Linden Street Brewery in Oakland has been throwing open houses on every Friday for the last 6 months or so, with free beer (two beers, usually their Common Lager and a beer from Drake’s), free food (contributions to the basket by the taps help buy next week’s food), and a shared gas grill (my friends… Read More »
Love this cartoon by Ben Sargent on the InBev acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. Over the last few months I’ve turned on quite a few friends to the rich and varied aroma and flavors of Belgian beers. Although it’s just a cartoon, I agree with William that you obviously shouldn’t stereotype the palette of a person based… Read More »
Last Friday my wife and I celebrated our 15th anniversary by going to Linden Street Brewery for their Friday afternoon open house and then the Oakland Museum of California for the Best of the East Bay party. Both were excellent. Some of our friends brought a penne pasta salad with fresh-grated parmesan and grilled tri-tip… Read More »
We had a huge harvest from our Blenheim apricot tree four years ago, and this year the tree is bearing a similar amount of fruit. Rogue backyard animals got 30 or so, we’ve picked about 60 and I think there are another 75 apricots on what is now a very old tree. It had been… Read More »
I have fond memories of Shiner Bock from when I lived in Austin, and I always have a bottle or two when I go back to visit my brother. I agree with Stan at Appellation Beer that while Shiner doesn’t make the greatest of beers, they are better than a lot of people give them… Read More »
We went up to Sonoma County today for the 30th annual Russian River Barrel Tasting. This time, we visited Christopher Creek, Trentadue, Coffaro, Michel-Schlumberger, Wilson, Mazocco, Hawkes, Stryker and Murphy-Goode. The Barrel Tasting event has really grown over the last few years. When we first went about five years ago, the event was just one… Read More »
A good friend had a birthday dinner this weekend in the sake tasting room at Ozumo in San Francisco. The sushi was wonderfully fresh and delicious. We also ordered a few items from the Robata grill that were fantastic. The real standout for me was the seared Dayboat scallops on shimeji mushroom risotto. I could… Read More »
If it wasn’t enough that a great new bar serving Belgian beers opened recently in downtown Oakland near where I work, Linden Street Brewery recently (well, in the last six months or so) started up near Jack London Square. In fact, you can try a Linden Street Common, which is a steam beer like the… Read More »
A fantastic new bar has opened in the Old Oakland section of downtown Oakland. The Trappist has an absolutely amazing selection of Belgian beers. I went there last Friday and again tonight. Friday I had a Gouden Carolus Carolus D’Or Grand Cru and a Christoffel Bokbier, both on tap. Tonight I had a Rochefort 8… Read More »
Given the recent report from George Mitchell alleging widespread use of steroids in baseball, the logos on these produce boxes at Farmer Joe’s near my house struck me as a bit out of place.