The festival is noteworthy for specialty brews, a weekend of camping and unpredictable weather. This year, the sun baked the throngs of beer lovers as thermometer pushed into the mid-nineties. The attendance by brewers seemed lighter than usual with an entire section uninhabited compared to previous years. That said, the crowds were as big as ever, lining up along Highway 128 that runs through Boonville long before the gates to the festival opened.

Once inside, the festival was organized mayhem. Lines moved briskly but never seemed to shorten, which is standard for this large festival. Russian River and the like saw long lines while the smart beer drinker made their way to the handful of new breweries sprinkled throughout the festival. Notable newcomers in my opinion included Berryesa Brewing who poured their Common Sense Lager and an IPA brewed with experimental hops and named after the late Adam Yauch, Pass the Mic.

For RateBeer, we were excited to launch a new beta site, RateBeer Live. RateBeer Live featured a list of beer pouring at the festival along with ratings (overall and by style) and a map location of where the beer could be found. A festival mpa would help you find your way from beer to beer and a “Speak Up” feature let you share your day with fellow beer lovers via Facebook.

Come the end of the day, Boonville had officially kicked off summer for the craft beer community. Such a momentous day can’t be contained by a mere four hours of festival and the celebration continued back at campsites around the tiny town of Boonville.

Did any of you make it out to the festival? Did you have a favorite beer you found? Did you have a chance to try RateBeer Live at the festival? Let us know your thoughts.

Apologies for the lack of photos. After making a couple trips on foot back to the campsite, the prospect of carrying a camera in the heat proved to be rather unfavorable, so I traveled light for the festival.

This comparison comes at a perfect time for us as RateBeer is headed to Boonville for the Legendary Boonville Beer Festival this weekend. Hoping to keep our beers cold, we’ll take a look at a trio of coolers, see which ones hold up to the elements best, provide convenient access and are comfortable to carry to our destination. All coolers are of the 50-quart variety or equivalent. The three coolers we’ll look at are as follows:

• Coleman 54 Quart Steel Belted® Cooler – Green – MSRP $109.99
• Igloo Stainless Steel 54 – MSRP $169.99
• YETI Tundra 50 – MSRP $329.99

As I mentioned, these coolers are all approximately the same volume and are roughly the same dimensions. The Coleman and Igloo are near identical while the Yeti is noticeably larger, as if the other coolers had a case around them. The Igloo and Coleman are both extremely light while the Yeti has a density to it that can be a slight problem for carrying, but an advantage otherwise as it’s sturdy enough to sit or even stand on.

The significant differences come in performance and in design. On the design side, the closing latches on all three are very different. The Coleman is easy to use but lacks any true security. The rotating latch can be engaged but still allows the top to be opened. Using this cooler, the latch was never disengaged as it was a step that would prove unnecessary. The Igloo latch simply buckles down. There is little security provided here either. On the Yeti, the rubber lid latches hold the lid down tight and prove difficult for children to use. There are also spots available for locking the cooler to prevent animals from getting into your food or drinks while you are away.

Next I tested the handles for carrying. The Coleman’s thin handles are uncomfortable even when the cooler is empty. On the Igloo, a wider pad is used and the makes for a much better experience. On the Yeti, there are two options. A rubber padded rope is comfortable on the hands as well as shoulder an arms as it moves with the body and adapts to the size of the person carrying the cooler. There is also a molded handle which is wide enough to not inflict pain on the carrier.

Inside the cooler, all three fit even the tallest Belgian-styled cork and cage bottles. Coleman claims a capacity of 85 cans while 18 bombers and at least 30 12-ounce bottles fit comfortably. To test the ability to keep ice, I put 27 lbs of ice in each cooler and set them in my kitchen, side by side. Each day I check the ice twice, once around lunch, again after dinner. The Coleman was the first to go to all water after 7 days. The Igloo followed shortly thereafter at the 7.5 day mark. The Yeti was still going strong at that point and held on for a full 9 days before the ice was completely gone.

