Richard and Shaun at the 21A (photo courtesy of blogs.sfweekly.com)

Imperial Jack proves that some of the best stories are created over a pint of beer and a good meal. That’s just what happened over the course of numerous 21st Amendment Brewery lunch break visits by English homebrewer Richard Brewer-Hay who struck up a friendship with Shaun.

At his homebrew headquarters, Elizabeth Street Brewery, Richard had been brewing an ESB (Extra Special Bitter Ale) named “Grandpa Jack” in honor of his late grandfather, Jack Newbould. Eventually Richard and Shaun decided to collaborate on a stronger version of “Grandpa Jack” at the 21A brewery – and this time named it “Imperial Jack”. In 2010, we entered it in the international World Beer Cup competition- and it won a gold medal in the Other Strong Ale category.

Beer has been the foundation of  friendship between Richard and Shaun, though the ties now run deeper than that. Shaun’s the kind of guy who answered every one of Richard’s homebrew questions, tossed around all kinds of crazy ideas and he ended up suggesting we take Richard’s recipe to his brewhouse. I can’t imagine a better way to get to know a person.

Imperial Jack is a deep amber ale with an equal abundance of malt and hops, an ABV of 8.5% and 45 IBUs. The beer was brewed with a very special English heirloom malt called Simpson’s Golden Promise. We also used English crystal and biscuit malts, Belgian honey malt and chocolate malts. The hops are Warrior, Northern Brewer and Styrian Goldings and we used a classic English ale yeast to round out the profile. Richard’s life-long goal is to open a brewpub outside his home, in his San Francisco Noe Valley neighborhood and we got that chance as the story continues.

Richard mashing in while Anglo watches and Phil Lowery films the blessed event)

The Story Continues…

Richard and Shaun went over to London, England the second week of April and brought the Imperial Jack recipe to the Brew Wharf and brewed it with Angelo Scarnera, the Brew Wharf Head Brewer and Phil Lowery. It was an amazing event for both of us, the chance to brew this beer in London. The idea of bringing the Imperial Jack recipe back to England where Richard’s grandfather spent his life was a real emotional journey for Richard, one that will be cherished for a life time. 

Imperial Jack Release Event – Monday May 13th 

Join us for the Imperial Jack release event at the 21st Amendment this Monday, May 13th from 6-9pm. We’ll be upstairs in the Brewers Loft with friends and fellow brewers enjoying Imperial Jack with tasty English food and great stories. Come raise a pint to Jack.

Thanks for your support,

Shaun and Nico

It is that time of year good beer people, the start of SF Beer Week (February 8th – 17th) commencing with tonight’s sold out Opening Celebration. This is the fifth year SF Beer Week has been celebrating craft beer through festivals, food and beer pairings, dinners, art and education. I think we have the premier beer week in the country, for the Bay Area is truly blessed with amazing craft beer and a culinary scene, rich and vibrant with personalities that continue to produce and amaze. Our unofficial mandate has always been with Beer Week ‘no pint nights’ and an emphasis on exploring the cerebral side of beer, but of course allowing the amazing flavors and fun to shine through. This year that mandate is in no short supply, with over 400 events covering the entire Bay area from Monterrey to Sonoma county and all parts East and West it is shaping up to be a great 10 day beer week.

Over here in 2nd Street we have six great events lined up for you along with our ongoing Strong Beer Month. A perfect storm of beer events for us here at the 21st Amendment. It doesn’t get any better than this for February and craft beer.

Strong Beer Brunch with Drake’s Brewery and Iron Springs Brewery
Sunday – February 10 10:00am – 2:30pm.
Join us for our annual Strong Beer Brunch with our good friends from Drakes Brewery and Iron Springs Brewery bringing their unique strong and barrel aged beers paired with Chef Matt’s special brunch menu created with these special beers in mind. This is a great way to start your Sunday SF Beer Week with a good foundation and great rare beers.

21A Library Stash Tasting
Monday – February 11th
 – 7:00pm – 10:00pm
We have amassed a sizable stash of our own cellared beers and other brews from great breweries. Join us on the mezzanine as we dust off some greatbeers from the 21st Amendment cellars and crack open and taste these vintage delectables. These brews will include: multiple years of Lower De Boom Barley Wine, Red Giant,, Monk’s Blood and Ripple – Imperial Chocolate Porter and 100% Brett beer… Funky Poomedina!

