I didn't. But, I would recommend that if you are visiting relatives in another part of the country it makes perfect sense to coordinate it with either a pub crawl, brewery tour(s) or beer festival. Why not kill two birds with one stone, especially when one bird is a beer.

Congreso Cerveza Mexico 2011

I thought that I would pass this on. The craft beer and homebrewing scene is really expanding in Mexico and I'm looking forward to participating in as much as I can when I travel to Guanajuato this year. This is an exciting time for the Mexican homebrewing movement and if it progresses anything like it has here in the U.S., expect great things to emerge in cerveza de Mexico.

A number of craft breweries have emerged around Mexico, and they will have their wares on display September 1-3 at the World Trade Center in Mexico City during the Congreso Cerveza México 2011: Por La Cerveza Libre festival. You will be able to sample more than 100 beers for a mere $150 pesos/day (with advance registration)! This event is part of the Gourmet Show that happens at the same time/place– check out last year’s pics here to see if it merits a visit.

Included as part of this event is a homebrewing competition. Also, thanks to the blog Midwesterner in Mexico for the above information.

Belgian Beer Tasting

There was a time not long ago when I hated Belgian sour beers. Hated them with a passion. My favorite phrase when referring to something I felt disdain for was 'it stinks like a Belgian ale'.

But, as the years roll by for me as a homebrewer and now as a homebrew instructor, I recognized how important beer is in my life and I made a decision to subdued my narrow opinions with the idea of expanding my knowledge and appreciation for all of the styles of beer.

Now it's an adventure for me, an adventure into the discovery of my fear of the unusual and how closed minded I can be regarding unfamiliar flavors. Looking back over my history of beer drinking, I didn't spend too much time pondering the taste of the beer I drank. For the most part, if it was cold and refreshing with a mild and pleasant taste, I was satisfied. Having gone through my high school years in Golden, Colorado, my preference naturally was for Coors. Some years later it was Schlitz and Pabst Blue Ribbon, and I stuck with what I knew, which was light lagers. It's strange to think that I didn't even consider looking beyond this style of beer for something different. I can only attribute this behaviour to my need for the comfort of the familiar and also that the cultural attitude towards beer was quite different than it is today. At that time, buying Michelob was thinking outside the box.

It wasn't until I was in my late thirties that I considered a beer as flavorful as Sierra Nevada and frankly, I can't remember why I even tried it. I don't think I was so much trapped in the mundane as I was comforted by the familiar but this often showed up with a pretentious disregard for anything new that bordered on arrogance. Nobody was going to convince me that there were better beers to be had. These knee jerk  reactions prevented me from exploring the many great beers to be had at the time.

The reason I'm dredging up these old memories and the epiphanies that I garnered along the way is because I attended a Belgian Beer tasting this last Sunday in Boulder Creek. Fellow Zymurgeek Larry, freshly back from a beer tour and vacation in Belgium had the fortitude and forethought to collect and ship to the states a massive quantitiy of Belgian ales. We benefited from his effort and generosity by getting to taste a variety of some of the booty. We gathered at Larry's house and got comfortable to spend the day sampling beers from six breweries that included a total of eleven different beers. Talk about pace yourself. My eyes grew to the size of saucers as I looked over a selection of the beers that we planned to taste. This is an awesome collection of Belgian spontaneously fermented beers that most are difficult if not impossible to find in the U.S.

Here is a list of the beer that we drank.
Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze Oude Kriek and Doesjel Oude Lambik

Hanssens Oude Gueuze, Oude Kriek and Oudbeitje

Cantillon's Lou Pepe Kriek and Lou Pepe Framboise

Oud Beersel
Oud Kriek

Lindeman’s Cuvee Renee Kriek

Girardin's Kriek, Oud Beersel and Oude Kriek

We also tasted the club 'barrel' project which is a fine caliber of it's own. Very tasty and with a nice balance of funk and fruit.

 As we sampled the beers we also enjoyed I nice spread of snacks including assorted cold sausages, an assortment of homemade cheese, bread, raw veggies and a lambic cheese made from Cantillon gueuze.

For the most part I was partial to the straight gueuze, the beers with berries cast a heavy flavor profile and tend to overshadow the more subtle barnyard type flavors that interest me in this style.  I want to thank Larry here for making this event happen and having the forethought to consider his fellow homebrewers while on vacation. Your generosity is most appreciated.

Suds On The Shore Beer Festival

I'll be heading back to Michigan the end of next week for a much needed visit with relatives and of course I have plans for some Midwest beer tasting while I'm at it. I can't wait to do some taste comparisons between what's brewing here on the West coast and beers from the midland. I suspect that they may not be as hoppy as a lot of us Californians prefer but I will keep an open mind. It's not a happy coincidence that the annual Suds On The Shore beer festival will be going on while this short vacation occurs. You may remember the write up from guest writer 'Mom' when she attended in 2009.