While these were the significant features of the coolers I did want to add the following comments on each cooler. The Coleman was the favorite of the family, my wife and children. The latch was easy to use and everyone liked the styling. The Igloo has a built-on bottle opener. The bottom of the cooler is also rubberized to avoid slipping and elevates the bottom of the cooler off the ground, to minimize heat loss. The Yeti has an assortment of high-end features, including a freezer gasket around the lid to prevent loss of heat, a threaded drain plug as well as a similar elevated bottom to the Igloo. They Yeti also comes with a food tray that allows food to stay dry but cool above the ice and drinks below. An options bottle opener is available for the Yeti tat can be screwed into the cooler wherever you choose.

In the end, each cooler represents itself as a very useful cooler. Given the wide range of pricing, it comes down to how much of the added features you’re looking for.

If it’s just a cooler and nothing else, the Coleman is a great option. While the ice kept for 7 days in a testing environment, in a real world condition, the ice remained through a weekend camping trip with temperatures in the 90’s.

Need just a touch more in terms of keeping the ice cold longer? The Igloo provides more comfort and all around slightly better features. The brushed stainless steel is also a very attractive package. For beer drinkers, the bottle opener is a plus, but how many of us don’t already have multiple openers at our disposal?

For those looking for the ultimate cooler, the Yeti is the one you want. The price is an issue, but for campers, fishermen, etc, the ability to lock up the cooler is significant. Also, the cooler’s insulation can help save the amount of ice for those who don’t want to waterlog their beers. The sturdy build makes the Yeti a comfortable seat as well, even having an optional seating pad which can be attached to the lid.

So what will it be this summer? Do you have other coolers you prefer? Let’s hear what the RateBeer community thinks about coolers for getting outdoors this summer.

While under Higgins Social Kitchen and Brewery accomplished the goals of being a neighborhood brewpub, it became time for a change at the 9th street brewery. Higgins moved on to focus more on his consulting business and new brewmaster Kim Sturdavant has stepped into the rubber boots.

Sturdavant has been working under Arne Johnson at Marin Brewing Company for some time now and is excited about the opportunity to head up his own brewery. With only a couple weeks on the job, Sturdavant already has some plans for the lineup of beers at Social Kitchen and Brewery. At the time of my visit, West Side IPA was his first recipe to hit the taps with others bubbling away in fermenters.

Expect the Social Kolsch to be replaced on the menu with an English styled session-strength pale. You can also look for the introduction of a new porter. Sturdavant anticipates this brew to be light and nutty at around 5% and reminiscent of English porters. Of the previous brews, Rapscallion, a Belgian-styled Golden Ale, should still remain on the menu.

With the Social Kitchen and Brewery system much like the Marin system on which he’s worked for so long, expect a very steep learning curve for Sturdavant in his new position. If the West Side IPA is any indication, he’s hit the ground running and ready to put his personal stamp on this San Francisco pub.

While few know where baby birding began, its rare to attend a beer tasting without seeing this odd practice. Tired of 12 oz bottles barely serving a dozen people, beer lovers began looking for ways to extend the tasting. While couples seem to be most open to the idea at first, baby birding between strangers is even catching on.

“At first I thought it was disgusting,” claims a man who sat next to us at the bar for the Beatification release. “Why would I let someone spit in my mouth?! But then a was a table and they had split a bottle of Dark Lord. I had never tried it and thought this could be my only chance. That’s when someone offered to mama bird their taste for me. The beer was great, and now I have a friendship that has a special bond.”

With the introduction of baby birding has come a slew of variations. Some will blend fresh and “BB’d” beer together for new flavor combinations. Others will experiment with 2nd and even 3rd generation tastes to see how the beer stands up.

Most common is the search for a celebrity baby bird. Tucker had to turn down a steady stream of requests to joint groups at their tables.

“I’m just here to enjoy my beer,” explains Tucker. “If you try to satisfy all the requests, you end up losing sight of the enjoyment of the beer. You think to yourself ‘Why don’t I just down a couple bottles and spit them back into pitchers.’ It would save time and hassle, but you lose the personal connection.”

While the anxious connoisseurs were turned down on this after noon, some were still excited about the possibilities that lay ahead.

One baby birding aficionado was hopeful for a good weekend. “I’ve been mama birded by master cicerones, numerous brewers and chefs and my goal this weekend is to get Beatification straight from the brewers mouth. Do you know if Vinnie is still in back?”

Happy April Fools Day.

