Past Newsletters
Vol. 4 No. 12
| Brewery | Beers Featured |
| Pacific Brewing Company | Pacific Golden Ale |
| Carmel Brewing Company | Carmel Wheat Ale |
| Brewing Company | Copperhead Pale Ale |
Pacific Brewing Company
Founded in 1993, the Pacific Brewing Co. is dedicated to producing extraordinary ales to please a variety of palates. In their brief existence, they’ve managed to rack up three medals at the Great American Beer Festival which certainly underscores their commitment to quality. Head Brewer, Jeff Held, has worked at several prominent California breweries prior to taking he helm at Pacific. Jeff began as low as you can go, cleaning kegs at the Los Gatos Brewing Co. and later graduated into an assistant brewer position which he held for two years. From there, he was offered a position as a full time brewer at one of the state’s more sophisticated lagering breweries, The Sudwerk Brewing Co., in Davis, CA which he left to run brewing operations at Pacific. In addition to the Golden Ale featured this month, the brewery also produces an amber ale, blueberry wheat, and porter. Jeff is currently formulating recipes for a Winter Nut Brown Ale as well as an India Pale Ale.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (415) 457-9167.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 11.5° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 29.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.3%
Pacific Golden Ale is brewed with a combination of Two-Row Pale, Carastan and Crystal malts. Perle hops are added in two separate additions towards the beginning of the 90-minute boil primarily for their bittering contributions. Jeff later adds a healthy dose of Cascade hops toward the end of the boil to give the beer its pleasant floral aromatic characteristic. A London Ale yeast strain is used and Pacific’s Golden Ale is naturally carbonated.
Notes From the Panel:
Immediately look for a predominantly cascade floral hop nose with some pale maltiness evident in the background. We found this light-to-medium-bodied beer to be very clean, drinkable, and flavorful. The flavor is also hop dominated, however, it seems to be the bittering hops that take over here. Look for a very dry, bitter hop finish leaving you with the desire to take another drink. Overall, a great summer beer with a wonderful hop profile.
Carmel Brewing Company
The first and only microbrewery located on California’s Monterey Peninsula, The Carmel Brewing Company began operations in July of 1995. Their 30-barrel Brew House and (8) 60-barrel fermentation tanks give Carmel an annual capacity of 12,000 barrels, up from their initial opening capacity of 3,000 barrels. In addition to the Hefe Wiezen we’ve featured this month, Carmel also brews an Amber Ale, Peach Pale Ale, 7 Malt Stout and Winter Brau, a seasonal German-style brown ale. All of the brewery’s beers were formulated by the brewery’s Head Brewer, Bill Evans, a former Bay Area bio-chemist.
The brewery’s president, Paul Tarantino, plans to develop a number of different seasonal ales as well and branched further into the industry by opening Peter B’s Brew Pub in conjunction with the Monterey Doubletree hotel last October. Tarantino, of no relation to the accoladed film director whom brought us Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, rejected proposals to name any future products either "Jungle Boogie Ale" or "Bring-Out-the-Gimp Stout."
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (408) 771-0651.
Serving Temperature: 38-42° F
Original Gravity: 13.0° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 15.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6%
An unfiltered American Wheat beer, Carmel Wheat is brewed with a combination of Two-row pale, Munich, Caramel, Carapil and Wheat malts. The complex malt profile is balanced with relatively light additions of Perle hops which are added up front for bittering and Cascade hops towards the end of the boil for aroma. A proprietary ale yeast strain is used. Consider combining this beer with a spicy Mexican dish or with Chicken or Pasta. You may also try it with a twist of lemon to add to the beer’s effervescence.
Notes From the Panel:
Note a slightly fruity, clean and well balanced nose up front. Look for very good head retention in this light pale, slightly cloudy, medium-bodied beer. Immediately note a complex malt profile very much uncharacteristic of most American Wheats. Slight floral and spicy hop notes balance this crisp, refreshing beer nicely. Overall, a flavorful, well-balanced, and clean American Wheat.
