Beer Dinners: Odonata American v Belgian night

In case you haven't tried it yet, a beer and food pairing dinner is a fabulous way to spend an evening with friends.  Nationwide, chefs and brewers alike are putting care & love into creating great food and great beer experiences: a delightful development in the craft beer industry today.  

Thank you all the fantastic chefs and enthusiasts out there 

who take the time to prepare fine food and libations for us!

These photos are from a unique meal that pairs each course with 2 samples of a Belgian beer style: a Belgian original and an America version of the same style.  The happy diners then choose their favorites and debate the merits of stylistic contributions while working their way through an amazing diversity of food and beer.

Course 1 revealed the secret menu & beer list which opened with with delicate wit and  & fresh oysters

Course 1-Wit Menu & Chef
Click photo to zoom in

 With the super-secret menu, even I didn't know if Odonata Saison would be on the evening's agenda.  So I was thrilled when the  house's Cellar Reserve Saison came out against the wonderful Glazen Toren D'Erpe-Mere.  The owner and the chef each made some dining comments and the tasting began.

Course 2-Saison: Odonata v Glazen Toren

The Saison comparison was a good match for both style and technique: both the Odonata and the Glazen Toren had been laid aside for traditional farmhouse cellar conditioning: a technique not commonly found in the fast-paced American production market.  I was amazed at the similarity in the complex nose of the two Saisons with both finishing very dry but full of fruity Belgian flavors.  

With the fatty richness of the paired pork belly tostone (corn foundation), the Glazen Toren exhibited more of a floaral/herbal finish and the Odonata Saison highlighted a dry black raspberry note.  The Odonata was slightly fuller on the malt - reflecting our more american malt bill.  Rumor is the vote tallied slightly in favor of the local brew :)

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/glazen-toren-saison-derpe-mere/44593/

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/odonata-saison-bottle/119403/

Course 3-Tripel

While the crisp Saisons had been paired with a rich pork belly course, next a light and beautiful salad was presented with the full flavored Tripels from St Feuillien and Allegash.  I was sad to see that salad go but plenty was still on its way.

Course 4-Tripel IPA

 The rich spicy Triple IPAs came next with a spicy duck "wing" that was so good I didn't even want to let the bones go to waste.  I thought after the duck wing course it was going to be hard to beat, but then along came  a wonderful cheese interlude.

Course 5-Dubbel

 The Black Diamond Dubble was a solid hit with the honey and Humbolt Fog cheese.  Not an easy feat with the tart-sour-strong-sweet of honey and cheese, but the beers and the course delivered delightfully.

Course 6-Flemish Red

If you're trying to decide what to do for a belgian dinner, throw in some Flemish Red and a traditional Flemish stew - how could you go wrong?  Of course, when you decide to make it your Lost Abbey Red Poppy course..... you are destined to make the dinner epic.

Course 7-Quad & Dessert

 Dessert was served.  Glasses were emptied.  Toasts were echoed.  The evening was delightful.

Odonata Saison and Glazen Toren D'Erpe-Mere
Good Beer and Food was had by all

Challenge for Charity: Wine Tasting and Odonata Beer Pouring Tonight

One of the things I loved about my childhood, was that I spent time both living and working on a Barley Farm in Saskatchewan and in the Orchards and Vineyards of British Columbia.  Here in California I feel at home with a foot in both agricultural (and fermentation) roots.  This is one of the reasons I deeply respect the UCDavis Wine and Brewing programs:  It takes a special culture and understanding to chooses to invest in the future of both industries the way UCDavis has.  That dedication is reflected in the commitment the UCDavis Graduate School of Management demonstrates in developing business leaders who know about  California's great fermentation industries and prioritize charitable service.

So I am especially delighted to be pouring Odonata Beer’s Saison alongside a few dozen fabulous regional wineries at the Challenge for Charity… and not only are we raising money for charity – but I also love the chance to challenge a few die-hard wine pallets to a renewed appreciation of the subtly and quality in truly fine farmhouse ales.  I am bringing Odonata Beer's finest reserve cellar aged Saison and I expect craft beer enthusiasts to emerge :) 

Here are the details for anyone in NorCal looking for a delightful outing tonight:

MBA Challenge for Charity (C4C) is a consortium of nine west-coast business schools that has been promoting philanthropy among business students for twenty-seven years. This year, the students of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management will host their 8th Annual C4C Wine Tasting Benefit and Auction on Saturday, March 9th, 2013, 6-10 pm.

The Wine Tasting Benefit will be hosted at Gallagher Hall, located on the UC Davis campus, and proceeds will benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento and the Special Olympics of Northern California. An eclectic mix of business executives, community leaders, and distinguished university faculty and GSM alumni will all gather to sample wines from several local wineries, beer from local breweries, indulge in delicious hors d’oeuvres, and bid on a diverse group of auction items. 

Tickets at the door  https://www.facebook.com/C4CUCDavis.

Good News!! Odonata Beer Returns

Odonata Beer Co is pleased to announce its return!!!!!

Celebrate in Sacramento during Beer Week with our limited edition reserve release:

Odonata Beer Company's limited reserve Cellar Aged Saison is a special release of our flagship Saison that has been conditioned in perfect Wine Cellar conditions.  Like a fine wine, our Saison is traditionally designed to be aged and the bottle conditioning has allowed the live yeast to provide a very dry exquisitely herbal finish along with the refined tropical fruit notes which define our outstanding Saison.  Drinkable and refreshing, this beer scored an impeccable 98/100 points before we laid it aside for cellar conditioning - and industry experts are calling our reserve inventory better than the original!  

