Bottoms Up

Oddbits...The Bay Area has a new brewpub. It’s Sonoma Springs Brewing Company.  It’s slated to  open it’s doors at 750 West Napa Street, Sonoma (707-202-8295) in mid-September. The co-founder and brewer is Tim Goeppinger. They plan to supply area pubs and bottle in a limited fashion.

Tim’s big interest is German-style lagers and ales. I tried his Dunkelweiss a couple of months ago and loved it. He really caught the style. Here’s a note from Tim:

We will begin by showing the public why we are the New Bavaria Brewery with a lineup of 4-5 Bavarian style wheat ales:
New Bavaria Hefewiess, Dunkelwiess,and Roggenbier.  Also soon to follow will be the “Henry the Lion” Wheat Wine and its second runnings to be dubbed “Lorelei” Helle Weiss.

Onward...think South  Shore Tahoe’s a beer dessert? Brian Bothen who writes the bothenbeerblog says check out  Bar 24 inside Bill’s Casino, (It’s next door to Harrah’s and part of the Harrah group – Bill  is Bill Harrah). There are 24 beers on tap, Brian says including many Stone, Deschutes and Alaskan beers.

EVENTS:

• Beerunch…MateVeza & The Flavor Architects,  Saturday Sept. 13, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 pm., Beerunch, Bambuddha Lounge, 601 Eddy St., San Francisco: Beers:  Mateveza Yerba Mate Ale, Kona Coffee Porter,  Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout,  Marin Bluebeery Ale,  He’brew Lenny’s Bittersweet Rye IPA, North Coast Pranqster Belgian Golden Ale,  Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double… all expertly paired with traditional brunch dishes. $35. Benefit for the Pachamama Alliance, a group trying to save tropical rainforests. Tickets: www.beerlunch.com.

• 5th annual Brews on the Bay, Saturday,  Sept. 13, Sunday, Sept. 14, noon- 4:30 p.m. Aboard the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, Pier 45, San Francisco. Sponsored by the San Francisco Brewer’s Guild. $40 advance, $50 at the gate. This is a great fest, featuring the best beers from all of San Francisco’s many craft brewers. If you’ve never walked the decks of this restored World War II Liberty Ship and hoisted a glass or two, here’s your chance. See you there.

Two events at the Toronado next week welcoming the National Beer Wholesalers Association to San Francisco for their 71st annual convention

• Lagunitas Brewing Night Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 6 p.m. til closing. Lagunitas IPA, Pilsner, and Hop Stoopid, plus a new recipe Pale Ale and a cask conditioned Red Ale  and 2006 Knarlywine, 2006 Undercover Shutdown, 2007 Cappuccino Stout. Wait there’s more: a Saison aged in Pinot barrels.

• Elysian Brewing Night, Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 6 p.m. til closing.The Wise ESBm The Immortal IPA, Bete, Blanche Tripel, Dragontooth Stout, Loser Pale Ale, Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, Avatar Jasmine IPA,  All these Elysian beers are coming to California next month. This is an advance taste. The head brewer, co-founder of Seattle-based Elysian, Dick Cantwell, is one of craft brewing’s legends. Many of his beers have won medals consistently at the GABF. Finally, getting his beers in the Bay Area is great.  I wrote a column last week about Elysian and tasted their beers. Will post the column later this weekend.

Last note: Does anyone know where Shail can find a bottle of Sam Adams Utopias? E-mail me and I’ll pass it on: whatsontap@sbcglobal.net.

Hey William, Although this may be a futile attempt, i was hoping you could help me. I’m helping organize a friend’s bachelor party in Vegas. The friend and I are both total beer geeks and we are also well aware that Vegas is devoid of decent craft brews (with a few minor exceptions). I suggested to the others also on the trip that we purchase a bottle of 2007 Utopias as a surprise. The problem is, I can’t find it anywhere. I spoke to Craig at CBS and Ed at Ledger’s, and both were sold out and could not think of any place to purchase the bottle (except for eBay, etc). I would like to avoid paying a ridiculous markup for the beer. Do you know of any places in the Bay Area that currently sells Utopias? Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

But wait, there’s more…

• Factoid 1. Bud Light is no longer the best-selling beer in the world. Snow, a light lager sold mostly in China, made by a brewery partly owned by Molson/Coors has edged out ole Bud Little, the Wall Street Journal says.

• Factoid 2. Imbibe Magazine lists five Bay Area places in its 100 best places to drink beer across the U.S. listing: “San Francisco’s own City Beer Store, Alembic, Magnolia Pub, Tornado and the Salt House.” Salt House? Huh.

They’re at 545 Mission Street in San Francisco. Here’s their beer list. OK, but far, far from impressive. I could name 20 better spots, easily. Don’t believe me? Email me and ask for our Best Pubs in the Bay Area list.