Organic Beer

   -    Bison Brew   -    Award-Winning Beers Since 1989   -    Berkeley, California

Woot! Bison’s Honey Basil is Back – Permanently!!

Posted on April 5, 2012 by ashley

Bison’s Honey Basil is back — and this time, for good!! Bison is extremely excited to announce that we have turned one of our most popular and award winning seasonal beers into a year round offering!

This Bison classic is infused with organic clover honey and fresh, whole leaf organic basil, lending a floral and slightly herbal aroma, with a hint of sweetness and a mild basil after taste. Golden amber in color with a light body, moderately alcohol level and dry finish, this artisanal ale is very refreshing and perfect for any time of the year. Super tasty on its own, Bison’s Honey Basil also make an excellent match for a variety of foods.

Suggested food pairings include: pasta, pizza, Thai food, curries, fresh cheeses (mozzarella, allouette, goat cheese etc...), pesto, tomatoes, sushi, ceviche, steamed mussels, Asian stir-fries, shrimp scampi, and salads.

In our (not so humble) opinion, our Honey Basil Ale is ULTRA delicious. But don’t just take our word for it, check out what some trusted members of the craft beer blogging community have said about it:

“Bottom line, it’s a darn good beer. I could drink it for any number of occasions but the basil notes kept reminding me of Italian food. I’d love to pair this beer with a nice pasta dinner. Plus Bison’s Honey Basil Beer is organic which, in addition to the alcohol, makes me feel all warm and bubbly inside.” ~ Kevin Luby, SkiingMag.com

“It is a beer with a strong amber malt backbone, hints of honey and a floral, herbal aroma from the basil… It seemed only natural then to raid the local farmer’s market looking for fresh, organic produce to go with this organic beer.” ~ Jesse Friedman, Beer and Nosh

“Damn, how do you guys make a beer that’s so subtle & balanced, yet so exciting & refreshing? I love Honey Basil ale, pop some on a plane please!” ~Melissa Cole, Girls Guide to Beer

Bison’s Honey Basil Ale is available in 4-packs as well as on draft. Please contact sales@bisonbrew.com for more information on buying or selling Bison Brewing’s organic beers!

For more info and tasting notes, check out the Brewmaster’s Tasting Notes video below!!!

 

Bison Organic Honey Basil from Dridge on Vimeo.

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East Bay Brew Fest Exclusive Beer Release

Posted on February 16, 2012 by ashley

Special Tapping Announcement

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Bison Brewing to Invade PDX for The Beer Mixology Hat-Trick

Posted on February 16, 2012 by ashley

Three breweries, three states, three beer cocktails. On February 25th, BREWPUBLIC is bringing together a trifecta of tristate craft breweries to perform the ultimate beer mixology hat-trick at The Guild Pub in Portland, OR.

Saturday evening, starting at 6pm, The Guild Pub will experience an invasion of brewers and a three-way tap and cocktail menu takeover. Representing the home team is Commons Brewery, a small craft brewery located in Southeast Portland, Oregon. Joining the threesome from the North is Mt. Tabor Brewing, the newest craft brewery to open in Vancouver, Washington. And completing the love triangle, from the state to the South, is Bison Brewing, a 100% certified organic craft brewery from Berkeley, California.

“The Guild has been interested in doing beer cocktails for some time and is excited to partner with three innovative craft breweries, Portland’s number one source for beer news, and the country’s premier beer mixologist for the first of many beer cocktail events to come.” — Dan Roy, owner of The Guild Pub.

For four straight hours, The Guild Pub will feature a menu of original beer cocktails designed by each of the breweries with the help of BeerMixology.com’s founder, Ashley Routson. Sample pours of the beers will be available for the inquisitive minds craving a side by side analysis. Brewmasters from each brewery will also be in house, making the menage-a-trois an even more intimate experience.

Media contact: Angelo De Ieso, angelo@brewpublic.com


The Beer Mixology Hat Trick
Who: BREWPUBLIC, Commons Brewery, Mt. Tabor Brewing, Bison Brewing
Where: The Guild Pub
1101 East Burnside Street
When: February 25th, 6-10pm
Cost: $8 per cocktail, $4 per pint

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Whole Foods Market® Valentine’s Day Beer Pairings: Featuring Bison’s Chocolate Stout

Posted on February 9, 2012 by ashley

Move over red wine and Champagne.

This Valentine’s Day, beer is for lovers.

