Past Newsletters
Vol. 8 No. 9
| Brewery | Beers Featured |
| Tommyknocker Brewing Company | Butt Head Bock |
| Tommyknocker Brewing Company | Pick Axe Pale Ale |
| Bison Brewing Company | Chocolate Stout |
| Coast Range Brewing Company | California Blonde Ale |
Tommyknocker Brewing Company
The Tommyknocker Brewery has been making award-winning brews for over 5 years now. The brewery boasts two locations, one in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in the historic mining town of Idaho Springs, CO and the other, in the Warehouse District of Phoenix, AZ. They've collected several awards at both the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup and offer a full spectrum of beers, from the light-bodied wheat ale to the big and full Dopplebock featured this month. Tommyknocker knocks out seven different styles at both breweries, including Ornery Amber Lager, Maple Nut Brown Ale, Jack Wacker Wheat Ale, Butt Head Bock, Lost Dutchman Gold Ale, Pick Axe Pale Ale, and Tundrabeary Ale. The brewery also offers several different types of sodas, including Root Beer, Almond Crème, Strawberry Crème, Orange Crème, and Key Lime! All of which can be ordered from their Web site. We'll let you discover those on your own and stick to what we do best!
This month, we are very excited to bring you two great brews from Tommyknocker, Butt Head Bock, winner of the Silver medal at the 1997 Great American Beer Festival in the Dopplebock category, and Pick Axe Pale Ale, also a Silver medal winner at the GABF in both 1997 and 2000 in the Classic English Style Pale Ale category. Both are brewed in Arizona.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (602) 262-2222 or check out their web site at www.tommyknocker.com.
Serving Temperature: 37-42° F
Original Gravity: 19.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 4.6° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 30.0
Alcohol by Volume: 7.9%
Doppelbocks were originally made by monks that sought a full-bodied, nutrient-fortified beverage to drink during lent…essentially, "liquid bread"! The word Doppel actually translates to "double" and you might suspect and although Dopplebocks are in fact stronger than the traditional Bocks, they are not actually twice the strength. The first thing you will notice about this dark reddish-brown brew is its wonderful, big malty aroma, a great indication of what's to come in the taste. Note a gentle warming mouth feel, indicative of brews with higher alcohol contents. This award-winning German-style Dopplebock is brewed with 2-row pale, Munich, Light Crystal, Crystal, and Chocolate malts along with Perle and Willamette hops. The malt profile creates a caramel sweetness and rich, creamy mouthfeel, which is nicely complemented with a slight hop bitterness. We found this full-bodied brew packed with flavor and a great interpretation of the style. Enjoy!
Serving Temperature: 43-48° F
Original Gravity: 14.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 2.8° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 40.0
Alcohol by Volume: 6.2%
Pick Axe Pale Ale is a classic English style Pale Ale. Its complex hop profile, Tommyknocker uses Chinook, British East Kent Goldings, Yakima Goldings, and Czech Saaz hops, is further enhanced as the brewery dry hops with the last 3 of the above hop varieties. Dave Schleef, their corporate head brewer uses 2-row pale, Munich, Carastan, and Light Crystal malts to brew this classic interpretation of a classic style. Immediately note a spicy, floral hop aroma. We found the flavor to start with a pleasant sweet maltiness, accented nicely with a tangy hop bitterness. It finishes slightly dry. Overall, a well-balanced, flavorful English Pale Ale.
Bison Brewing Company
Located on Berkley's infamous Telegraph Avenue, the Bison Brewing Company has been brewing unusual and exceptional beers since 1989. The brewery's unusual design was the creation of prominent architect David Baker. The building itself was designed to resemble RCA's classic logo of a phonograph faced by that cute little black and white pooch. And the creative structure that houses this brewery is indeed an excellent indication of the tasty nectars brewed inside!
