Jack's Abby Brewing

Whenever I have some free time traveling, I try to visit a new brewery or two.  I just got back from a trip to Boston to visit family, and of course Sam Adams and Harpoon both came to mind, but I had been to both previously and they both can get super crowded on the weekends.  So I was happy to learn about a new brewery that just opened last summer even closer to my relatives home.  The brewery is called Jack's Abby and is located in Framingham, MA.

The entrance resembled the typical So. Cal. microbrewery, a non-descript building in an industrial park

I did a little research on them before showing up, so I knew a little bit about their story, but was welcomed by a friendly tasting room staff who was able to fill in the details and also give me a tour of the brewery.

They are run by three brothers who are all full time employees, as well as two other full time employee's.  One of the brothers is Jack, and his wife is Abby, hence the name of the brewery.  Abby was manning the tasting room when I showed up.  Jack was the head brewer, and the other brothers were in charge of sales, marketing, operations, and other duties.

The current selections on tap in the tasting room.  

One of the first interesting things about Jack's Abby was their decision to brew only lagers.  Lagers are typically more difficult, time consuming, and expensive to brew.  But Jack told me for those same reasons most microbreweries stay away from lagers and he thought it would be a way to differentiate themselves.

Descriptions of the beers

Even though they have only been in business for a short period of time, they have some pretty impressive equipment.  Their brewhouse is a 20 barrel kettle with mash tun, and then they have five 40 barrel fermenters.  They recently ordered a bright tank and two more fermenters.  Plus they have a bottling line capable of bottling 1300 bottles an hour.

The brewhouse, 20 bbl capacity

They currently have five 40 bbl fermenters and are planning to get a few more

Another part that was interesting to me was the contrast in liquor laws between California and Massachusetts.  Breweries in MA aren't allowed to sell beer to drink in their tasting rooms.  For this reason, Jack's Abby offered free tastings of all of their beers, but only 2 ounce pours, and no pints.  They sold bottles and growler fills in the tasting room also, and seemed to be doing a pretty solid growler business.  The entire time I was there, there was a pretty constant flow of people coming in to fill growlers.  Also, all of the breweries in MA sell their growlers for refundable deposits.

Huge logo on the wall

Finally, on to the beers.  All of them were pretty tasty.  Jabby Brau, their session lager, was nice and crisp, light and drinkable, but still with some nice hop bitterness to give it some character.  Hoponius Union was their IPL, which apparently they can't officially call an India Pale Lager since it isn't a recognized beer style, but it was pretty solid as well.  My favorites were the Biere de Garde which had some nice spiciness from the hops and the rye, as well as the baltic porter.  I went with a growler of the Biere de Garde, and it was a definite crowd pleaser that evening.  Overall, all six were pretty tasty, and I will definitely be heading back there again on future trips to the area.  If you happen to find yourself in the suburbs of Boston, be sure to look them up!

Pinus longaeva

What is Pinus longaeva you ask? Well the answer is quite simple, Pinus longaeva is the scientific name for the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, which is a tree found only in California, Utah and Nevada, and boasts the distinction of having the oldest non-clonal organism specimen on earth, at 4,842 years (thank you wikipedia...). But more relevant for this blog, it is the tree featured on this years "Our Special Ale" from Anchor Steam brewery in San Francisco.

Yes, I know my last post was on Anchor Steam, and this is starting to look like favoritism, but I assure you it is much less nefarious than that. I simply write when I have time, and I happen to have had time when I was drinking this beer.

Each year, many breweries put out special holiday brews, and Anchor Steam is no exception. It is impressive that this year's brew is their 37th edition, and as with every other year, it is a new recipe made exclusively for 2011, with a new tree featured on the label. Inspired by a display I saw on my tour of their brewery, and giving in to my collector nature, I will be saving a bottle of this beer each year to start my own chronological collection. Enough of the nonsense, and on to the review.

Appearance - The best way to describe this beer, is the darkest brown you can imagine without being called black. Even when poured in a clear pint glass and held up to eye level, the beer is translucent, with only a hint of root beer coloring.

Smell - One of my favorite ways to smell a beer is to have my nose by the cap so that as I open the beer I get the first whiff of smell as opposed to a more oxygenated version. For this initial smell I would describe this beer's scent as fairly typical of a holiday beer having clove, spice and cinnamon notes, but fairly unexpected was a nice hint of pine.

Taste - Roasty malt and clove, with a hint of pine, and as mentioned in smell, the usual spices to be expected from a a seasonal winter.

Mouthfeel - I would definitely call this a creamy medium body, with low to medium carbonation. On initial pour, there is a good amount of light caramel colored head, but this dissipates to provide just a smooth topping to each sip as you drink the beer.

