Brew Dog is located in Aberdeen, Scotland, in the heart of Scotch Whiskey country.  Watt had been homebrewing for about 4 years before “going pro.” “My goal is to make people in the U.K. as passionate about beer as we are,” stated Watt.  His passion was fueled after meeting the late beer writer, Michael Jackson at an event in 2004.  James had some of his homebrewed stout aged in a whiskey barrel and asked Jackson if he would taste it.  According to Watt, Jackson tasted it and told him he should quit his day job and brew professionally.  Brew Dog was born.

Those of you who have tasted their beer know that it is hard to describe within traditional beer-style terms.  That’s OK with Watt.  “I want to challenge perceptions of what beer is.”  You will notice that Sink the Bismark at 41% ABV is 1% higher than Scotland’s native adult beverage, Scotch Whiskey. This was not unintentional according to Watt.

While they are perhaps best known for their high-alcohol concoctions, Watt told me that they also are working at the other extreme.  Nanny State, an ale that comes in at .5% ABV and  a 2.7% ABV Mild are part of their beer portfolio.

At Monk’s, in addition to the above mentioned 2 “big boys,” they poured:

Devine Rebel – A Barleywine brewed in collaboration with Mikkeller

5 A.M. Saint – A 5% ABV hoppy amber ale, featuring Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand

Hardcore Imperial IPA -  9.2% ABV and claimed 150 IBU’s

Bashah – A black double IPA with a Belgian yeast strain brewed in collaboration with Stone Brewery

Like all their beers, these defy easy descriptions.  Like all their beers, they have character.  And true to their mission, tasting Brew Dog beers will help  you expand your perception of what beer is.

Beer by BART Gail and I made a quick visit from San Francisco to the City of Brotherly Love (and steaming heat), to participate in the celebration of craft beer that gave birth to all the other “Beer Week” celebrations around the country. As with SF Beer Week, the PBW schedule of events was overwhelming. There were close to 1,000 events listed in more than 150 venues, with new events being added every day up to opening day. We located ourselves in Center City, within easy walking distance of several notable craft beer spots and event venues.

On the first day of PBW, we decided to meet the Hammer of Glory (HOG) on its trip around the city. The Hammer is a large wood-handled, engraved metal mallet that would be used to tap the ceremonial first keg of beer at Opening Tap, that evening. We watched the HOG arrive at Nodding Head Brewery on its 10th of 18 stops, across the chest of a “bloodied” Chicago Blackhawk hockey player effigy, acknowledging another big event in town that weekend. The hammer and fake corpse were transported via police escorted hearse. We followed on foot for the next three stops. The HOG went on via a hand truck mounted “keg throne” and then on another leg in the arms of a jogging Rocky look-alike.

(More images of the HOG relay are at our photo set at Flickr)

The Opening Tap event, held in the Independence Hall visitors center, featured local beers from about forty mostly Philadelphia area breweries. There the Hammer of Glory was accepted by Philadelphia’s Mayor who tapped the first special collaboration keg while local beer writer, Don “Joe Sixpack” Russell, emceed a brief ceremony for the crowd and the TV cameras. Gail and I then turned our attention to tasting local beers. Two of the outstanding beers of the evening were the one-time-only “Pimp My Rye” IPA from Dock St. Brewery (Philadelphia) with specialty rye malts sourced from all around Europe, and a delicious sour apple lambic from Fegley’s Brew Works (Allentown and Bethlehem).

Over the course of the next four days we visited the legendary Monk’s Cafe, Nodding Head Brewery, Tria, Varga Bar, Hawthorne’s, South Philly Tap Room, 12 Steps Down, Jose Pistola’s , The Belgian Café, Lucky 7 Tavern, Devil’s Den, The Wishing Well, Brew and out in the suburbs, PJ’s (in Paoli) and Teresa’s Next Door Bar (in Wayne). We met some amazing brewers, and tried some very special brews. With the exception of the release of a luscious Sierra Nevada beer camp collaboration brewed by notable Philly publicans, we concentrated on events featuring beers that we seldom, if ever, see on the west coast. And while we sought out special events for breweries like Cigar City, Bell’s, Terrapin, Left Hand, Drie Fonteinen, Southampton and Voodoo, the ubiquitous presence of solid beers we don’t often see in California, from breweries like Pretty Things, Duck Rabbit, New Holland, Founders, Flying Fish and many smaller Belgian breweries got our attention. These are available in Philly throughout the year alongside the many fine Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and other Mid-Atlantic beers. You will also find some familiar west coast beers.  Any fan of great beer can clearly spend a few joyful days (or more) in Philly outside of festival time, too.

