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I Am Thankful for Family, Friends, and Brown Shugga’ - Lagunitas’ Brown Shugga’

12/1/2014

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Brown Shugga’ season is FINALLY upon us!  As a serial taster, I have a really hard time committing to a six-pack these days except during Brown Shugga’ season.  This is the one six-pack I will pick up every time.  It’s that good.  And, Lagunitas does a brilliant job of creating demand by only producing this beer a few blissful months during the winter.  Brown Shugga’ is not only my favorite beer, it’s also a great reminder of my family and friends. 

I was first introduced to Brown Shugga’ several years ago by my non-beer drinking friend, Tessa, who wanted to bring some to her folks’ place because it was one of her dad’s favorite beers.  This was back during the height of my Shock Top phase (aka I only drink mainstream wheat beer phase), so I was shocked that she would go out of her way to pick up a particular beer for the holidays.  Now, it’s part of my family’s Thanksgiving feast (my mom, sister, and I are pictured drinking our first Brown Shugga’ of the season).  Sure, turkey and stuffing are great, but Brown Shugga’ is the key side dish.  My mom, who lives in Petaluma, home of Lagunitas, always buys a six-pack or two for Thanksgiving.  She also manages to hide a few bottles after Brown Shugga’ season is over.  Let me tell you, discovering a Brown Shugga’ in the back of my mom’s fridge in the middle of June is a feeling like no other. 

Clocking in at a whopping 9.9% ABV, Brown Shugga’ is a must try during the holiday season.  Lagunitas describes it as a failed attempt at its 1997 batch of Olde GnarlyWine Ale.  I describe it as sweet beer goodness.  The high ABV is disguised under its crisp brown sugar flavors, which pairs nicely with dessert or your traditional holiday feast. 

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It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s a Sparking Ale? – Calicraft’s Buzzerkeley

11/17/2014

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I’ve spent my last several weekends at breweries learning about the business of beer.  As a craft beer drinker, I find this saturated beer market deliciously wonderful.  But as a marketer, I can’t even imagine the challenges breweries face to not only survive but thrive.  Like most industries, there is no magic potion to prescribe to differentiate one beer brand from the other.  Or, is there?

Behold - today’s beer course focused on the marketing and branding of Calicraft Brewery, a “small” contract brewery based out of Walnut Creek.  This brewery is small…for now.  Draft Magazine named Calicraft a “Brewery to Watch” in 2013, just one whopping year after opening its doors in May 2012.  They brewed approximately 5k barrels this last year, which is a crazy amount of beer for a two-year start up without a taproom (yet).  But, Calicraft thinks outside-the-box.  They are not in the business to replicate a style.  Rather, they want to put their own spin on everything they produce, keeping in mind their core values.  Calicraft’s founder Blaine Landberg’s first brew, Buzzerkeley, didn’t even fit a true beer style when he started brewing 15 years ago in his UC Berkeley dorm room.  An ale fermented in Belgian and…wait for it….champagne yeast, Buzzerkeley was already not your normal beer. 

As proclaimed by Calicraft themselves, “Buzzerkeley is beer meets wine.”  At 7% ABV, this beer goes down smooth.  It starts off with your typical fruity Belgian ale flavors but ends with a surprisingly sparkly finish.  Well, maybe not so surprising since the beer is actually packaged to look like champagne (#genius).  I’d call it a beer lover’s mimosa or at least a dope bottle to bring to a dinner party.



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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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