2012 World Cup Award Winners of California

Every two years the best brewers are invited to come together and compete in the worlds most prestigious beer competition known as the World Beer Cup. With 54 countries entering almost a thousand more beers than 2010, this year's competition was bigger and badder than anything that we've seen before, and truly reflected the last two years' craft beer boom. Of the 95 categories judged, California won a medal in 43, and also won an overall award for champion brewery and brewmaster. Congratulations to our medalists, and here's to another two years of cranking out some of the worlds best beers.

California seriously cleaned up at the awards. The following are our champions:

Category 8: Coffee Beer, 56 Entries
Gold: Bacon and Eggs Breakfast Coffee Imperial Porter, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Category 9: Specialty Beer, 38 Entries

Charlie Papazian

Gold: Hangar 24 Winter Warmer, Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, Redlands, CA
Bronze: Donner Party Porter, FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Truckee, CA

Category 10: Rye Beer, 29 Entries
Gold: Ruthless Rye IPA, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Silver: 3 Flowers IPA, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA

Category 12: Session Beer, 33 Entries
Silver: Kellerweis, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA

Category 13: Other Strong Beer, 35 Entries
Gold: Star Brew, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA

Category 14: Experimental Beer, 42 Entries
Gold: Petit Obscura, Telegraph Brewing Co., Santa Barbara, CA
Bronze: Where There’s Smoke..., Manzanita Brewing Co., Santee, CA

Category 15: Indigenous Beer, 26 Entries
Gold: Got Beer, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery - Tacoma, Huntington Beach, CA
Silver: Hqt, 21st-Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA

Category 17: American-Belgo-Style Ale, 48 Entries
Bronze: Le Freak, Green Flash Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 18: American-Style Sour Ale, 14 Entries
Bronze: Supplication, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA

Category 23: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer, 42 Entries
Bronze: Melange #1, The Bruery, Anaheim, CA

Category 36: German-Style Märzen, 39 Entries
Silver: Rocktoberfest, Rock Bottom Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

Category 44: American-Style Premium Lager or Specialty Lager, 37 Entries
Silver: Evans Original, Cervecería Mexicana, Corona, CA

Category 45: American-Style Amber Lager, 40 Entries
Bronze: Cali Common, Lucky Hand Beer, Novato, CA

Category 47: Australasian-Style Pale Ale or International-Style Pale Ale, 22 Entries
Gold: 805 IPA, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category 49: German-Style Brown Ale/Düsseldorf-Style Altbier, 29 Entries
Bronze: Real McCoy Amber, Mammoth Brewing Co., Mammoth Lakes, CA

Category 50: German-Style Sour Ale, 11 Entries
Silver: Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, The Bruery, Anaheim, CA

Category 56: French- & Belgian-Style Saison, 44 Entries
Gold: Carnevale, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA

Category 57: Belgian- and French-Style Ale, 22 Entries
Bronze: Gift of the Magi, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA

Category 60: Belgian-Style Flanders Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale, 16 Entries
Gold: Oude Tart, The Bruery, Anaheim, CA
Bronze: Oud Jeremiah, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery - Brea, Huntington Beach, CA

Category 61: Belgian-Style Dubbel, 39 Entries
Bronze: Ovila Dubbel, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA

Category 64: Belgian-Style Dark Strong Ale, 41 Entries
Silver: Two Tortugas Belgian Quad, Karl Strauss Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 65: Other Belgian-Style Ale, 41 Entries
Bronze: Rhinoceros, Telegraph Brewing Co., Santa Barbara, CA

Category 67: Classic English-Style Pale Ale, 33 Entries
Gold: Annadel Pale Ale, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA

Category 72: English-Style Mild Ale, 27 Entries
Silver: Alyssa’s Attitude, Oggi’s Pizza & Brewing Co., San Clemente, CA
Bronze: Nerf Herder, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA

Category 73: English-Style Brown Ale, 30 Entries
Gold: Longboard Brown Ale, Rock Bottom La Jolla, La Jolla, CA

Category 74: Brown Porter, 42 Entries
Gold: Double Nut Brown, Mammoth Brewing Co., Mammoth Lakes, CA
Bronze: Chocolate Porter, Bayhawk Ales, Irvine, CA

