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.

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Lost Abbey - (5/9/08 blog update)
Keep up with them at lostabbey.com/blog

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.
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Finally Brewing at the New Brewery! - (5/10/08 blog update)
Keep up with them at russianriverbrewing.com/wordpress/

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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.

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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.

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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
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Magnolia Closed For Remodeling - (5/11/08 email update)
Keep up with them at magnoliapub.blogspot.com

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At long last, after a seemingly endless spring of preparation and planning, we’re closing tonight after dinner for nine days of remodeling.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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Come see how it all turns out on Wednesday, May 21st, when we will re-open for dinner.

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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).

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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.
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Shall we put a wrap on the Toronado Barleywine Festival? (Magnolia and 21A while we're at it?)

In addition to the results and few pictures that I gave to you almost two months ago, here's a bit more of a wrap-up from one day in San Francisco that included the Toronado Barleywine Festival, late lunch/early dinner (linner?) and many beers at Magnolia, and a "nightcap" at the 21A (21st Amendment). Timely, it'is n't, but hopefully you'll enjoy just the same.











The Barleywine Festival produced some judged winners from Lagunitas, Stone, and Deschutes Super Jubel, Drake's Frankenwein, and Schooner's Old Woody as my top, let's see that's, four of the afternoon. Bringing in a surprise honorable mention was (new to San Francisco) Wunder Brewing's Old Knuckledragger. As Jay had mentioned, it sure was odd seeing the draft menu above the bar with a bunch of empty slots while the taps were pouring many of these unique brews. I'd share the tasting notes, but I get a feeling that after all this time that has passed, it likely won't interest you all that much.










Ironic that we ran into Dave McLean on the way out the door. We were ready for serious table food, the likes of which only Magnolia could satisfy at this point. And there he was to keep us from it. We chatted for a while about happenings at the pub, his (relatively) newer Alembic further down Haight near the Park, and his ties to Pennsylvania. Great guy Dave is, it was a shame that we were headed in opposite directions.










We then strolled the half mile or so up, and down and up, Haight to Dave's Magnolia. It was just one of those picture perfect San Franciscan days; we could have walked to the ocean. Inside Magnolia, the mayhem was much more subdued than Toronado. But with Strong Beer Month staring us dead in the face, there was no shortage of beer loving fans there to get their Strong Beer Month card punched (yes, seriously. PBW 2009, take note). We scored a table after a few minutes of waiting, then were pleased to see Kelly (newlywed Kelly that is, congrats to Ben the Brewer....hm, sounds weird, is that like Bob the Builder?) come over to our table to see what we wanted for drink and food. I've run into Kelly a couple of times in the past. She certainly exudes the all-around great vibe coming out of the atmosphere at Magnolia...and Ben adds to the good vibe coming out of the kettle...a good pairing, I must say, of two fine people.










So we did the whole strong beer thing, putting back the strong beers with the Old Thuderpussy, Promised Land (Proving Ground "on steroids"), and Smokestout Impy really standing out along with the food we've come to expect from Magnolia. With these unique beers available for Strong Beer Month, I was still missing the Saison de Lilly. It was also my first time at Magnolia not putting back at least one each of the co2 and cask Proving Ground IPA. Too many other goodies. The saison gods were smiling on me, though, as it was available the following day at the Celebrator Anniversary Party.

Free range, organic, locally grown, sustainable, etc. You'll find this kind of language all over the well-conceived fresh menu. We jumped into a cheese plate and other light snacks to add to our food base, had our tickets punched for the 6 strong beers then regretfully went back to Toronado....cuz some things just gots to be done! I figure by the time I return to Magnolia, the renovations that they've undertaken will have been completed. After 10+ years in business, they're taking the care to polish and improve for the future. You can read more about the changes over here.

After another completely delightful walk (this time mostly downhill, or was that the beer's influence?) and stops into a few of the Haights "unique" stores, we wound up back at Toronado to polish off a few more samples of barleywines. Perhaps not too surprisingly, we saw others who had made the same bounce between Toronado and Magnolia...and later, 21st Amendment. At the Toronado, winners had been announced, kegs of beer were being knocked off one by one, darkness was falling, but the crowd's enthusiasm was rising. The perfect weather probably had something to do with it. If I recall my notes correctly, the Russian River Old Gubbilygotch was the first to go.










Just around the time we decided we would hop across town to the 21A, Justin Crossley and The Brewing Network crew rolled in. They were doing the crawl in the opposite direction, coming from 21A and moving westward to Toronado and on to Magnolia for dinner. This would be the first of a few run-ins with these guys during the weekend.

