Archive: Apr 2015

The season has begun! We’re not talking about springtime, although that came in last month with scattered showers and even a hint of some May flowers.  We’re not talking about sports, although there are various events and seasons going on there, too. No, what we’re  talking about is that most important of seasons in southern California: that of the craft beer festival.  It kicked off this year with the acclaimed Citybeat Festival of Beers, an afternoon fair that offered music and food as well as local beer that ranged from the mainstream to the obscure. Starting May 1st, and continuing through the 3rd, Temecula is hosting its annual Southern California Homebrewers’ Festival at Vail Lake. It ran into some problems last year because of legislative issues, but this year it’s going strong and promises to be a fun time, so…

It’s that dreaded or delightful day again, depending on your perspective, the day that no press release or news story can be taken seriously lest you become an April Fool! (Or, as they say in France, Italy, and Belgium, an April Fish.) Brewers are a funny bunch anyway, and breweries have been having fun with April 1st for many years. It seems like only yesterday, but was really more than a decade ago, that Stone Brewing Co. cooked up its first of many classic pranks, 2002’s “Extreme LemonyLime,” featuring a new “soda-like” malt beverage. Boy, was the internet mad, until everyone figured it out. And we’re actually a little bit upset that this wonderful self-refilling beer can from Canada’s Cask Brewing Systems doesn’t actually exist. It re-brews the beer right in the can! Why can’t we make this happen? And in 2014, Samuel…