HOPS TO TABLE APR/MAY 2014

THE CRAFT BEER DESTINATION OF THE NORTH VALLEY

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The Art Issue

APR/MAY, 2014

what’s inside

HOPS TO TABLE

®

A magazine dedicated to covering the Greater Sacramento and Chico beer and food scene

April/May 2014 • Issue 2/Volume 2

8 FEATURE

DEPARTMENTS

8

12

Celebrating Local and Talented Artists This issue celebrates local and featured artists who create beer-related art.

Four very talented individuals are featured. Each come from different art backgrounds and work with varied and unique styles, from traditional canvas, spent grain art, glass work and metal, we showcase the best beer art has to offer.

19 14 8

18 Homebrew Recipe of the Month Milk stouts are wonderful for those hot summer nights when you want a refreshing, flavorful beer without the fullness of a stout. In this issue, we set out to brew a delicious milk stout inspired by Left Hand Brewing Co. and Bike Dog Brewing Co.

14

Brewery Profile Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is one of the original craft breweries. We interview Steve Dresler, the brewery’s Brewmaster, about his extensive background and experience in the industry and his thoughts on the local craft beer movement. This is a fascinating interview full of historical insights and observations over his 20+ years in the industry.

18

Restaurant Profile Winchester Goose specializes in food you can find in fine dining establishments in a relaxed pub atmosphere.

Join us as they prepare a delicious beer pairing with their most popular menu items.

20

Beer Inspired Recipes This month, we feature a delicious Lemon Saison Bar. This dessert is light and perfect for summer.

MORE.....

5

Industry Spotlight In this issue, we feature a new section featuring retailers, vendors, suppliers and distributors. In this issue, we feature Final Gravity Taproom and Bottleshop. Join us while we talk to owners Kyle and Amy Ruthnick about what motivates them to search out some of the best beer in the world and what inspired them to build a specialty craft beer bar in Roseville.

22 Roadtrip: Eugene, Oregon We take a trip to beautiful Eugene, Oregon. This was a fun trip to a beautiful college town brimming with the best craft beer bars, restaurants and breweries have to offer.

26 Educational Series: The history of the Pale Ale This is an installment series that looks at the history of beer and its influence on current styles and trends. This series discusses Pale Ale’s.

27 Beer Dinner: Beer and Chocolate Celebrated Beer Judge, pairing expert and TV Personality Big Mike Moore guides us through pairing beer with chocolate.

30 Craft Beer Directory We have updated and expanded our craft beer directory. Take a look and see what new places have rotating craft beer handles!

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@hopstotable

note from the publisher

A

IPA

Publisher John Zervas Editor-in-Chief Moni Bull Homebrew Coordinators Cory Meyer Brian Palmer Featured Artist Jacquelyn Bond www.jacquelynbond.com Guest Contributors Connor Adam Ron Davis Ryan Graham Tom McCormick Mike Moore Matteo Sargentini

Hops to Table Magazine is published every other month

by Hops to Table Publishing Company, a division of Hops to Table, LLC. It is distributed to key locations throughout the Greater Sacramento Area. If you would like us to distribute Hops to Table Magazine to your business, please email us at info@hopstotable.com.

FEEDBACK: Send feedback to info@hopstotable.com © 2014 Hops to Table Magazine. All rights reserved.

ON THE COVER Featured is the original art of Jacquelyn Bond commemorating Hops to Table Magazine’s First Annual Art Issue. Look for more of Jacquelyn’s art in this issue and at www.jacquelynbond.com

OOPS! Our Russian Imperial Stout recipe “Katie the Magnificent” inadvertently listed the wrong quantity of Pale Malt (2 Row). it should have read 35 lbs 7.8 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM). The corrected recipe is on our website at www.hopstotable.com

Hops to Table Magazine

One beer that received an A+ was described as “finishing hot.” I presume the reviewer meant alcoholic. I personally don’t catch “hot” in that IPA, and in my opinion that beer is an A+. However, if the panel caught that flavor enough to note it in the article, I am confused how the panel arrived at that grade. One beer got a B- after being described as having a “diesel fuel” taste. Did they mean solvent-like flavors? What else could it mean? The same beer had a note in the “good” section that it has a “bubblegum nose.” Another nuance I don’t catch, but since somebody on the panel did, I have to inquire when bubblegum is a good thing for an American IPA? Bubblicious and diesel fuel - fruity with a kick?

It gets worse with every comment. One beer description stated that a “cheesy nose” was good. Really? Blue cheese? Munster? Gouda? Or did they mean the off-flavor old hops give? This just sounds delightful! Cheese beer - a good thing! Note to new breweries - use old hops! Let me know how that works out for you. Better yet, I will sell you some at cost. Hops for Sale at Hops to Table.

Nice ring to it, no?

Original illustration by Hops to Table Magazine. Note: No beers were harmed during the drawing if this obviously tongue-in-cheek doodle.

S

acramento Beer Week was awesome - a job well done by the organizers, brewers, retailers and distributors. As the beer culture and consumer attention to beer increases, it is inevitable that main stream media jump on the bandwagon. It happened during Beer Week, and I encourage it to continue.

I recognize that this magazine is not the only voice covering beer in Greater Sacramento. We are a small voice, and there are many other fine publications and blogs that do a wonderful job covering our local industry. For the record, I appreciate, acknowledge and desire greater coverage from media, blogs and even other beer magazines - the more the better.

I have specific views on the role of media. Media has been described as the “Fourth Branch of Government.” It has power and impact. Even for an entertainment magazine, I am a firm believer in media accountability, respect, transparency and fair reporting. I learned this writing for my college newspaper, and it holds true now in my role as the publisher of this magazine. I am not perfect by any means, but I strive to do the right thing - even when it is not popular to do so.

Because media is a powerful force in the industry, I believe we have an obligation to police our own. I don’t mean in a catty, unprofessional, negative or competitive way. Rather, I mean having an upfront and professional dialogue that draws attention to errors, omissions or misrepresentations.

Calling these out isn’t appropriate in all instances, but I do believe it is appropriate when the bad reporting creates an injustice to an individual or group.

I will not call into question other media unless I have spoken to the editor/writer in advance, so that they have an opportunity to take corrective action. I will only intervene and use my editorial as a forum to address industry issues if 1) the offense impacts small businesses who can’t otherwise defend themselves and 2) the writer/editor is recalcitrant.

Unfortunately, an incident occurred recently, and I have chosen to address it. The situation is as follows: A weekly local entertainment paper published their Sacramento Beer Week issue. Personally, I thought the overall issue was well written and provided good content. Notwithstanding, there was one article that graded local IPA’s on a scale of A to F. This particular article has generated some negative feedback among many industry folks.

In my opinion, the negative feedback was warranted. To be crystal clear, it’s not that I have a problem with media reviewing beer or that specific grades were given or that some beers received good or bad grades. In fact, if I were to judge the same beers, I might have given the same grades to some - not all - of the beers. The issue is how the reviewers got there; specifically, some of the reviews were intentionally mean-spirited, some commentary lacked a basic understanding of beer knowledge and the quality controls necessary to fairly judge beer appeared to be lacking.

I am not going to name the magazine, the editor or the panel in this editorial. Out of professional courtesy and respect, I did talk to the writer and some members of the panel. They are aware that this editorial was forthcoming for several weeks now, and I have extended the opportunity to respond to this editorial in this magazine. That offer stands if they want rebuttal space in our next issue.

I should acknowledge that it’s highly probable that all the judges on the panel may not have had access to the final edits before they were published. I don’t know. Also, the final product appears to be a conglomeration of different comments, so no particular comment can be attributed to all on the panel. For these reasons, my intention is to address the overall article and not the individuals on the panel.

Despite my tone, I respect the lead writer of the article and some reviewers on the panel. I believe they are passionate about beer, irrespective of whether I think they are qualified to judge it. I, therefore, derive no pleasure from writing this.

I apologize to the reader in advance for the tone I use in this editorial. I took great effort to mimic the tone of the article in question. I recognize that to the casual reader unfamiliar with the original article, I come across as an asshole. Let me assure you that compared to what was written in some of the reviews, such as “You are trying to kill us,” [The beer] smells like the floors of the Street’s of London,” and “Smells like a Rotten Teenager,” I am really being quite nice.

My comments follow....

If the article’s intent is to fairly grade beer and promulgate the results, at least let the reader know the qualifications of the panel and the rubric used to judge the beer. Don’t think that because a panel member reviews restaurants, movies or cannabis clubs that it makes them qualified to grade beer. We are all duly impressed if a panel member can use a thesaurus, but doing so runs the risk of coming off like the In Living Color character, Oswald Bates - see www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ROOi5xagxg.

If reviewers want to be taken seriously, they may want to do their homework and come to the table armed with some rudimentary knowledge of judging craft beer. At a fundamental level, this means being able to understand and articulate appropriate taste and style characteristics.

If a panel member knows a lot about beer, but not much about beer judging, say so. The reader will respect the review more. And, if they have one qualified panel member with BJCP experience - which this panel did - let that panel member orchestrate the reviews and edit the final results.

There were so many poorly written comments in this article, it is painfully obvious that the whole article should be discarded as a failed experiment. Sadly, there were some reviewer notes that were spot on - but the comments showing some reviewers had no clue what they were talking about far outweighed the ones that did. For some of the reviews, I am left totally confused because I simply don’t catch some of the described flavor components when I drink the same beer.

As a case in point, one beer scored an “A” with a series of classic IPA flaws - butterscotch, sweet and metallic.

Butterscotch is a classic off flavor for an IPA; it’s called diacetyl and it’s not a positive attribute for this style. It’s like saying to a girl, “You look so beautiful today, despite your swollen, oozing pimple.” That same beer was described as being “slightly metallic and sweet.” This sounds like code for astringent and under-attenuated?

Actually, it doesn’t matter what the panel meant, if a reviewer thought an IPA had butterscotch notes, was sweet and metallic and he/she gave it anything above a “D”, it tells me all I need to know about their qualifications to judge a beer.

Page 2

There was one IPA that has been around for awhile and has won many GABF awards. That IPA is the company’s flagship. To my knowledge, the recipe of that beer hasn’t changed since it was formulated. This brewery sells a boat load of this beer and consumers are loyal to the brand. The review stated that the beer was “boring.” I wonder what they would say about similar flagship beers of that era? That IPA got a D+, and I personally don’t think a well constructed, nonflawed beer is deserving of that grade. It would be like saying that Earth Wind and Fire suck because they don’t sound like Kayne West. EW&F paved the way and deserve a little more credit than a D+. So does this brewery’s IPA - plus the brewery offers other beers that are slap you in the face hoppy. Oh well, look on the bright side “D+” - I would rather my IPA be described as “boring” than “cheesy!”

Now that we have established the reviews are technically flawed, let’s move on to determining why. Perhaps, the problem lies with the judging structure.

We know from the article that the panel used a basic blind testing formula, but how did they actually determine the grades - BJCP, Brewers’ Association or some other universally accepted formula or were they throwing darts at a chart downloaded off Maxim Magazine’s Beer Guide to Spring Break issue?

With comments like “The Billy Dee Williams of IPA’s” or the “Pop Rocks of IPA’s,” I’m guessing Maxim.

