Bison Brewing of Berkeley, California has been an organic craft beer pioneer since 1989. With this uncompromising approach to sustainable brewing, the company has been limited to higher costs and less available ingredients than your average brewery. But as time passes the few breweries in league with Bison who have remained organic right down to the hops (until 2013 other certified organic breweries could get away with non-organic hops as long as the product was 95% organic by weight, but Bison never compromised) have been blessed with a spurt in the growth of new certified organic hop varietals. Instead of more pedestrian hop varieties, last year’s harvest yielded the likes of highly sought after organic Simcoe, Citra, and Centennials.

With these new hops that appeal to the modern day hop head, Bison brewmaster and owner Dan Del Grande has pushed forth to soon unveil a brand new sessionable West Coast ale known as “Hop Cuvée” which makes use of kettle addition and dry-hopped lupulin that offers a tropical, floral, and resinous bouquet unlike anything the organic brewing world as smelled or tasted yet.

A light base of Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, beer and food, California Beer

Posted under Bay Area beer, Beer personalities, beer reviews, brewpubs, places to drink beer

#1- Healthy Spirits

Get ready for a healthy dose of ecstasy. Though San Francisco is getting more and more robust in the craft beer scene, finding a quality bottle shop with substantial variety can often be a difficult task. Your search will prove fruitful should you venture to one of my new favorite places, Healthy Spirits. Already, I can tell this will be the primary depository for my paycheck.

Healthy Spirits has had another location in San Fran in the Castro neighborhood, but they recently opened another location in the Inner Richmond area. To say that I am thrilled would be a colossal understatement. This fine establishment is a heavenly adult candy store. Stalked with phenomenal craft beers, bourbon, whiskey, and even some munchies like hummus and spice rubs, the customer can satisfy all their consumption needs.

Owned and operated by Rami Barqawi and David Hauslein as the beer manager, these two fellas are a fantastic duo providing SF residents with hard to find national and international brews, special releases, and plenty of seasonals. Whether you are from out of town or a resident, I dub this place the ultimate beer run go-to spot. Bottleshop-wise, no other joint comes close in SF.

#2- Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, beer reviews, Beer Travel, places to drink beer

I don’t even know where to begin, but I suppose I will start somewhere… It really irks my bones when I can’t pump out some juicy craft beer fodder for the readers of Brewpublic, and the past few days have been lacking. I know it. I mean, Brewpublic prides itself of giving you a steady, daily glimpse into some of the many many goingson in and around Cascadian brewing and a little more. Being on planes, trains, and automobiles with a Smartphone, a thirsty palate, and a hankering to round up as many beers as possible makes the blogging a bit lacking at times, but it’s not because of will.

They say the road to hell is paved in good intentions, and we intended to scare up some goods for you the past few days, but we were short a laptop, a spare liver, and more daylight hours (heck, we can often muster just fine in the dark!). On Monday we scheduled details for rounding up as many kegs as we could while in and around Portland, Oregon. The reasons were many. SF Beer Week events, a new pub opening, and simply to blow Bay Area artisan beer enthusiasts’ minds. Spending much time in the East Bay of the San Francisco area, it has been my goal to inject as much of the Cascadian craft beer culture into the locals down here as I possibly can. With SF Beer Week about to pop off (February 8-17, 2013), I couldn’t think of a better way to exemplify what amazingness Oregon’s uniquely saturated yeast culture has to present. Don’t get me wrong, Northern California is home to some legendary breweries and beer halls that rival some of the finest in this world. Further, NorCal is booming with new breweries that vivaciously illustrate the significance of the modern day Post-Prohibition beer revolution. Thus, it makes perfect sense that while living here, I find myself working at an Oakland pub named Beer Revolution with the best selection of regional, national, and international fermented malted pours. Soon, the adjacent revamped train depot in Jack London Square will beef up the neighborhood’s selection almost two-fold. Looking to open very soon, the Olde Depot Taphouse will assert the community as an even more undeniably world class destination.

Appointed to manage Olde Depot is seasoned professional Dan “Bully” Bollwinkel who has further inspired us to take things on the West Oakland craft beer scene to the next level. Bully and I jaunted to Portland on a plane, rented a modest Dodge Caravan and sought to stock up on as many different beers as we could safely drive back 600 miles south to Oakland. On our journey, we even went a little overboard and maxed out the payload to the point where the chassis began to woefully sag toward the earth. With just 36 hours to obtain an optimal variety of mostly 1/6-barrel kegs and a few bottles, we were focused on making the most of our precious time.

Immediately upon touching down at PDX International Airport with just the clothes on our backs and Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, Beer & Art, Beer personalities, beer releases, beer reviews, Beer Travel, brewpubs, craft cider, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Just because I’ve been living outside of the walls of Cascadia doesn’t mean that I have lost touch with the great craft beer. As I key these words, I prepare to embark on a journey north to the Rose City, Portland, Oregon, and other craft beer hubs such as Corvallis, Eugene, and Bend, to round up some of the region’s finest beers. Empty shells shipped north and to be filled by our brewery friends. We will then grab a rental and zigzag around the state to scare up beers to pour for Beer Revolution‘s 3rd Anniversary Party and for our events at SF Beer Week, most notably, Brewpublic’s Wine Barrel-Aged Beer Tastival.

