DRAKE'S HAS A SIGN?

After Twenty Plus Years ...... Drake's Is Out in the Open!

Most people don't know that Drake's Brewing Co. is located in the old powerhouse building of San Leandro's former Caterpillar factory. What is now the "West Gate Center", was a previous industrial site that was reused and renovated as a shopping & business center some 25 years ago. Tenants include Home Depot, Sports Authority, See's Candies, and Walmart. Shoppers have no problem finding those places. But, those of you that have visited the brewery can attest to the fact that Drake's is a tough find the first time. Driving around (& around & around...) til you finally spot (or miss...) what might be a brewery in a metal building at the back corner of the huge complex. (The pallets of kegs often out in our parking area is usually what tips people off that they have arrived at Drake's.)

What has made finding our location even more difficult all these years, is the lack of a sign on the building. The only signage has been a small "Drake's Brewing Co." crudely hand painted on the door to the tasting room. (Looks like the work of a drunk man, really.) The way we have described getting to the brewery has been something along the lines of "Drive behind the Walmart to their loading dock, then look for the grain silo". See the pic of our building on the right hand side of this blog... nothing to let you know you've reached Drake's. Yesterday, after 3 days of work, that all changed. We are a clandestine brewery no more!

Quite a milestone. Drakes has a real sign. Actually three of them. Here's some shots of the signs being installed. Notice our new "mark" (the round red circle) that you will find soon on the new Drake's labels and bottle caps.

Lastly, thanks to google maps we have also been able to mark exactly our location in the center. Check it out! So, finally after 20 years, we think we've solved (most of) the problem of finding Drake's!

Thanks for reading! -- The Drake

FIRST 2009 JOLLY ROGER TAPPED

Drake's holiday ale, Jolly Roger, was tapped for the first time this year... at 5pm, Tuesday, November 24th, at Cato's Alehouse in Oakland (3891 Piedmont Ave.) The Drake's brewers were there, including Assistant Brewer Morgan Phillips who designed this year's Jolly Roger. For 2009 Jolly Roger is a Imperial Brown. Jolly Roger has been a holiday time tradition all the way back to the first years Drake's was in business. (The name comes from the original Owner/Brewmaster Roger Lind.) Scroll down to see previous post about the recipe for this year's Jolly. Another great year, and another great beer!

Image: Morgan is on the left, Brian Thorson, Assistant Head Brewer on the right.

Thanks for reading! -- The Drake

BARREL-AGED LINE UP FOR THE BISTRO, SATURDAY NOV. 14TH

The Bistro Barrel Aged Festival - November 14, 2009

For the Bistro event Josh & Brian have a triple play of beers, with a baseball theme, honoring the great Kansas City third baseman (and hall of famer) George Brett

"George Brett Triple" - A Belgian Triple aged in a Pinot Noir barrel for 2 years. Unblended, unspiked with Brett, yet extremely sour imparted from the barrel itself. 8.75% abv

"Pine Tar Barleywine" Named after George Brett's meltdown when the Yankee's Manager Billy Martin, and the umpires accused him of using too much pine tar on his bat after hitting a home run. Two year old Barleywine aged in a Grenache barrel. Unspiked with any other yeasts. Very oakey from the barrel. 10% abv

"K.C. Blues - Blueberry Stout" 6 year old Imperial Stout aged in a Merlot barrel, with Blueberries added and Brettanomyces spiked. 9% abv

From the Bistro website: "There will be over 70 beers on tap, live music and party BISTRO style with BBQ smokin' and beer flowin' - 11am - 7pm - street closed for extra room. Enjoy Sang Matiz will play at 4pm" www.the-bistro.com

Thanks for reading!

-- The Drake

2009 JOLLY ROGER IN THE TANK!

FIRST BATCH BREWED ON OCTOBER 29TH

Traditionally, Jolly is different every year (last year it was an Imperial Red). Morgan Phillips, Drake's assistant brewer, was given a big assignment by Josh & Brian. Formulate and brew this year's Jolly Roger!

This just in From Morgan:

"Everything went great with Jolly yesterday. It came in at 22.2 Plato so if the yeast attenuate at their listed capacity it will be about 9.5% abv. With beers this size it's hard to estimate because it could easily go either way as much as a half a percent. We should know for sure in about ten days.

