Beer and Brewing Journal

On my way back to the house Saturday, I had just time enough to swing by a Whole Foods to see what they had beer-wise. I assumed everything would be pretty costly there as the nickname of the store, Whole Markup or Whole Paycheck, goes. I have to say I was pretty impressed and saw some of the best prices I have seen in a bit. First of all, Boont Amber for 7.49…..same price as Trader Joes…and I never believed that Whole Foods would equal it. Couple other deals, as the receipt shows: Red Nectar Ale for 6.49 and Köstritzer for 2.29 (hopefully it is fresh).
I guess my opinion of Whole Food's prices (for beer) have changed for now.




…oh, and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot for 8.99 a six pack. Unheard of. Must be a mistake…but one you should take advantage of.

Upon popping the top off of a bottle of Anderson Valley’s Brother David Triple, I quickly realized that I didn’t cut off a wax seal first. Previously the Doubles and Triples came with a wax seal over the top. A very nice touch. I went and looked at a recent photo (below) and there you are, I guess they are done with the wax seal?
I haven’t found any info on the web about this but my assumption is that since the Brother David line isn’t the big bread winner like Boont Amber, combined with increases in barley prices, that they decided reduce cost? The counter to that would be that they did raise the price of Brother David by about a buck. So I have no answers on this one yet.

At some stores it doesn’t pay to buy in quantity…..
In one of my previous posts about deal shopping for beer, I mentioned to always be aware about pricing deals on quantity. In other words, the 12 pack may be cheaper than the six pack. So you might as well stock up.
Turns out it is equally important to watch this for the opposite reason as well. My local bevmo, which I have many complaints about, has made it a better deal to buy Gordon Biersch six packs over 12 packs. Note the two photos below. Six packs are $6.99 and twelve packs are $14.99. Holy crap, you get charged an extra buck for trying to buy in bulk! Watch those prices….

With the increase in beer prices this year, it's always good to keep in your head what beer prices are at Trader Joes as they probably will not be beat in pricing....I assume they negotiate good deals because they are buying large quatities for their stores.
They don't have a large selection but they do have some key companies. I didn't include the German beers (I need to do that) or Chimay, since I am not a big fan of Chimay....but I believe it was 7.99 for a 750ml of red label. The following are six pack prices:
Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Hop Ottin' IPA and Boont Amber: 7.49
Mendocino Brewing Co., Red Tail Ale and White Hawk IPA: 6.99
North Coast Brewing Co., Acme IPA and Pale 6.79
Full Sail Brewing Co., Pale Ale and Amber: 5.99

I have to thank my wife for this find! She kept telling me about it and I finally went for myself. It was tough to actually find the place, even though it is very local for me. The storefront is pretty non-descript and set near the back of the non-descript El Cerrito mall.
What’s great? They have a pretty decent beer fridge for a deli: Most German beer styles in 500ml bottles, some Fullers, and some American Craft. The wonderful thing is that the have Köstritzer on tap! Available in Schwarzbierbrauerei glassware in third, half, and full liter! Excitedly, I ordered a half liter with a corned beef sandwich. Since it was only 11:30am and I had my 18 month old daughter in tow, I of course worried that I would get a nasty look from any lurking neo-prohibitionists. No chance. I saw other customers happily taking their lunch to their tables with lager in tow. Wonderful. I ate my sandwich and drank my Schwartzbier and chased my escaping daughter around the deli.

Looks like spring is here. My basement can only keep my fermentations down to 68 degrees at this point. During the winter I had the luxury of being able to ferment down to the lowest Ale fermentation temp necessary. I do like 65 degrees as this keeps the fruit flavors more in check. Nothing wrong with 68 however and that’s what we’ll go with. I’ve adjusted my temp controller to 67 so that it will only cool to 66 before the heat kicks in, although I doubt it will get that low. In a couple days, I’ll start raising the temp control a degree every other day so that I’ll keep the yeast from going dormant too soon and hopefully get some good attenuation.



Here’s my daughter wondering why there are burps and bubbles coming out of that bucket.