The journey is going to be a combination of stress and fun. Short and sweet in a way, yet long and tiresome miles. All of this in the name of great beer (and a bit of craft cider as well!). Great beer events don’t happen over night…okay, a few have, but the planning and detail that goes into even what might seem a modest saree of brew can be a lot more effort behind the scenes. We’re prepared to chain up the tires as we forge through a few snowy mountain passes, but hey, it’s about the beer, or… Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, beer events, California Beer, Oregon beer, places to drink beer

Brewpublic’s Wine Barrel-Aged Beer Tastival looks to be one of the highlights of SF Beer Week 2013.

When Brewpublic teamed up with 16 Tons Beer & Wine in 2010 to organize the first ever Wine Barrel-Aged Beer Fest for the first annual Eugene Beer Week, we had no idea what the turnout would be. Sure we anticipated that the turnout of people would be great, but it was the turnout of wine barrel-aged craft beers that initially had us concerned. To our surprise and happiness, we were able to round up a ton (pun intended) of beers aged in wine casks for this truly killer event (see the lineup for this past event here, keep in mind many of these beers were bottles).

Now, nearly two years later, we’re at it again. This time we’ve teamed up with the best craft beer destination in the East Bay. Beer Revolution is the spot. 48 Rotating taps, more than 500 bottles of cold craft brew…this place breathes craft beer culture from every punk rock nook and cranny! On Saturday February 9, 2013 from 2-11p.m., Beer Revolution is loading up as many of the taps as we can with wine barrel-aged craft brews. In a region rich with both artisan wine (with Sonoma and Napa just to the north) and craft beer (the Bay Area is a hot bed for great brew), we are anticipating some of the most unique and sought after treats around.

Look for more Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, California Beer

2012 was one awesome year for beer. Here is a look at more than 220 beers that we enjoyed last year. How many of these have you tried? Any favorites or other thoughts? Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, beer releases, California Beer, Oregon beer, Washington Beer

The San Francisco Bay area, much like the rest of the civilized West Coast finds itself smack dab in the middle of the craft beer revolution. With this, we see a great proliferation of craft beer culture manifested in the form of new bottle shops, bars, and breweries, as well as an overall growth in the interest in artisan brewed goods. One such shining example of the region’s ongoing growth is the past weekend’s opening of Beltane Brewing in the town of Novato, CA in the region’s North Bay in Marin County.

Already with two breweries in town in the popular Moylan’s Brewery, which has been serving up handcrafted beer since 1995, and the younger Lucky Town Brewing. But now, more of the region’s nooks and crannies are getting filled with more flavors to attempt to sate the unquenchable thirst of those like us, in pursuit of the next perfect pour. Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, brewpubs, California Beer, places to drink beer

By Kim Schimke

Gone are the days of wanting to grow up to be a firefighter, astronaut, or veterinarian. Career day at school in the near future will consist of professions involving fermentation, hops, and sanitation. These are all elements of what I believe to be the single most valuable job in existence, brewing. How does one earn that shiny Brewmaster title? Through busting their butt and drinking a lot of good beer in the process. Case in point is Darren Cummings, the assistant brewer to 21st Amendment’s Head Brewer, Zambo, in San Francisco.

If you have aspirations to be a professional Brewmaster, apprenticing for one of California’s, nay, one of America’s most popular breweries, ain’t such a bad gig. Darren has been at 21st Amendment Brewing for about eight months. Though a lucky fella in that he now has the 21st Amendment name on his resume, he is also in charge of most of the Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, Beer Brewing, Beer personalities, California Beer

Sunday November 11, 2012 was an awesome day spent in Winters, CA at Berryessa Brewing for their grand opening party. About an hour north of San Francisco, Berryessa Brewing is an authentic farmhouse brewery that shares its location with Berryessa Gap Winery. On this Sunday, the weather was warm and the sun was shining. People of all ages enjoyed the fun as live music from local acts, catered food, and a slew of mostly cask-conditioned beer was available to the delight of all.

Highlight beers included Big Brown Beaver – a bourbon barrel-aged brown ale, a year barrel-aged pink colored Framboise, Pumpkin Death – an imperial pumpkin stout, Whippersnapper – a mild brown session ale, a big chocolaty Baltic Porter, Common Sense – a steam lager, Double Tap – Imperial IPA, and a special Brettanomyces and pineapple rendition of the Double Tap.

It’s undeniable after the presentation put forth by proprietors Chris and Lori Miller that Berryessa is now to be declared among the best craft breweries in California. Keep your eyes peeled and your palates prepped for more great releases from Berryessa!

Here’s a series of photos from Berryessa Brewing’s grand opening celebration: Read More…

Posted under Bay Area beer, Beer & Music, beer and food, beer events, beer releases, California Beer, places to drink beer, weekend in review