As for the beer itself I'm very pleased with how it came out so far and it should be very good. It's an Imperial Brown I modeled off an English Brown recipe I've done before. Some of the ingredients are English and it is English inspired, but this big boy is very American. The color is a very rich maple brown that doesn't seem to have red or orange highlights, just brown. The flavor is rich toffee with toasty notes underneath which should give a nice play between malty sweet and dry flavors in the mouth. The mouth-feel with be full and a little sweet, but there are plenty of hops to balance that out. I went with Magnum for bittering and a duet of Chinook and Willamette for flavor and aroma".

Jolly Roger should be on tap at your local East & West Bay taphouses, starting around November 20th.

Thanks for reading!

-- John

WHERE'S DRINKDRAKES.COM?

NEW WEBSITE IN THE WORKS

For those of you that keep up on these kinds of things... you might have noticed that the old drinkdrakes.com website is no more.

We finally got around to transferring the url, and are busy creating a new website. Nothing too elaborate. But, expect to see more information about the brewery, it's history, our staff, and the beers we produce.

We'll keep you up-to-date on the latest seasonals, and events at the brewery. Look for it to go live in a few weeks!

Thanks for reading!

-- The Drake

DRAKE'S AUTUMN FEST IN LIMITED RELEASE

Josh & Brian have just kegged up our single batch of Autumn Fest, Drake's Fall seasonal. An American version of a Fest-style Bier. Amber color, medium bodied, and a smooth flavor. This beer is the brother from another mother of the famous beers of Munich. Fest Beers are usually brewed in anticipation of an upcoming festival (Oktoberfest, Fall, or Autumn, Spring, etc...) We used a kolsch yeast (but it is not a kolsch-style beer) 18 IBU's (relatively low). Spalt & Saaz Hops 5.75% abv

Currently can only be found on tap at our sister brewpubs Jupiter & the Bear's Lair Campus Pub (at UC Berkeley), in Berkeley. Coming to a few other select pubs & restaurants in the East Bay, the Peninsula, & San Francisco.

THE EVIDENCE: DENOGGINIZER TAKES SILVER AT THE GABF

As many of you know, Drake's infamous Denoggin- izer Double IPA earned some hardware in Denver. We've been waiting for the official awards photo from the Brewers Association, operators of the Great American Beer Festival. We now have the shot, so here it is! Josh & Brian accepting the Silver Medal for Denogginizer, in the Imperial India Pale Ale catagory.

To learn more about this great beer. See a previous blog posting on how Denogginizer came to be.

We plan to have Denog in 220z. bottles available later this fall. Molly & John are putting the final touches on the label right now.

Thanks for reading!

-- The Drake

DRAKE'S WELCOMES NEW SALES MANAGER DOW TUNIS!

We are happy to announce the new Drake's Sales Manager. His name is H. Dow Tunis IV, and is a resident of Albany, just north of Berkeley. Dow is a familiar name in the Bay Area brewing scene, and certainly a familiar face around the J & R Martin brewing organization. Dow ran our Twenty Tank Brewery in San Francisco, from the mid-nineties, til its close in 2000. He also put in a stint getting the Bear's Lair Pub in the Student Union at UC Berkeley up, running and operating smoothly, starting in 2001. He is an avid craft beer aficionado, and a committed foodie as well.

We are very happy to have Dow back in the fold, at Drake's Brewing Co. Dow is in charge of all draft and package sales in the San Francisco Bay Area. To start, he is busy getting to know all our present draft accounts. Drake's is committed to the self-distribution of our draft products in our "Home Market" of the East Bay and San Francisco. It's a lot more work for the brewery, but we think it is essential to stay close to our accounts and customers, and to keep it local (as it should be). You'll see Dow at most beer festivals & events that Drake's attends, so stop at the booth and say hello!

If you are interested in putting Drake's on tap, give Dow a call @ 510-568-BREW, ext 1, or he can be reached at dow(at)drakesbrewing.com. You can also follow Dow on twitter! Click here.

Thanks for reading -- John

WE SAY GOODBYE TO BRAD

Bradley Robbins our excellent brewer and draft sales guy, has punched out on the Drake's time clock for the last time. Our history with Brad goes way back. Brad started out working in the kitchen at Triple Rock over 8 years ago. With time he moved into the brewery, training under Head Brewer Christian Kazakoff. Brad made a huge contribution as the Assistant Brewer under Christian.

