Beer

A Festival of Sessions & Collaborations

Drake’s returns with Bike East Bay this year for our 7th annual Session Beer Fest. No beers are stronger than 5% abv, so you can actually get a good day of drinking in without going face down. You’ll be able to taste a lot of beers from many different breweries. We’ve got some special stuff of our own going on tap (What? A Hazy Blonde Ale? A Petite Saison? Brawndo?), and other breweries tend to bring beers you don’t really see that often. Fun!

Session Beer Fest Promotional Image with Sponsors with hands raising glasses of beer

We also used Session Beer Fest as an opportunity to do some beers with friends this year. Humble Sea Brewing joined us in San Leandro for a collaboration, and I hit the road to brew at Laughing Monk in San Francisco and Alameda Island brewery. It’s always a kick to brew with other breweries. The cross-pollination of ideas is great, plus it’s new people to drink with!

Our first collaboration was with Humble Sea Brewing, an awesome still-newish brewery out of Santa Cruz. We were inspired to take a stab at a session-sized version of a Milkshake IPA, concentrating on orange creamsicle flavors. We brewed basically a session IPA, to which we added lactose in the kettle (for added body), tangerine puree in the fermenter, and vanilla to the conditioning tank. We leaned on our most citrus-forward hop varieties: Citra, El Dorado, and Mandarina. Then used raw oats and wheat for added viscosity. It’s a really fun/weird beer experience. Cans of C.R.E.A.M. go on sale at Drake’s Barrel House today, and will only be available on draft at Session Beer Fest.

Next up, I took a trip across the bay to Laughing Monk Brewing. They’re excellent brewers of Belgian beers, and since we weren’t going to have a chance to brew our Belgian Single, Trappistito,  we hit them up to brew one, and it’s awesome! It’s a take on Westmalle Tripel, executed at a lower ABV. Ok, well, we took some liberties. Along with the traditional pilsner malt, we added wheat and a special aromatic malt from local Admiral Malting, and hopped it with Styrian Dragon (!) and Citra (!!). Belgian yeast still adds the primary flavor. It’s an interesting take on an oft-overlooked style, that I’m looking forward to drinking the shit out of (Awesomely named Dracarys).

Our final collaboration was with Alameda Island Brewing. We brewed Duck Season, a more or less traditional Saison. Primarily brewed with pilsner malt and hopped with Magnum and Czeck Saaz, this beer takes additional flavor from cracked pink peppercorns and coriander. Crisp and refreshing with a very sophisticated aromatic profile, this is sure to be a real crowd pleaser.  Drink Session – down with the Imperials!


Written by John Gillooly, Brewmaster

John Gillooly with the Humble Sea Brewing Team