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Life’s Three Guarantees – Moonlight Brewing’s Death & Taxes (black lager)

3/23/2015

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I stopped by San Francisco’s Hogwash, a trendy beer and sausage bar, the other day to avoid yet another major BART delay heading back to the East Bay after work.  (Note:  There’s a reason why SF residents Gail Ann Williams and Steve Shapiro created http://beerbybart.com/ - not only for safety, but to help us commuters overcome our routine delays!)  I was excited to checkout Hogwash because 1) the beer list, 2) artisan sausages such as the butternut squash vegan sausage, and 3) the beer list.  Just a few blocks from Union Square, this is the date spot of SF beer bars.  Modern and dimly lit, errrrbody looks good at Hogwash.  I scanned the list of approximately 20+ beers, only to get stuck on one of my faves, Moonlight Brewing’s Death & Taxes. 

Founded in 1992, Moonlight is a tiny brewery based out of Santa Rosa, CA.  Brewer/Owner Brian Hunt is a Bay Area beer legend who gets mad respect from beer peeps near and far.  Death & Taxes, a 5% ABV black lager, is one of Moonlight’s five year-round beers and also its flagship beer.  A stickler for quality control, Moonlight’s beers can pretty much only be found on draft throughout the North Bay, East Bay, and SF.  In 2013, Moonlight announced opening a growler fill station/taproom in Santa Rosa, but from what I last read, this is still in progress. 

Death and taxes are life’s two guarantees, but the third guarantee is that Moonlight’s Death & Taxes is one of my top five beers.  Moonlight simply describes this beer as “a very dark yet surprisingly light-bodied lager beer, crisp and refreshing with no heaviness.”  Agreed, but they left out the part about its robust caramel and coffee aroma and that it smells and looks like a porter, but its light texture will bring you back to its lager roots.  There are some other really good black lagers out there such as HenHouse’s Mrs. Schwarzbier and New Belgium’s 1554, but nothing beats Death & Taxes (hello, irony!).   



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Wedding Showers in the Central Valley – Dust Bowl Brewing Company

3/8/2015

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This past weekend I was up in the Turlock area for my friend Jana’s wedding shower.  Some friends and I decided to make a weekend out of it and check out the local Central Valley nightlife.  Oh boy!  Our first destination, of course, was a brewery.  Dust Bowl Brewing Company is a popular brewpub located in the heart of downtown Turlock, which is approximately two whopping blocks.  The bar itself is small, but the place had plenty of seating filled with families and large parties alike.  Industrial and contemporary, this is the place to be if you live in the area.

I ordered a few samplers and tried a number of good beers.  My standouts were the Therapist, an imperial IPA drowned in citrus hops, finishing with very minimal bite; the British Mild, a sweet, caramel English dark mild that was made for easy drinking at 4.5% ABV; and my favorite, the Milk Stout, a thick, black milk stout with strong coffee and cream flavors. 

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Dust Bowl is owned by one of Jana’s friends, Brett Tate, who is a former teacher and coach.  I didn’t get a chance to meet him, but sports and beer?  Sounds like a pretty cool guy!  Brett snatched up head brewmaster, Don Oliver, after Don was named the Samuel Adams Longshot National Homebrew Competition winner in 2006 for his rendition of an Old Ale. The brewery poured its first beer in 2009, and later opened its current taproom in 2011.  Dust Bowl has plans to double production (approximately 17,000 barrels) by the end of 2015 when it opens its larger production brewery also located in Turlock.  A brewery on the rise, Dust Bowl’s new brewery could potentially brew up to 100,000 barrels per year.   

All and all, Dust Bowl was one of the many highlights from that evening, which ended in Zumba-like dance moves at a club down the street and a few snacks from In-N-Out.  Definitely a good visit!

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    Author

    Domenica Curran is an Oakland gal with a passion for craft brews and the stories behind them.

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