Bison Brewing recently partnered with Whole Food Market regional team in Northern California and videographer, Chris Eldridge, to film a short segment on Valentine’s Day beer pairings. The seven minute video, hosted by WFM Folsom’s beer specialist, John Schmidt, and Bison Brewing’s very own “Beer Wench”, Ashley Routson, features four California craft beers paired with various artisan products, all of which can be found in most Norcal Whole Foods Market stores.

Naturally, we think that our Chocolate Stout is the perfect beer for lovers. Often referred to as Barry White’s voice in a bottle, Bison’s Chocolate Stout is a dark, slow pouring aphrodisiac of the smoothest proportions. It pairs extraordinarily well with oysters, chocolate, cheese cake, berries and a variety of blue cheeses. Cupid himself has been known to use our stout to seduce unsuspecting lovers. But don’t take our word for it, try it for yourself!

Enjoy the video! (And share it with your loved ones and friends!!)

This is one of many collaboration videos with WFM to come. Stay tuned!

XoXo,

Team Bison

 

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Bison Brewing’s *Official* SF Beer Week Calendar

Posted on February 2, 2012 by ashley

Bison Brewing is excited to announce our *official* SF Beer Week Schedule for 2012 — our biggest SF Beer Week participation, yet! This year, we are super stoked to introduce two new awesome events to the mix — both revolving around beer mixology.

We hope to see as many of our friends and fans as possible at any of all of these events. Follow @bisonbrew on Twitter and fan Bison Organic Beer on Facebook for event updates, photos and recaps. For further questions and media inquiries, contact Ashley: ashley@bisonbrew.com

Friday, February 10th

Opening Celebration

  • Where: Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco
  • Time: 6-10pm
  • Admission: $55

Saturday, February 11th

Chocolate & Beer Festival, 3rd Annual

  • Where: Craneway Pavillion, Point Richmond
  • Time: 2-6pm
  • Admission: $30
  • Summary: Spotlighting Bay Area-producers, the event will feature gourmet confections from chocolatiers, and artisan beers and ales from brewers. Bands will play throughout the afternoon, and the Festival benefits the local non-profit organizations.

Sunday, February 12th

The Unbirthday Beer Cocktail Party

  • Where: Revival Bar & Kitchen, downtown Berkeley
  • Time: 2-4pm
  • Admission: $30 for 3 beer cocktails & light tea party fare
  • Eventbrite: http://beermixology.com/eventbrite
  • Summary: This is your chance to experience beer mixology in a most unique setting. The Unbirthday Beer Cocktail Party will feature three unique concoctions crafted using St. George Spirits and Bison Organic Beers. Don’t be late for this very important date!

Monday, February 13th

Brews & Booze Threesome

  • Where: Thirsty Bear
  • Time: 6-8pm
  • Admission: $25 for 4 beer cocktails & light snacks
  • Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2843959359
  • Summary: A sexy cocktail event for consenting adults. Taste a menage-e-tois of local artisanal companies: Bison Brewing, ThirstyBear, & St. George Spirits. Straight spirits and beer tasting also included in price of admission. Additional cocktails available for purchase a la carte.

Thursday, February 16th

East Bay Brewers Fest

  • Where: Pyramid Ale House, Berkeley
  • Time: 5-9pm
  • Admission: $20
  • Eventbrite: http://www.eastbaybrewfest.eventbrite.com
  • Summary: Celebrate San Francisco Beer Week East Bay-style by sipping unlimited samples from the best breweries on the east side of the bridge.

Saturday, February 18th

Organic Orgy

  • Where: Thirsty Bear, San Francisco
  • Time:4-7pm
  • Admission: $35
  • Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2762311147
  • Summary: An orgy of California organic beers from all of CA’s certified organic breweries with Bison, Butte Creek, Eel River, MataVeza, Napa Smith, Santa Cruz Mountain, Sierra Nevada (Estate Ale), ThirstyBear, Ukiah, Uncommon Brewers. Tray passed appetizers from local organic farms.

Organic Beer Dinner

  • Where: Millennium, San Francisco
  • Time: 6-9:30pm
  • Admission: $75
  • Reservations: Alison, 415.345.3900×13
  • Summary: Join Millennium for an Organic Beer Dinner on Saturday, February 18th in our Private Dining Room. Chef Eric Tucker will be pairing (and cooking!). Organic beers (featured brews to-be-announced!) with 5 courses of local, organic cuisine

Sunday, February 19th

Celebrator Brew-Fest

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Meatless Monday Featured Pairing: Miso Soup + Bison IPA

Posted on January 16, 2012 by ashley

Today’s Meatless Monday recipe comes to us courtesy of Mar Routson, aka Ashley’s mom. In the past, we discovered that miso soup is an excellent pair with our IPA. The salty, earthiness of the soup heightens the hop profile of our IPA — making the citrus, pine and floral notes of the organic hops really shine through. The cooling nature of the hops also compliments the spiciness of the fresh ginger and red pepper flakes. The crisp and refreshing nature of our IPA is a palate cleanser for this dish, making every bite taste like the first.

