A cannabis-inspired brew, some tasty hops
The harvest season has begun, hops are being picked and it’s time to yell, “O’zapft is!” The Bavarian expression — which means, “it’s tapped” — is the traditional Oktoberfest shout that greets the tapping of the first keg at Munich’s famous festival, which opened Saturday and lasts until the first weekend in October. This year, it runs through Oct. 3, so if you can’t make it to Germany for the festivities, do the next best thing: pick up some Märzen or Oktoberfest beer at your favorite local beer store this month.
Here’s what else is new in Northern California’s beer world this month:
TASTY HOPPY IPA >> My favorite new release this month is a collaboration between 21st Amendment Brewery and legendary homebrewer Mike “Tasty” McDole. Tasty, as he’s known to his friends, has been brewing for decades, racking up awards and appearing regularly on the Brewing Network’s Session radio show and podcast.
Shaun O’Sullivan, 21st Amendment’s co-founder and brewmaster, and McDole have created a Tasty IPA for the brewery’s Insurrection Series. Released this month in six-pack cans — and in kegs for a limited time — the beer is 6.8 percent alcohol by volume and aggressively hopped with Citra, Mosaic lupulin powder and Ekuanot hop pellets.
“If you like hops and you love IPA, you’ll definitely enjoy this
beer, in spite of the naked guy swimming in hops on the front of the can,” O’Sullivan says. “In all seriousness, this beer is delicious.The lupulin powder is made from the heart of the hop, where the hop resins and oils reside.”
The beer has bright, fresh flavors and aromas of tropical stone fruits and pine, with a hint of spiciness. The beer’s distinctive label art was drawn by Tasty’s son, Mark McDole.
SEPTEMBER SIPS >> Lagunitas Brewing just released an interesting seasonal called Satitumi, an ale with a punch of sake yeast and rice. Even more interesting is Lagunitas’ new SuperCritical, an ale brewed with the terpenes from Northern California cannabis. Part of the brewery’s OneHitter Series, the beer contains no THC, but does include the aroma molecules for some signature dankness in the nose. It’s available only in a handful of California locations, including San Francisco’s Toronado; lagunitas.com/supercritical.
And Firestone Walker Brewing has released its Luponic Distortion Revolution No. 7, the seventh in a series started two years ago that uses the same base beer with varying hops combinations. No. 7 was brewed with three different hops from Australia. According to brewmaster Matt Brynildson, “The primary Australian hop is loaded with this bright, citrusy sauvignon blanc character, and the other two hops round it out with classic Southern Hemisphere qualities.”
FESTS AND MORE >> This is Oktoberfest season, of course, but there are other notable beer events happening, too. Check out the Tiburon Taps Beer Festival (www.tiburontaps.org) on Saturday, or head south to Paso Robles for the Central Coast Sour Festival (www.centralcoastsourfest.com), which will feature more than 50 limited sour and wild beers. Concord will host its second Bay Area Beer and Slider Fest (/bit.ly/sliderfest17) that afternoon. And San Francisco’s Pier 49 will host its Oktoberfest by the Bay (oktoberfestbythebay.com) Friday through Sept. 24. Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.