Waiting for Whales: Rare Beer Release at Cellarmaker Brewing

While browsing photos on Instagram the other day, I saw a post from Cellarmaker Brewing that they will be having a special release on June 5, 2018 at 12pm. I know that their special releases sell out quickly and the brewery is less than 2 miles from where I live in San Francisco so I decided to make plans to visit on the day of the release.

The late morning in San Francisco was atypically warm and beautiful so we decided to ride our bikes down to the brewery (stopping along the way to drop off our election ballots at city hall). We arrived at 11:45am and the doors opened at 12pm and the line started moving. We only waited in line for about 10 minutes before we were at the front of the front ordering our beer.

The offerings were Double Dobis, a much sought after double IPA made with 100% Citra hops, and Alien Lifeform, a hazy West Coast IPA made with Galaxy, Mosaic, Simcoe and Centennial hops. The limits were three 4-packs of 16 ounce cans per beer per person. Most of the folks in front of us were ordering much more of the Double Dobis than the Alien Lifeform. By the time I sat down to write this article, about 2.5 hours after the release, Double Dobis already sold out. That's how quickly this beer disappears and why it is so rare and sought after. But I decided to get 2 fours packs of each, which is actually a big haul for me and I'll definitely need some help from some friends to finish these off while they're still fresh.

After picking up our beer we went inside the brewery to take a few photos and get a general sense of the ambiance on a special release day. The taproom was busy but not overly crowded and people were about as jovial and friendly as they are on any other day of the week, maybe a little more. By comparison, after waiting for three hours for Pliny the Younger at Russian River, people were noticeably extra friendly when they finally got in and had the Younger. Since it was the middle of a work day, we didn't stay for a beer, we're saving that for later.

All-in-all it was a pleasant, painless experience. And believe it or not, after enjoying the craftr beer scene for decades and writing about beer for 9 years, this was only the second time I waited in line for a special release at a brewery. (Of course I'm not counting waiting in line for a festival or during a festival).

Stay tuned for next week's #beersaturday and I'll have a review of both of these beers.