The rain in the Bay Area has finally been on the wane and the weather has turned ever more delightful—with beautiful opportunities to enjoy some wonderful brews. As the weather grows warm, a man's heart turns to ethereal kölsch-style ales and crisp lagers. The 2010 Alaskan Summer is a delicious interpretation of the first—with that classic crisp watermelon crunch that the beer in Köln/Cologne has. This is delicious beer and among the top American interpretations of kölsch I can recall (Atwater's D Light and New Holland's Full Circle being the other two that come to mind). Nothing quite as ethereal as what the best kölsch can offer—but beautiful beer? Yes it can. The Iron Springs Kent Lake Kölsch produced nearby in Fairfax, however, did not hold up. The beer's initial promise of crispness combined with interesting ale esters quickly fell apart into a trashy mess. Not so bad as it sounds, but nothing I would feel like revisiting. Their altbier on the other hand (Iron Springs Alt) is nice for what it is—bit of rust combined with good clean and simple lines—on tap at Barclays, I found it enjoyable. Similarly, also on tap was the Black Diamond Blonde Ale—a belgian-style blond that very carefully stayed within the firm lines of the beer itself. Yeasty without losing the crispness—again good enough, if not exciting for me.
Exciting is when you have a friend who lives in Petaluma who's willing to transport growlers from Lagunitas to your home! And so recent party invitations have served as excuses to obtain growlers of the Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot, which was crisp and hoppy, deliciously drinkable strong IPA-style beer, and the Lagunitas Pils Czech Style Pilsner, which is crisp and flavorful perfect yummy summer beer. Bring on the lager!
Not to be left behind, the lads in Chico make an outstanding contribution with the 2010 Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager which I had in bottle. This stuff is crisp, delicious, well-defined, stunningly refreshing. This beer just makes me happy. It is an achievement. Everything I want a summer lager to be this beer has—bravo! Whereas if it's drinkable delicious hops you want, a can of the Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale from the faroff lands of Colorado makes a six-pack too few. Usually a beer in an evening is enough—but with this beer it is really really hard. It's amazing what they can pack in a can.
But even the sun goes down, and you sometimes want something dark. Superdark? Try the Chatoe Rogue First Growth Dirtoir Black Lager from Oregon. Tastes like Peet's coffee at the original Vine Street location which seems to be about 33 percent darker than the other Peet's about town. Dark roasted flavors combined with earthiness and refreshing qualities. This world of schwarzbier/dark lagers is something I adore and love when it hits the mark—the beers combine the crispness and refreshing qualities of a great lager with hints of something darker, something brooding (a crisper interpretation can be found in Moonlight's Death and Taxes, which they've had on tap recently at the Albatross—yeah!).
My housemate brought home a bottle from a brewer I discovered when living in Michigan for a summer and am delighted to find in the geekier beer stores of the Bay—the Jolly Pumpkin Bam Noire Dark Farmhouse Ale is indeed very reminiscent of a saison, but with something more. A bit tart for my housemate's tastes, but I was enthralled and traded him half of my Stone/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale for the rest of the bottle. We both made out like bandits. The collaboration black ale by three of California's top brewers is stunning, stunning beer. Sweeter (and certainly more crowd pleasing) but combined with a degree of complexity that really makes one pause. It is outstandingly delicious. Another amazing accomplishment. And another good month of beer exploration in the Bay Area . . .