Tag: Sam Calagione

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How Did I Miss Season 1?

Within two weeks, I have heard about First We Feast videos when I they had never come past my radar before. And the second time is beer related with Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione hosting videos by the name of ‘That’s Odd, Let’s Drink It’.

The first season had a true variety of guests such as Chris Bosh, Ken Marino & Joe Lo Truglio, Mac Miller.

Season 2 is coming and “in each episode of the six-part series, Sam leads an entertaining, educational beer tasting with his guests as he takes them on a full-on sensory adventure of sorts where they taste and talk about beer.”

You should be able to find the show on YouTube because it premiered just last Tuesday! Guests for the new season are YouTube sensations Rhett & Link, comedian Bert Kreischer, Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne, musician Julianna Barwick, rapper N.O.R.E. and First We Feast host Sean Evans.

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dogfish-head-sixty-one-ipa
This may be one of those beers that I hope to score a taste of before buying. I don’t know how the malty and a little hoppy 60 Minute IPA will fare when adding the tannins of red wine to the mix. But here is the full story for you to make a decision about….

“Sixty-One, Dogfish Head’s first new core beer since 2007, was born at the crossroads of serendipity, experimentation and brotherhood.

Whenever Dogfish Head President Sam Calagione and his neighborhood friends gather for drinks, they give each other a big ol’ man-hug and order a round of 60 Minute IPA. A few years ago, Sam also ordered a glass of his favorite red wine and poured a little into each pint of 60 Minute. They all dug the combination of fruity complexity and pungent hoppiness, and the blend became a beloved tradition.

dogfish bonnie prince billy 1Sixty-One captures that tradition in a bottle and marries two Dogfish Head innovations: beer/wine hybrids — which Dogfish has focused on for well over a decade with beers like Midas Touch and Raison D’être — and continually-hopped IPAs.

The name Sixty-One is a reminder that this beer is Dogfish Head’s best-selling 60 Minute IPA plus one new ingredient: syrah grape must from California. The label, painted by Sam, is a twist on a typical watercolor. Rather than using water, Sam mixed the green pigment with beer and the red pigment with wine. And because Sixty-One pairs so well with chocolate, he painted the browns on the label with melted chocolate.”

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Dogfish + Bocce Ball =

Bocce is the game....

...and to become Immort Ale...

...you need to dominate the scoreboard...

...and then you get your photo with Sam

Thanks to the Four Point Sheraton and the beer crew at Brewsters. Congrats to the Surly Goat team. 2012 Champions. And thanks to Dogfish Head and Sam Calagione for coming in from the East Coast with their great beers.

And an extra thanks to Sam for signing my copy of Brewing Up a Business!
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Dogfish by the Pool

This Saturday, June 2, 2012 from 2:30pm until 6:30pm at the Four Points Sheraton LAX pool is a Dogfish Head Beers & BBQ.

Dogfish Head beers like:
Chicory Stout
Aprihop
Black & Blue
Urkcontinent
Ta Henket
Tweason

…and you can Say “Hey” to Sam too!

$20 admission includes 6 samples & complimentary parking

plus there will be Special Beers from… The Bruery, Golden Road and
Hamiltons

RSVP on Facebook – appreciated but not required

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Session Extreme

A recent article by Jason Wilson in the SF Gate called, “In search of great session beers” had this little tidbit hidden in the middle.

“In December, Todd Alstrom announced the launch of an Extreme Session Beer Project.

The Extreme Session Beer Project sets 5 percent as its limit, but exhorts brewers to “Be extreme! As in using creative brewing methods and/or ingredients.” Alstrom and Calagione suggested ideas such as brewing with orange pekoe, lemon zest and the “the same yeast and bacteria found in kombucha.”

I say hear hear to any attention brought to sessionable beers. Creativity and high ABV don’t always have to stick together.

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Beer DVD reviews

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Today, I watched “Beer Wars” and “The American Brew” back to back. I think that they both have their strong points but American Brew wins my Beer Oscar.

The American Brew is way too short (in a good way) and I really enjoyed the clips left on the cutting room floor. It shows the basics of making beer along with a brief history of beer in America. And it has great commentators including Daniel Okrent, Charlie Papazian, Fritz Maytag and Dick Cantwell among others. It has a specific aim and it hits it straight on. Since, I love educating people about beer and its turbulent history in America, this is a great tool to use.

Beer Wars on the other hand has a major beer flaw in it, though it is not a dramatic flaw. The focus is on Sam Calagione from the wonderful Dogfish Head and on the creator of Moonshot Caffeine Beer and Edison Light, Rhonda Kallman. To a lesser extent it is a screed against the three-tiered distribution system and the dominance of ABINBEV / SABMILLERCOORS.

Both Sam and Rhonda have wonderful entrepreneurial spirit. But Sam understands that he is a brewer first and second and third and a salesman fourth. Rhonda is all sales all the time and that hurts her. She becomes a product not a craft. I totally understand why the beer community is so mixed on this movie. On one hand it celebrates creative beer and then extols the wonders of marketed beer. It is good drama but not good beer.