Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey will holding their first ever Carnevale di Lost Abbey on Groundhog Day, February 2 from 6 to 10 p.m. to celebrate the Venetian holiday with a masquerade ball and new beer release, appropriately named Carnevale Ale. The beer will be the Lost Abbey’s interpretation of a saison, but made with American hops.
From the press release:
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Exactly one month from today, the 20th Anniversary Party for the Celebrator Beer News will take place at the Oakland Convention Center / Marriot Hotel. This should be a terrific climax to Beerapalooza week in the Bay Area. A lot of the attending breweries are either making something special just for the party or bringing something very unique. As a result, there will be a number of beers you simply can’t get anywhere else or at least are very difficult to find, especially all in one place. I know a number of other Celebrator writers will be in town for the event. If you’ve been to a Celebrator party in the past, this one is in a bigger space and will have far more different beers than ever before. This should easily be the one party ot to miss in 2008. I’ll see you there!
From the website:
The Celebrator Beer News will celebrate its 20th anniversary on February 17, 2008, with a Mardi Gras themed party from 4 to 8 pm at the Oakland Convention Center / Marriot Hotel, in Oakland, California.
More than 35 breweries will pour favorite brews. Meet Celebrator founders Bret and Julie Nickels along with Celebrator staff, writers and beer industry luminaries including pioneer figures in the craft beer movement. Cajun/Creole food catered by the Marriott Hotel, music from Dixieland Jazz and Zydeco bands and beer are included along with a souvenir Belgian-style glass! Breweries pouring will include some of the top breweries in the country.
Brewing memorabilia, special bottles and other items will be available to bid on at a silent auction benefiting the California Small Brewers Association. All profits from this event go to the CSBA to further the interests of the brewing community.
Tickets are on sale now at $55 per person which includes the banquet catered by the Marriott Hotel, nearly 200 different beers (some specially produced for this event), music and souvenir glass.
A Media-VIP session starts one hour early and will feature special limited production beers. VIP tickets are $80. The event takes place one day after the start of the Barleywine Festival at the Toronado in San Francisco!
Prizes for best Mardi Gras costumes! Discount rooms will be available at the Marriott Hotel at the Convention Center ($109 per night). Call 510-451-4000 and ask for the Celebrator rate. Take BART to the 12th Street station right in front of the Marriott Hotel.
For more information, call 510-538-2739. Ticket sales by Visa/MC, phone 800-430-BEER or purchase tickets below with PayPal’s secure ordering process. Mail checks to Celebrator, 20th Party, P.O. Box 375, Hayward, CA 94543.
General Admission $55 VIP Entry $80
2.17
Celebrator Beer News 20th Anniversary Party
Oakland Convention Center / Marriot Hotel, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, California
510.538.BREW or 888.430.BEER [ website ]
I’m not entirely convinced of their claim of combating global warming, but Anderson Valley Brewing announced that they have begun brewing real ales and have added a beer engine to their tasting room, and that’s certainly good enough news for me.
From the press release:
Anderson Valley Brewing Company (AVBC) proudly added to their award-winning line of handcrafted beers, “Real ale”—a natural ale created in a traditional and environmentally-friendly style. Real ale is a beer that highlights Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s continuing efforts to make high quality beers in an environmentally responsible manner. Real ale is:
- * A truly “organic” ale with only four natural ingredients: malted barely, hops, water and yeast and absolutely no additives.
- * Served at 10-13 C degrees via a human-powered “hand pull” it’s naturally cool, resulting in far less energy being used for cooling.
- * Naturally carbonated through the yeast’s effervescence — no additional carbon dioxide is added.
- * Reducing packaging by using casks which can be reused for up to 20 years.
- * Created using solar power which provides 40% of Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s annual energy needs.
Though Real ale is environmentally responsible, the traditional method of brewcrafting also results in a more robust, stimulating, and fresh taste that can’t be found in traditional brands. Real ale’s unique flavors and aromas are partly due to the process of fermentation.
While a great many breweries remove yeast before the beer reaches the glass, Real ale differentiates itself by retaining the yeast in the container from which the beer is served. Though the yeast settles at the bottom of the cask and isn’t poured into the glass, the yeast is still active in the cask where the process of fermentation continues until ready to serve. Real ale is currently available in Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s visitor’s center.
In other Anderson Valley news, they will be having a special event on February 2 to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. And the 12th annual Boonville Beer Festival will take place in 2008 on May 10.
Mark your calendars. The 5th annual Bay Area Firkin Gravity Festival has just been announced. It will take place beginning at 11:00 a.m. on April 5 at Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley, California. The cost will be $25, which includes a commemorative glass along with a certain number samples (still to determined) with additional tastings available for a nominal fee. This event has quickly become “the” real ale festival in the Bay Area and I’m sure they’ll have something special lined up for their fifth anniversary. Last year there were two dozen breweries in attendance and I suspect we’ll see even more again this year. See you there.
