As of July 20th, the city of Belmont, California has a new landmark!

As many of you know we have been posting “guess what this is” on our facebook page . The first set of responses where hilarious, as well as the second set .

Thanks for the entertaining guesses – the platform was in fact for the brewery’s new grain silo!

We were AMAZED at how quickly it went up. Check it out:

Here are the photographs of the historic “Silo-Raising”, we will be customizing / painting it soon. Future plans are to connect an auger system to it which will move grain straight into a new milling room.

The impetus behind this is to further lower our costs. As you can imagine, bulk grain is a lot cheaper than buying it in bags on a pallet.

We are very excited about this step forward in the evolution of the brewery and want to thank everyone who helped make it happen for their support.

Cheers!

With the addition of our Root Beer to Tyler Florence’s new restaurant, The Wayfare Tavern, in San Francisco we have hit another milestone – ACCOUNT #100 – and we couldn’t be happier about the location!

It seems like just a few weeks ago we hit Tap #100 – Total Tap count is now up to 158  . . . until next week . . .  

UPDATE 13July:  Kegs of Full Boar Scotch Ale have been sent to the Wayfare Tavern! Scotch will be going on tap this week!

The California State Fair Results are in.

Drum Roll Please . . .

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• 1st Place Gold - Full Boar Scotch Ale - Scottish Ales
• 2nd Place Silver - Lager Diabla American – Premium Lager
• Silver Certificate – Deadicated Amber Ale - American Amber Ale
• Silver Certificate  -California Sunshine Rye IPA - American IPA
• Bronze Certificate - Silicon Blonde Ale - Blonde Ale

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We will be at the awards ceremony in July! We are so thankful for all the support we have received from the community and we are honored to be able to accept 5 more awards!

Thank you for your unwavering support!

Cheers!

Dan was in the mood for a good rant – here you go!

• Is your local police department being consolidated with another city?
• Teachers being laid off?
• Community College Fees being raised?
• Taxes being raised?
• Parks being closed?
• City / County Services and programs being cut?

A quick search this week of a few cities brings up the following 2010 budget deficits:

• California – $19 BILLION
• San Mateo County – $100 Million
• San Carlos – $3.5 Million
• Belmont – $1.3 Million
• Burlingame – $3.1 Million
• Redwood City – $6.4 Million
• Menlo Park – $550,000
• Etc., Etc.

So we are not trying to play the fear card here, but people hear us say repeatedly – Drink Local! - and for good reason. It really does affect you! The money has to come from somewhere:

1. Budget Cuts (Services and Salaries)
2. Increased Taxes
3. Revenue from ?

With your support DevilsCanyon can be a substantial part of the “?” (Esoteric , Huh!)

Seriously though – Be enthusiastic! We have a local brewery! Hey Restaurant owners – We Have a Local Brewery! Hey Bar Owners – We have a local brewery!

Why would our local brewery NOT have a tap or two in every bar and restaurant in the county?

You vote with your dollars every time you order:

The United States or South Africa (MillerCoors)
California or Belgium? (Budweiser)
San Mateo County or Chico? (Sierra Nevada)
San Carlos or Colorado? (Fat Tire)

Hey it’s almost Art and Wine Festival time in all of the cities on the peninsula! Hmmm.

Where will all those production dollars from the beer being sold go . . . ?

Hint! Not into your city coffers. Probably Chico or Belgium.

Too bad there’s nothing we as citizens, business owners, chamber of commerce participants and just community members in general can do about it.

Let’s just take the quick buck and run.

And that’s a Rant! Thank Yoooooo!

Your comments are always welcomed - what do you think?

UPDATE – SOLD OUT!
Come on over to California Cafe in Los Gatos (Wednesday, June 2, 2010 7:00 p.m.) for an amazing pairing of fine cuisine and award-winning, hand crafted beer and root beer from local brewery Devil’s Canyon – all at a very affordable price – only $35

The menu looks amazing! Each course will be paired with beer and root beer and cooked right in front of attendees on the outdoor patio by “Chef Bobby”

Staff from the brewery will also be on hand to answer questions

Here’s a teaser . . .
Jumbo Battered Shrimp (Deadicated Amber Ale)
Wagyu Beef Tri-Tip (California Sunshine Rye IPA)
Smoked Rack of Wild Boar Ribs (Full Boar Scotch Ale)
and Desert (Devil’s Canyon Brand Root Beer)

Call 408-354-8118 and ASK FOR DENISE OR ANOTHER MANAGER to reserve your spot

See you there!

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a “beer” and a wedge of lime? Awesome!

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself where the whole lime thing started? I know, you put it in yours because you “like the taste” – we’ll get to that later.

There are two explanations that have are often cited as the reason people started putting limes in their beer:

1) Rust: Mexican beer bottle caps would get rusty and the lime would wipe it away or clean the lip of the bottle.

2) Flies: Rimming the lip of the bottle with a lime would keep flies away.

Both of these explanations are false.

Ready for the truth? Here we go:

Beer has three major enemies – Light, Air and Time. We are interested in light. Sunlight breaks down beer.

Put a pint of your favorite beer in a glass and leave it in the sun for 30 minutes on a hot day. You will notice that that it starts to smell stale – and rather quickly at that. It  smells like a skunk. Lucky for us, that is the exact scientific term explaining what just transpired – the beer skunked.

To combat this, you may have noticed that the majority of beers come in brown or green bottles. This prevents the sunlight from getting to the beer and skunking it. Unfortunately, colored glass is more expensive than clear glass; and guess what color the bottles are for the beers you put limes in? Yup. Clear.

So sunlight skunks the beer. What to do!?

Ready?

