21st Amendment (San Francisco, CA)

7/8/13

We took the opportunity to hit 21st Amendment for dinner before going to an amazingly long baseball game that went sixteen innings.  I made a brief stop at 21A years ago but wanted to check my memory since it was convenient with the game.  21A is lively brewpub with better than average line up of beer and good pub grub to go with it.  The spartan decor is causal and the crowd was lively.  The pub seems to benefit greatly by being near the stadium, so the beer is their standard line with a few additions rather than an adventuresome brewpub. 21A is a perfectly good stop that I would recommend to those going to a game, but I won't go out of my way to drink it again. I'll just buy six packs at home.

Drafts on site

Brew Free or Die: brash and hoppy IPA that's a bit better on tap than the cans I buy a my local store in Minnesota.

Big Cat Pale Ale: off white head over a marmalade colored ale; good nose with lots of citrus and fruit hops with heavy caramel; taste muddled but ok; disappointed in the taste compared to the promise of the nose.

Double dipped, beer batter, thick cut Onion Hoops

Love Boat: beautifully floral nose with the Mosaic hops; harsh singular hop bite on the tongue with the characteristic 21A caramel and malt base with a bit too much hops to balance; similar to Brew Free but a different hop blend.

Guest Drafts

Drake's Drakonic Stout: matches description well; strong liquorice and roast in the taste; alcohol and coffee lead in the nose; coffee more of a roast in the taste and a smooth, viscous taste with a dry bite to finish on top of the sweetness.

Half Moon Bay Brewing Co (Half Moon Bay, CA)

7/7/13

Half Moon Bay Brewing was a pub I've come across in my reading and it just happen to come at the end of our drive back from Monterey Bay to San Francisco. Great stop but not what I expected.

Beer was good.  The Mavericks Hefeweizen was to style and full of flavor. Next draft was Mavericks I and I Double IPA: cloudy orange ale with an off white head; strong hop nose with northwest citrus and caramel breadiness; sweet with a bite on the tongue.

Beer battered artichoke hearts for an appetizer. Very good and a fun to eat a local dish with all of artichoke fields coming up from Monterey Bay.  We then shared the garlic cheese bread with homemade marinara. I like our repeated encounters with garlic from Gilroy, which gave it an amazingly full flavor without it being overwhelming. I would eat a lot more garlic if it was like this.

Half Moon has more of an upscale restaurant feel rather than a brewpub. Sitting across the road from the beach, it has a relax vibe that's seems to be more about the food than the beer, but worth the stop.

Cannery Row Brewery (Monterey, CA)

7/5/13

After a full and fun day at Monterey Bay Aquarium, we needed a place for a pint and dinner.  I had researched Cannery Row Brewery, so knew that it wasn't a brewpub. In spite of a personal pet peeve of bars with brewery in the name that aren't an actual breweries, the 73 taps were enough to mollify me.

CRB does have "signature brews " that are contract beers to try to live up to the name.  I haven't found similar beers in the past bars to be worth the effort, so I couldn't bring myself to try them. So, I started with a draft of Cismontane Black Dawn, which was smooth and almost tasted barrel aged. While, it didn't warm up well, it was more than adequate.  The follow up pint was Ninkasi Tricera-Hops. In spite of its formidable name, the nose was very weak; the beer felt imbalanced and fuzzy tasting, similar to its appearance: mediocre and disappointing. I keep trying Ninkasi and am often disappointed.

For a more local review, check out Brew for Thought. I agree with the food review. The Tortilla Flats Quesadilla with grilled portobello, three cheeses and assorted fixings was excellent and enough for a meal. Even better was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet with ice cream on the side. Cookie warm and gooey and a bit underdone inside.  Perfect. 

CRB was busy on a Friday night and loud. We were happy that the band was only doing a sound check for a later gig, but it was comfortable enough on the edge of the bar with just canned music. Overall, the pub was better than going to a chain restaurant. Brew for Thought noted a lack of a big hoppy beer or more interesting sour or barrel aged beers; in spite of the large number of taps, it was surprisingly difficult to find a new draft for the visit.  CRB has a pretty standard list that was served well enough for in the heart of the tourist district of Monterey Bay.  

The Love of Beer Documentary

From The Love of Beer website: http://theloveofbeermovie.com/

News of the Pink Boots Society graces the pages of beer writing enough that I am at least aware of the organization and its support of women in the beer industry. But, my knowledge (and the knowledge of many is my guess) of the organization is limited. The documentary The Love of Beer goes a long ways to correcting that oversight by showing the origins of the society plus highlighting the hurdles faced by women in a presently male dominated industry.

While the film lacks some focus and could have benefited from tighter editing, I found the stories to be very interesting and well worth the time invested to get beyond the basics that show up in most articles on the soiciety.  For example, I didn't realize that Barley Angels was the consumer arm of the Pink Boots. Plus, just hearing the perspective of women from inside the industry and how their versions of coming up through the beer ranks have some distinct differences from those of male counterparts that are often featured in beer writing. Maybe not true for everyone, but I would've tried to watch the movie sooner had the title alluded to the movie's content more clearly.  Coming to the movie on Hulu, I knew nothing of it before viewing. Lacking the feminine angle in the title, my mindset set me on the wrong path as I discovered the true focus of the film.
With whatever minor reservations I have of the film, it's well worth the effort to watch and will reward the beer geek with a new level of understanding of our love of beer.

Tipping Point: Anhueser-Busch's Superbowl Ad Bashing Beer Geeks

A friend posted The Whine of the Craft Beer Children on Facebook in response to the beer geek bashing Budweiser Superbowl ad.  My friend agreed with the article's sentiment, and I can't argue even though I don't like the tone. I get it—an insulting ad is seen as insulting, so the writer uses an insulting angle to make a point. Message received.

However, I think the larger point is missed. Budweiser has thrown in the towel, and for good this time.

Screen shot from Budweiser Superbowl Ad: Brewed the Hard Way

At my last Superbowl party in 2006, I bought a bottle of AB Brewmaster's Private Reserve. It was a bigger than wine size bottle of premium lager that was a bit better than their average. To my friends at the party, I asked them what this bottle represented. Responding to their quizzical looks, I said "It's the beginning of the end. AB just admitted craft beer is real."

Today, craft beer is winning big and macro is losing at every turn. Now, AB is dropping pretenses and taking advantage of craft beer's middle age. As the pioneers of craft beer get long in the tooth and pass on their life's work, AB will take advantage of the opportunity. As a result, the beer world will become more complicated and the lines between macro and micro will blur. This ad simply marks a clear business decision in light of these changes. AB is just trying to re-frame its brand with those who identify with drinking thoughtless beer while purchasing enough craft brands to insure profits.

Craft beer will change too. As the number of breweries grow, the old school collaboration will first be tested and then finally snap. This part of the whine article is spot on—competition between craft brewers will soon be a matter of survival. The warm fuzzy story of pulling together against the common macro enemy is crumbling and the beer world will be forever changed. In the old days, say five years ago is all, a beer gathering meant seeing all the same faces as every other beer event. Today, I can't even think of attending all that is beery in the local scene, plus count myself lucky to run into a handful of familiar faces. To visit any of my favorite local liquor stores like Four Firkins or Elevated, the choices are beyond my financial and drinking resources to support craft brew; I now have to pick winners and losers.

AB knows what I know, or vice versa. They tried to wage war on an equal footing and got pummeled. Trapped in the corner by a steady downtrend, they are simply buying up the competition, rebuilding their own brand image and fighting their way out of a corner. Likely, they will play both ends and still make money in the new beer world in spite of a shrinking market share or anything a fussy beer geek says.