Enjoy!!!

Meatless Monday Miso Soup (vegan)

Ingredients

  • 6 C. veg stock
  • 1/4 c. brown Miso
  • 3 1/2 inch slices fresh ginger
  • 18 snow peas, stems and strings removed
  • 4 large white mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 carrot, coarsely shredded
  • 2 scallions, including green part, finely chopped
  • 1/4 red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 6 oz. extra-firm tofu at room temp. cut into 1/2 inch dice
  • 1 tsp Asian sesame oil (optional)
  • pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
  • fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

  1. Whisk together veg. stock and miso; add ginger. Bring to boil, cover and cook 5 min.
  2. Add peas, shrooms, carrots, scallions, and peppers. Cover and simmer ’til veggies are tender ( 3 min).
  3. Remove ginger. Stir in oil and red pepper flakes (optional).
  4. Serve soup over tofu cubes. Pair with Bison Organic Chocolate Stout.

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Bison Brewing Company is an official Meatless Monday organization dedicated to lowering its carbon footprint by choosing to eat vegetarian on Mondays and pledging to drink green by choosing beverages that are either local, free-trade, or organic.

Our goal at Bison Brewing Company is to inspire the craft beer community to rally along with the millions of other people, like us, who take a small step to sustainability each Monday, by pledging to eat vegetarian at least day a week. We also urge everyone to take the extra step towards sustainability and make the commitment to “Drink Green” on Meatless Monday by washing down their favorite meatless recipe with a locally produced or organic craft beverage!

Join the movement on Twitter: Tweet your pledge to @bisonbrew & @MeatlessMonday using the #MeatlessMonday hashtag.

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Bison Brewing to LIVESTREAM Whole Foods Market’s Virtual Winter Beer Tasting

Posted on December 19, 2011 by ashley

As if hosting a virtual tasting LIVE on Twitter wasn’t cool enough, Bison Brewing is stepping it up by streaming a live video tasting from the Whole Foods Market store in Napa on Tuesday, December 20 from 4 to 5 p.m. PST.

Bison has teamed up with our good friend and talented videographer, Carlo Overhulser of The Beer Channel, and Aaron Hillyer, beer specialist of the Whole Foods Market in Napa, CA, to host a real life tasting to be aired on LIVESTREAM simultaneously with the virtual Winter Beer Tasting being co-hosted by @WholeFoods and @TheBeerWench on Twitter.

WFM Winter Beer Tasting

The live tasting will be streamed on the official Whole Foods Market LIVESTREAM channel: http://www.livestream.com/wholefoodsmarket

Winter ales was chosen as the theme for the tasting. Four different beers will be featured during the hour, and Bison is excited to have our Gingerbread Ale among the lucky few chosen for the event.

All it takes to participate is a Twitter account and a seasonal winter beer in hand. To join the conversation, participants merely need to attach the hashtag #WFMBeer to all of tweets during the event.

Every fifteen minutes, the focus will shift to a different featured brewery as brewmasters and brewery representatives actively answer questions and share stories about the beers and the breweries.

The December 20 virtual craft beer Twitter Tasting schedule is as follows:

4 pm EST: New Belgium (@newbelgium) Snow Day
4:15 EST: Deschutes (@DeschutesBeer) Jubelale
4:30 EST: Bison Brewing (@bisonbrew) Gingerbread Ale
4:45 EST: Dogfish Head (@dogfishbeer) Chicory Stout
5 pm EST: After party (free for all!!)

Cheers!!!

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Meatless Monday Featured Recipe: Lil’ Routson’s Black Bean & Black Quinoa Burgers

Posted on December 19, 2011 by ashley

Today’s featured recipe comes from the little sister of The Beer Wench (aka Bison’s “Director of Awesomeness”), Miss Rebecca Routson, author of the food blog “DailyBread“.

We chose to pair this hearty and healthy recipe with our Chocolate Stout. The earthy flavors from the quinoa are an excellent match for the roasted flavors in the beer — especially if you grill the burgers. The roasted malt bitterness of the beer is also an excellent compliment to the slight kick from the chipotle spice in the burgers.

