Rodger Davis, the ace brewmeister at Drake’s Brewing in San Leandro, CA. is holding a couple of very interesting tastings on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at the Toronado, 547 Haight St., San Francisco, and Thursday, Nov. 16 at Cato’s Ale House, 3891Piedmont Ave. in Oakland.

Both tastings are open to the public and begin at 6 p.m.

The first, at the Toronado is a vertical testing of five different vintages of Jolly Roger, Drake’s very strong Christmas Ale, each very different.

The second. at Cato’s will be three different versions of a brown ale, originally brewed as a homebrew by Alex Smith, the bar manager at Cato’s. More on that in a moment.

Here are Rodger’s notes on the Jolly Roger beers to be tasted at the Toronado:

2003
A Scotch Ale. Based on the early 1800’s way of taxing ales, where more Shillings were charged to higher gravity ales, this would be considered a“120 Shilling” Ale. Big and malty from roasted barley this beer is balanced with only two hop additions of East Kent Golding and then it was fermented at 50*F to keep the ester formation low. 9%ABV 30 IBU’s

2003 Barrel Aged
In the early 1800’s Scottish brewers would transfer their ales to barrels where they would condition for up to two years. Often these beers would sour over time. The 2003 Scotch Ale was placed into a Brandy barrel for 18 months. This version has a slight sourness to it but is quite complex with the many different aromas and flavors. 11% ABV 30 IBU’s

2004
An American style Red Ale. Think of it as a dark IPA. After 2003’s version we found the need to get back into a hoppy style but wanted to keep the beer rather dark to try and confuse some into thinking it was another Scotch ale. Little did they know that it was actually a hoppy beer. Hops: Horizon, Chinook and Centennial. 9.5% ABV 70 IBU’s.

2005a
An Imperial IPA. This is a very big beer. Crystal malt lend a nice ruby red back drop to an onslaught of hops. How many pounds of different kinds of hops can you throw at a beer and still make it somewhat drinkable? It turns out a lot! Hops: Horizon, Simcoe, Cascade and Columbus. 11.5% ABV 80 IBU’s

2005b
An old ale. For our 15th Anniversary we decided to do two different versions, one a hop bomb and for the other , we broke out Roger Lind’s first Jolly Roger recipe from 1990 and re-create it using our own brewing techniques. This is a well balanced ale that is lightly hopped with Galena, East Kent Goldings and Willamette hops.
9.5%ABV 40 IBU’s

2005b Barrel Aged
This is the Old Ale that has been aging in an Apple Brandy barrel for 12 months. The first few months of aging, this beer was dominated by apple aroma and taste, but over time that has taken a backseat to the French oak the barrel is made of. 11%ABV 40 IBU’s

2006
An Imperial IPA. We have discovered that if hops are not used in the Jolly Rodger these days, then people would become enraged. So here we go with another hop bomb. This one steams from a conversation with Pat McIlhenney (owner/brewer of Alpine Brewing) when he mentioned that he used a whopping two pounds of dry hops per barrel in his outstanding Duet beer. Most of our IPA’s were about one pound per barrel! So what the hell, let see what that will do to one of our beers. Thanks for the advice Pat! Hops: Warrior, Simcoe, Summit, and Amarillo. 10% ABV 70 IBU’s.

What’s more…Rodger adds that he’s trying to secure a keg from 1996 or 1997 (brewed by Roger Lind, who founded Drakes) that somebody bought, never tapped and has been storing it in “good” condition. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the next day at Cato’s also at 6 p.m. Here’s what Rodger plans in his own words:

“And if you not too hungover after that we brewed a Brown Ale that was originally brewed as a homebrew by Alex Smith (bar manager at Cato’s) which we will be tapping the 16th. We will have three different forms of it, co2, nitro and a pin (a small firkin) set on the bar. This is not your ordinary Brown ale as it is hoppy as hell. We try to make malt dominated beers but those hops keep jumping into the fermenters……Oh well. Anyway, I hope to see you there..”

I wouldn’t miss either event Rodger.

Ooops. I typo’d the adress of the Toronado in a posting a few days ago about the Toronado’s Wet Hop Fest. …I’ve changed it now. But for the record, it’s 547 Haight St. in San Francisco, NOT 57.

