Oktoberfest – Californian Style

It is beautiful time of year in Southern California. The weather is warm the days are long and the transition to fall is just beginning. At Cismontane Brewing we have the added benefit of being on the edge of civilization, as far as Orange County knows it. The back drop of the Saddleback Mountains and the Cleveland National Forest afford some phenomenal views and hiking and mountain biking.

This year is the first year we decided to brew an Oktoberfest beer. Inspired by the season we decided to take advantage of the fact that the California Buckwheat is going to seed and integrate that into the beer. Along with Derek Bougie, head brewer at Newport Beach Brewing we kicked off a new series of beers that will be incorporating native species.

Video by Yoni (he's the man) http://yonisandler.com/

Keg Art

For those for you that spend any time in the brewery you will know that we are supporters of the arts. If fact we even consider what we are doing, as do some others, an art form. Art in our world includes the various artists that hang their shows on the walls, our handmade tap handles and the fine beers we produce. It doesn't end there…

We have been painting our kegs for some time now. Only a few have noticed. Those that have are generally the folks that handle the kegs at the fine establishments that pour our beers. With the addition of 27 more ½ barrels it was time to crank out a few more Cismontane original works.

The process is simple: Paper off the top and bottom, place a stencil in the gap, name and sign with a permanent pen.

Enjoy…

Tap Handle Re-Un-Invented

Plastic, resin, molds, factories in China and India… The list goes on. I apologize up front for my tap handles not being an electric guitar with flashing lights held by a sumo wrestler, or a dragon wrapped around a race car holding a light saber breathing ice and fire.

This may sound insane to some, but we make our tap handles by hand. When I say this, I don’t mean they are “handmade”, because as most of us know that could mean anything these days. What I mean is we make them from gathering the wood, sawing it, stamping the brass plate and finishing it. This time, we added brass plates. Oooooo, shinny.

We have become so far removed from the items that we use on a daily basis I can't tell you where what I own comes from; where my shirt was made, beer glass made, my broccoli grown, my beer brewed.

This is part of the reason that we create and build our handles ourselves. When you have a Cismontane tap handle on your tap tower you know where it comes from. Long story short, we added a brass plate and we still build the tap handles ourselves.

Ingredients: Salvaged Wild Fire Wood, Varnish, Steel Bolt, Brass Plate, Hands.

Please enjoy our latest handle creation along with our latest beers.