Abe Lincoln’s Birthday and Craft Beerd Book signing with Fred Abercrombie
Tuesday – February 12th
 – 4:00pm – 6:30pm
Tuesday February 11th is Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States who also appears very prominently on our Brew Free! or Die IPA cans and we are celebrating his birthday. We’ll have beer specials and Abraham Lincoln beards. Speaking of beards, in addition to all this great fun, we also have a special guest, author Fred Abercrombie, will be signing copies of his book “The Craft Beerds book.” Bring your best beard and we are hopeful that President Abraham Lincoln will be making a special appearance.

Strong Beer School with Guest brewer Reed Miller from Stone Brewing Company
Tuesday – February 12th 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Strong Beer School with Head Brewer Zambo, featuring 7 beers that will blow your mind from Triple IPA to Barley Wine. Guest brewer Reed Miller from Stone Brewing Company will bring some of his favorite strong beers to share. Food pairings will be bold and steadfast against this powerful lineup of beer! Are you strong enough?

Lower DeBoom Barley Wine Release Dinner with the Beer Chef – Bruce Patton
Thursday – February 14th 6:30pm – 10:00pm
Join us for the release celebration of our Lower De Boom Barley Wine in cans and draft. That’s right good beer people, barley wine in cans. To help launch this amazing beer, the man the myth the legend, Bruce Patton, the Beer Chef will be putting together a special menu pairing and cooking with Lower De Boom. Stay tuned for this big strong menu.

Brewers Sunday Tea with Fatted Calf and featuring  ’Allies Win the War’ with Ninkasi Brewing Company
Sunday – February 17th
11:30am – 3:30pm
“What do Brewers do on Sunday?” Well they sometimes don’t drink tea. Join us for Fatted Calf’s delicious beer sausages made with our featured strongbeer, “Allies Win the War” our collaboration with Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi Brewing Company. A beer we recently brewed again at their brewery in Eugene, Oregon. Other strong beers from Bay area breweries will be on hand. Come on out and meet your favorite brewers in the beer garden with a blue grass band playing, enjoying Sunday tea and grilled beersausages. A Perfect way to the start of your last day of Beer Week.

Enjoy your Beer Week responsibly wherever it might take you.  We hope to see you at our pub and thanks again for your support.

Cheers,Shaun and Nico

The idea of Strong Beer Month started over a conversation that Dave McLean (owner and Brewmaster at Magnolia) and I had over a beer one day, I believe it was at the Toronado, when we were trying to figure out how to get more people into our pubs during February, which historically in the restaurant industry is one of the slowest months of the year. We thought, hey it’s cold, we like to drink strong beers, people want to drink strong beers as they have been at other Bay Area events in February such as the Toronado Barleywine festival and the Bistro’s Imperial IPA festival. And so we were off to the races and this month, the month of February has turned into one of the craziest months of the year. With San Francisco Beer Week starting next week, put on by the SF Brewers Guild, with over 400 events and the California legislature officially naming February Craft Beer Month, the month of February is now craft beer heaven.

For the last handful of years of  Strong Beer Month we started a theme of reproducing a classic rock album cover with the brewers and owners from both breweries inserting ourselves into the album with a Strong Beer Month spin. Our good friend Eric (Schweick) Schweickert is the creative mojo behind this exercise in egotism  and responsible for the art direction, design and layout of these masterpieces. His day job is working for ILM at the Presidio here in San Francisco and when he is not rendering that 10 second shot of  Robert Downey Jr. in the Avengers or a Pirates of the Caribbean flick, he is also a craft beer freak and an avid hombrewer. We took his ILM skills to task this year as we recreated the album, “The Band.” We have a lot of fun with it and this time some of us got to wear beards. The players on the album from left to right: Zambo (21 Head Brewer): as Richard Manuel, Shaun O’Sullivan (21A owner) Levon Helms, Ben Spencer (Magnolia Head Brewer) Rick Danko, Dave McLean (Magnolia owner) Garth Hudson, Nico Freccia (21A owner) Robbie Robertson. The day of the shoot is always a fun time, shot up in the Oakland Hills with beers flowing and the music cranked and a great opportunity for all of us to get together. And so it begins.

With all that said we give you this year’s Strong Beer Month’s beers.

