From Pliny the Younger to a Firestone Walker beer rosé, here’s what’s new in the beer world.
This isn’t February. It’s a bustling “Febrewary.” SF Beer Week comes to a close today, but there are plenty of other ways to indulge. Here’s what else is happening in Northern California’s beer world.
PLINY THE YOUNGER >> Russian River Brewing just released its cult favorite, Pliny the Younger, and it will be available through Valentine’s Day. Happily, it has brewed more of the popular triple IPA this year. You can find it at the original brewpub in downtown Santa Rosa and its new production brewery and taproom in Windsor. Details: russianriverbrewing.com.
STRONG BEER MONTH >> The 19th annual collaboration between the 21st Amendment and Magnolia breweries brings not only a dozen special, strong brews — each over 8 percent alcohol by volume — but a new, monster-movie theme, too. Celebrate “The Attack of the Three-Headed Brewsaurus!” and try the new beers at the breweries’ four locations in San Francisco and San Leandro throughout the month of February. Details: magnoliabrewing.com and 21st-amendment. com.
FLAGSHIP FEBRUARY >> Canadian beer writer Stephen Beaumont and I are kicking off a new celebration that pays homage to the flagship beers produced by craft brewers around the world. Check out flagshipfebruary.com to discover a slew of events hosted by bars, taprooms, breweries and restaurants, and read essays — a new one each day — by 28 well-known beer writers from around the world.
BEER ROSÉ >> Now that the federal government shutdown is at least temporarily over, new beers can once again get label approval and they should start showing up on shelves soon. Among them: Paso Robles’ Firestone Walker Brewing, which has taken excellent advantage of its wine country location with a new beer dubbed Rosalie. It’s a one-of-a-kind beer rosé with bright fruit flavors. The project began last fall, when Castoro Winery harvested 200 tons of wine grapes for the brewery, including 100 tons of chardonnay grapes and smaller lots of viognier, sauvignon blanc, riesling, muscat canelli and orange muscat.
“The chardonnay provides these crowd-pleasing textures and flavors,” brewmaster Matt Brynildson says, “but we also wanted to weave in the other grape varieties to lift the aromas and add complexity.”
MORE NEW SUDS >> Also keep an eye out for Firestone Walker’s first foray into hazy IPA. With Mind Haze, Brynildson takes a different approach inspired by German-style wheat beers and specifically weizenbocks. Adding both wheat malt and oats, the new approach yields a very different-tasting IPA, but one definitely worth trying.
Anchor Brewing’s limited-release Baykeeper IPA is a collaboration with the nonprofit Baykeeper, an organization that has spent the last 30 years defending the San Francisco Bay from pollution. The 7 percent ABV IPA is brewed with Mosaic, Cascade and Amarillo Cryo hops and is redolent with lime, orange zest and papaya aromas. It’s slightly hazy and thick with pine and fruit flavors, which Anchor is calling a San
Francisco-style IPA.
Samuel Adams is launching an interesting mix pack dubbed Brewing the American Dream Collaboration Pack, with beers brewed with five craft brewers from around the U.S., including the Bay Area’s Jim Woods.
Woods is known for his original Mateveza, a beer with yerba mate tea. His Woods Beer Co. operates five locations, including one in Oakland, one on Treasure Island and three in San Francisco. Look for the mix pack, which includes Woods’ Boston Tea Party saison. It’s considered a riff on the classic Belgian style that combines Woods’ earthy yerba mate-infused saison and Sam Adams’ funky wild yeast blend, Kosmic Mother Funk.