Note to reviewers - if you are in doubt about how to grade beer, download a judging sheet and an off-flavor cheat sheet at www.bjcp.org. While you are skimming through your newly acquired score sheets and off-flavor notes, please remember to have adequate quality controls. In the article, the panel had a mix of bottles and growlers. No problem there - but I have to question how long they sat before they were opened? I doubt they picked up several growlers the day of the tasting. And where were the growlers/bottles stored?

The reader has no clue. But we can only assume the worst if a wet hop beer that is made to drink in September is judged in February. Not surprisingly that beer got an “F.” And don’t say because the beer was on a retailer’s shelf, it is fair game. That’s chicken shit - the panel is grading the beer, not the retailer.

And news flash - a growler, by it’s very nature, is not as carbonated as a bottle - that’s not a flaw. Speaking of growlers, if you have an infected growler, don’t say the brewery is trying to kill you before the brewer is contacted to determine if the problem is with the growler or the whole batch. What if it was YOUR individual growler that was infected?

Also, I am completely and totally confused as to why and under what pretenses the panel decided to toss a DIPA or amber in the mix when a brewery offers single IPA offerings. Is it that difficult to ask the brewer for another beer falling within the appropriate category? I would think this is basic - but then maybe not.

What the article in question really showed was that there was a lack of attention to detail and a rush to publish by the magazine. It also manifests an apparent blood lust to call out breweries they consider “bad players” and be the first to have the “journalistic integrity” to publish the results. How about this for a challenge? If some members of the media insist on whispering behind closed doors that other media in this town will not call out shitty beer - then, by all means, poke your head and be the first to name names. Don’t be satisfied that crowd-based reviews in RateBeer, Beer Advocate and Untapped cover it; scratch your itch and go on record - own it - relish it - bask in the glory of your magnificence. I could care less, but please don’t hide behind a shoddy panel review to do it.

Here is the deal - having a media pass doesn’t give writers the right to publish garbage. Publishing is a responsibility and especially so when it can impact a local small business. Writers should be fair, unbiased, knowledgeable and make a concerted effort to bring value to the reading public. When they get cutesy and sloppy, it often comes off as childish and mean spirited.

The saying “Don’t judge me till you walk a mile in my shoes” is relevant here.

These small, local breweries are businesses that employ people - people like your friends, relatives, mothers, fathers and members of our community. They also give to charities and contribute to our local culture. And, whether you know it or not, they work their asses off. And yes, sometimes they make mistakes. It’s OK for media to have an opinion and write honest reviews. If a beer is bad, writers have a right to call it out. But having “journalistic integrity” should not preclude writers from having requisite knowledge, quality control, attention to detail and respect.

I think these small businesses deserve that. Because when writers indulge in bad behavior, it’s a matter of time before they get graded themselves; and trust me, if I gave these reviewers anything over an “F,” I would be generous.

I love you Sactown. Cheers!

John Zervas Publisher and Homebrewer

TA A E GR

ICA R E M

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R E BE VAL® I S T E S K FE PSTA

E E SW

Sacramento’s professional soccer club, Sacramento Republic FC, is sending two people to the ultimate beer event.

Trip includes coach airfare, hotel and tickets for two to the GABF taking place October 2-4, 2014 in Denver, CO. Deadline to enter is May 30, 2014.

Refer to sweepstakes rules for details.

ENTER AT SWEEPSTAKES AT

SACREPUBLICFC.COM

retail spotlight Final Gravity Taproom and Bottleshop is a premier local and regional craft beer destination located in Roseville, California. They have 26 rotating craft tap handles, an extensive bottle shop selection and conveniently located minutes from Sacramento.

How did you get involved in craft beer?

Initially, there were not a lot of choices in craft beer - then Lagunitas popped up, Moonlight and then Russian River. But it wasn’t until living in Portland, Oregon when craft beer was all we found that we decided to make it more of a hobby and adventure.

How did you decide to open shop in Roseville?

Kyle: I chose to transfer here from Portland. Roseville is a hub for the railroad. It just made sense and there was not really anything in this part of town at the time, and we didn’t know Boneshakers was opening up (in Rocklin) when we first started looking.

How did you decide on your business model? What inspired you to pick rotating taps and a bottle shop?

We wanted Final Gravity to be a fun, relaxing environment where people felt welcome regardless of their beer background. We always offer samples to help customers choose a beer they will really enjoy. As far as bottle shops and tap rooms go, The Beer Mongers, Belmont Station and Saraveza in Portland, Oregon inspired us. The rotating tap idea at Green Dragon is where we spent most of our time.

With so many craft beer options available, how do you decide on what to serve?

Amy: Whatever sounds good; usually if we like it we put it on tap. Breweries are opening so fast now that we have customers coming in asking us about new breweries. Kyle does a great job of keeping up with Beer Advocate, and he has a great relationship with the breweries so he knows when things are coming out. We try to stay up to date with our distributors and what they have that is new. We also look at whatever the local beer of the day is from the local breweries and whatever people ask for. It’s seasonal too; it is easy enough to transition with the breweries through their seasons and what they are putting out to what people’s moods are. You have your browns and stouts in winter; the lighter beers and saisons in the summer. With as many taps as we have it is easy to keep a really good variety of beers on tap.

Pictured: Owners Kyle and Amy Ruthnick

What is your favorite style of beer?

Kyle: I like sours.

Amy: I’m learning to appreciate sours, but I’m all over the board. Whatever is on tap, I find something I like and that is my beer of choice until we blow the keg and then I move onto something else.

Final Gravity has had some pretty epic events recently; the Stouterday and the Local’s Night during Sacramento Beer Week, when almost all of the local breweries attended. What big events do you have planned for the future?

We have our second annual Mother Pucker event scheduled in June. We are already planning our third annual Stouterday in December. We also have events in between, like our Sierra Nevada Tap Takeover. We are also maintaining our Thursday night flight nights with new breweries trying to bring something new every week. We try to do a bigger event at least once a month.

FINAL GRAVITY

In terms of the brewing community, where do you see the role of Final Gravity?

Local beer is our bread and butter really. You can always get an amazing beer from Deschutes, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium or Lagunitas that comes out every once in awhile, but the local beers sell the best always and that is what we want to promote. Those are the people we have relationships with I guess. I can go to Track 7 and I can talk to Ryan and say, “Hey what do you have available today?”

TAPROOM AND BOTTLESHOP ADDRESS

Do you ever envision a Roseville Beer Week or a Placer County Beer Week - something along those lines?

We like being a part of Sacramento Beer Week. It is bad enough that San Francisco and Sacramento Beer Week are so close, to add a third to that list there would be no play out here at all.

9205 Sierra College Blvd, Ste 100 Roseville, CA 95661

Where do you see the future of Final Gravity?

PHONE (916) 782-1166

We just want to be successful here, pay our bills and live comfortably. Final Gravity 2 maybe someday, but it is not an ambitious goal we are driving for at this time; success here is our goal.

What is one thing you want people to know about?

WEBSITE www.finalgravitybeer.com

We are very passionate about our business and craft beer. We have had the opportunity to attend some events and festivals and have met some amazing people over the years. Besides owning the business, we truly enjoy spending time there. We live two miles from Final Gravity and you will often find us with one or all of our three dogs on the patio enjoying a pint.

Two Rivers Cider From tree to table The cider beer drinkers reach for Ask for it by name •

www.tworiverscider.com

If someone is coming in from San Francisco or Sacramento and they haven’t been to Final Gravity before what would you like to convey to them immediately by just looking around? What is the message you would expect them to see?

We are very serious about our local craft beer. We have a really friendly knowledgeable staff with a very casual environment. We get all kinds of people here from business meetings, book clubs, engagement parties, groups who get done playing basketball at Johnson ranch and come here in their sweaty clothes to people who ride their bikes down here. We are the neighborhood pub. If you have been here before we know your name. If you have been here several times we know what kind of beer you like, and we can tell you what kind of beer we have that is new. I think that people really appreciate that because it is different than going to one of the bigger corporate chains where they don’t know you from the person sitting next to you. Most of our clientele are not beer geeks but are people who just like to come out to the neighborhood bar and drink.

Hops to Table Magazine

HOURS Mon-Wed 3:00 pm – 11:00 pm

Thur - Sat 12:00 pm – 12:00 am

Sun

12:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Page 5

note from the CCBA

Award Winning Handcrafted Signature Pizzas & More

BEER, WATER AND DROUGHT

By Tom McCormick

I

1140 Exposition Blvd. | 916-925-8859 | expo.extreme.com

n my eight years as executive director of the California Craft Brewers Association, I have never had as many inquiries from the media as I have in recent weeks. The reason for all the attention? California’s drought.

The reporters’ questions are intriguing and suggestive. For example, I’ve been asked: “How much production will craft brewers in the state need to cut back?” and “How will it affect the taste of beer since many water agencies are switching over to groundwater?” and “Will we not be able to find our favorite beer?”

In short, the mainstream media wants to know how the drought of 2014 will affect the craft brewing industry.

The answer is: hopefully not much.

First, let’s take a look at the drought.

No doubt, California has been in a drought that won’t improve with the hot, dry summer season coming up. Snow pack statewide is at 32% average. Water levels in the state’s rivers and vast system of reservoirs are at about 60-70% of average for year-to-date. But as I write this article, it is raining outside in the northern California foothills. At least we are better off in April than we were going into February. The 2013-14 rainfall season will probably clock in as being the third driest since records have been kept. That’s very dry indeed.

In response, more than 100 cities and water agencies have enacted voluntary residential and commercial water use restrictions but most fall into the 20 to 25 percent range.

The CCBA member breweries that I have talked to told me that meeting a 20 percent reduction would be challenging but would not force a cutback in production. In addition to using water in beer itself, breweries use water for cleaning and other non-brewing uses, and with prudent water-use practices and water re-use it’s unlikely that any breweries will be forced to cut back on production because of lack of water.

One impact we have already seen is that water districts are shifting their source of water, in many cases from outside contracts to localized groundwater. Whenever a district obtains water from a new or different source, the mineral content of the water is likely to change, which can alter the flavor profile. This is not new to most craft brewers. Unlike centuries ago, when certain regions of Europe developed beer styles due to the mineral content of the local water, modern brewers manage the mineral content of water fairly easily and inexpensively by adding or removing certain minerals. Most brewers keep a steady eye on the water being delivered as a common practice.

Despite the inevitable shifts occurring as a result of this drought, your favorite craft beer should taste just the same and remain just as available.

Water conservation, river protection and conservation and clean water initiatives have always been topics of conversation at craft brewing industry conferences and gatherings. The drought of 2014 will help our industry sharpen our pencils, streamline our processes, and tighten our water nozzles even more. Brewers will continue to make good beer— they’ll just use less water doing it. _____________________________ Tom McCormick currently serves as Executive Director of the CCBA. The CCBA is a nonprofit trade association. The primary function of the CCBA is to monitor legislative activity at the state Capitol and to provide a single and coherent political voice that represents the interests of all of California’s craft breweries.

. Thai . Middle Eastern . Gluten Free Available Gourmet Fresh Ingredients . Dough Made Daily Indian

SIGNATURE PIZZAS . MONSTER SUBS . FRESH SALADS . CALZONES . WINGS

Celebrating Local Artists

Jacquelyn Bond Artist Statement Having been born in a walnut orchard and raised by wolves, I’ve always found it hard to express my feelings and concerns with the spoken word.

