8th Annual Strong Beer Month Begins

It's here folks. You and you liver have made friends. February 1st, marks the start of the 8th Annual Strong Beer Month. The brewers of the 21st Amendment and Magnolia Pub and Brewery once again bring you an astounding range of memorable brews to lift the winter doldrums. Visit both breweries, try all twelve beers and keep the special commemorative glass. Commemorative t-shirts are also available. The festivities begin February 1st, but check back often as special kegs and casks of vintage and barrel-aged beers will appear throughout the month and runs the entire month. These special beers and glasses will be available from February 1st until they run out.

BRU/SFO PROJECT

THE BRU/SFO PROJECT IS HERE!

After six great Strong Beer Months with our good friends at Magnolia Pub and Brewery we once again team up with them to debut the first of it's kind. BRU/SFO Project. It's an excursion of Belgian-style and Belgian-influenced beers, six from each brewery. Grab a boarding pass and take a trip to Belgium via Magnolia and the 21st Amendment. The first three beers at each brewery hit the taps on Monday, 11/2 and then both breweries will release a new beer every Monday for the rest of the month. Try all 12 and get the special commemorative glass. This is what we have in store for you this month:

21st Amendment

• Via - Belgian Single 11/2
• St. Martin's Abbey 11/2
• Noir de Blanc- Chocolate Wit 11/2
• Brew Libre! Ou Mourir - Belgian IPA 11/9
• Monk's Blood - Belgian Dark Strong 11/16
• Baby Horse - Quadruple 11/23

Magnolia

• Deep Ellum Dubbel 11/2
• Tweezer Tripel 11/2
• Gris-Gris - Belgian Grisette 11/2
• Gordo - Pumpkin Wit 11/9
• Destiny Unblonde - Belgian Pale 11/16
• Paint it Black - Belgian Dark 11/23

MONK'S BLOOD RELEASE BEER DINNER WITH SEAN Z. PAXTON, THE HOMEBREW CHEF - MONDAY NOVEMBER 16TH

Sean Paxton, the HomeBrew Chef, returns to the 21st Amendment Monday, November 16th at 6:30 PM, to create another one of his phenomenal dinners as he's done with us before. Sean's master culinary skills are unique and unlike any other. The real deal. His knowledge of beer, the brewing process and ingrediants leads to some truly amazing things in the kitchen as he works each course giving it a unique, distinctive approach and taste.

Sean and 21A's Shaun (that's two Shawns folks) and Nico collaborated on Monk's Blood Beer this past February for Strong Beer Month, then took the recipe to Belgium where they further collaborated with the West Flander's brewery De Struisse Brouwers, the makers of old world style Belgian beers with a new world approach. They then brought the recipe back to San Francisco this past summer brewing and refining it further before heading out to the 21A production brewery in Minnesota for wider release.

Monk's Blood is the first installment in our new Insurrection Series, a limited edition, four-pack release of a very special beer that rises up in revolt against common notions of what canned beer can be. A Belgian dark-strong, brewed with dried mission figs, Belgian dark candy sugar, vanilla beans and aged over oak chips comes in at 8.3% ABV avaiable later this month in 4-pack cans and on draft at your favorite good beer place. What a fitting dinner event for this well traveled and unique beer. Join the fun with 21A Chef Lorenzo and Sean Paxton as they make culinary history. The price is $95 including tax and tip. Call the 21A today for this will surely sell out. 415-369-0900.

First Course - Fromage & Charcuterie
House-made Pork Pate - Local Sonoma Pig infused with Noir de Blanc and Dried Apricots
Cinnamon, Clove, Nutmeg and Allspice Corned Pig tongue, Flemish Style Cured Halibut, Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese, Old Amsterdam, Chimay Cheese, Spiced Nuts, Local Breads

The Beer Hunter '07
Brew Libre! Ou Mourir

Second Course - Waterzooi
PEI Mussels, Prawns, Pumpkin, Fennel, Purple Potatoes, Cippolini Onions and Herbs
in a Enkel Spiked Cream Broth

VIA -Belgian single

Third Course - Ravioli Filled with St. Martin's Abbey Braised Lamb Necks
Caramelized Shallots, Thyme and Chanterelle Mushrooms and Dubbel Reduction

St. Martin's Abbey

Fourth Course - Monk's Legs
Duck Legs Slowly cooked in Monk's Blood on a Bed of Ginger Butternut Squash Purée
and Glazed Brussels Sprouts, Pomme Frites with Monk's Blood Aioli

Monk's Blood Belgian dark strong

Fifth Course - Belgian Quad Spiked Waffles
With TCHO Chocolate Whipping Cream, Cocoa Nibs, Noir de Blanc Poached Dried Cherries

Baby Horse - Quadruple
Bourbon Barrel Aged Monk's Blood

Stay tuned for special releases in what is shaping up to be an extraordinary month.

