More pictures from Toronado Russian River Night…

  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 [...]

      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. [...]

    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 [...]

    Firestone Walker is one of those breweries that always seems to have something exciting up their sleeve.  Their ongoing experiments with barrel-brewing has led to some of my favorite beers, and some very special one-offs, such as the keg they brought to NCHF. Now they are releasing Firestone Walker XII, their anniversary release.  It’s a blended ale with a distinct [...]