Here is the press release and a list of participating brewers this year. It'll be nice to sample so many offerings in one location.

United Way of Mason County

August 5, 2011

The Suds On The Shore Committee in partnership with United Way of Mason County, beneficiary of the proceeds from the event, will be hosting its third craft beer and Michigan wine tasting festival on Saturday, August 20, 2011, from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m at Ludington City Park. Tickets can be purchased at Jamesport Brewing Company, Surroundings and United Way of Mason County. They can also be purchased on-line at www.sudsontheshore.com.

Tickets are $25.00 in advance and $30.00 at the gate and include, souvenir sampling glass, eight 4 ounce samples of beer or 2 ounce samples of wine and “2012 Save the Date” magnet. Non-drinkers or those serving as designated drivers can purchase tickets on the day of the event for $5.00. Individuals attending the festival must be 21 years of age or older and present valid ID to enter.  

“We are very excited about this year’s festival and are optimistic that it will only continue to grow. Last year, the number of people attending the festival almost doubled when compared to the prior year, and we are optimistic that this year’s festival will be even bigger,” stated Curt Vanderwall, Committee Chair. “What is nice about this type of fundraising event is that it attracts people from all over the state, which ends up being a win, win for our entire community,” Vanderwall added. 

According to Vanderwall, there are 27 vendors who will be at the festival providing samples of beverages such as, craft beer, hard cider, mead and wine, which is an increase of seven from last year. There will be live band performances beginning at 1:00 p.m. with C-Spin and at 3:00 p.m. Zeek and Wally will be performing. In addition, there will be a food concession, festival souvenir booth, and new to this year’s festival, a home brew beer demonstration.

For more information or to volunteer contact the United Way of Mason County office at 231-843-8593 or visit the Suds On The Shore website at www.sudsontheshore.com or on facebook.

Registered Vendors

1. Allstar Import’s Germany and Belgian Beers
2. Arbor Brewing Company
3. Atwater Brewery
4. B. Nektar Meadery
5. Bell’s Brewery, Inc.
6. Brewery Vivant
7. Cascade Winery and Jarden James Brewery
8. Crispin Apple Cider
9. Founders Brewing Company
10. Frankenmuth Brewery
11. Elite Brands USA
12. Great Lakes Brewing Company
13. Henry Fox Sales
14. Jamesport Brewing Company
15. Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
16. Michigan Beer Cellar
17. Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company
18. New Holland Brewing Company
19. North Peak Brewing Company
20. Old Boys Brewhouse, Inc.
21. Red Hook
22. Saugatuck Brewing Company, Inc.
23. Schmohz Brewing
24. Short’s Brewing Company
25. The Walldorff Brewpub and Bistro
26. Vander Mill
27. Widmer Bros.

If you're in the area or planning to go to this event. Let me know so we can say hello to each other. See you there.

Beginner Brewing Class

This Summer's five week comprehensive brewing course at Cabrillo College was cancelled, not enough students. I don't think this was caused by a lack of interest in the community, the Spring class filled to capacity with a handful of students on a waiting list. The lack of students seems to be directly related to the economy. Because of budget cuts at the college, Cabrillo did not publish or mail the catalog listing the extension program. This has a big impact on registration as most students signing up for the brewing class are finding the course by way of the catalog. Hopefully, the fall catalog will be printed as usual and I expect to fill the class again. In the mean time, I have students signing up on-line for the private classes that I offer and I just happen to have five Sunday's in a row in which to teach from home. If you're in the area or will be visiting Santa Cruz during the month of July, consider a one day class with me. Each class will be designed with consideration of your brewing experience. Go here for more details.

On another note, a couple of beer event will be taking place here that might interest you.
First: Homebrewer and Zymurgeek member Tom Lopez will be showing his 'plastic camera' photography at The Parish Publick House through the month of July. Come down and have a pint with Tom and me Saturday July 9th, between 3pm. and 6pm. while we gander at it. His photography is displayed within easy access of a nice line up of beer on draft not to mention a lot of specialties in bottles.

On July 15th at the old Wrigley building on the West side, New Belgium Brewing will be hosting an event called Clips of Faith where there will be beer for sampling and movie shorts projected on an outdoor screen. The clips will start at sundown naturally but the beer is available starting at 7:30pm.
According to clips of faith:
Project Bike Trip is teaming up with New Belgium Brewing to bring their second annual”cLiPS of FAiTH” BEER & FILM TOUR to Santa Cruz, CA. This 18-city tour travels the country pouring handmade beers while featuring independent, handmade films and raising money for local non-profits."
I'm curious about this event and will try to check it out and get back to all those that don't make it.

