Here is the planned beer releases/re-releases throughout Beer Week.

Fri Feb 22: release of the Knee Deep/T7 Collaboration.  Brewmaster Jeremy Warren from Knee Deep will be out at Track 7 helping us launch this beer.  We will also be re-releasing the Riot Act Rye Pale Ale as well.  Those of you that found us after last April, this beer will be new to you.  Here is a brief description of the beer from our archives.  http://track7brewing.com/2012/04/09/riot-act-rye-ale-release/

Mon Feb 25: last keg of the Port-Barrel aged Dubbel will be released.

Tues Feb 26: last keg of the Burnt Fog Smoked Porter will be released.

Wed Feb 27: Chocolate Fish Soulman Stout will be released.

Thurs Feb 28: If all goes well with the batch (this one involves too much explanation for here), we will be re-leasing another 1-off beer to finish out beer week right.  No hopes up yet and more details to come.

All of our off-site events are either festivals or meet-the-brewer events where you can interact with one of the Track 7 Brewers, including Dan, Geoff and Ryan.

Here is the list of off-site events and their dates / times where avail.  If nothing specific for time, assume event starts at 5pm:

Sat Feb 23: Final Gravity Local Beer Tap Takeover.  This event will feature the best beers and brewers from the Sacramento area.  With the Local Brewer’s showcase dropped this year from the Capital Beer Festival, this is your best opportunity to meet and talk beer with brewers from throughout the area at one venue.

Sat Feb 23: Make-A-Wish Foundation Beer, Wine and Food Festival.  We don’t have all the specifics on this event at this time, but the festival is being held at the Sacramento Convention Center from 5:00pm-7:30pm.  We will post the link to event/ticketing as it becomes available.

Sun Feb 24: Home Brew Brunch at Bows and Arrows.  Geoff and Ryan will be doing a home brew demonstration in partnership with Tim from Brew Ferment and Distill.  Event is being held in conjunction with Sunday Brunch from 11am-3pm.

Sun Feb 24: Track 7 Meet and Greet at Flaming Grill.  We will be out at Flaming Grill with our Knee Deep/T7 Collaboration which will be paired with one of Jose’s unique burgers.  Event from 3-5pm.

Mon Feb 25: Dad’s 2nd Annual Pig Roast. http://ilovedadskitchen.com/?calendars=dads-pig-roast for more information on breweries and tickets.  Starts at 5:00pm

Mon Feb 25: Pizza Rock w/ Geoff.  Geoff will be in mid-town with Track 7 brew.  Time and additional details forthcoming.

Tues Feb 26: Broderick Restaurant and Bar W. Sacramento.  Pouring Track 7 beers with Brodericks.  Will be featuring the Knee Deep / T7 Collaboration as well as other offerings.

Tues Feb 26: Old Soul @ 40 Acres. Track 7 will be on-site as Old Soul pairs small plates of food with Bee Line Blonde, Daylight Amber and Soulman Stout.  Event starts at 5:00pm.

Wed Feb 27:  Red Rabbit Tap Take Over.  Starting at 4pm, Track 7 will take over the taps at Red Rabbit.  Afterwards we are heading over to the Lagwagon/Pennywise show at Ace of Spades.  You are more than welcome to head over with us.

Thurs Feb 28: Final Gravity Tap Takeover with Knee Deep.  All Track 7 and Knee Deep all night long.  Opportunity to try both versions of the Knee Deep/T7 Collaboration side-by-side.

Thurs Feb 28: Cal Auto Museum Beer Tasting. This event runs 6-8pm and features 6 breweries.  Event details can be found at http://www.calautomuseum.org/html/beer_tasting.html

Fri Mar 1: Captiol Beer and Taproom Tap Takeover with Knee Deep.  All Track 7 and Knee Deep all night long.  Opportunity to try both versions of the Knee Deep/T7 Collaboration side-by-side.

Sat Mar 2: Capital Beer Festival.  Event details at http://capitalbeerfest.com/

Sun Mar 3: Sacramento River Train.  Wind down beer week with us on a scenic train ride from Sacramento to Woodland on Sacramento River Beer Train.  This event will feature four breweries and live music.  Event details can be found at http://www.sacramentorivertrain.com/whistletix.php?Page%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fwww.whistletix.com%2fSacramentoRiverTrain%2fEventPage.aspx%3fEID%3d147993

January - Our first month open can best be described as beer famine.  We were overwhelmed by the fantastic show of support we received from Sacramento at our opening and we were pretty much out of beer.  On Jan 1, we were out of everything but Daylight Amber and Soulman Stout.  Two weeks later, it was one stout weekend as that was all we had left in stock.  But you guys came out and supported us any way.  It was surreal to see the entire brewery with Soulman Stout in hand.