I’ve therefore honed my artistic skills so I can clearly convey my opinions and concerns to my fellow humans without having to open my mouth to howl…… they don’t seem to care for that.

My art is not intended to take sides, or change minds but simply to inspire the viewer by provoking thought or discussion. Or simply to bring a smile or laugh.

I currently reside in Sacramento and spend most of my time painting and trying to learn the ways of the humans by working as close to them as possible as a tattoo artist at Hemlock Collective.

I’m beginning to believe the owner and fellow tattoo artist that goes by the name of Josh Green is becoming used to me.

I think I may be entering into a new pack here. Scary and exciting at the same time.

www.jacquelynbond.com

Making art glass is what I love....I’m primarily self taught...and for the past 21 years......I show up almost every morning and make... I travel into my artists brain... and consider, think about.. or am inspired by someone or something... and then I pick up a blow pipe.... and start.... sometimes..... without a true plan... but perhaps a process as mold able as the medium I converse with... color laid out on my steel table... the furnace roaring and my tools and coffee... right were I need them...

Shannon Jane Morgan

Time falls away like no other place in my daily world... color speaks to me in a language not shared by others... the process is for me... the outcome... for you ...

“The world is as we dream it” www.zhibit.org/girlglass

Aaron Taylor

Artist Statement

Artist Statement I have loved art since I was a young child. My biggest supporter was always my mom, who would teach me all of the fundamentals. Once I had learned the basics, she would tell me to love everything I did...simply because I did it. With this, I discovered I was quite the ADD artist. Using all mediums that I could - drawing, painting, sculpting, building...you name it. I couldn’t be happy with my art unless I could switch it up.

After joining the beer industry, I decided I wanted to keep my work within. Thus upon a trip to a homebrew store and seeing all of the different colors, I got an idea to use them to form mosaic style art of different brewery and tap room art. I still occasionally do other styles in between to stop me from going crazy, but I love doing this more than anything. Thus started Beerded Designs. All custom unspent grain artwork. Being the only one (I know of) doing this, I won’t reveal my entire process... however what I will tell you is that it's like being back in elementary school. Gluing pieces of macaroni to Popsicle sticks. Except it takes myriad hours...And I don't eat the glue. They are all custom made by me in the order that they are ordered from me. So if you would like one, please be patient ;) www.facebook.com/beerdeddesigns

Jazz Khalsa Artist Profile Jazz Khalsa is the Industrial Design & Fabrication guru at Ninkasi Brewing Co. Khalsa, a long time friend of owners Niko and Jamie, is inspired by ornamental pieces that look cool and move him. He is not timid about thinking outside the box and experimenting with different designs and concepts.

Khalsa can be found most days working at his metal fabrication shop adjacent to the brewery in Eugene, Oregon.

His works are inspired, innovative and unique. They range from elaborate and detailed gates to bicycles to tap handles to works of art.

One of these works of art was featured at 2014 The Art of Beer Invitational (see picture below).

The money raised from this event benefited Ales for Autism. www.ninkasibrewing.com

homebrew recipe

homebrewer ’s technical notes

Pictured: Ron Davis

AWARD WINNING RECIPE: KOMBUCHA SENSE

By Ron Davis, President Gold Country Brewers’ Association

Pictured: Bike Dog Brewing Co.’s eight variety of milk stouts during the 2014 Sacramento Beer Week

Milk Stout Type: All Grain Batch Size (Gallons): 11.00 Boiling Time (Minutes): 60 Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Equipment: B3 10 Gallon Brew System Measured Efficiency: 76.00% Ingredients 14 lbs 9 oz

Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)

3 lbs 4 oz

Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)

2 lbs 2 oz

Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)

1 lbs 12 oz

Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (300.0 SRM)

1 lbs 10 oz

Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)

1 lbs 10 oz

Munich Malt (9.7 SRM)

1 lbs 4 oz

Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)

1 oz

Magnum [14.00%] (60.0 Min)

2 oz

Goldings, East Kent [4.5%] (10 min)

2 lbs

Milk Sugar (Lactose) (10 min)

2 pkgs California Ale (WPL001) 1 lb

Rice Hulls

Original Gravity: 1.068 Final Gravity: 1.016 ABV: 6.9% IBU: 23.3 Color: 41 SRM Mash: 60 @ 156F Mash Out: 168F Primary Fermentation: 7 days @ 65F Secondary Fermentation: 20 days @ 68F

Hops to Table Magazine

O

ur inspiration for a milk stout came from a few sources. The primary motivation came from Left Hand Brewing Co’s Milk Stout. They make one of the finest examples of milk stout we have had. It is has a perfect balanced roast and notes of chocolate, mild hops and a beautiful nose of brown sugar and vanilla cream.

Unfortunately, Left Hand is out of Longmont, CO, so it is almost impossible to get in CA. During a trip to GABF in 2010, Left Hand Brewing Co. hosted a milk stout challenge to its brewers. During this challenge, they gave each of their 12 or so brewers casks of milk stout and asked them to develop a unique recipe and food pairing. The winner received special recognition.

The ideas these brewers came up with were unbelievable. They had dry hopped the casks with mint, chocolate and orange, coffee, tea, vanilla - all sorts of different combinations. We, as consumers, got to try them all and vote for our favorites.

This experience forever cemented our perception of the milk stout as a style, as well as the endless versatility and possibilities available to the homebrewer.

It wasn’t until Bike Dog Brewing Co. had their milk stout event during Sacramento Beer Week that we decided to take a shot at brewing one ourselves.

The formula is fairly basic. For all intents and purposes, it is a mellow stout containing the usual ingredients inherent in that style chocolate malt, munich, roasted barley, etc.

The problem with some milk stouts on the market is that they have a tendency to come out thin. Left Hand and Bike Dog do a great

job of maintaining adequate body in their milk stouts, and we wanted to replicate a similar body. We, therefore, elected to add a generous portion of oats and mashed at a fairly high temperature (156F).

We wanted a mild hop bitterness and chose hops that were fairly standard for the style.

One ounce of Magnum went in at 60 min and two ounces of East Kent Goldlings at 10 min gave us an IBU of 23.3.

Since we had enough body from the ingredients and mash, we chose a clean fermenting yeast - the venerable California Ale (WPL001), which worked perfectly at a stable 65F fermentation temperature.

We strongly debated additional adjuncts cocoa nibs and coffee - and had planned on adding to the list of ingredients. We had misplaced the cocoa nibs during brew day, so that ingredient was deleted.

For the coffee, we planned on reducing it in a water bath and titrating the appropriate amount when we racked into the keg. Upon tasting the beer, the coffee was completely unnecessary and actually took away from the natural coffee components already comprised from the malt bill.

The finished product was outstanding, we see no alternations that we would recommend in the recipe. We would also recommend not adding adjuncts in the boil, during fermentation or the keg. Instead, we have invested in a Hopback/Randalizer and can vary alternate adjuncts as we see fit without changing the base beer.

We can tell already that’s it’s going to be a fun summer!

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K

ombucha is often considered a healthy drink, and it is cheap and easy to make at home. Ask around or check Craigslist and you should be able to find a SCOBY. SCOBY stands for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. The basic steps follow - a Google search can provide more info, but this is literally enough to make a batch.

Boil two cups filtered water, steep six black or green tea bags for ten minutes, add one cup white granulated sugar, mix well, move to one gallon jar, add cool filtered water to make one gallon, add SCOBY and the liquid it came in. Cover the jar with cloth and a rubber band and let sit for at least one week at 72 degrees F. For a couple years I’ve kicked around the idea of making Kombucha with wort instead of sugary tea. There aren’t any directions on how to do this on the Internet so far as I’ve discovered, and I have not found any commercial distributors. For the Berryessa Common Sense competition I decided it was time to try it. I mashed two batches worth of wort, and split them into two brew pots. In one I made a Common Sense clone with the standard hop additions. In the second I added no hops. Hops are a natural preservative, and will actually kill off some of the bacteria we want in the SCOBY. After a 90 minute boil I chilled the Kombucha wort, moved to a bucket fermenter, added a SCOBY, and covered with a clean bed sheet to keep things from getting in the wort. I set it in a closet with a heater and a thermostat set to 72. My expectation was that I’d get the level of sourness I wanted, then close the fermenter to finish. There are two types of fermentation, aerobic, and anaerobic. Aerobic is exposed to oxygen, and will not produce much alcohol. By closing the fermenter to open air, I’d build up alcohol after with the remaining sugar. I’d check the flavor every couple days. When it got to where I wanted it, I checked the remaining sugar levels. Super low, no sugar was left for alcohol. This doesn’t mean I didn’t make alcohol, I did, I just don’t know how much. Standard beer calculators won’t work on this beast.

I removed the SCOBY for future batches at this point. To bring things back to the original Common Sense I then added half an ounce of vanguard hops in a bag to the beer. __________________________________________ All-Grain Recipe: 8 lbs 13 oz Pilsner Malt 4.5 oz Acidulated Malt Mash for 75 minutes at 151F Drain, sparge and boil for 90 minutes Chill, add SCOBY and open ferment until complete Add ½ oz Vanguard hops for three days Keg or bottle and carbonate

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brewery profile

SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO: CRAFT BREWING PIONEERS What was your background before you started brewing?

Dresler: Before I started brewing, I graduated from Chico State in 1980. I was a double major in biology and chemistry. I came here to finish up my last three semesters and was able to pick up a second degree. During that time, I started home brewing with a buddy of mine in college and it was pretty primitive at that time. That’s when Ken Grossman owned The Home Brew Shop. We kind of met at that point in time remotely through buying raw materials. I remember when I would go to the shop and his wife would be selling over the counter and his oldest daughter was crawling around on the floor.

I got out of college and was looking for work. I got a job with a fabrication company that was out of the airport called Arrow Union. I got a job spraying polyurethane paints and doing anti-coercion chemical control and aluminum parts, which really fit my lifestyle. I did that for a couple of years and then I got laid off for the season. At that time, I got a part time job at The Home Brew Shop. I heard that they were hiring people part time at the brewery, so I drove down to the brewery and applied.

How long was the brewery in existence at that time?

Dresler: Not quite three years - the brewery started in 1980, and I started in January, 1983. I drove down there and introduced myself and started working in packaging the next day. We were bottling 40 something bottles a minute. We hand-packed the bottles and it came off a little circular table off the filler. You picked up four bottles at a time and put them in a box while you drank the fifth beer. They immediately realized my grasp of that and I started substituting in on the bottling line. We didn’t have any cardboard erection equipment back then, so I would come in between package days and tape boxes and put in inserts. I would do whatever I could to get hours.

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Pictured: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Brewmaster, Steve Dresler and Hops to Table Magazine Contributor Mike Moore

ublisher’s Note: It is impossible to truly understand the significance of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. on our craft beer culture without understanding the history and motivation behind this venerable brewery.

To simply say that Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. are craft beer pioneers is an understatement. In fact, they were a major factor in revolutionizing the industry and their contributions can be felt throughout the craft beer industry.

They started brewing in the early 80’s when there really was no such thing as a craft brewery as we know it today. The equipment, variety of hops and innovation simply did not exist. What also did not exist was the consumer palate for hop forward beers.

With some special combination of tenacity, innovation, hard work and determination comes the brewery we know today. The owner and founder, Ken Grossman, deserves a large part of that credit. Of course, in any endeavor, it takes a team of talented and loyal individuals to accomplish what Sierra Nevada has accomplished. Steve Dresler is a critical part of that team.

