Stone Brewing Escondido and Brewery Anniversaries

This week the lads talk about Stone Brewing and Craft Brewery Anniversary celebrations! And probably more. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

But yeah, I mean I'm just kind of happy that we're seeing brewery openings again. I mean, with the closures, it's just nice to know that like the community spots we enjoyed will at least stay, right? Because that's a big thing like that.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Yeah, we're seeing balance uh just from devices uh corpse alone. Yeah. We have balance brewing coming out of their brewing location, and then from their tap room and pocket. I heard about a tap room restaurant.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Yeah, which I think is awesome. I mean it doesn't have to be a brewery per se, as long as it's in a space that the neighborhood likes, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

It's craft beer.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Yeah. I mean we have so much good craft beer. Good. Yeah. I mean one of my one of obviously our favorite places, CapTap is not a brewery, but has served craft beer from, you know, the greater California and beyond. For how many anniversaries have they had now? Fourteen? Fifteen?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Yeah, they're they're they're going on fifteen.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

I mean, and that's a business who has sold once now that is still operating successfully.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

So there is too much about beer stuff before the beer podcast. This is where we get to say random stuff. And North London Forever Arsenal Premier League champions happened. They're they're number one. They're the they've taken the cup, Premier League Chalice, Manchester City can suck it. If you're a Man City fan, fuck you. Find a different podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

I was gonna say congratulations to uh when we were at the uh A's game, what was it last week, last Wednesday? We saw a Miley Call-up uh Bolte get his uh first ever hit, and he was uh boutin' batting a thousand for most of that game. So so good on him. Nice to nice to see these dreams come true, right? We all have different different dreams and goals. And uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Come on, you gunners. Um, but because I said come on, you guners, um, that means that's time. That is that was that agreed upon entry. Uh this podcast. This is the Beer Me Cat. And my name is Jack, and I am alongside Mark and How is it going?

SPEAKER_02 2:30

It's uh just another another day in uh the the fun the fun that is the political and social climate. But we're here to drink beer and talk about beer. So Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

We are gonna we're gonna drink and talk about beer, and then we're gonna talk about a brewery called Stone.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

You might have heard we're gonna talk about little arrogant bastard, little sublimely self-righteous, a little enjoyable.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

We'll also talk about um anniversaries, because anniversaries for breweries happen, and look at that engraving on there.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Fancy. We we we we we uh the those viewers can't see this, but we both have a similar glass style today. Uh an at ease. What would you call this? I forgot what it's called and it's uh like a two top with like a little smaller.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

It's their go-to and shortly after they went for with this design, fieldwork went with it, so um, if you go to field work, they have these glasses too. Really?

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Every time I've got a field work, I feel like I get the tall, slightly bulbous glasses.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Sometimes for some of the beers they use this one. But um, yeah, I've got the anniversary uh for your little flash ahead thing. The anniversary glass with the gold logo and my name engraved on it.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

I just have the the Sacramento Republic. Very nice, very fancy.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

And um this being beer of cast, and uh I'm already talking about it, uh I've got here a beer from At Ease.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Very nice.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

And let me take a sip before it's spilled. The Presidio. The go-to flagship IPA from At Ease. Now with CanArt, the first ever CanArt from At Ease.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

And I will say it's not their standard um uh you know, like the one they used for the draw on that looks like a crowler logo, because you know they they kind of have a lower distribution. They kind of do the hand canning thing, I believe, still, right?

unknown 4:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

But now they have every can is done by hand on the tops.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Now they have an actual production quality shelf looking can with a little bit of Golden Gate Bridge and Presidio can art.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

The drawn on date it was canned and ABV and IBU.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

I mean I still appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Just in case there's fluctuation subtly in IBUs between batches and ABV, and then you know the date it was canned.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

I appreciate it. Right there, 515. Can dates are a win always.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

But what's cool about this can art too is the first thousand have a little logo on the bottom for the seven-year anniversary, and it says uh like one of a thousand. So only so many of these. So if you want to get the that the special can art, you gotta go quick. I got a four-pack.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

I mean, I might have to go and grab one for the uh the the infamous garage sticker wall or garage sticker cabinet that I have. There are breweries from across the greater northern American continent on said cabinet from uh my my uncle's trips to Canada, yours to Texas, mine to Mexico, uh some some East Coast, some Hawaii. I mean, this is this is I went to Denver.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

I got you something there, I think.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

Yeah. There's a there's a cool raccoon, a cool raccoon logo can sticker that I have.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

That might be Dem. That might be Dallas, though. But yeah, I mean it's um I think I think that might be odd muse.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