Consider this sad tale:

Bill,

I first heard about the Toronado while reading your blog
at http://www.beernewsletter.com/blog/. So when I saw
that it was having a Wet hop fest I talked my wife on taking
a trip to the city for an evening of beer tasting.

I got the Toronado’s address off your Blog, checked BART’s
web site for the nearest station and saw that the 16th St
at Mission station was the closest one. Only 0.5 to 0.6 miles
away.

Next I printed out a google map of the 16th St to 57 Haight area . With that we hopped on BART at the Dublin/Pleasanton station and we were off. Getting off at 16th, we walked over to the address 57 haight and found 57 Haight.

Only it is not the Toronado. It is a private residence! Ha! now what did I write down the wrong address?
Now we were lost in San Francisco, and to make mattersworse I had a call of nature that was not going away and was only getting more urgent. So back we go towards Mission and Market.

Luckily we spotted a Cafe at the corner. We walked in I headed straight for the rest room and my wife ordered a tea and asked for a phone book. After my ‘rest’ I decided to call 4ll on my cell to get the Toronado’s address.

The phone company puts me through, but with this being a Saturday evening and the wet hop fest going full tilt, the woman answering the phone was hard to hear clearly and she spoke so quickly that I could not make out her super fast reply to my simple request for an address.

I was left with a my mouth gapping open and the tone of a phone that had hung up.

Lucky for me my wife has more patience then me and she continued to look in the phone book. She found the Toronado’s entry! It read Toronado, 547 Haight St. Aha! It is only another 5 blocks, why not walk there now knowing the correct address. Well, it is San Francisco, and we are from the flatlands. Haight is mostly uphill from there ooops.

Still 15 minutes later we found the place and it was packed, which is not hard to do since it is a rather small narrow bar. Still it was fun and I did happen to meet an old friend I used to work with, who I had not seen him in 5 or 6 years. Odd how life deals you such twists.

As to the Beer it was good. I only tried 4 of the hop fest specials, and found that of those I like the Drakes Harvest Ale the best.

The short story is that your reference to the Toronado’s address is wrong. It is located at 547 haight and not 57 as you show on your web/blog site.

Cheers. Peter.

NOTE: I changed it Peter and do I ever owe you a beer. And yes, the Toronado is a special place. The decor is Lower East Side New York City circa 1955. But the beer is somewhere west of heaven. b.

I’m on a brief trip to Santa Fe, NM this week and of course I’ve checked out the local beer scene.

First visit this trip was to the Blue Corn Cafe & Brewery, which is inside one of the tourist trap developments that have changed the Santa Fe Plaza into well, mostly a tourist trap, selling everything from cheap trinkets to high art. It’s hard to imagine that this was once the center of life in Santa Fe, and the plaza was lined with real stores. There was even a Woolworth’s.

But Santa Fe has grown – estimated population 70,631, up 13.5 percent from the 2000 census – and commerce has moved out into the sprawl.

So I never expect much around the plaza these days. The Blue Corn Cafe & Brewery is always a pleasant surprise. It actually fronts on Water Street, which is a block off the plaza, although you can get there from the plaza by walking through the maze of tourist-oriented shops.

The Water Street location is one of two; the other is out in the sprawl on Cerrillos Road, where as the pub’s website states:“This is where you can put your finger on the pulse of the real Santa Fe, as the natives live it.”

Prices at the plaza location are reasonable (from my San Francisco Bay Area perspective). I ordered New Mexico Green Chile Stew (as they call it these days). It’s a kind of pozole, made with potatoes, chunks of pork and lots of New Mexico green chiles: $7.75. Spicy and good and served with a couple of sopaipillas _ a light fluffy, New Mexico version of fry bread.

Head brewer is Daniel Jaramillo. Blue Corn offers a sampler set of their beers, eight beers in four ounce glasses, $6. Their beers, all ales, were fresh and decent. As one often finds in dry, high, American climates like Santa Fe (elev. 7,300 feet), beer tends toward the light end.

Natually, I find myself gravitating toward the other end. I especially liked Plaza Porter***+, made with roast malts and a touch of smoked malt, which gave it an interesting nose and taste. The smoke made it a perfect beer to pair with spicy green chile stew.