February - Was a very big month for us.  We rolled out our growlers, the first full batch of our Trein Wrak Belgian IPA and we got to celebrate Sacramento Beer Week with all of you peeps.  It was awesome seeing T7 shirts at the opening brew fest even though we had been open less than two months.  Beer Week saw events at the brewery, such as Steal the Glass Night, Show Your T7 Love, Pub Trivia and Pints for Sacramento Children’s Home.  February also welcomed the arrival of our dishwasher.  Before that, all that  barware was hand washed.  Ugh!!  We also moved our first three kegs out of the brewery to off-site accounts at Dads, Pangaea and the Shack.

March - March was finally a month where we were allowed to take a little breather from the chaos of the start-up, but that did last too long.  We had a few events at the brewery, including a two-for-one stout night on St. Patrick’s Day.

April - We rolled our our Riot Act Rye Pale Ale to great fan fare.  It was so well-received that we will be bringing it back in 2013 as our spring seasonal beer.  You can expect to see it again April through June next year.

May - Trein Wrak was re-released due to positive demand and lack of both an IPA and a Pale Ale at the brewery.  What brewery in CA opens with out either of these West Coast staples?  We’ll get to that later.  In May, we also ordered our keg washer and two 15 bbl tanks that were supposed to arrive by July but didn’t make it until November.  May also marked West Coast Brew Fest and a third place finish for our Riot Act Rye Pale Ale at the brewery competition.  That was our first award received for a T7 beer quickly followed by our second award – Best Brewpub on the KCRA A-List.  The organizers of the voting clearly don’t understand what constitutes a brew pub, but we appreciate all the support and advocacy our loyal patrons expressed on our behalf.  After being open only five months, this was really awesome.

June - Other than Ryan earning his Southwest A- List status, there wasn’t anything terribly notable that happened in June.  Geoff, Becca, Jeanna forgive me if I forgot something here.

July - It started to get really hot in the brewery.  We are very thankful to those of your that stuck with us through the heat at the brewery this year.  Yes, we will be making climate control measures to reduce the heat inside the brewery by next summer.  Trust us, we didn’t like working in our little slice of Florida any more than you enjoyed sitting in it

August - Panic! Yep, we finally rolled out our IPA. It was never intended to become a main release of ours.  But the first 7 bbls sold in 2 wks and the numerous requests for more of it, prompted us to re-brew it in September and finally commit to it full time in November.  It is quickly becoming our number 1 beer, running neck and neck with Daylight Amber.  September was also our first of many beer trains to come.  We road the rails with the Sacramento Railroad Museum at the Ales for Rails event.  Ryan and Jeanna also left the comfort of SoCal and the airport commute lifestyle for Sacramento, relocating to Hollywood Park.  Bye, Bye paper cuts, hello severed fingers and bad back.  Ryan became the first full time employee at Track 7.  Jeanna also wrapped up her gig teaching kindergartners to become the first part-time employee at Track 7 with the tasks of managing accounts receivable, payroll and on-site events.

September - This was one crazy month. We had never had eight beers on tap before September.  But for one weekend, we did it.  September releases included more Panic IPA, Galaxy Pale Ale and Tracktoberfest.  Speaking of Tracktoberfest, that was one super fun event and we can’t wait till next year.  Knee Deep Brewmaster, Jeremy Warren won our first stein-holding contest in a spirited 7:30 minute showdown!  The Galaxy Pale Ale was also a beer that was never intended to be.  The only reason it was brewed was because of a fresh hop screw-up by Ryan.  He wound up sending 40# of fresh hops to his old address in SoCal.  He didn’t realize that till the UPS truck didn’t show and the batch of intended beer was already in production.  So, he pulled out a box of Australian Galaxy hops that were being saved for a rainy day.  Fortunately, the beer came out so well that it will be our 2013 Summer seasonal release.  You can expect it July – Sept 2013.