Dresler is the company’s head brewer. He started working for the company three years after it opened and has worked in all aspects of the brewery. He is a legend among brewers and somebody worthy of respect.

And allow me to be perfectly blunt - I was really looking forward to this interview. At the same time, I was thinking of Wayne’s World, “We are not worthy!” and you get what was going through my head. For backup, I solicited the assistance of our veteran and respected food editor and Chief Judge of this year’s California State Fair Brewing Competition, Big Mike Moore, who conducted a good part of the interview.

I would say that this is one of the most fascinating and informative interviews done to date by this magazine. Dresler was candid, open and was a wealth of historical knowledge and information. What you read on these pages is history, and I have re-read it for my own personal enjoyment at least three times.

There is something else about Dresler that I will mention, and I think it says more about the man that anything we can gain in the interview. When we walked through the brewhouse to his office, we passed at least 30 employees.

There was not one employee - not a single one - that Dresler did not say “hi” to by name.

Dresler is honest, humble and from an era when it was more cool to be a good human being than an asshole. He Impressed me, and I’m not easily impressed.

I hope you enjoy the interview. Cheers!

Hops to Table Magazine

During that time they asked me to come back to work part-time at Arrow Union, and I had both jobs going. Then they actually offered me my job back at Arrow Union full time, and I was making $9.00 an hour there with full benefits. At the brewery I was making $4.50 an hour when they put me on payroll with no benefits – well the benefit was really good beer. I told them if they move me up to 30 hours a week and give me $5.00 an hour I would quit my other job. They did, and it was one of the better decisions of my life.

At that time, we were doing five and seven barrel batches - just one a day. We were going to expand to Saturdays and Ken did not want to work Saturdays. He was running the bottle shop at the time and asked me if I wanted to learn how to brew and pick up the Saturday shift. I said, “Hell yes,” and that is how I got my break into the brew house. Prior to brewing, I was working at the lab and it was a wonderful environment. You did everything; we weren’t departmentalized. One week I would make beer and the next week I would cellar it.

That is how you learned the whole business?

Dresler: Yes, with my degrees I took over the lab and most of the aspects of that. It was great fun and really good times.

Did you have any involvement in the original recipe of the Pale Ale? Dresler: No, when I came on we were doing pale, porter and stout. We had one year of Celebration Ale behind us and a year of Bigfoot. The changes over the years though - this is back in 1983; most of the hops we take for granted now didn’t exist. There were no Centennials, no Chinooks, or no Crystal hops, none of these existed. All of these beers were Cascade based. I think the first Celebration Ales were 100% Cascade. None of the real bittering hops existed. I think we had Galena and they hadn’t even bred Nugget up to that point. We used Cluster for bittering, so there was not a lot on the palette to paint with. My input over the years on the historic brands has been to include some new raw materials into them, but to maintain Ken’s vision for the original beers. Those beers were truly visionary in the early 1980’s. Over the years with the Celebration Ale we started incorporating Centennial and picked up on Chinook. We were buying Centennial before it was named. When we started brewing with the hop, it was called CFJ-90. Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River) and I always reminisce about that because he remembered that hop. There was actually another hop that we both recall that was a -45 and we both liked it better, but we lost it because nobody got behind it. We’ve actually thought about going to some germ plasma bank and seeing if somebody doesn’t have some. That is how some of these trendy varieties come to be - by going to the bank and Page 14

getting some tissue. We want to see if we can resurrect it because I remember it being very lovely, very rose floral, which Centennial is also. So with those beers, my main input is to have the ability to get them a little more complex and a few more layers of aroma and flavor. As the brewery has expanded in brew size and what not, I have scaled those brews up from seven barrel pale ale to 200 barrel batches now. The number one mandate here is quality; maintaining the quality aspect of the beer which is so critical. We are staying true to our roots for the philosophical roots of why we got into this in the first place and how we feel about beer and the making of it.

That goes into my next question, explain the evolution of the brewing equipment. I believe that you had dairy kettles in the beginning.

Dresler: Everything we had on Gilman, the original street, was of course used equipment. Ken had scrapped out a dairy, so the fermenters were cottage cheese vessels. We had a vessel we had made into a mash lauter. Ken had the original false bottom that he drilled circular holes through. When we went to clean it, we had to take each of the pie shaped pieces out. We would mash into that vessel, dump the malt in by hand, stir it in with a canoe paddle and take it out with a five gallon pail. We had a kettle that was another one of these vessels that Ken had welded a hood onto. It was direct fire onto a burner that he had scrapped out of a car wash - as was our hot water heater system.

You had to jump into it every time you were done boiling and bucket the hops out. We had a bread pan and a five gallon pail that we had to crawl around on the floor of the kettle and scoop everything out. It was pretty trippy. We maintained that brew house through 1987. The beginning of 1989 is when we scrapped that out. In the interim, starting in 1987 and 1988 is when we started the construction here on 20th Street with the 100 barrel brew house. It is a used Hauptmann brewhouse from Germany fabricated in the early 1960’s. We put that online, and I commissioned it in 1988 going into 1989. At that point we demolished the Gilman brewery and scrapped it out and started running over here.

I heard some of your old equipment is at Mad River Brewing. Is that correct?

Dresler: Yes it still is. The original brew house is still at Mad River; they purchased it from us. I would like to see it come back. I think it would be really important to people. If you pull up to the brewery now, it is spectacular - as it should be. I don’t think people understand the amount of sweat equity that went into this facility, into this brewery. Even with the original brewery over by the pub; it is beautiful. The equipment is older generation by far and it’s developing some issues over time. If you come to Chico and tour the place, it is like, oh my; but when I started brewing over on Gilman, it was a dirt cul-desac. We poured all the floors ourselves, Ken had friends who did concrete.

They would come down on the weekends for beer, and they would do the floors. I remember brewing one day and running wheel barrels of cement from the front to the back. It wasn’t very far; and it was pretty small, but we would dump barrels of concrete in between doing the brewing. It has been quite an evolution. We went from pretty much a manual German brew house in 1988 and 1989 to 1997 with the 200 barrel Huppmann brewhouse, quite automated for the time and pretty much state of the art. One of the things we wanted to maintain was operator/brewer interface. So we actually had steps. We could have automated it a little more than we did, but being whole cone users you have to open the kettles and do stuff. We really wanted to make sure that the brewery or cellar person or whoever works within the department of filtration knew what was going and that they were there. We put some areas within the programming where the brewer has to respond rather than just let the programming do it.

I had a chance to visit Schneider two years ago in Germany and they obviously do all weisse and wheat beers. Explain to me how that process is completely different than anything else you make here.

Dresler: Well it is and it’s always been one of Ken’s favorite beer styles. As he would go back and forth to Germany either for trade shows or to deal with Huppmann or other equipment suppliers, he always raved about that beer and that style. I tried years ago to make one. I had some hefewieisen brought over and we cultured the yeast out of the bottle. I learned the lesson then that Hops to Table Magazine

a lot of hefewieisen breweries don’t put their house strain in the bottle; they use lager yeast so people like me can’t scoop it out and brew with it. Then we actually did get a strain. I bought a strain because I really wanted to get this beer. We did a wheat beer for a while; a hefewieisen called Ruthless. The lady in the lab who worked there at the time and worked the yeast tub for me was named Ruth, so I called her Ruthless. We did a draft only local here and it was OK, but I still had no idea how to manage this yeast. I was managing it like an Ale Yeast, and it’s not.

We had the ability to expand our bottle portfolio and we did Torpedo IPA that year. We were going to do Torpedo and the hefeweizen. The IPA we had that pretty much down; we knew what we were doing there. The hefeweizen we couldn’t figure out, so we were doing them out in pilot. They would start out great and then it was all about the yeast. We were over in Germany at a tradeshow and Ken asked if we would spend some extra time, and we had this fantastic five day tour through Bavaria. We went to a number of fantastic hefeweizen breweries and visited with them and were very open and honest about it. What we were doing wrong was batch cropping our yeast. We would ferment, and then I would crop it like an ale yeast and then re-pitch it. So it was fine the first generation off the propagation, and then by generation three you got nothing. You got fermentation, but you had none of the qualities we were looking for. The gentleman over there was showing us that you just brew all the time - you just always crop high krausen, keep your yeast running and it never knows that it is just constantly fermenting. We came back, and I set up a rotation and it snapped. It was just gorgeous.

It’s just as good as the Bavarian stuff.

Dresler: Thank you. I think so too, and I have gotten some really nice compliments on it. Ken came up with the name because we were trying to figure out a name for it. He came up with the Kellerweis name with the cellar, yeast and wheat. I love that style; it’s been somewhat misinterpreted in the states with fruit and what not. If that is how people like to drink their beer, I am not in a position to judge that. When I present it at a dinner or at a tap takeover, people just absolutely love it. They don’t expect that aroma and flavor profile. They expect citrus like an American Ale or a citrus thing.

It has the huge banana clove character which Bavarian has – It’s my dad’s favorite beer.

Dresler: It is a beautiful light refreshing beer and goes great with food. It’s great when you want to sit in the afternoon and have a couple of beers with friends and just enjoy conversation. I love it. It’s been a challenge, but it came off really nicely.

To move in a different direction, this brewery is really known for its environmental aspects and how green you are. Has it always been that way?

Dresler: Yes, we’ve always done what we could. It was just like young hippies, and you did what’s right. Ken realized early on that with brewing you want to have a small footprint because you are a large user of raw materials; you use a lot of energy and water. Even at the brewery on Gilman, we had heat exchangers and tried to do heat recovery and conserve water. Our grain always went off to cattle feed, and we recycled when we could. We’ve just always done that, and I’ve done that my entire life. As soon as Chico had recycling bins to fill, I recycled. Even when I lived up in the mountains, I dug holes in my garden and composted my green stuff. It was just the right thing to do, and that philosophy had just carried over to the business sense here. Ken is very much the same way. As you become larger, the infrastructure changes and the financial situation obviously changes. The governmental and environmental things fortunately grew up to accommodate people wanting to invest in these things. You go back in the early 80’s and no one gave a shit, and you get to a situation where it starts making sense. Yeah we put in a huge solar array and won a zero waste award this last year. We have two ladies on staff who manage Continued on Page 16 Page 15

our sustainability program, and they do fantastic work. They’ve really gotten the staffs’ involvement. Management can do so much. Ken can buy all of these things; but, if you want to get zero waste, people really need to get on board with it. They have done a real good job of teaching that. In all honesty, other than the beers we produce, my second love and layer of pride - what I am most proud of here - is our sustainability movement because it is very personal to me. It’s really a joy to work with a company that is that much into what you are personally. Ken doesn’t mind spending the money; the benefit of family ownership. The ROI is for him to decide. If everybody else would expect a three to five year payback, and he is happy with a five to seven, then there you go. He will do it more because it is right sometimes than because it is good business. He is obviously a very astute business man, but it is more to be on the right side of the equation than I need to make a lot of money.

Have you ever had to change the recipe or the outcome of any of your brews because of the grains or technology or because it didn’t fit necessarily?