After a short hiatus, Odonata Beer is thrilled to announce it's resurrection and our Reserve Saison is being made available only by arrangement as a celebration of our local establishments and the fine beer enthusiasts of Northern California!

For a full description of the original beer:

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/odonata-saison-bottle/119403/

I look forward to meeting friends old and new at events and at our facility when we get it open later this year.  

--Tracy Bethune--

OBC Owner

Sad News

It has been almost a year since the last blog post, so I thought I'd bring you up to speed on the latest. Typically a hiatus would indicate Rick and I are busy brewing and selling beer, but sadly, I'm writing to announce that the two of us have decided to suspend brewing indefinitely.

We are really proud of the quality of the beer we produced and are still overjoyed at the positive reception the community gave us. Unfortunately, at this time, it doesn’t make financial sense to continue.

While Rick and I have gone on to find other employment, there is still some stock of bottles left of Batch 003 Saison and a handful of kegs left in the warehouse that we will continue to sell over the next few months but once it is all sold out, that will be it.

I can’t thank the restaurants, bars, breweries and beer drinkers that supported us over the last year enough. I hope you all continue to support all the new and existing breweries as much as you have supported Odonata.

As for Rick and I, we'll keep you posted to what's next on tap...

Cheers,
Peter

It's June - Time for an Update

Where We Are

So, I don’t really know where to begin. I guess that’s not true…

For starters how about a huge “congratulations” to Peter & Britany Hoey on the birth of their baby, Liam! Odonata is, first and foremost, a family company and we love that the family has been added to. Liam was born on Saturday before father’s day and today mom, dad and baby (and big-sister) are all home happy and healthy.

Bottles!

Image from Twitter follower @Sac_Pixie

Next up, as you hopefully already know, bottles of Saison are on the market and selling at an impressive pace! The feedback we’re getting from retailers is more than a little humbling, but pales in comparison to the feedback you all are saying online, in emails and casual conversations along the way. What’s more, it seems like you all like it enough to buy a second bottle! Of all the things that have impressed me most since their debut, it’s the looking at empty shelves where our beer once was and having to opportunity to re-stock. Very, very cool.

Batch 001

Finally a bit of heartbreak… Astute beer buyers have noticed that the batch of beer on the shelves is in fact batch 002. Here’s the deal with batch 001 – it most likely will never see the light of day. Know this, our goal is to sell beer we love, first and foremost. There’s no nice way around it, Batch 001 was ‘good’, but not ‘good enough’ and it had everything to do with the carbonation. Things were looking great, we opened a few for testing and heard the audible hiss we hoped for, even poured with a wisp of a head, but ultimately the carbonation for the beer wasn’t to snuff. This is pretty big news for this two-man company, the loss of the beer alone put us in a tight spot and we’ve talked with many veterans in the industry for advice. Ultimately, however, it was clear that we were choosing between putting out a beer that we couldn’t be proud of, or writing it off and moving forward. So, forward we go.

Other Stuff

It’s a weird spot to be in, having a small business with only two bodies to do all the work, but damn we’re having fun. That said, we know that you’re expecting an online store for shirts and glassware as soon as possible. All I can say to that is ‘we’re working on it’. I still need to get some nice pictures of the shirts and glasses to get to our super-awesome web guy… but that just hasn’t happened. We also know that there are a lot of places near you that don’t yet have our beer in stock. We are certainly working on that, too. We’re looking at expanding NorCal distribution within the next two weeks as some bigger accounts come on board. We’ve kind of held back a bit initially to see what sort of production needs we’d have to plan for, based on how well the beer was received. Needless to say we’ll be planning for more beer, more frequently to be shipped to more places so that more of you can enjoy Odonata Saison.

Oh yeah… just so you all know, we’re planning some fun summertime beer releases. It’s still unclear which direction we’re going, but I think Peter will work on getting something fun and unusual (yet, historically and seasonally correct) out to you soon. Before that we have a few batches of Rorie’s Ale & Liam’s Ale to get into barrels.

Thanks, everyone. Your support has been encouraging and spectacular. Our initial RateBeer score came in at 95 and we’ve also been listed at Sacrament News & Review as “Summertime’s Local Artisan Beer of Choice”. To see more of what folks are saying about us, check out the News tab on our website.

Cheers!

- Peter & Rick

Answering a Few Questions

Let's start with the easiest and most frequently asked question: "When will your bottles be available?" Answer: June 7th we start shipping.

Now, onto the fun stuff. Our release parties in the Sacramento region have thus far been totally kick-ass fun! The reception by the community has been outstanding, and the satisfaction we feel watching people enjoy a second pint of Saison is hard to put into words. You see, we feel anyone can down a pint of beer, but to see you get another one says that you actually like Saison! We've killed kegs at every event we've had, sold all our glassware and generally been overwhelmed with how fast the beers are selling throughout the region. In fact, and I'm sorry to say this, we're to the point now where we expect to sell out of Saison sooner than anticipated. We can't take new orders for the beer right now, but we're working to fix that ASAP (Peter's brewing tomorrow, in fact!). You should be able to still find Saison where it's currently being sold, but we just can't expand to more locations until we get more beer. Thank you!

