Category: anchor brewing co.

link love

best beer cities by livability.com
bellingham makes #8 on the list
(san diego, denver and bend are the top three)

those rascally liberals were warned that their happy hour pricing would result in an increase
and bill tieleman warns it will be the same thing with “level playing field” pricing to liquor sellers

the secret world of beer muling
12 bucket-list breweries

is this new home-brew system a good idea
or a disservice to home brewers?

hop vodka from anchor distilling

best and worst christmas ales according to paste magazine
(american and belgian)

craft beer in kamloops

and i’m throwing this one in there to see if anyone’s paying attention
the feminist killjoy holiday gift guide
nothing beer related on the list, but day-um, it’s a good list!

beer tasting

i have been preparing all week for a beer tasting that goes at 4:30 today
(wish me luck!)
my office is holding it as a kick-off to the annual united way fundraising campaign
and i gotta say, when planning a beer tasting, it’s great to have minions!
all i had to do for the tasting was pick the beers and do a presentation about them
benton brothers did all the cheese and charcuterie pairings for me, the committee ordered the beer, the tables, the food and sent out the invitations
leaving me to focus on the beers and coming up with tasting notes and information about each

i am doing a very basic guided tasting of five beers, paired with cheese and charcuterie
followed by a self-led tasting (with provided tasting notes) rounding out the evening

for the guided tasting i am aiming to do a basic introduction to beer styles
the method of tasting beer (appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel)
and the basics of pairing food with these beers
i have chosen to go with five basic beer styles: lager, pale ale, amber ale, stout and ipa
and have gone with five local b.c. beers that are solidly within the bjcp style guidelines

for the second half of the evening i chose some more interesting beers
several different styles, and several interesting twists on styles we’re covering in the guided tour
(anchor christmas ale, anchor steam, chimay grande reserve blue, dab original, deschutes chasin’ freshies, howe sound king heffy, lindemans kriek, moon under water year one red wheat, parallel 49 crane kick sorachi ace lager, whistler chief chipotle red ale)

 

for the guided tasting i am beginning with granville island lager
which benton bros. has paired with Mont Jacob (Semi firm, washed rind) & Czech Beer Salami
followed by bridge brewing pale ale
paired with Red Leicestershire (Aged & Sweet) & Elk & Juniper Salami
then cannery’s anarchist amber
paired with Idiazabal (Smoked hard sheep) & Chorizo Rioja
then old yale’s sasquatch stout
paired with Bleu Benedictin & Duck Rillettes
and rounding out the guided portion will be driftwood’s fat tug
paired with 4 yr Artisan Gouda& Saucisson Sec

super bowl

there is a craft beer connection to this year’s super bowl showdown
its not just the ravens vs. the 49ers
its heavy seas vs. 21st amendment, anchor brewing and anderson valley

click here for heavy sea’s big words
click here for 21st amendment’s take on the bet

me, i’m cheering for the 49ers
but i have no beer riding on the outcome of the game so it’ll be a good day for me either way!

the beer is bottled!

its true!
stop the presses!
we finally bottled our first batch of homebrew!

after doing almost everything either wrong or the hard way, our brew turned out quite well
a little bottle conditioning and it should be very drinkable
thank the beer gods!
we’re calling it “ass penny stout” after the story matt told us when we put pennies into the boil to prevent boil-overs, and the fact that we just kept pulling stuff out of our asses to make this brew actually happen

its a pretty brew – dark as night

the bottles of ass penny stout

it took us all day saturday, but we got the bottles sterilized and sanitized, the bung out of the carboy, the dextrose into the beer and the beer from carboy into bottles and capped ’em.

cleanliness is next to godliness in beer-making
bridget puts a bottle in the pot to boil the bejesus out of it!

checking to make sure the bejesus has in fact been boiled out!

me, i was in charge of putting the sterilized bottles in sanitizer and pulling the labels off

jackie’s job was to take over from the rest of us in the “how to get the bung out of the carboy” department
we tried crochet hooks, praying and a butter knife
jackie began with a coat hanger

that didn’t work so she moved the carboy to the ground for leverage and used a pick tool that was just lying around with bridget’s 800 screwdrivers
and it worked!
with the right tool a three week problem was solved in three seconds
we don’t just love jackie for her good looks!

then it took an army of us to get a good siphon going
and get the dark as night beer into the darned bottles
assembly line of me on racking cane, lara on tube, bridget and jen on bottles and tasha on capping
only sprayed part of the kitchen with beer, only lost about a litre of the beer
and had a lotta laughs
(“pull out, lara!  pull out!”)

how else do you celebrate finally bottling your troublesome brew?
with a northcoast grand cru of course
the champagne beer!

and how to you reward the rest of the crew for helping out when they thought they were just coming over for a bbq?
with a huge bottle of anchor’s christmas beer of course
(especially delicious in vancouver in juneuary)

i left my heart…

i’m going to san francisco in june!
yay!
i love s.f.!

gots to get me some anchor steam, some 21st amendment
and what else?

not opening in time for my visit this year, but a place i’d like to check out next time i’m in town
is the monk’s kettle’s new enterprise
(they had me at 24 taps)
anywhere else i need to check out?

beer list

probably not the exhaustive list of beers i received for my birthday
but i think its pretty close!