There does seem to be high concentration of top-notch beer bars, tap houses and cafes, perhaps more than in any other American city we have visited.  All of venues we attended except for Belgian Café and Lucky 7 were within easy walking distance from our location near 11^th and Spruce Sts. There is a reasonably effective transit system (SEPTA) that would reach the large number of great beer venues we didn’t get to.  For instance, we never got to the Northern Liberties and Fishtown neighborhoods which are home to a number of other noteworthy beer destinations.  And, of note for train travelers, there is even a fine beer bar, Bridgewater’s in the 30th St. Amtrak and Regional Rail Terminal.

We were told that most every new restaurant that opens in Philly includes at least a decent beer list and several we visited had superb beer offerings. We clearly could have stayed in another neighborhood and had dozens of choices of events at venues within walking distance there, too. Some of the suburbs are stepping up as well. Beer blogger Brian Kolesar pointed out that a commuter train pub crawl can now be a worthwhile adventure.

My favorite example of the respect with which the people of Philadelphia treat beer is the relatively new Tria Cafe, serving good food, wine and fine beer in two locations and offering classes at their Fermentation School. The servers and cooks continue to study the production, serving and food pairings of wine, cheese and beer, the three fermented comestibles that they champion. The staff receives two hours of “schooling” weekly. Their knowledge is easily apparent when you talk with them about the items on their menu. Perhaps most exciting, Tria also routinely uses their school to teach the public about all three fermentation traditions. We were too late to sign up for the Cantillon fermentation class during PBW, which was a huge hit. Thankfully there were dozens of other tempting events going on at the same time, proving that PBW is a festival that is worth your travel time and dollar.

So, about Philly’s claim of being “America’s Best Beer Drinking City?” OK, I have to admit it. I bought the hat.

- Steve

(A local believer wearing her Philly Beer Week shirt to the opening, laughing at our skepticism.)

Explore Beer By BART; see our list of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best beer places with detailed transit info, so you can get out there to enjoy without driving.

Downstairs, front common table

Bar section converted to a downstairs common table

Happily, the N-Judah street car goes by right in front, as do all kinds of shoppers and Golden Gate Park visitors.

The layout of the Social Kitchen looks good empty, with strong curved lines and two dining levels. However, the place is much better packed with happy diners sipping the delicious fresh beers from the tap.

Social Kitchen happiness in the late afternoon

Fans of Rich Higgins’ brewing at Thirsty Bear previously, or of his job convening and communicating the wonder that was SF Beer Week 2010, will be interested in what he will do as brewmaster here. Higgins has five beers on tap, created upstairs on a 15-barrel system, and all made to be accessible and good with food.

Brewer Rich Higgins

Social Kitchen for socializing or enjoying a book

Higgins knows a lot about being social, and a lot about beer education. There’s talk of special tastings, tours, and food pairing events at this new venue, and he has the knowledge and the social savvy to convene them so that they are don’t-miss events.

The word spread swiftly and people have been showing up in droves since the first night the doors quietly opened.

Lights made from bottles

The food we tried was a pleasure. An all-vegetable chowder was a favorite, and it showed toasted barley grains as a garnish. The lights — made of cut bottles — are also great.

We think this place is going to be a keeper. May as well get out there and support your newest local brewery while it’s still new.

Here’s how to get there on the N line from BART downtown.

Explore Beer By BART; see our list of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best beer places with detailed transit info, so you can get out there to enjoy without driving.

The mention of this city elicits powerful feelings for the people who live there and for those who have visited. For us, New Orleans has been a city of musical riches, friendly people and creative food adventures since we started visiting in the early 90s. This spring we were fortunate to spend a little time back in the Big Easy. The current oil slick in the Gulf — which has everybody heartsick — had not bloomed yet, so our visit was a rich music and seafood extravaganza.

