Heading back to Cali. Here's what I/you need to know about two brewing fixtures - Bear Republic and Speakeasy

I'll be in the Bay Area in a few weeks with an intention to focus my beer efforts on some of northern California's oldest craft brewers. So, it was good timing to see these two press releases pop into my mailbox. One for Bear Republic, which is marking its first anniversary at a second brewpub location in addition to its production facility. The second press release below is for the re-energized Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, which has emerged from the financial brink with new owners just in time to celebrate 21 years of brewing. I've been to Speakeasy's location before and while it's not the most convenient for public transit, once there, the people and the beers make it worth the effort.

Bear Republic? Oddly enough, I've never been there. Been to at least a brewer's dozen (how many's that? dunno. but definitely more than 12 if a Beer Week can be called 10 days!) breweries in the North Bay and beyond. Actually, maybe close to two dozen, come to think of it. But, yet, somehow, never Bear Republic. No matter the crazy amounts of praise I heap upon the Racer 5 .

Ok, here you go. Both press releases in one post. Oh, and one more piece of news about what has become an SF establishment over the last 11 years. It looks like City Beer Store will have completed its move two blocks closer to Market Street (albeit missing the mid-block cut through street to Cellarmaker) and reopening by the time I arrive. In its early years, was a destination bottle shop in the city's SOMA neighborhood. Then became a destination to buy said bottles, but only after getting distracted for an hour or more by one of the city's most drool-worthy draft lists.

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Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Celebrates 21 Years of Brewing in San Francisco
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Releases Gilded Ale (Golden Stout with Gold Glitter) and Syndicate Series No. 04 (Barrel-Aged Vintage Ale) at 21st Anniversary Event
San Francisco, Calif. — Wednesday, August 1, 2018 — Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has been in the craft beer game for more than two decades brewing exceptional small batch beers at their San Francisco Bayview-Hunters Point brewery. On Saturday, August 25, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers celebrates the gilded era of craft beer with a 21st Anniversary event inviting beer aficionados to join the Speakeasy staff inside the taproom with exclusive VIP access (VIP ticket packages range in price), in addition to the General Admission experience for only $5. Whether you book the Godfather's Office or Scarface's Lounge for you and your closest friends or simply join the party for tastings of up to 17 draft beers, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers hosts one of the summer's most anticipated Bay Area craft beer events with an array of their favorite San Francisco businesses.

Achieving 21 years in the beer business is certainly a milestone, and with their upcoming anniversary summer bash Speakeasy & Lagers also hoists a pint in celebration of being open for almost a year under its new ownership. Marking such a momentous occasion is the special draft-only release of Gilded Ale, a Golden Stout with Gold Glitter paying homage to the golden era of Speakeasy. The 21st Anniversary event also serves as the annual 22 oz. bottle release of Syndicate Series No. 04. A unique blend of Speakeasy beers that have been aged for no less than one year in bourbon barrels, Syndicate Series No. 04 includes Scarface Imperial Stout (Aged 22 Months), Fixed Fight Old Ale (Aged 20 Months), Scarface Imperial Stout (Aged 23 Months), Betrayal (Aged 50 Months), and Old Godfather (Aged 48 Months). Syndicate No. 04 pours dark with heavy tobacco, leather, chocolate, and vanilla notes along with hints of dark fruit and coffee. Syndicate No. 04 clocks in at over 10% ABV, but is smoothed over by its extensive aging time.

Many of San Francisco's revered local businesses will join Speakeasy Ales & Lagers' epic anniversary party, including Philz Coffee, Dandelion Chocolate, Humphry Slocombe, Etta+Billie, Glass Coat Photo Booth, Regrained, El Taquero, Samara Southern Creations, and Long Bridge Pizza. Live music by The Helltones, Mad Mama and the Bona Fide Few, and Sweetwater Black.

VIP tickets ($50) include access to the taproom, a Speakeasy 5 oz. glass with unlimited tastings, a Syndicate Series Vertical Flight, and early entry at 1 pm. Speakeasy Taster Glass tickets ($30) include unlimited tastings and early access at 1pm. Pre-sale General Admission tickets ($5) include one beer, and GA tickets ($5) at the door allows entrance only.

