Enter the Lone Cicerone

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Last Tuesday, we had our monthly meeting with the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild at Anchor Brewing and we were treated to a wonderful talk about fermentation temperatures by MULTI-AWARD-WINNING homebrewer Keith Kost who… damn… just always has about 50-60 kegs of wonderfully prepared beer at his disposal. Winners of the Guild’s own competition were also announced… and it may not also shock you that he won a ribbon in that competition as well. Our Dunkelweizen didn’t earn a ribbon… but still did fairly well scoring wise. It’s just tough when you’re always going against some of the best brewers not just in the city… or state… but the f**king nation really. We’re truly blessed to be around this caliber of competition on a regular basis. Here are some pictures…

 

We also tried our Strawberry Hefeweizen that we bottled about two weeks ago… and yeah, it’s fantastic… we’re getting this recipe down pretty good…

 It's a Pretzel Stick...

Saturday morning, Izzy & I harvested our Galena Hops as they were prime and ready… now we’ve also dehydrated them and will use them in a wet hop pale ale or something VERY soon… we’ll keep you posted…

 

Later that morning, Izzy put her pictures up at her first art gallery showing at Elevation 66 Brewing in El Cerrito. She’s such an amazing artist and a BIG thank you to Super Dave & his lovely wife for allowing her to put up her art.

 

Please come check it out… and of course… enjoy some of their wonderful beer and food… here are some pictures from the lunch that Big Ben & his wife Kristin treated us to in celebration of Izzy’s exhibit…

 

 

…and Kristin is a newly minted cicerone and we convinced her to start her own blog at Lone Cicerone. Please check it out… it’s hella entertaining.

 

That afternoon, we also stopped by Fieldwork Brewing for a quick drink as Big Ben & Kristin recommended that we try some of their new beers, including a Golden Stout & a Rye Red… both were amazing…

 

Sunday & Monday, we went to some wonderful barbecues in San Jose and Pinole… but yeah, great people, good times, no pictures to really show for it. Trust me though, it was awesome.

 

Super busy week at work… and more importantly outside of work… with concerts, new brews, and prepping for NCHF in less than two weeks… so stay tuned… and of course, check out Kristin’s blog at Lone Cicerone. Have a great week everybody!!!

SFHG Barbecue & ADAM CAROLLA

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Friday, I met up with Jackie D, Supastar, Restless & her boyfriend and we headed over to Church Key in North Beach for a few libations. I like this bar… it typically has a fantastic selection of very different beers from sours to various stouts… and they usually have a few dark beers on draft which is always good. My favorite this adventure was Dark Seas Imperial Stout… and I’ve found that you really can’t go wrong with Imperial anything. They’re just strong, delicious & like a supersized version of the original profile. After a few rounds, we grabbed some pizza slices at Tony’s… and then I was off to pick up Izzy from a day at work via bus. Good times.

 

Saturday was the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild Tribute to America Beer Competition & Barbecue!!! This was the first event handled by the new leadership group (including myself) and I think it went swimmingly. We set up a 10’ x 10’ tent, plenty of tables, the grills, a few key elements of picnic foods, and viola we had a pretty bitchin’ barbecue with plenty of homebrew to share. Here are some pictures…

 

Towards the end, we also shared the results of our competition beers (American styles which were submitted a few weeks back). We had entered our Honey Amber Ale… and then soon realized that we were disqualified because we had used honey, which technically makes it a “Specialty” category, which was not part of this competition. Oh well… there was also the People’s Choice Award where everybody could pick their favorite competition beer & non-competition beer that was on display that afternoon. I’m feeling really good because… we basically finished 2^nd & 3^rd in the People’s Choice with our Honey Amber & what we’re now calling our Oktoberfest-Lite, which everybody enjoyed. We got some great feedback on our beers… tried some others to inspire future brews… and there were some great selections that won the awards… and of course, everybody had a fantastic time… and that’s what’s most important!!! I’m really excited to be working with these guys & gals to make these kinds of events happen.

 

By the way, if you would like to take part in these kinds of fun events, hit me up & I can let you know how to join the Guild… or even if you want to stop by & check it out. Izzy’s sister, Jackie D & soon Bubbles will be guests at our monthly meetings… and they seem to love them. Holla back!!!

 

Sunday night, Izzy & I went to The Palace of Fine Arts to watch a live podcast of Adam Carolla with special guest Mike Rowe. That’s right… the Holy Trinity of Manliness was in the same building (including myself). They were basically on stage for just under two hours doing their standard routine… but if you haven’t heard the podcast before, it’s basically a lot of outstanding comedy, social commentary, current events, interviews of special guests… and just a plain good time. This was actually one of the better podcasts that I’ve heard & I was glad that we could be a part of it… and did I mention we were sitting 2^nd row? Yeah… cuz we’re awesome like that…

 

Anyway, so it was a pretty amazing weekend… and this weekend should be even better as my mom flies in on Wednesday & we board for our 10-day cruise to Alaska on Friday. I’m sure you’ll be anxiously awaiting all of our pictures! I’m sure anxious to be spending some time with loved ones instead of working my anus completely off. So yeah, may be a while before you hear from us but… Thanks for reading! Have a great day everybody!!!