Dresler: No we are still using the same basic raw materials that we have since day one. If anything we have digressed from using a lot of the technologies and things we used to do in the past. We do not chill stabilize a lot of our beers, we centrifuge only. We want to have as little input on the beer, the process and the raw materials as possible. We are using whole grain, and we use adjunct sugars in our Belgian beers of course, but that’s about it. We use whole cone hops, and natural fermentation; we still do the secondary carbonating in the bottle and we don’t add carbonization to our fermenters - we bung them to get carbonation.

A lot of times now we will just chill the tank down and we chill proof it, but we don’t add stabilizer so that way we aren’t running through a pad filter centrifuge only. We aren’t sending pads to the landfills and we aren’t using DME. So over the last five years, we have actually backed away from a lot of the processed developments that we could have - all in an effort to make the beer more flavorful. We have analyzed things and know that every time you manipulate the beer through a filtration process you remove a little something, be it body or hop aroma and the tighter you filter the more you remove. We made the decision as a group, and Ken led the charge on this because he is very much of this mind that we want the flavor, but we can accommodate a little if it is not brilliant.

However, if the beer is bright, then we will be happy with that. If it does throw a little bit of a haze in the marketplace, that will be OK. As an offshoot, I know that to lot of home brewers, including myself – you were the very first beer that had the yeast that we cultured the heck out of and it worked a lot of the times. It was amazing.

Dresler: I always told people how to do it. We used to pretty freely give our yeast away back in the day. After awhile you kind of realize you just shouldn’t be doing that, although it was just a common slant that anyone could buy from Seibel in Chicago. We didn’t have any propriety claims to it, and I would openly tell people the slant number - it was 96. Now we maintain our yeast cryogenically here at the brewery. I would have brewers call me early on when something happened or their yeast had taken a shit or they had fermentation problems. I would say bring a keg and come on up; we would send them home with a pitch.

Which brings me to my next question, how did Beer Camp come along – kind of a more home brewer type of thing?

Dresler: Beer Camp was actually the idea of Ken’s brother Steve. I think he somehow came up with the idea of doing that, and it has been phenomenal.

We’ve been doing it - I think this is the fourth year. Someone told me the other day that the older you get everything happened five years ago. Time goes by quick here. We started inviting groups, distributors or sometimes just a group of special accounts and owners of accounts. They come in and have an in-depth tour for a day at the brewery and formulate a recipe, select the raw materials and get to rub hops. We have a wide variety of hops here, and they get to eat grains. They come up with a beer concept and the next day we brew it. Then we cellar it and they get to name it. We do all the legal postings for it and then we keg it and ship it to where ever the account is.

I have had beer camp beers from Chicago, up in Portland and Seattle, from different taverns; they just love it. It is a phenomenal thing for me, and I get

free R&D out of it. You get these people together, and they come up with concepts that half the time you are thinking why the hell would you do that.

It’s all for fun. They come up with things that I would be limited to do, or would never even think of doing and you watch these beers go through and drink them and think, “Wow, that wasn’t so stupid after all”. Or you learn from the combinations or something. For me it has been great, and I know it’s great for the people that come.

They are all smiling! I have two or three friends who have been to Beer Camp.

Dresler: Yeah, we try to do 20-25 a year, which is a good number. We have done two or three variety packs that were inspired by beer camps that we picked out. It was a fun challenge for me to work up into a production size. I never personally would have thought to dry hop Torpedo with rose petals, but I did. They are very challenging, but you pull it off and make it happen. You get some nice feedback from people particularly if you get the opportunity to drink the beer in that person’s bar; that’s a treat. Beer is a great thing; it is to make people happy.

I was at a place in Seattle for their beer week. This guy had saved a keg of beer that they made; it was this Black Juniper IPA. You know what a pain in the ass it is to grind up juniper berries? These guys had wanted to do it, and he saved his last keg because he knew I was coming to town. He knows I happen to like gin, so there was a pint and a shot of cold gin on the bar for me and life was good.

What is your favorite beer to drink outside of Sierra Nevada?

Dresler: Oh that is a tough one, there are a million of them and I don’t want to play favorites because I don’t want to leave anyone out. I try to drink as many local beers as I can when I am traveling. If I go into a bar when I travel, I order a Pale Ale because I want to make sure they are presenting it right. I tend to limit what I drink. There are so many breweries out there that I make a special effort to try at the World Beer Cup. We had a beer festival here recently, and I think it was back in October or November; it was the first time we had a beer festival. We had about 46 or 47 breweries represented, and it was fantastically done. I made an effort of going through and tasting beers I had never seen before. Country Boy Brewing out of Kentucky; not only are those people crazy, they make phenomenally good beer. I actually was in Kentucky back in November, and I drank with them in their pub; it’s just great stuff.

Is Sierra Nevada looking to reinvent itself or just continue market share? Same question about yourself.

Dresler: Reinventing myself - I don’t know if we have enough tape for that!

That is an interesting question. I have been here for 31 years now. Watching the dynamic growth of the brewery and the acceptance of the beer, people’s palates have changed obviously. The acceptance for craft and flavors is just mind boggling compared to what I saw in the 80’s and even going into the 90’s.

There were great craft beers, but it was pretty narrow and pretty monotone.

Everyone was making pale ale and beers of that nature. When you see what is out there now, it is incredible. We actually started doing some marketing; I think we hired our marketing guy about seven years ago. I don’t think we are trying in any way to reinvent ourselves. I think what we are trying to do is just let people know we are still here. We are trying to reinvigorate the brand; it is an older brand.

We are doing a 12 pack of 12 collaborative beers. The people that we decided to invite to brew with us are up and coming breweries from all over the country - very trendy and very hot. We had them all come here to lay out the plan and the response we got was amazing. It’s like having the cool dad that you still want to hang out with, and I found that real intriguing. I’m an old guy for the industry, we want to make sure that people know we are still relevant and still cutting edge. I think that we still make the finest portfolio of quality beers in the country and that is my humble opinion.

As far as reinventing myself I don’t know what else I would do, I haven’t had another job outside of the brewery in a long time. I’ve probably had about five careers here, and I’m satisfied.

restaurant profile 1

WINCHESTER GOOSE: SOPHISTICATED PUB DINING

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inchester Goose is a local craft beer bar and pub located in Chico, CA. The owners have had a long history in the craft beer business, and the 22 craft beers on tap show the depth of knowledge and beer taste that comes with years of experience and deeply rooted connections to brewers and distributors.

The bar is tucked away on a busy thoroughfare downtown. It is approachable and unassuming. However, if you look deeper you can see that a lot of thought and attention to detail came together to open this bar. You can see it from the copper tin ceiling tiles, the gorgeous wood bar and antique brick on the walls from the original building, a former brothel.

The traces of brilliances are not only found in the beer menu and construction, it is also found on the menu. There are not enough words to describe how innovative, inspired, focused and refined the food offerings. The closest I can come is imagining eating at Mulvaney’s B&L or The Kitchen for one-fifth the price and in a relaxed craft beer bar. Yes, it is that good.

For this pairing, we partnered with Speakeasy Brewing Co. out of San Francisco, CA. Speakeasy brews a wide variety of beers that are perfect for food pairings. They show a level of quality and refinement that compliments - rather than overshadows complex dishes.

In fact, there were several dishes, particularly the platters, where the food brought out various different components of the beer and vice versa.

We started with the Lassen. This dish is a

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Pictured: From left to right: Heather Malbry, Rob Rasner, Steven Hall and Kyle Burns.

house smoked trout with roasted garlic, pine nuts, wilted honey greens, preserved lemons, cucumbers, lavash and a deconstructed devil egg with honey.

with beer comb encrusted chevre, local blue cheese, Black Butte reserve, cranberry stout relish, caramel mustard, lavash and seasonal strawberries.

This dish was paired with Speakeasy’s Metropolis Lager. This beer is very balanced, with a nice malt background that finishes dry and crisp. It has a nice tropical fruit and floral aromas that bring out various flavor components in the dish, particularly the preserved lemon and deviled egg with honey.

This platter was paired with Speakeasy’s Prohibition Ale. This red ale has biscuity, caramel malt, orange and grapefruit notes, which complimented the layers of flavors in the platter. Each bite brought on different textures and nuances, which together combined to truly epic proportions.

The next dish was the Aubergine. The sandwich is comprised of grilled eggplant with roasted red pepper, spring mix, house cheese and garlic aioli. This is a very refined and complex sandwich, showing a beautiful and fresh earthiness.

The fifth dish was the Sweet Ale. This dish is a platter of arugula, roasted beets, toasted almonds, beer comb encrusted North Valley Farms Chevre and sweet ale vinaigrette.

The dish was paired with Speakeasy’s Double Daddy IPA. This is a whopper of a DIPA, showing a pronounced malt backbone balanced by generous grapefruit, orange and biscuity notes. The malt and hops worked perfectly against the earthy, savory textures in the sandwich.

The third dish was the Roasted Beet Bruschetta. This dish is a melange of red beets with basil, scallions and essence of white truffle. This was topped with a very refined and classic Celtic sea salt.

This was paired with Speakeasy’s Big Daddy IPA. This beer is similar to the Double Daddy IPA in flavor components. The beer really brought out the fresh basil in this dish, making it take center stage, while the supporting characters from the beets and Celtic salt came through expertly.

The fourth dish was the Stiletto. This platter is comprised of balsamic honey house cheese

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This dish was paired with Speakeasy’s Scarlett Red Rye Ale. This beer has rye overtones with notes of caramel and moderate bitterness.

This beer complimented perfectly with inhouse beer comb and bitterness of the arugula.

The final dish was the Chocolate Porter Mousse. This was paired with Speakeasy’s Massacre Belgian Imperial Stout with Tart Cherries. Talk about a powerhouse of a beer!

This beer is dessert by itself - just a beautiful and delicious representation of an Imperial Stout. When paired with this traditional French mousse, it further enhanced the beer one step closer towards perfection.

From beginning to end, this was an absolutely amazing pairing. From Sacramento, it’s absolutely worth the drive. Try it - you won’t be disappointed. ____________________________ Winchester Goose 800 Broadway St Chico, CA 95928 thewinchestergoose.com Page 18

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beer inspired recipes: lemon saison bars

Lemon Saison Bars

These bars are sure to please and they really are light and bright...Something yummy to welcome in the unseasonably warm weather!

Ingredients 2 cups 3 tbsp 3/4 cup 1 cup 4 1 1/2 cups 1/4 tsp 2 tsp 2/3 cup 2 to 3 2 tbsp

flour saison beer unsalted butter, softened confectioners' sugar, divided eggs granulated sugar salt grated lemon peel (zest before juicing the lemons) fresh lemon juice drops yellow food color, if desired milk

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray 13" x 9" pan with cooking spray. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the

paddle attachment, mix the butter and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar together on medium speed. Mix in 1 3/4 cup

of the flour on low speed, just until well combined. Remove from the bowl and press the dough with your hands

into the pan and spread out evenly. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Remove from the oven.

2.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the eggs and sugar. Add the re maining 1/4 cup flour and salt and mix with whisk until blended. Mix in the lemon juice, food color and milk.

3.

Mix the Saison into the egg mixture until well combined.

4.

Mix in the lemon zest. Pour the lemon curd over the partially baked crust. Bake for 25 to 27 minutes longer or until the center is set, with no jiggles.

5.

Cool completely, about 2 hour. For 24 bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Sprinkle with the remaining confectioners' sugar (to taste) using a sifter. Store bars in the pan until ready to serve. Tightly cover the pan and refrigerate.