Brad left Triple Rock a few years ago to follow his wonderful girlfriend Jordan to England, where she attended the London School of Economics. Brad landed a job at Oxfordshire Ales, in Marsh Gibbon. Before he knew it, he was promoted to Head Brewer! After Jordan's graduation, and a lot of Oxfordshire ales brewed, the couple came back to the Bay Area last October. Just in time to nab the position of draft sales rep/brewer right after our purchase of Drake's. Brad has done a huge amount to bring Drake's draft back to local tap houses and restaurants, after a period where the emphasis had been more on expanding the bottled products of the brewery. He has also been essential in the brewery, helping Josh & Brian with the greatly expanded brewing schedule.

Well as things have it, Jordan is now Brad's fiancee. She just got a great job in Ft. Collins, CO. So, the couple is on the move again. We can't thank Brad enough for all his contributions to Triple Rock, and now Drake's Brewing Co., over the years. Luckily, they are moving to a great brewing town and we expect Brad will be back in the brewing scene without delay.

Thanks Brad!

Here's a photo of Brad (top left) with Head Brewer Josh Miner, and at last Spring's "Fallen Heros" fundraiser at Jack London Square.

-- John, Reid, Roy & everybody at Triple Rock & Drake's

BREWED FOR THOUGHT DROPS BY DRAKE'S

Mario, of the great beer blog "Brewed for Thought" came by Drake's the other day to taste our latest one-off IPA, known as the "Aroma Coma". He wrote up a real nice post on his visit. Here's a link to the blog post. Thanks Mario!

BETTER BEER BLOG VISITS DRAKES

Peter of the wonderful blog www.betterbeerblog.com came by last Friday for a tour and tasting at the brewery. I know...don't give us a bad time about the Friday tasting event.... we're working on it! He posted a real nice feature on Drake's.

Peter also got roped into a little game of Washoes along with Marcel of www.craftondraft.com

Click here to read about Peter's visit to Drake's!

BOONVILLE LINE-UP

ONE OF THE BEST BEER FESTS IN THE USA!
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Expect to see brewers Josh, Brian, and Brad at the Boonville Fest on Saturday. As was reported on Twitter, they'll be bringing Drake's IPA, Drake's Double-Dry-Hopped IPA, the 1500, and the Drake's Dry Rye. Josh just left the brewery, and he decided to throw on the truck a few more things to pour. We'll also have some Denogginizer, a little Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout, and some Barrel-Aged Batch 2000 too. Be sure and ask for it!

Thanks for reading! -- The Drake

DRAKE'S DOUBLE DRY!

TRY THE DRAKE'S DOUBLE DRY (HOPPED) IPA!

We double dry-hopped a batch of our regular IPA (with Chinook, Cascade, & Columbus) - once on 3/30 and then again on 4/6. The result, we think, is a delightfully tasteful, aromatic, and altogether wonderful beer. Lots of nose and flavor! Additionally, we decided to leave it unfiltered to retain all its luster and character.

So...... a "double scoop" of Chinook and Cascade hops were added. This means an additional 16 pounds people! Or, put another way... more than a pound of extra hops per barrel! Drake's Double Dry can be found at a few select area pubs for a short time.

Cheers! And, thanks for reading. -- John Martin

BEER VS. WINE TONIGHT!

Henry's in Berkeley - 2600 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA

Chef Eddie B has put together a wonderful four course meal, with four beers and four wines. Rodger Davis of Triple Rock has put together the beers.

Drake's and Triple Rock will battle Enos Winery and Berkeley's A Donkey and a Goat Winery to see who emerges victorious in the age old battle of beer vs. wine. Drake's brewers Josh & Brian will be serving Drake's Dry Rye (our one-off seasonal) and Drake's Imperial Stout. Triple Rock will weigh in with Pinnacle Pale Ale, and the fabulous TRB Dragon's Milk, poured by Rodger. Meet and Greet starts at 5:30, dinner at 6:30. Cost is $45.

See henrysberkeley.com Call for reservations 510-809-4132.

Thanks for reading!

-- The Drake

EXPEDITION TAPPING THIS MONDAY!

2009 Expedition Ale Release

Join the brewers and the rest of Drake's crew at Barclay's Pub on Monday evening March 23rd, to tap the first keg of the 2009 Expedition Ale. Tapping at 6 pm.