Overall: If I was having a party at my house for Christmas, it would be great to have a pony keg on tap for all to enjoy. As it is, after the one bottle I plan to save and the one I drank, I have four remaining, and I will be enjoying these all to myself.

Happy holidays to all!

Seattle Area Breweries

As Rob mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, one of the great things about traveling these days during the recent craft beer explosion, is that wherever you are traveling, there is a pretty good chance you will be able to explore some new, small, local craft breweries while you are there.  Last weekend I flew up to the Seattle area for a wedding of a friend of mine, and even though I was only in the area for about 31 hours, I had the opportunity to tour and do a tasting at one brewery and also try beer from another small local brewery, both without really going out of my way.

The wedding was in Issaquah, WA, a smallish country town about 30 minutes outside of Seattle.  Before heading up there, I figured the only breweries in the area would be closer to Seattle, and that I likely wouldn't have enough time to visit any.  However, to my surprise I discovered the Issaquah Brewhouse in old town Issaquah.

Note the fish on their sign, lots of things in the town were either fish or frog related.

Issaquah Brewhouse was acquired by Rogue Ales in 2000, and has its own 15 barrel system to create its own unique beers.  All of the beers have Frog in the name.  They only had 3 of their own on tap when I visited, but also had over 20 Rogue beers on tap.

Stepped off the airplane flight and in to the brewhouse for a beer flight...

With my flight, I got to try the Menage a Frog, 11th Anniversary Frog, Contraband IPA, and St. Rogue Red.  On the recommendation of some people sitting near us that we chatted with, I followed up the flight with a pint of the Morimoto Imperial Pilsner.  All of the beers were tasty, though none of them jumped out at me as being too exciting or delicious.  It was a nice place, though, with decent food and a good atmosphere.  The people sitting next to me were also homebrewers, so we enjoyed some beer and brewing conversation over lunch.

After lunch we continued on to the wedding, where I was able to learn about another local brewery.  The beer at the wedding was a keg of Manny's Pale Ale from Georgetown Brewing Company in Seattle.    From what I can tell, Georgetown has two flagship beers, the Pale Ale and a Pilsner, and a handful of other selections such as Chopper's Red, Georgetown Porter, and Lucille IPA.  They began brewing in 2002, expanded to a larger location in 2008, and opened up a tasting room in their brewery in 2010.  They have the capacity to brew up to 35,000 barrels per year, which would give them a pretty significant amount of brewing capacity, but I don't know how many barrels they are currently brewing.

Keg of Manny's Pale Ale

Although I was only able to try the one beer they had on tap at the wedding, the Pale Ale was very tasty and I look forward to someday being able to visit the brewery and try other Georgetown beers.  I think that a good pale ale is very under-appreciated by breweries these days but can be a very delicious, well-rounded beer.  Manny's was full-bodied with a nice hoppy finish but still very clean and smooth and easy to drink.  By the time I had a few pints, I didn't think about taking any other pictures other than the one above, so I don't have much else to show for it, but if you are ever in Washington, it is definitely worth a trip over to Georgetown to check out their brewery and see what they are all about!

The OC Brew Ha Ha

The second annual OC Brew Ha Ha was this past Saturday, September 10th at Irvine Meadows.  The morning of the event looked pretty ominous, as thunder, lightning, hail, and rain rolled through many parts of Orange County.  Luckily, though, the Brew Ha Ha was spared (I'm guessing that thunder and lightning aren't allowed by the Irvine Company, so the clouds had to make a detour...).

The location was once the home of Lion Country Safari, which included the famous escaping hippo Bubbles that lived in the wild along Laguna Canyon Road for a few weeks, however on this day it was home for different types of wild animals, those looking for some great craft beers and some tasty grub.  The event benefitted a portion of the proceeds to the Fallen Firefighter Relief Fund, a great idea to allow people to have fun, drink some good beers, and also help support a good cause.

Introductory speech about the craft beer industry by Dr. Bill Sysak from Stone.

Those of us that were able to make it in time were greeted by a short talk from Bill Sysak from Stone about the history of the industry, and also got to begin the day with a pour of the Stone black imperial 15th anniversary IPA (which I had tasted before, but is delicious).

Welcome to the Brew Ha Ha!