After a zippy cab ride across town, we drug our growing-weary bodies into 21st Amendment. It had been a long day of carousing through the city and putting many barleywines and other similarly strong beers behind our belts, so the pep in our step was going a bit flat. We chowed on a pizza (ugh! no garlic fries), completed the Strong Beer Month punchcard, got our souvenir glass, and called it quits. After faking the walk, we grabbed a passing empty cab and went back to the hotel to recharge for Sunday, which held in store for us the Celebrator 20th Anniversary Party. You've already seen the pictures over here and the stories over here. It was a great day that I finally got to share with Patty three of my favorite San Franciscan gems.

Magnolia Still Blooming

One of the places to see, of many must-sees, when visiting San Francisco is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. With Tea Leaf Green and other friends joining the party, this looks to be one heckuva great time to visit Dave and company at Magnolia and Alembic in San Francisco. Consider this your tip of the month :)

Short bit from Magnolia Brewpub in San Francisco, CA

One of my favorite stops, Magnolia, in San Francisco, have an interesting new brew available commemorating owner/brewer Dave McLean's wedding. If you're in the area and have the chance to check it out, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

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...The Rosebud Nuptual [sic] Ale, comprised of, among other things, rose petals and first run Syrah juice, has been on tap all weekend and is going fast. Catch it at the pub before it is gone forever, like Dave’s bachelor status!...
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Off The News Wire At Magnolia in San Francisco, CA

Some bits and bytes from Dave McLean's newsletter at Magnolia last week.

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Though it sometimes feels like a Proving Ground factory here, we do have a few fun new beers in the pipeline. Our Ashbury Alt has gone through a minor reformulation and, though lighter in color, has a new and delicious malt character. And we’re slowly working our 1000th brew through the system! It’s a strong (over 9%), Belgian job that may get some wood barrel treatment in the near future, along with some other fun experimentation. We’ll keep you posted on its progress. And, with Haight Street Fair just around the corner, we’re about to brew this year’s Jubilee Pale Ale, another fun seasonal tradition here at Magnolia.
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California Dreamin'

This is not necessarily a plug, but rather a notice of what is going on in one of my favorite beer cities and beer joints. For those of you lucky enough to live in or be visiting the area around this time (and you like better beer), how can't you work this into your plans?!
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(copied from Magnolia e-mail)
GREETINGS FROM MAGNOLIA!

Here we are at halftime of the rolling juggernaut known as Strong Beer Month. It's really as big a time as it gets here at Magnolia, to paraphrase the late Ken Kesey. We've put on more strong beers than ever and you have come in to drink it in record-breaking numbers. Thank you so much for the support that makes us do this again and again.

Five of the six beers are still flowing. Promised Land is already gone but we saw that coming and have an unprecedented second batch about to come on (most likely tomorrow). In the meantime, you can still drink the cask version, at least for the moment.

Still to come in the second half: Old Thuderpussy and Weekapaug Monster casks, vintage Thunderpussy from the library, round two of this year's Promised Land, and more. Though the Saison de Lily isn't technically a "strong beer", this one comes close at 7.7 abv, putting it in the part of the category sometimes known as "super saisions". And it's pretty tasty, too (not to mention the most versatile food pairing beer that we make). Look for it early next week.

We've also brought in another round of guest casks, including some strong ones: old favorites from our friends at the Burton Bridge Brewery as well as a few new to us from a small farmhouse brewery in Denmark called Wintercoat. Assuming they all made the 6000-mile journey in good shape, here's the order we'll serve them (beginning today):

Burton Bridge Festival Ale (5.5%)
Wintercoat Yellow Jacket (5.3%)
Burton Bridge Top Dog Stout (5.0%)
Wintercoat Double Hop Imperial IPA (8.5%)
Burton Bridge Thomas Sykes Old Ale (10.0%)

We'll finish big with that Danish double IPA and the legendary Thomas Sykes, right around the time some of our own strong beers might need reinforcements.

The kitchen has kept its focus on our strong beers, too. Weekend dinner specials have been designed with pairings possibilities in mind, and the special menu of little bites for each strong beer has been a huge success. Favorites include the classic Stilton cheese-Old Thuderpussy combination and the local Bermuda Triangle cheese and red onion confit paired with Tweezer
Tripel. If you haven't tried them, what are you waiting for?

Meanwhile, down at the Alembic, we've got a rotating Magnolia strong beer tap plus a couple of guest beers that fit the bill: Iron Springs Pub & Brewery's Barstow Lundy Barleywine and Drakes Brewing's Hop Salad, an imperial IPA brewed with seven different hop varieties. And then, of course, comes the granddaddy of strong beer events: Toronado's annual barleywine fest (this Saturday, 2/17), just down the street at 547 Haight (www.toronado.com). Old Thunderpussy will be there, as usual, but so will up to 50 other barleywines from both near and far.