From Brian --

It's that time of year again; the time to go on an Expedition well worth taking. This beer is certainly one of my favorites to brew and drink. It is somewhat hard to classify stylistically. Somewhere between a typical red or amber in color, this beer usually surprises people with its hearty & unique malt and hop characteristics.

Aside from the typical crystal and cara malts added to an amber, look for the oats and black malt lurking in the background. We've added a generous amount of West Coast style hops (Cascade and Chinook) throughout the brew to take you on a malty and hoppy trip . This brew weighs in at 6.75% ABV & a nice 60 IBUs.

As for the history, of Expedition, we've had to do a little digging in the brew logs.... It was Drake's batch # 375, brewed by Mike Manty in Jan '96 (Mike was at Drake's 1994-1996).

Prost!!

-- Brian

Expedition will be soon available on draft in a few Bay Area pubs and restaurants for a short time. We also have bottled a limited release which is now available at the brewery and will be found in a small supply at the best local beers outlets. Barclay's will have the only kegs of Expedition til the week of March 30th. Barclay's is located at 5840 College Ave., Oakland. www.barclayspub.com

DRAKE'S DRY RYE!

JUST KEGGED!

Josh & I wanted to do a beer that explored the subtle aspects of rye, such as it's mouth feel, aroma, and augmentative flavors in a tasty beverage.

Drake's Dry Rye is a clean American rye ale, made with just under 30% Rye to allow the subtleties of rye to come out entirely. Furthermore we wanted to combine the complementary qualities of American Centennial and Amarillo flavor hops. When more than 20% of a recipe has rye in it, there's a distinct oiliness to the beer, which in this case we wanted to combine it with the hop oiliness from essential oils that beer enthusiasts know very well already.

But, it doesn't stop there; it is pretty well-known that rye has been typically added to beer to impart a dry mouth feel, but it can add other interesting aspects to a beer. Some people say that there's a bit of light spiciness and herbal qualities from the grain. Others say there's a slight sourness when the grain is used in beer. There's also the different creamy head on it as well. One of of the Drake's brewers (which one, I wonder?) is somewhat of a hophead .... so one day he said to himself, "why not join some of the similar qualities of the two ingredients in an exploration of rye and hops together"? This beer is the result. Hope you like it!

Drake's Dry Rye will be available in better bay beer bars soon! We'll give an update on this blog where you can find it.

Thanks for reading! -- Brian

HERE'S TO SF BEER WEEK!

And what a week it was!

Drake's was involved in more than a half-dozen different beer events over the week. Thanks to everybody who pitched in to organize the week, and to those that participated (breweries and beer lovers)! Also, thanks to Josh, Brian, Brad, & Dave for all the help during the week.

The week finished up with the great "Best of the West" Beer Festival put on by the Celebrator Beer News. (See photo.) Looking forward to next year!

-- John

BARREL-AGED LINE UP AT JUPITER & TRIPLE ROCK

SF BEER WEEK EVENT

TODAY! Tuesday, February 10th, at 4 pm

Here's the line-up for Jupiter & Triple Rock's Barrel-Aged Beer Night, starting this afternoon at 4pm. Rodger Davis and the gang has put together an incredible list of local, regional, national, and imported barrel-aged beers for you to try. Scroll down to a previous post, to get info on the Drake's barrel beers being poured.

Also, Sour Sunday went great! Everybody enjoyed the great variety of Sours that Rodger gathered. Special thanks to Josh, Brian, Jono, James, Jesse, George, Claudia & Rodger for pouring! The Barrel-Aged Night is going to be just as great!

Here's what's going to be poured today:

Allagash - Curieux
Ballast - Sea Monster
Beach Chalet - Dubbel
Blue Frog - XXX
Bruery - Blend
Dogfish Head - Palo Santo
Drakes - Frankenwine
Drakes - Impinoir
Drakes - (Anti?) Sideways Stout
Firestone Walker - Saucerful Secrets
Green Flash - Dbl. Bbl. Stout
HeBrew - Lenny on Rye
Hitachino - XHShochuCask
Iron Springs - Barleywine
Ithaca - Oaked Nut Brnown
Magnolia - Trippel
Mayfield - XXX
Moylans - Hopsickle
Sac. Brewery - Wheatwine
Schooners - Old Woody
Speakeasy - Hunter's Point Porter
Stone - 07 Vertical Epic
The Bruery - Blend
Thirsty Bear - Imperial Stout

Drake's barrel beers will be served with a variety of other local & imported barrel-aged beers at Triple Rock & Jupiter on Tuesday Feb 10th, from 4 pm til the beer runs out! Twenty bucks buys you a logo tasting glass and four pours of any style at either location. Four bucks per pour after that. If you attended the "Sour Sunday" event, bring your tasting glass! It's good for both events. For info on Jupiter visit www.jupiterbeer.com To learn more about Triple Rock go to www.triplerock.com For a flyer on the event click here.

