Beer, Beer, Beer!

There are more Bay Area beer events in February than any other month it seems. Get out there and get your gut on. Strong Beer Month:

In February, Magnolia Pub and Brewery (1398 Haight St.; 415-864-7468) and 21st Amendment Brewery (563 Second St., 415-369-0900) in San Francisco team up to celebrate Strong Beer Month. Each venue will feature six house-brewed strong beers (ranging from about 8 to 10 percent alcohol by volume) on tap, including barley wines, double IPAs and imperial stouts. As an incentive to experiment, drinkers who sample all 12 brews and get a special punch card stamped by the end of the month will be rewarded with a commemorative glass. Additionally the venues will sell vintage strong brews from their cellars and offer beer and food pairings like barley wine with Colston Bassett Stilton cheese. To kick off the month, beer makers from both breweries will be bringing a couple of their kegs to the Toronado bar, 547 Haight St., on Wednesday. For more info, go to strongbeermonth.com.

The Toronado's Barleywine Festival Feb 17 - 24. Celebrator Beer Review's Beerapalooza 2007 includes the following:

February 10–18 - Beerapalooza, San Francisco Bay Area For information, see our Beerapalooza 2007 page here

February 10 - Hayward, California Double IPA festival at the Bistro. 510-886-8525

February 14 - San Francisco, California Beer and Cheese Tasting at Rogue Ales Public House. Phone 415-362-7880

February 16 - San Francisco, California Beer and Chocolate Dinner, Cathedral Hill Hotel. 415-776-8200, ext. 7785

February 18 - Berkeley, California CBN's 19th Anniv Party Brewer's Mardi-Gras at Trumer Brewery. More info here

Fun with Vodka

A poster on the DrinkBoy forum pointed out these hilarious 42 Below Vodka University ads on YouTube. They're totally not PC (and slightly not safe for work) with gay jokes, rimming jokes, strippers, and Mexican wrestlers. It's about time vodka got a sense of humor!

Yo Ho Ho

I just got back from vacation (where I drank nothing of quality worth mentioning, though a lot in quantity), so I've got some catching up to do. Here's an event that looks awesome- anyone want to carpool (in your car) to Alameda on Feb 7th?

Forbidden Island is pleased to welcome you to… 

RUMFEST 2007!

Throughout February, Forbidden Island is celebrating the glory of rum
with a series of events, tastings, new products, and more.

To kick off the celebration, Forbidden Island is adding SEVENTEEN new
premium rums to our already world-class collection.  Explore the diverse
world of rum, and take advantage of the opportunity to sample rare &
exclusive spirits available nowhere else.  Sip them neat, on the rocks,
or prepared simply with fresh squeezed lime juice and our housemade pure
cane syrup.  Or take a trip around the world with a tasting flight.

Mark your calendar for these upcoming exciting rum-fueled events:

February 7th at 6:00pm: RUM 101 with Edward Hamilton.
Forbidden Island is pleased to welcome Edward Hamilton, internationally
known rum expert and the author of four books on rum.  Edward will be
giving an overview of the history, manufacture, and tasting of rum. 
Learn the difference between rums of different countries, how aging
affects the flavor and appearance of rum, and much more.  Admission to the
event is free, but we encourage you to buy tasting tickets in order to
have the great opportunity of sampling the rums Edward will be speaking
about.   Tasting tickets are available in advance or at the door for
$25, but supplies are limited, so hurry in.  Don’t miss this very
special event!

February 22nd, starting at 5:00pm: Don the Beachcomber 100th Birthday 
Party
Donn Beach: Man.  Myth.  Legend.  The inventor of the tiki bar.  Early
proponent of premium rum.  Creator of the Zombie.  And so much more. 
He would have been 100 years old on this day.  Come celebrate his legacy
with rare, classic Don the Beachcomber recipes and general merriment. 
Forbidden Island simply wouldn’t be here today without him.

February 25th at 2:00pm: Rum & Cigars
Spend a (hopefully) sunny afternoon on our patio with the two great
tastes that go great together: Rum and Cigars.  We’ll enjoy cigars
paired with premium sipping rums from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and
more.  Meet other rum and cigar lovers; see if you can taste the
similarities in cane and tobacco grown on the same soil.  Tickets ($35) will
be very limited for this event and will be available in advance only at
Forbidden Island.

The Bitters Truth

Reinventing bitters House-made concoctions give cocktails a signature spin

Camper English, Special to the Chronicle

Friday, January 19, 2007

Bitters, the cocktail flavoring agent once considered a crucial ingredient in drinks, fell out of favor after Prohibition. Though a few brands like Angostura and Peychaud's have been continually produced since their inception, most bitters makers closed up shop long ago.

With the recent classic cocktail revival, bartenders and home mixologists have renewed interest in the ingredient. Bartender Jennifer Colliau of San Francisco's Slanted Door says, "It may be that we've run out of ways to infuse vodka. Now there are more people who are interested in booze that tastes like booze. (Bitters) alter the flavor of the liquor but in an aromatic way, rather than adding sugar or acidity -- lemon or lime juice -- or adding a mixer like soda."