Thanks for your support,

Nico and Shaun

21st-Amendment.com

Oregon Brewers Festival

Well after attending the Oregon Brewers Festival for the past six years it certainly was exciting to finally be at that festival and selling our beer in the Portland and greater Oregon Area.

We did a few tastings around the city and sang our Watermelon Wheat Beer song at the festival.

Draft Magazine: 92 Points for Hell or High Watermelon

Check out this stellar review in Draft Magazine, which named 21st Amendment's "Hell or High Watermelon" their top summer fruit beer.


"It pours light gold and clear, topped with a foamy, white head. Sweet watermelon aromas and soft, tart wheat scents tickle the nose. Wheaty, bready notes greet the tongue before watermelon sweetness steps in. Unlike many fruit beers, this one never becomes overly sweet; the watermelon flavor is crisp and focused... this no-nonsense beer is a pure thirst-quencher." -DRAFT Magazine, Spring '09

The Great Beyond

Phew, we have been so busy. Just a quick update to keep everyone up to date on what we have been up too. We are set to launch our beer in the Northeast in the near future. You can find our "Brew Free! or Die" and "Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer" on draft and in cans soon in the Boston area, Washington, DC, Virginia, New York City area, New Jersey and beyond. Also, we are in current talks to soon distribute our fine beer in the Northwest in Oregon and Washington.

More to come.

Ok, everyone take a breath.

Shaun

21st Amendment/De Struise Brouwer Collaboration Brewing Project

What started out as an idea, I guess all projects start out that way, took it's first concrete step on Monday March, 30th in Lo, Belgium  where we brewed our collaboration brew with De Struise Brouwers. What will be a dark strong Belgian beer with aggressive hopping found it's beginnings on a chilly spring afternoon at the De Struise farmhouse brewery. Sean Paxton, the Home Brew Chef, was the match maker between the two breweries and was the third axle in designing this extraordinary brew.  

Belgium has been the hot bed of inspiration and activity for the American Craft Beer movement where ideas and beer have moved back and forth over the Atlantic. Many American craft breweries have had great success with brewing Belgian-style beers and the American craft beer drinker has benefited from this synergy between the two countries. De Struise Brouwer has seen a lot of attention in the US with their brand of strong Belgian beers with aggressive American hops. At the helm of De Struise is Urbain Cotteau a modern day renaissance man having held title to various occupations as photographer, civil transportation engineer, ostrich wrangler and now brewmaster to one of the most unique Belgian breweries. Not shy about anything including, the idea of collaborating on brewing projects, he dove feet first into this brew with the 21A.

The trip was extraordinary where Nico and I were able to visit some of our favorite Belgian breweries and allowed us an opportunity to get in touch with what inspired us open the 21st Amendment nine years ago. We visited Cantilion, the famed gueuze brewery, De Dolle in West Flanders where we had a private tasting of rare beers with Chis the owner and brewer. We also drank Rodenbach in the town where it is brewed in, Roselare. Tasted many extraordniary beers at 't Brugs Beertje, the "Little Bear" in Bruges and the Hop Duvyl in Gent.  An amazing trip. Here are some photos of the infamous brew day at De Struise. Stay tuned.

Twitter Brew - Spring Tweet

I got this crazy idea about a month ago that with all the Tweetups (that's a meet-up in person for Twitters) that have been taking place at the 21A, why not have a twitter beer. That and the fact that the Twitter headquarters are just a quick walk across the park. If you don't know what Twitter might be, Wikipedia has the elaborate definition, but it is essentially micro-blogging site where users can follow each other and send and receive 'tweets' which are 140 characters or less.  Everyday people Twitter, celebrities, companies, spamers and the like. The 21st Amendment has been Twittering since about June of last year and we try to let our followers know about what is going on with the 21st Amendment. I personally feel it's important to put a face, a real person behind the tweets otherwise it comes across as too much of an advertisement. Companies such at VirginAmerica, Southwest Airlines and Ebay come to mind as great twittering companies as they really have fun with the medium. 

We tweeted about the idea for the Twitter brew as a lark at first and the response was huge, then we asked what would be a good name and we received more great responses. We then brewed the twitterbrew and tweeted about the whole process. The media got wind of it along with bloggers and all we can say is that we are very excited. What has come out of this is 'Spring Tweet,' a Spring ale, light and floral. We are releasing it at 4pm on Monday, April 6th. 

Stop by if you get a chance and you can always follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/21stAmendment