Hop Heads 100th Event! Tasting at Mary's Pizza Shack

Our trip to Mary's Pizza Shack in Roseville on Sunday was our 100th official Hop Heads event. Barely a week after our second anniversary!

As some of you may have seen from Rick Sellers blog, PacificBrewNews, Mary's Pizza Shack in Roseville recently began brewing craft beer to go with their pizza. On tap, their starting line up included a wonderfully dry hopped pale ale, a malty amber, a pilsner and an american wheat.

Wow! what a turnout! We had Hop Heads from as far south as Lodi (welcome, Tina!). Gary Juels (brewmaster) and Josh (District Manager) were class acts. They went out of their way to show us a great time. Countless samples of their ales.

The pale ale stood out, with wonderful dry hopped aroma. The excellent beers, the awesome appetizers, and the wonderful pizza (my favorite was the combo) put us in food and beer sensory overload. Hmm...wonder what's next to be on tap?!

At a mere 365 sq ft, the brewery is packed tight. The kettle is heated from a 500kBTU direct fire stove. Geez! All beers are served straight from the bright tanks, no middle man. The tubes are replaced with each batch to eliminate worries of cleaning such long lines. It was defintely one of our top Hop Heads events, thanks completely to Gary and Josh at Mary's Pizza Shack. We'll definitely be back!

First Annual International Brewers Day

I must say the first annual International Brewers Day was a success! Thank you Jay Brooks!

It began at Rubicon with Hopsickle (Moylans), Hop Sauce, and ESB. What a wonderful selection of excellent, as usual!

Wow, the hops are growing like crazy in the back! Then we migrated to the Old Tavern for a pitcher of Arrogant Bastard and Lagunitas IPA. Shuffleboard didn't work out so well with the lack of sand. Daniel, at the pool table, ran it up a couple rounds but refused to go home with the cougars.

It was great to welcome our newest Hop Head, Nicole, like she was a long lost member of our club. She apparently asks for a beer by giving the reacharound signal. I didn't even know there was a reacharound signal. OK, long story.

Jason and I compared Hobbit toes at one point.

Nonetheless, this was not an event to miss. Thank god for International Brewers Day!!!

Kym McNicholas' (my big sis) segment on Craft Brew on Forbes.com

Well, it appears that my craft brew enthusiasm has just spread to my sister, Kym, reporter for Forbes.com. In her segment, she interviews Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing and Dan Gordon of Gordon-Biersch. Link to video.

It looks like Kym has a little trouble pouring her first pint. I guess that's my fault for not teaching her properly :).