Old Rasputin was recently featured in Wired Magazine’s “Recommendation Engine: 5 Bold Dark Brews for Beer Geeks” by David MacNeal:
Perfect for: Proving your fortitude.
Geek factor: Russian imperial stouts had high alcohol content to survive 18th-century shipping times—and this one, with its 75 international bittering units (vs. Coors Light’s 6.8 IBU), could make a czar flip his ushanka.
9% abv, $9 (4 x 12 oz.) | North Coast Old Rasputin
From the review by Fischman Liquors:
This one is another one I would come back to again and again. I recommend giving it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Seven North Coast beers on tap at Oliver Twist in Stockholm, Sweden. Read more on Facebook.
“What begins as floral and effervescent, like a chilly white wine, finishes with a fruity fullness.”
Read the whole article from Bon Appetit here. | See our print PDF press release here.
From The Beijing Reviewer:
The Red Seal Ale is going to the top of my list. This beer fit my tastes perfectly. It pours deep amber with quite a bit of head that hangs around for a while. A mixture of floral, citrus and spicy tastes come out in this medium bodied beer. This beer is hoppy but a much different hoppy than I’m used to. Overall, Red Seal Ale is a solid beer and easily one of my new favorites. On Day 5, I tried Blue Star Wheat Beer also from the North Coast Brewing Co. and was highly impressed. These guys know what they’re doing and I’ll be sure to continue trying anything they put out.
Verdict: Recommended
North Coast Brewing Co. is proud to present the Legendary Jazz Masters Series: The Claire Daly Quartet in Concert, performing the music of Thelonious Monk with Steve Hudson, Mary Ann McSweeney, and Peter Grant
7:00 pm | Thursday, June 7, 2012 | Preston Hall, Mendocino
$20 Advance | $25 at the door | seniors 65 and over & students 18 and under $15
100% of ticket sales benefit The Mendocino Music Festival
This is the fifth of six benefit performances in preparation for recording “Baritone Monk,” in New York City on June 18, 2012. The recording will feature a dozen Monk compositions and will be produced by North Coast Brewing Co. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the CD will benefit the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz — release date Fall 2012
For tickets:
Mendocino Music Festival Office in Mendocino: 707 937-2044
North Coast Brewing Co. “Brewery Shop” in Fort Bragg: 707 964-1286
Additional 2012 Tour Benefit Dates
- Sunday, June 3: The Cellar Jazz Club, Vancouver, BC, a benefit for sea lion research by the University of British Columbia in partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium
- Monday, June 4: Tula’s Jazz Club, Seattle, WA, a benefit for Earshot Jazz
- Tuesday, June 5: Newport Performing Arts Center, Newport, OR, a benefit for the Oregon Coast Jazz Party
- Wednesday, June 6: Morris Graves Museum, Eureka, CA, a benefit for the Redwood Jazz Alliance
- Friday, June 8: Kuumbwa Jazz Center, a benefit for Kuumbwa Jazz
Your support of Jazz supports these organizations! Click here for a printable PDF of this press release.
North Coast Brewing Presents Jazz in Support of Sea Lion Research
In support of sea lion research being conducted by the University of British Columbia in partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium, North Coast Brewing is presenting two benefit Jazz events in June at Cory Weed’s Cellar Jazz Club, 3611 West Broadway Street, in Vancouver, BC.
