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Odell Myrcenary

“Named for Myrcene, a component of essential oils in the hop flower, Myrcenary Double IPA is our tribute to those who revere the illustrious hop, and their unyielding exploit to craft hop forward beers. Brewed with a blend of hops containing the highest levels of Myrcene, this double IPA prevails with a tropical fruit-like flavor, a pungent floral aroma, and a clean getaway.”

I have recently had a couple of Odell’s beers. Both were good but didn’t blow me away, maybe this is the beer that changes that.

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San Francisco Beer Week

Continuing the California theme, now is the time to check out the SF Beer Week website to see what you are going to either A) go to / buy tickets for or B) cry about not being able to attend. But you can’t get to every beer festival (or can you?).

Here is a teaser of events for the beer week that starts on February 11th….
-An Opening Gala at Yerba Buena Cultural Center on February 11th
-A Double IPA Festival at The Bistro on February 12th
-Triple Fermented: Cask Beer, Cheese, and Bread at ThirstyBear Brewing Co. on February 13th
-Beerunch with Mateveza and Dogfish Head at Public House re-airing Game 5 of the World Series on February 13th
-A Pig Roast and Barrel-Aged Beer Tasting at Drake’s Brewing Co. with Chop Bar Restaurant on February 16th
-A Barleywine Festival at The Toronado on February 19th
-A Chocolate and Beer Festival at the Craneway Pavilion on February 19th

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Let’s Tour – Black Market Brewing

GABF medalists from Temecula, California. Say hello to the Black Market, Brewing Company that is.

I recently tasted a few of their beers at a Meet the Brewery style event at Blue Palms Brewhouse and came away with mixed feelings. The brown ale was solid and I know the Rye IPA is good but I was left a little cold by the red ale (Scary Carrie) and their Hefeweizen and dunkle which just tasted off style and too cereal grainy to me.

That said. Not all breweries have exceptional beer from top to bottom that suits my particular taste. I’m just glad that more breweries keep springing up in the Golden State.

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Eagle Rock review # 1

So I planned on having a review of an Eagle Rock beer in this space. But then the anniversary party for their 1st year of business got scheduled. SO now you get some photos from the event.

The announcement flyer

The beers on tap!

Jubilee, the Christmas Ale makes an appearance!

I had not tasted Jubilee before and am still mixed on it. The front end is fruity and then a spice blast hits at the back end. It is a warmer but certainly not what I expected. I also sampled the Yearling which is young Flanders Red which was tart and sour and just damn tasty. I also had the sour Solidarity. Only one sip, so no review or judgement to be passed.

A true video review will happen later. (I just got some 50 States beer so I couldn’t justify buying more beer when the ‘fridge was stocked to bursting!)

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Beer Culture

“Beer Culture is a documentary film about the growing trend in Craft Beer set in the epicenter of it all, Colorado. Beer Culture explains the cultural phenomenon behind the growth of craft beer telling it through the stories of struggles and successes of some top brewers in Colorado including, New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Avery Brewing Company, Tommyknocker, Upslope, including much more. This film is set to debut in the Summer of 2011.”

That had better pique your antenna up. There are a slew of beer doc’s in the pipeling. Personally, I can’t wait for them to hit theaters and DVD.

Beer Culture Trailer 1 from FM Productions on Vimeo.

Thanks to Jay Brooks for unearthing this for the world

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Beer Bloggers Conference # 2


Having been at the first conference in Boulder, I am pleased to announce the 2nd and 3rd are on tap!

“We are very pleased to announce the dates and locations of our two 2011 Beer Bloggers Conferences:

May 20-22: London, UK
August 19-21: Portland, Oregon

We hope to build on the success of our 2010 conference, which had 108 attendees this past November in Boulder, Colorado. While the London conference is designed to appeal to European beer bloggers and writers, we also hope it will attract bloggers from other geographies, including some intrepid traveling bloggers from North America.

Neither the Portland nor London conferences could exist without the support of our initial sponsors: Molson Coors (UK), Wells and Youngs, and Fuller’s in the UK and the Oregon Brewers Guild and BridgePort Brewing in Portland. These organizations make it possible to bring the Beer Bloggers Conference to you at extremely reasonable prices.

Registration is now open and space is limited due to our conference locations and the ability of our dinner hosts to accommodate large groups.

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Traquair 2020

Who would have thunk 20 years ago that people would be discussing craft beers that weren’t going to be released for months?

Well, here goes with a Scottish ale that arrives on our shores this month.

From the esteemed Traquair Brewery in Scotland comes 2020. Oddly named for a celebratory 2011 beer but if you have sampled their beer before, you know it will be good.

Here is the breweries description: “Traquair 2020 Ale has a deep brick-red color and an aroma of oak, caramel and toffee. Wonderful flavors suggesting plums, raisins, currants, chocolate and gently roasted malt are balanced by significant 10% ABV.”

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Gimme MORE!

Our craft beer distribution is an imperfect but workable system. But from time to time, I wish I could lay my hands on some beers that other folks take for granted. I was reminded of this when Great Divide Brewing started bringing their beers to Los Angeles last year. I was glad to see Hibernation and Claymore in the stores but it got me to thinking about other breweries that I would like to see here in SoCal.

So here is this months list:
Boulevard Brewing – They get to Oregon! How about some Double Wide IPA love here.

Nebraska Brewing – Again, seen them in Oregon. Move a bit south.

50/50 Brewing – I wish they could hop a lift on the Firestone-Walker supply train.