I think you're right.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

I think it is odd muse. Um which I'm wearing the shirt, that's why I set it like that. I'm wearing the odd muse green shirt. That's a cool shirt.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

I like the blue-yellow. It's uh even though it's very charger in color. Um it's it's silly.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

I think on the camera it looks more charged than on person. Um but the can says Donning the name of the historical Army Outpost, Turn National Park in San Francisco. This classic West Coast IPA has a consistently high level of bitterness. Piney on the new citrusy and crisp in taste, with notes of orange peel and juniper. Refreshing and satisfying anytime, anywhere. And yeah, this is a really good beer. This is a their flagship for a reason. And over the seven years, it's remained consistent. This is the I don't want to say the epitome of all West Coast IPAs, but this is what a West Coast IPA should be. It should be bitter, should be crisp, stylistically accurate, and delicious, and it is, and I give it um I give it a 9 out of 10.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Very nice, very nice.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Um I will note they also released a um a Dunkelbach, um, which is so good. Um Dunkel Baker. The Dunkelbach is so good. I highly recommend if you can get to At Ease to try the Dunkelbach for a limited time. It was a special release for the seventh anniversary.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

And um it was done. That was actually the beer that was picked by the people. There was a tasting of homebrew from Mike, and you got to vote to pick which beer you preferred, and the most uh the the winner of the four beers was a cream ale, a wheat, a red, and the dunkelbach was the dunkelbach.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

So very nice. What did we have? What did we have at Geist House just the other day? A Hellerbach. I I'm I'm happy to see the Bach category getting love.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Yeah. No, they're they're they're bring bring them back.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Um they're good they're good stuff.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

But are we are we Bach in the saddle again?

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Bach in the saddle again. Um, but that was my beer of cast. Mark, what are you drinking while you sipping it inside that awesome?

SPEAKER_02 8:38

I am drinking um everybody's uh the cryo IPA. So everybody's brewing from White Salmon Washington. This is a brewery I had never heard of.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

From where?

SPEAKER_02 8:50

White White Salmon Washington. 98672. Yeah, so so uh talking about CapTap, as I had mentioned earlier, they're a brewery that brings in, you know, random small breweries who, you know, make an make at least uh, you know, an impact in some way on the ordering authorities at CapTap. And uh yeah, this is this pretty unassuming can. It's white, uh kind of classic, you know, cursive-ish writing, very clean lines, kind of a portrait of a hop-headed hoodie wearing, hat wearing person in a frame. Very unassuming can. But when I saw it, it it had a certain draw to it, just kind of in its simplicity, and also the fact that I had never seen the brewery's name before. But uh yeah, the the cryo IPA. And let me take a taste here.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Usually when you see like a beer called that like everybody's something, every you know, like trying to trying to be like every man's beer. Um it's a it's a macro type logger adjacent, like it's a it's a pilsner.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

But this is the brewery's name, so I feel like the name of the brewery itself is being approachable. And the cryo IPA is uh I was looking for the specific hops. But they didn't at least not according to my uh my abilities to read a cam right now. I don't see a specific hop aside from oh wait, here we go, here we go. Mosaic. Ah. So through a cryogenic separation process, peri lupulin is extracted from the hop cone, leaving behind a hop powder that contains all the desired flavor. Enjoy the huge aroma and juicy flavors of the pounds of mosaic powder in this groundbreaking IPA. So it sounds like they did a very large cryo edition, assuming post-boil. And uh overall, the way the beer drinks, it's got a little bit of that kind of darker malt flavor. Um definitely has some suspension in it. Uh not too much on the bitter, and honestly just kind of a like a full ripe fruit flavor profile. It's it's definitely not a punching the face hot beer.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

What's the ABV on that one?

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Uh ABV 7. IBU 80. Which I I don't know about the IBU. I mean It says 80? Yeah, it says 80. Well, and the Again, IBUs are very subjective. I mean from a palette standpoint, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

But overall this one says I IBUs 54, but I've I've had I don't know. I I I would say that that's a little low on this one.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

