Monthly Archives: May 2012

by | May 5, 2012 · 11:17 am

CBC12: Part Two

CBC12 is completely insane. Insane and awesome. Brie and I have floor passes and spent the first day wandering around sampling beer, staring in awe at the overwhelming amount of vendors. Picture bomb commence.
Keg washer/filler.
Bottling/canning line.
Taphandles booth.
Lunch break!
Beer break! Actually, the entire conference IS a beer break. I paired a Midas Touch with my tortilla soup. Not the most exquisite combination I’ve ever made, but delicious nonetheless.
Merch booth! I would’ve picked something up from here, but there was so much SWAG (schwaaaaag!) around that I didn’t need to open my wallet.
Beautiful rainbow of malt!
Golden Road brewers!
Mike Hess at the nanobrewery roundtable we snuck into.
Sam Calagione hosting the nanobrewery roundtable.
Brie and I tracked Sam down after the seminar and, after trying to overcome our starstruckedness, got a few pictures with him. Then we ran away giggling with glee, showing the pictures to everyone we ran into.
One great thing about CBC12 – no lines for the womens’ restroom. One bad thing about CBC12 – no lines for the womens’ restroom. More ladies need to get into beer! I’m willing to wait in line if it means more women are getting involved in the craft beer industry.
We checked out the hospitality suite that featured beers from overseas and starting unintentionally speaking in British accents. You just can’t help it after having a Belgian strong and chatting with the brewer who has the coolest accent around.
I’ve collected enough free glassware from the hospitality suites that I will never need to purchase another vessel to drink beverages from.
After the exhibits wrapped up, the EBC and Wolf Creek crews headed downtown on the trolley/tram to track down some more delicious brews.
We ended up at Neighborhood. Beer was consumed. Debates about whether or not our mode of transportation was a trolley or a tram were had.
Once we took the tram/trolley back to the hotel where the conference is held, we met up with every single attendee at the Tiki event.
148 different beers to choose from. One. Hundred. And. Forty. Eight.

It was a good first day.

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by | May 3, 2012 · 10:12 am

CBC12: Part One

I have no idea how many parts to this there will be. You may be getting a play-by-play as the Craft Brewers Conference occurs down here in San Diego. For a real time play-by-play, follow me on Twitter. Obscene amounts of pictures will be uploaded throughout the days.

We got in at 11pm last night and hit up an incredibly divey dive bar, passed out around 1am and woke up a few hours later to pick up badges.
Already saw beer “celebs” like Greg Koch and Randy Clemens from Stone Brewing at the free breakfast provided by the conference.
Breakfast burrito. Free. Awesome. I’m really not picky when it comes to free food. Or food in general, actually…
Mass amounts of coffee were consumed. A majority of the attendees looked a little dazed and weary after the welcome reception at the San Diego Zoo last night. After seeing them trudging through the breakfast line, sunglasses glued into place, I was a little glad we’d arrived so late. Starting the CBC with a hangover is for those with experience. I’m not quite there yet.
I perused the delicious seminar menu – none of which I’m invited to with the floor pass only. Oh well, beer booths and free stuff it is!
After being stopped at the door to the keynote session, I slunk back to the hotel with my free beers in hand and posted this blog. Now I’m heading back since the floor is opening at 11am and there are an obscene amount of booths that need to be checked out by yours truly.

My Camelbak is loaded with water and Advil. Let’s do this.

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by | May 1, 2012 · 6:18 pm

Blazing Trails

Yesterday was a nice, speedy ten hour brew day! Mash tuns were cleaned, kettles were scrubbed, wounds were reopened…
You’re welcome for that.
Today I watched water boil – a watched pot actually DOES end up boiling! Don’t believe the lies!
We cleaned about fifteen kegs and got to sample some experimentational recipes from Chuy, the head chef. Unfortunately my phone died before I could grab proof of the ale-battered and panko encrusted calamari, pear and gorgonzola ravioli in a creamy cilantro pesto, deep fried pear and gorgonzola ravioli, mahi mahi with a coconut mango salsa and a crab omelette. Needless to say, I got my cheesesteak to go, and as soon as I got home I headed for the hills.
It was beautifully cloudy out. I ventured on a new hike that weaves through the canyons and up insanely steep hills.
I stumbled across a headless squirrel! I decided to spare you the gore, but I can tell you that it was quite a traumatic death for that poor rodent.
There was a massive fire here a few years ago that left the park charred.
The fact that oil is seeping from the ground probably didn’t help calm the flames. This park used to be an oil field and there are dozens of black slicks around as well as a strong odor of sulfur through part of the trek.
The nice 5.1 mile hike probably burned off half of what I consumed, so I’m going to refuel with the gigantic cheesesteak I brought home from Wolf Creek.

Tomorrey evening I head down to San Diego for the Craft Brewers Conference! Prepare for an overdose of beer pictures in the next few days. So. Much. Beer. Awaits!

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