Enjoy Responsibly

© 2014 Shock Top Brewing Co., Shock Top® Honeycrisp Apple Wheat Ale, St. Louis, MO

Hops to Table Magazine

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Closing Date: 3/28/14 QC: CS

Publication: Hops To table

Trim: 10" x 16" Bleed: none Live: 9.5" x 15.5"

road trip chronicles 1. Feature Picture: Ninkasi Brewing Co.’s Critical Hit Release Party

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2. Hop Valley Brewing Co. 3. The Bier Stein 4. Sam Bond’s Garage 5. Oakshire Brewing Co. 6. Blairally Vintage Arcade 7. 16 Tons

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Pictured: The crew from Ninkasi Brewing Co. celebrating the release of Critical Hit, an American Barleywine style beer.

Eugene, Oregon Just eight hours from Sacramento, Eugene is a city that has it all sustainable brewing, award-winning craft brews, and distinctively cool microbreweries, pubs and beer events.

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n the heart of Oregon lies Eugene. Eugene’s slogan is “A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors.” With the plethora of outstanding breweries and beer bars, it should be called, “A Great City for Making and Drinking Awesome Beer.”

There is no mistaking Eugene; it’s a beer town and it makes no apologies for it. Throughout the city, beer aficionados enjoy the variety of beer from a varied and diverse selection of craft beer poured at local sports bars, bottle shops, breweries, beer gardens and growler fill stations.

Yes, you heard it right - growler stations. In Oregon, growlers can be filled at any retail store, restaurant, bar or brewpub with the appropriate license. There is no limit on the number of growlers that a business may sell to a patron; the limit is on the size of the container (two gallons or less).

Our first stop was Ninkasi Brewing Co.. Ninkasi is home to one of Eugene’s largest independently owned breweries. They currently have 95 employees and were ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in Oregon” and “100 Best Green Companies in Oregon” by Oregon Business Magazine.

By every sense of the definition, Ninkasi can be defined as a success story among craft brewers.

They embrace that success, but also take great

Hops to Table Magazine

lengths to give back to the community in terms of donations, charity drives and similar support.

And, if all that is not enough, these folks are just plain cool. They have a metal shop (see Page 11); they have a recording studio on premises, where they partner and assist local bands and musicians and they work hard to maintain sustainable and responsible brewing practices.

And let’s not forget the beer - they make world class beer. This beer has won more awards that I can count, and we sampled a lot of that beer during our trip there, including their Critical Hit Barleywine Release. It was at that release party that owners, Nikos Ridge and Jamie Floyd were chillin with the crowd and having a good time.

Floyd is pictured above in the middle.

Our final stop of the first night was 16 Tons. This beer bar is a cool place to hang out, have a beer and relax. There is no shortage of beer here and you are sure to find something among the 18 craft tap handles available. And if you want to try something not on the tap list, they have a bottleshop with a very diverse and affordable selection of beer.

For dinner, we went to the Eugene Fisherman’s Market. This casual diner has an amazing selection of fresh, local seafood made to order.

The food is very reasonably priced, and they have a small, but decent local beer selection.

The next day, we traveled to Hop Valley Brewing Co. This brewpub has an amazing selection of beer, and we absolutely fell in love with their Citrus Mistress IPA. This brew features four hops and grapefruit peel. It impressed us so much that we brought back a case, and at $4.00/bottle it is worth every penny.

They also feature a restaurant with some stellar culinary offerings. In fact, we had their beer cheese soup and would put it up against any beer cheese soup out there. It was outstanding.

After a lovely meal and beer tastings, we traveled to Oakshire Brewing Co..

They also have a very solid selection of beer, including several barrel aged offerings. If you are in the mood spend the afternoon there, they have rotating food trucks and live music.

Next we went to The Bier Stein. This place is beer heaven. They have 30 taps and 1,000 different bottles of beer from around the world. It is safe to say that if it is bottled and readily available, chances are they have it here.

From Ninkasi, we traveled down the block to Blairally Vintage Arcade. If you are into arcade games, this is your place. They have every imaginable vintage video, pinball and arcade game on the planet. They also have beer, so come thirsty!

The choices are endless and you can enjoy a purchased bottle on premises. They also have a great food menu, so you can go there, have a great meal and choose a beer from a seemingly endless variety of taps or bottles.

Our next stop was Sam Bond’s Garage. This is a cool, laid back brewpub with a stellar selection of regional microbrews and a full bar. They feature diverse local, entertainment on a nightly basis, so be sure to check them out during the evening to see some great local acts.

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We closed out the evening at Falling Sky Brewing Co. This brewpub had a large selection of great beer and food.

This is the quintessential come for the beer and stay for the food place. Their food selections take front stage with a selection of locally sourced and in-house cured meats and deli items.

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While not in Eugene, a couple of places worth mentioning are Caldera Brewing Co. and Rogue Creamery Cheese Shop, located in Ashland, OR and Central Point, OR, respectively. Both are conveniently located on the way there or on the way back from Eugene and are worthy stops.

Caldera Brewing Co. has a wide selection of beer, including several unique and special offerings on 32 tap handles.

Some standouts include their Mogli Bourbon Oak-Aged Chocolate Imperial Porter, a delicious Roasted Hatch Chili Ale and a Big Island Caldera Red Sea made with Himalayan Pink Salt, Pink Peppercorns, Molasses and Chocolate.

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They also have fantastic food, including one of the best wood fired pizzas in the area.

Rogue Creamery is owned by Rogue Brewing Co. They have a cheese making facility on-site and several bottles available for sale. They are well known in the industry for their blue cheeses and have won many awards. If you are into cheese, this is a must stop for you!

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Ten22_Hops2Table_3-25-14 PRINT.pdf

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3/27/14

10:16 AM

industry hop talk: what are you drinking this summer?

By Connor Adam

SPECIAL EVENTS May 1st Anniversary party &bottle release.

May 18th Beer Pairing Dinner ST MAY 6:30pm (Tickets will1be sold at the ANNIVERSARY PARTY & brewery) BOTTLE RELEASE Trivia night every Wednesday @7:30 Food truck every Friday from 5:00MAY 18TH 9:00pm BEER PAIRING DINNER 6:30PM (TICKETS AT THE BREWERY)

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Ian

Sara

Britt

Tracy

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I am planning to drink some nice orangey wheat beers this summer.

Excited to drink Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat!

Yum!

I will be liking IPA’s for the summer. My favorites include Monkey Knife Fight, Pliny the Elder and Lagunitas IPA. In the picture is a keg of Monkey Knife Fight buckled in safely, clearly one of my favorites!

Anniversary 2014 Lemon Saison from Discretion Brewery in Santa Cruz, CA. A citrusy, subtle lemon flavor that eases into a solid saison for the perfect, light, easy drinking summer beer.

Summer beers don’t have to be lagers and wheats!

Maui Brewing Bikini Blonde, a refreshingly light lager that’s perfect for those hot Sacramento days. Also comes in cans, making it easier to take with you to the beach or any summer adventure!

So hard to choose!

Every season is good for beer drinking but when summer hits a Daylight Amber from Track 7 hits the spot! It’s light in ABV-drink a few no problem- and just roasty enough to complement summer foods like BBQ!

EVERY WEDNESDAY @ 7:30 TRIVIA NIGHT EVERY FRIDAY FROM 5:00-9:00PM FOOD TRUCK

CA

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2222 FRANCISCO DRIVE | SUITE 510 EL DORADO HILLS, CA 95762

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20 ROTATING TAPS | 300+ BOTTLES EVENTS Speakeasy Who’s your Daddy Tap Takeover May 8, 2014 Dust Bowl 5th Anniversary Party May 16, 2014 Coronado Brewing Tap Takeover June 4, 2014

2222 Fair Oaks Blvd Sacramento, CA 95825 (916) 922-1745 Hops to Table Magazine

capitolbeer.com

Mon-Thu 11am - 10pm Fri-Sat 11am - 12am Sun 11am - 8pm Page 24

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Industry Discussion

food and beer pairings

BEER STYLE HISTORY: THE PALE ALE

BEER AND CHOCOLATE: A DECADENT PAIRING

This is an installment series that looks at the history of beer and its influence on current styles and trends. This series discusses Pale Ale’s.

This is an installment series that pairs various ingredients with beer. This segment pairs beer with chocolate.

By Matteo Sargentini

By Mike Moore Big and thick porters and stouts can also be used in the dessert recipe itself, just reduce or add the beer directly to cakes and cookies. Who hasn’t had brownies infused with Guinness? Or a rich chocolate cake infused with Bourbon Co. Stout, you can even use the beer in the frosting! I once made a tiramisu with reduced coffee stout and rum to soak the ladyfingers with, absolutely decadent!

called "burtonization". Burtonization revolutionized the brewing industry and is still a huge brewing practice today. Basically, Vincent discovered exactly what was in the water of Burton-on-Trent and added it to other water. Now pale ales could be brewed anywhere as long as you burtonized your water first. As a current example, earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to Drakes Brewing in San Leandro to help make a beer for Sacramento Beer Week.

The first step was to burtonize the water by adding calcium sulfate because, as the brewer stated, "Hoppy beers taste better with hard water".

W

ith a lot of the excitement in the beer world lately being centered around pushing the boundaries of IBUs, sourness, and ABV, it seems that some of the classic styles have taken a backseat role. Elliot double IPA from De Struisse has 216 IBU's, the Beast Grand Cru from Avery Brewing is 16% ABV, and the Abyss from Deschutes is brewed with cherry bark, molasses and licorice, but none of these beers would have been possible without the revolutionary impact some of the classic beer styles had on brewing. With summer approaching, it’s a good time to revisit some of the simple, refreshing, sessionable beer styles. Today we will explore one of the most common styles of beer available in the United States: The Pale Ale. Pale ales are so called because they are lighter in color than stouts and porters, two of the more common ales around when pale ales came to prominence.

They have a much more subtle hop profile than the India Pale Ale, or IPA, but still more hoppiness than most porters, stouts, lagers or other styles of beer.

Pale ales were basically developed as a way to make a hoppier, more bitter beer than the farmhouse ales or dark ales that were dominating England in the late 1700's.

The story begins with the familiar English Pale ale, Bass. In 1777, William Bass opened Bass Brewing in the town of Burton-on-Trent and began to produce a hoppy, pale, and more bitter beer. The ale was wildly successful and became one of England's most popular beers. As brewers around the country tried to capitalize on the new brewing trend, Bass's Pale ale proved impossible to replicate outside of Burton-on-Trent. They would use a similar recipe, but were unable to reproduce the appealing new hop profile. Soon, brewers began to move to the town that was quickly becoming the epicenter of brewing in England and by 1880, one quarter of all beer sold in England was made by the 30 breweries in Burton-on-Trent.

However, as with any success story, there would be trouble. In the 1820's a group calling themselves "The Society For Diffusing Useful Knowledge" began to claim in their "Treatise on The Art Of Brewing" that the reason no one outside of Burton-on-Trent could replicate their now famous pale ale style was that the brewers in the town were using "various noxious ingredients".

The Society stated these ingredients to include salt of steel (iron chloride) and sulphate of lime (calcium sulphate). The Burton-on-Trent brewers took the society to court for libel and were able to prove that the reason for the particular flavor of their beer lay in the geology of the town. Affidavits from chemists, produced in court, proved that the beers naturally contained calcium sulphate due to the large gypsum deposits that the town was built on. The calcium sulphate created what we call "hard water", which is a much more favorable environment for hoppy flavors to flourish.