I mean overall I'll give it an eight out of ten. Um I definitely think it's a good a good beer. Uh it's it's very tasty, it's very drinkable. Um suspension always loses a little bit of point for me, just because I like my beers a little more refined, I mean even bright tanked, but the fact that this is a cryo beer and the suspension is not large yeast floaties. I'm wondering if the the powdered hop? That's what I'm wondering, because it is it is very fine particulate.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Could be. So yeah, but at the same time Because that doesn't look like a hazy, it just kind of looks no, you can't honestly it looks kind of like homebrew when you can't quite get it.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Oh, but you I'm trying to get a focus in there, but you see the kind of like the black specks.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Yeah, that's the camera foes yeah, what once the camera focuses. Um that is on a suspension I'm familiar with, so that makes me think, you know, the that hop powder particulate. So but again, uh if you bright tank long enough, if you you know, cold crash, you should be able to get your particulate down, so it does feel a little bit on the rush side, but I don't think it negatively impacts the flavor too much. But yeah, interesting beer and um my my first introduction to everybody's having never rating north um so I think I gave it an eight point oh out of ten. Um I mean I definitely like a lot about this beer, but it just loses points kinda on some of the refinement aspects.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

I think that's valid.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

Um also mosaic is a phenomenal flavor profile. It is, it's I mean it's hard to go wrong with mosaic.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Um Mosaic, etc. It's hard to go wrong with cryo. I cryo is phenomenal. I gotta write this I gotta write this down. We gotta do a uh uh episode where we where we just jump into hops, like we talk about different hops. We should.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

We should definitely talk hops. Little hop talk.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

That's what I was writing. I was already writing hop talk. Focus, we'll focus anyway. Um but before we get jumping and skip into hop talking, let's talk about stone brewing and specifically, right, their Escondito location. Uh from what I understand, from what you've told me, from what the internet's saying, uh this location is one of their oldest, if not the oldest location. It's also one of their largest brewing company. And one of their largest, and it's uh it's gonna be closing even after the Firestone Walker uh buy. This location is not going to be kept around. Um it sounds like infos do you have on it?

SPEAKER_02 14:31

So um as we discussed on previous podcast, Firestone Walker slash Sapporo USA or is it Duval USA? Duval USA, right? Sapor Duval Morgan?

SPEAKER_00 14:42

I thought Far oh Duvel. Firestonewalker is Duval.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Yeah, Duvel USA, their their USA branch, I would assume by the name, uh slash Firestone Walker has acquired Stone Brewing. And from everything I've read, they have acquired um the Liberty Station, which will continue hospitality services. They've acquired some of the smaller tap rooms in like Little Italy, um, I believe Pasadena was mentioned. There's there's a couple smaller tap rooms that I have not personally been to, but two of the stone locations I have been to in the past were both Escondito, which was one of my first, you know, introductions to this big regional craft brewery with all the bells and whistles, the you know, the the gardens, the walk around, the the decor, the big gargoyle. I mean the stone Escondido was just impressive. Yeah, it was impressive. I mean you walk in and you feel the the money and care and the brand that kind of you know went into it. It was it was grandiose in a sense.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Um did you go to the stone did you go to stone brewing before you ever went to like Sierra Nevada brewing? Like their Chico location?

SPEAKER_02 15:57

I I may have actually because uh my uncle, the the homebrewer and the owner of um wow, I'm forgetting my uncle's own homebrew shop in the moment here. That's embarrassing. Homebrew mercantile. Uh out of San Diego. He's he's an award-winning homebrewer. Um that's just not a flex, it's just a a fact. Um he was the one that kind of still be a flex.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

Yeah, you're right. It's it's a factual flex. It's uh it's it's not a flex, it's a fact.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Well, I mean, some facts aren't flexes, alright. Some facts are flexes. Some facts are flexes, some facts are not flexes. That is a flexing fact. So yeah, you're right. It is a flex. Some facts are flexing. It's the double F. Um Regardless, he was one of my early uh, you know, indoctrinators to craft beer and we'd go down to San Diego, which has a phenomenal beer setting up. Partially. I I think he saw my you know, you he saw that I had some uh some of the force, and he's like, we will mold him. Get too nerdy after May the fourth. Um But yeah, so I do believe I had visited Stone Escondido prior to ever going to uh Sierra Nevada Sierra Nevada. Uh yeah, Sierra Nevada was more in my later college, more sex state era of my life. Whereas yeah, Stone Escondido was more early twenties, right? You'd go down, we'd visit, you know, Carl Strauss on the trip down, we'd visit Stone, Lost Abbey, Port.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Uh I I went to like San Diego in LA a lot before I turned twenty-one, so I was in that area before the the beer drinking times for me at least.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Yeah, so um uh overall though Escondido, Stone Escondido was was iconic. It was phenomenal, and you know, the fact that they are hitting their thirtieth anniversary before the location chooses to close, I think if you're gonna give it a send-off, that's a way to do it. Um I hope that the reception is so good that you know someone steps in and either takes over the location, it continues to be a destination, but when you have somewhere that's set up for brewing capacity in an era where brewing capacity is being minimized, hence the whole Firestone Walker buying them out and then you know, brewing in Pasaroblase, I I it's hard to see that level of capacity b being picked up at cost, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Yeah, and and that and it's a lot of space that I mean I I haven't seen it, so I don't know where the brewing equipment is and how it all looks, but it's a big campus. Now could it could it be converted easily into an area for people? And if it could, is it just too much space to be made into a place for for guests to uh to enjoy?

