If I ever had any doubts about living in California, they vanished Saturday afternoon at the Bistro’s Third Annual West Coast Barrel-Aged Beer Festival on downtown Hayward’s most beautiful block.
The day was just about perfect: Temperatures in the upper 70s and the Bistro’s pleasant outside patio was jammed with fest-goers and the beer? Oh my, the beer. 57 beers from as far away as Allagash, Portland, ME., New Belgium, Fort Collins, CO. and Deschutes, Bend, Or.
Proprietor Vic Kralj raised admission this year to $35, which bought 10 very generous pours. He said he had no choice. He buys the beer, no donations, and the beer cost him more than $6,000. I didn’t hear a single complaint from patrons. It was money well-spent.
There was no judging this year, Vic said it was just too complex, the beers varied too widely. But Paul Marshall, the San Lorenzo homebrewer and ace judge who handles competitions at the Bistro, said he was still puzzling it out. So there may be professional, blind judging again…
But we had the People’s Choice Awards. Everyone was asked to list in order up to six faves. I listed the winners in yesterday’s quick and dirty post. Here’s a bit more detail.
- People’s Choice Winner VINdication from Schooner’s Grille & Brewery, Antioch.
Brewer Craig Cauwels said the beer was 11 percent, aged 12 months in a brandy barrel. It was an oatmeal stout, aged with Montmorency cherries (an American sour cherry) and “funk” a bacteria package created by Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River.
“The beer’s name is a homage to the tireless and always working Vinnie Cilurzo and also a contraction for VINnie Deserves a vaCATION,” Craig said in notes complied by Vic and his hard-working wife, Cynthia.
It’s a beautiful beer with a brandy nose. The taste was very dry with a definite sourness and a big hit of brandy spirts and wood in the finish. I missed talking to Craig Saturday, called Schooner’s today and the bartender said the beer will be put on tap in February (during SF Beer Week). I’ll cerainly try it again.
First runner-up was Effingreat, Valley Brewing, Stockton. Brewer Steve Altimari (and assistant Matt MacDougall) brought four beers to the fest and I tried them all – first. Steve is getting a very deserved reputation for brewing great, barrel-aged beers. Effingreat was indeed ‘fing great: 7.8 percent, aged 24 months in a brandy barrel. Steve described it as a two-year-old strong ale, aged with a light dose of “sour.” Brandy nose, a bit of malt, mild sour finish. Excellent.
- Second Runnerup: Eric’s Sour Peach Ale, New Belgium, Fort Collins. Conceived as an independent project a couple of years ago by New Belgium brewer Eric Salazar, it’s 7 percent, aged in oak on peaches and wild yeast. This is a delicious beer that shows up on tap at good beer pubs around the Bay Area from time to time. If you see it, order it at once. Here’s some info.
- Third Runnerup: OTIS from Steve Donahue, the most-excellent brewer at Firehouse Brewing, Sunnyvale. It’s an imperial stout, 11 percent, aged four months in an oak bourbon barrel. Didn’t get to try this one. Steve also won his first medal (silver) for Firehouse Porter at the Great American Beer Festival in October. Not sure if this bear’s going to be on tap. I’ll call Steve in the morning and see if the beer’s going to be on tap. Don’t believe they bottle.
Fourth Runnerup was a three-way tie:
- Fifty Fifty Brewing, Truckee, BART, Todd & Kyle Ashman, brewers. Aged six months in a Jack Daniels whisky barrel. They described it as a blend of barleywine and oatmeal stout. Alcohol wasn’t listed, but I guess it was around 9 or 10 percent. It was a dark brown with a sour nose. But the barleywine malt was very present. The taste started out sweet, balanced by a mild sourness with some hop bitterness in the finish and warmth from the alcohol.
- Glacier Brewhouse, Anchorage, won for Big Woody Barleywine. Brewer was Kevin Burton, 9 percent, aged in a Jim Beam barrel for 10 months. The brewer’s notes said “no expense was spared, with the use of English floor malt and other secret stuff. Centennial hops, 80 IBUs. The brewery’s super house yeast was used.” It was one of my top picks. A translucent brown with a whisky and vanilla nose. It was quite sweet with a hoppy finish and some heat from the alcohol.
- The third tying beer was Curieux, the 10 percent classic from Allagash, Portland, ME. Brewer-owner Rob Tod explains the beer this way: “We age our Tripel Ale in Jim Beam barrels for eight weeks in our cellar. During the aging process, the beer is totally transformed and many new flavors and aromas develop. Most notable, the beer picks up soft coconut and vanilla characteristics and also a hint of bourbon flavor.” This is a barrel-aged, American classic. Yu can find it at good beer stores, about $16 for a 750 ml. bottle.
Among other beers I tasted was Russian River Beautification, Vinnie Cilurzo’s “spontaneously” fermented new beer. Many beers are now soured with brettanomyces (wild yeast), but it comes from White Labs or Wyeast. For Beautification, Vinnie simply let the yeast in the air around the beer and in the barrel do the work. It’s a pale copper beer with a definite, Belgian Lambic-like nose. It’s sour from start to finish, but balanced by a bit of malt. Very different. It would be great on a hot day.
Here are Vinnie’s notes from the beer list prepared by the Bistro:
- “A 100 percent spontaneously fermented beer, using the oldest barrels that no longer have any wine flavor or oak flavor left in them. However, a “cocktail” of “bugs and critters” (Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus and other wild yeast and bacteria) remained in the barrel (from previous fermentations). This isn’t the only place where the beer picks up its ability to ferment. Before the unfermented beer heads into the oak barrels, the beer has already sat “horny” (I guess, in the open air) and picked up many other wild yeasts to start its life towards a true, spontaneously fermented beer.” Wow.
Final note: Another beer I really liked was Vogelbekdieren from Avery, Boulder, CO. Brewer was Hollywood Parker. It’s 10.5 percent, aged 9 months. Avery explains it’s a blend of three beers from five different barrels, an Opus One Cabernet Sauvignon barrel, a Ferrari-Carrano Chardonnay barrel and Eagle Rare Whisky barrels. Brett was added to two of the barrels for a wild yeast fermentation.
The taste was complex and I loved it: A very dark brown with a pronounced, sour nose, the taste was a delight, there was some malt sweetness with a sour finish. If you like sour beers, this one would delight you.
And a last, big thank you to Vic and Cynthia Kralj and the whole Bistro serving crew for another great fest. Great fun was had by all. For an afternoon, the dismal economy evaporated and all was right with the world.
Photos: The patio at the Bistro, middle: Bartender Dice Osburn serves a glass of Russian River Beautificaton. Bottom: The last glass. (It was Stone Oaked Doubled Bastard.)
EVENTS: 6-10 p.m. Thursday, Trappist Beer Cafe, 460 8th St. in downtown Oakland will mark the 25th anniversary of the date that Chimay Trappist Ales were first imported into the U.S. Chimay, one of six Trappist monasteries in Belgium, has been brewing beer for 146 years. Buy a glass of Chimay Blue Grande Reserve for $10 and get a collector glass. There are also deals for bottles and for Chimay Cinq Cents. See you there.
