Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Drinking Life & Limb

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sierra-nevada dogfish
You probably remember the big news back in August when Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada announced they’d be doing not one, but two collaboration beers. The main one is called Life & Limb, while the second is Limb & Life, a small beer made from the second runnings of Life & Limb.

To launch the new collaboration, a beer dinner was held last Sunday at Ana Mandara in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Both Sam Calagione, from Dogfish Head and Ken Grossman, from Sierra Nevada were on hand for the dinner.

Hosts Ken Grossman & Sam Calagione
Ken Grossman and Sam Calagione

Limb & Life, the draft-only “Imperial small beer,” was served with hors d’oeuvres while Ken and Sam talked about their collaboration together.

The five-course meal had two beers paired with each dish, one from each brewery. We started with Limb & Life and then Life & Limb was served as the last beer of the evening, with dessert. In addition, at the end of the night we finagled a bottle of Life & Limb to compare with the draft version. Personally, I preferred the bottle. Bottle-conditioning gave it a richer mouthfeel and added complexity.

I was fortunate to sit with Sam and Ken for the dinner, as they discussed the project. While Sam has done many collaborations with both domestic and foreign breweries over the years, this was Sierra Nevada’s first one. If you can find a copy of All About Beer magazine from around this time last year, you can read my feature story on collaboration beers. I love the growing trend of collaboration beers, especially when, like this one, some thought is put into it. This makes the results more meaningful, and not simply a marketing effort. Everything about it was well done, especially the artwork for the label, done by a children’s book illustrator.

Life & Limb label artwork

Below is a slideshow of the Life & Limb beer dinner. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

Firestone Walker Beer Dinner: The 2nd Last At Cathedral Hill

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beer-chef
Last night was the second to last beer dinner that will take place at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. The hotel is scheduled to be torn down on Halloween to make way for a new hospital. The Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, put on four wonderful courses paired with the beers of Firestone Walker Brewing in Paso Robles, California. Brewer Matt Brynildson was on hand to talk about his beers.

Bruce & Matt Brynildson
The Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, with Firestone Walker brewer Matt Brynildson.

Below is a slideshow of the beer dinner. After clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, you can also click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify who and what’s in the photos.

The final beer dinner at the Cathedral Hill Hotel will take place on October 23. Keep an eye on the Beer Chef website for details.

Russian River Beer Dinner

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russian-river
Last night the third-to-last beer dinner was held by Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef, at the Cathedral Hill Hotel. The dinner featured the beers of Russian River Brewing. We also had a surprise guest, Jeff Lebesch, founder and original brewer from New Belgium Brewing, who along with his girlfriend and other friends, had been sailing the San Francisco Bay to celebrate Jeff’s birthday. It was a great beer dinner, and now there are only two left: Firestone Walker and Allagash later this year.

Natalie, Bruce & Vinnie
Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo presented Bruce with a special signed bottle of Temptation.

Our Table
Our table, clockwise from bottom left: Jeff Lebesch, New Belgium founder, his girlfriend Zia, an early employee, Peter Bouckaert, New Belgium’s head brewer, Dave Keene and Jen Smith, and Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo.

Below is a short slideshow of the Russian River beer dinner. If you click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, you can see the photos in glorious full screen.

The Countdown Begins: 3 To Go

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beer-chef
There are only three more beer dinners left that will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. For the past eight years, the Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, has done over 60 beer dinners featuring beers from around the corner and across the world. But what you probably didn’t know is that many of the recent dinners have been done on borrowed time. A medical corporation owns the land that the hotel is situated on, and for many years has been planning on building a new hospital there. It’s been postponed several times already and the hotel’s been able to keep renting rooms and doing beer dinners. But that’s finally coming to a close as a date is now set and the Cathedral Hill Hotel will be closing.

Only three more beer dinners will be held, and the first of those will take place on Friday, September 18. The dinner will feature the beers of Russian River Brewing. It will be a four-course dinner, and well worth the $100 price of admission. It will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations before it’s sold out. I’ll see you there.

The Menu:

Reception: 6:30 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre
Beer: Huge Large Sound Czech Pils

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

A Mélange of Delicacies from the Sea
Beer: Temptation

Second Course:

Salad of Pepper Cress, Crispy Sweetbread, Cage Free Egg, Cambazola Cheese, Duck Prosciutto, Oven Dried Toy Box Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado, Roasted Corn Vinaigrette
Beer: Empirical 7

Third Course:

Beer Chef’s Surf and Turf
Beer: Hopfather

Fourth Course:

Chocolation
Beer: Consecration and Salvation

tion-din-01
Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef, with Vinnie Cilurzo, from Russian River Brewing, at an earlier beer dinner.

9.18
Dinner with the Brewmaster: Russian River Brewing
Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]