Category 75: Robust Porter, 68 Entries
Gold: Pier Rat Porter, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA

Category 76: Sweet Stout, 25 Entries
Bronze: Blackjack Stout, Feather Falls Casino Brewing Co., Oroville, CA

Category 78: Scotch Ale, 51 Entries
Silver: Way Heavy, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA

Category 80: Old Ale or Strong Ale, 51 Entries
Silver: AleSmith Decadence 2010 Old Ale, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 81: Barley Wine-Style Ale, 62 Entries
Bronze: AleSmith Old Numbskull, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 82: Irish-Style Red Ale, 31 Entries
Gold: Red Trolley Ale, Karl Strauss Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 83: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout, 30 Entries
Gold: Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA

Category 84: Foreign-Style Stout, 37 Entries
Gold: Starry Night Stout, Island Brewing Co., Carpinteria, CA
Bronze: Voo Doo, Left Coast Brewing Co., San Clemente, CA

Category 85: Golden or Blonde Ale, 46 Entries
Gold: Foam Top, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Long Beach, CA
Bronze: Steelhead Extra Pale, Mad River Brewing Co., Blue Lake, CA

Category 86: American-Style Pale Ale, 84 Entries
Gold: Pale 31, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Mission Street Pale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category 89: Imperial India Pale Ale, 93 Entries
Gold: Poor Man’s IPA, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Palate Wrecker, Green Flash Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 90: American-Style Amber/Red Ale, 68 Entries
Bronze: Mavericks Amber Ale, Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., Princeton-by-the-Sea, CA

Category 91: Imperial Red Ale, 38 Entries
Silver: Bigfoot, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA

Category 92: American-Style Brown Ale, 47 Entries
Bronze: Great American Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category 93: American-Style Black Ale, 49 Entries
Gold: Black Racer, Bear Republic Brewing Co., Cloverdale, CA
Silver: Tarantulas 2.0, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Category 94: American-Style Stout, 34 Entries
Bronze: Achievement Beyond Life’s Experiences American Stout Brit Antrim Benefit Beer, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster
  Mid-size Brewing Company
Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, CA
Matthew Brynildson

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Suburban Drum Circles or Farm-To-Table Bravado

The other day I was driving through my mother-in-law's neighborhood on my way to see her and I spied a new restaurant in the chain ridden stucco jungle that is South Orange County. Seeing that it had something to do with craft beer I was naturally interested, so I looked it up online.

“..we are independent and locally owned. We do things differently and believe in using only the freshest and highest quality ingredients. Our foods are largely organic, our brews and signature cocktails are all craft...Our Eats are farm to table, local, in-season, sustainable and organic. [Chef] visits the farmer’s markets and tours local farms weekly. Our meats are of exceptional quality and are all-natural, antibiotic and hormone free. Our [beers] are strictly craft and our [wine is] largely boutique. Our menu will change frequently as we transition seasons to provide for only the freshest and best products available. Like we said, we do it differently.”

Seems normal, right? Seems like a place I'd like to eat for sure. However, if they're a locally owned, sit down, non-chain restaurant, shouldn't they naturally be using only the freshest and highest quality ingredients? Where I grew up we have many family owned restaurants. They aren't chains, they're locally owned and run. Their menus note the like of “Covelo Beef” or “Roundman's Smoked Bacon” or “Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper” reflecting that the menu is indeed local and mostly organic. I have indeed been spoiled, however my spoilage has perhaps turned to the resentment of people I feel are trying to make a quick buck.

I'm at the point that when I see a restaurant boasting their organic, fresh, slow, sustainable, morning-greeted, tucked-in-at-night, holding-hands-sing-kum-bay-ya produce I immediately associate it with snobby beertenders, stingy portions and a wallet enema. The best example was the first episode of that show “Portlandia” when they want to know the name of the chicken they're going to eat! It's gotten ridiculous. No one expects Denny's or Coco's to be farm-to-table here, no one expects healthy food at Taco Bell, but it is not too much to expect your typical family owned restaurant to do it's best in the name of sustainability and health without trying to appeal to the thick framed hipster crowd.

