Frank, the palest of the pale ales and a stand-up guy, too.

Without question, I began writing this post on a Thursday. Whether I complete it before the midnight hour remains to be seen. Dan is currently trapsing around a lovely Caribbean island with two names (more on which he will undoubtedly fill you in, upon his return), leaving reliably kinda-just-in-time Me to broadcast the news of the week… so, let’s get on down to it:

 Don’t judge a beer by it’s color

Or do; I’m easy. A good time was had by all (all = Greg, Chelsea and for some wee while, the ineffable Mr Chris Groves) down at the FNC for this year’s Buffalo Brewfest. I understand the crowds were not overwhelming this year, which is always a nice feature for a brewfest.  More fun, as with years past, there was a wee competetion- several categories were judged. The People’s Choice Award went to newish to the scene Ringside Lager, while our very own Frank Pale Ale took the honor of first (I am assuming that’s what they really mean, not the actual lack of color) in the pale ale category, a welcome acknowledgement of his affable and pleasant nature. If you see Frank around, shake his hand!

When Life Gives You Cherries Carafa 1

Or at least, when you get offered a deal at the farmers market and bring a flat of sour cherries back to the brewery, what do you get? Well, at first a bit of Rudy scratching his head in thought, but eventually, not one but two projects: The Cherry Whale In A Rye Barrel is still to early to discuss much, so pretend I didn’t mention it: shhhhh! On the other hand, the CherryFord prototype has real merit and will quite possibly be scaled up one day. One Day; don’t calendar it yet. As for beers you can buy, there is the very last of More Information on at the brewery right now, as well as a still-healthy supply of WYHIWYG, our Seinfeldian-Belgian IPA accented with Amarillo and Pacific Jade Hops. It’s got a great balance between the IPA and Belgian yeast (Westmalle, same as in Rutherford) character and you can can take some home today! Er, tomorrow. Well, Friday- and next week as well. Finally, on Line 4 where De Maas can usually be found is it’s malfeasant twin, Dark Maas. Additional highly kilned malt deepens the color to a mahogany brown and adds a deft roasted complexity which supplants the usual caramel notes. Melded with the same light Noble hop additions and characterful Belgian (Ardennes) yeast as usual, Dark Maas is a bit more mysterious and–dare I say–sexy then it’s sibling. We’ll have it… as long as it lasts.

At Bidwell this Saturday, expect our now-standard summer line up of Frank, The Whale, THE IPA and Rutherford B. Haze.

Like Puppets Off Their Strings

We sure will see and be seen at some upcoming events, you betcha. Let’s open up the ol’ CBW diary (British meaning, there, we’d say agenda perhaps) and take a look-see, shall we? August 21st, we’ll be a featured beer at the Food Truck Rodeo to be held in the parking lot of the Historical Society– come on down from 5-9 pm, all your favorite trucks will be there serving up some stellar street food while the CBW (and Flying Bison) flows thanks largely to the efforts of Pat from Fat Bobs– Thanks Patrick! Here is some media on the last one.

Not really mentioned above, but there’s one other one-off beer in the tanks as of Monday- a repeat of last year’s Elmwood Festival Of The Arts exclusive beer. FestivAle (the contest-winning name; Rudy wanted to name it Crème Fraîche) is a hybrid cream ale and saison, brewed with flaked maize and fermented with a French yeast strain- it comes out dry and crisp and incredibly drinkable on a hot day. Which we hope we have on Aug 24 & 25th. If you care about such things, I’ll be “celebrity pouring” on Sunday at both booths (not at once, mind you, I’m not yet that clever) between 1 and 3pm. Drop by and say “yo!”

Ich Heisse Superfantische!

August 31st: The Beer, Bacon & Boobs Fest. Yeah, I think they’ve kind shifted more to Beer Bacon BoobsFest, to be fair. Regardless, it’s for a good cause and we’ll be there with some beer and merchandise- along with, again, many of our good food truck friends. It’s from 12 to 6pm, at 5565 Main Street,  Island Park in Williamsville, NY 14221; the beer fest itself is 2-5 with a VIP entrance at 1:00. More ifno? Linky.

September 7th from 1-5, you’ll find us getting sleepy from the lupulin with our pals @ McCollum Orchrds for their Second Annual hop-picking party. We’ll give you more details as we get closer, but save the date now and indeed, don’t fail to RSVP vial the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/572227589507288/) or directly to either C.B.W. (info@ryanh67.sg-host.com) or McCollum (mccollumorchards@gmail.com). Beers? Surely something pushed through a hop-rocket loaded with fresh hops, donja think? I do!

Finally: Buffalo Beer Week approaches! Start exercising that liver for the span of September 21st through 28th and events such as: the Ball Park Brew Bash; A Beer Geek Fest; loads of craft beer specials and tastings; a number of collaboration beers… and a very special CBW event at The Sterling Place Tavern, where we’ll say goodbye to a dear friend, and put him in the ground, till next year. Have you noticed that Rutherford‘s looking a bit peaked lately?

Your super secret special prize

For reading all the way to the end is… that beer. Over, er, up there? That one. It’s a Berliner Weisse. Rudy made it. it’s delicious. And it’s coming soon, too. Soon!