Well, it was bound to happen eventually – I had a meal I didn’t particularly like at Mission Street Food.  I suppose it’s inevitable - you can’t be this experimental, week after week, without there being some valleys to equal out peaks.  I just didn’t expect that when it came down, it would come down this hard. [...]

With SF Beer Week behind us, it’s back to business as usual.  The homebrew reserves has been running low, so it seemed like a good time to get outside and brew up some beer.  I snuck outside during a few minutes of nice weather this past weekend, and set about brewing up a Belgian Wit. [...]

    Dammit.  Bill Brand, after putting up an admirable fight, passed away last night at San Francisco General Hospital.  I’ve only gotten to know Bill over the last year, but he was always amazingly encouraging to me and the work I was doing on this blog, as well as a pleasure to be around.  He was [...]

  I’ve made peace with the Toronado Barleywine Festival.  It is in some ways everything I can’t stand about some beer festivals: crowded to the point of claustrophobia, and attracts people who may not be 100% familiar with the nature of quaffing 10-13% ABV beers.  Yet, on the other hand, it presents a fantastic showcase for a beer style [...]

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      What’s the best way to recover from running a massively successful beer dinner? Why, volunteer to help cook another one, of course!  Next year I’ll have to work on scheduling myself a little better so that it’s not back to back nights for my biggest events – but this year, it was full steam ahead. [...]

      Wow.  Just… Wow. The dinner exceeded my wildest expectations.  The beer was plentiful, the food impeccably prepared, and the company was joyous and exuberant. The final menu really reflected the kind of beer dinner experience I hoped to craft. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

    Steve of Beer By Bart pretty succinctly covers the reaction most people have to Russian River’s Sours.  Vinnie has developed a way with wild yeasts that I think is largely unmatched.  His event at Toronado provided a great opportunity to taste some of his rarer creations.  One of the big highlights of the night included Erudition, a three year old [...]

    One of the things I really like about the Homebrew Chef’s approach to food is Sean’s intellectual bend towards his subject.  SF Beer Week provided the perfect opportunity to showcase this habit with some like-minded eaters and drinkers, who are onboard for a dinner that is also a culinary investigation.  Can one beer be showcased [...]

    Last night, local beer author Bill Brand was struck by a MUNI train while leaving a SF Beer Week event.  He’s currently in critical condition at SF General Hospital.  Bill is an excellent author, as well as a very talented palate, and is always a pleasure to run into at local beer events.   At last [...]