October – Geoff and Ryan traveled to their first GABF as tourists.  It was kinda sad, but we were too old (or too tired) to get crazy, but did manage to come into two Sierra Nevada Beer Camp tickets.  We did also manage to make it to Oskar Blues and Left Hand Brewing while in CO.  Track 7 also released its Belgian Dubbel.  This was our first beer that was brewed, intended for a different purpose.  Four months earlier, a rather spirited conversation involving a bottle room at Pangaea, Craig from Revolution Wine and Pliny the Younger (Yes, this isn’t a typo. Thank you Rob!) determined that the best use of some previously used Port Barrels would be a Belgian Dubbel.  So once the heat subsided and barrels could sit in the brewery at a steady temp, we brewed the Dubbel and racked a portion into Port barrels.  The barrel version finally is released tonight, and it doesn’t disappoint.  We are extremely proud of our first barrel release!

November - November added our second part-time employee with Becca in a more routine and regular capacity.  She left the water world for the beer world and we could be happier that she did! Geoff and Ryan went to a Gold Country Brewer’s Guild Meeting and were convinced to re-brew Trein Wrak.  After brewing it again, it was decided to keep it on draft until March as the Winter Seasonal.  Finally, our new 15BBL tanks arrived!  They sat in the back for a couple weeks until we could put them into service, but they look so much bigger than our little 7BBL tanks that kept us afloat all year. November is also when we released the Almost-Bottomless Growler Club to help subsidize the buildout of our second unit.  We at Track 7 Brewing would like to say Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to all the members that joined for 2013.

December - We also celebrated with the Sacramento Bartender’s Guild and Templeton Rye at what will hopefully be one of many BBQ and Horseshoe tossing events in Sacramento.  Dan Rafferty became our first non-T7 family employee and is easing into his new role very nicely.  We stayed really busy trying to keep up with regular production, putting our new tanks into service and building out unit two.  While we didn’t get everything we wanted finished in unit 2 on time, we did get the bar and 1 bathroom mostly finished in time for our 1 Year Anniversary.  Can’t wait for tonight and the introduction of Left Eye, Right Eye Double IPA, Chocolate Soul Stout and Port Barrel Dubbel.  You will not be disappointed.

I apologize for my ramblings, but last night as Geoff and I sat back and sampled a little Left Eye, Right Eye, I couldn’t help but get nostalgic.  It’s been a wild and crazy year for us.  Faster and bigger in many ways and slower and more arduous than expected in others.  Things we thought would take longer to address wound up being finished quicker (e.g. the second unit).  Things we thought would be quick and easy to address (e.g. bottle labels) took much longer than envisioned.  But, I don’t think any one of us expected to be where we are today so quickly.  If not for you Curtis Park, Land Park, Hollywood Park, City Farms specifically and Sacramento more generally, we wouldn’t be.  We have the best fans we could have ever asked for!

Being the hard working, never satisfied brewers we are, we have an amazing 2013 lined up for you.  Bottles will be released; a collaboration with Knee Deep is days away from being brewed; more special releases, including a Smoked Porter in January just in time for Bacon Week; casks and barrel-aged products too; more collaborations with RevWine and more places to drink our beer outside of Track 7.  2013 will be an even better year and we can’t wait to continue making our own beer history with you.  Cheers!

Pricing: $749 for 2013

What’s Included:
– Runs Jan 1 2013 through Dec 31 2013
– Includes

Which event will you participate in? 3:00pm

Log Sawing 4:00pm

Stein Chug-a-Lug 5:00pm

Stein Holding Contest 6:00pm

Yodeling 7:00pm

Mr. Dave Chelini will be playing the accordian

Please come out and help us make our first annual Tracktoberfest a memorable event!

Click to enlarge

First, and the biggest change for us to date, is that Ryan and Jeanna are in the process of leaving their digs in SoCal for Sacramento.  In doing so, Ryan will be the first official “full-time” Track 7 employee.  We all already work more than full-time at the brewery, so I guess this is really just a novel destinction.  But, he will be on-site more often and during the week which means Track 7 will be able to operate its tanks more efficiently.  More efficient tanks, means more beer (including more special releases) and maybe even more small pilot batches to taste and firkins to play with.

Second, we have made a couple additional capital purchases for the brewery.  We are taking delivery on a new keg washer this week and we will be acquiring two 15 barrel tanks for the brewery by the end of September.  The keg washer will allow us to be more efficient with our time.  Instead of washing 4 kegs an hour, we will be able to wash up to 40.  As it is now, we spend as much time cleaning kegs as we do brewing.  The bigger tanks were suppossed to be here at the end of July with the washer but are still in the fabrication process. Bigger tanks also mean more beer.  Bigger tanks also mean that we will have enough capacity to start bottling.  We hope to have our first bottling runs this fall and on the shelves of your favorite stores shortly thereafter.