After taking a quick walking tour of the grounds to get the layout and see which breweries were able to make it (not all breweries showed, for example I was looking forward to having some Russian River because they were on the list, but they were no where to be seen), I then decided to jump right in to it.  I attempted to taste mainly from breweries that I did not get to drink from often, and as many new beers as possible.  My tasting list throughout the day was:

• Stone Black Imperial 15th Anniversary IPA
• Inland Empire Dark Strong Ale
• Black Market Brewing Brown Anglo American Style Ale
• Craft Brewing Co. Holly's Belgian Pale Ale
• Hangar 24 Fall Seasonal Oktoberfest
• Belmont Brewing Co. Top Sail Amber Ale
• The Bruery Mischief
• The Bruery Mischief Gone Wild
• Addison Homebrew Privisions Scotty's Big IPL
• TAPS Imperial Russian Stout
• Iron Fist Spice of Life
• Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
• Bootlegger's Wildfire Wheat
• Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest
• Old Orange Brewing Street Fair Kolsch
• Backstreet Brewery Malanga

In addition I was able to sneak a few sips from other beers that friends had tried.

Craft Brewing Co.'s tent

Just a few of the beers we got to try...

The VIP tickets included tickets for 14 four ounce tastes.  Prior to the event I was a little concerned that this wouldn't be enough and wouldn't allow me to try as much variety as I would like.  Luckily, the breweries made sure that this wouldn't be an issue.  My favorites during the day were the Black Market Brewing American Ale, the Hangar 24 Oktoberfest, and the Iron Fist Spice of Life.  Black Market was a new one for me, they are located out of Temecula, and I haven't been able to make it out that way yet.  I pretty much love everything from Hangar 24 that I have had, and the Oktoberfest was no exception.  I had tried a few Iron Fist beers before, but particularly liked this Spice of Life from them.  

I also really enjoyed being able to simultaneously taste The Bruery's Mischief and Mischief Gone Wild.  The difference between the two is that Mischief Gone Wild has the addition of brettanomyces, which apparently happened accidentally, and they decided it was worth brewing.  I love Mischief, it is definitely one of my favorite Bruery beers, and it was interesting to see the characteristics that the brettanomyces brought in comparison.

The event also included a few bands that played throughout the day, a few special guest speakers giving talks, and several different food truck or other food options.  The bands were all decent, mostly cover bands, but provided a good background for the event.  The food did not disappoint either.  As a snack, I shared a pretzel from the Stone World Bistro booth, and it was delicious, one of the best pretzel's I have ever eaten.  And for lunch I went with a tri-tip sandwich from the always delicious BT's Southern BBQ.

Mmm, BBQ.....

My only complaint, which I think is a relatively minor one at that, was that it became difficult to attend the guest speakers.  I was looking forward to sitting in on several of the speakers, but the event was running a little behind schedule, and it became hard to know when the speakers would be speaking.  They had the band make announcements of when the speakers were going on, but it wasn't always easy to hear those announcements.  The downside of it was that I missed out on some speakers I was hoping to hear.  The upside, though, was that I got to spend more time trying new beers!

Bootlegger's Brewery won the "People's Choice" award, and deservedly so.  I love pretty much every beer Bootlegger's puts out, and enjoy spending time at their brewery as well.  Aaron (the owner) is a really good guy, and I would love to see them continue to grow and brew more great beers.

Overall it was a fantastic day and I am already looking forward to next years event!

Jetzt ist Oktoberfest!

Ok, so it isn't quite Oktoberfest yet, but it is closer than you think! This year's Oktoberfest starts September 17th, only 12 days away. So in honor of Germany's largest volkfest, I thought I would post some interesting trivia and info about the event. So pull out a pen and paper and keep track of the answers you get right (and no, "Who gives a crap let's drink some beer" does not count as a satisfactory answer).

Q: How did Oktoberfest get started?

A: The first Oktoberfest was a wedding celebration for Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. Now that's my kind of wedding reception...

Q: Approximately how many liters of beer are consumed each year at the Oktoberfest in Munich?

A: Nearly 7 million liters are consumed every year!

Q: Visitors often over-estimate their ability to hold their alcohol and become "Bierleichen". What does this German jest mean?

A: Literally translated, "Beer Corpses".

Q: What are the criteria for a beer to be served at the festival?

A: The beer must be brewed within the Munich city limits.

Q: If you want to see how wealthy a fair patron is, which part of their outfit would you examine?

A: The amount of goat hair in their hat. Previously highly valued in Germany, artificial goat hair is now used, so it may not be as great an indicator as it once was.

So for those of us who can't make it to Munich for this ridiculously huge celebration, what are our Options? Reportedly the largest "traditional" Oktoberfest in the states occurs in Cincinnati, Ohio each year drawing more than 500,000 visitors, but let's look a little bit closer to home for most of our readers.