baird beer’s suruga bay imperial ipa
howe sound’s oatmeal stout
rogue’s dead guy ale
russell’s wee angry scotch ale
anchor’s porter (a whole six pack – yay!)
howe sound’s total eclipse of the hops
howe sound’s devil’s elbow ipa
ninkasi tricerahops double ipa
sculler’s ipa
hopworks’ secession cascadian dark ale
tree’s hop head ipa (a whole six pack – yay!)
hopworks’ ace of spades imperial ipa
bear republic’s hop rod rye
mt. begbie’s nasty habit
driftwood’s nasty hildegard
howe sound’s rockfish red
fernie’s sapsucker
howe sound’s hightide hemp ale

(and that doesn’t even include the two phillips hop boxes that stacy brought over for the party itself…)

my friends rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!

brewers association top 50

best breweries in america!
the top 50 named by the brewers association
very happy to see so many of my faves on the list!!

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

(Based on 2010 beer sales volume)

1. Boston Beer Co. Boston MA

2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA

3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO

4 Spoetzl Brewery* Shiner TX

5 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR

6 Independent Brewers United (IBU)* Burlington VT

7 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY

8 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI

9 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA

10 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO

11 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE

12 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. Juneau AK

13 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT

14 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA

15 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA

16 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY

17 Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA

18 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR

19 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME

20 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN

21 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI

22 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH

23 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA

24 Kona Brewery LLC* Kailua-Kona HI

25 Rogue Ales Newport OR

26 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA

27 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA

28 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD

29 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA

30 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA

31 BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. Huntington Beach CA

32 Stevens Point Brewery Co. Stevens Point WI

33 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO

34 BridgePort Brewing Co.* Portland OR

35 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO

36 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO

37 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY

38 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA

39 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT

40 North Coast Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Bragg CA

41 Mac and Jack’s Brewery Redmond WA

42 The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. Maplewood MO

43 Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA

44 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA

45 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO

46 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT

47 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants Chattanooga TN

48 Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Houston TX

49 Real Ale Brewing Co. Blanco TX

50 Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene OR

tasting notes

from last week’s beernesday at st. augustine’s:

i began my night with a sampler
dead frog’s christmas beeracle!  5%  a festive, rich, warm amber ale with a medley of spices including cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
cannery’s no jail pale ale:  3.05% a lower-alcohol beer with an authentic ale taste!  a clean, crisp ale with a bright hop finish and about 40% less alcohol than conventional beer
salt spring’s golden spike ale:  5%  voted “best golden ale” at the canadian brewing awards
paddock wood’s london porter:  5.3%  a dark ale based on a recipe from 1850 which lets chocolate malt take the lead.  smoother than stout, but still holds a deep roast profile

i very much liked the christmas beeracle!
gingery goodness (reminiscent of the steamworks ginger from last spring)
and no vanilla!!
i would definitely have this one again
and i don’t say that about many christmas or winter ales
bridget liked it a lot too!

the no jail was a little thin
very pale in colour and quite crisp
i didn’t really find that hop finish they spoke of
you could definitely session this one
and what’s not to like about a beer you can have one of and still drive afterward?
but i probably won’t have it again

i’ve had the golden spike before, but didn’t remember that until i tasted it
apparently i am not a golden ale fan because i really didn’t like it
(neither did bridget)
i like a roastier malt

the london porter was fabulous
very light and refreshing for a dark beer
malty without cloying chocolate or espresso
i would definitely have this one again

next up for me was a bottle of the pyramid snow cap 2010:  7%  deep mahogany in colour, this full-bodied winter warmer is crafted with roasted chocolate and caramel malts, and is generously hopped

yup, its dark and the mahogany comes through in the light
quite clear
and no vanilla!
nicely malty, not too sweet
no over the top flavours
just good reliable maltiness

brooklyn brewery’s penant ale ’55:  5.1%  a classic english pal ale, brewed with the prized maris otter malt and fuggles, willamette and cascade hops.  maris otter is an old malt variety that yields an incomparable biscuity flavor.

lovely stuff this
the maris otter are a fine malt
this would make a great session beer
tasha is not a big fan – but it does make her want a hot dog!
i would prefer a bit more of a hop profile, but that’s hardly a surprise
i’d have it again
i might especially like to have it at a ball game, hot dog or not!

anchor brewing company christmas ale 2010:  5.5%  aroma and flavours of figs, cherries, plums, vanilla, caramel malts, raisins, nutmeg and other winter spices.  medium-bodied with low carbonation and malty, spicy mouthfeel.

i didn’t like last year’s christmas ale, but this year’s isn’t bad
i don’t love it, but its alright!
quite fruity, but not too sweet
and the vanilla isn’t overwhelming
glad i tried it, but i won’t have another

and finishing off my night, i had to go with the southern tier pale ale again – i love this stuff!!!

tattoo

do you know how hard it is to take a photo of your own arm?
i didn’t and its harder than i had imagined…

anyway, here are a couple of self-portaits of the latest ode to beer tattoo:

note the anchor brewing anchor

waves inspired by brewdog’s atlantic ipa

colour on the anchor and a bit of shading in the waves and clouds to follow later this month…
hopefully photos of the finished product before christmas/solstice/kwanza/festivus!