Normally, I only post articles about beer reviews, beer events, home brewing, and cooking with beer but something a little more political and beer related recently caught my attention. I was reading a post by @DevilsCanyon that linked to California bill AB 1598, which outlaws malt beverages that contain caffeine. I’m not lawyer or legislator but there seems to be some issues with this bill that could lead to outlawing coffee stout.

The bill language and some reference links can be found at the following locations:

• AB 1598
• AB 1598 Status
• Subpart F of Section 25.55 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Chapter 51 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations

Below are the questions and concerns that I have about the bill: Read more

Shmaltz Brewing Company started out 13 years ago in San Francisco and although they are now based out of New York, they came back for SF Beer Week to celebrate their 13th Anniversary with this event and the release of Jewbelation 13. This event, appropriately named as their Bar Mitzvah (also the subtitle for Jewbelation 13), featured all of their Hebrew beer brands including two limited edition brews: Jewbelation 12 (2008) and Jewbelation 13 (2009). The party also included 2 live bands and cake. Although Amnesia was extremely crowded, this was a great event and a wonderful opportunity to have a vertical tasting of of the Jewbelation beer.

The following are some notes that I took for the Jewbelation beers.

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Thirsty Bear Brewing hosted their second annual Casks & Quesos event for SF Beer Week at their brew pub restaurant in San Francisco on Saturday, February 6, 2010. I missed this even last year for SF Beer Week but after talking to the Thirsty Bear brew master, Brenden Dobel, at the Gala on the previous night, I decided that I was not going to miss this event and I’m very glad that I attended. The focus of this event was cask conditioned beer and cheese with unlimited samples of beer and as much cheese as you could eat. No wonder the event was sold out!

Casks were brought in from several California breweries with most of them from the San Francisco Bay Area. There were 12 selections of beer from Thirsty Bear, Magnolia, 21st Amendment, Half Moon Bay, Firestone-Walker, Gordon-Biersch, Beach Chalet, Speakeasy, Sierra Nevada, Mayfield, and Triple Rock. I believe that I tried all but one. The three beers that I heard mentioned frequently as “the beers you have to try” were the 21st Amendment Imperial ESB, Thirsty Bear Bearly Legal Barleywine, and Triple Rock Hi-Top IPA. All of the beer was quite fantastic and all three of those were certainly also among my 11 favorites of the evening.

The following are some tasting notes of the beer that I tried that evening.

Thirsty Bear Bearly Legal Barleywine is a cloudy yellow-orange amber hued beer with an off-white not-quite-tan head and it a bit lighter than I expected. The hop bouquet is leafy, spicy, and noble with a hint of citrus and is likely due to dry hopping with Mt. Hood hops. There is also a subtle sweet malt and biscuit aroma. This beer has a pleasant malty sweetness but is just a bit drier than other barleywines that I’ve had. It also does not have a molasses quality to it. The bitterness from the hops is smooth and complements the sweetness very well. Despite being 10% abv, Bearly Legal Barleywine does not smell nor taste boozy. This is a full bodied beer which is surprisingly easy to drink and is an overall delicious and well made beer. Read more