Bottle Saison Batch One vs. Batch Two

We learned a whole lot with batch one of Saison. This was the batch we did everything by the book when it comes to embracing traditional practices. The one thing that has slowed the whole release down was our decision to bottle Saison completely flat, with zero carbonation. We like the idea of having a 100% bottle-conditioned beer, but ultimately lack the production capacity to continue this lengthy process. So we've made one tweak in batch two - we're bottling with about half the volume of CO2 we hope to have in the finished product, the rest will still come via bottle-conditioning because we think that's important for the style. What's that mean to you? Well, not much. Astute palates may detect a slight change in body and a bit more hop character in batch two. However, we don't see there being a difference that impacts the beer, overall. Guess we'll leave that for you all to decide - we'd love to know what you think from batch to batch.

Our Future

Another question we've been asked about a lot is if we plan on having our own location. Yes, it is our goal to open a small place in Sacramento (likely east Sacramento so we can sell bottles) in the near future. We're working on some legal stuff and will soon be looking for investors. Once that's all lined up, we'll move as fast as humanly possible to get the doors open. We're planning on a 15-barrel brewhouse with 30-barrel fermentors, some food service, pints and growler fills (along with keg sales for home use). We'll be sure to keep you posted on that, as well. Thanks for the inquiries on that.

With this in mind (while we're answering questions), we've also got a handful of beers planned for future release. However, we're going to stick with Saison through the summer as we work hard to build our brand here in Sacramento. We've said it here before, but it bares repeating - Saison is the flagship beer for Odonata Beer Co and we're working now to make sure it's available throughout the region. Brand building doesn't happen quick or easy, so we're trying to make it as smooth as possible with a beer that we believe in, a beer that's got broad appeal while being completely craft. As the brand builds, you'll see a lot more of our Reserve, Seasonal and One-Off creations.

Online Store

Yes, this is in the works! We hope to have this up sooner than later (weeks, not months). Here we're going to sell T-Shirts, Work Shirts, Hoodies and Glassware - sorry, no beer. For now we're only going to ship within the USA. We're getting all that figured out now.

That's it for now. Thank you, everyone, for your continued support and all the kindness you've shown to Peter and me - we appreciate it every single day! Truly, thank you.

- Peter & Rick

We Are But Slaves to Yeast

There is a whole lot happening and we couldn’t possibly mention it all here right now. That said, there are a few important things we need to update you on.

First off, our Saison bottle release will be slightly delayed. Don’t worry, we’re still going to party like mad on Friday with our newly-kegged Saison, but the bottles will be a couple weeks yet. Why? Well, the easy answer is because we care. Lab tests show that the carbonation is a little on the low side right now, so we’re going to give the yeast a bit more time in the bottle to do its thing. The good news is the yeast is definitely doing it thing – when we crack a bottle open we can hear an audible hiss and there a clear tingle on the tongue when imbibed (oh, and it tastes friggin’ fantastic!). However, we are hoping for a bit more of a head on the beer when poured and simply refuse to let the beer go to market until we, as beer geeks, are happy with it, ourselves.

“What’s up with that?” you may be asking. We can blame a bunch of factors, but ultimately the yeast gets to do what it does on its own timeline. We would have liked some warmer temperatures to make the yeast happier and more willing to work its magic, but it’s been cooler than anticipated and the yeast is acting like me when it’s chilly out – its moving slower, waiting for warmer days before going out and getting on with the work of producing carbonation & alcohol. Really though, there isn’t anything to blame – this is real beer, living and unpasteurized, made the way Saisons have been made from the get-go. Some Belgian brewers keep their beer in the bottle for up to 45 days waiting for the carbonation to pop. We had allotted 21 days, so worst case scenario is that the beer needs another three weeks (we don’t think it’ll take that long, by the way). We’re certain your patience will have been worth it. When Odonata Saison does hit the shelves in May, we’re confident that it will be one of the most ultra-superior, made with wheat, authentic Saisons you’ve had (just read that from our awesome label).

The Parties!

Starting Friday April 30th we’re going to start hitting regional bars & cafes with our Saison (draft version only, for now). We’ve also got our new pint glasses in hand (pictures to come in the next couple of days), t-shirts & hoodies. For the party on the 30th in East Sacramento there will also be food specials, outdoor seating and some pretty killer prices for the pints of Saison. It’s truly going to be a party worth attending!

We’ll follow this up with parties along the way:
4/30 - East Sacramento
5/6 – South Sacramento
5/7 – Folsom
5/14 – Sacramento (Beer Festival at the Ball Park!)

Distribution

We have been asked quite a bit lately about our distribution plans. For right now they’re pretty simple: we are focusing all of our attention on Sacramento, the Foothills east of Sacramento and The Bay Area down to Santa Cruz. We’ll sell to shops along the way throughout Northern California, but that’s pretty much it until we have a place of our own and can support additional markets (like San Diego, Portland, etc.). If you live in areas outside of this distribution area, please know that we cannot legally ship beer to you, even if you pay extra. Sorry about that. We’ll let you know as we expand our distribution, we promise!