Thanks for reading! -- The Drake

RAISE A GLASS TO BILL BRAND!

Last night at 7 pm, at the Drake's, Triple Rock, Iron Springs Beer Dinner, Tom Dalldorf lead us all in raising a glass to William Brand.

If you haven't heard, our great friend & "What's on Tap" blogger, Bill Brand, was critically injured Sunday night in a SF Muni accident.

We concur with Bobby G., who said in the comment section of Bill's blog, "we know you're tougher than a Muni train". Our thoughts are with Bill and his family. We are excited to hear this morning that his condition has stabilized.

Here's to a speedy recovery Bill! Can't wait to see you back out and about on the trail of great beer!

-- John Martin

SOUR BEER SUNDAY!

We just got the list of beers from Triple Rock Head Brewer Rodger Davis, for tomorrow's Sour Beer event at Jupiter & Triple Rock. Boy what a line-up! Here it is. And hey, congratulations to Rodger for just winning silver , for his IIMAXX ale, at the Bistro Double IPA Fest!

(If you checked this list Saturday night it included beers scheduled for the Tuesday Barrel-Aged Beer Night at Jupiter & Triple Rock, as well. This is the list for Sunday only. Thx.)

Ballast Point- Sour Wench
Bethelham - Framboise
Brewmaster - Signature Ale
Cantillion - Classic Gueuze
Cantillion - Kriek
Cherish - Rasp.Lambic
De Ranke - Cuvee
De Ranke - Kriek
Deproef - Seasonal
Desuhutes - The Dissadent
Drake's - Cherry Port
Drake's - Blueberry Port
Drake's - Brettamber
Drie - Gueze
Duchesse - De Bourgogne
Echte - Kriekenbier
Gordon Biersch - Hefe
Haandbryggeri - Haandbakk
Ithaca - Brute Golden
Jolly Pumkin' - Wit
Jolly Pumkn' - La Roja
Jolly Pumpkin - Stout
Monks Café - Sour Ale
Moonlight - 60 to life
Moonlight - Sourpuss
Petrus - Old Brown
Petrus - Aged Pale
Reinaert - Flem.Wild Ale
Rodenbach - Grand Cru
Russian River - Consecration
St.Somewhere - Dubbel
The Bruery - Blend
The Bruery - Berliner Weisse
Valley Brew - Effingreat
Zoetzuur - Flemish Red

Some great Drake's sours will be served with a variety of other local & imported sours at Triple Rock & Jupiter on Sunday, from 1 pm til the beer runs out! Twenty bucks buys you a logo tasting glass and four pours of any style at either location. Four bucks per pour after that. For info on Jupiter visit www.jupiterbeer.com To learn more about Triple Rock go to www.triplerock.com

Thanks for reading! -- The Drake

SF BEER WEEK EVENT - BARREL-AGED BEER NIGHT

Triple Rock & Jupiter to hold 1st Annual Barrel-Aged Beer Night!

This Tuesday some our Drake's barrel-aged beers will be coming out of the cellar, to be poured at the Triple Rock Brewery and Jupiter barrel-aged beer event, for SF Beer Week. Here's the line up!

Barleywine Aged in a Grenache Barrel (our "Frankenwinebarrel", Frankenwein in a wine barrel) Aged in barrels for 1.25 years. Strong raisin and brandy like aromas. Flavor is vinous with a little chocolate and cinnamon. Finishes strong at 10+% abv with a slightly astringent mouth feel from the wood. Served at Jupiter

Imperial Stout Aged in a Merlot Barrel (we call it "Anti-Sideways Stout")
Aged 1.25 years. Aroma of molasses and earthy red wine. Flavors of coffee and roasted malts with a full body and smooth subtle finish. Served at Triple Rock

Imperial Stout Aged in Pinot Noir ( a k a "Impinoir Stout")
Aged 1.25 years. Very vinous aroma of ripe fruitiness blends well with the chocolate of the Imperial Stout. Flavor expresses the character of the wine well with only a touch of oak from the barrel. Full bodied with crisp finish. Served at Jupiter

These Drake's barrel beers will be served with a variety of other local & imported barrel-aged beers at Triple Rock & Jupiter on Tuesday Feb 10th, from 4 pm til the beer runs out! Twenty bucks buys you a logo tasting glass and four pours of any style at either location. Four bucks per pour after that. If you attended the "Sour Sunday" event, bring your tasting glass! It's good for both events. For info on Jupiter visit www.jupiterbeer.com To learn more about Triple Rock go to www.triplerock.com For a flyer on the event click here.