SPEAKER_02 19:05

Let's say uh it operates a full restaurant and brew house. So I mean the restaurant aspect, the gardens, the location, that's all still there, right? But are you going to be able to have someone who's going willing to invest the money to have that big of a location when so much of it is reserved for this, you know, rather industrious process? Uh, and that's why I believe the Stone Liberty Gardens are going to stay around, because from everything reported, Farrest and Walker's still planning to use that as a pilot brewery and hospitality location. The Liberty Gardens are smaller. It's located in, I believe, an old um either Coast Guard or uh Marine Base, you know, former military base, kind of like an Alameda.

unknown 19:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Uh where it was, you know, former military barracks base that's kind of now been converted into more. Uh the Liberty Gardens.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

They're keeping stone around independent, like their label independent, having creatives from them still make fun stuff. That's specifically that part where it's not just they're keeping stone around, they're keeping their brands, they're keeping Argent Bastard, and they're keeping things that sell well potentially, but they're keeping the creatives around to continue to do stuff that they love to do, uh designating a location for it. That's just cool stuff to hear.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Yeah, knowing knowing that there's going to be still a stone-labeled pilot brewery makes me excited. And I don't know what to what extent uh staff brewers, etc., are being retained. Obviously, if you close down such a large location like Escondido, jobs are going to be lost, and uh yeah, that's the biggest kind of tragedy of it all right now.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

But hopefully they can retain a good number and maybe rotate some of the uh some of those that were maybe more full-time into other locations that are close enough by. I don't know. You would hope they can keep some good people. And maybe there's some uh not to say they're bad, but like maybe some part-timers who they're there for just a little bit and they're like, you know what, you're just gonna be here for another few months, like, or just during college, like just for like a industry second or third job.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Yeah, that's an industry that doesn't really lend itself well to you know career aspirations, right? Uh there's there's a certain cap on what you can do in brewing. Uh the reason I am not currently in brewing is because I chose to take a state accounting job over a offered position at All Republic Brewing. Uh R. A. P. All Republic Brewing. Uh I made the right career choice in that manner, although, you know, we'll always miss the Brewing aspect you have been in brewing yourself clearly with at ease, and you know there there is there is a ceiling to which you reach where unless you're willing to take that dive and risk everything to open something like that, takes a level of passion and uh you know, a certain amount of risk.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Uh it's hard to be in a position anywhere within a craft brewery and be making enough to support a family or support you and just actually support yourself nowadays, just with how expensive shit is.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Yeah. Um not that it's impossible, but it's no, but the the the dedication it takes is is great, and that's one one of the reasons we saw, you know, at the recent economic uh downturn and the cost of living being what it was, one of the reasons we saw so many small businesses go out, right, is because the owners were just you know, done with shit of it, and they didn't they didn't have the passion anymore. Yeah, i i everything becomes more difficult, sales are down, costs are up, and you know, you you made essentially what the what's the phrase? You you made your nut. Yeah, the the Yeah, something like that. Something about nuts.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Busted you busted it out, uh Well you don't want to bust.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

You want to get out before you bust. Crank crank the you wanna keep that nut intact.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Some something about the nut.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Um, regardless the part of it is, you know, I think that happened with 21st Amendment. We saw that the owners are just kinda, you know, over it. And to to have a clean handoff or clean takeover is a hard thing to do. The fact that Stone and Firestone Walker were able to come to this agreement and save, you know, some semblance of legacy, make a deal that made sense is impressive, but there are casualties in the form of Escondito, uh, for example. And uh to celebrate thirty years of stone is is an awesome feat. Uh I hope that the Escondido will survive in some form, but at least we still have Liberty Gardens and some of the smaller tap rooms in the area, and at least we still have some stone beer. Uh hopefully a return of Sublimely Self-Righteous, black IPA. Black IPAs uh deserve more more.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Which which made me think, like, if you were to work at a at a program like that, uh at a ex like uh your your Syra Nevada what's it called now? The um it used to be the Alfop Society, now it's called something different.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

Ah, Friends and Family. Friends of the family. Uh it's something kind of lame.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

If you're given like a program where you're trying to make some ex just exploratory different beers, I I was thinking the other day, I had a shower thought about what beer, if I could just brew something random, something that I don't think has ever been brewed before. Not that that has to be your answer either, but I was like, man, what beer has never been brewed before? What's a style that doesn't exist that could be good? And I thought, well, I really like black IPAs, and I really miss the Nighthawk from Addi is the double dry hop black rye IPA. And I thought, okay, well. I think like a really citrusy, like a citra hoped, dark roasted black IPA. But has there ever been a hazy black IPA? What if it's a hazy black rye IPA?