So, what were they trying to accomplish here? Were the new owners scared of their potential customers' past experiences being tainted by the ubiquity of the TGIF's, Chilli's and Applebees which more or less bookend their new location? In all honesty, I've never eaten here. But I intend to. I can't wait to check out their beer selection. The food might even be sensational! What I'm curious about is why did the new owners feel the need to publish their mission statement and menu in such a grossly hipster fashion? Was it the the above-mentioned fear of customer ignorance? Was it a desire to cash in on a growing trend in urban/suburban cuisine culture? If so, I have to question their strategy. The suburbanites living around them who are content with BJ's and Sizzler's are likely not their target audience anyway. And the slightly more dialed in yoga mat toting crowd ,no doubt plugged in to Twitter and Yelp and those platforms, will have obviously come to expect a family owned restaurant that isn't pretentiously self congratulatory of the fact that they aren't using Sysco distributed foods!

I intend to eat here for my husbands birthday in May and I can't wait to pick the owner's brain about their philosophy behind all this bravado. And I will report back to you, gentle reader, on my investigation. I'm not ragging (too much at least) on the slow food movement here but it reminds me of a story: An investor was getting his shoes shined early in October of 1929 when the guy shining his shoes started giving him investment tips. The investor, quite worried, thought to himself, “If everyone is investing how long could this possibly last” and pulled out of the market before Black Tuesday hit later that month.

Living in urban San Diego this would be “so ten minutes ago.” A marketing pitch like this would have been eaten up and spit out in the blink of an eye. Hell you try this in North Park and I bet it would be less than a week before you were shaken down for some sort of holistic “protection” money with the understanding that if you did not pay up you would get worked over by a fixie chain. San Diego is beyond saturated with hipster rhetoric: farm-to-table, chicken's holding hands etc. (Yeah it's a love/hate thing.)

These guys are more than likely sincere in their love of real food, and I'll find out more about what motivated their angle when I eat there. But for the record, I can't wait to live in a world when the platitudes expressed in their menu are taken for granted by most restaurant goers, and such adjectives need not be thrown in my face. Instead I would get intrigued by a bold advertisement that reads “Cheap Sit Down Stoner/Gamer Food: Fast!” “Come to Joe's, I will deep fry your pre-packaged Sysco snacks and have them to your table in under seven minutes—and there's never a charge for extra ranch.”

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Fuggly Brew Beer Dinner 08/11

Hello Readers!
You are cordially invited to join me for my very first beer dinner! Please read and distribute the press release at the bottom at your leisure and Thank You All for being so supportive the last couple years I appreciate all the love and encouragement and I hope to see you there!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Dan Smith

Out Of The Park Pizza

E-mail: ylfamilypizza@yahoo.com

Phone: (619)569-7084

Tatiana Peavey

FugglyBrew.com

Phone: (707)813-1233

E-mail: tatiana@fugglybrew.com

Out Of The Park Pizza and FugglyBrew.com Host Local Beer Dinner Featuring Orange County Breweries

Anaheim, California, July 18, 2011 – Out of the Park Pizza and FugglyBrew.com are set to host their first O.C. Brewery Beer Dinner on Thursday, August 11 at 7:00 p.m. at its 5638 E. La Palma Ave. location featuring selections from local Orange County Breweries.

The local Beer Dinner will feature beers from Orange County's renowned Bruery, Bootleggers Brewing Co, Left Coast Brewing Co and a special six-course beer pairing menu courtesy of FugglyBrew.com author, Tatiana Peavey. The night’s courses will be served as follows: chopped Jicama salad with The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse; creamy Camembert mac and cheese with The Bruery Saison Rue; pineapple pork ribs with Left Coast Asylum; deconstructed Out of the Park Signature Chuck Norris pizza with Bootleggers Golden Chaos; Gorgonzola and nectarines with Bootleggers Knuckle Sandwich; and fresh baked chocolate cookie a la raspberry mode with Left Coast VooDoo Stout.

Owner, Dan Smith is excited to be a part of Orange County's growing craft beer scene and hopes that this is the first of many special beer events for Out of The Park Pizza .This is a must-attend event for any beer enthusiast from the budding crafty to the seasoned cellarist, this event is not to be missed.

