Alcohol

Quenching the Fire: A Firefighters Quest for the Perfect Beer

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Bistro IPA Fest – celebrate the hops.

In my quest for the perfect beer, attending beer fest is becoming as must. No these aren’t your TV frat boy beer fests where people chug endless amounts of cheap macro swill. These beer fest are for the most geeky among us. They attract young and old, male and female but we are all there for one thing and share the same love, the love of great beer and being amongst others like you. One such fest is the IPA Fest held by The Bistro in Hayward, California.

All over the US beer fests are held pretty much every month. Some are huge, like the Great American Beer Festival, and some are smaller but all share one thing, access to great and rare beers. Many breweries make one off beers, experimental beers or offer beers that are usually only available at their breweries and pubs just for these type festivals. Sometimes the brew masters themselves show up at the festivals to pour beers and chat with the attendees. Sometimes breweries hold their own fests to promote an event or for the release of a new beer.

Craft beer bars are part of this equation and hold festivals themselves. Sometimes these are independent festivals and sometimes they are part of a larger event, like an area beer week held by a brewers guild where multiple smaller events make up one larger event. The Bistro in Hayward ,CA holds such events and has been doing so before most of you even heard of craft beer.

The Bistro has been at the forefront for promoting all things craft beer and their affliction for hops is well known. This was their thirteenth annual IPA festival. Thirteen years ago was 1997, you know, when craft beers were called ‘micros’ and the most you ever saw at a grocery store was Petes Wicked Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and maybe some Anchor Steam. The Bistro and its owner Vic Kralj were early pioneers in the craft beer movement. They also hold a Double IPA Fest that is ten years old, a barrel aged beer fest and a hop rhizome fest. Mind you, their pub is kind of small and located in downtown Hayward CA, a town not really known for, well, much (yes I know Buffalo Bills in in Hayward and they are considered the first brew pub in America, but that’s another blog). That’s how dedicated The Bistro is to craft beer.

This IPA Fest had fifty five different IPA’s on tap. Now to try all of them would be a feat of strength worthy of qualifying for Festivus, so it’s not likely to be done. What I like to do is try beers that are not readily available, especially the ones I have never seen.

With any beer fest, you’re going to hit your wall, whether it be by intoxication or you palate is thrashed. Being that this was an IPA Fest your palate isn’t going to last long due to the hops. This is why you choose your beers wisely and take little water and pretzel breaks now and then.

Another word of advice, even though these are beer fest, they are not like some beer fest you see on a TV show where everyone acts like an ass. Sure everyone is having fun and great beer, but leave the frat boy antics at home. The people of these fest enjoy their craft beers, some music and some great foods. Trying to get a game of flip cup going is frowned upon (that and what are you like 14?). Now I’m not saying to act like a snob ,but don’t act like an idiot. There are other beer fests for that and they are usually sponsored by BMC and have no craft beers available. Or just attend your local county fair on a Saturday night if you’re into that.

Now lets talk about some of the beers I drank!

My buddy Pete went with me to this event. He too is a craft beer afficianado and firefighter in the Bay Area. We drank a lot of the same beers and agreed on all of them.

The beer fest handed out a list of taps and we immediately hit Pizza Port Que Onda ?IPA. this is a beer that’s not bottled and most of us in Nor Cal have never had since Pizza Port is in So Cal. It was a great choice to start the day off . We then next tried the Sierra Nevada Chico IPA, another offering not bottled but a regular on tap at their brewery. This beer was fantatstic but everyone we talked to didn’t expect anything less from the legend that is Sierra Nevada. We then drank two different offerings from Fifty Fifty Brewing out of Truckee CA , the Rockslide IPA and the RyePA, both solid offerings with the rye being extremely tasty. Then both of us firefighters made our way to Firehouse Brewings tap and had their Hops on Rye, and IPA with rye grains. This beer was awesome as well and of course we were going to drink it! We then drank some Bear Republic APEX, some Auburn Ale House Gold Digger IPA, some Ale Industries A-Kawi-Awa ( Im not sure what the even means). All were very good beers. But there was a surprise of the day……

A girl approached us with a t shirt and asked if we wanted one, it was for a brewery called Knee Deep Brewing. I had never heard of them but it just so happened that the brew master, Jeremy, was standing next to me. He started talking to my friend and I about how they were a brand new brewery and asked if we had tried their beer yet. We had not so we went and got a taste and we were both impressed. It was a really good IPA and a good showing for a brand new brewery. Their IPA, called HopStar was a solid with great flavor ( a hint of rye ?). He then talked to us about some improvements he is going to make to the beer and how he made it and the story of the brewery. They have more offerings they are working on with a vanilla porter being in the mix. If their IPA is any indication of things to come, this brewery will do well and I look forward to seeing their product in the Bay Area soon.

Being beer geek in the Bay Area definitely has its perks. Great beer and plenty of events to go around. Heck this weekend is The Toronado’s anniversary party and I can’t even go! We have Brews By The Bay coming up and The Bistros Barrel Aged Fest is in November. So much beer so little time…………

Get out there and try some new beers, because your bottling article will be next week!

What Im drinking this week-

Bourbon. After the IPA Fest I needed a break from hops. Yes even the beer guy needs a break sometimes, and when I do I always go for the bourbon! Oh and if your wondering its Woodford Reserve…