In Southern California, you have several options, but two take the cake:

Alpine Village - This version of Oktoberfest gets top billing as it is my personal favorite. Held in Torrance, the grounds for this Oktoberfest are a reproduction of a German village. They are so anxious for Oktoberfest that this year they are starting September 9th, and run the festival through October 23rd. In recent years quite a cult following has formed around their host Heino, and this year he will be on stage from the 16th - 23rd.

Old World - Similar to Alpine Village, Old World is a reproduction of a German village, but is located in Huntington Beach, CA. Even more anxious than Alpine Village, Old World started this year's celebration yesterday, and it runs all the way through October 30th. If visiting Old World for Oktoberfest you will find yourself in more of a restaurant atmosphere than at Alpine Village. Alpine favors the gigantic tents typically constructed in Munich each year for the festival. The setup at Old World definitely has it's advantages.

The other two options (which I can't speak very knowledgeably about) are Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead. Both seem to be more family friendly events to me with activities for kids. So here's my advice:

If you're looking for a fun daytime activity for the family, try Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear Lake.

If you're looking for a place you can actually find a seat, and a restroom, go to Old World and get their early.

Lastly, if you are looking for raucous good time, and don't care much for sitting, using the restroom, or understanding anything the host is saying...there is no better place than the raging Alpine Village.

That's it for now "Prost!"

Anchor Brewing Co. - San Francisco, CA

When you visit San Francisco as a regular tourist there are several things you "must" do. Alcatraz, Ghiradelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square (if you're feeling a bit adventurous), always make the cut. In my not-so-humble opinion every beer drinkershould add one more to their list, Anchor Brewing Co. Located only a 15 minute cab ride from downtown San Fran on Potrero Hill, the brewery is housed in an all cement building with no air conditioning (not needed due to the proximity to the ocean) and an amazing view of downtown. There is something pleasant about a building with all the windows open causing just enough breeze to keep the temperature just right. The tours book up well in advance, especially the afternoon tours, so make sure to book at least two weeks out. Fortunately they were able to squeeze me in last minute.

Upon walking into the building you instantly get the feel that this is a place full of people who just really enjoy brewing beer, and they really enjoy brewing it their own way. I was excited to see that the tasting room had six beers on tap which meant that I was in for a good sampling at the end of the tour. From right to left the beers they were sampling are; Humming Ale, Anchor Steam, Liberty Ale, Breckle's Brown, and Anchor Porter.

The brown was just released in the past 6 months, and It was nice to see a beer I hadn't tasted yet on tap. But, I get ahead of myself, let's talk about the tour. As with most tours the guide started with a brief history of the brewery. Here are some of the highlights I found interesting:

	The brewery was started at some nondescript time in the gold rush by a German immigrant named Gotlieb Brekle (hence the beer named Brekle's Brown). That is pretty much the only time period during its history that the brewery hasn't lived through major adversity. It was purchased by a father and his son-in-law in 1896, but burned down only 7 years later as a result of the fires following the earthquake of 1906. The brewery was rebuilt, burning down once again within the year.
Ernst F. Baruth Father-in-law		Otto Shinkle Son-in-law

During prohibition, as the tour guide said, "The best evidence that they continued operating is that there is absolutely no evidence that they continued operating" but somehow, steam beer was still readily available. The guide also mentioned that Anchor was the only brewing company in San Francisco to emerge from prohibition still in operation. As the country's preferences shifted to lighter, mass produced (cleaner) beer, the brewery was facing extreme financial challenges. Just days from closure, the company was purchased by Fritz Maytag in 1965 with $108 in it's bank account. Under Fritz's management (and cleanliness standards) the brewery flourished and was sold last year to two former Skyy executives for eight figures (according to our guide).


Anchor produces (and originated) a California Common Beer, which is a an off-shoot of historic steam beer. Steam beer uses lager yeast, but is fermented at warm temperatures. The tour began in a room that housed the upper part of the brewery's all copper kettle, lauter tun and mash tun. There was a wonderful ambiance in the room fragrant of wort and hops, and one of the most notable features was a glowing orange light coming from a window used to visually inspect the beer flowing past as it moves from one process to the next.

Given the rise in popularity of Anchor's beers, the brewery is almost always in use, and soon will move to 24 hour cycles. Sure enough as we walked in, one of the brewers opened one of the hatches to let the steam from a recently brewed batch come wafting into the room.


The next stop on the tour provided our. First peak into the "traditional Brewing methods" advertised on Anchor Steam bottles and marketing. As all brewers know, part of the brewing process is to cool down the wort to fermenting temperature. Anchor's chosen method for this cooling process goes all the way back to the original beer left in open containers on Gottlieb's rooftop to be cooled by the Northern California climate. Of course, the process is much more controlled and sanitary these days. The beer is still pumped into open containers, but these containers are in a sanitized, temperature controlled room. This method of open fermentation is something I have never seen before.