Tickets are now on sale at https://speakeasybeer.ticketsauce.com/e/speakeasy-ales-lagers-anniversary-2018/tickets

About Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has been defiantly brewing small batch beers in San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood since 1997. The brewery started with a single iconic beer, still made today, Prohibition Ale. The hoppy amber beer embodies the spirit of bootleggers and gangsters who persevered when America's taps ran dry. Speakeasy quickly gained a loyal following with its bold, complex beers, and striking 1920s imagery. Speakeasy's kingpin Big Daddy IPA is the brewery's highest seller among its wide array of celebrated beers, from session ales to bourbon barrel-aged imperial stouts. In 2013, the Speakeasy Taproom opened serving thousands of local craft beer lovers with fresh draft beer to be enjoyed onsite or to-go in growlers and crowlers.

Speakeasy's original 15 barrel brewing system was replaced in 2015 during a major expansion, which included a 60 barrel brewhouse, centrifuge, malt handling system, canning line, and an additional 1,200 barrels of fermentation capacity.

Hunters Point Brewery LLC, a company founded by former owner of Horizon Beverage Company, Ces Butner, acquired the Speakeasy beer brands and brewing equipment in 2017. Under new ownership, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers will grow by leaps and bounds. The brewery's trademark eyes, ubiquitous and cryptic, beckon you to join our mob, no password required.

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers' taproom is located at 1195 Evans Avenue, San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit: https://www.goodbeer.com

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Bear Republic Brewing Company Celebrates One Year Anniversary of Rohnert Park Location
SONOMA COUNTY, CALIF. (August 1, 2018) — Bear Republic Brewing Company (BRBC), a Sonoma County, California based brewer, celebrates the one year anniversary of Bear Republic Brewing Company Lakeside on Tuesday, August 21 with a luau themed party.

Bear Republic Brewing Company Lakeside One Year Anniversary Luau features a roasted pig, aloha welcome cocktail hour, full buffet dinner, fire dancers and authentic Tahitian and Hawaiian dance performances. VIP tickets for the event have sold out, General Admission tickets are still available on brownpapertickets.com or bearrepublic.com. Located at 5000 Roberts Lake Road in Rohnert Park, BRBC Lakeside offers award winning craft beers and delicious pub fare with a twist.

“We’re thrilled the Rohnert Park community has welcomed our Lakeside location with open arms. This luau celebration marks a successful year of crafting nationally recognized ales and serving mouthwatering dishes in a family-friendly environment,” said Tami Norgrove, Bear Republic Brewing Company Co-founder and Owner. “We look forward in continuing to deliver experiences worth celebrating with our latest craft brews, evolving menu and live events.”

BRBC Lakeside opened in August 21, 2017, the location includes a 10-barrel brewing system, a full bar offering house and beer cocktails, a stage, a kids play area, and an adult games area. A large outdoor dining area overlooks Roberts Lake flanked by palm trees. The kitchen serves pizzas along with classic Bear Republic dishes.

Established over twenty years ago, Bear Republic Brewing Company has expanded from a small brewery in downtown Healdsburg, CA into distribution markets all over the country. Bear Republic is the 42nd largest craft brewery in the United States and employs more than 220 people. The company operates two brewpub locations, a production brewery, and shipping warehouse. Bear Republic maintains a sense of loyalty and tradition from eras gone by with a constantly growing portfolio of craft beers.

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© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2018. All content is owned and uniquely created by Bryan J. Kolesar. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Kolesar is strictly prohibited. Excerpts, images, and links may be used with advance permission granted and only provided that full and clear credit is given to Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Contact Kolesar at TheBrewLounge@gmail.com

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Writing This Ship: Part 10 - Going back to Cali

Click picture for a full gallery of Bay Area beer (and more!) pictures

Now these Writing This Ship entries are gonna start showing their age. This one comes from almost exactly two months ago when I landed in San Francisco for a week. In my eternal quest for sharing and sharing in a timely manner, perhaps this is a good point at which to apologize to those of you not on social media. Not apologize for you, since I understand the desire, maybe the need, to limit your exposure and time spent there.

Yet, while I don't often get around in the most timely fashion to writing up the impressions and loading up pictures here at The Brew Lounge, I do use Facebook and Twitter (and ever-so-occasionally Instagram) to share stuff nearly immediately from my stumblings around the beer world. I say that I'll get better at syncing up the multiple platforms with a coherent and consistent approach, but whom am I kidding? After over 11 years of this, I suppose at this point I'm an old dog just trying to keep up with all the tricks.

Anyways, back to the left coast. Before my work week began, I only had Sunday to indulge in the tasty way of life that the Bay Area provides, so after an early morning flight and a quick drop-off and check-in at the hotel, I managed my way around Giants/Phillies baseball crowd and Pride parade mayhem and hopped on the BART train over to Berkeley where I met up with family and a Philly transplant friend. It's been too long since I've been in Berkeley; the last time was in the last pre-opening days of the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Room. Do you recall the pictures I shared from the behind-the-scenes visit that I made? That was, if I count correctly, three years ago.

