BLAH with Lee

Last night Nate and I went out for a brew at Blind Lady Ale House. It's a local spot that I might normally consider a diamond in the rough, but it seems there are a lot of those around here. They serve great beer and great pizza. You can read their story on the BLAH blog. In short the two couples that own the place care about high quality food and beer and have created an atmosphere that allows goers to enjoy both. With a casual feel, care dedicated to even the most minute of details (such as their 0.63L glasses that leave room for the head on a 0.5L pour), reasonable prices, and friendly staff (who offered us pieces of their own after-shift pizza, which we accepted), the ale house will be somewhere we frequent.

Now that we are beyond that lengthy introduction, the real reason for this post. One of the owners is named Lee. He is the resident brewmaster and is responsible for brewing one of the best beers I've ever had, their House Ale, a Belgian. Curious as to when the House Ale would be back after its recent disappearance, I approached Lee and had FFB's first real brewmaster contact. We talked about his history (he started homebrewing at 17, went through the UC Davis "Master Brewer" program, helped start Stone Brewery and worked there for 8 1/2 years, and has been consulting with breweries around the country for the last 3 years). We discussed FFB's homebrew projects (he offered to taste anything we bring in and provide feedback). And of course we discussed the House Ale (Lee will be brewing on site at BLAH in 3 months after which he said the House Ale will show up once more; it may first be seen at The Linkery because they recently begged him for one of his final 3 kegs and he obliged). In short, we had an awesome conversation and I hope we have many more.

If you ever care to join us for a beer at the Ale House, please don't hesitate to ask. Who knows, maybe we'll have another chat with Lee. -jk