Oktoberfest 2010!

Oktoberfest 2010 at Silverado Brewing Co. runs September 28 through October 3. Come join us for great German food, our Oktoberfest Lager, live German music, and FUN! Click here for the complete event schedule. Prost!

Ein Grosse Bier, Bitter*

Yes, I have beer on the mind of late. Maybe it's from talking online with Noah, who just opened Barley and Hops Tavern in beautiful downtown (I'm sincere--I love the town) Occidental. Or maybe it's because I just rented and watched In Bruges (which I LOVED), in which roughly 30% of the scenes take place in a Belgium beer pub. Or maybe it's simply the 100+ degree heat...

Anyway, I turned to an old standby this week: Spaten's Optimator. Spaten, of course, is a Munich-based beer maker, making beer in the strict German purity law tradition (the Reinheitsgebot) since 1397. I love the Optimator because of its dark color and flavor: which I call "caramel" but which Spaten calls "roasted malt flavor." The Optimator is a bottom fermented "Dopple-Bock' (whatever that means)... and one of my favorite beers. Anyway, check it out sometime... And N: see you soon.

*A large beer, please

Beer Me... and Tony, Too

Was a great fourth -- warm, a cook-out, swimming, etc. And, of course (with the heat, the cook-out, etc.) some beer. I am disappointed to say, though, that I didn't make it over to the grand opening on July 4 of the new Barley and Hops Tavern in Occidental. Noah, the new owner along with his wife, Mir (wtf?), has been keeping a great blog about the renovation (much of which Noah did himself) and the beginning of the beer pub. I have to admit, having restaurant ambitions myself, I'm not sure from a logistical standpoint that Occidental is big enough for another drinking and eating establishment, even if they do serve Really Good Beer. It will be interesting to see what happens. Brew Pubs are a growing thing in Sonoma County, though, as it seems like every city must have one: Russian River Brewing Co. (Santa Rosa), HopMonk Tavern (Sebastopol), Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma), etc. I plan to visit Barley and Hops this week. I will -- I know, I know: surprise, surprise -- let you know my thoughts and impressions. Cheers.

P.S. Oh, yes, by the way: Tonight at 10:00 p.m. on the Travel Channel kicks off the new season of Tony Bourdain's show No Reservations. I'll be on the couch with, well, a beer, so see you there.

P.P.S. O.K., I have to admit, I have another reservation about Barley and Hops. Where's their marketing? I haven't heard or seen one mention of them in the papers, the blogs, etc. If I hadn't of stumbled across them by chance.... It still amazes me how restaurant people pour thousands and thousands of dollars into things (buildings, kitchens, etc.) and then have no money (or don't want to spend any) for marketing. You need the marketing, too!

CENSORSED

Whew, with the temperature pushing 105+, my thoughts have been turning to one thing of late: ice cold beer. And when I'm hot and yucky and just want to kick back and not think too much, that means turning to one of my faves: Lagunitas Brewing Company, out of Petaluma. I LOVE their CENSORED rich copper ale: flavorful, full-bodied, with no mean aftertaste. Try it. Now. Hurry.

And I LOVE the company's whole marketing thing. Here's one tag line on the CENSORED bottle: Life is Uncertain. Don't Sip.

How true! Their web site is hilarious, too. Here's info they have about some supposed misspellings on their labels:

It has been broughten to our attrition that they're have been numberous spelling errors on hour various lables. From the cureous (as in 'steet') too the sublime (as in 'redempetion'). As a soulution to this problem we have retrained an imminent linguist from Stanford and have invested in a spel checker computter utilitiy. For now however, the thing I want to know is: Who are these werd police? Anyway? Who is the boss, ewe or the words? Huh? And besides, what dew words, let alone speling, have to do with beer anyway. I mean, who ever herd of some namby pamby pale lexiphile curling up buy a warm fire with a good book and a cold beer. This hole bussiness has gone plenty far enouph, don't you think?

And I LOVE this, which is part of their description for the CENSORED Ale:

Anyway, we were going out to, uh,the ,uh, you know, thing, and all, and when we got there, well, uh, the dude was, like- "whoa man!" I mean, and we were all, uh, you know - "whoa!" and stuff, and when I said to him, like, you know, "hey man", and all they, I mean he, was all "what?" and stuff- and I just told him what you said and all and they were all man- "not cool dude", but whatever- so, uh, we split and went back to my lair and just hung out and whatever, but the whole thing was, like, just SUCH a bummer and all but, you know, it was cool and stuff, but you just gotta, you know, about the dude and all, like, it's cool and all you know, but what's up with that "blah blah blah"? Whatzit got to do with beer and all? I mean, really, dude, whatever...but, it's cool and all...

Stay cool... and don't sip.

TIAGASIAB

There IS a god and She is a BUCKEYE!

Today: The Ohio State Buckeyes 14, that lowly team from Michigan 3

OSU is now 11-1, outright winners of the Big Ten conference two years in a row, and almost certainly headed to the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. If you're a Buckeye, it just doesn't get much better than this....

My recommended celebration: A cold bottle of Anchor Steam, from San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company. Every time I have one of these, I immediately get transported back to Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran and the smell of fresh crab and shrimp and fried calamari. This beer has history, taste, and character, and worth every penny.

Napa Valley Everyday: Part 1

About twice a week, I find myself driving a 9- or 10-mile strip on Highway 29 in the Napa Valley stretching from just south of the town of St. Helena north, to the town of Calistoga. Along this path are three of my favorite lunch stops, which I call "Napa Valley Everday": Buster's Barbecue & Bakery, Taylor's Refresher, and the topic of today's post, The Silverado Brewing Company.

SBC is located in an old stone building which used to be Freemark Abby Cellars. I love the interior: stone walls, dimmish-lighting, the beautiful polished-smooth bar. To the right of the bar area is the dining room, and to the left, behind a huge glass wall, are the tall stainless steel vats. It's a lot of fun to sit at the bar, have a great made-right-there beer, and watch the beermakers lug their hoses and what-not from vat to vat.

My favorite sandwich there: the pulled pork. It's a delicious salty-sweet treat. The pork, from the veritable Niman Ranch, is slow-roasted, and melts in your mouth. It comes with one of my favorite sides: the orange, not-as-greasy-as-regular-fries sweet potato fries. I order an Oatmeal Stout to accompany the sandwich: black and layered yet light enough to drink with lunch.

Their web site isn't much to look at, but check em out sometime: http://www.silveradobrewingcompany.com/.