Sacramento Beer Week: Friday, February 26th... Rubicon Cask Ales and 3 Fires Lounge

Friday night of beer week marked the final stretch of the week long festivities... with only two more days left to soak in the beer culture of Sacramento I had my heart set on a fantastic Cask Ale tasting at Rubicon Brewing Co. This was to be the coup de grace of my beer week experience. Even though Saturday and Sunday were chalk full of good events, Friday is where I conclude my Beer Week postings and wrap up my overall take on the first ever Sacramento Beer Week. The night started off promising and full of excitement. However, a snag in the plan and forces beyond my control denied me what I had been looking forward to all week. Eventually the night would lead me the 3 Fires Lounge where I was able to partake of some fairly decent Belgian ales.

Rubicon Brewing Co.

Arriving at the Rubicon it was apparent that many people were also excited about Cask Ales as trying to enter the establishment proved to be somewhat difficult. Finding a place to sit was nigh impossible... so I stood and tried to get to the bar and partake in some Cask conditioned goodness. I got up to the bar and looked over the Cask Ale list... It was as follows,

Rubicon IPA

Sierra Nevada BROWN ALE

Bear Republic Brewing Company’s APEX

Stone Brewing Company’s ARROGANT BASTARD

Sudwerk’s UNFILTERED MÄRZEN

Auburn Alehouse GOLD DIGGER I.P.A.

Moylan’s Brewing Company MOCHA PORTER

I decided to hold off on a full blown sampler of all of them until I had a seat. I decided instead to go with the Apex I.P.A. However, to my immediate chagrin I was was informed that all of the Cask Ales, with the exception of the Sierra Nevada Brown Ale, were gone!!! What?? I looked at my phone to check the time... not even 8:00pm... Oh well... give me a Brown Ale then! Got my beer, found an open seat outside and drank it. It was really good. Not much else to say there... Sierra Nevada does good stuff and a Cask conditioned Brown Ale does not disappoint. At least I was able to get one of the specialty beers. Hopefully next year during Beer Week this event, if it is slated to happen again, is a little more well thought out. Regardless, I was able to get my hands on one of the few pints left of the event and was thankful I didn't arrive any later than I did.

3 Fires Lounge

The next stop was the 3 Fires Lounge, located at 1501 L st. in downtown Sac. All week they had been offering specials on some select Belgian ales. As a last shot at drinking some good beer during beer week, I and some friends I had met up with walked down to this establishment to check it out. Somewhat of an upscale bar/lounge, the setting was a stark contrast to the normal brew pub surroundings that I am used to. Nonetheless I acquired both Belgians that were on the special and shared them with the group. Both were wheat based ales, one of them in my opinion was definitely better than the other.

Le Grande Blanche (De Proefbrouwerij; bvba Andelot) was very smooth and sweet. Similar to a saison but lighter in body and more carbonated. This is a beer I would definitely drink again. The second selection, and the one I found to be just o.k. was Blanche De Bruxelles (Brasserie Lefèbvre SA). Another wheat based ale, this one was very light and the key flavors I was looking for were underwhelming. Honestly, the beer is good... just not what I would choose to drink if I had the choice. The spices, coriander and orange peel flavors come through more than the malt or yeast flavors and tend to be distracting. Overall Le Grande Blanche may be one of my new go to belgians in the future... further experimentation in required!

As Sacramento Beer Week came to a close (for me anyway) I was reminded that Sacramento has a strong affinity for the brew! All events were fun to some degree and I was able to observe some real unity between people towards a common interest. I am looking forward to the next manifestation of Beer Week and having been part of the first ever implementation of such an idea I am sure that next year I will be better prepared and hopefully more active in my approach. All in all, not a bad start!!!

till next year...