21st Amendment Strong Beer Month offerings:

Lord & Master – Strong English Golden Ale – 8.2% ABV, 54 IBUs
Dub Step – American Imperial IPA – 10.2% ABV, 84 IBUs
Nelson, Jade and Helga – American Imperial IPA with NZ Hops – 10.5% ABV, 80 IBUs (Collaboration with Drakes)
Red Giant – Imperial Red Ale – 11.0% ABV, 77 IBUs
Two-Lane Blacktop – American Imperial Black IPA – 10.0% ABV, 65 IBUs
Hendrik’s Imperial Stout – American Imperial Stout – 8.6% ABV, 61 IBUs

Magnolia’s Strong Beer Month offerings:

Promised Land Imperial IPA 10.5% ABV
McLean’s Wee Heavy 8.4% ABV
Delilah Jones Rye 9.6% ABV
Quadlibet For Tenderfoot 9.4% ABV
Old Thunderpussy Barleywine 10.6% ABV
Smokestack Lighting Imperial Stout 9.8% ABV

Stay tuned as there will also be special brews, dinners and pairings at each brewery all month long and as events overlap with SF Beer Week. Enjoy the show folks, drink responsibly, hydrate often and remember the one key phrase for Strong Beer Month™: “While Supplies Last.”

Thanks your support,

Shaun and Nico

This Sunday the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens go head to head in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII, but another competition is brewing up for the big game. San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery and Baltimore’s Heavy Seas Beer are throwing down beer for a friendly wager in a winner-take case competition.

The Bet: A friendly wager between two craft breweries, where the losers send the winning brewery a case of their finest beer and agree to wear the winning brewery’s t-shirts and subject themselves to public photo blog total humiliation.

21st Amendment Brewery co-founder and Brewmaster, Shaun O’Sullivan, said, “We’re willing to bet that we’ll be the brewery collecting. I can’t wait to crack open a case of Heavy Seas’ delicious Loose Canon IPA, and we won’t waste any time sending out a few 21st Amendment Brewery t-shirts to Baltimore.”

Hugh Sisson, founder of Heavy Seas Beer, said, “I’m not sending any shirt sizes out west just yet. We’ve got full confidence that the Ravens will see us through. I’m looking forward to tasting cans of 21st Amendment’s Sneak Attack Saison and seeing their brewery crew wear Heavy Seas t-shirts next week.”

21st Amendment Brewery co-founder, Nico Freccia, said, “I’m really excited to jump into this wager – mostly because I just finished the last case of beer from our bet over last year’s San Francisco Giants’ World Series victory. I could do this all day long!”

And remember while the big breweries are hitting you over the head with their Super Bowl commercials, make sure to enjoy a craft beer whether it’s from the 21st Amendment Brewery, Heavy Seas or your favorite craft beer. Make it a Craft Beer Sunday.

Now let’s play some football people.

21^st Amendment Brewery’s “Sneak Attack” Saison Arrives

 January 7, 2013 – San Francisco, CA – If you were going to sneak across the Delaware River unnoticed, you might not consider doing it in a boat full of guys in brightly striped swim shorts waving flags. In winter. With George Washington.

But then again you’re probably not 21^st Amendment Brewery, the bold minds behind the newest farmhouse-style Saison to hit bars and store shelves: Sneak Attack.

Sneak Attack is 21^st Amendment’s newest seasonal offering, a Belgian-style Saison, dry hopped with whole, organic cardamom pods lending it a very dry, but not overly bitter finish. It features aromas of pepper, cardamom, lemon rind and freshly cut grassy fields. Its refreshing flavor is derived from pilsner malt, Belgian Light Candi Sugar and a traditional spicy Belgian Saison yeast.

Co-founder and Brewmaster Shaun O’Sullivan says, “While this is the time of year when brewers are typically introducing strong, heavy beers, we wanted to brew up a bit of a surprising alternative that essentially says, ‘in your face, winter!’ At 6.2% ABV with 38 IBUs, it drinks light and refreshing but really has some heat behind what is seemingly a tame beer.”

Co-founder Nico Freccia added, “You might not expect a Saison in winter any more than the enemy expected Washington to cross the icy Delaware. But winter needs an antidote. With a boatload of bravado, we’re doing our part to bring summer to winter. And Sneak Attack pairs perfectly with the rich and warming foods of winter: Bouillabaisse, sausages, smoked meats, full flavored cheeses and anything spicy.”