When Dogfish announced their gluten-free offering, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Most of the beers we had tried in the gluten-free realm had been copies of existing styles. Dogfish doesn’t brew anything to style, so what would I have as comparison for their gluten-free brew? This is echoed in the press-release for Tweason’ale:

“It seems as if lots of folks who have gluten-tolerance issues are pining for an interesting beer,” says Dogfish founder and president Sam Calagione. “While there are a few well-made examples that mirror traditional beer styles, there arent any off-centered offerings.”

The result is a dry, mead-like beer with the standard sorghum and buckwheat notes found in other gluten-free offerings. The beer is dry with fruit and floral highlights, but not nearly as sweet as one might think by reading the label.

But where does Tweason’ale leave the gluten-free beer market? We still have a wide variety of pilsner copies, a few “dark beer” attempts and now an off-centered entry. I’m still in search of a true gluten-free IPA to see if the hops can help mask some of the signature flavors found in gluten-free brewing.

In the meantime, the market is definitely expanding. Are more choices on the horizon? Are gluten-free beer drinkers satisfied with what they see on the shelves today? Share you opinion below. Also, see previous article on the topic:

Drink Craft Beer, Skip the Gluten
Gluten-Free Tasting Panel
Gluten-Free Beer: Revisited

The night was full of great beer and great food. The event was held at the newest of the two Hopmonk Taverns, the Sonoma location. Hopmonk owner Dean Biersch joined us for the dinner, sharing stories of his experiences in the beer industry as well as some of the history behind the Hopmonk locations

Chef Billy Reid created a menu with a wide range of beers in mind. With each course, three beers were poured, and Chef Billy presented a plate that allowed guests to build their own pairing. Whether it was a housemade meatball made with stout, a saffrom infused chevre or a crab stuffed sea-bass, each dish featured a variety of elements that could push each bite in a unique direction to pair with an assortment of beers.

On the beer side of things, we featured five of the RateBeer’s Best Top 10 Brewers and the #3 new brewer of the year. Three Floyds, Cigar City, Hill Farmstead, Russian River and De Struise highlighted a  lineup that had me personally excited for the evening. Favorites from around the room included Hill Farmstead’s Birth of Tragedy, Great Divide’s Barrel-Aged Yeti, Avery’s Maharaja, and High Water’s No Boundary IPA. Shmaltz Brewing shared their new Hop Manna IPA with guests, a beer that’s not officially released yet and was still being bottled at “Test batch 4.” At the conclusion of the dinner, a keg of Pliny the Younger was unveiled to the excitement of the crowd.

Slideshow: Experience the food, beer and people of RateBeer’s Best 2012 Awards Dinner: Taste the Top

In all, it was as described before, a celebration of the best beer in the world. While the seating was limited for such an event, RateBeer would like to thank everyone who helps make RateBeer happen, the users. Thank you for a great 2011 and 2012 is shaping up to be another great year in the craft beer community. A great Thank You goes out as well to all the brewers who made this event happen.

After meeting with Moonlight brewer Brian Hunt during the Fancy Food Show weekend, the Lieu sisters got to work on developing a chocolate that featured the regional favorite Death and Taxes.

The result is the Inevitable Edible, a decadently dark chocolate on the outside with a melt-in-your-mouth center that had a luxurious feel as it coated your tongue. The flavor of the Death and Taxes was subtle but sang through.

In addition to tasting fantastic, the chocolates are presented in an amazing way. Delicate designs are painted across the top of the treats. The four pack show here was wrapped inside the box in tissue paper and included a card with additional flavors of Socola chocolates to tempt your next purchase.

While the Inevitable Edible won’t be available until March, the Guinness infused chocolates are ready today. Not all of us can give our loved one’s little blue boxes full of jewelry, but beer lovers may be more excited to get one from Socola.

This year’s Super Bowl features two teams who’s fans are known for bitter rivalries with one another in just about all sports. With New York City and Boston a short drive from one another and major metroplitan areas, the rivalry is easy to understand. While the players will duke it out on the field, where will your drinking allegiance lie?