Cory Weeds Quintet: A Tribute to Cannonball Adderly
Saturday, June 2, 2012 | Cellar Jazz Club | $17
Featuring: Cory Weeds (alto sax), Chris Davis (trumpet), Brad Turner (piano & rhodes), Andre LaChance (bass), and Roy McCurdy, original Cannonball Adderly drummer (drums)
100% of the cover charge will be donated to sea lion research at the Open Water Research Station. Co-presented by The Cellar Jazz Club and The Hard Rubber New Music Society. For more information, visit: http://cellarjazz.com & http://www.coryweeds.com
The Claire Daly Quartet: The Music of Thelonious Monk
Sunday, June 3, 2012 | Cellar Jazz Club | $15
Featuring: Claire Daly (baritone sax & flute), Steve Hudson (piano), Mary Ann McSweeney (bass), and Peter Grant (drums)
100% of the cover charge will be donated to sea lion research at the Open Water Research Station. This event is the opening night for a tour of the New York-based Claire Daly Quartet in preparation for recording a follow-up CD to North Coast Brewing’s 2009 Brother Thelonious Quintet. With sales of both CDs benefitting the education fund of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, North Coast Brewing is able to combine its support of Jazz education with their new effort to provide support for and bring awareness to the research of Steller sea lions being conducted by the University of British Columbia in partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium at the Open Water Research Station in Port Moody, BC. For more information, visit: http://cellarjazz.com & http://www.clairedalymusic.com
For both events:
Cellar Jazz Club
3611 West Broadway Street
Vancouver, BC V6R 2B8
604 738-1959
doors open at 6:30 pm
set times: 8 pm & 9:30 pm
About the Open Water Research Station program: Since 1993, researchers at the University of British Columbia’s Marine Mammal Research Unit have partnered with the Vancouver Aquarium to study the mysterious decline of the Steller sea lion population in the North Pacific. This is an ambitious project to discover the reasons behind the mysterious disappearance of 80 percent of the world’s Steller sea lions and what it could mean for the ocean ecosystem.
The Vancouver Aquarium is a non-profit society dedicated to the conservation of aquatic life.
The University of British Columbia is one of Canada’s leading research universities and is consistently ranked among the top 40 in the world. The university attracts 54,000 students from across Canada and 140 countries around the world.
Tim Dohms reviews PranQster in the Pensacola News Journal:
“North Coast’s PranQster is an amazing Belgian Abbey ale, golden-orange in color, with a billowing head of creamy white foam that recedes nicely to a thin, tight cap and plenty of lacing in the glass. …this is, hands down, one of the planet’s best ales.”
Renowned California wine country chef John Ash dazzled a sold-out crowd of Mendocino Music Festival supporters at North Coast Brewing’s Sequoia Room on Wednesday night, April 25. The James Beard Award-winning chef created a spectacular menu, collaborating with North Coast Brewmaster Mark Ruedrich. Each course was paired with a North Coast Brewing beer so successfully it was generally agreed that it was difficult to determine where the food ended and the drink began.
The evening represented a continuation of North Coast’s support of the arts with 100% of the proceeds going to the Mendocino Music Festival, for which the brewery is a sponsor. Among North Coast Brewing’s other music sponsorships are the Monterey, San Francisco, and Healdsburg Jazz festivals, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the Redwood Coast Jazz Alliance, the American Jazz Museum, and Ensemble VIII, a Texas-based early music group.
Ash is a well-established culinary figure and educator who first came into national prominence in 1985 when he was named as one of the “hot new chefs” by Food and Wine. Since then, among other accomplishments, he has opened John Ash & Co. restaurant; taught regularly at the Culinary Institute of America’s (CIA) Greystone facility; been the Culinary Director at Fetzer Vineyards; served as dean of the Brown-Forman Center for Global Wine Education; written three books; received both the James Beard and Julia Child awards; contributed to the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, as well as numerous other publications; and taught, lectured, and consulted on culinary matters for decades. He is truly one of the community’s living treasures.
Ruedrich is well known throughout the Craft brewing community as a brewer who consistently produces exceptional beers garnering critical recognition. His beers have received Gold Medal awards at the Great American Beer Fest, the World Beer Championships, the World Beer Cup, the Stockholm Beer Fest, and the Hong Kong Beer Fest, among many others. This marks the third occasion that Ash and Ruedrich have collaborated on food/beer pairings, and each one has been grander than the last. There already have been requests for a repeat performance by the duo. Stay tuned.
On May 3, we raided our library of rare beers for the Craft Brewers Conference to organize a vertical offering of our award-winning Old Stock Ale, featuring eight vintages going back to 2001. These amazing beers were paired with a selection of artisanal cheese including Valdeon from Spain; Colston-Bassett Stilton, Lincolnshire Poacher, and Keen’s Cheddar from England; and San Joaquin Gold and Rogue Creamery Blue from the USA. We heard from many industry leaders at the event that the Old Stock tasting was the highlight of the conference.
Old Stock Ale has been brewed by North Coast since 2000 as an annual vintage-dated limited release made with Maris-Otter malt, and Fuggles and Kent Golding hops. It has won medals at the World Beer Championships and the Great American Beer Fests among others and has been described as “Superlative! Demands respect and deserves every ounce of it.”
