Tuesday, February 23, 2010

beer week picks

Man, the Sac Beer Week opening gala was...something else. I won't say too much because I might write something for the SNR, but lets just say there was a lot of yelling of "Whooo!" and "Beer!".

There are a couple of upsetting show changes. The Four Eyes have dropped out of this fridays show. I'm bummed on that. No Bunny is still playing and some local band called Pistol Pete. Is that that basketball player that everybody loved?

Also there was a super annoying reshuffling of the English Singles, Dreamdate show (not until March 12th, but put it on your calendar!) so now it's TBA for the third band.

This Wednesday, there's a noise-ish show, but wait, don't shut down your mind just yet! It's Spencer from Skaters, and if there was ever any noise music I could get into, it's Skaters. It's musical, atmospheric noise. Anyways, now he has a band called Pacific City Nightlife Vision Band with a dude from Eat Skull. If you like stoney shows you should check it out, Wednesday at the Hub. This is what the website says about start time:
Music starts 8:30, $5, all ages SHORT SETS UNKNOWN ORDER SHOW UP ON TIME OR MISS OUT

As far as the primo beer week events, tonight is the big beer dinner at Mulvaneys. They're doing the $35 dollar for a full-course meal dinner, extra for the beer it's paired with. It's probably full up, but I think they get a lot of last minute no-shows. Facebook is the best place to figure out when Mulvaneys is having the family-style dinners. It's almost impossible to figure out without facebook, sadly. Pangaea is having an Odonata event.

Wednesday, Morgans (that tucked-away bar by the co-op) is having an event with the brewer from Valley Brewing in Stockton. Which is a pretty darn good brewery. Or wait, are they? Smiller said that but on the website it says Boulder beer? This will be a test to see if anyone is reading this.

Heading into Thursday, I have to say that I'm sorry, a hot wings eating contest does not a beer week event make. In fact this calendar is filled with absurb, jump-on-the-bandwagon events. The Shack is having a Sudwerk event that night and, sadly, the brewer is currently in the hospital due to a car accident. The Grange is having an Odonata pairing dinner which has a chance to be really cool.

Tons of stuff on Friday. Rubicon has a bunch of cask ales, if you're into that. Samuel Horne's, all the way out in Folsom, is having a Firestone Walker night, so probably some delicious beers there. Aha! That's the night that Morgan's is hosting the Valley Brewer, not Wednesday.

That's enough. I'll post more later in the week. Are you guys going to any of these events?

32 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:36 AM

    I would like to go to something, but not sure what.
    Sorry about the four eyes show but Jay got called away to find the holy grail, or possibly a crystal skull.Oddly they seem to be located in Lancaster.
    -natalie.

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  2. Anonymous9:54 AM

    The Valley thing at Morgan's has been listed as Friday on the Sac Beer Week calendar for a while but the brewer told me Wednesday last night. I hope it's Friday.

    -miller

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  3. Anonymous10:00 AM

    Lancaster? That's not far from my jank zone, Castaic. If'n Jay gets bored with looking for the crystal skull, he should call our house.

    -ella

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  4. Are the four eyes playing on the 27th at Old I?

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  5. Anonymous11:22 AM

    sadly thats cancelled also.

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  6. speaking of brew, there's an awesome article about golden ales in the times. the oro from jolly pumpkin is probably my favorite example of the style as well, and one of my top five favorite beers ever. you can get it at the davis co-op or bevmo currently. and it's about 12 bucks, not the crazy 18 that eric asimov paid!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/dining/reviews/24wine.html

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  7. Anonymous12:34 PM

    thanks for the article link.

    i don't know how these things work, but is there any chance of the sacramento co-op catching on?

    HN

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  8. Going to Mulvaney's tonight, I'll likely post something about it later in the week.

    Wednesday Two Rivers is doing a cider gathering at there place in Hollywood Park...I'm sure it will be awesome but alas, I have to miss it.

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  9. I am interesting in the Two Rivers tasting but I could find any location information. Can you help a lady out?

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  10. Thanks to our obscure and labyrinthine beer bottle size laws in downtown Sacramento, the Co-op is not able to carry bottles of this size. Same for most other stores in the grid. I still can't get a definitive answer why despite calls to the city clerk, the ABC, the police, and anyone else I could think of. Also, the few who are able to sell bottles of this size don't seem to know why they can, or deny that there is any such law. So nope, the Co-op will never, never, ever, have a good craft beer section despite their wish to do so and our wish to patronize it. Makes total sense.

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  11. Anonymous2:42 PM

    Caroline, Two Rivers cider is on the same street as our place, it's just two blocks north (back towards city college) and on the other side of the street, behind a tall green fence.

    -H. Conway Esq

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  12. Anonymous2:56 PM

    Thanks for the response Beckler. even if it's not what i wanted to hear, and infuriating.

    Would that law include Taylors? I think Cortis could also use a bit of a stock refreshing.

    HN

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  13. No, Taylors and Corti can stock what they like. I think Taylors is trying to get on the ball a little bit, but yeah, Corti Bros is totally lagging. And Cortis has so much room for beer!

