What’s On Tap – The California Beer Newsletter

I’m shutting this blog down for now. No more posts here, no more commens allowed.  But the saga continues…Go to www.ibabuzz.com/beer.  Cheerio! William Brand

The new Russian River brewery in Santa Rosa is making a big splash in Sonoma County. Paul Marshall, who is a homebrewer and beer judge and festival organizer, was up there this week. No tour. But he did send us the link to an article and video shot by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. See it here…

Finalist judgers for the 2008 Sam Adams Longshoe homebrewing compeition in the Boston Beer Col tasting room in Boston, Jim Kock, left, Marty Nachel, front, Tony Fordor, right, William Brand, rear, right. Photo by William Brand

I helped pick the winner of the 2008 Sam Adams Longshot Homebrew Competition Wednesday in a blind tasting at the Boston Beer Co. brewery in Boston. No, I can’t tall you who won – the judges are sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you about the four beers that made the finals… Read the rest of this entry »

The beer scene in the Bay Area is vast and becoming bigger still. These days “beer fests” can escape the notice of most of us. One of these is the Oakand A’s beerfest, which takes place this Saturday, June 21, 4:05 p.m - 6:05 p.m. at the Coliseum, featuring the usual corporate brewers, plus many, many others; Bear Republic, Lagunitas, Firestone-Walker, Deschutes, Gordon Biersch, Mount St. Helana…

What? You ask. Yes, it’s become an annual event and it always occurs with no publicity in the beer world. Oh, I haven’t looked, but there may be an ad in the Celebrator Beer News, buried in the back pages.

Details: Saturday, June 21, 4:05 - 6:05 p.m. (Sounds like a schedule from my old high school principal) East Side Club, McAfee Coliseum. Admission free with a game ticket, additional tastings can be purchased. Info: 510-638-4900, ext. 4040 or buy a game ticket on line here.

While we’re on the subject of beer fests, check my post earlier on the Scotish Games in Campbell in the South Bay, also this Saturday afternoon.

Odd bits…This is truly odd…according to the New York Times…all official vehicles at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August will be pwoered by ethanol made from beer by (gasp) Coors using discarded beer. Proves, I guess, that it’s corn not rice that makes Coors sweet and watery. I always thought Bud and Coors were rice beers and Miller’s wss corn.

Or can you make ethanol from rice as well as corn? Comments anyone. By all means read the whole post

Caught Rodger Davis, the former Drake’s brewer, who now handles Drake’s sales while he gathers his energies and cash investors for his own brewery. Here’s the skinny on the Drake’s beers being tapped tonight beginning at 6 p.m. at the Toronado in San Francisco: Read the rest of this entry »

A note to readers of my San Jose Mercury News column. I promised in my column today that I’d write about the best places to drink beer in Santa Cruz.  Just haven’t had time yet today. Still coming. I expect to post it around 4 p.m. PDT.

Right now, I’m in Boston, helping judge the national Sam Adams Longshot homebrewing competition. I’ll finish the post at Logan waiting for my plane home to Oakland.  (Ahh, this hectic modern world — so little time, so much beer and so many damn planes.)

More later. william brand

Have you ever wanted to really like something, but you just don’t? It happened to me this week with Magners Cider. This is an Irish cider that’s been imported to the U.S. since 2000, but has only recently been distributed here on the West Coast.

I’m a fan of good cider – and let’s get one thing straight, by “cider”, I mean the alcoholic product, fermented from either apples or pears. No alcohol? It’s just juice and calling that sweetish stuff “cider” desecrates a fine product with a long history. Read the rest of this entry »

The calendar items keep coming. Here’s one you might not know about, but especially if you live in the South Bay, the 30th Annual Campbell Highland Games in downtown Campbell looks like fun: Lot’s of beer, from Moylan’s in Novato, naturally, and er– ancient Celtic games, the music, the kilts, the sheer raucous wonder. READ MORE…

It’s been far too long. But Drake’s Brewing in San Leandro is having a tasting of a special beer Thursday, (June 18, 2008),  beginning at 6 p.m. at the Toronado in San Francisco.  The brew, known as Biere Speciale, is is a blend of two beers: READ MORE…

Oh gawd. This is the funniest comment I’ve read about the InBev attempt to take over Anheuser- Busch…It comes from Melissa Cole, an English beer writer, who writes the Taking the Beard out of Beer blog. Living in the UK, she has a front-row seat to watch InBev, a company that’s barely known here in the U.S. The quote:

There’s a bit of me that says the InBev plan to take over Budweiser brewer

Anheuser-Busch is a bit like when a wasp lands on a nettle - someone’s

going to get stung and you don’t really mind who! READ MORE…