Last night found me and my lovely wife in Sacramento’s most beloved brewery, Rubicon, for what we thought would be a quick drink before getting home at a reasonable hour. We were both a bit tired and looked forward to a relaxing weekend ahead of us – we were clearly not out for a party. We realized soon after arriving at Rubicon, however, that we’d need more than just one drink, as their menu read like a dream: IPA (of course), Dunkel Hefeweizen (seasonal), English Porter (seasonal), Winter Wheat Wine (seasonal) and High Mountain Cherry (the last of it).
You’ll recall Rubicon took home a GABF gold medal for their sour cherry beer in last year’s festival, a beer that took years of patience and craftsmanship to create. Well, it was going to be a thing of history in no time at all, the last of this one-off beer is headed to San Diego for a few festivities down there – we were quick to order a glass.
Phone call, unknown number. I answer and piece together that the caller is none other than Tom Schmidlin, Wyncoop’s 2006 Beer Drinker of the Year. With all the noise in the bar it was hard to make things out, but it was clear he was in the bar. Hanging up it only took a minute to spot Tom walking toward me with a gift in tow – Hair of the Dog’s Fred of the Wood. We exchanged the necessary pleasantries and before too long he too had a glass of the cherry to enjoy.
Tom, for those who don’t recall, won the Beer Drinker honors for his work with yeast strains and other science stuff that, even when told, didn’t quite understand. I did catch this though – the guy’s smart, likes his beer and knows more about the magic of fermentation than I will ever hope to know. On top of that, he’s one hell of a cool guy to have a drink with – or a few.
Within a few drinks of cherry beer I figured it’d be a good thing to introduce Tom to the long-time brewer at Rubicon, Scott Cramlet, working the midnight shift in a small brewery that seems to never stop. From there, the night only got better. Scott told the stories you’d expect a man to have after 18 years working in the same brewery, a brewery that has seen very little in the way of change since opening its doors more than 20 years ago. He’s a masterful brewer, by the way, helping to shape the current-day understanding of one of the country’s most beloved beer styles – the American IPA. In fact, Scott’s beer took the very first gold medal at GABF when the style was officially recognized – then again the following year. By today’s standards one would argue it’s not hoppy enough, or lacks the intense aromas needed in the category – but those who say that are weird. It really is a great beer, and over the years we’ve enjoyed our share.
The night bled into the morning and Scott treated us to some great beer, the wheat wine being particularly fantastic this year, like candy! The on-tap version of the IPA is unfiltered, full of flavor and completely satisfying. Sadly, this is not a treat we should get used to, as the market demands Scott filter the beer before leaving the brewery – Rubicon’s IPA is on tap throughout the region and without him to explain the hazy quality of an unfiltered beer, bar-goers seem quick to return the beer without appreciating the haze and hand-made goodness in front of them. Before too long that bottle of Fred was opened too – man is that oaky!
It was 2AM when we parted ways. Scott still had a bit of work to do, Tom had a hotel and Tracy was eager to drive me home.
Conclusion: beer people are cool people. I’ve said it before, you’ve heard it before, but its truth cannot be overstated. Tom and Scott are examples of a story played out around the country, brewers taking time to really talk with those who really appreciate the work they do, making people like me feel at home. With people like this, there’s no wonder the people of the country are flocking to support craft beer and the craft beer industry.
Just a quick and minor update regarding this weekend’s festivities in Sacramento. I just received the updated and final list of IPAs on tap at Rubicon Brewing this weekend, from Rubicon’s owner, Glynn Phillips. If you’re not familiar with the brewery, it is located at 2004 Capital in Sacramento’s downtown area (20th and Capital). For lovers of Craft Beer, you’ll want to do what you can to get here.
If you don’t have a lot of time to go through all the beers, may I suggest you start with the Wet Hopped Rubicon IPA on Cask? After that, the SacBrew Imperial Red and Elk Grove’s Imperial Red. You can’t go wrong with those choices.