Jazzfest goer in a Dogfish shirt, having to settle for a Coors

Bland macrobrewed beers and cocktails — available 24/7 in “go cups” for drinking on the way to the next place to drink — can distract some tourists (and locals) from any thoughts of top notch beers.  Until recently, those of us who look forward to discovering distinctive regional craft beers that are not available to us at home had to put that quest on the back burner when we headed to New Orleans. Change is coming, however.

In the past several years, at least four regionally breweries have opened: Lazy Magnolia, in southern Mississippi, Heiner Brau across Lake Ponchartrain in Covington, Louisiana, Bayou Tech (currently contract brewing at Lazy Magnolia) and NOLA (New Orleans Lagers and Ales) Brewing Company in New Orleans. They all produce interesting craft brews, and they join the nationally distributed Abita Brewing and local brewpubs, Crescent City and Gordon Biersch, all currently making beer in and around New Orleans.

While the sheer number of beer-serving establishments has never been a problem in New Orleans, most serve only light macros. An occasional Abita tap handle may also be found. There are, however, several bars serving a nice selection of craft beers. Old standby, DBA, in the Fauborg Marigny neighborhood has been the standard-bearer for years. Their 20 taps feature local, regional and national crafts and imports. They also have an extensive bottle list. Located in the heart of the Frenchman Street music scene, walking distance from the French Quarter, DBA has live local bands every night.

Another beer bar we’ve enjoyed in NOLA is Cooter Brown’s Tavern. Located in the Riverbend section of the Uptown neighborhood (#32 bus or stop #43 on the St. Charles Street Car line), they have 45 taps and many bottles, providing a mixture of macros and craft beers plus raw oysters and grilled foods. For an intriguing bottle selection, Dan Stein of Stein’s Jewish & Italian Deli in the Garden District (#11 Magazine bus) features U.S. and imported craft brews to take away, but not to sip on the premises. He has also produced periodic tasting events.

Now, there is a new star rising in the Crescent City: Avenue Pub, in the Lower Garden District. New owner, Polly Watts, inherited the bar from her father four years ago, a year after Katrina. She knew nothing at all about craft beer and not much about anything having to do with the beer, all macros, that were served by her father.

“I would have sold the bar if there was a market for it,” Watts said. “But Katrina took care of that.” The Tulane graduate did know business, however. She quickly discovered that she was actually losing money on draft beer. She began calling people she knew in the industry to solicit opinions about why this was and what to do about it. She got suggestions ranging from expensive fixes like a installing a new glycol system or replacing her refrigeration system. The true problem, as pointed out to her by a knowledgeable beer distributor rep, was beer lines that hadn’t been cleaned for a very long time. “When he showed me a line I saw the thick clump of black stuff, it was gross. I was sick that we were serving the public anything that had passed through this,” Watts said.

Soon, with new beer lines and some renovations to the historic building, clean brews were flowing again at her pub.

Avenue Pub, early in the day

With the ability to taste the beer properly again, Polly began learning about the beers. With the encouragement of friends and colleagues in the industry, she became familiar with craft beer. She experimented by putting on a keg of Racer 5, and according to Polly, “It flew out of here, and new people came in the door.” Being the savvy businessperson she is, she saw a new business plan emerging.

One year ago, encouraged by the owner of NOLA Brewing, Polly decided to convert virtually all of her 40+ taps to craft beers.

St. Charles Street Car; trees adorned with Mardi Gras beads

Eschewing suggestions to phase in the change, Polly went all-in. And it has paid off. She has now installed a second draft system upstairs so patrons can enjoy craft beers on the large balcony overlooking the historic St. Charles street cars.

Perhaps the best news for all current and future craft beer appreciators is that Polly is not stopping with the Avenue Pub conversion. “We need to expand the whole craft beer market in New Orleans,” says an enthusiastic Watts. She is spearheading area-wide events for New Orleans’ celebration of American Craft Beer Week (May 17-23), 17 events including the finale at Avenue Pub where an all day event will feature about 50 drafts and casks plus 50 more bottles — some making their Louisiana debuts — including beers from Brooklyn, Harpoon and Rogue.