Tickets for the event are $30 in advance and for Out of the Park Pizza Homebrew Club members and $40 at the door. Early purchases are suggested as tickets are limited and the event will reach capacity.

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Flying Saucer's Deschutes Beer Dinner in Austin, TX

After a truly debaucherous Mardi Gras in the Big Easy I decided to recover in Austin and check out their beer scene. Of all the restaurants and pubs that I visited one spot truly stood out above the rest: The Flying Saucer (on Twitter @FlyingSaucerAus.) I attended their Deschutes Beer Dinner with special guest and Brewmaster Larry Sidor—the first of many events to be held in their Hollandsworth Hall. The beer pairings were as follows: beets and goat cheese with Mirror Pond Pale Ale; spicy shrimp and polenta with Green Lakes Organic Ale; onion soup with Black Butte Porter; winter bruschetta with Red Chair NWPA; blue cheese and orange marmalade with Hop Henge Experimental IPA; and chocolate mousse and blood oranges with The Dissident.

I was super excited about this dinner not only because of all the bomb food but also to meet a real mover and shaker in the brewing industry, Larry Sidor. Mr. Sidor is a die-hard whole-hop evangelist, using nothing but beautiful whole hop cones in his brewing with no pellets in sight! Not only that, but his Organic Ale is made with Noble hops that are grown far enough from Salmon reproduction streams and using only eco-friendly pesticides to be aptly named “Salmon Safe.”

I really enjoyed the beets and goat cheese with the Mirror Pond Pale Ale, I thought the sweetness of the malt base really brought out the musty earthiness of the beets and made it quite the savory bite. The onion soup and Black Butte Porter was a classic pairing one that would have been very welcome on a cold winter night, it really made me hot and I will definitely remember that next time I'm looking for a tasty dish on a chilly night. The evening was directed towards introducing Austin to the Red Chair NWPA (North West Pale Ale), a beautifully copper colored Pale Ale who's citrus hoppy punch exposed the strength of the parmigiana in the bruschetta.

My overall favorite pairing of the evening was Hop Henge Experimental IPA and bleu cheese. An IPA that starts and finishes with the hop: and I do mean they throw hops in the mash! This beautifully pugnacious IPA grabbed the blue cheese, walnuts and marmalade by the balls and wrung out the pungency of the cheese in a whirlwind of flavor. Truly a match made in heaven; I will remember this for future pairings of my own. The Hop Henge brought up natural questions about how fresh their Hop Trip Fresh Hop IPA was, especially in era of fresh hop beers and I was pleasantly greeted with a beautiful story reminiscent of the Smucker's Preserves Ad. Larry actually goes out and hand chooses the lot of hops he wants for the batch, calls the brewery to signal them to mash in, and by the time they're ready to add the hops, the crop has been harvested and is right outside their brewery in beautiful Bend Oregon ready to go in! So yes folks, its VERY fresh!!!

As a special surprise they concluded the dinner with The Dissident and chocolate mousse with blood oranges. I love the Dissident, and the older it gets the better it gets, however I wasn't a huge fan of it with the chocolate. I thought that as a sour brown with such a wonderful distinct flavor I thought it would have paired nicely with venison or lamb, something more savory than sweet. However, to end the meal I felt that it worked perfectly as an aperitif. (Mind you I loved the Mousse and blood oranges... yes, I scraped the bottom of the dish—it was awesome.)

I was very happy to see that the Dissident make an appearance at the dinner and I truly hope that Mr. Sidor plans to continue producing such a wonderful Brett.-based beer.

As it is one of today's current hot topics I asked Larry what he thought of the selling of beer by collectors on eBay and other networks. He wasn't as down on it as I had assumed, essentially as long as people aren't being careless and trying to sell growlers of Pliny the Younger on eBay he's all for the trading and selling of older and agreable beers and see's no harm in it as long as it's properly cellared and cared for!

I was happy to meet the wonderful Austin crew of Deschutes (@DeschutesBeer), Larry Sidor himself and of course the wonderful staff at The Flying Saucer. Their next big event is their Allagash Dinner coming soon.