That was also the timeframe of The Rare Barrel's early days. First up on this Sunday afternoon was finally a first visit to what has become a deservedly sought-after brewery (or shall we say fermenter/ager/blender?) in the west side of Berkeley, a little more than a mile from the center of Berkeley along Shattuck Avenue. Actually, The Rare Barrel has wort brewed for them off-site and has an ample parking lot and tasting room fronting the blending and barrel-aging facility just off Parker Street between 8th and 9th Streets. I can imagine, though, that on bottle release days and bad weather days and days when there are no baseball games, parades, or other summertime activities, that the parking lot and tasting room might feel rather small, but, hey, that was the benefit of my first impression being made on a Sunday afternoon, the day after a bottle release....while there was a baseball game across the Bay....and a parade....and beautiful summer weather blanketing the region.

A visit to The Rare Barrel is a comfortable one with doors that open wide to the parking lot and soft leather couches that consume you as you consume. This is a sour beer joint, there's no mistaking that it's the business model, and the beers on tap ranged from those that got some help from tart cherries, raspberries, and grapefruit to cucumber and mint. One small plates of food is available and from what I understand the grilled cheese sandwich is delicious. Don't, though, come with a ravenous hunger looking for a full meal.

And select bottles are available to go, as are growler fills. The bottles tend to be priced a bit on the high side - $30 per 750ml bottle is not uncommon - though club members receive discounts. Considering the overhead and process supporting their business model of barrel-aging beers (not to mention the resulting quality), the price is somewhat easier to swallow (pun sort of, but not really intended).

After a few very, very nice beers and one average one, we slipped out and on up the street approximately a mile to Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Room. Per my earlier comments, this was my first visit since they officially opened in late 2013 - and the spaced turned out to be exactly as I envisioned. When we arrived, we were the only customers, but within ten minutes every seat in the modest space was filled. The staff said that it is pretty typical of a Sunday afternoon, especially considering they don't have televisions.

The Torpedo Room seems to be exactly what they were shooting for - an opportunity to enjoy a very wide ranging selection of Sierra Nevada beers three hours from their home in Chico, Calif. Plus, it's a chance to get an education about the beers and the processes involved in creating them which was evident from my first questions about Southern Peppers that were eagerly and insightfully answered. It is, in case you're wondering, a very refreshing 8.3% ABV beer (no, that's not a contradiction) brewed with lemongrass and pink peppercorns.

Now getting into the late afternoon hours, we had one more place on the itinerary and the effect of getting up at 4:30 a.m. eastern time and a six-hour flight was beginning to take its toll. I left the Torpedo Room with a little treat that caught my eye - the Hop Salt which was described to me as the seasoning used on the fries back in the restaurant at Sierra Nevada HQ in Chico.

Up the road another mile in Berkeley and we found ourselves at the last stop on this Sunday afternoon triple play - Fieldwork Brewing Company. Actually didn't know much at all about these guys until Colleen Rakowski from Free Will Brewing Company gave them an enthusiastic thumb's up from a visit just a few weeks earlier. The brewery apparently also gets a big thumb's up from homebrewing legend Mike "Tasty" McDole, a longtime friend but one I hadn't made any prearrangements to bump into as we did to add another fun element to my first afternoon in the Bay Area.

My first impression of Fieldwork Brewing Company was the airy atmosphere woven into the Northwest Berkeley neighborhood. Plenty of bikes, kids, and dogs scattered around communal tables both inside and outside. A wide diversity of beers on the menu in addition to a (obvious?) focus on hop-centric brews like IPA and others. Like at The Rare Barrel, you may not come to Fieldwork for a gut-busting satisfying meal. But you will come for savory meat and vegan pies and other small plates of food that go nicely with a few beers.

If I had a food blog, I'd share with you the countless places in San Francisco where I enjoyed all my usual stops for breakfast, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, ice cream, and barbecue. I'd share with you that I still came home 1.5 pounds lighter than when I left because during five days I logged 33 miles of walking. But let's stay focused on the beer.

During the week, I managed to find my way over to City Beer Store for my requisite stop. A couple hotel room beers plus several more to bring home in addition to the Rare Barrel beers already procured. It was also a Tomme Arthur night direct from Lost Abbey/Port Brewing near San Diego and only a few weeks removed from seeing him during Philly Beer Week. Great visit to City Beer Store - it really is where you go when you want bottled beer to go, while also stopping to taste a few, when in the city proper.