4.5
Bay Area Firkin Gravity Festival (5th annual)
Triple Rock Brewery, 1920 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California
510.843.2739 [ website ]
The Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in West Chester, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia) will again highlight local Belgian-style beers. The Belgium Comes to West Chester event will take place on January 26 at 4:00 p.m. In addition to head brewer Chris LaPierre, several other brewers will be on hand to discuss their beers and there will also be available a three-course beer dinner paired will a few of the available Belgian-style beers. The cost for the event will be $40.
From the press release:
“Belgian style beers are at the center of the craft beer movement right now and both male and female beer lovers are embracing this style,” says LaPierre, who will be pouring his Heywood; Quadfather and the award-winning Cannibal.
“This is a great opportunity for beer fans to see the unique Belgian style beers being brewed in the region, all in one place,” says Mark Edelson, Director of Brewing Operations.
Sounds like it should be a fun event.
Here’s a partial list of beers that will be poured at the event.
The Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, has announced that his first beer dinner of 2008 will feature Darron Welch and the beers of Pelican Pub & Brewery along the coast in Pacific City, Oregon. It will be a four-course dinner and well worth the $75 price of admission. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Friday, January 18, 2008, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 by next Monday the 14th for reservations.
Reception: 6:30 PM
Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre
Beer: India Pelican Ale
Dinner: 7:30 PM
First Course
Ceviche of Day Boat Scallop with Lobster Emulsion
Beer: Saison du Pelican
Second Course:
Crispy Pork Belly with Slow Poached Egg and Ancho Chili Hollandaise
Beer: Stormwatcher’s Winterfest
Third Course:
Slow Roasted Duck Breast with Bellwether San Andreas Cheese Grits, Satsuma Mandarins and Fig Gastrique
Beer: Grand Cru de Pelican
Fourth Course:
Nutmeg Flan with Vanilla Bean Chocolate Barbecue Sauce
Beer: Le Pelican Brun
Darron Welch (2nd from right) and the gang from Pelican Pub & Brewery on stage winning a Gold Medal for their Kiwanda Cream Ale in Category: 32 Golden or Blonde Ale.
1.18
Dinner with the Brewmaster: Pelican Pub & Brewery
Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]
I got the word today that The Lost Abbey will finally be releasing their Red Poppy Ale on January 19.
From the press release:
The Lost Abbey will issue its long-awaited first release of Red Poppy Ale on January 19, 2008. A Flanders-style red ale made with sour cherries and aged in French Oak barrels for one year, the 60 case limited edition release will only be available directly from the brewery.
A medium-bodied ale, Red Poppy has a reddish-brown hue, rich fruit aroma, and a complex mélange sour cherry, plum and red wine flavors accented with notes of chocolate and vanilla. The beer’s name was inspired by head brewer Tomme Arthur’s annual springtime sojourns to Flanders, a time when fields of the Northern Belgian province are covered with the fiery red flowers.
Release Details:
60 cases
375ml cork-finished bottles
Four bottle maximum per person
5% ABV
$15 per bottle
And from the website:
Perhaps no country embraces the use of fruit in beers more so than Belgium. Numerous traditional as well as regional specialty ales are infused with every sort of fruit imaginable. In this way, the flavor of the fruit becomes especially prominent. Red Poppy Ale is a veritable celebration of Sour Cherries in an explosion of aromas and tastes. Brewed from a brown ale base and aged in our oak barrels for over 6 months, this beer is not for the faint of heart. The Golden Poppy is the state flower of California and the Red Poppy is found in Flanders Fields where our inspiration for this beer comes from.
Next week begins the eight annual Big Beers Festival in Vail, Colorado. There are quite a variety of different events going throughout the three-day festival. TO see for yourself, check out the schedule online. Tickets can also be purchased online.
From the website:
Imagine a World Class Winter Wonderland of fun activities in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado…and then top off your trip with a World Class International Beer Festival, complete with Brewmasters’ Dinners and Seminars by some of the world’s most innovative Brewers…
Join us for the Eighth Annual Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival Weekend! Come up to Vail to experience the event that beer connoisseurs are raving about. Homebrewers, Professional Brewers and Industry Gurus alike speak highly with regard to the unique format, the unusual international collection of beers, the organization and the overall quality of the event. For those of you who are Big Beers Festival veterans, this Eighth Annual event promises to be exceptional, touting two new seminars and an additional beer dinner!
1.10-12
Big Beer Festival (8th annual)
Sponsored by High Point Brewing in Denver
Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa, 715 West Lionshead Circle, Vail, Colorado
970.476.4444 (hotel) / 970.524.1092 (sponsor) [ website ] [ tickets ]
The 19th annual holiday beer tasting at Pacific Coast Brewing in Oakland is this Saturday from Noon to 4:00 p.m. Sad to say, I’ve never managed to make it to this one but everybody tells me it’s a great event.
12.8
Pacific Coast Brewing’s Taste of Holiday Beers (19th annual)
Pacific Coast Brewing, 906 Washington Street, Oakland, California
510.836.2739 [ website ]
Downtown Bar & Grill, located in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York at 160 Court Street, will be hosting a pretty spectacular tasting of Dogfish Head beers on the 27th of November, including the debut releases for 2007 of World Wide Stout, Pangaea, and Golden Era, along with seven other Dogfish Head beers on draft. The festivities will begin at 6:00 p.m.