Drake’s First Fridays originally appeared on Hop Talk.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we’re pretty spoiled as it is. We have more breweries than we know what to do with. Not to mention we hear the rest of the country is cold right now—here it’s been upper 60s all week. But lets forget about the weather and focus on what’s important—the beer.
Just south of Oakland, San Leandro, California has a sweet brewery named Drake’s. They’ve been around for years, but unfortunately it is not open to the public. They brew their beer, bottle it, keg it, and send it out to be drained just as quickly. However, on the first Friday of every month, something special happens—they open their enormous doors and invite the public in for a look—and a taste.
Aside from the great beer poured by nice people, a $5 donation at the gates usually raises money for a local school. For $15, you get a Drake’s pint glass and three tokens, which are good for—you guessed it—three beers. You then buy tokens separately for $3.50.
Then there’s the beer. Oh, goodness, the beer.
I recently posted an article on Hop Talk about a Tasting of Holiday Beers XXII at Pacific Coast Brewery in Old Oakland. The winner of the event? Drake’s Jolly Roger (which I predicted by the way. Yes, I drink a lot of beer).
Not only has the Jolly Roger been hitting us hard with its Imperial Redness, Drake’s brews many hard-hitting selections which usually forces one to forgo purchasing those extra tokens after the three you get with the glass. I’ve gone to this event for the last two months, and amazingly, I still remember all the beers I ordered.
On the first Friday of December, I started with their Drakonic Imperial Stout, which I found to be brewed so smoothly, it could have fooled me into thinking it was a regular stout brewed around 5%—yet there was that kick lurking just below the surface, which of course meant it was almost 8.75% ABV. I followed it with a Jolly Roger 8%, which I’ve already praised, but have to reiterate the great hop nose. It is a well-balanced beer in every way. Then I had a Denogginizer—a favorite of a colleague of mine—hoppy hands down at 100 IBUs and 10%. No, I did not drive home.
A month later, I started with the Robosto Porter, coming in at 7%, it reminded me of Speakeasy’s Payback Porter, which is a high compliment from me. I followed that with Hop Salad, which you can chalk up to another awesomely named beer—drinking Hop Salad is like typing the word brewery—it just feels right. And I’m pretty sure I ended on their very popular 1500 Pale Ale.
Last time I checked, this Friday will be the first Friday of February. I guess the question now is: Can I make it three months in a row?*
(author’s note: Yes I did.)
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