I also like End of the Trail Brown Ale***+, a 5.4 percenter with a light, roast malt nose. High Altitude Pale Ale *** made with Centennial hops, had a true hoppy nose and a dry taste that made me wish for a bit more malt. Still very drinkable beer.

Ditto Road Runner IPA. A 4.0 score for hoppy nose.

Forget what I said about tourist traps. If you’re stuck with a black belt shopper in downtown Santa Fe, NM, get thee to the Blue Corn Cafe & Brewery.

Locations: Downtown: 133 Water St., (505) 984-1800
SOUTHSIDE: 4056 Cerrillos Rd., (505) 438.1800
e-mail: info@bluecorncafe.com

If you’ve heard about beer from Pizza Port in San Diego County, but never had a chance to try the beer, here’s an opportunity.

Craig Wathen, proprietor of the The City Beer Store, 1168 Folsom St., San� Francisco, (415) 505-1033, is now stocking four Pizza Port beers, Wipeout IPA, Lost and Found Abbey Ale (Belgium Red), Avant Garde (Biere de Garde) and Red Barn Ale (Saison).

City Beer has an unusual liquor license. Two people can buy any bottle and share it at the store for the cost of the bottle. In addition, Thursday, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., he’ll be pouring Lost and Found, Avanta Garde and Red Barn for $5 for a glass of all three.

As I mentioned in my column today in the Oakland Tribune and other Bay Area newspapers, Ledger’s Liquors, 1399 University Ave., Berkeley, CA., (510) 540-9243.

The reason for this sudden largesse here in Northern California of Tomme Arthur and Pizza Port beers is that Pizza Port bought the old Stone Brewing facility in San Marcos and has begun brewing and bottling beer.

Here’s the menu from Beer Chef Bruce Paton:

THE BEER CHEF
Presents Dinner with the Brewmaster
Friday November 10, 2006
The Cathedral Hill Hotel
Featuring
The Unique Beers of Sam Calagione
Dogfish Head Brewing Co

Reception
6:30 PM
Beer Chef�s Hors D�Oeuvre
60 Minute IPA

Dinner
7:30PM
First Course
Poached Foie Gras with Toasted Five Spice Syrup and California Osetra Caviar
Midas Touch Golden Elixir

Second Course
Duck Pho with Charred Ginger Broth and Parsnip Noodles
90 Minute IPA

Third Course
Red Cooked Angus Short Ribs with Lobster Medallions
World Wide Stout

Fourth Course
Ginger Scented Banana Custard with Citrus Caramel Sauce
Chateau Jiahu

$80 Per Person Inclusive of Tax and Gratuity
Please Make Reservations by November 3, 2006
Bruce D. Paton CEC
Executive Chef
415-674-3406

More Calendar:
Friday, Nov. 10, Dinner With the Brewmaster, Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Brewing, Milton, Del., Cathedral Hill Hotel, San Francisco. Info: (415) 674-3406 or www.beer-chef.com. $80. This one should be incredible. See you there. Check the item below for the menu.

Saturday, Nov. 11, Noon. First Annual Barrel-Aged Beer Festival, The Bistro, 1001 B St., Hayward (510) 886-8525. Over 50 barrel-aged beers on tap. If you’ve never tried a beer aged in a bourbon or whiskey or wine barrel, this is a great place to start.

Saturday, Nov. 18, 3 - 5 p.m., Russian River Brewing’s Vinnie Cilurzo will be pouring Pliny the Elder**** and Damnation**** and Temptation*** at City Beer Store, 1168 Folsom St., San Francisco, (415) 503-1033. There will be bottles for sale. City Beer has an unusual liquor license. The store has a large stock of beers. Two people can buy a bottle, split it and drink it at the store for the cost of the bottle. You can buy any bottle to take home.

