MAYBE HOPOC SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT PINT?

The great beer site YOUR NEXT PINT put up a very nice post about Drake's Hopocalypse IPA. Thanks Ashley!

Check it out: http://ht.ly/2oYHM

PLETHORA OF IPAs FOR AUGUST!

First & Foremost! DENOGGINIZER DIPA NOW IN 22s! But... we have to say that we've had a hard time keeping bombers of the infamous Denogginizer Double IPA in stock, since we started bottling it in late June. More is now in the fermenter and will be bottled before the end of the month.

SPECIALS & SEASONALS BEERS THIS MONTH:

DRAKE'S HOPOCALYPSE ALE – 9.3% ABV, 100+ IBUs - This Liquid Revelation is a deep orange monster that is loosely filtered to keep the integrity and faith of the malt & hops intact. Equal amounts of American two-row malt and English pale malt are combined with Vienna and Rye malts, then balanced with Cascade, Simcoe and Chinook hops for flavor. We then dry hop it with additional Cascade, Simcoe, and Chinook hops. Enjoy the massive aromatic Revelation and prophetic flavor of this beer now and forever after.

DRAKE'S BASS AKWARDS IPA - 7% a.b.v - Our Bass Akwards IPA is a hop forward IPA with huge citrus & piney characters. The nose is reminicent of fresh cut grass, pine, and citrus from the hop resins but balanced off with a light malt flavor. A base malt of American two row barley is combined with Caramalt to makeup the grain bill. The original recipe called for Simcoe (S) Saaz (S) and Amarillo (A) for the bittering Hops, and Simcoe (S) Spalt (S) and Amarillo (A) for the flavoring and aromatic hops. One of the brewers commented on the fact that the bittering & flavoring hops they used both spelled "ass" backwards... and the name of this beer was born- Bass Akwards IPA.

AROMA PRIETA IPA - 6.5% a.b.v. (6.9 on the Richter Scale) - This liquid temblor is an agressively hopped IPA that is the second in our "World Series of Hops" program. (The first was Aroma Coma in 2009.) Using a basemalt of Two-Row Barley, Rye, Wheat, Crystal, Pilsen & Honey Malts, we are able to achieve a lighter body than our regular IPA but one with a larger magnitude of hop aroma & bitterness. 32 lbs of hops (German Magnum, CTZ, Citra, Chinook & Centennial) will shake your taste buds for a minimum of 10-15 seconds! The pine, citrus & floral aromatics then settle down for a smooth & gentle finish.

These beers can be found at a few of our select East Bay accounts (ABC laws won't let us post where... but, send us an email and we can "legally" give you the info!) Thanks for reading!

-- The Drake

AUGUST FIRST FRIDAY EVENT, Friday the 6th, 4-8 pm

AUGUST FIRST FRIDAY AT DRAKE'S!

Drake's opens it doors (and parking lot) again for our first Friday of the month event. Food, music .... and beer! Join us! Starting at 4 pm we will have eight of our regular brews pouring, plus some great specials. It'll be Hops, hops, and more hops! Bass Akwards IPA, Aroma Prieta IPA. All pre-the Bistro's IPA Fest (maybe the Hopocalypse too!) Try'em before the Fest!

COST:
$5 Donation at the gate. 21 and over please. (Children, with their parents of course, are OK to enter.) $15 for a Drake's logo tasting glass and 3 tokens for full pours. More tokens can be purchased separately.

FOOD:
For Drake's Fridays, the brewery crew likes to have food available to the public that goes great with beer. This month, we'll have those awesome duo you see outside your favorite watering-hole at 2 am. Serving up great street food will be the ... TACO GUYS! The boys will be serving up delicious gourmet tacos, and at a great price. Check them out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/THE-TACO-GUYS/257824054004

OTHER STUFF:
Tours will be available by the brewers. Some tables & chairs will be provided, but as always feel free to bring your own seating if you'd like, tailgater-style!

A BENEFIT FOR THE SAN LEANDRO EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION:
This event is a fundraiser is for the San Leandro Educational Foundation (SLED). Your $5 donation at the gate, plus the net proceeds of the beer sales, will go to supporting the programs of this great local fundraising arm for the San Leandro Schools. SLED volunteers will be working the gate, patrolling the parking lot and generally helping out. Drake's is proud to be working with non-profits and local community to raise money for great causes!