Lil’ ROUTSON’S BLACK BEAN & BLACK QUINOA BURGERS

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (uncooked) black quinoa *
  • 1 14 oz can of black beans
  • 1/4 medium red onion (minced)
  • 1/2 red bell pepper (diced)
  • 2 tsp chipotle seasoning
  • 1 tsp chipotle sauce (puree)
  • 1 tsp ground pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 clove garlic (minced or paste)
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs (beaten)

***black quinoa actually has quite a different flavor than white quinoa, heartier, earthier, a better burger grain… if you cannot find black, red or white will suffice, but try to find black….***

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. To cook the quinoa: First, cover 1 cup quinoa with cold water and soak for a few minutes to remove the bitterness & then drain the water. Next, add a scant 2 cups water to the quinoa. Place this on the stove-top and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed.

2. While the quinoa is cooking, dice the onion and pepper and smash the black beans with a fork.

3. Combine all the ingredients except for the eggs in a large bowl. At this point, you want to check the mixture for taste. Add extra spices if needed. Then, add the eggs.

4. Make burger sized patties and place then on an oiled baking sheet (I used olive oil) to prevent sticking. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Flip the patties and bake at 400 for another 10 minutes.

5. Serve with your choice of bread and garnishments and pair with Bison Brewing’s Chocolate Stout.

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Meatless Monday Featured Rockstar: ANGELO DE IESO

Posted on December 19, 2011 by ashley

Meatless Monday Featured Rockstar:

Angelo on the Ed Forman show(Angelo on the Ed Forman show)

Angelo M. De Ieso II
Founder, Brewpublic
Twitter:@BREWPUBLIC

What is one of the delicious Meatless Monday meals you are going to enjoy today?
I’m meatless everyday. I have been eating a vegan diet since 1997. Some of my favorite meals include lentil dishes with wild rice, hearty bean stews, tempeh scrambles, fresh fruit smoothies, and when I am feeling like junk food, I go for frozen vegan pizza.

What delicious organic or local beverage will you pair with your meatless meal?
With the pizza I love a nice hoppy winter warmer like Widmer Brrr. With curried lentil dishes I certainly enjoy a rich and piquant Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale.

Why have you decided to take the pledge?
I have taken to the pledge of vegetarianism for a myriad of reasons, but foremost I do so to illustrate compassion toward animals and against inhumane and non-sustainable practices. Choosing a vegetarian lifestyle is not only good for your health but it’s great for the environment. The amount of pollution caused by meat farming is unnecessary. Further, if you look around America you can see how many obese people there are in our society where the majority, driven by the media, seems to sadly still favor eating animals. If people will consider a more vegetable based diet, they will likely feel better, look better, and live longer, too.

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At Bison Brewing Company, we believe that sustainable and ecologically sound food production is the best way to protect our environment, save energy and ensure the sustainability of American farming.

 

A relatively new phenomenon, Meatless Monday is a global movement to cut meat from at least one day of the week for personal health and the health of the planet. Although we are already extremely conscientious and environmentally aware on a daily basis, Bison Brewing Company decided to take the official PLEDGE and become an official Meatless Monday organization.

 

Our goal at Bison Brewing Company is to inspire the craft beer community to rally along with the millions of other people, like us, who take a small step to sustainability each Monday, by pledging to eat vegetarian at least day a week. We also urge everyone to take the extra step towards sustainability and make the commitment to “Drink Green” on Meatless Monday by washing down their favorite meatless recipe with a locally produced or organic craft beverage!

Join the movement on Twitter: Tweet your pledge to @bisonbrew and @MeatlessMonday

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Bison Brewing’s Holiday Beer Cocktail Menu Unveiled

Posted on December 18, 2011 by ashley

TonBison Gingerbread Flipight marks Bison’s inaugural beer cocktail event, and we are excited to give all of our guests and fans a little sneak peak into the menu! Full recipes will be posted on our website and in our upcoming newsletters. If you are in or around Berkeley this evening, we hope you will join us for one of these delicious and crafty cocktails!

Holiday Beer Cocktails
Where: Revival Bar & Kitchen
2102 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA (next to Downtown Berkeley BART Station)
Date: December 18, 2011
Time: 5-8pm
Cost: Per cocktail

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Lump of Coal

Old Bardstown bourbon, Leopold’s cherry liqueur, Averna amaro, maple bitters, Bison Chocolate Stout

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Gingerbread Flip

Cruzan spiced rum, ginger, one whole egg, Bison Gingerbread Ale, nutmeg

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Serrano-dIPAty

Del Maguey organic mezcal, lemon, agave nectar, muddled serrano chiles, cilantro, Bison IPA

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Apfelkuchen

Famous Grouse scotch, Barenjager honey liqueur, lemon, baked apple bitters, Bison Gingerbread Ale

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CHEERS!

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