I think that’s about all for now. We still love and appreciate the support you all are showing in all of this. We’ve met some fantastic new friends and have valued time spent with those we’ve known for years. Your support for us as individuals & for Odonata Beer will be the only way we can succeed as a small brewery based in Sacramento. Thank you for telling your friends, your families, your coworkers, grocers & bottle shop owners about us. We’ve heard from so many people that have heard good things about us, most all because of your willingness to share what we’re doing. Thank you!

Speaking of passing the word… If you ever run into a store manager, restaurant or bar manager and you want to get them in touch with us, we have an easy catch-all email address: sale [at] odonatabeer [dot] com – we’d love to talk with them!
Cheers!

- Peter & Rick

Where We’re At and What We’re Doing

Hello beer fans! I realize it’s been too long since our last post, but wanted to quickly get a few things out there for you.

First: Saison debuts April 30th! That’s right, we’ve been talking about this for months now, but we’re bottling next week and the beer will be ready for prime time by the 30th! We’ve also slid in a small batch of Saison for draft-only packaging, which will primarily be used to support our release parties in the area.

About the Draft vs. Bottle Saison

We used the same recipe in the draft recipe as the bottle recipe, but the beers won’t taste exactly the same. Bottle-conditioning is going to add a layer of complexity to the beer that won’t be found in the draft version. This beer was designed with bottle-conditioning in mind; it really belongs in the bottle. That said, we’ve been stealing off samples of the draft Saison and I can absolutely assure you this beer is going to rock!

Second: Saison Schwag! We’ve got T-Shirts & Hoodies on the way that all sport the Saison badge! In addition, we’ve just received our new Saison pint glasses that are super sexy! We’re kicking around the idea of creating a sHopping page where you can buy the items online to ship to you, but till that’s up and running you’re going to have to find us for the goods! We’re still working out the prices, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do!

Finally: Parties! In addition to the grand kick-off party we’re having in East Sacramento on April 30th, we’ve got a handful of other celebrations lined up for the days and weeks that follow. Our traveling Saison Road Show will appear in South Sac, Roseville, Folsom, Santa Cruz, Oakland and will hopefully make a few additional stops. At all these stops we’ll have the shirts, glasses & beer.

One last thought before we dismiss.

We’ve made a lot of connections and appreciate all the support and kind words you all have passed our way. We’re going to ask you for some help pretty soon, hopefully nothing too major though. We are just two guys, making & selling beer the best we know how. If you have any good leads for places that you think should have our beer, please help us by mentioning us to the store/restaurant/café/bar and then pass us a note to let us know. You can just use the website contact page that comes straight to me. If you can help us spread the word about Odonata Saison, it’d be greatly appreciated.

Cheers everyone!

- Peter & Rick

Let's Connect!

www.Twitter.com/OdonataBeer

www.Facebook.com/OdonataBeer

Chasing Our Tail - Overdue Updates

It’s been far too long since we posted here, but we hope you understand that’s part of the gig when you’re a two-man operation like Odonata is. Where to begin? How about San Francisco Beer Week?

If you’re a resident of Northern California we hope you had an opportunity to check out at least one amazing beer event for SF Beer Week, there were hundreds to choose from! We were fortunate to participate in several ourselves, having beers poured for the Brewing Network festival (not quite beer week, but close enough), sour-beer and barrel-aged festivals in Berkeley and a sour festival in San Francisco! The response to our beers at these events was outstanding! Our “Rosa” was among the first to kick at the BN party and the feedback received from other events was humbling, to say the least! We finished off the week with swelled heads and an even greater desire to make more beer! Thank you, people of the Bay Area, for making us feel so darned special!

Of course, we were barely able to let our livers recover when it was time for Sacramento’s own Beer Week, right in our own back yard! Whatever measure of success we felt in San Francisco… well, it’s hard to put into words what our hometown did four our egos! For starters there was the opening gala that I was a keynote speaker for (this is Rick, FYI). Given this was the inaugural year for Sacramento, I really didn’t know what to expect as a speaker, not to mention a partner in a new brewery! Had you asked before the Gala what I thought we’d see in attendance, I’d speculate right around 100 – and I’d be happy with that. Well, turns out Sacramento is thirstier for good beer than I thought, as evidenced by the more than 400 people that showed up to listen, learn and enjoy Sacramento’s great beers! The local news crew was there to talk about Odonata, as well as reporters for some news magazines – the feedback was tremendous!

Tuesday we partnered with Chris “The Bicycle Chef” Davis-Murai & a local craft beer bar to introduce the Odonata Strong Ale Glass (or, our Water Witch glass, as it were). To say this was a successful event wouldn’t begin to do it justice. At one point there was a line out the door, in the pouring rain, for people hoping to try the beer, get a glass and enjoy some killer mussels & handmade sausages. It was surreal, unlike anything I’d seen in a Sacramento bar before – especially on a rainy Tuesday night! We met a lot of new friends, shook hands with many we have known for years and generally had us a good time.

The following day we partnered with Chef David Hill in Rocklin to celebrate the first-ever “Water Witch Wednesday” and, again, were blown away. The crowds weren’t as big, but the food & beer pairings, the long conversations with people who just discovered our beers – it was pretty amazing. One thing we learned for certain: Water Witch + Duck Cassoulet = Happiness. Unbelievably good time.