Finally, the California Beer Festival will be going on the following day. Saturday July 16th at the Aptos park. Our local brewers along with 60 or so more will be serving from 12:30 to 5pm. You can find out more about this event by going to the link.
I'm still trying to get a press pass into this event and If I do, you'll see me there.

National Homebrewers Conference Beer Related Crafts

On day three of the National Homebrewers Conference I was able to video Peter Zien of Alesmith as he talked about brewing outside the box and not being afraid to develop your own recipes. Along with this encouraging speech he talked about his new venture into craft cheese making.

Again, sorry about the aggressive photographer that needed an excessive amount of time to get that perfect shot of Mr. Zien right in front of my camera. He eventually goes away.








Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Hope you've enjoyed these uploads and were able to get a little out of this conference. I will be posting some of my notes from some of the other lectures and other beer related stuff. I just need to get back home, rest, sober up and get creative with it.

National Homebrewers Conference Historical Beers

Stone Brewing's Mitch Steele give an interesting and informative presentation on historical extreme beers. Locating and deciphering early brewing recipes and techniques used in creating high gravity ales. This is video from Friday's conference schedule.
I really enjoyed the fact that no heads injured the quality of this production.




Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

AHA Trip Day 1

Threading highway 101 through the ag lands that blanket the space between California's Southern coastal mountain ranges and the Pacific ocean, Christina, Mauricio and I stopped in Beulton to Visit the Firestone Walker tap room for lunch and a pint but decided to make a quick detour to Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. A short distance down the road, and located in a commercial section of town, Figueroa is the new kid on a block that could use a few more new kids.  

I know I just uploaded a guest post regarding Figueroa Mountain but since head brewer AJ Stoll is a personal friend from Santa Cruz, it didn't feel right not stopping to say hello myself. Lucky for us, AJ was in the process of loading a truck for a beer delivery and was gracious enough to take time out and give us a quick tour of the facility where he's brewing award winning beers. AJ recently moved down from Ukiah where he turned around Ukiah Brewing, transforming the mediocre and often times contaminated beers into stellar examples of classic styles.

 Now he seems proud to be heading up this fledgling venture, working with new equipment and already preparing the brewery for expansions to support the growing demand for the excellent beers he's producing. He showed us the  grain mill room that is specifically designed to be explosion proof and the construction going on, in preparation for a couple more larger fermentors. The brewing system appears physically demanding', the mash tun requires mashing in using large paddles (oars) but AJ says he enjoys this 'hands-on' approach, as he flexes his muscles smiling.

 We settled into the tap room and sampled a spectrum of delicious beers. Including the gold metal winning pilsner and American brown. Not to mention well made wheat, pale, Hoppy Poppy IPA and a red lager.
He surprised me when he explained a hopping technique that he uses effectively. AJ says he applies just two charges of hops in his beers including his IPA. A bittering hop at the beginning of the boil and then one other addition at the very end of the boil at the whirlpool. Incredibly, the hop aroma and flavor are pronounced and I plan to try this on my next homebrew.
Fortunately for the locals, they now have a choice besides Firestone Walker. So, stop by and say hello to AJ and thank him for bringing his considerable talents to Buelton.

 As we got back on the road I was already thirsty for more, and I know just the spot to stop. Goleta, a city just North of Santa Barbara is home to Hollister Brewing Company  Not only a great line up of superb beers but delicious food. Although a bit on the pricey side, there food hit the spot for these weary travelers and with a pint of The Pope IPA we were almost ready to run the gauntlet of the rush hour L.A. traffic. I said almost. Six lanes of stop and go, bumper to bumper insanity for several hours makes me question the whole idea of massively sprawling communities. Who are all these people and where are they all going at the same time? More importantly, why are they all in front of us? I need to get to San Diego, and get into some serious beer drinking. Soon!

 

Arriving in S.D. we felt the relief of finally reaching our destination and were eager to sooth our parched throats with sweet, sweet beer. Where can we find such a beverage? How about a section of town call Southpark.
We heard that Stone Brewing was having a 'soft opening' for their new retail store . We joined the neighborhood locals who crowded the narrow side walk outside the already filled to capacity room, waiting for their turn to have their growlers filled. Initially armed with high hopes of getting a chance to compare samples that were being served in a 'keep it' taster glass and getting our own growlers filled I felt my patience starting to wain.

Succumbing to my low tolerance for lining up to drink (even for the best of beers) and especially when I'm at the end of the line, I made my apologizes and abandoned my colleagues. I slipped into a fancy wine bar next door that just happened to have Stone's IPA on tap. I ordered a pint, took a comfortable seat with some strangers and enjoyed my beer sin linea.