My walk on that particular night of visiting City Beer Store took me on a few more miles first for ice cream, then tacos, followed by a couple nice beers and local beer chatter at Pi Bar, before I found my way to "the other location" owned by City Beer Store owners, Amnesia Beer & Music Hall. Okay, "other location" may not be exactly an apt description because the two places couldn't be much different from each other. But, one of my favorite live music venues in San Francisco got a bit of a beer upgrade when the Craig & Beth Wathen purchased it a couple of years ago. So for me it was the pleasure of some bluegrass on Valencia Street and a few good beers to pass the time before I headed to Zeitgeist for one (or two) last beers. What a fantastic and comfortable backyard-style hangout Zeitgeist still is.

Oh, hey, back to gloss over of Pi Bar. Been a couple of years since I last dropped in on this excellent spot for (mostly) local beers and great pizza. And being the numbers guy that I am, of course you can imagine my appreciation for their opening time each day - 3:14 p.m. Always dependable to find not just Russian River, but uber-local and excellent beers like Death & Taxes from Moonlight Brewery.

Another family meet up found me sharing an outdoor firepit in adirondack chairs at the relatively new Drake's Dealership in Oakland. Think basically of an old car dealership with the much of the roof removed that accommodates maybe 75% of the seating in this al fresco setting. Nice to see the long time Bay Area brewing fixture of Drake's with another location - and on rapidly expanding area of Oakland (Uptown neighborhood) to boot. The pizzas that came out of the oven were about as perfect as you could ask for - Cubano and Uptown for the record - and a great mix of ol' reliables such as the 1500 and Denogginizer on the draft menu along with specialities that bring the special like War Pigeon (8% ABV imperial IPA), Cocoa Caliente (8.4% ABV bourbon barrels and chocolate), and Wandering 'Possum (solid 5.0% ABV Pale Ale). The Tears Of A Sisserone (8.5% ABV mint and cinnamon malt liquor)? Well, that was just downright interesting and one of the best named beers I've come across in a while.

Whole Foods. How do you expect me to work Whole Foods into this getting-to-be epicly long entry? The friend Kevin that I mentioned from Sunday's meetup in Berkeley? Well, he brought a crowler of Punch List Pale Ale (6.2% hop-forward pale) from his local Whole Foods - apparently the only of the store's locations in the country with a brewery. The brewery is called Mission Creek and reportedly is turning out some very well made beers. I certainly couldn't argue with the Punch List as it became my last night in the city hotel room beer as I closed out a bunch of work and packed to travel home.

But was that it for beer? Nah, of course not. After my last day of work, I set off on a five-hour jaunt (remember all the walking that I mentioned? this one was a 4.7 mile sojourn) to fill me up with sights, sounds, and tastes to take home with me on the dreaded red-eye flight.

First up was oysters at Hog Island in the Ferry Building marketplace. Of course accompanied by a 21st Amendment Hog Island Oyster Stout. Then, inspired by the beer and the nearby Gandhi statue, I kept on walking over to 21st Amendment where one beer turned into three plus conversation with a fascinating guy named Rich. I'll save that still-untold story for another day. If I've said it once.....there's no other place I found it as appropriate to garnish the rim of my glass with a piece of fruit than at 21st Amendment while enjoying a Watermelon Wheat.

Those three 21A beers meant the next stop at Thirsty Bear would have to wait until next trip. I did have the time, though, to stop inside the new MOMA and its gift shop. Need to spend more time there next trip. Looks incredible.

The last stop, finally, which as become somewhat of a tradition (nah, let's call it a habit) was at Mikkeller Bar for my last beers and meal. Still doing quite well in their, shall we say, gritty location in the Tenderloin neighborhood just off Market Street and around the corner from the Powell Street cable car turnaround, it now takes maybe two hands and a foot to count the number of times I've stopped in for what is consistently a great lineup of beer (both theirs, locals, and from around the world) and an equally well-matched food menu.

For me this time, it was an incredibly satisfying plate of Chimichurri Flank Steak with sauteed broccolini and fried red potatoes that was washed down by a spectacular Alvinne Wild West BA French barrel-aged Belgian Sour. Yup, still thinking about it months later.

For next time, I'm already counting on some more new places that need to be added to my itinerary such as the new East Bay locations of 21st Amendment and Faction. Though, this will remain a standout trip for sometime, I suppose, as the number of new spots for me visited outweighed the number of mandatory repeat visits.