As if we needed more food, Thursday we worked with Sacramento’s biggest celebrity chef, Michael Touhy, to put on an Odonata Grain & Grape dinner, where we paired dishes with Odonata Wine as well as some Odonata Beer. Chef Touhy needs no more praise for his food, that’s been pretty well covered by the media and locals, but still – the pairings with each drink were outstanding! Four great courses, five great beverages – life was exceptionally good to us that Thursday night.

We had an event lined up for Friday, but apparently you folks in Sacramento didn’t get the memo that Water Witch was supposed to last a few more days! We got the call on Tuesday saying the place that we planned on being at on Friday was out of beer. In fact, right around midweek we got several calls asking for more beer! So, in order to keep the party of Beer Week rolling, we sold EVERY LAST KEG of beer we’d stashed away. That’s right, we’re out of beer! That, by the way, is not a terrible problem to have – a truly great measure of what you really think about our beer!

Saturday Odonata was part of a Belgium vs. America beer tasting in East Sacramento where versions of a particular style went head to head. Water Witch went up against Van Twee, and I have to say – folks really like this Water Witch thing, we’re going to have to make it again!

It’s amazing to look back on just the last month, see where we’ve been and contemplate on the number of new friends we’ve made along the way. It’s pretty amazing, from where I sit, to see the enthusiasm people have for good beer and local companies. We are proud to be a Northern California brewery, we’re elated to be associated with the likes of you – we’re ecstatic to think about our future here, with you all. Thank you. You have no idea what your support has meant to a new small business like ours, it’s filled us with hope that we’re on the right path and made us confident that you are, indeed, ready for some new beers like Saison.

Speaking of Saison… How about that label?

I can’t possibly put into words the gratitude we have for our label design artist, Damian Fagan. He’s a NorCal beer geek, just like Peter and me, but with an artistic eye we can’t even begin to understand. Damian was able to tell a story of Saison with pictures, colors and shapes – and he told his story brilliantly! Our actual label is even better than what you see online, there’s one added element we are pretty excited about and we can’t wait to hear back from you about not just the label, but the actual Saison that will be released in Northern California mid-April. It’s been a long time coming, but the wait is nearly over.

Again, thank you all. We have a lot more to write about and hopefully that will happen soon. For now, know that we are humbled by the generous support you have all shown – with word and deed. Thank you.

- Peter & Rick

Celebration, Mystery, Saison & A Look Forward

First and foremost – HOLY CRAP! You guys and gals, and your support, are simply overwhelming and awesome! As if the passing words of praise, the emails of inquiry and general appreciation weren’t enough, we found out this week that Odonata’s first release, Rorie’s Ale, has been named to the RateBeer Top 100 Beer of the World list! Folks, that’s incredible! To put that in perspective a bit there are more than 110,000 different beers listed on RateBeer, brewed by more than 9,600 brewers from around the world! To be considered by anyone as one of the world’s best is truly an honor, we can’t thank you all enough for the ratings, for helping us get the word out and for generally being super people. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Mysterious Ways

Recently we’ve been seeing some comments online about our mysterious nature, about how our blog and tweets don’t necessarily reveal a whole lot about where you can find our beers and when/where we’re doing special events. As one commenter posted, “Why are they being so cryptic?” There’s a reason for that, a reason that is pretty simple and absolutely boring: we can’t. You see, by law (according to the ABC) we can’t tell you on this forum where to find our beers, not in the format we have currently, anyway. Yes, there are sites out there that list where to find their beers, and maybe sometime in the future we will too, but for now know that we can’t really publicly announce retail locations that carry our beer, as that would fall under the ‘promotional’ rules restricted at this time, in this state. Sorry. If you do want more specific information, we certainly can field questions sent by email. Additionally, keep an eye out for our Email Subscription link on the website and sign up for updates (promise, we won’t abuse your email box).

How About That Saison?

Would you believe us if we told you it’s IN THE TANK! Yes, we’ve done initial sampling and the beer seems to be right where we want it for a March release! Right now we’re busy working on label approvals, marketing materials and all the behind-the-scenes work required to legally get beer to the market (did you know you have to buy UPC codes?).

Here’s a tease: The beer has a decent amount of wheat in the grist, which lends a fantastic lemony tartness that is incredibly refreshing. We’ve also tweaked our recipe a bit from our pilot batches to be sure the body is full, but not heavy, with notable texture and depth. The color is a shade darker than you might expect; a tawny-golden hue. The kicker? The yeast if friggin’ amazing! The aromas that you’ll find in this beer are wild and fruity, with a hint of peppery spice and a subtle earthy note. The beer doesn’t shy away from the traditional Belgian yeast, it’s in your face and proud of its heritage. We’re certain you’ll appreciate this; Saison is not your run-of-the-mill beer.

The Near Future

Odonata Beer is more than a little pleased to announce we’ll be pretty involved in both the San Francisco Beer Week and the Sacramento Beer Week celebrations. While we can’t necessarily tell you ‘where’ we’ll be for each (see above), we can say that SFBW has received enough kegs of sour beer from us (Rosa Beersel) for two events, along with a keg of Water Witch for another celebration! So, if you’re a fan of sour beer or beers aged in barrels, be sure to check out the SF Beer Week website for more information. Yes, SFBW starts in just a few days!

Odonata will also be celebrating closer to home, at Sacramento Beer Week. We’ll have some pretty special events that will be listed on the SBW site in the coming days and we’re still working out some details for additional events. Trust us, we’re gonna party that week! To help the move the festivities along we’ve already got a handful of Odonata Work Shirts printed and a bunch of glassware on the way!