Here’s the menu from Beer Chef Bruce Paton:

THE BEER CHEF
Presents Dinner with the Brewmaster
Friday November 10, 2006
The Cathedral Hill Hotel
Featuring
The Unique Beers of Sam Calagione
Dogfish Head Brewing Co

Reception
6:30 PM
Beer Chef�s Hors D�Oeuvre
60 Minute IPA

Dinner
7:30PM
First Course
Poached Foie Gras with Toasted Five Spice Syrup and California Osetra Caviar
Midas Touch Golden Elixir

Second Course
Duck Pho with Charred Ginger Broth and Parsnip Noodles
90 Minute IPA

Third Course
Red Cooked Angus Short Ribs with Lobster Medallions
World Wide Stout

Fourth Course
Ginger Scented Banana Custard with Citrus Caramel Sauce
Chateau Jiahu

$80 Per Person Inclusive of Tax and Gratuity
Please Make Reservations by November 3, 2006
Bruce D. Paton CEC
Executive Chef
415-674-3406

There�s a new book about beer making the rounds this month: “Ambitious Brew,�� by Maureen Ogle, (Harcourt, $25). Is it worth the $25? Here’s a hint:

Skip straight to page 259. The next 83 pages cover the craft beer revolution beginning with Anchor�s Fritz Maytag in excellent fashion. She talked to several major craft beer pioneers like John McAuliffe, who founded New Albion Brewing in Sonoma County in 1975 and Ken Grossman, who, with Paul Camusi, founded Sierra Nevada in Chico.

She�s a good interviewer and has an eye for fine detail and provides the best account in a book of craft brewing�s origins I�ve ever seen. Also, she retells the story of the Prohibition movement in an interesting way.

End of praise.

Her approach is startingly similar to that of neo-conservatives, an anti-spin, if you will. The standard craft beer tale of how “baby boomers�� rescued American beer from the clutches of industrial brewers of a “thin, yellow concoction with no flavor and even less body�� is flawed, she argues. There are great stories to be told about those very brewers, founders of the Pabst, Miller�s and Anheuser-Busch empires, she says. There are and they�ve been told before many times. History books are full of their stories.

Truth is, we did save beer as we know it. And our kids, the gen Xers and beyond, are taking what we saved and transmuting it into something fantastic. Here’s a 30 second history lesson:

Because of Prohibition and the temperance movement before it, the middle class no longer drank beer and by middle class I mean working people, blue collar and professional. I never saw a beer in my parents house: My mom was a teacher, my dad a veterinarian. They drank bourbon and gin and cocktails. Standard American lager and most of the “Americanized” imports were thin and tasteless.

The only people who drank beer were the drunks at the local tavern, students and people like me in the Armed Forces,.

I didn’t discover real beer until I was 18 and wandered into a German restaurant in Washington, D.C., where I was stationed in the Navy. They served me a glass of Wurzburger Amber. I was blown away. Others like me had similar experiences and it’s us who saved beer. Period. It’s not spin. It’s truth.

And furthermore: The author dispenses with the fine history of American ale brewing � the beer the Pilgrims brewed � in two sentences:

“In the early nineteenth century the only beer Americans knew was English-style ale, brewed in the states since colonial days but never as popular as either cider or spirits. The differences between British ale and
German lager were apparent to both eye and tongue. Ale sat heavy and `still’ in a tankard, brown in color and thick in body. Lager seemed nearly buoyant in contrast, thanks to its lighter body and color, and lower alcohol content…”

What else is there to say. What a hoot. There are so many errors in those statements that well, whew. By the mid-19th century, good ale was neither dark nor still. And your basic ale was 5 percent alcohol by volume or a bit more, so was lager. Oh yes, and lager never went bad, went still and foul. Sure,

Those of us who give a damn about beer � who didn’t discover it on the side of a Budweiser truck somewhere in Florida in 2004 � know a lot about the lager-ale controversy. While it’s true that lager overwhelmed the ale-drinking world and every word she writes was spoken over and over by some; there’s another whole side to the controversy, which she omits.

What she has written, she has written well. But it’s not really “The story of American Lager.” The book about American beer, all American beer still has not been written. � William Brand.

Got a comment on my comments or the book? Post it here or let me know at whatsontap@sbcglobal.net.

Late-breaking calendar item…David Keene at The Toronado, 547 Haight St. in San Francisco, is hosting a Wet Hop Festival this Saturday, Oct. 28, beginning at 11:30 a.m. and continuing until closing.

The fest features at least 14 beers just made with hops fresh from the hop fields. The list:

Deschutes Hop Trip, Drakes Brewing Harvest Ale, Farmhouse Farm Fresh, Full Sail Lupulin, Magnolia Hightime Harvest.

Moonlight Brewing Co. Greenbud, Moonlight Brewing Co, Greenbud 2, Pizza Port/ Carlsbad, Spring Tide; Pizza Port/ San Clemente, Rip Tide; Pizza Port/ Solana Beach, Low Tide.