Whoa, hold the presses! Somehow I'm not surprised that with all that went down in this one particular week in the Bay Area, that I'd miss something - a completely accidental visit to Bartlett Hall Brewing Company just off Union Square. Accidental as in I know nothing about it, not even its existence. But, here I was for a couple quick short glasses and a bowl of shishito peppers. It's a huge, comfortable place, just off the hustling and bustling touristy streets of the area. Good place to get away from it all. The Brown Ale, the IPA, and a taste of the Barleywine all proved out decent to recommend. Plus they do a Mint Chocolate Porter because, well, of course. Until my next visit, I'll chalk them up in the "return visit" column.

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Writing this ship, Part IV (California, part 2)

If you'd like to catch up with the pieces leading up to this Part IV, head back and check out the "intro", Part I, Part II, and/or Part III.

In addition to the trip last July to San Francisco that I shared with you the other day, there have since been two others. The one in February has been shared...likely, you might fairly say, ad nauseum. That was the SF Beer Week trip that was shared adequately here and over here as well. We'll leave that one rest until next year.

In December, there was a bit more trippin' around the City and Sonoma County. In the spirit of keeping you engaged, this'll be shared through some random pictures below instead of all those wordy words that I typically like to write.

(Sunrise over San Francisco)
(Fog. In San Francisco. Who's heard of such a thing?!)
(Hills. In San Francisco. Have you heard of such a thing?!)
(Sushi. In San Francisco. At one my favorites, Sakana, near Union Square.)
(City Beer Store hangs 'em proudly)
(the premiere of 21st Amendment's Hog Island Oyster Stout with, wait for it...oysters! At the Ferry Building Marketplace)
(Tcho Chocolate, located along the Embarcadero, is one of the region's finest)
(Lagunitas in Petaluma, Calif.)
(The iconic beer list at Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, Calif.)
(The Fremont Diner in Sonoma, Calif.)
(Breakfast and a beer at The Fremont Diner in Sonoma, Calif.)

(The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa. Decadent. Relaxing. Convenient to some of the best of Sonoma County)
(Imagery Winery in Glen Ellen, Calif.)
(Imagery Winery in Glen Ellen, Calif.)

(A nice day to take the family for a drive and some scenery)

The Almanac (beer) says tonight will be a good night in San Francisco

It's been a while (February?) since I've shared anything with you from the West Coast.

I found this exciting news posted in an e-mail from downtown San Francisco's City Beer Store, one of the Bay Area's premier craft beer retailers and tasting bars, owned by the husband-and-wife team of Craig and Beth Wathen.

Jesse and Damian are two great guys -- brewers, foodies, artists, all-around fun guys, and both fairly recently married to two wonderful and supportive spouses -- whom I've had the pleasure of getting to know in recent years visiting San Francisco. The Incanto/Magnolia dinner (Chris Cosentino/Incanto & Dave McLean/Magnolia) a couple of years ago was certainly a highlight, you may recall me writing about it.

Jesse and Damian got the ball rolling on their Almanac Beer Company last year and are ready to share their tasty creations with you.

I had my first opportunity to taste some of their first barrel-aged beers at San Francisco Beer Week (you can check back here for some of my words and pictures from SFBW '11).

Their excitement and anticipation for going to market was palpable and also evident in the beers. They warned me that likely by my next trip to the Bay Area, I'd be able to find some of their beers available commercially. Looks like that time has come.

They've got a philosophy of "farm-to-barrel" brewing in keeping with the four seasons of the year which should make discovering and re-discovering their brewing talents throughout the year a treat for Northern California beer fans.

Even if you're not reading this within 20 miles of San Francisco, be sure to put Almanac Beer on your to-find list during your next visit to San Francisco.

Here's the notice from City Beer Store.

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Thursday, June 30: Almanac Beer Company Bottle Launch - 6:00pm


Almanac Beer Company was dreamed up by home brewers Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan, both skilled in the fine art of barrel aging and blending. Drawing inspiration from the lush, plentiful farms in their neighboring towns, they sought to establish their own label.


Their first offering is the Summer 2010 Blackberry Ale, a delicate Belgian style golden ale brewed with fresh blackberries from Sebastopol Berry Farm. Further details you should know:


*Summer 2010 Blackberry Ale will be on draft as well as in bottles.


*Bottles limits will apply.


*A special draft only keg of 2010 Vintage Sour will be poured during the event.


*Hapa Ramen will be barside serving tasty morsels to enjoy with the Almanac selections.