Additionally, we’ll be working with area retailers, cafes and bars to line up the big launch of our first year-round beer, Saison. As mentioned before, we want to be really comfortable here in Sacramento – we’d love to see our beer in as many local establishments as possible. If you have any place in mind that you think would be a good fit for Odonata Saison, please let us know.

That’s all for now. Thank you again for your continued support. We’re excited and love that many of you are too. Cheers!

- Peter & Rick

Water Witch, Beersel & The Turbid Mash

2010 seems to be getting off on the right foot here at Odonata Beer Company. First, last week we released our first-ever draft beer, Water Witch, in Roseville, CA. The crowd seemed more than happy with the beer in hand - a rich, dark brown brew with red highlights. The beer recipe itself is for a Belgian Dark Strong Ale that produced a 9.5% ABV elixir. What deviates slightly from the 'official' style guidelines is the maturation in red wine barrels, which lends a slightly acidic note to the finish. This is a pilot batch for us and we hope with a few modifications (we're toying with the idea of using other types of barrels) you will see this in bottles by the year's end. We'll keep you updated.

Our second draft-only beer will be released this week in Sacramento, and is our first collaborative beer - made with the help of the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton! This is called Beersel, a name that pays homage to the place our yeast culture originated - in the bowels of the famed 3 Fonteinen brewery! This is a true Sour Ale, but not technically a Lambic (which is a spontaneously fermented beer) or Gueuze (lambics, blended). The grist and hopping is pretty much what the Senne Valley brewers use to make their lambics, however, with raw wheat, pale malted barley and whole flower hops aged 10 years. Additionally, our Brewmaster Peter Hoey, implemented a-labor intensive mash schedule, known as "turbid mashing" to create some pretty amazing results.

What is turbid mashing, you ask? Well, here it is in a nutshell. According to Mr. Hoey:

Turbid Mashing is a process that extracts long starch chains from the barley and wheat. Basically, you mash in at 120 degrees and run off into the kettle right away. Then you dump boiling water into the mash tun to raise the temperature up to 132 degrees. Run off again. Then dump boiling water in to raise the temperature to 148 degrees. Run off. Then add water again to raise the mash temp to 158 degrees and sparge the rest like normal.

The results? With longer starch chains they yeast is assured some food for a longer period of time, they really have to work to feed on these. This is a big deal for a beer like this, which has aged for 20 months!

As alluded to previously, the beer is fermented with a brettanomyces culture from 3 Fonteinen as well as a dose of lacto bacillus. These critters make for a sharp, acidic beer that is fairly light in body and shows hints of leather, intense fruitiness and an overall pungent aroma. If you're unaccustomed to sour ales, this one will certainly shock you. Rest assured though, the beer is supposed to taste like this!

If you're in Sacramento, we hope you can find these rare beers. If you do, we'd love to hear what you think about them - drop us an email at sales [at] odonatabeer [dot] com. This will help us as we make our final tweaks before making production size batches - what can we say, we aim to please!

Loss, Updates and a Look Forward

It has been more than a little while since we last posted an update here, and there’s some good reason (along with some lesser quality excuses) for this. You see, a whole lot has happened in the past couple of months, and me being selected for a jury in a multi-month case isn’t helping move things along at all! Hopefully this will catch you up without putting you to sleep.

First off, we lost the Saison. We’re not going to get into the details here, but it’s safe to say things just didn’t work out like we’d hoped. Lessons were learned and the whole experience has caused us to refine things a bit to make certain this never happens again. Suffice it to say, there will be no Saison released in 2009. Sorry to say that.

Good news is we do have some finished product that will roll out any time now. This, of course, is Water Witch, our Dark Belgian Strong ale that weighs in at 9.5% ABV. It’s got a lovely burgundy hue, great clarity and a rich fruity flavor that digs right into the tongue while finding a way to finish incredibly dry. Be careful with this one, it sneaks up on you in a hurry (and carries a very large stick!). This beer will be sold on draft only (no bottles) at select accounts in Northern California. We’ll let you know when it’s ready – then you can inquire as to the details of where to find this beauty of a beer.

More good news? Yes indeed! We’ve got a plan in place to supply you and your suds-loving friends with Saison in early 2010. There are no changes to the recipe, except that we’re making a lot MORE of it than originally intended. The beer will still be modestly hopped, aged in white wine barrels and bottle conditioned. While we don’t have an exact date for release (hope you don’t expect that from us, something about bottle conditioning makes for a fun and constantly moving target) we know the beer will be out before the mercury rises too terribly high in California (thinking late February).

Guess what, there’s more!

It was our intention when we started down this road to partner with existing breweries to save money, reduce energy use and cultivate lasting relationships with brewers in our area. Well, what we weren’t banking on was just how little room there would be for us in these places. Seems you all are doing a bang-up job of supporting the local beer scene and tank space just isn’t as free as we’d initially thought. With this in mind we had a couple of options: We could work with multiple breweries to squeeze in a batch here and there, as space became available or we could bite the bullet and build a small place of our own. Clearly the latter requires a bit more money than the first plan, but the opportunity to brew what we want, when we want, the way we want is awfully appealing! Therefore, we’ve decided that in 2010 we will build and open a brewery of our own in the Sacramento area. It won’t be much, a warehouse with some tanks and a few taps, but we’re positive the beer will be the best you can find. We’re still in the process of doing the legal work and raising funds, so if you happen to find a few hundred thousand dollars under your tree this Christmas, we might have an idea on how to invest it!