Rogue Hop Heaven, Russian River Hoptime Harvest; Sierra Nevada 20th Street Ale; Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale.

I work Saturdays, so I barely made it to the Wet Hop Beer Festival at The Bistro in Hayward, CA. But I’m glad I did go.

There’s a downside to fests like this. The beer is so damn good, that coming home to bottled beer, even great bottled beer is a downer. I hope the wet hop idea catches on big time. It’s a style, whose time has come: huge hop aroma, lots of malt, but very little, if any, hop bitterness.

Proprietors Vic and Cynthia Kralj had lined up 14 beers � each made with fresh-off-the-vine, “wet” hops. The fest drew about 200 to 300 people, Vic said. A comfortable crowd. By the time I dragged in at 6:30 p.m., there still were about 30 people, the outside patio was filled and several brewers, including Brian Hunt of Moonlight and Rodger Davis, of Drake’s and his bride, Claudia, were at the bar, sampling away.

A chalice of great beer at The Bistro.

Here’s the list:
Brewery Beer ABV Type of Hop

Blue Frog Last Hop Standing, 5.9 Willamette
(Fairfield,CA)
Drake’s Harvest 6.5 Cascade, Centennial
(San Leandro)
EJ Phair Harvest 5.7
(Concord)
Farmhouse Farm Fresh 4.4 Cascade
(Gilroy)
Lagunitas Wet Maximus 7.5 Zeus, Tomahawk
(Petaluma)
Magnolia Hightime 6.8 Cascade
(San Francisco)
Moonlight homegrown #1 5.9 Cascade
(Sonoma)
Moonlight homegrown #2 5.9 Chinook
Pizza Port High Tide 6.3 Chinook,Centennial
(Carlsbad)
Pizza Port Spring Tide 6.5 Centennial
(Solana Beach)
Russian River Hoptime 6.75 Cascade
(Santa Rosa)
Sierra Nevada Harvest 6.8 Centennial, Cascade
(Chico)
Sierra Nevada 20th St. 6.9 Chinook, Cascade
Stone Wet Arrogant. Bast. 7.2 Chinook
(Escondido)

There was no professional judging this time, but everyone voted for Best of Show.

The results, from Cynthia: Best of Show: Lagunitas Wet Maximius; first runner-up: Stone, Wet Arrogant Bastard; second runner-up: Pizza Port (Carlsbad) High Tide.

I didn’t have time or the capacity to try every beer. I agreed with the People’s choice. Lagunitas Wet Maximus**** was intense: Wonderful, aromatic hops in the nose. The taste? Wow! Hops, then a mouthful of malt, perfect balance.

Stone Wet Arrogant Bastard***+ was bigger, hoppier than the regular. A lovely beer.

The two beers from Pizza Port breweries in San Diego County were quite different. High Tide*** was a cloudy, unfiltered gold with a subtle hop aroma. Taste was dry, aromatic hops in front and malt in the background with a long dry finish. This really would be an excellent session beer if it wasn’t quite so strong. There was nothing cloying or sweet or off-putting about it.

Spring Tide***+, a medium copper color with a big head of tan foam, was dry like High Tide. But there was a bit more malt sweetness and a slight bitterness in the follow that I liked.

Magnolia Hightime*** from Dave McLean was subtle with a sweet malt and hop nose. Taste was fairly dry,making it a very nice pub beer. I believe Dave will have it on at the pub in San Francisco this week.

The two Moonlight beers were most unusual. Brewer Brian Hunt grew the Cascade and Chinook hops he used in the beers in the yard outside his brewhouse. Both beers were made with floral, citrusy Cascades. Number one also was dry hopped with Cascades. That is, fresh whole hops were added to the beer during fermentation.

Number two was dry-hopped with Chinooks, which gave the beer a bit of a piney nose, fruity nose. I preferred number two; it seemed to have a bit more malt sweetness balancing the hops. Brian explained that Number one was slightly older and therefore drier, while Number two was just right � ready to drink.

These are subtleties that those of us who drink most of our beer from bottles never get to enjoy. It’s another reason to find a great brewpub or regular pub with an excellent stock of fresh beer to make your regular. Well, call that the thought for the day.