From There Will Be Bourbon:
“We’re familiar with the high quality deliciousness of North Coast Brewing Company’s Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, but we didn’t know they decided to put Rasputin in a bourbon barrel until we stumbled across it last weekend. When you lock Rasputin away like that, it only comes out stronger and better.”
Brewmaster Dinner with John Ash
6 pm, Wednesday, April 25, 2012 | Fort Bragg, California
Sequoia Room, North Coast Brewing Co. Taproom and Grill
SOLD OUT
Celebrity chef John Ash is returning to North Coast Brewing for another memorable dinner benefi ting the Mendocino Music Festival. Ash, a well-known restaurateur and educator, will once again work with Brewmaster Mark Ruedrich to prepare a menu demonstrating the delicious synergy between North Coast Brewing beers and Ash’s exquisite offerings. In a continuation of its long-term support of the arts, North Coast Brewing will again be the presenting sponsor of the Mendocino Music Festival, now in its 26th year.
All proceeds benefi t the Mendocino Music Festival, www.mendocinomusic.com
Click here for a printable PDF of the press release.
Click here for a PDF of the menu.
Thanks to Jackie Dodd for sending us her recipe for Lemon Pilsner Cake using Scrimshaw. Jackie says:
“If you have ever had the opportunity to talk to a brewmaster, you have seen it. You’ve seen that look that lets you know that there is an art and a respect for what they do that goes far past what most Americans experience at their day jobs. The look that tells you that the paycheck isn’t the reason he does the job. The flavors, the journey, the solving of the problems that yield to an end result of a drinkable, shareable masterpiece. You’ve seen that look.
“It’s because of that look that I try to create recipes that respect the years of love and hard work that go into the process of making Craft Beer. I had the idea of making a lemon cake with pilsner, but the issue is always the hops. Hops are a hard ingredient to cook and bake with, given that they often reduce to a very bitter product. Scrimshaw Pilsner, while still a pilsner, has a low, and well balanced hop taste. It is also from one of my favorite breweries, North Coast, that produces an incredible variety of craft beer. And you can bet that if you are ever lucky enough to take a tour of the brewery, you will see that look I’m talking about, all over the place.”
See the recipe and full post at her blog, The Beeroness.
North Coast Brewing has announced its sponsorship of Ensemble VIII, an exceptional vocal group performing masterworks from the Baroque and Renaissance eras. This is an extension of the brewery’s support of music education and performance through the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the annual Mendocino Music Festival, and other venues.
Upcoming Concert:
“The House of Tudor—English Polyphony of Tallis, Sheppard, and Byrd”
Friday, May 11 in Austin, TX and Saturday, May 12 in Dallas
Ensemble VIII is under the direction of Dr. James Morrow, Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas in Austin, and is comprised of eight nationally known singers who gather from throughout the country to perform. Founded in 2011, Ensemble VIII has plans for national tours and the release of recorded concerts. Most recently, the group presented Handel’s Messiah in its entirety, accompanied by period instruments—a unique program for such a small choral group. Reviews have been remarkable. Watch for the release of recordings soon. Tickets for concerts available at www.ensembleVIII.org.
The Artist: Eduardo Smissen in his studio working on the Brother Thelonious painting; Photo by Joelle Signorelli
The Result: Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale
North Coast Brewing Company has always supported regional creative talent in the distinctive beer imagery that goes with each of their brews. When it came to the creation of the Brother Thelonious beer, we sought out the talent of local Mendocino artist Eduardo Smissen. The resulting packaging design by Colored Horse Studios featuring his spirited painting of Thelonious Monk as a Belgian Abbey Monk highlighted one of the most successful beer launches for North Coast Brewing, and won a Gold Medal in the Creativity Category from the Beverage Testing Institute’s World Beer Championships Packaging Competition. More of Smissen’s work can be seen on his website at http://eduardosmissen.com/
Why is a skull on the Brother Thelonious label?
From Eduardo: It’s a “memento mori,” a Latin phrase that may be freely translated as “Remember that you are mortal,” “Remember you will die,” or “Remember your death.” It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality. The chief thrust of “memento mori” was the theme of “carpe diem,” “seize the day,” which entailed the advice to “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” And as the motto for North Coast Brewing is “Carpe Diem Vita Brevis”—”Life is short, seize the day”—I thought it an appropriate Style for the Brother Thelonious label.