Wow, this was a big week! Aside from the couple dozen beers I sampled at Sierra Nevada’s Single, Fresh, Wet, and Wild Hop Harvest Festival I also managed to try five other interesting beers. Copper Kettle Le Chapeau Wild Ale aged in wine barrels – I’m never quite sure what to expect from a barrel…
I’ve been recovering from a cold and GABF so not too much to report, but what I lacked in quantity I made up for in quality. Burrasca Sangiovese 2015 – Well, this is actually a wine. I’m a relative n00b when it comes to wine, but I’m finding I enjoy Italian red wines like Sangiovese. Via…
Day 3 of GABF I attended the earlier AHA Members session before heading over to First Draft for the Tavour VIP party. I did not have a bad beer this day! The highlights of the GABF tasting was J. Wakefield’s Miami Madness Berliner Weisse. It absolutely bursted with tropical fruit flavor in a way I…
Important GABF Lesson: It’s more fun when you’re not hungover. I kind of wandered GABF like a zombie on Thursday after having fun Wednesday night. I was feeling much better Friday. I explored Denver a bit, checking out some of the great architecture and public art. There is an impressive mix of historical buildings, public art, and…
Wow, the Great American Beer Festival is massive and overwhelming. Soooo many breweries. I didn’t exactly take time for writing tasting notes but here’s what I tried with what little I remember: Russian River HopTime Harvest Ale Yep Modern Times Monsters’ Park (Tequila Barrel Aged w/ Lime, Vanilla, and Sea Salt) Suprisingly Awesome Wiseacre Tiny…
Yesterday I drove to Sacramento then flew to Denver, Colorado to attend the Great American Beer Festival. I’m attending the Thursday, Friday, and the earlier Saturday session. Saturday evening I’m heading to Tavour‘s Bottle Fest VIP at First Draft Saturday night. After arriving in Denver and taking the train/bus to my hotel I noticed CO-Brew…
Last year I experimented with three small batches of Backyard Harvest Pale Ale: one with peaches, one with apricots and one with jalapeños. The apricot batch turned out the best, so this year I’m doing a 5 gallon batch of Apricot Pale Ale. We grew the apricots and all the hops for this batch. The recipe is…
My hometown of Chico, California is a weird place when it comes to beer. Chico is world famous for being home to craft beer pioneers Sierra Nevada, but for years that’s all it had going for it when it came to beer. There weren’t really any other breweries in town (we’re still struggling on this…