The classic Sazerac calls for Peychaud's bitters, the Manhattan and old-fashioned cocktails require Angostura, and an early version of the martini (now making a big comeback) requires orange bitters. With a variety of bitters to use, bartenders can put subtle spins on well-worn cocktails by swapping in one flavor of bitters for another. They can also use bitters in new cocktails to form a bridge between ingredients that don't align perfectly on their own.

Only a few brands of bitters have come on the market in recent years, including new fruit flavors from Fee Brothers and Chronicle Cocktailian columnist Gary Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6. But these and other sought-after bitters like the European brand Bitter Truth can be hard to find in the Bay Area, forcing consumers to call around or order the products online.

read the rest of the story here. When I was writing this story it was the holiday season and all the bitters were sold out around town. I was able to find several flavors of Fee Brothers' bitters at Plumpjack wines in Noe Valley, and I spoke with Domenic Venegas who works at John Walker & Sons downtown (as well as bartends at Bourbon & Branch and at Range). He says that they carry Regan's, the Fee Brothers' line, Angostura, Peychaud, and will be getting in the Bitter Truth bitters as well as some other European ones shortly. That might be your best bet for buying them in San Francisco. You can also buy bitters directly from the manufacturers. (Regan's are on the Buffalo Trace website.)

Booze for Gays

My first story on booze for Out Magazine is in the February issue, hitting newsstands soon. I just finished a second assignment for them and have a third due on Monday. In the February issue I talk about sake, the misunderstood beverage. The story relays the basic facts and fallacies about sake and tells you what to look for when you order it in restaurants. They put my picture on the contributors page but cut out my quote about how I want to make the Sour Apple Martini illegal. The gays would probably take offence to that, but that's why I'm writing this column- they need to learn that sweet and fruity are so last century. Now it's all about sour and bitter. Finally, drinks to match my attitude.

Drinks to have and not have

Lately I've been having a lot of drinks out on the town with grapefruit in them. I think it's because grapefruit is a bitter flavor, and bitter drinks are all the rage these days. Bring on the Campari, amaros, and homemade bitters. I actually have three articles in different publications coming up that focus on cocktail bitters. I've been playing with some grapefruit drinks lately with mixed success. Here is one that's just gross (found on DrinksMixer.com): Petite Fleur 1 part grapefruit juice 1 part white rum 1 part Cointreau Don't try this at home, kids! It's the essence of wrongness. But then I tried this one: Nevada Cocktail 1 1/2 ounce light rum 1 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice 1 dash bitters 1 ounce lime juice 2 tsp superfine sugar I like the drink because it tastes simple and still. The bitters are so necessary and subtle they make a huge difference. The drink tastes to me well-balanced (surprisingly not too sweet) and also not too acidic. My experimentation will continue, but tonight, I'll just have another. *update* I had another and it wasn't anywhere near as good. I am the worst bartender in the world.

Movin' on Up

My first write-up for Wine&Spirits Magazine is in the February issue that I got in the mail today. It's just a tiny write-up of The Alembic, but it's a good start. I already got two more (equally short) write-ups assigned. Hooray!

Free Whisky (Tastings)

(from the Chronicle)

Whiskey world

In a very long lead-up to the Whiskies of the World Expo in mid-April, the Inner Mission bar Elixir is hosting weekly whisk(e)y tasting, usually on Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. A representative or master distiller from brands including Old Potrero, Buffalo Trace and Compass Box will be on hand to educate the crowd. The tastings are free and open to the public, though specialty cocktails and other drinks will have a charge. The speaker/sampling schedule is at www.elixirsf.com. The bar is at 3200 16th St. (at Guerrero), San Francisco; (415) 552-1633.

Camper English

The full schedule is here.

Jan 4 Glenfiddich Brand Ambassador Ray Pearson

Jan 11 Old Potrero Master Distiller Bruce Joseph

We are one of a few bars to still have bottles of Straight Rye

and 18th Century Spirit (sorry, no Hotaling's left). We also have plenty of Junipero Gin.

We'll be pouring all three..

Jan 18 Makers Mark Brand Ambassado Ed Delmon

with Amanda Ingram, Regional Manager for Makers Mark Ambassador Program (join now)

Jan 25 Johnnie Walker Master of Scotch Steve Beal

Robert Burns' Birthday - Bobby Burns Cocktail

Feb 1 Buffalo Trace's Bill Hart

Featuring a pre-release tasting of Elixir's very own barrel

of Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon (Barrel No. 129), hand selected by Proprietor H. Joseph Ehrmann

Feb 8 Glenmorangie Brand Ambassador Robin Coupar

Feb 15 The Glenrothes' David Stoop

Feb 22 Jim Beam Brands' Jennifer Sobb

Jim Beam and the Small Batch Bourbon Collection

Wed, March 7 TBA

Wed, March 14 Ardbeg Brand Ambassador Robin Coupar

Wed, March 21 TBA

Wed, March 28 TBA

Thurs, April 5 TBA

SPECIAL WOW WARMUP SESSIONS:

Thurs. April 12, John Glaser, Founder and Whisky Blender, Compass Box