Monday, May 12, 2008

Updates from Russian River, Magnolia, and Lost Abbey

Covering the best of California from top to bottom all in one posting. Here are some interesting tidbits pulled over the past couple of days from Russian River Brewing's, Magnolia Brew Pub's, and Lost Abbey's e-mail and blog updates. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Lost Abbey - (5/9/08 blog update) Keep up with them at lostabbey.com/blog ... In February we acquired more oak barrels. Specifically, we added 100 new Brandy barrels and 50 more Bourbon barrels. Since then, we have filled 50 Brandy Barrels of Angel’s Share which we hope to release in time for Christmas. We’ll be filling the other 50 in the next month. This will mean a plethora of Angel’s doing their work all summer long at The Lost Abbey. Sounds divine if you ask me. ... A couple of weeks ago, the Craft Brewing World descended on San Diego. It was a chance for every local brewer to do their part and shine. We at Port Brewing hosted so many brewers. It was a special week for us. The highly anticipated Isabelle Proximus was launched. It turned into an amazing beer and we can’t wait to get the barrels reloaded and make more. The beer has been labeled and should see the light of day in late June- just in time for the summer swelter. ... Last weekend, we hosted our 2nd Anniversary Party. In true Port Brewing fashion, we rolled out 3 beers for the weekend. The buzz around the brewery seems to be that the Cuvee tastes as good as last year AND don’t even get us started on the 2nd Anniversary Ale. If there’s one place there isn’t a hop shortage, it’s those bottles we filled- 11 pallets worth! ... I have put a moratorium on new beers for the next few months. Don’t ask me the timeline. I don’t have one. What I do know is that since January of this year, we have launched or brewed Moon Lit Sessions, Shark Attack, Port 2nd Anniversary, Serpent’s Stout, Carvnevale, Inferno, Hildegard’s Saison and Holy Water. It’s time for me to stop imaging and conceptualizing new beers every 20 minutes. I’m having a hard enough time keeping track of where these beers are. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Finally Brewing at the New Brewery! - (5/10/08 blog update) Keep up with them at russianriverbrewing.com/wordpress/ ... On Thursday, May 8th, we finally brewed our first batch of beer at the new production brewery in Santa Rosa! Of course, it was far from the perfect brew day. Vinnie arrived at 6am and left at 4:30am… ouch. ... The first beer brewed on the new/used 50 barrel Dogfish Head brewhouse was Consecration- a sour beer which will age for a year in Cabernet barrels with black currents and the usual bugs and critters. ... Today, Saturday, I decided to forego Boonville to help Vinnie brew the first batch of Pliny the Elder! We don’t brew together anymore, now that we are business partners. So today was a very special day for me! Jay has a bunch of great pictures over at his site...check 'em out +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Magnolia Closed For Remodeling - (5/11/08 email update) Keep up with them at magnoliapub.blogspot.com ... At long last, after a seemingly endless spring of preparation and planning, we’re closing tonight after dinner for nine days of remodeling. ... Some parts of this process have been underway for weeks and are just awaiting final installation, like the new bar and table tops built from wood salvaged from the original Levi Strauss building. Others, like extensive painting and restroom tiling, require a closed and quiet pub to commence. And a few projects will continue on over the next two months. ... Brandon has reached out to the producers whose philosophy aligns most closely with our own, bringing Marin Sun, Cattail Creek, Devils Gulch, Wolf Ranch, Liberty and other farms into Magnolia for the first time. ... The most exciting addition, however, is the unveiling of our new sausage program(!), with a selection of five different house-made sausages (including a veggie one). ... Come see how it all turns out on Wednesday, May 21st, when we will re-open for dinner. ... And if you’ve got a thirst for Proving Ground or one of our other beers, Alembic (1725 Haight @ Cole) will be serving Magnolia beer from all ten of its taps during the downtime (along with the usual array of cocktails, spirits, bottled beer, wine, sake, and small plates). ... PS – The next SF Brewers Guild Meet the Brewers event is just down the street at Toronado on May 22 from 6-9pm. There will be a beer on tap from all seven Guild breweries, including Magnolia. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure. Rub it in. Three amazing breweries we can't get around here!

Bryan Kolesar said...

Where is "here" for you, Med?

Anonymous said...

Sorry about that:)

MontCo, PA. Your neck of the woods. Thus my surprise at the post!

Greg G. said...

We get some Lost Abbey beers and had been getting RR beers in the past. Hopefully with the expanded brewery at RR, we will get more in the neare future.

Bryan Kolesar said...

yeah, Lost Abbey has become more frequent over the past year. Russian River has always been sporadic, but about to become more consistent. And, Blind Pig in a bottle....how do you type a heavy, panting sound ;-)

Alas, Magnolia is a local SF brewpub only and won't be found on the East Cost. I travel a fair amount, and love the Bay Area's scene....so I share it with all of you in the case you find yourself in San Francisco and need a solid tip. Plus, a good third or so of TBL readers are not from the northeast, so I figure that my writings from my travels will always interest someone :)