Reports from South of Market say that all the Strong Beers still flow at the 21st Amendment, too, so there's still time to chase down that last punch or two on your card. If, for some reason, you're still not sure, 21st Amendment is at 563 2nd Street, between Brannan and Bryant.

So the state of the strong beer is great from this perspective, with the rest of the month looking at least as exciting as the first half. We've restocked our t-shirts, glasses, and punch cards, we've remembered to hydrate, we're definitely not drinking and driving, and we're ready for more. See you soon!

As always, thanks for reading and please stay in touch.

Cheers,
Dave McLean

Magnolia Pub & Brewery
1398 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 864-7468
www.magnoliapub.com

Alembic Bar
1725 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 666-0822
www.alembicbar.com


Past Writings of The Brew Lounge
Magnolia (May 2006, December 2006)
21st Amendment (March 2006, December 2006)
Iron Springs (September 2006)
Toronado (March 2006, December 2006)

A Visit to Magnolia Brew Pub in San Francisco, CA

Oh, Magnolia, how I missed thee and thine beers. Could it be possible for me to somehow bottle the Magnolia experience for the East Coast? If you haven't picked up on my opinion in the past, then allow me state it again: No trip is complete to San Francisco without a visit to Magnolia in the Haight-Ashbury district. If you can add an Anchor tour and a stop across town at 21st Amendment, you've got yourself a perfect beer trip within the city proper. Instead of telling the same lovey-dovey story again, you can read (or re-read?!) my summary from earlier this year. Many of the notes and sentiments remain the same.

On this particular evening, travelling colleague and friend Matt and I stopped in at Magnolia after our sushi dinner at Sakana (if this was a food site, too, you'd get a full glowing writeup on Sakana...or do yourself a favor and stop here too for great sushi in SF). We nibbled on a couple of appetizers (bacon-wrapped water chestnuts and plantain fries) and almost (almost, I say) sampled each and every beer served on tap that evening....yes, both CO2 and cask! Dave Keene and crew certainly continue to impress with their consistent brews, conducive atmosphere, and wonderful staff. Unfortunately, we did not have the time to make our way down the street to Dave's new establishment, Alembic. Next time, Dave, I promise :)

In review of the night's sampled brews, it was really no surprise that Proving Ground IPA rose to the top as it did at my last visit. Following quite closely was another old friend, Cole Porter. And, the ESB made the top 3 as a solid, straight-to-style (but, oft-neglected) ESB. Even the Number 9 beer, a 9th anniversary "light beer" that we put at the bottom of our consensus ranking, was still a nice beer that delivered subtle flavors and nuances that we had to pay attention to in order to appreciate. Which all goes to remind us that bigger beer does not always mean better and that the lighter, softer beers can still deliver a wonderful experience.

Can't wait to go back!

p.s. Oh, and by the way, be sure to ask for one of Kim's table while you're there if you're looking for pleasurable service and a friendly back-East face (she went to Pitt).

Beer Travels: Greetings from San Francisco

While the weather creates havoc back home, I am happy to report that San Francisco is beautiful this week! In my off hours from work, I have had time to fit in part of a San Francisco Giants baseball game, a visit to 21st Amendment (Summit IPA, 21st IPA), and Thirsty Bear (IPA, Brown Bear cask).

Speaking of beer and baseball, I think I will give you peak at what AT&T Park has on tap throughout the stadium. I thought Philadelphia's Citizen Bank Park had a good lineup of beer available to its fans (and it does), but San Francisco surely ranks near the top too. Check back later today for this recap.

If I didn't have such a busy day planned for tomorrow, I would be checking out Toronado tonight for their Summit Hop Summit event. They are featuring 15 (mostly) local breweries who all created their version of a Summit (hop) IPA. I think I'd better exercise some control and skip this event. Just a "normal" night at Toronado is more than most can handle ;-)

So, tomorrow night after my work day is over, perhaps I'll visit Magnolia for dinner and cask brew sampling. And, then wander down the street for a nightcap or two at Toronado.

Oh, and by the way, it's hard to complain about traveling when the Hilton hotel that I'm staying in has Fat Tire, Paulaner, Anchor, Stella Artois, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale & Celebration, Guinness, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Pyramid Hefeweizen, Newcastle Brown on tap. Talk about exercising self-control and just walking by on the way to my room!

Magnolia Pub in San Francisco, CA

Click Here For All Brew Pub & Beer Bar Reviews

On my next trip to San Francisco, CA my first stop for beer will be at the Magnolia brewpub in the Haight-Ashbury district, just off of Golden Gate Park. Unless I can't get there without stopping at Toronado first. So, edit the opening line, my first stop at a brewpub in San Francisco will be Magnolia. Sure, 21st Amendment is very good (and near the ballpark), Thirsty Bear is worth another look, and Anchor will of course get a return visit from me. But, standing at the top of the heap in my mind for the complete brewpub experience in San Francisco is Magnolia. Dave McLean and his crew are head and shoulders above many others in the industry.

