http://mariorubio.hoppress.com Brewed For Thought Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:55:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Don't let the title scare you, there is no Bud Rye, at least not that has been publicly announced. I did think it was fitting to mention "The King of Beers" when starting a discussion on adjuncts. In case you hadn't guessed, I'm talking about rye. Rye is a huskless ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/03/11/rye-ask-rye-try-bud-rye/ In my opinion, William Brand was the beer writer in the Bay Area. He was everywhere. He knew everyone. Most importantly, everyone knew and liked him. One year ago today we lost our friend. Bill, this is for you. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Bill Brand at 21A's Monk Blood Dinner ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/02/25/in-memory-william-brand/ There are a few days in the craft beer world where the worst of the craft beer world is scraped up to the surface. People line up for hours just to get a beer, albeit one very special beer. Now this on its own isn't bringing out the worst, but ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/02/18/pliny-the-younger-a-recap/ My posts for SF Beer Week have been a bit delayed. Bad internet access and a new job have pushed my posts back, but I'm ready to dive in and get back on track. First up, The Brewer's Tapas Dinner at Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma which took place last Tuesday. ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/02/15/sf-beer-week-2010-lagunitas-brewers-tapas-dinner/ The Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastopol is known for having wonderful beer dinners. In the past they've had visits from Brian Hunt of Moonlight, Greg Koch of Stone, and Dominique Friart of Brasserie St. Feuillien among others. This Sunday, beer fans were treated to a visit from the owner of Anchor ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/02/08/sf-beer-week-2010-anchor-brewing-luncheon-at-hopmonk/ Friday was the official kick-off of SF Beer Week 2010. While many headed to Russian River Brewing for the release of Pliny the Younger, the big party was at Yerba Buena Center in the City at the Opening Gala. The gala was held in a large room with breweries and ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/02/06/sf-beer-week-2010-opening-gala-2/ Wine country is known for being the home to many great breweries. Sonoma County is known for Russian River, Bear Republic and Lagunitas among others while Napa County is home to one of the father's of California craft brewing, Don Barkley. Hidden along the Napa River in the town of ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/01/28/callistoga-inn-restaurant-and-brewery/ Some things were meant to be: peanut butter and jelly, french fries and ketchup, and now, bacon and beer. Bacon and beer have been companions for many years. The journey started as any food and beer friendship would, side by side. Soon it was discovered that similar flavors to bacon ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/01/21/everybod-loves-bacon/ Microbrewing is so passé. The Bay Area alone has dozens of breweries that would qualify under this antiquated term. You want small batch? You want locally distributed? Get on the nanobrewing train. Within Sonoma County, there is only one nanobrewing candidate, Healdsburg Beer Company. Owner and brewer Kevin McGee started ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/01/14/sonoma-county-nanobrewing-healdsburg-beer-company/ We love when brewers experiment with new ingredients. Different spices can open a new world of flavors to the styles we love so much. To investigate how these spices play with with various styles, I sat down with RateBeer owner Joseph Tucker and opened some bottles with one common ingredient: ... http://mariorubio.hoppress.com/2010/01/07/igredient-investigation-peppercorns/