Finally, perhaps most importantly, is the good news you all have given us. You see, we’re beer geeks through and through and like many of you, we read the threads on RateBeer, Beer Advocate and a handful of other sites. We’ve noticed the threads that have praised our first release, Rorie’s Ale, and have especially taken notice of the personal beer reviews you all have posted on these sites. We cannot express properly what your passion for our beer means to us – honestly, it’s the best therapy for a bad day there is reading this stuff! Rorie’s Ale is currently ranked at #12 for its style on RateBeer, an honor that inspires us to not just make more beer – but to make beer that is deserving of your passion and palate. We look forward to hearing from you more over the years. We’re pretty sure we can’t hit home runs every time we’re at bat, but damn it – we’re gonna try.

Happy Holidays everyone! While we’re delayed and don’t have the beer we wanted to have for you this Christmas, we’re confident that for years to come Odonata Beer Company will have the beer you’re looking for to complement your festive meals and laid-back celebrations. Cheers!

- Peter & Rick

Odonata's Inagural Brew Day: Saison 001

As you may have heard via Twitter, here, or elsewhere, Peter and I brewed the first full batch of Odonata Beer's Saison yesterday! It was quite an amazing experience - months of paperwork, talking, planing... whatever - it all came to a head when we started milling our malt, to put into our beer! Incredible feeling, really. I can't wait for this beer to be released, can't wait for you to get to try it and see what we're all about. It's been mentioned before, but this will be Odonata's flagship beer, available year round in 22-ounce bottles.We arrived at the brewery at 8:00am, coffee in hand and full of anticipation. Our first thing to do was get the grain sorted to be milled. We needed close to a ton of grain, so we lined/piled up the sacks we needed around the mill and started in - milling one 50-pound sack at a time.
The base malt for Saison is a Pilsner malt. We also added about 20% wheat and a few specialty grains. It didn't take long to realize the 8 years of writing for a living did little to prepare me for actually working - lifting sacks and stuff. I think I did alright, tried to not complain, even though I was quite embarrassed and in a bit of pain (yes, all you veteran brewers, I'm soft). Peter, of course, made it all seem easy.Once the grains were milled, it was onto the brewdeck to start the mash (Re: Brewdeck - think brewer equivalent of the bat-cave - it's where all the fun happens, with switches, buttons, levers and gadgets). Once the hot water and grain mixed the whole room smelled of fresh biscuits - it was awesome! This step required a lot of patience in order to maximize our efficiency (get as much sugar from the grain as possible). In fact, it was well over three hours before all the mash liquid was transferred to the boil kettle. Don't worry though, turns out there's stuff to do in the mean time: sanitize fittings, test pH, gravity... the time passed by pretty quickly.

Once all the liquid was in the kettle and brought to a boil we made our first hop addition, the hops that were to be boiled for 90 minutes and lend the beer's moderate bitterness. As cool as hops are, and as sexy as people can make them on TV ads, this step is actually pretty benign. Yes, the hops smell awesome, but really it's a matter of weighing them out in a bucket and then dumping them in a boiling liquid - there's not a lot of romance here. I wish there was. We added hops twice more (which officially makes our beer triple hopped, I guess) and then turned off the kettle.
The yeast for this beer was actually in the fermenter already and had been "growing" since the day before, allowed to eat up roughly two barrels worth of wort. We pulled the hot sugary liquid out of the kettle, ran it through a heat exchanger to drop the temperature to 'pitching temp' (about 70 degrees) and then placed that all on the happy, multiplying yeast cells to let them work their magic: eat sugar, make alcohol, CO2, repeat. The beer today (roughly 12 hours into fermentation) was rocking at 74 degrees and pushing a lot of CO2 - it's a very happy beer at the moment.
We've got lots of pictures from the day that was. If you'd like to see them all, click here to see the whole set on Flickr.

Peter Discusses Saison

We're in the middle of our first brew day and I thought I'd steal a few moments to upload this quick video interview with Peter, our brewmaster. It's just a quick clip where Peter talks about his history with this style of beer, why he likes it so much and a few more tidbits. Enjoy!



Oh yeah - we just added our second hop addition. This smells and tastes wonderful at this point! Can't wait for it to ferment and mature so you can try it at home!

Saison Described

We wanted to quickly share this description of Saisons as told by K. Florian Klemp for All About Beer Magazine.

Drinking saison is like a walk in the woods. At first you notice only the forest, but then you discover the individual trees, and finally the smaller and more discreet inhabitants. Sensory stimulation is everywhere. The subtle notes sit beside the bold notes, each expressing itself.

You may want to read the whole piece, it was very well done - does a great job capturing the essence and history of this intriguing style of beer.

Oh yeah, we brew our saison in TWO days!! Not that we're counting.

Updates!

