Small victory at the San Jose 408k

The year 2016 was memorable for so many reasons. Running-wise, it was a year I hit some running highs, but plenty of running lows in the form of injuries. As soon as my injured left hip recovered, my right hip would start hurting. For 2017, I've battled the flu a couple times, but simply running around relatively pain free has been a victory in itself.  The San Jose 408k, held last Sunday, was a chance to start the year to see just where I was at.

Named for San Jose's area code and 8 kilometers long, the point to point course starts at the SAP Center just west of downtown San Jose and finishes at the upscale Santana Row mall. A heavy overnight rain threatened to last into the morning and drench the race, but it died down once the sun came out, leaving the course under undercast skies and ideal running conditions. My modest goal entering the race was to hit 7:00 per mile pace, or 35:00 for the 4.97 mile course.

This goal was complicated by the fact that my GPS watch had some problem, or wasn't charged right, or something. It had trouble reaching the satellites and started flashing all sorts of warning lights and messages which I could read with my feeble eyes as I desperately stared down at it standing at the starting line. Whatever problems my watch was having, never worked them out by the time the race started and so I race the whole race having no idea of my time until the finish.

It was one of those run where I fought pretty hard to keep pace, but could never find a higher gear.  I just kept working over the course, until I turned down to down the Santana Row mall way, looked up and saw the clock ticking away at 33 minutes and something. Finishing with whatever sprint I could muster, I crossed the finish line at 34:13, way under my goal, or so I thought. Runners finishing next to me remarked their GPS watches had the race distance at 4.9 miles. Uh-oh. GPS watches typically overestimate distance by about 2% meaning the course was short. I'll just say I met my goal of 35:00 for just under 5 miles, and leave it there.

Next race is The Great Race in Los Gatos April 30th.

Rambling Reviews 3.7.2017 : Brews from Santa Clara Valley, Left Coast, and Karl Stauss

Saratoga Gap Scotch Ale at Taplands

It's been awhile since I last rambled on beers. A bunch of busy work weeks will do that. Still, I've been able to squeeze in a few beers along the way, so let's ramble about three of them.

I was able drop by Santa Clara's Taplands hosting a Santa Clara Valley Brewing (SCVB) tap take-over as part of SF Beer Week. There I enjoyed SCVB's Saratoga Gap Scotch Ale, full of toffee, some smokiness, and a little sweetness. There's also some noticeable fruit character to the brew, and SCVB Brand Manager Peter Estaniel was on hand for the evening and as we chatted about the beer, he pointed out some of it's similarities to SCVB's fine New Almaden Imperial Red Ale. All the flavors come together rather nicely and at 9.6% abv, you'll want to sip it slowly.

Left Coast's Voodoo Stout on the floor
of an LED Lighting trade show

After that evening at Taplands, work started getting pretty intense and blogging came to pretty much a complete stand still. At an LED Lighting Trade Show at the Anaheim Convention Center, I enjoyed a Voodoo Stout from San Clemente's Left Coast Brewing, albeit in a plastic cup, poured at the late hour of the trade show. It's a rather full bodied stout with a creamy consistency with some sweetness and lots of milk chocolate character. Nice way to end a
trade show and I can only imagine how much better it would taste with a proper glass.

Trudging back to the hotel after a long day at the trade show, I made my way to the empty hotel bar. For a cheap hotel mostly catering to tourists going to Disneyland, they actually had a pretty decent selection for the eight taps they had set up. I went with Queen of Tarts from Karl Strauss and what a great choice that turned out to be. Aged in wood with Michigan tart cherries, the cherries and light sourness played well off the underlying brown ale. A pretty amazing beer to find in an dingy, empty hotel bar. Further proof that you can find great beer anywhere.

Karl Strauss Queen of Tarts, all alone in
quiet hotel bar in Anaheim

The Session #121: A Brief Ode to Bocks, Past and Present

This month's Session, host by John Abernathy over at The Brew Site is on Bock styles, which seems appropriate for March when Bock beers had traditionally rolled out.

In fact, Bock is the very first beer style I became aware of back when I grew up in the small Ohio town of Bowling Green in the 70's. When March rolled around, my dad would eagerly bring home a six-pack of Rolling Rock Bock, a departure his usual Rolling Rock's flagship Lager. Except back then, it wasn't called a Lager, it was just "beer". One time I asked him "What's Bock beer?" Dad went into this explanation about breweries traditionally cleaning their tanks in the spring and brewing Bock beer to celebrate the occasion. I suspect Rolling Rock Bock was basically the flagship Lager with the grain bill tweaked a bit and some caramel coloring added. That was Bock beer in America just before the brewing revolution started taking off in the 80's.