If you're in Austin check them out! They're also in Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Missouri. And folks, THEY HAVE THE CUTEST BEER SHIRTS EVER!!!! I'm just saying, I never thought I'd buy a t-shirt with cute little angel wings on the back but their Beervana shirts are just the best!

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The New Face of Pizza and Beer in Anaheim

In the past couple years I have been overjoyed to watch the gastropub flourish here in Orange County. What, however, is happening with the evolution of our beloved American institution called the sports bar? Well I am extremely excited to post that exciting beer-things are indeed happening! An excellent example of this long overdue trend is open for your craft-beer-geek enjoyment.Out of the Park Pizza in Anaheim is a sublime blend of everything that makes a family oriented sports bar the place you always want to be at, combined with a strict zero-tolerance for mediocre beer and food policy. Out of the Park Pizza is bringing Game Day excitement and Little League Pizza Socials to a new place that everyone will love. With over 30 beers on tap and a diverse bottle list that's growing by the tens, owners Donna and Dan Smith have put a lot of love and culinary know-how into this place. There's a chill outdoor eating area,complete with fire pit and heat lamps, an arcade for the kids that combines 80's classics like Pacman and Galaga along with all the best ultra modern shooters, sports simulators, and ticket games! My favorite space is the VIP all leather "Living Room" for you and your friends to reserve for special Game Day shows and TV Premieres! While the menu is still growing the pizza is "kick you in the face" awesome, especially with amazing Dan-original offerings like the Chuck Norris-- a bomb of wing sauce, avocado, and chicken. This place is honestly a play ground for everyone: For the boys: beer, boobs, blondes, sports on over 30(!) big screens and great food. For the kids: a room full of arcade games, and for us women there's the friendly staff who are more than willing to pair the perfect beer with your sophisticated pallet while you relax by the bonfire in the cool night breeze, and perhaps most important of all: for us beer aficionados--seriously, go check this place out.  Dan and Donna Smith's dedication to offering not only the broadest, but also the deepest possible beer selection is almost unprecedented in a joint like this.

Dan and Donna Smith, Owners

I am really excited about the future of this place simply because with all the great food and the fun activities that the place has to offer, including Karaoke, Dan has stayed true to his love for craft beer. The taps are on continuous rotation so don't be afraid to ask for a splash of something you may have never seen before.  It's new places like this that continue to give me hope that the up and coming generations will usher in a new era of beer-soaked awesome.


Out of the Park Pizza is located at
3635 E. La Palma in Anaheim and you can always call ahead at (714)777-4992 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (714)777-4992      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Oh, and rumor has it that it's the hottest place in Anaheim to spot your favorite Angel, so be sure to bring your favorite ball and a sharpie!
Xo Xo, Anaheim.

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Oskar Blues Brewery and Beer Swapping

The wonderful people at Oskar Blue Brewery opened the doors of their brew pub, The Tasty Weasel, to the herd of weasels (or cats) that is the BBC blogger crowd. Hungry bloggers poured in to find Dale's Pale Ale and Old Chub taps at the back to pour at your leisure and a meal fit for several members of the royal family (The Boudin Balls were the best, and no, for those of you out there that were asking me if I was going to get rocky mountain oysters, I did not). Pulled pork, chicken wings, home-make bleu cheese dressing, gumbo....needless to say I thoroughly hurt myself.

After dinner and a fun game of Foosball with The Beer Wench, we were given a tour of the brewery to see all the wonderful gadgets that they were playing with, including a new kegging machine that they had just purchased from Sierra Nevada! They explained the importance of canning and how they truly avoid oxidization with “co2 knives” to cut the head off the beer and place the caps on and seal them oxygen free. We also got a glimpse of things to come packed away in oak barrels but they insisted that I was hallucinating, they weren't the barrels I was looking for apparently...

We left Oskar Blues with heavy hearts however this quickly changed to euphoria because we had a bottle share to get to back at the conference site. There was so much beer that I had never tasted before, so naturally I had no other choice but to tackle the task of making sure at least a drop hit my pallet. I feel that this part of the night is best explained visually so I have made a montage of the evening as I remember it. Enjoy!

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