Third, we have been doing our best to get our beers out to you in the Sacramento-area, so you can enjoy Sacramento’s best beer with food at your favorite restaurants.  Right now, we have 12 accounts in Sacramento and 2 in SoCal with some more active than others.  Over the next few months we will be working to push that number higher.  Feel free to send us an email letting us know where we should focus our efforts.  sales@track7brewing.com

Fourth, you’ve asked for it so we are going to provide it.  Our next seasonal release will be a west coast IPA.  We held off on an IPA until we could make the IPA that we wanted to make, without various hop constraints.  Right now, the craft beer industry is going through a bit of a hop shortage, especially those prized flavor and aroma hops such as Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial and Citra.  Through a bit of good fortune, we have been able to cobble together the hops we wanted to use for the IPA and will be brewing it this weekend.  Look for more information on the IPA shortly, but expect its debut in mid-August as a special release.  If you guys like it enough and ask us nicely, we may even be pursuaded into making it a regular release.  But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Hopefully, you are as excited about what’s happening at Track 7 as we are.  There is a lot more that we’d like to say but can’t just yet.  We’ve been open almost 7 months now and our anniversary is right around the corner . . .

The vital stats on the beer are:

NAME: Riot Act Rye Ale

STYLE: Rye Ale

HOPS: Cascade, Chinook, Magnum, Mt. Hood, and Willamette

ABV: 7%

IBUS: 45

OG: 1.068

DESCRIPTION: Our Riot Act Rye Ale was designed to be a showcase for rye malt.  Therefore it is a more malt driven beer than several of our other offerings.  For those less familiar with rye, the flavor that best characterizes rye in a beer is “spicey.”  But, just because the beer is malt driven does not mean it is without generous amounts of hops.  The Riot Act Rye Ale includes 11 hop additions, including two massive dry-hop additions.  The hops, however, were used more for flavor and aroma as oppossed to bitterness.  So for all you hop-heads, there are plenty of hops in this one.

Friday, February 24th: Trein Wrak (pronounced Train Wreck) Belgian IPA special release.  This beer made a brief appearance at our Grand Opening.  Due to the overwhelming response it received, we decided to make it our first special release.    The name highlights the Dutch influence within Belgium and we thought it fiting since it is a Belgian IPA.  Plus the name “Train Wreck” had already been used back east.  Chando’s Tacos will also be on-site serving up tacos from its truck.  So come down and get your fill of Belgian IPA while you can.  Who know’s when we’ll release it again.

Saturday, February 25th:  Sacramento Brewer’s Showcase and Capital Beer Fest.  We will be at the Cal Expo representing Track 7 at this marquee set of events.  Tickets are already on sale and can be found at www.sacramentobeerweek.com.  20 local breweries at the Showcase and 100 at the Beer Fest.  This is an event not to be missed!  While the Festivals are going on, the Tap Room will be open and The Pizza Company will be making some of its circular delicacies.   Pizza goes great with beer so come down and enjoy both.  For those of you at the Festivals, this will make an excellent night cap!

Sunday, Febrary 26th: Sunday Funday Trivia.  Starting right when the Tap Room opens at 2:00pm, we will host a game of trivia geared towards beer and Sacto.  Stop by and see if you have what it takes to win this battle of wits.  The trivia will take about an hour and scoring an additional half-hour.  Winner of the event will be rewarded.

Monday, February 27th: Dad’s Tent Fest and a Pint Night with Pangea’s.  Track 7 will divide and conquer Land and Curtis Parks.  Dad’s Tent Fest will be featuring 14 local breweries, Two Rivers Cider and a pig roast at Dad’s Kitchen.  Advanced tickets are $30, $40 at the door.  Contact Dad’s Kitchen for more info.  At Pangaea, we will be hosting a meet-and-greet.  So, stop by and hang out with Track 7 Brewer, Geoff Scott.

Tuesday, February 28th: Show Your Love for Track 7 at the Tap Room.  We have moved a lot of merchandise in our first six-weeks.  Now it is time for all your support to to pay off.  We will be taking $1 off pints for those wearing official T7 merchandise, and for those with home made merchandise, will provide $0.50 off pints.  Prize to be awarded for most creative homemade item!

