Habanero Stout

Roots Habanero Stout Release
3 p.m., Friday 11/06/09, Roots Organic Brewing,1520 S.E. Seventh Ave.

“An Irish style Stout brewed with chocolate malt, chocolate wheat & five pounds of coco nibs in the mash. We then boil this beer for two hours during which we slowly inoculated six pounds of organic free trade semi sweet chocolate syrup made by Alma Chocolates. After fermentation we dry hopped the Stout with 100 chopped Habaneros. ”

If this is anything like the McMenamin’s pepper beer then I will not be able to get close to it before the blast gets me.

Lucky 13 from Firestone-Walker

“Firestone Walker Brewing Company announced the release of their much anticipated anniversary beer, “13” today. This annual release will go on sale for the first time at noon on November, 14th at the Firestone Walker Brewery in Paso Robles and the Firestone Walker Taproom Restaurant in Buellton.

Firestone’s anniversary series, a unique blend of barrel aged beers, has become quite a phenomenon each year as beer fans from all over the U.S. seek out this special limited release. In years past releases have sold out at the brewery in just a few weeks and these beers have garnered a hefty price tag in the market.

“These unique barrel aged beers have really changed the public’s perception of beer,” said Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “The care and time that went into this blend is more akin to wine than beer,” he added.

Brynildson again enlisted the help of Paso Robles area wine makers to assist in the blending of several barrel-aged beers into the final product. Barley wines, imperial stouts and an imperial brown are just a few of the beers making up the final blend. Many of the component beers have spent over 2 years aging in a combination of retired bourbon, rye, and wine barrels. This process contributes unique and one-of-a kind flavors not typically found in beer.”

firestone_walker_13_22oz_bottle

My first visit to Toronado

toro

I did not know what to expect of Toronado SF. I had purposefully not looked at any photos. All I had done was check the beer list and made advance selections (that I didn’t follow). I have been to enough beer sellers to know that this was A) a serious beer place B) a familiar beer hall style.

Toronado is like Horse Brass in Portland or Lucky Baldwin’s in Pasadena or Tied House in Denver. Old taps are attached to the wall everywhere. (They had a great year by year tap progression of the Anchor Christmas beers) Old signed bottles are on shelves and every bar stool is taken. Oh and the lighting was dim.

Don’t take this as a slam against the place. Toronado is authentic. The taps on the wall tell a history. There was a large grouping of historic Full Sail taps. You can’t fake this. Plus, I love that they had a large board that was easy to read of the current rotation. With prices! Why some places eschew that touch is beyond me.

My wife scored us a table by some sort of magic and I settled on a new Anchor Steam. Hey, we were in the home of Anchor. Huming Ale is made with Nelson Sauvin hops, supposedly. It was almost like two different beers fighting each other. A steam beer with layers of hops but I could not locate the grape-y Nelson in there.

I could easily have stayed for hours and tried all new (to me) beers. That is the mark of a great beer bar.

I would love a bottle of…

bbmp
Open the door and let me in.
Manhattan Project from Brooklyn Brewery. I was scared but then shocked at how good the Cuvee de Cardoz was and now I want to try all of the weird beers that Mr. Oliver has cooking. This one is made with tart cherries and rye and is the beer equivalent of a Manhattan cocktail. Sounds good to me.