At the end of our long journey, we made it to our destination that will be home for the duration of the National Homebrewers Conference experience. We broke into the homebrew and talked about the day. Now, it's time to plan our strategies for getting the most out of this geekiest of homebrew events.

Monterey Beer Festival

For those interested in my take on the Monterey Beer Festival that just went down on Saturday. Please go see my guest posting here at Brewed For Thought.

See you at the Nation Homebrewers Conference in San Diego.

Peter B's pours through the Randall!

National Homebrewers Conference Schedule

I'm heading South this week to attend the NHC from Thursday through Saturday and I've got plans to post my experiences here at least once a day if not more. Tentatively, I will try and get one video post per day that will feature a presentation that I have the most interest in. Those would be:

1. Brewing With Brett: speaker Chad Yakobson on Thursday the 16th.
2. Historical Extreme Beers: speaker Mitch Steele on Friday the 17th.
3. Non-sour Barrel Aging: speaker Tomme Arthur on Saturday the 18th.

These are suppose to be one hour lectures and so I will be breaking them down into 4 - fifteen minute segments. At least this is the plan. It's a long process loading video onto my computer, editing and then uploading to YouTube but I'm going to give it a try.

Along with the videos I will be trying for some candid pictures, interviews and such, of the other activities I attend like the Pro-Brewer night and Club night.

So, if you're not attending this event, check back here for what I hope will be interesting and educational posts almost live from San Diego.

California Beer Festival - Aptos

As the warm weather (and rain) hits the central coast it's the signal that the season for beer festivals has begun.  This year my intention is to attend all the beer related events occurring in my neck of the woods, that is the Santa Cruz, Monterey bay area.

First up, the California Beer Festival. This event is the biggie for me because it's happening just a few short miles away from me in Aptos. For those that have been following Beer Diary... for awhile, you know that I've moved to nearby Capitola from Aptos a couple of years ago, so to attend a beer fest in Aptos would be like going home for me. Going home for beer that is.
According to the CBF website:

...With over 60 craft brews on tap, four live bands, mouth watering food and bocce ball. CBF will be the event of the year for any beer enthusiast! CBF's main goal is to shine a light on the craft beer movement and celebrate great beer!
For one low price, you will receive a souvenir tasting cup to sample some of the best craft beers from around the state, play bocce ball and listen to amazing music. This event will sell out, space is very limited. Purchase your tickets today to ensure a great time!

I'm not sure about the bocce ball, but for the rest, sign me up.

This year has a great line up including the usual heavy hitters like Anchor Steam, Gordon Biersch and Lagunitas, but what I'm looking forward to are the Irish beers of Strangford Lough Brewing Company and Ninkasi Brewing Co. who have some beers that I haven't seen in these parts.
The other fun thing for me is to be able to say hello and to support my local brewers like Jason at Seabright Brewing, Alec at Uncommon Brewers, Mark at Ale Works and Chad at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing.

What about the music? How about the soulful dance beat of Santa Cruz's own Extra Large band to keep the energy up as you sample your way to beer heaven.

The Aptos park is an excellent location for an event like this, with a pristine creek running past a large open lawn area shaded by oaks and redwoods. The perfect place to chat with friend about your latest beer sample. What could be a better way to kick off the beer festival season.

Let us know if you'll be attending.

Beer Diary... At The NHC

The upside: I will be attending this years National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego in June to document as much of the activities as possible.

The downside: The American Homebrew Association would not kick down the press pass I requested like they did for me for the Great American Beer Festival last year.
Am I bitter?
Maybe.
Just a little.
I mean, I know that I'm not the biggest beer blogger out there but I try really hard. That has to count for something. Something like free admission.
'I don't get enough hits.' they said. Apparently, quality doesn't count for as much in their eyes.
How do I respond to this? Well, the day will come when I have thousands of hits and at that point I will refuse to accept a press pass. That's right, take that AHA!

But I plan to make the best of my trip and pass on as much information from the event to the readers of Beer Diary... as possible. My plan is to video some of the speakers presentations and maybe a few video interview from the floor during homebrew night where I plan to discover the best homebrewed beer.

My goal is to get the video and or pictures and commentary posted the evening of the particular event so that there is as close to a 'live' feed as I can get. This should be pretty interesting since I will most likely be on the better side of  toasted by the end of the day.

The reason I am posting this information today is that I am open to and looking for suggestions from you on how to approach this event. What would you like to get from my posts that you think would benefit you most?  Leave your suggestions in the comment section below. The 'Dude' abides.