What’s coming for New Orleans beer appreciators? For one thing, some restaurants are getting interested in beer. Ray Daniels will be coming to town with his Cicerone exams late this summer to help raise the level of beer education among local servers and beer professionals. Maintaining draft lines that are free from infection is a core element in his curriculum, of course.

While we were there, Avenue Pub had a special event with Stone Brewery. According to Watts, it was Stone’s idea. So it seems that if craft breweries were looking for a way to establish a market in the Louisiana and Mississippi area, they now have a ready, capable and enthusiastic ally in New Orleans.

P.S. We should mention that Avenue also has a full bar and serves food, prepared in-house by well regarded local restaurant, J’Anita’s.

Post by Steve and Gail

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We were already pretty lucky with the beers available in our ballpark, and the proximity to the 21st Amendment brew pub for before or after games. However, this takes the craft beer baseball experience to another level.

Our Public House how-to Beer By BART transit guide is listed here, for future reference when you take BART and MUNI around town.

To summarize our listing, Public House offers excellent local and regional craft beers on tap or on cask, elite imported beers in bottles, dozens of big flat screen TVs and a menu of tasty casual dishes. (Under the same roof and ownership, Mijita will offer a selection of delectable Mexican specialties and tequilas.)

On game days,we are told you will be able to buy a craft beer in the Public House and carry it into the ballpark. Can you imagine? Rodenbach Grand Cru or a “Fond Tradition” Gueuze in the upper deck. Will these be the first sour ales available in Major league Baseball premises? Something big, like Old Rasputin or Judgement Day down by the foul pole? Hops, you say? Some refreshing Big Daddy or a Racer 5 while kicking back in the bleachers.

Valley Brewing represents!

For those who like to sip multiple pints of something smooth and rich but not high in alcohol, imagine enjoying Valley Brewing’s London Tavern ale beside the visitors’ dugout. Amazing beers, in the ballpark.

The preview opening last week was a treat. The beer list and craft beer bar concepts come from the thoughful Eric Cripe from The Jug Shop. Eric put together the beer list at Anchor & Hope, a fine fish restaurant in the SOMA area, too.

We all toasted Eric Cripe for the beer list

At a 1.1 mile walk from BART, the new Public House stretches our the original premise of listing places within a mile of Bay Area Rapid Transit, but we made this delightful exception because it’s 1.1 miles from either Powell or Montgomery. This implies that if you went in a bee-line or a super-hero in flight line, it is a mile. Plus, Public House is steps away from MUNI, and actually built into the end of this sweet baseball park. It’s also perfect for making loop walking trips to nearby beer destinations such as 21st Amendment, Gordon Biersch or Thirsty Bear after the game.

Click on the photo of the Public House menu for a mouth-watering close-up of the beer list.

Explore Beer By BART; see our list of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best beer places with detailed transit info, so you can get out there to enjoy without driving.

How’d he know we have a little problem with hoarding Special Beers?

Since there are two of us who work on BeerByBART, and we had the inclination earlier this week to open something good, we had no reason to hesitate.  Why wait for a special moment?  Isn’t life good enough to celebrate as special?  We’re both here, yay, and we’re lucky to both love beer. Let’s make that reason enough, and pull up something amazing.  (But not one of the sour beers!  Too special.)   Sheesh.  No, no, not that 22 ounce barleywine!  Gotta work tomorrow.

They get better until they don't

With all those strong beers staring back at us on a week night, it was reassuring to find a prize that was in an 11 ounce bottle. As soon as we opened it and got a whiff of the bread-pudding aromas within, however, it seemed far too small a container.

The beer we opened was a 2007 Dogfish Head Raison D’Extra.  It was an 11 ounce bottle we hand-carried back from a family visit back east that year.  It came back wrapped in dirty clothes in checked luggage and went into our San Francisco basement/garage, which averages just below 60 degrees F with relatively little variation in annual temperature. Not the cellar temperature of the mid 50s all the time, but strong beer seems to be fine at this temperature range.  We do not save anything below 8.0% alcohol by volume unless it is a sour beer, with a whole other biochemistry going on to make it keep on going.

