Speakeasy 11th anniversary BBQ

The guy who took this picture of us would not tolerate all smiles and made us scowl. But really we were all super happy to be drinking at one of our illustrious local breweries on a beautiful sunny SF day. I couldn't believe the turn out! Easily a couple hundred people.

They were pouring a special anniversary Scotch Ale, that dangerous combination of high alcohol but very drinkable. A lot like an amber with a bit more sharp hop. I generally don't like wheat beers, but the White Lightning wit won the "summer beer" of the day award, with lots of sparkling citrus. People also went for the Hunters Point Porter, and apparently they were also pouring the Bootlegger Black.

I really felt like a community event, as we ran in to Jessie, Ben, Ian, and Jason from med school as well as the elusive TCB! The beer t-shirt of the days goes to the guy wearing a black shirt with a silhouette of a donkey with a beer bottle rigged to dangle in front of its face. CD got some shit from a militant Toronado employee about her Fort Bragg pizza place shirt that features that same raised fist/pint that our favorite Lower Haight beer snob hang has apparently trademarked. For a second there, it looked like we were going to have to get into it. We could've taken her, Dunc.

Our heroes of the day included Noah, who ran a half marathon this morning, accomplishing more before I woke up than I will all day. We also bowed down to the people who rode in on this pedal-powered partymobile, complete with disco ball and drink holders. I should have gotten a picture of this thing -- four cyclists, two facing backwards, with a shade covering. The thing was clearly designed for the playa, but apparently it's street legal. We also raised a pint for the b-day boy, Eric Arbanovella.

Strong work, team!

Monk's Kettle

Tonight, Carlee finally made it out to MK. I hadn't seen her in way too long, and it was amazing to hear about her three-three-three-vacations-in-one trip to Turkey, Switzerland, and Croatia. Turkitzatia. Crourkland. That girl so jet set. Apparently Switzerland makes a mean wine to go with their fondue. You'll have to hit her up for the specifics.

Brew-wise, Carlee redeemed "the other Marin Brew Co," Iron Springs of Fairfax, by choosing their sweet, smooth amber. I had a plan to go through all of the Belgians at MK but got derailed by Ellie's Brown from Avery Brewing in Boulder. Really the Platonic ideal of a brown ale, perfect color, sweet, nutty, and dark. And Ellie Sinclair was my childhood British friend in Glastonbury, CT.

CD's lamb burger was legit, with super fresh fixins, but my lobster pot pie reminded me of England.

Stay tuned for the Speakeasy 11th anniversary party on Saturday.

Bahl hornin

We had a great day trip up to Boonville on Sunday to meet Stella and celebrate her one-week birthday, see the Arbanovella parents, and of course enjoy some delicious local brew. It was the little one's first brewery excursion, the beginning of a long life of craft beer appreciation. We are so excited that she will be the youngest person to ever attend BrewTour, in just a few weeks now. Stella, you really are the most beautiful, precious baby girl ever! But Scott will still have to give you some rookie hazing.

Julie, Arturo, and Scott also enjoyed their first AVBC nectar from the tap. The place has gotten a facelift since I last went, but the clientele remains that eclectic Andersen Valley mix. Arturo and I sampled the Poleeko Gold lager and learned that its name is Boontling for the Arbas' soon-to-be town of Philo. Cindy has renounced her beloved summer Cerveza Crema since realizing its creaminess comes from "natural flavors." Bummer. At least she has a rockin' backup the Barney Flats Stout. The anniversary Imperial IPA is delicious to me but too caramelly and not hoppy enough for guess who. And Julie had her long awaited microbrew, the Hop Ottin' IPA. Eric, I'm bad brew blogger girl, I forget what you had. Please comment.


They are growing a good crop of hops up there, looking much better than the wind-whipped vines on our deck. I think that's a positive upshot of the hops crisis -- more homegrown.

Overall, a lovely afternoon with some of my favorite people and favorite beer. And that's what it's all about. Hey!

Anderson Valley Beer Festival

Boonville seriously represented for the 12th annual brew fest! We did not expect quite so many people to descend on the Arbanovellas' fair berg, but beer aficionados from across NorCal were in effect. (Alana was also in effect, though not pictured in this shot of our crew.) Carlee was the trooper of the weekend, making it out with her broken ankle, enduring the interminable restroom line on her crutches. We were honored to fetch brews for our gimpy sensei.

The discovery of the day in terms of beer was Ninkasi Brewing from Eugene, OR. Chunk touts the Total Domination IPA, and Mr. A and Gagner were big fans of the Believer Double Red. Too bad they don't distribute down here, and that we missed them on BrewTour '07. Gotta love that the brewery is named after the Sumerian Goddess of brewing, and several of their beer names give it up for the female deities: the seasonal Ceridwen Harvest Dortmund Lager, Goddess Helles Lager, and Lady of Avalon Munchner Dunkel Lager.