You may have noticed that over the past six weeks or so I have been sharing with you the beer experiences that I had while in San Francisco in March. I saved Magnolia for the last review because I wanted to make sure that I got it just right. So, I wrote some, reviewed it, let some time go by, reviewed it again, and finally figured that it is time to "pull the trigger" and share this great information with you all.

If you followed closely enough, you may remember that I trekked out on foot from my hotel at Union Square to the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood one beautiful evening. I knew that it would be a decent hike, but close to 3 miles later, I finally arrived at Toronado. You can see the full Toronado review here. But, then I met Paul Hayward and, soon after, we ventured up to Magnolia approximately 1/2 mile closer to the park.

I was hungry (for food and beer) when I walked in, and I was starving by the time I finally got my burger delivered to me. This was because the joint was jumping. Not jumping in a raucous way, mind you, but more of just a happy, friendly neighborhood buzz kind of way. While the space is not large enough to comfortably hold all of its fans, Magnolia's staff and patrons and their attitudes (at least on this particular evening) somehow make the close quarters just a bit friendlier.

With Paul's acquaintance Kelly working the bar, we fortunately got a little quicker attention. I started off with the Proving Ground IPA (CO2) and by the end of the evening (and thanks to a little friendly coercion from Kelly) I also sampled the Proving Ground IPA (Cask), Pearly Baker's Bitter (both ways), Saison de Lily, Cole Porter, and Stout of Circumstance. Should I be disappointed that I did not try each of the beers on the full list?! It was so difficult to attempt a ranking of these beers that I tried. They all scored at least an 'above average' up to an 'excellent' reaction from me (maybe I need a scoring system?). But, if you pushed me hard enough, I would have to put the Proving Ground IPA (esp. the cask version) and the Saison at the top of the list. They would be followed closely by the Cole Porter, the Pearly Baker, and the Stout of Circumstance last but certainly not in a bad way.

The food, ah the food! I knew I was off to a good start after reading the menu and seeing that these guys are into supporting locally grown, sustainable, and organic food however possible. You can certainly tell that there's a chemistry that they work at here at Magnolia. I had a Niman Ranch burger with blue cheese and a 1/2 pound later I was full of some real good cooking from the kitchen. What a perfect accompaniment for the beer, especially the porter.

It is always fun to find these kind of places, especially given that you'll be hard-pressed to find their beer anywhere else...draft, bottle, or otherwise. Another significant allure is the special attention that they give to cask-conditioned ales. They have gone the extra mile to install the capability to serve a handful of cask conditioned brews at any given time. By the way, if you are interested in the rich and unique history of Magnolia Pub and the Haight-Ashbury in addition to their cask conditioning system, their website contains a lot of very interesting detail.

Well, I could certainly go on and on here about Magnolia. And, for those of you regular readers, you may be surprised that I am not going to ;-) All I really want to say in summary is that if you are in San Francisco and looking for excellent beers, with great food, served by incredible people then make sure that you check out Magnolia Pub.

p.s. If anyone knows how to nominate a 'bartender of the year', please let me know. Kelly deserves 1000 votes (or more). Her friendliness, great attitude, and knowledge of the beer made the experience at Magnolia even better.

Click Here For All Brew Pub & Beer Bar Reviews

Where In The World Is Bryan? A personal, third-person report

Thanks to all for their concern about the whereabouts of Bryan. It's been reported that he has been sighted doing a combination of work that he gets paid for and work that he toils for the betterment of beer drinkers everywhere. The past week has seen him traversing Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Then, cross-country he has popped up in the most respected of San Francisco breweries, brew pubs, and beer bars. And, to think that he just may have generated some revenue along the way for the company for which he's employed! Here is his itinerary, yet to be completed, for the week ending March 17, 2006. He promises to eventually post notes about each establishment, so keep checking back :)

Denny's Beer Barrel Pub - Clearfield, PA
North Country Brewing Co. - Slippery Rock, PA
3 Sons Suds & Dogz - Wexford, PA
Church Brew Works - Pittsburgh, PA
Market Street Ale House - Pittsburgh, PA
Penn Tap Room - Pittsburgh, PA
Fat Head's - Pittsburgh, PA
21st Amendment - San Francisco, CA
Thirsty Bear Brewing Co. - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Brewing Co. - San Francisco, CA
Foley's Irish Pub - San Francisco, CA
Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. - San Francisco, CA
Magnolia Brewpub - San Francisco, CA
Toronado - San Francisco, CA
Anchor Brewing Co. - San Francisco, CA
Rogue Ales Public House - San Francisco, CA
Sly Fox Brewing Co. - Phoenixville, PA (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)