New York is where we start, but with no team playing in Manhattan (or the city of New York) it makes sense that the breweries of the Big Apple are also located off the main island. Brooklyn Brewery is the most identifiable New York brewery with a wide variety of beer styles that are sure to please the tastes of any craft beer lover. The Coney Island lineup features all lagers and is brewed by Shmaltz Brewing out of the Saratoga Springs facility upsate. These unique and experimental twists centering on lager styles are fitting of their sideshow labels. The new kid in town is Sixpoint Brewing, and as such has embraced the canning trend. These three brewers provide history, excellence in brewing as well as youthful innovation. All in all, New York’s brewing presents a worthy foe.

The New England Patriots play ball in Foxboro, but could be called the team of Boston. while another patriot graces the bottles of the largest craft brewer in the country, the craft beer scene is much different. Driven mostly by brewpubs in the area, Harpoon Brewing is likely the brewery most associate with Beantown. Their flagship IPA is a great accompaniment to a day of football watching, with LEviathan stepping it up for the after game celebration.

Head to head on the beer front, New York wins this battle. On the field, my personal opinion is that the Patriots will be the victors, but I have neither reputation nor money on the line when making this prediction.

Here in the Bay Area, we’re still upset over the way the football bounces. Our Forty Niners lost in a brutal manner. I think my personal beer of choice will represent not just my region, but also my feelings.

Enjoy the Super Bowl everyone. Drink responsibly and drink local.

Hitting taps just a few weeks ago was Row 2 / Hill 56, a Simcoe hopped pale ale. This is the second release in what Russian River is calling their “Hop Grower’s Tribute Series.” The first beer was Segal Select featuring hops grown at the Segal Ranch.

While the Segal hops were sourced from one location, Row 2 needed a different take, as the Simcoe hops were coming from three different farms: Carpenter Farms, Perrault Farms and Loftus Ranches. Located in different parts of the Yakima Valley and with differences in kilning and picking times, each farm’s hops will have their own subtle nuances. With this in mind, Russian River owner/brewer Vinnie Cilurzo played to the strengths of each batch and applied them where he felt they fit best into the hop schedule in the brew.

“Most breweries that do hop selection can tell you specifically where each hop lot comes from,” explains Cilurzo. “I know we can and I know any brewery that does selection can do the same thing.  What is unique with this new series of beers is we are using an entire ranch in one brew.  This could not be done for a beer like Pliny the Elder because there are so many different hops in the beer and not all hop farms grow every type of hop.”

It will be interesting to see what other releases are to come from this Hop Grower’s Tribute Series. Row 2 / Hill 56 is current;y on tap at the brewpub and Segal Select is in the tanks with an expected release “in a couple weeks.”

I showed up to this three day event on Day 2 at around noon. I had been told that the event was huge and the website’s information only verified that, but I had no idea what I was in for. One of the largest convention centers in the world, the Fancy Food Show fills Moscone North and South, providing space for well over 1,000 exhibitors looking to find new retailers, distributors, importers and exporters.

Wandering the floor, I found many products that beer lovers would enjoy, as well as the occasional beer. Sanders chocolate was displaying their Chocolate Stout, brewed by Detroit Brewing Company. Leinekugel shared a space with Sartori Cheese and provided beer and cheese samples. Also in the cheese section, Cypress Grove featured a display case full of beer and their cheeses, supporting my opinion that Humboldt Fog is possibly the best beer-friendly cheese in the world. Tumalo Farm of Oregon also featured Pondhopper, a cheese made with hops and pale ale.

Slideshow of the Winter Fancy Food Show 2012

But the real beer news of the event was the Brewer’s Association’s booth hidden in the far back of the South Hall. A handful of breweries poured samples as part of the BA’s Export program. The booth was incredibly popular, with the late crowd really surging as long days came to an end.

Highlights of the selection included Allagash’s Curieux, a special bottle of Rasputin XIV, Bitter American’s return to San Francisco and Elysian’s first release of their Twelve Beers of the Apocalypse. All around the beer selection was impressive, with assertive, full flavored beers leading the way.

At the end of the day, it was a positive day for RateBeer and the beer community in general at the Fancy Food Show. As it was an industry event, business was discussed and hopefully we can bring the fruits of these labors to RateBeer lovers down the road. Stay tuned for future announcements and news regarding RateBeer and our plans throughout the Bay Area and beyond in 2012.