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