Copperhead Brewing Company
The Copperhead Brewing Company was founded by Jim Jenkins in 1994 and opened its doors with the breweries flagship beer which we are proud to feature this month. Copperhead’s Red Ale was later added to the product line one year after opening. He started out down a similar career path to Samuel Adam’s Jim Koch by working for a large L.A. management consulting firm after graduating from U.C. Berkeley. It only took Jenkins one year of corporate life to conclude that he should turn his homebrewing passion into a full-time career. Jim teamed up with noted brewing consultant Marty Velas to formulate the recipes for his two existing products and plans to introduce both a Pilsener and Wheat later in the year.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (714) 760-3171.
Serving Temperature: 42-47° F
Original Gravity: 13.0° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 36.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.7%
Copperhead Pale Ale is brewed with a combination of Two-Row Pale, Bairds Pale, Carastan, and Wheat malts. Marty hops this ale aggressively with cluster hops up front to give the beer its bitter finish and a serious dose of Cascade hops at the end of the 95 minute boil primarily for their aromatic contributions. Marty also dry-hops Copperhead with Cascade hops. A proprietary ale yeast strain is used.
Notes From the Panel:
Look for a very pleasant, yet complex floral and malty nose up front which tends to be fruity, but clean. We also picked up some nice estery notes in the nose. Note good head retention in this pale, filtered, medium-bodied ale. Copperhead’s flavor starts out with a sweet maltiness which is balanced nicely with both a floral and spicy hoppiness. It ends on a dry, slightly bitter hop note. Overall, a very flavorful, extremely well-balanced Pale Ale.
Ask Murl
Dear Murl,
I have been sanitizing my bottles by emersing them in a water/bleach bath for 30min or so, and then rinsing them out with a JetWasher. This seems to work fine, but it is labor intensive! My question is: Is there an easier, bulletproof method? How do you do it and have you had any bad luck with that method?
Lisa Koff
Denver, CO
Yo Lisa!
First of all, I just have to let you know that I really dig sniffing chicks that brew. It’s a big turn on for this pooch. Can’t say as I can put my paw on it exactly, but it’s a good thang. Personally, because as I’m sure you are well aware, canines have exceptionally clean mouths with nearly non-existent bacteria levels, I lick my bottles clean. Of course I have to be careful to be sure that there aren’t any Milk Bone particles or rawhide chewy bits in my mouth when I do it. I’ve really only once had my beer affected by this cleaning method and if I remember right, I had just returned from a road trip to Tijuana which may have had something to do with it. In any case, to answer your question: Yep. There are several easier ways. Toss them in the old oven with your brownies at 350 and bake them for 30 minutes, let ‘em cool, and bottle away. No kidding. It works. I know a pit bull that simply puts his bottles and bowls in the dishwasher before bottling and has never had a problem. As a general rule, it’s always a good idea to rinse the "H-E-double hockey sticks" out of each bottle as you consume your private stock nectar. Hope that helps, Lisa! Keep on Brewing!
Woof!
Murl.
Norm's Corner...
As spoken by Cheers' Norm
Coach: Normie, Normie, could this be Vera?
Norm: With a lot of expensive surgery, maybe.
True Brew Facts
AMERICAN HOMEBREWERS ASSOC. - The AHA reports that homebrewers in the U.S. brew about 8 gallons of beer a month. Incidentally, they’ve also informed us that 95% of homebrewers in the U.S. are men. What’s up ladies?
GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS - Peter Dowdeswell of Earls Barton, Great Britain holds the record for the fastest consumption of a yard of ale (2.5 pints) by downing one in 5 seconds!
SOUTHERN DRAFT BREW NEWS - Beer makes you smart! Researchers at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis have discovered that moderate drinking may improve memory and problem-solving abilities, according to a report in Health magazine.
YORK UNIVERSITY - The world’s strongest beer, Uncle Igor’s Famous Falling Over Water, brewed by the Ross Brewery in Bristol, U.K., is 17.3% alcohol by volume. Holy Bat-Buzzes Batman! The most expensive beer ever sold on first offer from the brewery (as opposed to aged, rare, collector, and vintage specimens) is Samuel Adam’s Triple Bock which at one time went for $100 for a case of 24, six ounce bottles.
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