According to Corona, (NOTE: THAT’S FROM CORONA ITSELF) the reason for the lime is that “Corona is bottled in clear glass, and before our modern methods of refrigeration and transportation, the opportunity for spoilage from exposure to sunlight was increased. Therefore, the lime technique began as a measure to mask the skunky aromas caused by spoilage.”

So to paraphrase: “Our product spoils. We know it spoils, and we have taught people to put fruit in their beer to mask the fact that it is actually spoiled.”

Think back. You were young. It was trendy. You thought you were sophisticated . . . C’mon, we all fell for it.

The difference is that now we know the truth. Just like someone putting ketchup on a filet mignon without tasting it first would be met with gasps from the foodies around him, every time someone pops some fruit in their beer a beer fan dies inside just a little bit.

Now there will of course be those people who counter with, “But I like the way it tastes. I’m not being fooled, I like the taste!”  Ok . . . If you like fruity flavored beers there is a whole world to choose from. Craft breweries are constantly experimenting with styles and tastes. If you want a fruity beer then by all means bottoms up! However, the fruit essences should be imparted to your taste buds based on the ingredients that brewer used: special hops, certain types of yeasts, maybe even some actual fruit!

To add fruit to a beer without even tasting it is an insult to any brewery that takes pride in their product.

Back-of-the-napkin calculation: This whole lime in beer facade started about 30 years ago. Hopefully people will share this article and educate others who are discovering the variety and quality of craft beers. One would hope, wouldn’t they?

Then again . . . I saw this sign for a popular MillerCoors product just last week:

Really people? An orange wedge “helps bring out subtle fruit flavors.” Can we just stop and THINK about that for a moment?

Hey, we’re not hatin’ – just sayin’. Drink what you like, but like what you drink! If you’re adding things to your beer before you even taste it – well, let’s stop and think.

Next up – Why do bars use frosted glasses? You’ll love it. Trust us.

Locally owned and operated Anchor Steam Brewing Company has survived the California Gold Rush, the 1906 earthquake and Prohibition. Fritz Maytag bought Anchor Steam in 1965, developed a distillery and helped launch the microbrew movement. He was interviewed on NPR this morning about the sale of the brewery:

As of 4pm, Wednesday April 14th Devil’s Canyon has 150 tap handles in the San Francisco Bay Area!

It is with great pleasure and extreme pride (and endless thanks to our fans) that we announce Tap #150.

Tap handle #150 was just installed at the H.P. Pavilion in San Jose for the beginning of the San Jose Sharks playoffs and Silicon Blonde Ale will be on draught throughout the series – hopefully permanently!

The tap is located near section 223, upper concourse, upstairs bar location.(Above Grill Works, Next to the Sushi Place.)

The longevity and success of  this tap location depends on demand . . . And we have no doubt that if you are going to the Shark Tank you can help keep the beer pourers busy!

THANK YOU FANS!  Here’s to reaching tap #200 and beyond!

The day? April 16th. Tax returns have (hopefully) been signed, sealed and delivered.

It’s time to let loose from 5:30pm until 11pm with the Jack Aces band at Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company!

The Jack Aces are excited to celebrate and party with you and have a new dance-rock set just for this occasion.

Enjoy award winning microbrews, handcrafted Root Beer, and wine with tacos and burritos catered by Taqueria Mi Ranchito

Music begins at 6:30pm NO COVER charge. $4.00 Pints, don’t forget to bring your Devil’s Canyon pint glass if you have one!

See you Friday!

We have been working on this for a while and completely, utterly stoked to make this announcement.
Got $25 or more and want to support the brewery while getting a VERY competitive interest rate on your money?

We just launched the “Community Financed” part of “Employee Owned. Self Distributed. Community Financed. Ethically Sound.”

As a small, employee-owned brewery we are taking our community focus to the next level through the use of Prosper.com to fund short-term financial needs. Here is a link to the loan: Successful Craft Brewery Expanding

Why should we pay major banks interest? Now we are paying YOU! Our Fans! Our Supporters! Our Neighbors and Friends!

Here is the problem we run into:

If we buy supplies in January we have to put up the cash immediately. We brew, ferment, filter and keg the beer which takes us up to February. In March we get the beer out to our customers and many of them are Net30 which means we won’t see our investment back until April!

So we have this constant float that stops us from buying additional kegs and equipment needed to expand production in order to keep up with the growing demand for our products.

Traditionally we have gone to banks in the Bay Area to get loans which we in turn repay in a few months. The problem is, the interest rates are less than outstanding and we think there’s a better way of doing business.

People constantly ask us how they can support the brewery, how can they become investors or partners, etc.

We think it makes all the sense in the world to take our short-term loan needs to the people and become the first Community-Financed Micro-Brewery!

What Is The Purpose of this Loan?

Kegs! Kegs! Kegs!

We have seen a 40% growth over last year in our beer sales. In addition to sending kegs out to bars and restaurants a lot of people have home kegerators now. The demand for our beer and root beer is higher than ever and we are at one of those points where we need a little boost financially to get additional kegs.

We don’t have 12k cash on hand so here we are! Invest as little as $25.00 or as much as you can – it’s your choice!

Our Employees are the First to Invest!

We lead by example.

The Brewery’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing’s Prosper username is “dancurranjr” (No Laughing at the photo – yes that what he looks like with short, blonde hair and no mustache.)

He will always be the first one to invest and put his personal money “on the line.”

What’s the Payoff?

Apart from a great return on a safe investment, (however little or large you may contribute), you are taking part in a larger movement towards sustainability.

You are supporting the local community and the tax revenue we generate for them.

You are supporting the families that make up the brewery staff.

You are supporting the businesses that support the brewery.

You are supporting an employee-owned company.

You are supporting a forward-thinking company.

You are supporting an ethical company.

You are supporting Craft Beer.