Here’s the complete list:
#1 RUBICON- IPA
#2 RUBICON- CAPRICORN BLACK IBA
#3 MENDOCINO- RED TAIL ALE
#4 TRIPLE ROCK- RED ROCK 5.5% Hoppy American Amber Ale
#5 SAC BREW- IMPERIAL RED
#6 ELK GROVE BREWERY- WOODY’S HOP HEAD RED 6.8% Big, Hoppy Red Ale
#7 HOPPY SUPER HOPPY
#8 MARIN BREWING CO.- WHITE KNUCKLE – Double IPA
#9 MOYLANS- HOPSICKLE 9.2% Imperial Ale9VG
#10 BLACK DIAMOND- IPA 7% Traditional IPA
#11 ANCHOR- LIBERTY ALE 6%
#12 LAGUNITAS-IPA Homicidally Hoppy Ale
#13 SUDWERK-IPA
#14 AUBURN ALE HOUSE- GOLD DIGGER IPA
#15 BEAR REPUBLIC- RACER 5
#16 GREEN FLASH -WEST COAST IPA
#17 ANDERSON VALLEY – HOP OTTIN
#18 SPEAKEASY- BIG DADDY IPA
#19 RIVER CITY- HOPTIMUS PRIME
#20 DESHUTES- HOP TRIP 5.5% Fresh Hop Pale Ale
#21 EJ PHAIR IPA
#22 Wet Hopped Rubicon IPA on Cask
If you live in Northern California and you love good craft beer, then this weekend will be a tough one for you. Here’s what’s on tap:
- Toronado Wet Hopped Beer Festival
- Rubicon’s 20th Anniversary / Hoptoberfest
Need more information? Well, let’s take a look at the details for each event. First up, the Toronado lineup.
- Deschutes Hop Trip
- Drakes Brewing Co. Harvest Ale
- Bear Republic Confiscation
- Beach Chalet Hop Patootie
- 21 st Amendment Harvest Moon
- Half Moon Bay Green Gold
- Blue Frog Last Hop Standing
- Moonlight Brewing Co Sublimmminal
- Moonlight Brewing Co Greenbud Chinnook
- Moonlight Brewing Co Greenbud Cascade
- Sierra Nevada 20th Street Ale
- Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale
- Marin Wet Hop Cask IPA
- Moylans Wet Hopsicle
OK, just a few notes on this mother of all wet hopped beer lineups. Oh, and according to the Toronado site, there were 5 other beers that didn’t make the trip from San Diego.
Moonlight’s beers have been getting way too much attention this year to not be worth the sampling. I mean, really, have you read a bad report on these, or even one that wasn’t glowing? Brian out there went overboard this year with a bit of help from Russian River’s expansion. You see, Vinnie just wasn’t able to use his harvest, so he passed them on to Brian – and that seems to have been a great use of them.
Next up, did that say Wet Hopsickle? I don’t know if I can even pretend to comprehend that one… I mean, just how many hops could they actually fit into this bad boy? Man, this sounds like a good time.
Then, of course, we have the celebrated Rubicon’s 20th Anniversary Party, featuring no small lineup themselves.
- Rubicon IPA
- Rubicon IBA (India Black Ale)
- Mendocino Redtail Ale
- Triple Rock Red Rock
- Sac Brew Imperial Red
- Elk Grove Woody’s Hop Head Red
- Hoppy Super Hoppy
- Marin White Knuckle
- Moylans Hopsickle
- Black Diamond IPA
- Anchor Liberty
- Lagunitas IPA
- Sudwerk IPA
- Auburn Gold Digger IPA
- Bear Republic Racer 5
- Green Flash West Coast IPA
- Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA
- Speakeasy Big Daddy
- River City Hoptumus Prime
- Deschutes Hop Trip
You would almost think, just by looking at this lineup, that the guys at Rubicon enjoy a well made IPA. I recently tried the still-young Imperial Red by Sacramento Brewing, and holy crap this is a monster… a hoppy, wonderful, fun loving monster. Another beer you may not know, the Gold Digger IPA from Auburn, is worth the trip to 2004 Capital in downtown Sacramento this weekend.
So, once again, what are you doing this weekend?
Now, check out the dope video from the 2006 Anniversary/Hoptoberfest.
Hoptoberfest 2006
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This past weekend was Sacramento’s Maibock Festival hosted by the good guys at Rubicon Brewing Company – an annual event at Sacramento’s most celebrated brewery. The event is fairly low-key if compared to the festivals in the city these past few weeks (Raley Field and West Coast), with nine samples on tap from regional brewers. The crowd consisted primarily of beer-geeks, many of whom came with pencil and paper for notes, while others just found it an event to meet up with some good friends (another appearance from the Sacramento Hopheads, who seem to be everywhere beer is poured). While we’d hoped to enjoy the beers on their outdoor patio, we seemed to arrive too late to make that happen. We were, however, happy to secure a recently vacated window seat big enough for the four of us.
With me on this day were Mark (AKA, The Beer Geek), Joerge and Lothar. The latter two gents were born and raised in Germany, and my assumption was they were big Maibock fans… but you know about assumptions. They were certainly game for the sampling and actually enjoyed more than a few. Oddly, they enjoyed the ones that were most Americanized, but we’ll get to that soon enough.
