Bearish Thirst?

DIY quenching tips from Brenden Dobel

San Francisco native Brenden Dobel studied brewing everywhere from Denver to Bamberg before taking his current post as Brewmaster at ThirstyBear Brewing Company {415.974.0905; thirstybear.com}. Here he crafts a league of lagers, ales, and Belgians that complement a menu of traditional and exotic Spanish fare.

ThirstyBear might be only brewpub in the country with a Spanish menu, but Dobel says the food goes perfectly with beer. "We've got a lot of olive oil and garlic, chorizo, brandades-it's pretty beer friendly." ThirstyBear is also the first and so-far only brewpub in San Francisco serving certified organic beer. "Beer only has about four ingredients, so sourcing organic ingredients isn't too difficult, but it does entail a lot of inspections and paperwork."

When it comes to homebrewing, Dobel has these pieces of advice: "Don't go heavy on the spices or special ingredients. I would make an ale, because you won't be able to control fermentation temperatures at home, which you need to do for lagers. Try a nice, hoppy red ale-something dark. The hops will cover up some impurities. Also, you want to have enough alcohol to make sure it doesn't spoil but you don't want to go too high or the yeast can't convert the sugar into alcohol. That will leave you with a very sweet-tasting beer."

-Chastity Crenshaw