In late 1997, after the existing owners unable to make the brewery profitable, offered brewer Daniel Del Grande the opportunity to take over the lease on the building and hence take over the business as well. Dan took them up on it and began major renovations. He gutted the interior and overhauled both the kitchen and the brewery. The "new" brewery includes a new brewhouse, cylindro-conical fermenters, and a new bottling line to brew and bottle their unique ales.
In 1999, Del Grande hired Chef Geoffrey Deetz to design a menu to complement their beers. The Express Newspaper classified their menu as "Extreme Cuisine". Their menu is classified into three categories - International Pizzas, Trans-Global Tacodillas, and Pan-Ethnic Mussels. Their food and brews add to a uniqueness that can only be found in Berkeley, CA.
Some of Bison's unusual award winning ales include a honey-basil ale, a pecan smoked scotch ale, a Coriander Rye, a Gingerbread Ale and our favorite…the Chocolate Stout featured this month! Each are the creations of Bison's current talented head brewer, Scott Meyer.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (510) 841-7734 or check out their web site at www.bisonbrew.com.
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Original Gravity: 15.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 4.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 35.0
Alcohol by Volume: 6.0%
Simply put…We Loved this beer and know that you will too! What can we say about this stout, except, "Would you like some coffee with your chocolate?" The first thing you will notice about this chocolate stout is the "motor-oil" color and the thick brown head. Its Huge roasted nose hints of coffee and chocolate malt tones. And the flavor? Wow! The guys at Bison used real Dutch cocoa when they brewed this stout, along with 2-row pale, crystal, Munich, chocolate, and roasted malts. It is balanced nicely with Centennial and Perle hops. The finish…full, roasted, a bit of coffee and the strong desire to have another sip!
Coast Range Brewing Company
The Coast Range Brewing Company is located in Gilroy, CA, the Garlic Capital of the World, was founded in 1995. A family-owned and operated microbrewery that began as a draft-only brewery, Coast Range now brews and bottles their ales in 40 and 80 barrel batches.
Peter Licht, Coast Range Brewing Company's Masterbrewer and an owner, has been at the helm since they first opened their doors. He is a graduate of the UC Davis Masterbrewers program, a member of the Master Brewers Association of America, and an associate member of the Institute of Brewing in London. You could say he knows a bit about beer! His experience in the brewing industry has allowed him to cover a wide range of ales, cask conditioned bitters, hard iced tea, sodas, and various lagers.
A recent addition to the ownership of the brewery has allowed them to double their brewing capacity. They have added three 80-barrel fermenters and two 80-barrel bright beer tanks. Coast Range uses a 28 head Crown Cork and Seal Uniblend filler on their bottling line, which has been retro-fitted with double pre-evacuation to give the bottles maximum freshness and longer shelf life.
The brewery produces several ales, including Desperado Pale Ale, a Scotch Ale, an IPA, Maduro Porter, the Merry Maker (a holiday seasonal), and a blonde ale unlike any other we've ever tried, California Blonde Ale. Their beers have won many awards at both national and international competitions including the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Championships, and the World Beer Cup.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (408) 842-1000 or check out their web site at www.coastrangebrewing.com.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 12.5° Plato
Final Gravity: 3.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 3280.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.5%
Coast Range's California Blonde Ale is a traditional American Golden Ale. Their interpretation is fermented cooler than most ales and is cold conditioned a week longer to give it a crisp finish similar to that of a lager. They use all American malts, which include light crystal, wheat, and 2-row pale. Mt Hood and Liberty hops give this blonde ale a spicy hop bouquet. This heavily accoladed ale - it's won too many to mention! - starts out with a pale maltiness and spicy hop nose. You'll get some hop fruitiness and sweet malt character in the body. It ends slightly bitter leaving you wanting more! Overall, the most full flavored blonde ale we've ever reviewed.
Ask Murl
Dear Murl,
I've always wondered and never been able to find a good answer to the question: Who exactly were Anheuser and Busch?
Frances Vaughan
Auburn, ME.