Thanks for reading! -- The Drake

SF BEER WEEK -- "SOUR SUNDAY "

DRAKE'S BARREL-AGED BEERS AT TRIPLE ROCK & JUPITER

SF Beer Week Events! Drake's sister brewpubs, Triple Rock & Jupiter are holding two barrel-aged beer nights during the week. In this post we'll talk about the first one........

SOUR SUNDAY!

Both Jupiter & Triple Rock will be pouring a vast array of barrel-aged sours, this Sunday February 8th. Drake's will be there with some great beers that Josh & Brian have been aging.

Port Barrel-Aged Stout with Cherries This is Drake's Imperial Stout, aged 5.5 years on top of cherries in a port cask. Aromas of cherries, raisins and oak, with an earthy flavor and sour finish. This beer will be served at Triple Rock

Port Barrel-Aged Stout with Blueberries Same Imperial Stout brew, also in the cask for five and a half years, but aged with blueberries. Similar oak and aged characters as the cherry beer, but blueberry flavors stand out in the aroma & flavor. Full bodied, with a sour, and crisp, finish. This beer will be served at Triple Rock

Its Fity Part Deux Here's a description from Brian: "Fity % 2.5 yrs barrel-aged BrettAmber and Fity % 1 yr barrel-aged Belgian Tripel (aged in seperate barrels). Drake's BrettAmber is a lightly-hopped American Amber Style ale (5.8% original ABV) that is brewed with brown and chocolate malts, then aged 2.5 years in a Merlot barrel and infused with Brettanomyces yeast (in mid 2006). Its deep and robust mustiness is a result of taking on quite a bit of the barrel's characteristics. The balancing remainder of the mix in "It's Fity" is a Belgian Tripel (8.5% original ABV), which is brewed with additions of sugars, biscuit malt, and rye malt. The Tripel is aged 1 year in a Grenache barrel with no additional yeast infused. It is starting to really take on some sourness from the barrel as well. Together they present a perfect mixture of two distinctly different styles of beer." This beer will be served at Jupiter

These Drake's sours will be served with a variety of other local & imported sours at Triple Rock & Jupiter on Sunday, from 1 pm til the beer runs out! Twenty bucks buys you a logo tasting glass and four pours of any style at either location. Four bucks per pour after that. For info on Jupiter visit www.jupiterbeer.com To learn more about Triple Rock go to www.triplerock.com

-- The Drake

DRAKE'S AT HENRY'S

DRAKE'S, TRIPLE ROCK, & IRON SPRINGS GET TOGETHER AT HENRY'S IN BERKELEY FOR SF BEER WEEK

Henry's Beer Dinner, Monday February 9th at 5:30 pm

The brewer connections between a handful of great local breweries crash together on Monday, February 9th for Chef Eddie Blyden's Brewer Dinner at Henry's.  As some might know, Christian Kazakoff of Iron Springs brewed at Triple Rock for ten years.  Rodger Davis, now head brewer at Triple Rock, was head brewer here at Drake's until last year.  Josh Miner, former assistant brewer, came back to be head brewer after Rodger left.  At the top of the heap of this beer dinner is of course Eddie Blyden, who is well-known for his stints at the great 21st Amendment Brewery and the Alembic in San Francisco.  

THE FOOD..... AND THE BEER

Eddie and the brewers have come up with a great beer dinner menu.  It starts out with a black bean & Scharffenberger cocoa soup with smoked ham & cinnamon black cream.  This is served with Drake's Hefeweizen & Triple Rock Pale Ale.

The salad course is Bitter greens with toasted walnuts, Reggiano parmesan, shaved milk chocolate & balsamic vinaigrette.  The beers served with this course are Iron Springs Boot Jack Brown & Drake's Amber.