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Can make make it a double dry hop black hazy IPA with Citra Hop and uh Or that uh what was that HPC that had that coconut profile? A little little coconut profile with some dark malt.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Why not both? Why not both? Why not dry hop with Citra? Use those the the bittering hop. So that just reminded me of Hazy Black. I need to look that up if there's ever happened.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

So that reminded me of a Stone beer, and it was a coffee IPA that Stone had produced, and it was it was such a surprising and phenomenal beer because you know we have coffee stouts all the time, coffee browns, coffee porters. Uh but to to see a coffee IPA and to have it work from a palate standpoint was uh an impressive beer. Um also just uh to ride down to Stone Memory Lane. Stone had a home competition where someone produced a carrot cake beer and also a phenomenal beer.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

There is a hazy black IP out there. There's a few. But I've never seen one.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

If you think it they will brew. You know, you know what, honestly, one of the weirdest things I have ever seen, you know, came to me uh a couple weeks back at CapTap, and it was a Malort barrel aged malt liquor, which also had orange juice added, and I I forget the brewery, but CapTac CapTap might still have it, and it was actually really delicious.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Is Malort aged in barrels? I thought it was just like a string still.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Malort age, I don't I don't honestly know. I would like to get more information. Uh CapTap, I believe, still has it on. I can't remember the brewery, but when you want to talk about looking at a board of beer and seeing something so weirdly out of place that you're like, I need to try that.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

The words both the words malt liquor and malort in the same posting are something that made me I get some kids from from the from the Midwest hyped. Um I but double dry hopped double black rye hazy IPA with the citra hops and HBC and um but there's there was this beer. I remember um when I was working uh at Addy's and I tried to just like get Mike to brew it, or at least use I wanted to see if there could be a beer that uses avocado. And I look back and I'm like, why was I trying to get this? Like what with like a milk, I think I wanted to be like a a milk stout with avocado. I thought it'd be creamy and like. Alright, calm down, Tom Brady. Uh I don't know why, but but now there needs to be a um a cucumber jalapeno kettle kettle sour.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

So cucumber jalapeno kettle sour. Alright, yeah. Um I remember doing a hunger once where we did a it was uh I believe a Serrano Saison. And uh uh did not turn out like I wanted it to.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Uh it's hard with when it comes to capsis and yes, so my my thing with peppers.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

There are peppers that work in beer, and there are peppers that just taste like vegetable in beer. And Serranos have too much green, for lack of a better word. Um you and I probably both remember the nitro tappet beer from St. Luce Obispo with Scorpion chilies. Yes, and nitro pale, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:36

I bring that yeah, I bring that beer more often than than you'd think for IP.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

What what a what a interesting fun experiment can do to a consumer where this is something we we've memorized. I mean, I I've I've forgotten more names of people I went to college with than I I have uh this beer.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

I don't remember anyone from college.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Yeah. Um there there are people I have on my Instagram, and I look at them like, did I meet you in college or did I meet you out drinking? But like the fact that you could have such an such a you know imprint, basically like a you know, a carbon press, uh a flash point, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

That's another that's another uh um talking point we need to do is just those those memorable beers where we'll probably never get to have them again. Definitely won't be able to have cafe belgi or have the tap being. Or Belgique Cafe. Was it Belgique Cafe? I thought it was Cafe Belgique.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

On Untap, there's a Belgique Cafe, but I swear to God the first time they brewed it, it was called Cafe Belgique. And I will die on that hill. I don't care about the Mandela. Well, Nelson Mandela's awesome, but the Mandela effect can go away. Uh but uh that I swear we I I if someone who who has some some beer history archives can send us a photo of the board of device when they came out with that.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Cafe Belgique existed, and it's not just a frickin'.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

Like this is my this is my this is my fruit of the loom cornucopia logo. Alright. This is this is my this is my Shazam. This is this is this is a hill I will die on. I do have Spotify.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

So I believe our old old episodes of Birminghast are for somehow still live on there.