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  14. Hey Ed,

    You're giving your talk again tonight, right? Is it for members of the historical society only? If I got there at 7:30 would that be too late?

    -m

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  15. Anonymous3:55 PM

    Ed, let me know what time to show up & talk really loudly over it.

    -miller

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  16. Heckasac, have you talked to the MBA (Midtown Business Association)? I think that's the reason people can't sell singles, they pay dues to the Midtown Business Association, who ban it. You've got Peace Market and Pove Cove who are basically "rogue" and sell singles. It's only Midtown that has the restriction, not Downtown, Land Park or East Sac, or anywhere else. So I'm not sure it's a law on the books, although I could be wrong.

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  17. Anonymous10:17 AM

    When I worked at statenet, I read a lot of bills for other states that banned the sale of anything than might be construed as a 40oz, or singles. It was a real common legislation, specifically for urban areas, in the early 90's. I would guess it's a law that was passed. Ask Margs to look it up.

    -EC

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  18. Supposedly, if you own your own store, you can sell singles in the grid area. I guess the point is so that homeless folks are discouraged from buying singles with amounts of spare change that can be collected relatively quickly. The unintended result is that they put in more effort and buy a bottle of something stronger....or they team up, pool their money, and share a half rack.

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  19. Also, I just wanna add about Pistol Pete (yes, they are named in honor of the most magical basketball player ever).....They are schoolmates of Dylan, so if you like your boys long, lean, and born in the early- to mid-90s, you are in luck (weirdos!). Speaking of early- to mid-90s, this band sounds like they came from a time capsule of that era. Rather like a punkier take on Guided By Voices. Really hooky, these guys!

    Their excitement level over making their debut splash is off the charts. I gotta good feeling this will be extreme burst of un-jading antidote.

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  20. Anonymous2:42 PM

    Conway, I think we should take a house trip up to the Cidery tonight. It says dogs and children are welcome, and free snacks!
    Maybe we'll see you there Caroline.
    jamattack!

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  21. I think the singles law exempts original owners. At least that's what the legendary Beverly told us when she had her liquor store on 16th & U.

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  22. Darin3:59 PM

    I think Scott's right that the law exempts original owners. For anyone currently trying to get a liquor license, the singles law is in effect everywhere in Sac., not just midtown or downtown, but the city has discretion to basically change the rules as they see fit for each business.
    Here's the most relevant city code:
    http://www.qcode.us/codes/sacramento/view.php?topic=5-5_08-5_08_100&frames=on

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  23. See what I mean? It's hopeless! We'll never have a craft beer store downtown! Waaahhhhh!!!

    The only person who could open one would have to have some serious money and probably the backing someone who is well known locally. It's stacked against the little guy.

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  24. Anonymous9:57 AM

    Sounds like it's time for me to brush off my business plan for the "Cooler".
    Or even better I will let you sell delicious beers out of my shed, as long as I get some of course, and you don't mind black widows, curious cats, or the general smell in there. Bonus, it's right next to the pool!
    jamattack!

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  25. Anonymous12:24 PM

    B.1. No wine shall be sold with an alcohol content greater than fifteen (15) percent by volume;

    Is this the Corti clause?

    HN

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  26. Anonymous12:35 PM

    Mark tried to get a straight answer on this earlier this year and could not, for the life of him, get one. On top of the labyrinth of regulations, they have people working at the ABC who could absolutely care less about answering questions.

    I think you're right B - it's going to take someone with a ton of money and connections to someone within the ABC, who can push their paperwork through.

    DKK

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  27. HN,

    That's funny! Forgive my response if you were being totally sarcastic, but I believe that is a law which separates table wine from wine that has been fortified with alcohol like port, sherry, etc. In the past, table wine wouldn't likely surpass even 13%, but changing tastes have brought us Chardonnay at over 15% (barf!) -- which is why Corti decided to take a stand against that phenomenon.

    -MH

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  28. Anonymous1:05 PM

    I'm sorry MH, I should have known better. My comment was total sarcasm.

    By the way, I just found a bottle a 1976 Chateau Montelena Zinfandel digging through my mom's storage. It was 13%! It seems rare to even find a zinfandel under 15% anywhere.

    HN

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  29. Wow, that's rad! Are you gonna drink it?

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  30. Anonymous2:15 PM

    Oh we did that day, haha.

    It was fun and a unique experience for me. But definitely not stored properly.

    Still beat a lot of the raisiny, boozey stuff on shelves today.

    HN

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  31. Totally! Montelena still makes pretty good wine (ie restrained and elegant with a decent showing of acid) and the older vintages that I've tasted have been great so I'm sure it was fun to drink! Have you ever tried Sky Vineyards Zinfandel? They are one of the only other wineries making zinfandels that are lower in alcohol and can age well.

    -mh

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  32. Anonymous2:40 PM

    I haven't tried Sky Vineyards. But I'll look it up for sure. Thanks!

    HN

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