GENERAL INFO:
- Please park in the main West Gate Center lot, in front of Walmart & Sports Authority, and walk back to the brewery (see link to map, at the bottom of this email).
- Please, leave you pets at home. And kindly respect our neighbors and their customers in the West Gate Center.
- Sorry, but we can no longer accept old beer tokens (from 2008 and prior years).

NEXT DRAKE'S FRIDAY - July 2nd

START YOUR FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION AT DRAKE'S!

Drake's opens it doors (and parking lot) again for our first Friday of the month event. Food, music .... and beer! Join us! Starting at 4 pm we will have eight brews pouring, plus our summer Belgian-style ale "La Resistance".

COST:
$5 Donation at the gate. 21 and over please. (Children, with their parents of course, are OK to enter.) $15 for a Drake's logo tasting mug and 3 tokens for full pours. More tokens can be purchased separately.

FOOD:
For Drake's Fridays, the brewery crew likes to have food available to the public that goes great with beer. This month, there will be some great grilled sausages, plus non-alcoholic drinks & bottled water, served up by the Boy's & Girls Club volunteers.

OTHER STUFF:
Tours will be available by the brewers. Some tables & chairs will be provided, but as always feel free to bring your own seating if you'd like, tailgater-style!

A BENEFIT FOR THE SAN LEANDRO BOY'S & GIRL'S CLUB:
This event is a fundraiser is for the San Leandro Boy's & Girl's Club. Your $5 donation at the gate, plus the net proceeds of the beer sales, will go to supporting the programs of this great local organization. Club volunteers will be working the gate, patrolling the parking lot and generally helping out. Drake's is proud to be working with non-profits and local community to raise money for great causes!

GENERAL INFO:
- Please park in the main West Gate Center lot, in front of Walmart & Sports Authority, and walk back to the brewery (see link to map, at the bottom of this email).
- Please, leave you pets at home. And kindly respect our neighbors and their customers in the West Gate Center.
- Sorry, but we can no longer accept old beer tokens (from 2008 and prior years).

DRAKE'S FRIDAY - MARCH 5TH

BE AT THE BREWERY!

Drake's opens it doors (and parking lot) for its second big Friday event of 2010! Food, music .... and beer! Join us! Starting at 4 pm we will have eight brews pouring, including our late-winter beer, "Drake's Belgian Trippel". We'll be here, rain or shine. Hope you will be too!

COST:
$5 Donation to San Leandro's Bancroft Middle School at the gate. 21 and over please. (Children with their parents, of course, are OK to enter.)
$15 for a Drake's logo tasting mug and 3 tokens for full pours. More tokens can be purchased separately.

STREET FOOD:
Drake's will have some great food on hand from one of your favorite local street food trucks. Come hungry!. This month it is: Food by Roli Roti, the fabulous mobile rotisserie operation. Check them out at www.roliroti.com


OTHER STUFF:
Some great tunes from our house DJ, and some interior space in the brewery to hang out in (in case of less than perfect weather). Tours will be available by the brewers. Some tables & chairs will be provided, but as always feel free to bring your own seating if you'd like, tailgater-style!

A BENEFIT FOR SAN LEANDRO'S BANCROFT MIDDLE SCHOOL:
This event is a fundraiser is for the Parents Club of Bancroft Middle School in San Leandro. The Parent's Club provides volunteer support and funds to help offer school activities that might have otherwise been cut in this time of shrinking school budgets. Volunteers from Bancroft will be working the gate, patrolling the parking lot and generally helping out. Drake's is proud to be working with the schools and local community to raise money for great causes!

GENERAL INFO:
•Please park in the main West Gate Center lot, in front of Walmart & Sports Authority, and walk back to the brewery (link to map).
•Please, leave you pets at home. And kindly respect our neighbors and their customers in the West Gate Center.

SF BEER WEEK & DRAKE'S FRIDAYS RETURN!

THE DRAKE’S FRIDAYS Returns – FEBRUARY 12th! From 4PM to 8PM

Beer Week! A Benefit! Bill Brand Tribute Beers!