Sneak Attack Belgian-style Saison will be available from January through March 2013 in cans (6-packs) and on draft at bars and stores in all seventeen of 21^st Amendment’s distribution territories, including CA, OR, WA, AK, ID, MN, OH, MA, NY, NJ, DC, MD, DE, PA, VA, GA and NC. For up to date availability, events and promotions, visit 21A’s website at www.21st-Amendment.com.

Interview with co-founders Shaun O’Sullivan and Nico Freccia about their newest seasonal release - Sneak Attack Saison

Q: Tell us about Sneak Attack, your newest seasonal beer just released in time for the darkest days of winter.

Shaun O’Sullivan (SOS): Sneak Attack is a Belgian farmhouse-style Saison. It’s very dry, slightly turbid, 6.2% alcohol and pretty well balanced bitterness at 38 IBUs.

Nico Freccia (NF): Sneak Attack replaces Bitter American as our winter seasonal. When we took Bitter American to a year round beer last spring, we needed something special to fill its shoes.

Q: Why a Saison, typically a summer beer, in winter?

SOS: This is normally the time of year when brewers are introducing strong, heavy beers, the “winter warmers”. And we drink a lot of those beers and they are amazing. But your palate gets fatigued and you really need to have an option to just break it up. So we thought this would be the perfect “antidote” beer.

NF: We like to be a bit contrarian and we really had an aha moment when we realized that the perfect beer to do in the dead of winter would be a quintessentially summer beer. A delicious, refreshing, dry summer beer to enjoy in winter…and something completely different from other winter beers.

Q: How did you come up with the spice notes in Sneak Attack? You use whole organic cardamom pods.

NF: That’s right. It started as a homebrew recipe using fresh spicy, peppery greens from my garden. It was the heat of summer and you could actually smell the pepper in the greens as you walked by and I just thought it would be a perfect addition to a traditional Saison.

SOS: The style traditionally has a lot of spice notes that naturally occur from the Belgian yeast. Brewers have experimented with various ingredients, from dandelion to black pepper, to help complement those notes. We wanted to do something a little different that would draw out the natural esters in the yeast to really accentuate the aromas and flavor without overwhelming it. We did a bunch of experimentation and we found that the cardamom pod was just subtle enough and just different enough that it really helped make a balanced, but complex, beer.

NF: To me the cardamom brought out the lemon rind and fresh cut hay aromas that were already in there. And we wanted to brew a very dry style Saison so this paired perfectly.

Q: What’s the story behind the name?

NF: We’ve had a lot of fun playing with some well known iconic American images. And the famous painting of Washington crossing the icy Delaware with his ragtag crew fighting off little icebergs was the perfect embodiment of winter. So we thought, let’s throw a beer in George’s hand, put some swimsuits on everyone and bring a little summer to winter.

SOS: So the name came out of this idea that we were sneaking up on winter and attacking it with a dose of summer. Which is unexpected. Like Washington crossing the Delaware.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add about this beer?

SOS: Drink it. It’s good. It will make you happy and solve all your problems.

Marooned on Hog Island

Hog Island Oyster Company sits on an incredibly gorgeous piece of land on the edge of Tomales Bay in Marin county, about 60 miles north of San Francisco. The waters of Tomales Bay are among the cleanest, most pristine and natural in the country and are perfect for growing these delicious, sweet bivalves. Hog Island also runs an oyster bar in the Ferry Building on the downtown San Francisco waterfront. For many years, we have been heading over to Hog Island for lunch and we always bring a few empty pails to collect shells and brine that we use to brew oyster stout at our pub. They seemed like a natural fit when it came time to decide on our 2012 collaboration.

Hog Island is a small island near the mouth of Tomales Bay and rumor has it that a ship wrecked near there carrying a load of livestock to a local farm. A bunch of hogs made it to the island where they roamed freely and thus the name. John and his wife were actually stranded on the island years ago….marooned. We thought it would be a fitting name for our beer.

Here is the full story as found on our four pack box. We hope you like this awesome beer!

PANEL 1:
 After too many fortnights aboard Sir Francis Drake’s galleon exploring the coasts of northern California, deck swabs O’Sullivan and Freccia were growing restless. The work was tedious, food was scarce and worst of all, the beer was weak. Captain Drake might have their heads on a platter but they had to abandon ship.