A Vintage Rolling Rock Bock Neon Sign

Thirty years later, I discovered craft beer. One of my favorite spring seasonals was Anchor Brewing's Bock.  Maybe I liked the deep roasted chocolate and caramel flavors, or maybe it reminded me of those simpler times in the 70's, learning about the mysterious Rolling Rock Bock. Then, in 2014, Anchor decided it would no longer release their Bock each spring, instead focusing on the more popular IPA's and Saisson styles. A year later after that announcement, I caught up with long-time Anchor Brewmaster Mark Carpenter at a brewery event and we reminisced about Anchor Bock. I jokingly tried to talk him into bringing back the Bock. I got the distinct feeling Carpenter didn't miss it all that much. At any rate, it was clear I shouldn't get my hopes up that Anchor Bock was coming back.  And it hasn't.

Anchor Brewmaster Mark Carpenter

I guess Bock beers are pretty old school these days. In an era where "craft beer" and "IPA's" are becoming synonymous the way "beer" and "light Lager" once was, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm from most breweries to brew Bocks. Maybe that's why one of my favorite go-to beers is Blonde Bock from Gordon-Biersch, a brewery that's been a long time rock in an ever changing beer landscape. Brewmaster Dan Gordon learned to brew at the Technical University in Munich in the 80's and the brewery focuses solely on Germanic styles. Their Blonde Bock is one of those highly underrated beers, a light thirst-quenching brew with some character to it, with it's bready, yeasty character with very faint citrus notes and a good dose of sweetness. No, this isn't my father's Bock Beer. But thankfully, it should be around for a good long time.

Stacks and stacks of Gordon-Biersch Blonde Bock, ready to ship

Daniel Del Grande of Bison Brewing builds supply and demand for organics....now in Edible East Bay

Bison Brewing's Dan Del Grande
(photo from Edible East Bay)

If you ask me, Bison Brewing's Daniel Del Grande is one of the sharpest environment activists in the brewing business, with a keen sense on how to use capitalism to further a pro-environmental agenda. Which made for a good article in the latest issue of Edible East Bay, which you can read at the link below.

Brewer with a Cause: Bison Brewing's Daniel Del Grande builds supply and demand for organics

Scenes for the 8th Annual Meet the Brewers Festival

The 8th Annual Meet the Brewers Festival last Saturday was the usual of mostly South San Francisco Bay breweries.  Held on the grounds of San Jose's Hermitage Brewing, the usual suspects like Strike Brewing, Santa Clara Valley Brewing, Almanac Beer, Hermitage Brewing, Freewheel Brewing, Discretion Brewing, Red Branch Cidery and New Bohemia  were all pouring some fine brews.  Notable newcomers showcasing their latest concoctions include Steel Bonnet, Geartooth Alewerks,  Brewery Twenty Five, and Golden State Brewery. If I didn't give a brewery a mention, it was because I just didn't get around to their stand. Breweries typically bring their A-game to any beer festival, but usually there's always a misfire or two.  Not Saturday.  Everything my wife and I sampled was solid to excellent.  Biggest surprise?  Strike Brewing, long known for straightforward Session Ales was pouring "Stand Up Triple IPA", a dynamite Triple IPA. Sorry, no fancy tasting notes, I was just enjoying the brews and community.  I'll leave you with a few snapshots from the afternoon.

Scenes from the Grand Opening of Blue Oak Brewing

Another day, another brewery opens in the Bay Area. This times it's Blue Oak Brewing, tucked away in a little industrial park in San Carlos, just off Highway 101 which hosted its Grand Opening last Saturday. A small crowd of maybe thirty people crammed into the small tap room Blue Oak shares with Redwood Coast Cider to enjoy brews such as their herbaceous Hoppy Pale Ale, and well as their aromatic Belgian Golden and Strong Ales. Once again, no detailed tasting notes here, my wife and I we're just enjoying the beer and the random company of some of the people we shared a table with. I'll leave you with some pictures from the afternoon.

A quick look at Hapa's Brewing, San Jose's newest brewery

Hapa's Brewing, which opened up a mere two weeks ago, has already carved out its unique identity at a location lacking one. It's a little too west to be considered part of downtown San Jose, a little too north to be part of the Willow Glen neighborhood, and a bit too east of Burbank, sitting a nowhere's-ville surrounded by drab industrial buildings. It's organic warehouse space quickly filled up during last Friday afternoon when I stopped by, the place already developing a local following in its brief existence.

Judging the beer from any brewery that's just opened is a bit dicey. Talented brewers usually need a few batches under their belt to fully understand their new brewing equipment works, and bad brewers can get lucky and brew great beer right off the bat, but fail to repeat their success. As far as Hapa's goes, so far, so good. My favorite Hapa's brew was their Little Angel Mocha Porter. If they had added just a smidgen more coffee to the brew, it would have too much. Instead, the dominant coffee flavors really shine with a light bitter chocolate undertone, with a light body and sweetness. Very nice.  Their Barbie's Blonde Ale, with its light earthy and minerally character looked to be a popular after work refreshment, judging from all the pints of it pouring in the tap room, and gets my thumbs up.

The story behind Hapa's is one you've heard a thousand times already: A couple home brewers following their brewing passions and create a business. Yet emerging from this tired cliche' is breath of fresh air to forgotten corner of San Jose. That's why I never tire of discovering new breweries.