SPEAKER_02 31:36

We've talked about it back there, so Yeah, we talked about it, but there's still not that that alone is more proof. Well, it's proof that we talked about it, but there's no physical proof that it existed. Even Untapped says Belgique Cafe, which I think is the second iteration they did.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

We are very good sources. We're we are completely accurate. We always tell the truth.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

And you as a history buff will appreciate the fact that primary sources are not always the most accurate.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Yes. But once you get enough once you get enough primary sources to the case.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

We need more primary sources.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Yeah. Um button.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

It was Cafe Belgique. It was Cafe Belgique. And someone needs to back us on this. We need the primary sources. Other than the aliens need to know.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

They must know when they come here. Um other than um topics we're gonna we're gonna talk about on other podcasts. The next topic is very similar to what we just talked about, because uh that's how that's how it works. Uh Anniversaries in craft beer, craft beer versaries. When they reach a milestone, they have a birthday, they do anniversary stuff, generally speaking, and something special.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

Generally speaking.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

And this comes up because over the last weekend was Ad Isa's seventh uh anniversary and Urban Earth's eighth anniversary, both on the same weekend, celebrated crazy. Um and Urbanerts, I've I've I've been going there uh a lot because I like beer and they have the best beer in Sacramento. Um and the best barbecue in Sacramento. Um and their walking distance from the bigger.

SPEAKER_02 33:41

I mean, I I feel like I'm not ingrained enough in the Sacramento barbecue scene to make that uh make that claim, but their brisk is phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Their tri-tip's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

I'm sure there's probably some hole in the wall of barbecue, which if you know it, please send it our way. That makes phenomenal barbecue.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

I think it's better than tankhouse, though.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

Um, tank house just pulled pork tots to die for.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Yeah. But they've been advertising for their anniversary for quite some time and it was circus themed. Really? I don't know why it was circus themed. I don't know how how eight has anything to do with circuses, but that's what that's what they were going with.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

There's two rings. Yeah, then eight.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

They didn't use it like that in the logo. Well, that's just unfortunate.

SPEAKER_02 34:24

I mean, come on, it writes itself. Well, I guess three ring, but still.

SPEAKER_00 34:27

So it um you know, it it is something that they've been hyping up for some time, and breweries will do different stuffs, right? You'll have breweries like Eddies, who did a special deal where you paid $10, you get their new glass, gold glass, engraved with whatever you want on it, and a beer. Cool. And then, you know, they'll have like a beer release that comes out at the same time, or and or new merch. Like it's a time to launch stuff that maybe they would normally do anyway. But when it concides on the anniversary, it's special. Or maybe it is posture to be a little bit more special, like the little logo on the Presidio labels, having a little seven on the first thousand. There were some things that were special, but breweries will do this, and I think it's fascinating that we've never talked too much about it. Um I think Atdies went a little, you know, they did they had two different shirts come out. They had the glass, they had the doppel Doppelbach come out for the anniversary. Um they were giving away free stickers, they had um stickers. Uh a new tote bag. Like a lot of like and a lot of it was specified as like this is being really special for the same anniversary. And then not to say it's a negative, but urban roots, I feel like they had this hyped up thing, and and I d I d I mean I didn't I can't go to it, so I don't know exactly how it was, but they didn't have like a special beer release or something. So what these breweries get out of these big days is an uptick in sales because people want to support that brewery they love. Is it important? Like overall, do you think that they these anniversaries are like make or break? Like what how important are these events in your mind? How how do you view them?

SPEAKER_02 36:26

So I I think it's it's an interesting thing to uh to definitely discuss, and I think that's why we're discussing, obviously. But I think the anniversary of something is always worth celebrating, right? It's it's a milestone. I mean, my wife and I, we recently had our goddamn third anniversary? Second anniversary? How many anniversary we had? But regardless, our anniversary was in March.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

How old is your youngest?

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Your youngest is six. Oh my youngest. No, no, he's uh fuck. He's less than a month away from his one year one year birthday.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

Was he around when you got married?

SPEAKER_02 37:09

No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

He was uh So not so it's not a big thing. It's either two or three.

SPEAKER_02 37:15

It's either two or three. Um it's probably two. But regardless, we we celebrated our anniversary in March, and uh we went to Pacifica, and uh coincidentally enough, uh Humble C was celebrating their ninth anniversary. And again, you talk about sales, something to celebrate. The way Humble C celebrated was with a series of six collabs, six can arts that were reminiscent of various Nintendo games and appealable stickers that came off the can. Uh if you want to talk about just a reason to one celebrate, two, you're a business, you want to make money, and three, have people come in and try something new because craft beer is fun and it's fun to try new things. I I think they nailed all three of those. I mean, you you have the can art aspect, you have the the beer collaboration styles, you have people coming in getting merch. I mean, I I think anniversaries are important for breweries. One from a sales uptick, it's it's a way to make money, it's a way to support the brewers, the workers, the owners, um, especially in something that's smaller. Um but but I think at its base level.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