There are two choices for entrees:  You may order the "Triple Rock Porter braised Niman Ranch Beef Stew" with winter root vegetables and house-made egg noodles.  The beers served with this entree are Triple Rock Brown Ale and Iron Springs Pilsner.  The other entree is "Wild Mushroom Risotto" with cocoa nibs and ricotta.  This is served with the great Drake's 1500 (an extra hopped pale, that's lighter in body & alcohol than a typical IPA).

Ah... Dessert!  it is vanilla pudding with English cookies, served with Iron Springs oak-aged Barley Wine (2006) & Triple Rock Chocolate Milk Stout.

The Henry's Brewers Dinner starts at 5:30pm with a meet & greet with the brewers.  Hors d'oeuvres will be served, and each brewery will present a style of beer for tasting.  Dinner will begin at 6:30.  The cost is $45 per person.  Reservations needed.  Call Joseph White @ 510-809-4126 or use opentable.  Henry's is in the Durant Hotel at 2600 Durant Ave. Berkeley.

DRAKE'S BREWERY "DOCK SALES"

A quick note on beer available to buy at the brewery.....  Drake's is happy to offer cases & kegs of Drake's beers at great prices, "off the dock". 

CASES:  Drop by Thursday & Friday afternoons and pick up some cases of Drake's beers here at the brewery!  For the winter season, and because we aren't holding the Friday Tastings, we are offering Drake's Blonde, Amber, and IPA for $25 a case (plus tax & crv).   Hefeweizen will be back in bottles in a few weeks at the same price. Come in soon!  Once we start up the Friday Tastings again, these prices will probably have to go up a bit.  We also have Drake's Imperial Stout available in 500 ml bottles for $5.00, or in cases of 12 for $57.00

KEGS:  15.5 gallon kegs of Drake's beers are also available for pick-up off the dock.  Right now we have in stock our Blonde, Amber, IPA 1500 and Hefeweizen.  We do keep a few 5 & 7.9 gallon kegs in stock, but you might want to call first, as we often run out.  We have a very limited supply of picnic taps available.

WHAT NO GROWLERS?  We are presently putting together a new fill area at the brewery. We expect growlers will be available in the coming weeks.  We'll post to this blog once Growlers are back!

Thanks for reading!  -- The Drake

DENOGGINIZER Now available!

Welcome to The Drake's Brewery Blog!

A great way to start the new Drake's blog, is to announce the 2009 release of Drake's Denogginizer!  Next to our Jolly Roger holiday seasonal, Denogginizer is Drake's most anticipated beer of the year.  

What is is:  Drake's Denogginizer is a big, bold, Imperial IPA. Hopped with an abundant amount of Simcoe & Amarillo, with a touch of Ahtanum & Chinook.  Mashed with Crystal malt and Caramalt for color and flavor, and to help balance out the hop assault.  Denog is our most powerful regular offering, at a whopping 10% ABV and 100 IBUs!

History:  Denogginizer was first brewed in 2004 by Rodger Davis & Josh Miner.  The name came about due to a little issue during fermentation.....  The brewers came in one morning to find that their new double IPA had developed a serious problem.  The huge amount of hops in the fermenter (dry-hopped) had clogged the pressure relief valve (PRV) of the tank.  This caused a rather worrisome pressure increase.  Something had to done ... and fast.  After a quick roshambo with Rodger, Josh found himself on a ladder at the top of the tank preparing to pop the tri-clover clamp to release the PRV..... and the pressure.  The resulting lift-off of the PRV (and subsequent ricochets)  cause Rodger to crack the wry remark (as only Rodger can) .... that Josh just about got "de-noggin-ized".  So, of course, after this experience they had the name for their new Imperial IPA!  (No brewers were hurt creating this brand name.)  The story has a great ending though....  in 2005, Drake's Denogginizer was chosen as the best beer at The Bistro Double IPA Festival.  It was all worth it...  (eh, Josh?).

Where you can find it:  This week Denogginizer can be found on tap in the East Bay and SF at: Ben & Nick's, Barclay's, The Trappist, Triple Rock, The Bistro, EJ Phair, Toronado, Fireside, Bear's Lair, Jupiter, Cato's, Looney's Smokehouse, Meridian, Porky's Pizza Palace, & Lucky's Pizza. (If your planning to visit one of these pubs to try a Denogginizer, call first to make sure they still have it on tap.)

-- The Drake