Wow, this is an exciting time for Peter and me - and our spouses! I won't bore with details, but the road of beer is a strange one. First, it all starts with an idea, a concept for a beer - and it all finishes when you hold the beer in your hands. In theory you'd think this is a pretty straight-forward road to travel, but when you get down to it - it really has a lot of roadblocks, potholes, view points and traffic jams. Needless to say, we're happy passengers on this trip - we really are.
Good news - we believe we have everything in place to brew our first batch of beer on Thursday, October 15th! This will be a Saison using the recipe Peter created when he won a gold medal for this beer a few years ago - at the Great American Beer Festival. The malt is in place, the yeast will be all grown up, and hops will find their way to the kettle. I can't tell you how cool this is going to be, for me and Peter both. For some time it's all been spreadsheets, handshakes, phone calls and dreams. Come Thursday, we'll actually add malted barley to the mash tun, hops to the kettle and yeast to the chilled wort! By the time we leave, we'll have made beer.

About the beer: Saisons are Belgian wheat beers with a lot of yeast character. In his book, The Brewmaster's Table, Garrett Oliver sums up the style with this simple description:

Dry, sharp, spicy, complex, refreshing, hoppy, slightly strong.

Oliver goes on to say:

These were originally provisional beers for the farmhouse table - light, brisk, refreshing and sustaining. Nutritionally, they were as important as milk or bread... it needed to be robust enough keep for months, yet light enough to quench the thirst of farmhands.

Saisons differ from the German Hefeweizen style (another popular style of wheat beer) in that the yeast isn't riddled with banana and clove, but with pepper and spices. Saisons are unfiltered, presenting a hefty haziness to them, which aides in body and the beer ability to quench the deepest thirst. Hops are fairly assertive, too, with added floral and crack-pepper notes, but always kept at bay as to not offend the palate.

Saisons are also a perfect match for food - a wide swath of food, too. Continue with the Garrett Oliver theme, check out this nugget:

If I were forced to choose one style to drink with every meal for the rest of my life, saison would have to be it.

Clearly, we hope Garrett is never forced to prove this, but his point sums up our belief in this style of beer. In fact, its place at the table, after a long bike ride, or with a good book is why Peter and I plan to make our Saison Odonata Beer's 'flagship' beer, sold year-round.

So, stay tuned. In just a few short weeks we'll have our flagship packaged and ready for sale. While we're going to focus on the Sacramento region, we will also be selling this beer in fine places throughout the Bay Area and maybe a little bit beyond. Given that Odonata Beer is just Peter and me, we're going to ask for your help in getting our name out - asking your local bottle shop, restaurant and cafe buyers to stock this fun, exciting new beer.

Rorie's First Public Tasting

We took a couple of bottles of Rorie's Ale up to the Northern California Homebrewers Festival this past weekend and opened them with some pretty fantastic palates to give it a shot. The verdict? Impressive. It's a complex brew, that is for certain, and after a big dinner it was like dessert - sweet caramel malts, a dry finish and a punch of acidic cherry notes. It is not a sour beer, but will leave a dry and tart mark on your palate.

There were only 75 cases of this Reserve Series beer made, so it won't last long. If you're in Northern California, pick up a bottle and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you.

If you're a beer retailer and would like a case of Rorie's to sell at your location, let us know that, too - email us at sales [at] odonatabeer [dot] com.

It Starts with a Dream

I've lived a blessed life. For several years now I've worked alongside the craft beer industry as a freelance drinks writer before moving on to become the Beer Director for the world's largest beer publication. In this time I've maintained that it would take something, or someone, extraordinary for me to put down the pen and jump into the beer world completely. Well, as fate would have it, I found someone extraordinary and am pleased - no, excited - to announce that I am partnering with a truly world-class brewer to start Odonata Beer Company.

Peter Hoey is one of the most brilliant brewers I know. In his young career the man has worked through the American Brewers Guild, as a production brewer at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Brewmaster at Bison Brewing and back to where he began - Sacramento Brewing. In addition, he's also taught courses at the American Brewers Guild and at UC Davis' brewing program. The guy has an impressive resume - but that doesn't begin to tell his story.

I first met Peter some years back when he worked at Bison. I was among a handful of BJCP judges invited to his house for a blind tasting of organic beers. In his living room we jotted notes, critiqued a handful of beers of varying styles and then talked openly to Peter about what we liked and didn't like about the mystery beers. Among the brews was some of Peter's creations. We were never told which were his, but the point of this exercise was for Peter to adjust his recipes in order to make a better, more accurate-to-style brew. Did this pay off? I won't say it was related to this day, but Peter went on to win the Gold Medal in the Saison category at the Great American Beer Fest the following year, beating out some impressive competition.

Since then Peter has also won the prized Golden Bear, the Best of Show prize awarded at the California State Fair, as well as medals at the World Beer Cup and additional Great American Beer Festival awards. All this and he's not even 30 years old.

Over the years Peter has become one of my closest friends. His personality and passions are enormous, full of color and ambition. For some time I've told people his name will be a household name in the beer community, his beers are too good not to be. I just didn't know I would be involved in getting this name out there. It's an honor really to be involved in realizing a long-time dream of Peter's. I know his beers will blow you away and have no doubt you'll appreciate the years of work Peter has put into mastering his craft in brewing.

We're a ways away yet from getting beer into your hands. A few lucky people have already found our beers in Northern California - Rorie's Ale is the barrel aged wonder matured for more than a year. For the rest of you, please come back here from time to time and see how we're progressing. Between the Federal, State and local paperwork we're not exactly sure when we'll be official. We are certain you'll see our beers in Northern California sometime this winter, however, hopefully in December.