The tour guide mentioned that there are several theories as to where the name "steam" came from in relation to their beer. One theory is that this open style of fermentation (on the rooftops of the brewery and Gottlieb's home) resulted in a characteristic steam in the San Francisco nights.

Next up, the hops room. If the world were a perfect place we would all have closets in our house dedicated to such a purpose. While many non beer enthusiasts don't like the smell of spent grain, almost no one can turn their noses up at the sinus-opening fragrance of fresh hops. The room was sectioned off for each type of hops, and in each a giant bag of hops spilling out into the open air.

Reluctantly leaving the hops room, we worked our way down the stairs to the cellar which contained the storage tanks. Kept at a very chilly temperature, the giant tanks were connected through a snaking series of filling hoses connected to one central location fed directly from the fermentation containers. In these tanks is where the next (semi-unique) traditional brewing method is employed to produce natural carbonation. I can't remember the exact ratio, but if recall it was an 8:1 ratio of beer that had completed fermentation with beer that had only been fermenting for one day. The portion that had only been fermenting for one day continues to ferment in the storage tanks, naturally producing carbonation that dissipates into the beer. As a final step to remove any undesirables the beer is flash-pasteurized. This means the beer is brought up to a high temperature for a short period of time. This greatly increases the shelf life of Anchor's beers.


Last on the tour, the bottling line. As you can see and hear in this video, it was hard for the guide to verbally provide us with information, so he used a series of paper signs and hand motions to point out pieces of equipment and provide facts. One not shown on the signs is something he mentioned to me as we walked along. He said the brewery produces about 90,000 gallons a year, and that the major breweries (Coors, etc.) throw out that amount before noon each day. Sounds like an unverifiable stat, but interesting none the less. If accurate it provides some perspective on size.

After the tour it was on to the tasting room for servings (and second and third servings in some cases) of the six beers on tap. During the tasting I rediscovered the Humming Ale which tastes particularly fantastic from a tap, and a new beer, the Brekle's Brown. I wish I could say otherwise, but I found the Brekle's to be just a typical representation of a brown ale, nothing too unique or characteristic about it. In the picture below you can see a generously filled taster of the brown, and off to the right in the picture evidence of a fact as-to-hither unknown to myself.


In 1993 Anchor Brewing Co. started a small distillery. I had noticed a some distilling equipment on the tour, but assumed it was for the personal use of the employees as many brewers dabble in distilling. Quite to the contrary, the brewery produces whiskey and two types of gin. I asked, but apparently the Old Potrero whiskey produced by Anchor is particularly hard to find, and about $60 a bottle. I have no doubt that in the years to come the former Skyy execs will remedy that situation...


With a slight buzz and a refreshed mentality, I hopped in a cab that ushered me quickly back down the hill, and into the grind.

The Orange International Street Fair

The Orange International Street Fair is one of my favorite events of the whole year.  Every Labor day weekend, the Orange Circle (the "Plaza") is closed down to traffic as well as one block in each direction.  The streets are divided by international themes where you can find food, drinks, and entertainment relating to that particular theme.

So many options, where to start first??

My favorite entertainment at the fair is listening to The American Wake play Irish rock on Irish street.  They go on every evening and play until 9pm and they really put on a good show.  My favorite food at the fair is typically the gyros from Greek street.  There is so much delicious food available at the fair, though, so its hard to go wrong depending on what your mood is.

And my favorite place to get beer at the fair is at Rod's Liquor.  Rod's is one block west of the circle, at the corner of Chapman and Olive.  It is a regular liquor store but, unlike most other stores at the circle, it is open during the street fair.  They set up an assembly line that allows you to enter the liquor store, pick out your favorite beer, wine, malt beverage, etc, pay at the register, then take it to the folks outside to open it and pour it in a cup for you.  Once it is in the cup you are free to stroll around with your drink.  Rod's has a pretty solid selection of craft beer and the prices are very reasonable.  Better yet, its right next to the gyros.  So grab yourself a beer and a gyro and take in the awesomeness that is the street fair.

Rod's at night.  It will look a little different during the fair, with lines wrapped around and tarps set up, but look for their sign if you're having trouble finding it.

One bit of advice for those who have never been there.  The street fair can get ridiculously crowded.  My suggestion is to go early to get a lot of the exploring done while it is not too crowded yet, then camp out in one area (for example, Irish street to hear The American Wake) once it gets more crowded.

A nice shot of the crowds in the circle.  Make sure to get there early!

It is definitely an awesome event and I hope to see you all out there!