Oddbits…The canned IPA and Watermelon Wheat from 21st Amendment in San Francisco will be in stores in San Francisco next week and in Beverages and More stores in the East Bay, North Bay and South Bay in the first week of August. Live Free or Die IPA is dynamite, as good an IPA as you can find. Hell or High Watermelon Wheat is unusual, tasty…They’re brewed for 21st at Cold Springs Brewing, Cold Springs, MN.

…Don’t think beer festival benefits benefit anyone? Consider the 8th Annual “Fermenting Change” Microbreweries Battling Breast Cancer fest at, Marin Brewing, Larkspur, last Saturday. Fest organizer Jenn Procopio says they’re donating $40,000 to the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic, a clinic offering cancer services to low income women, with offices in Berkeley and San Francisco. That’s up $5,000 from last year…

...A regular blog poster notes that Firehouse Grill & Brewery in Sunnyvale is opening a new pub across the street from Ikea in Palo Alto. Haven’t called ‘em yet. Will post something later…Going to the Great American Beer Festival, Oct. 9-11 in Denver this fall? Better buy your tickets now. The Brewers Association is predicting all sessions will sell out before the fest begins. Happened last year for most sessions…Get tickets at beertown.org. If you;’re not going, stay tuned to this blog. I’m gonna be there from Thursday, Oct. 9 through Saturday and will post constantly. Also, The Brewing Network plans to attend and Webcast live from the convention center where the GABF is held.

Last note,,,my spies tell me that Craig Wathen at City Beer, 1168 Folsonm St. in San Francisco has a stock of Alesmith (San Diego) beers including the luxe Speedway Stout…