Dear Frances,
I was hit with this one about three years ago and have been asked several times since so I guess it's time to respond in print once again. The answer to your question is obvious. WHO CARES?! Let's face it, darlin', if you try and put any of that stuff in a bowl when I'm preoccupied with rawhide, I'll be accidentally "marking my territory" in your living room. You might be able to sneak a Bud by the talkin' frogs and lizards, but we canines have a much more acute sense of taste. I mean, you don't see me woofing down flies with my malted beverage now, do ya?
Woof!
Murl.
Food For Thought...
Barbecued Stout Pasta Sauce
- 6 medium tomatoes
- 1 green pepper
- 1 sweet red pepper
- 1 hot banana pepper (optional)
- 2 medium onions
- 2 Italian or Macedonian sausages (roughly 1 lb)
- 1 cup stout
- 1 5-½-oz can tomato paste
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- ½ tbsp dried basil
- ½ tbsp parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Lengthwise, halve the tomatoes, peppers, and onions and barbecue them, along with the sausages, on a medium flame until the vegetable skins are slightly charred and the sausages cooked. (The sausages may be parboiled in advanced of barbecuing if time is a consideration.) Remove the vegetables and sausages from the grill and allow them to cool until they can be comfortably handled.
Peel, core and crush the tomatoes in a medium-size pot and stir in the tomato paste and stout until you have a deep reddish-brown sauce. Mince the garlic and add it to the sauce along with the seasonings. Stir well. After peeling the onions and peppers, chop them and the sausages into medium-sized pieces (except the optional hot pepper, which should be finely diced) and add them to the pot. Simmer the sauce for at least 30 minutes, adding more stout as necessary and adjusting the seasonings to taste. Serve over al dente linguini or other pasta. Feeds 4-6.
Norm's Corner...
As spoken by Cheers' Norm
Woody: What's going on, Mr. Peterson?
Norm: A flashing sign in my gut that says, "Insert beer
here."
For Members Only
Give Your Friends FREE Beer, Wine, Cheese, Chocolate,
Cigars & Flowers!
Through our Customer Appreciation Program
Your name has real value to your friends, co-workers, and family members! Every time a friend, family member, or anyone else you know joins any one of our clubs, [or gives a gift] for 3 months or longer, we'll give them 50% off of their first month, but only when they mention your name. And we'll also give you 50% off your next month too which can either be applied towards your current membership or you can try one of our other Clubs out! (We can add one more month to your order at 50% off for prepaid memberships!)
The Fine Print: Members giving gift memberships do not qualify for referral credits and you can't give yourself a gift to qualify! This Program is mutually exclusive of any other promotions.
Membership Q & A
Q: What can I do if I'm having difficulty receiving my shipment
at home?
A: You should consider having our discrete box delivered to
your work location or to a neighbor 21 yrs. of age that can receive
it for you. As your shipment requires and adult signature to receive,
it's always best to ship it to a location where someone will be there
to receive it for you. The box is brown corrugated cardboard and doesn't
say "Beer" on it anywhere.
Q: What should I do if I'm moving or want to extend my membership?
A: Please call us prior to the 5th of the month to make all
account related information changes such as address changes, membership
extensions & terminations, or gift accounts desiring to continue
their memberships. Address changes made after that time may require
a repackaging and re-shipping charge of $12.00. Additionally, if your
box is re-routed by UPS from an address different than what was originally
specified, you may incur a $5.00 re-routing charge.
Q: What happens if my shipment is damaged?
A: If your shipment arrives damaged, please call us immediately
toll free at 1-800-625-8238 and report the incident for a prompt resolution.
Q: What happens if my credit card is declined?
A: We will send you a courtesy notice asking you for an alternative
payment method and your order will be temporarily suspended until
we hear from you.
Q: What happens if I join under a special incentive program
and don't stay a member for the entire term committed?
A: Not a problem. Although we want to do everything we can
to keep you as a member, we will allow you to cancel your subscription
early; however, you will be responsible to pay for the item that was
given to you as part of the promotion. If you received a discount
based on a specific term, the amount discounted will be charged to
your card.