It's small business.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

Yeah. But something like at ease, the fact that they have reached, you know, s a pr decent milestone, you said a seven. Seven that's that's worth celebrating. And you know, if you're a community brewery, you want to just do something else fun for your community. It doesn't have to be this grandiose thing, you know. Humble C is a little bit more widespread. You know, if you've got a lot of connections, they've got multiple tap rooms to do a collaboration across all these tap rooms and breweries that they're in proximity to. That's you know, a broader community. Something like that doesn't collaborate.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Do you think these are like the Black Friday for breweries? Do you think that without these days they wouldn't be thriving as much? Or do you think that these really are special occasions just for the feels?

SPEAKER_02 39:31

I mean, I think it's it's both. It's it's uh hey, for all the people who have drank our beer and want to celebrate, we have made it one more, because of you. Two. Thank you for spending all this money and getting us to the point where we can celebrate like this and spend a little bit more on marketing, to spend a little bit more on collaboration, to to maybe pump out a little more volume than we do in a given month because we know we'll sell it, because it's a celebration. Uh I I think it's uh symbiotic. I I don't think it's it's not one or the other.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

It is it is Okay. In my opinion. And and the thing is, I I think that my favorite part of anniversaries, which uh I haven't seen in a bit. I like when it says on the item, whether it be a shirt or a glass or whatever you whatever you're getting to go, that it isn't like this anniversary, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, it says that number, and I think that's gone away a bit. Um because I have I mean, yeah, I got my own mark on a glass, but it this doesn't purposely say the seventh. Uh something that I really like. There's um a I have a Delta Born glass that says second anniversary, I have a Delta Born glass that says third anniversary, I have a uh I think there's a knee deep somewhere I have that has like an anniversary date on it, like or how many it's been, not a date. But that to me is the shit and hasn't been happening so much. What is your that's that's like what I seek out. Kind of like when we went to the the the to the A's game. I wanted to find something that's Sacramento on it. And it was very frustrating that we didn't. Is there something it doesn't even have to be merch related? What do you expect from An Yeah, that's what I want. Yeah, I want that. He's holding up the Sacramento A's jersey with the Sacramento on it.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Um I I do I do agree with you. I think that it's a special marker in time. I mean we're all gonna age. Wait, time time waits for no man, and to to sit here, and as I sit here in my desk, I look over and I have a New Glory Harvest 2015. And this was not an anniversary glass, this was celebrating the the wet hop, the hop harvest, I believe it's around October, of 2015. And we are in 2026. This is an 11-year-old glass that celebrates a point in life where we went out, we enjoyed, you know, a a harvest, a a brewing of hops that was freshly taken from the vine, B-I-N-E. And I I do believe that is a special thing to celebrate. I mean, if we were in a time that was simpler, you know, a harvest like that, a year like that, you know, would could be either a year of famine, a year of plenty. So to to celebrate, you know, success, prosperity, community, I think is always a big deal, even be it in human history, be it in, you know, modern craft beer business. I think it's worth celebrating. And I do believe you're right. I think having that year mark, that anniversary mark, is a great way to really celebrate, you know, that accomplishment.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

And I and I also see from the other standpoint of like after if you have stock of the seventh anniversary stuff, you've too much, and then a year later it's not all sold out, and you come up eighth, and then you've got seventh still, it can look bad. That's why you gotta make that shit super limited. Yep. Scarcity marketing, babies. Make scarcity marketing. Make it exclusive and scarce when it comes to that shit, and when it comes to the consumable product, make that shit just as many as I can fucking get my goblet, my goggle on it.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

But agree, you you still don't want that shit in tap rooms two months later, because then you're like, ah, this is just yeah. Again, it's all about balance.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Life's about balance. But I mean, yeah.

unknown 43:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:51

Um what has what is your favorite memory of an anniversary at a brewery?

SPEAKER_02 44:01

Favorite memory of an anniversary at a brewery. I mean that's that's a tough one. I honestly I think I have more fond memories of the CabTap anniversaries. I think CabTap is a a tap room that makes does a great job of making a big deal about anniversaries. There's always new merch. They put a plethora of beers on, some that were collabed directly for them. I mean there were Claimstake collabs, there were, I you know, believe Burning Bro Collabs, probably other local breweries, that collab with the Stap Room, and it was limited edition, you know, can art, it was limited edition glassware.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

I I think that the art always goes hard for those, yeah. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

And I think that was my my fondest anniversary memories are probably from CapTap. Um I would say Bike Dog.