BRINGING FRIDAYS BACK WITH A BANG! SF BEER WEEK MARQUEE EVENT and the POURING OF THE "BILL BRAND TRIBUTE" SERIES OF BEERS.

Drake's Brewing Co., in conjunction with SF BEER week, has become the location where more than 10 “Bill Beers” will be poured as a tribute to craft brewing's late great friend Bill Brand. Brewers around the Bay Area have agreed to brew a special beer in Bill's honor, to be served at their own breweries during the week (all different styles -- just beers that the brewers think Bill would like to drink!). Each of these brews have been named for Bill, who was, so sadly, fatally injured while headed home from an event during last year's inaugural SF BEER Week. Drake's will be the only place you'll be able to find a sampling of the Bill Brand Tribute Series in one place! Come, enjoy yourself, and raise a glass to Bill!

The Bill Brand Tribute Beers will be pouring from these breweries:

• Triple Rock Brewery - Bill Brand IPA
• Tied House - Bill Brand Bourbon Barrel Porter
• Valley Brewing Co. - Bill Brandbic - Valley’s Calambic
• Firehouse Brewery – Bill Brand Imperial Red
• Black Diamond Brewing – Bill Brand Dark Mild
• Iron Springs Brewery – Bill Brand Hoppy Dark Lager
• Linden Street Brewery - Bill Brand Burnt Oak Dark Lager
• Gordon Biersch Brewing – Bill Brand Barrel-Aged Blend
• Devil’s Canyon Brewing - Bill Brand Brown Ale
• Marin Brewing – Bill Brand Bourbon Barleywine
• Drake’s Brewing – Bill Brand Barrel-Aged Blend


STREET FOOD Drake's will have some great food on hand, from some of your favorite local street food trucks. Come hungry and work your way through the line-up.

• Mexican - La Pinata (Alameda) lapinata.com
• BBQ - Emergency Beer BBQ (Belmont) emergencybbq.com
• Asian - Seoul on Wheels (SF) seoulonwheels.com
• Sweets - Cupkates (Berkeley)Featuring StoneHenge Stout cupcakes! cupkatesbakery.com
• Gourmet Rotisserie Meats - Roli Roti (Oakland) roliroti.com
  

OTHER STUFF: We'll have the Washoes lanes set up, some great tunes from our house DJ, and some interior space in the brewery to hang out in (in case of less than perfect weather). Tours will be available by the brewers. Some tables & chairs will be available, but as always feel free to bring your own seating if you want, tailgater-style!

A BENEFIT FOR SAN LEANDRO'S WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: This event is a fundraiser is for the Parents Club/Dad's Club of Washington Elementary School in San Leandro. The Dad's Club provide manpower and money to help fund school activities that have been cut in these lean times. Members will be working the gate, patrolling the parking lot and generally helping out. Drake's is proud to be working with the local community to raise money for great causes!

COST:
$5 Donation to Washington School to get in the gate. (Children with their parents free)
$15 for a Drake's tasting mug and 3 tokens for full pours... or taster tickets for nine 3 oz. tastes. More tokens and tastes can be purchased separately.

GENERAL INFO:

• Please park in the main West Gate Center lot, in front of Walmart & Sports Authority, and walk back to the brewery (map here)
• Eight Drake's Beers will be available, including Hopocalypse our present seasonal (a Double IPA).
• Please, leave you pets at home. And kindly respect our neighbors and their customers in the West Gate Center.

-- Thanks for reading!

BARREL BLENDING WITH BEER & NOSH

FOR SF BEER WEEK

A blog post just up by Jesse Friedman, author of the wonderful beer site "Beer & Nosh". It is about the blending (and sampling) of a barrel-aged beer here at Drake's, for the "Mostly Barrel-Aged Beer Dinner" at Scala's Bistro in San Francisco. An event to be held during the 2nd annual SF BEER Week. Go here to read it!

For more info on attending the dinner, to be held Wednesday, February 10th, at 6:30 pm, go here.

Image by Jesse Friedman. Look for more great food & beer images at www.beerandnosh.com


Thanks for reading!

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