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Mike Schnebeck from Fort Point Beer Co. in San Francisco is our guest in the studio today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Mike was on Brew Ha Ha once before in 2023, on this episode. Herlinda happily reports that Fort Point Beer Co. is actually growing and doing very well. They also are producing cider. And also, today is the eleventh anniversary of the first episode of Brew Ha Ha, back when Herlinda did the show with Joe Tucker. It was four years after that, on Feb. 8, 2018, that this podcast started. Cheers! 🍻
Mike and his two partners founded Fort Point Beer Co. ten years ago. Before that they ran another smaller brewery. The name Fort Point comes from the fort that is at the base of the Golden Gate bridge, on the city side. It is a famous landmark for locals in the know, and even if it is in the shadow of the Golden Gate bridge, the fort is not as widely known.
The first beer tasted is their KSA which is their take on a German Kolsch. This is their first non-alcoholic beer. They have a whole line of non-alcoholic beers. Many have a regular and a non alcoholic version.
They spent about three years researching non-alcoholic brewing. They found that a specialized yeast strain gave them the best flavor. The beer had to taste good, and also taste as close as possible to real beer. People love the types of beer already, so they wanted to make the same varieties of beer in a nearly-zero alcohol version. With the special yeast, they are able to make great tasting beer but less than one percent alcohol. The brewing process is very similar, with some adjustments. Even Steve Jaxon found it hard to tell which of the tastings were the non-alcoholic ones.
SF Beer Week is coming in February. The Feb-Brew-ary promotion is also coming, in Santa Rosa.
You can order Fort Point beer at Fort Point Beer Co dot com They have a beer club subscription. They have a Fort Point Korean style lager with San Hu Wan in the Mission district, with the chef Cory Lee. They developed the recipe together. It uses Jasmine rice, Herlinda notices. It also uses Contessa hops which have a green tea floral flavor.
Watch the Fort Point social media for up-to-the-minute news about events around San Francisco.
Pizzaleah is a new sponsor of Brew Ha Ha. Leah Scurto has been on the show a few times before, the last time was this episode on August 29, 2024.