SPEAKER_00 44:58

I don't know why, but I remember I don't remember which anniversary it was. It was the one with the purple glass that I randomly found again at um uh uh Goodwill. But I remember just the beers were were just were hitting right. It was a fun amount of people, and the servers kept giving Elvis treats too many. He farted a lot in the car. But um it was still like a fun like communal event that had everything just going to perfection and how it should have been going. Uh smaller, small ish location, packed enough, but you're still comfortable. Yeah. Um that that was pulled off really well there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:50

Um and it shouldn't just feel like they're trying to sell you something, right? It should feel like they're celebrating your your patronage or celebrating beer. So you're right. Uh there's a bounce to be had. Um you don't want to just be like, okay, let's buy these came out for I do think Vaberis came out on anniversary.

unknown 46:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Shadow Viveris. Somebody has Babaris sitting in a fridge somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 46:17

Talk to me. Oh, shows me. Oh yeah, just uh we'll we'll buy it for like too much, probably. Um or if you want to gift it, we'll we'll we will trade you another beer.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

Can we do the the TikTok thing? We'll we'll open uh open it on stream. I mean Oh god, is that the next the next red tier we're gonna move from Pokemon ripping to to beer ripping? Beer ripping. TikTok idea. Marketing give give us an else.

SPEAKER_00 46:48

Um any last thoughts on anniversaries or on stone escondido or uh any topic that we've covered today before we say adwa.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

Keep doing innovative things. Uh I I would love to see what Firestone Walker slash stone does for their Liberty Gardens. I would love to see it be a torpedo room situation circa uh mid 2010s. I I would love to see interesting things for the anniversaries. Do weird stuff, uh make weird beer.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

I mean that dogfish heads thing.

SPEAKER_02 47:35

Yeah. Well, um uh what was it off centered off centered ales.

SPEAKER_00 47:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:43

Um yeah, just do interesting things, celebrate brewing, celebrate innovation. Uh and not just in a marketing sense. Unfortunately, we live in a climate where we do need to make money. And uh if you make something super weird that's gonna make me want to buy that sticker, that t-shirt, that glass, even more, because it celebrates a weird, unique thing. Uh I don't know. Taking a leap. Yeah. Taking a leap, and uh maybe this will be next week's topic weird things that were worth remembering in brewing.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

Weird things.

SPEAKER_02 48:22

Yeah. We what what's what's the beer that just you saw on paper and you wanted to try it that you still remember? What was that beer that you're like? What is it?

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Hold on to that thought. I I know what mine is for sure after after the bat. Oh, I've I've got multiple. One or I was gonna say I know the first one off the top of the head though. But yeah, um so tell us what you think when you're listening to. Like, what was the weirdest beer that you ever give us your favorite anniversary saw?

SPEAKER_02 48:50

Give us your favorite celebration.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

Uh Kelda.

SPEAKER_02 49:01

Adaki. Bailey's shoe porter.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

Uh weirdest drinking business.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

Wait, wait, wait. Bailey's shoe porter could be something that has like a leather and like an Irish cream. Uh the the old gray ale?

SPEAKER_00 49:19

Could you bomb into a into a Guinness and that makes a old Greg? I don't know. Cool. Try it on podcast. Uh that being said. Do something memorable, something delicious. Do something different. Make something your own. Don't just brew another hazy, don't just brew another West Coast.

SPEAKER_02 49:38

Unless with the weird ass hops Give us weird ass hops too. Weird ass hops are fun.

SPEAKER_00 49:43

Or you've done something weird with the yeast. I don't know. Um not too weird. Let's keep the tapes. Kavik is weird in a fun way.

SPEAKER_02 49:52

Uh Enigma hops. I want to see more Enigma hops. Found with that.

SPEAKER_00 49:57

Okay. Um, and I want to see more beer. Uh that brings us to the end though. Thank you for listening to BeerMecast. You can follow us on Instagram at BeerMecast. You can email us at BeerMecast at gmail.com. And we can be listened to as you're listening to us now anywhere podcasts are available except for where Bezos makes his dollars, because fuck that guy. Um I don't know why I'm going after Bezos. Um I'm like 90% sure we're not on Amazon though.

SPEAKER_02 50:27

Um it is is Timu Bezos pesos.

SPEAKER_00 50:34

And and uh in in soul only, not in legitimacy. But thanks for listening. We'll be coming at you next week with some weird shit. In the meantime, go out, find a weird beer, and give it a try. You never know what you're gonna get. Cheers. Cheers.