We also wept with joy to see that Deschutes was in the house, and one of the three beers they were pouring was the BrewTour 2007 Beer of the Year award winner, Green Lakes Organic Ale. And there was a 22-oz bottle of it sitting out. Meaning... available at our local BevMo? The man at the tap said it should be available down here by now, so keep an eye out, beer lovers!


The crowd was so exceedingly classic that we almost focused more on people watching than beer, if you can believe that. This photo largely sums it up. We also have some great video footage of top-notch hippie dancing that I am hoping to post. Folks definitely came out of the gates fast -- many taps were tapped out by 4, and the staggering/snogging quotients increased exponentially over the course of the afternoon. Scott loved the spontaneous waves of cheering that swept the crowd, glasses raised to a general drunken "WWWWOOOOOooooooooo......" Alana noted many a bad tattoo, from Slayer to Warner Bros. And since when have rednecks started rocking the mohawk? Somehow the punk aesthetic has infiltrated the guns 'n' ganja scene up there.


Best beer t-shirt of the day: Jesus was a homebrewer. Also rans: Beer is the reason I get up every afternoon. I TAPPA KEGGA. (So bad it's good.) And though not technically a beer t-shirt, had to love the Oakland A's style jersey that said Oaksterdam.

In other news, since we had a brew crew quorum up there, BrewTour dates for 2008 have been set! We head to taste the beers of the central coast on August 28 - 31. Mark your calendar! It will be our first Tour with a baby in tow, since the Twiglet will have arrived. Never too early to start appreciating good brew, even if imbibing is a few years down the line, right?

Magnolia b-day beers

I think I celebrated my birthday on more days this year than any other year. And for the boring number 31! What a lucky girl I am. The final fiesta for my new age happened last night at Magnolia, a remarkable mid-week rally of med schoolers. Amid reminiscing about our recent vacations and discharging stress about "transitional clerkship," I revisited a tasty Mags beer I often neglect, the Blue Bell Bitter. You can see from Megan's face how much she was digging her Cole Porter. Scott briefly strayed from his all-IPA-all-the-time routine to try the Oysterhead Stout... only to take home a growler of Proving Ground. Not even a seafood brew can derail that man.

Humboldt does brew

In a partial repeat of Brew Tour Uno, Scott and I headed north to the land of Hemp Ale. Humboldt Brews in Arcata has changed its layout, but their signature beer still cuts it. As part of my dream day of a birthday, we hit Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville with high hopes. As you can see from Gagner's response to the Chili Pepper Ale, we weren't totally wowed. "Why would anybody do this to themselves?" It really was like a nasty liquid jalepeno popper. The Bluff Creek Pale Ale, which won the Rod Award, actually had some good hop to it and was deemed "tastier than Sierra" by our resident Sierra devotee. We also liked the Blarney Stout, which was on nitrogen, making it nice and creamy smooth.

The pub has a cool collection of vintage (1980s) microbrew posters and bottles. But the best artifact was the flier for some band called Ass Castle. The Boneless Children Foundation has some competition on the band name front.

Slow Beer

So I left my last TWIG study party ever to drink in our loked out brews at Slow Beer. Scott was, not surprisingly, dedicated to IPA, and according to his analysis,  "The best one in there is still the Speakeasy Big Daddy." We both liked Russian River's Blind Pig, a floral, "more drinkable" IPA for those of us who haven't undergone our lupulin threshold shift.* The Beach Chalet Presidio IPA made a good showing, but Gagner was wishing for a dump bucket on the IPAs from Wunder and Marin.

I was somehow on a stout kick, stoked to get some of the Oysterhead from Magnolia since they didn't have it on SBD. They served it really cold, and it was rich, sweet, complex... loved it. But, I mean, I guess I don't really get what an oyster beer is. They actually put oysters in there during the brewing process? The Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout got me really fired up for May 10 in Boonville. Just a really solid, what-a-stout-should-be stout. I also dug the Brown from San Francisco Brewing, caramelly goodness. 

The food was good but ... underwhelming? We just housed a bunch of like pretzels and gelato to keep from getting too drunk. The best thing was a cheesery from Pescadero with the "Van Goat" all decorated with edible flowers and shit.  Anyway, in a town with such insanely good food, where was the insanely good food?

We ran in to some Brew Crew, including our new pal Dave from SBD and NHS alumna J20. And we saw all of the good people who typically serve us beer -- cheers to them.

*Saw this term defined on the back of a Pliny the Younger shirt today -- definitely won the brew schwag of the day award.  "When a once extraordinarily hoppy beer now seems pedestrian. When a Double IPA just isn't enough."