PANEL 2:
 Freccia leapt into the Pacific with a few essentials: a musket, a blade, a cigar cutter, and a bottle of cocktail sauce. O’Sullivan rolled a few casks of the Captain’s finest dark ale overboard and belly flopped in behind them. Draped over the barrels, the swabbies bobbed through the waves.

PANEL 3:
 At last they washed up on a tiny island in Tomales Bay. They were greeted by two weathered locals named John and Terry, who raised some of the sweetest, juiciest oysters you ever ate but otherwise subsisted on rainwater and the occasional wild hog if they were lucky enough to catch one.

PANEL 4:
 With the help of a couple of ducats of lead shot, these beer mutineers and oyster mercenaries were soon straddling a roaring fire and feasting on roast pig, freshly shucked oysters and goblets of fine ale. They could think of worse fates than being
  MAROONED ON HOG ISLAND

It’s like a kick in the butt and a hug at the same time.  Our spiced winter ale is a ruby brown English-style ale brewed with hand selected spices and cocoa nibs for just a hint of holiday flavor.  Pairs perfectly with that honey glazed holiday ham, turkey, sweet potatoes and especially holiday pies, cookies and desserts.

Check out our continuing Fireside Chat video series featuring Santa, FDR and the merry and rambunctious elves.

Available only through the end of the year!

The BRU/SFO Project returns. The month of November is a special time of year, the weather changes, stews and rich dishes make their way to the table and the SF Giants come off another World Series win, you know typical Fall stuff. It is also the season when two great San Francisco breweries bring you the BRU/SFO Project. Our good friends at Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery and the 21st Amendment come together and craft 12 unique Belgian-style beers, six at each brewery. The BRU/SFO Project is named for the airport codes for Brussels and San Francisco and takes you over to Europe and back again as you enjoy these Bay area interpretations of Belgian beers.

The 21st Amendment beer release schedule for BRU/SFO Project:

Novemeber 1st: Via – Belgian Single, Drunken Monk – Strong Dark Abbey, Gnome Noir – Oaked Belgian Stout

Novemeber 5th: Leuven Life – Belgian Pale Ale

November 12th: Baby Horse – Belgian Quad

November 19th: Double Tripel – Belgo-American IPA

Magnolia’s beer release schedule for BRU/SFO Project:

Novemeber 1st: Saison de Lily – Saison Ale, Chocolate George – Belgian Stout w/cocoa nibs, Deep Ellem Dubbel – Abbey-style Dubbel

Novemeber 5th: Gris-Gris – Grisette

November 12th: Sunburst – Belgo-American IPA

November 19th: Tweezer Tripel – Abbey-style Tripel

When you collect all 12 beers you receive a commemorative event glass. Come on in and enjoy this incredible adventure.
Thanks for your support.

Shaun and Nico

It’s mid October and The National League Championship Series may be deadlocked between the Giants and the Cardinals, but a brewery in each of their cities is determined to come out the winner. San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery has thrown down the gauntlet to St. Louis’ Schlafly Beer in a fierce winner-take-beer challenge.

“We’re always eager to make a good wager if it involves beer,” said 21st Amendment Brewery’s co-founder and brewmaster, Shaun O’Sullivan. “And we really look forward to getting a couple of cases of beer from our friends at Schlafly. St. Louis may have a losing baseball team, but they sure are home to great beer.”

In other 21st Amendment Brewery news, a couple of states over at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver last weekend, 21st Amendment Brewery’s Bitter American seized the Bronze medal in the Session Beer category. “Bitter American was named one of the Top 10 Beers by The Washington Post last year, so we’re pretty excited for it to continue to get its due, this time at GABF,” said 21st Amendment Brewery co-founder NicoFreccia.” Bitter American is an extra pale alewhich packs a lot of hop and malt flavor into a refreshingly low alcohol (4.4% by volume) brew-making it the perfect session beer to enjoy with friends(a staple in British pub culture).

Go Giant’s!

Shaun and Nico

Bitter American is available in cans and on draft at bars and stores in all seventeen of 21st Amendment’s current distribution territories which include CA, OR, WA, AK, ID, MN, OH, MA, NY, NJ, DC, MD, DE, PA, VA, GA and NC.