This little bottle lists the alcohol at 18% by volume.  No, that’s no typo.

So as expected it aged gloriously.  We sipped slowly.  “Less raisin than I remember,” I say.

“Oh, I get a ton of raisins,” says Steve.

Hmm. I will investigate further.

Quiet sipping.  Ok, not by a fire, in front of TV, but I can’t remember what was on, and that’s the modern day equivalent of a romantic flickering fireplace.

“Bread pudding. Sherry or port or something like that in the sauce.  A dry chocolate note, like powered hot chocolate, too.  Yeah, I think there are raisins in the bread pudding.”

Altogether delightful, and much better than I remembered.

Medium carbonation. Dark brown, and not clear.  And…  yummy.  A yummy strong ale.

At some point we agreed that if someone served this to us and said it was an unknown port or sherry-like fortified wine, we’d be amazed but would accept that at face value.  It was a remarkable beverage that had come into its own in the bottle.

So cheers to seizing the day! No real reason, just a happy raison. Thanks to the bloggers who carry on the tradition of The Session.

-Gail

Explore Beer By BART; see our list of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best beer places with detailed transit info, so you can get out there to enjoy without driving.

Tonight’s finale runs from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Trumer Brauerei

The Celebrator Party is an all-you-can-taste wrap-up with amazing beers, curious costumes and all kinds of cool brewers in attendance.  We’ll be there again this year.

For transit options you could walk from North Berkeley BART (about a mile and a half) or take a free shuttle from the Downtown Berkeley BART Station at Shattuck Avenue.  Shuttles will return you to BART at the end of the evening.

Date: February 14, 2010  Happy Valentines Day!
Time: 4–8 p.m.
Venue: Trumer Brauerei
Address: 1404 4th Street,  Berkeley, California 94710

Likely Shuttle Route (We are not sure where they will be at Downtown Berkeley BART, but they say they will be Clearly Marked)

View Larger Map

Walking option, from North Berkeley BART:

View Larger Map

Gail (writing this) has been working days, and dropping around to events only in the evening, while Steve (who shot the little video below) has had daytimes to enjoy special San Francisco Beer Week events, as well as evenings. He’s been spending his time asking why…

And you? Do tell!

There are still more events: http://sfbeerweek.org/

Explore Beer By BART; see our list of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best beer places with detailed transit info, so you can get out there to enjoy without driving.

Please join us in this community collaboration by putting your photos into the SF BEER WEEK pool at Flickr. Flickr has a lot of features, but you will only need to use a few of them. (Make a simple free account, join the pool there, then upload or email pix to your Flickrstream, and “send” your best beerweek photos into the group pool for community appreciation.)

You’ll see some great community shots from various people from last year, further back in that pool too.

What about moving pix? Steve has been doing some little preview and promo videos, such as this one:

and some of them can be seen on the SF Beer Week gallery now. Check them out.

We’ll see you at Beer Week.  Don’t forget your camera.

Explore Beer By BART; see our list of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best beer places with detailed transit info, so you can get out there to enjoy without driving.

Rosamunde, just prior to opening steps away from 24th St BART

We just updated the main Beer By BART listings index with two more beer destinations! Rosamunde, the little sausage shop famously paired with Toronado in the lower Haight,  just opened a second location, at 24th and Mission, SF.  Yes, they have the sausages, and an array of popular craft beers to go with them.  It rivals Jupiter in Berkeley as perhaps the second closest beer destination to a BART station. All the details and logistics are on our new Beer By BART Rosamunde page, and frankly, this one’s stupid-easy to walk to from BART.  Get on over there when you get a chance.

We also added a page for Bobby G’s, a place in downtown Berkeley we’ve liked for a while.  Bobby G’s is offering a very good list of taps and will be hosting local brewing legend Brian Hunt of Moonlight Brewing for an SF Beer Week event.  In combination with Triple Rock and Jupiter, that makes three places to find something delicious in the center of Berkeley.

Check out the new listings… and most important, the places! Let us know if we should add anything to the listings: Rosamunde and Bobby G’s

More beer venues are popping up all over.  What a great time we live in.

Explore Beer By BART; see our list of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best beer places with detailed transit info, so you can get out there to enjoy without driving.