What are Maibocks? According to the BJCP folks, nobody cares. Oh, wait. My bad. According to the folks at the BJCP the style originated in Germany, in the Einbecker area (hence, Bock? Bock, Einbeck? More on that to come too). Maibocks are a subcategory of Bock beers. Traditional bocks were dark in color with a wonderful sweetness to them that reminds many of caramel. Oddly enough, there are very few commercial examples of the Traditional Bock around these days, but I do believe the guys at Anchor have done a good job mimicing this.
Maibocks are lighter in color than the Traditional and… well, read for yourself from the BJCP guys and gals…
The rich flavor of continental European pale malts dominates (pils malt flavor with some toasty notes and/or melanoidins). Little to no caramelization. May have a light DMS flavor from pils malt. Moderate to no noble hop flavor. May have a low spicy or peppery quality from hops and/or alcohol. Moderate hop bitterness (more so in the balance than in other bocks). Clean, with no fruity esters or diacetyl. Well-attenuated, not cloying, with a moderately dry finish that may taste of both malt and hops. (more info)
Geeky moment – I love the last sentence. Well-attenuated, not cloying, with moderately dry finish… Why comment? Each description says the same thing. If you were to ask me what well-attenuated meant, I’d say words like ‘not cloyingly sweet’ or ’slightly dry finishing’. Also like the “clean, with no fruity esters” bit too – I guess it is better than ‘clean with fruity esters’.
Where was I? Oh yes – Maibocks. On the day in question the four of us each sampled nine beers in their lineup – seven of them were Maibocks (two were Traditional). Following is the lineup of beers with my comments on each.
- Blue Frog Brewing’s Maibock: Light golden color with great clarity and a light tan, frothy head displaying good retention. Very light aroma, overall, but clearly leaning toward a malt sweetness that was somewhat biscuity. The flavor seemed to follow suit of the aroma, complimented by a moderate hop bittering to balance and finishing slightly watery with the mild bitter aftertaste. Score: 2.8/5
- Sudwerk Maibock: Light golden in color, with a beautiful white frothy head with very good retention. Aroma, overall, is very light – same with the flavor. Bready sweet with a slightly sticky hop presence… didn’t hit me right. Still, a good beer overall. Score: 2.5/5
- River City Brewing’s Spring Bock: Golden color with good clarity and an off-white head that is less than spectacular. Aroma is very sweet, almost candy-like. Overall, a watery sweet mess of a beer that lacks the hop balance it needed. Finishes watery and sweet too. Score: 2.2/5
- Bison’s Golden Bock (Organic): Golden color with great clarity and a white bubbly head with low retention. Must be said, this is a very interesting beer, with a lot going on. There appears to be a corn-like sweetness with a peppery spice hop bitterness. Listed as a Traditional Bock, which it clearly is not, but a very good beer overall. Score: 2.8/5
- Bear Republic Maibock: Deep golden color with significant haze. This appears to have used American hops, with citrus-like characters in the aroma and taste. Beer also appears to use an ale yeast, as it lacks the clean finish expected. A very good beer all said, but not a good representation of the traditional style. Score: 2.2/5
- Sacramento Brewing’s Maibock: A beautiful beer in appearance and aroma – golden color, bready malt sweetness and good clarity to make the rocky head more beautiful – but the taste is riddled with issues that range from an off-citrus character to a vegetal presence. I had high hopes for this local beer, as the company consistently puts out good beers, but this was not their day. Score: 2.0/5
- Rubicon’s Purple Maibock: Golden color, great clarity and a wonderful white frothy head. The beer starts off with a fantastic bready & caramelized sweetness, which is followed up brilliantly with a pepper/spice hop presence, which is not overwhelming, but very well balanced. Finished clean, with a lingering mild hop bittering. Score: 3.6/5
- Brew It Up Maibock: Dark brown, almost amber color with good clarity and white frothy head. Very nice caramelized sweetness with mild spicy hop bittering and flavor to balance the beer. Finished slightly sweet with a lingering mild bittering. This is a very good beer. Score: 3.3/5
- Elk Grove Traditional Bock: Sorry to report, but this beer didn’t do so well, seemed to have issues in the flavor that were too distracting. Score: 2.2/5
Looking back at my scores, I feel I was pretty stingy at times. However, I’m not going to change them, that seems like a slippery slope. It was a very nice tasting, the help was great and the food was quite nice. Once the scores were put away the table did an impromptu ranking of the beers. Let’s see if my scores match the ranks.
Rick:
- Rubicon
- Blue Frong
- Brew It Up
Mark
- Blue Frog
- Sudwerk
- Rubicon
Honorable Mention: Brew It Up
Joerg
- Blue Frog
- Bison
- Bear Republic
Lothar
- Brew It Up
- Rubicon
- Blue Frog