Almost 60 years later, in 1878, chemist Charles W. Vincent began to analyze the water of Burton-on-Trent. Soon after, Vincent took out a patent for a process

Hops to Table Magazine

There is a recent trend in beer floats, these are very popular today. I see them all the time at beer dinners and parties. It’s very simple really add a scoop of ice cream to your favorite beer. To make the match sing go with a contrasting pairing, like a roasty porter, stout or coffee stout and a very rich (high butterfat) ice cream. Drizzle a fair amount of caramel into the float and it will even match a barleywine or double IPA!

So, now that we know what a pale ale is and where it came from, why are there so many styles? Bitters, special bitters, and ESB's (extra special bitters) are all considered sub categories of pale ales. We now have an American Pale Ale, an English Pale Ale and a Belgian Pale Ale as well as 3 types of India Pale Ales (American, English and Imperial). A lot of the reason for the new variety is burtonization. People, at anytime, and in any place can now add a nice hoppy, bitter note to their beer by adjusting the chemistry of their water.

Due to the ease of burtonization, pale ales and subsequently IPAs, have become the favorite styles of beer in America. In 2011, a company called Symphony IRI that tracks beer sales reported that in 2010, India Pale Ales and pale ales (two of the styles that wouldn't be possible to create today without burtonization) combined to make up 37.4% of craft beer sales in the United States (not including draft). IPA's actually beat pale ales for the first time by taking 19.4% compared to 18%.

Let’s do something which I have not done in previous articles, and that is making a list of beer/dessert pairings. You can also use this as a reference when making or matching desserts. Because chocolate and beer match so well together you really cannot go wrong here, most of the time it’s just about the richness of the beer or dessert. I have personally paired beer and chocolate many times during the last course of beer dinners, and it always works like magic!!

Porter - Milk chocolate, pecan pie, and chocolate covered peanuts or pretzels.

Imperial Porter – Peanut butter & chocolate anything, i.e. Butterfingers, Reese’s.

Coconut Porter – Coconut of course! Macaroons, Almond Joy, coconut cream pie.

Smoked Porter – Cheesecake, french toast, and chocolate covered gingerbread cookies.

A good pale ale in my mind should be well balanced between a nice, not overpowering hoppiness and a medium maltiness, between 4% and 6% alcohol by volume. Not super exciting right? No 110 IBU's, no extreme amount of roasted malts, no 13% abv, no hibiscus flowers, cherries or barrel aging. Just a supremely drinkable beer that you can enjoy a couple of pints without jeopardizing your ride home or conversation with friends. Done correctly, pale ales are delicious, refreshing, sessionable beers.

Nearly every craft beer drinker in Northern California has had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, an excellent example, albeit on the hoppier end of pale ales. Other great classic examples include Pale 31 from Firestone Walker, Row 2 Hill 56 from Russian River and Acme Pale Ale from North Coast Brewing. All of these beers exemplify the subtle, understated beauty of pale ales.

When brewers begin to experiment a little with this style, you can get some wild and exciting results like England's Thornbridge Kipling, an excellent pale ale done with Nelson Sauvin hops that give it an amazing tropical quality with notes of passion fruit, grapefruit and melon. Deschutes Brewing from Bend, Oregon makes an incredible pale ale called Red Chair, a hoppier and maltier version of pale ale they call a Northwest style Pale Ale. For those of you looking for a dry hopped pale ale, Drakes Brewing from San Leandro has Drakes 1500, a dry hopped version that always has a place in my fridge.

Another great thing about pale ales is their unique ability to pair with a huge assortment of foods. Smokey or sharp cheeses such as a cheddar are awesome with them, grilled meats are fantastic with pale ales, even spicy foods like salsa or curry go great with a pale ale. I have seen pale ales referred to as the "work horse" of beer and food pairing because of their knack for tasting great with everything from Indian to Mexican to Japanese cuisine and everything in between.

As we start getting into summer, remember to check out some pale ales over the next few months. They can be refreshing enough for a pool or the river, delicious at a barbecue, and sessionable enough to drink a few while watching a baseball game. It really is the quintessential summer beer. ____________________________________ Matteo likes beer - maybe too much. You will see him around town working with Low Brau, Drake’s Brewing Co. and as a Guest Contributor with Hops to Table Magazine. In his spare time, he is engineering a team of flying monkeys as a way to get to Russian River Brewing faster.

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Dry Irish Stout –Very sweet chocolate, fudge, chocolate syrup, ice cream floats.

Coffee Stout – Coffee laced desserts, tiramisu, coffee torte, chocolate covered doughnuts.

Milk Stout – Chocolate pudding, chocolate shake, malted milk balls.

Oatmeal Stout – Oatmeal desserts of course! Oatmeal cookies, aatmeal with maple syrup, chocolate covered marshmallows and candies.

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n the surface beer and chocolate may seem like strange food partners, but they have a lot in common. Like beer, chocolate requires fermentation. This is how the cacao seed’s flavor is developed in the start of the process. Most everyday chocolate can be cloyingly sweet, but chocolate of a greater quality with a higher cacao content have a pleasant balance between bitter and sweet – sound familiar? Yes, beer has the same type of balance. Chocolate pairings count on dark, full flavored beers like porters and stouts, whose chocolate flavors and roasty undertones complement many great chocolates. You can also pair chocolate with barleywines and India pale ales, adding an element of contrast to the matching, while complementing the bitterness of the chocolate.

When constructing a complementary pairing, you are basically matching “like” with “like”. For example a sweet stout or milk stout goes with milk chocolate.

This works beautifully with chocolate pudding, chocolate milk shake, or even chocolate chip cookies. Oreo cookies come to mind here! This is because both the beer and the dessert are moderately sweet and have some of the same textures. On the flip side, you can choose the route of contrasting flavors, where you select a beer whose flavor and roast or bitterness is completely opposite to that of the dessert. To see this in action try a double IPA with a very rich chocolate truffle, or a barleywine with a chocolate cheesecake complete with a drizzle of caramel topping.

Some beers are desserts onto themselves, and what a choice you have today!

Most all of these new craft breweries in/or around this area - or the United States for that matter - are making wonderfully big, heavy, dark, and rich mind-blowing porters and stouts. I am talking milk stouts, coffee stouts, bourbon stouts, or even high ABV imperial stouts! These beers are best drunk by themselves in a snifter in a cozy tavern or by the fireplace.

Hops to Table Magazine

Chocolate Stout – Milk chocolate, floats, most any vanilla based chocolate.

Russian Imperial Stout – Big, rich and buttery cakes and desserts, i.e. chocolate decadent cake, truffles, Sacher Torte, crème brulee, chocolate covered raspberries and blackberries.

Bourbon Stout – Intense chocolate cake, flourless chocolate cake, maple glazed desserts, chocolate bourbon truffles, chocolate covered raisins, pecan pie and candied pecans. barleywines – Caramel and chocolate combos, toffee, butter brickle, salted caramel cheesecake, chocolate covered caramels.

Double IPA’s – Crème brulee, truffles, rich cheesecakes, chili infused chocolates (brings out the spice).

Dunkelweiss – Banana split, chocolate covered bananas.

Dopplebock – Honey based desserts, chocolate covered cherries, gingerbread cookies.

Fruit Beers – Fruit and nut desserts, cherry pie, chocolate covered strawberries.

Fruit lambics (only the sweet ones i.e. Lindeman’s) – Chocolate mousse, tortes with a fruit sauce, cheesecake with fruit topping. _____________________________ Mike Moore is a National Beer Judge with over 20 years of judging experience.

He has planned and hosted beer pairing dinners for the last 15 years and has made appearances on local television to explain how and why food and beer work so well together. Mike has also traveled extensively to Europe to study the beer and food scene.

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sac eats and drinks HOPS TO TABLE MAGAZINE 1st YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY

SACRAMENTO BREWERS SHOWCASE

Taken at Capitol Beer and Taproom on March 7, 2014

Taken at The California Auto Museum on February 27, 2014

Hops to Table Magazine

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greater sacramento brewery, brewpub and craft beer directory

PLACER COUNTY BREWERY

SACRAMENTO COUNTY CRAFT BEER MENU (CONT)

BREWERY American River Brewing 11151 Trade Center Drive Suite 104 Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (916) 635-2537 www.americanriverbrewingcompany.com Device Brewing Co. 8166 14th Ave. Sacramento, CA 95826 devicebrewing.com Lockdown Brewery 11327 Trade Center Drive #350 Rancho Cordova, CA 95742 (916) 835-7416 www.facebook.com/lockdownbrewingco New Helvetia Brewing Co. 1730 Broadway Sacramento, CA 95818 (916) 469-9889 www.newhelvetiabrew.com New Glory Brewing Co. 8251 Alpine Avenue Sacramento, California 95826 (916) 760-8306 www.oldglorybeers.com Track 7 Brewing Co. 3747 West Pacific Ave Sacramento, CA 95820 (916) 520-4677 www.track7brewing.com Two Rivers Cider 4311 Attawa Avenue Sacramento, CA 95822 (916) 456-1614 www.tworiverscider.com

BREW PUB Hoppy Brewing Co. 6300 Folsom Blvd.

Sacramento, CA 95819 (916) 451-6328 www.hoppy.com River City Brewing Company 545 Downtown Plaza Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 447-2739 www.rivercitybrewing.net Rubicon Brewing Company 2004 Capitol Avenue Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 448-7032 www.rubiconbrewing.com

CRAFT BEER MENU Alley Katz 2019 O Street Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 442-2682 www.facebook.com/alleykatzpubngrub Bella Bru Cafe - Natomas 4680 Natomas Blvd Sacramento, CA 95835 (916) 928-1770 www.bellabrucafe.com Blackbird Kitchen + Beer Gallery 1015 Ninth Street Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 498-9224 blackbird-kitchen.com/ Bonn Lair 3651 J Street Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 455-7155 www.bonnlair.com

Cordova Restaurant & Casino 2801 Prospect Park Drive Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (916) 293-7470 cordovacasino.com

Midtown BierGarten 2332 K St Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 346-4572 beergardensacramento.com

Dad’s Kitchen 2968 Freeport Blvd Sacramento, CA 95818 (916) 447-3237 www.ilovedadskitchen.com

The Porch Restaurant and Bar 1815 K Street Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 444-2423 www.theporchsacramento.com

Dad’s Kitchen - Fair Oaks 8928 Sunset Ave Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (916) 241-9365 www.ilovedadskitchen.com

Pour House 1910 Q St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 706-2465 www.pourhousesacramento.com

De Vere's Irish Pub 1521 L St Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 231-9947 www.deverespub.com Easy on I 1725 I St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 469-9574 www.facebook.com/easyoni Extreme Pizza 1140 Exposition Blvd, Ste 200 Sacramento, CA 95815 (916) 925-8859 www.extremepizza.com Firestone Public House 1132 16th St Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 446-0888 firestonepublichouse.com Flaming Grill Cafe 2319 El Camino Ave Sacramento, CA 95821 (916) 359-0840 www.flaminggrillcafe.com

Tank House BBQ and Bar 1925 J Street Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 431-7199 tankhousebbq.com Ten22 1022 Second St Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 441-2211 www.ten22oldsac.com

FOLSOM

Hot City Pizza 5642 J St Sacramento, CA 95819 (916) 731-8888 www.hotcity-pizza.com

Capitol Beer and Tap Room 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd Sacramento, CA 95825 916-922-1745 www.capitolbeer.com

OneSpeed Pizza 4818 Folsom Blvd Sacramento, CA 95819 (916) 706-1748 www.onespeedpizza.com

Hops to Table Magazine

Streets of London Pub 1804 J Street Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 498-1388 www.streetsoflondon.net

The Fat Rabbit Public House 825 Decatur Street Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 985-3289 facebook.com/thefatrabbitpublichouse

Burgers and Brew 1409 R St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 442-0900 www.burgersbrew.com

Capitol Garage 1500 K Street Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 444-3633 www.capitolgarage.com

Bike Dog Brewing Co. 2534 Industrial Blvd #110 West Sacramento, CA 95691 (916) 432-3376 www.bikedogbrewing.com

Cellar Wine Bar 727 Sutter Street Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 293-9332 www.thecellarwinebar.com

Magpie Cafe 1409 R Street, Ste. 102 Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 452-7594 www.magpiecafe.com

Pangaea Two Brews Cafe 2743 Franklin Blvd Sacramento, CA 95818 (916) 454-4942 www.pangaeatwobrews.com

BREWERY

The Shack 5201 Folsom Blvd Sacramento, CA 95819 (916) 457-5997 www.eastsacshack.com

Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. 1630 S St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 442-4885 hookandladder916.com

LowBrau 1050 20th St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 706-2636 www.lowbrausacramento.com

YOLO COUNTY Berryessa Brewing Company 27260 Hwy 128 Winters, CA 95694 (408) 917 2295 www.berryessabrewing.com

BJ's Brewhouse - Folsom 2730 East Bidwell Street Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 404-2000 www.bjsbrewhouse.com

Kupros Bistro 1217 21st Street Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 440-0401 kuprosbistro.com

CITRUS HEIGHTS

Tenth Inning 7753 Mariposa Ave Citrus Heights, CA 95610 (916) 726-0751

The Rind 1801 L Street, Suite 40 Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 441-7463 www.therindsacramento.com

Fox & Goose Public House 1001 R St Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 443-8825 www.foxandgoose.com

Kilt Pub 4235 Arden Way Sacramento, CA 95864 (916) 487-4979 www.kilt-pub.com

Old Town Pizza & Tap House 9677 Elk Grove Florin Rd Elk Grove, CA 95624 (916) 686-6655 www.facebook.com/oldtownpizzeria

Lockdown Brewing Co-Tasting Room 718 Sutter St. Suite 200 Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 358-9645 www.facebook.com/lockdownbrewingco Manderes 1004 E. Bidwell Street, Suite 600 Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 986-9655 www.manderes.com Samuel Horne's Tavern 719 Sutter St Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 293-8207 www.samhornes.com

BREW PUB Black Dragon Brewery 175 West Main St Woodland, CA 95695 (530) 668-4677 www.blackdragonbrew.com Sudwerk Restaurant and Brewery 2001 Second Street Davis, CA 95616 (530) 758-8700 www.sudwerk.com

CRAFT BEER MENU DAVIS

Gold Hill Brewery 5660 Vineyard Lane Placerville, CA 95667 (530) 626-6522 www.goldhillvineyard.com/brewery.html

Loomis Basin Brewing 3277 Swetzer Rd. Loomis, CA 95650 (916) 259-2739 www.loomisbasinbrewing.com Out of Bounds Brewing Co. 4480 Yankee Hill Rd #100‎ Rocklin, CA 95677 (916) 259-1511 outofboundsbrewing.com

Jack Russell Brewing Company 2380 Larsen Drive Camino, CA 95709 (530) 644-4722 www.jackrussellbrewing.com

Roseville Brewing Company 501 Derek Place Roseville, CA 95678 (800) 978-3713 www.rosevillebrewingco.com

Old Hangtown Beer Works 1117 Elm Avenue Placerville, CA 95667 (530) 919-5166

BREW PUB Auburn Alehouse 289 Washington Street Auburn, CA 95604 (530) 885-2537 www.auburnalehouse.com Lazy Daze Brewery at Mary’s Pizza Shack 711 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Ste. 160 Roseville, CA 95678 916-780-7600 www.facebook.com/MarysRoseville

CRAFT BEER MENU Auburn Thai Garden Restaurant 175 Palm Ave Auburn, CA 95603 (530) 887-8696 www.auburnthai.com

Boneshaker Pub 2168 Sunset Blvd #104 Rocklin, CA 95765 (916) 259-2337 www.boneshakerpub.com

G Street Wunderbar 228 G St Davis, CA 95616 (530) 756-9227 www.gstreetwunderbar.com University of Beer 615 3rd St Davis, CA 95616 (530) 759-1990

WEST SACRAMENTO

Sudwerk Riverside 9900 Greenback Ln Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 989-9243 www.sudwerkriverside.com Whole Foods Market - Folsom 270 Palladio Pkwy Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 984-8500 www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/folsom

Streets of London Pub 2200 Lake Washington Blvd, Ste 100 West Sacramento, CA 95691 (916) 376-9066 www.streetsoflondon.net

BJ's Brewhouse - Elk Grove 9237 Laguna Springs Elk Grove, CA 95758 (916) 753-1500 www.bjsbrewhouse.com

Knee Deep Brewing Co. 13395 New Airport Rd., Ste. H Auburn, CA 95602 (530) 797-HOPS www.kneedeepbrewing.com

City Hall Tavern 226 F Street Davis, CA 95616 (530) 756-4556 www.sro-inc.com

Broderick Roadhouse 319 6th Street West Sacramento, CA 95605 (916) 372-2436 www.broderick1893.com

EIK GROVE

Cool Beerworks 5020 Ellinghouse Dr. Suite H Cool, California 95614 (530) 885-5866 www.coolbeerco.com

Bar 101 101 Main Street Roseville, CA 95678 (916) 774-0505 www.bar101roseville.com

Davis Graduate, The 805 Russell Blvd Davis, CA 95616 (530) 758-4723 www.davisgrad.com

WINTERS Preserve Public House 200 Railroad Ave Winters, CA 95694 (530) 795-9963 www.preservedrinkery.com

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BREWERY

GoatHouse Brewing Co 600 Wise Road Lincoln, CA 95648 916.740.9100 www.goathousebrewing.com

Burgers & Brew 403 3rd St Davis, CA 95616 (530) 750-3600 burgersbrew.com

Davis Beer Shoppe, The 211 G St Davis, CA 95616 (530) 756-5212 www.facebook.com/thedavisbeershoppe

EL DORADO COUNTY

Chef's Table, The 6843 Lonetree Blvd.

Rocklin, CA 95765 (916) 771-5656 www.chefdavidstable.com Country Club Saloon 4007 Taylor Road Loomis, CA 95650 916.652.4007 www.countryclubsaloon.net Final Gravity Taproom and Bottleshop 9205 Sierra College Blvd, Ste 10 Roseville, CA 95661 (916) 782-1166 www.finalgravitybeer.com Little Belgium Deli and Beer Bar 780 Lincoln Way Auburn, CA 95603 (530) 820-3056 Perfecto Lounge 973 Pleasant Grove Blvd #110 Roseville, CA 95678 (916) 783-2828 www.perfectolounge.com

Mraz Brewing Company 2222 Francisco Drive. Ste. 510 El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 (916) 601-6339 mrazbrewingcompany.com

BREW PUB Placerville Brewing Company 155 Placerville Drive Placerville, CA 95667 (530) 295-9166

CRAFT BEER MENU 36 Handles 1010 White Rock Rd El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 (916) 941-3606 www.36handles.com

BREWERY ol' Republic Brewery 124 Argall Way Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 264-7263 www.olrepublicbrewery.com

CRAFT BEER MENU Cooper's Ale Works 235 Commercial St Nevada City, CA 95959 530-265-0116 Jernigan's Tap House & Grill 123 Argall Way Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 265-6999 jernigansgrill.com Lefty’s Grill 101 Broad Street Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 265-5838 www.leftysgrill.com Matteo's Public 300 Commercial St Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 265-0782 matteospublic.com

SUTTER COUNTY BREW PUB Sutter Buttes Brewing 421 Center St. Yuba City, CA 95991 (530) 790-7999 www.sutterbuttesbrewing.com

BUTTE COUNTY BREWERY

Brick Oven Pub 2875 Ray Lawyer Dr Placerville, CA 95667 (530) 622-7420

Butte Creek Brewing Company 945 W 2nd St Chico, CA 95928 (530) 894-7906 www.buttecreek.com

Independent, The 629 Main St Placerville, CA 95667 (530) 344-7527 www.independentplacerville.com

Feather River Brewing Company 14665 Forest Ridge Rd Magalia, CA 95954 (530) 873-0734 www.featherriverbrewing.com

Powell's Steamer Co 425 Main St Placerville, CA 95667 (530) 626-1091 www.powellssteamer.com Pub at Fair Play, The 7915 Fairplay Rd Somerset, CA 95684 (530) 620-1500 www.thepubatfairplay.com Stumble Inn, The 3500 Carson Rd Camino, CA 95667 (530) 957-5245 Wine Smith, The 346 Main Street Placerville, CA 95667 (530) 622-0516 www.thewinesmith.com

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY BREW PUB

BREW PUB Feather Falls Casino Brewing Company 3 Alverda Dr Oroville, CA 95966 (530) 533-3885 www.featherfallscasino.com Sierra Nevada Brewing Company 1075 E 20th St Chico, CA 95928 (916) 893-3520 www.sierranevada.com Western Pacific Brewing 2191 High St Oroville, CA 95965 (530) 534-9101 westernpacificbrewing.blogspot.com

CRAFT BEER MENU The Banshee 132 W 2nd St Chico, CA 95928 (530) 895-9670 www.bansheechico.com

Lodi Beer Company 105 S. School Street Lodi, CA 95240 (209) 368-9931 www.lodibeercompany.com

Burgers and Brew - Chico 201 Broadway, Ste 150 Chico, CA 95928 (530) 879-9100 burgersbrew.com

Valley Brewing Company 157 West Adams Street Stockton, CA 95204 (209) 464-2739 www.valleybrew.com

The Graduate 344 W 8th St Chico, California 95928 (530) 343-2790

CRAFT BEER MENU

Pete’s Restaurant and Brewhouse 5540 Douglas Blvd Granite Bay, CA 9574 (916) 797-4992 petesrandb.com/locations/granite-bay

Abbey Trappist Pub, The 2353 Pacific Ave Stockton, CA 95204 (209) 451-1780 abbeytrappistpub.com

World Pub 3021 Grass Valley Hwy Auburn, CA 95602 (530) 392-3603

Woodbridge Uncorked 18911 N Lower Sacramento Rd, Woodbridge, CA 95258 (209) 365-7575 www.woodbridgeuncorked.com

Hops to Table Magazine

NEVADA COUNTY

The Handle Bar 2070 E 20th St, #160 Chico, CA 95928 (530) 894-2337 www.facebook.com/handlebarchico University Bar 191 E 2nd Street Chico, United States (530) 898-0630 www.facebook.com/theubar Winchester Goose 800 Broadway Street Chico, CA 95928 (530) 715-0099 thewinchestergoose.com

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