Wednesday, February 29th: Steal the Glass Night at Track 7′s Tap Room.  You can engage in a little legal theft and walk out with a Track 7 pint glass for every pint purchased.  There will be a limited number of pint glasses on hand for the night, so get to T7 early and ensure that you are able to equip your household glassware in nothing but T7 pint glasses.

Thursday, March 1st: Track 7 and Two Rivers Cider at the Tap Room.  We will be co-hosting an event with Vince from Two River’s Cider.  Since one of us is on the west side and one on the east side of the tracks, come help us debate which of us is on the wrong side.  We will have all of our standards on draft, as well as Trein Wrak BIPA, and we will be complementing our selection with the finest cider around.

Friday, March 2nd: Pints for the Sacramento Children’s Home at Track 7.  We are working with the Sacramento Children’s Home to give back to a worthy charity in a neighborhood that has so quickly embraced us.  Track 7 will donate $1  for every pint purchased.  So stop by the brewery and drink for a good cause.

Saturday, March 3rd: 1st Annual Sacramento Beer and Chili fest.  We will be representing Track 7 with Daylight Amber and Soulman Stout at the 1st Annual Sacramento Beer and Chili Festival sponsored by Dad’s Kitchen.  This inaugural event is going to be held at in support of the Sacramento Arts Council.  The event is going to be held at the Southside Park located at 2116 6th Street (between W and X Streets).

We are looking forward to February and we hope you are too.  Cheers!

Saturday, February 18th: Growler Release.  Stop by to purchase and fill your new Track 7 Growler.  Growlers are 64 oz “jug-style” and will be priced as follows for Alkali Wit, Daylight Amber, ___ Blonde and Soulman Stout: $8 glass only, $12 fill only, and $18 glass and fill.  The price for Big 4 will be $20 fill only and $26 glass and fill.

Friday, February 24th: Trainwreck Belgian IPA special release.  This beer made a brief appearance at our Grand Opening.  Due to the overwhelming response it received, we decided to make it our first special release.  Trainwreck will be featured at a number of our Sacramento Beer Week events.  Stop by and grab some of this beauty while you can.

Saturday, February 25th:  Sacramento Brewer’s Showcase and Capital Beer Fest.  We will be at the Cal Expo representing Track 7 at this marquee set of events.  Tickets are already on sale and can be found at www.sacramentobeerweek.com.  20 local breweries at the Showcase and 100 at the Beer Fest.  This is an event not to be missed!

Monday, February 27th: Dad’s Tent Fest and a Pint Night with Pangea’s.  Track 7 will divide and conquer Land and Curtis Parks.  Dad’s Tent Fest will be featuring 14 local breweries, Two Rivers Cider and food from Dad’s Kitchen.  Advanced tickets are $30, $40 at the door.  Contact Dad’s Kitchen for more info.  At Pangaea, we will be hosting a meet-and-greet.  So, stop by and hang out with a Track 7 Brewer.

Tuesday, February 28th: Show Your Love for Track 7 at the brewery.  We have moved a lot of merchandise in our first month.  Now it is time for your support to to pay off.  We will be taking $1 off pints for those wearing official T7 merchandise, and for those with home made merchandise, will provide $0.50 off pints.  Prize to be awarded for most creative home made item!

Wednesday, February 29th: Steal the Glass Night at Track 7.  You can engage in a little legal theft and walk out with a Track 7 pint glass for every pint purchased.  There will be a limited number of pint glasses on hand for the night, so get to T7 early and ensure that you are able to equip your household glassware in nothing but T7 pint glasses.

Friday, March 2nd: Pints for Charity at Track 7.  We will be working with a local charity and will donate $1  for every pint purchased.  Stop by the brewery and drink for a good cause.  When we have finalized the charity that will be sponsored, we will post that information.

Saturday, March 3rd: 1st Annual Sacramento Beer and Chili fest.  We will be representing Track 7 with Daylight Amber and Soulman Stout at the 1st Annual Sacramento Beer and Chili Festival sponsored by Dad’s Kitchen.  This inaugural event is going to be held at in support of the Sacramento Arts Council.  The event is going to be held at the Southside Park located at 2116 6th Street (between W and X Streets).

We are looking forward to February and we hope you are too.  Cheers!

Our main stay beers will start returning to the brewery this weekend. Blonde, Daylight Amber and Big 4 will all make reappearances. Next week, our Alkali Wit will return as well. The Belgian IPA, which is really a seasonal release, will make its return for Sacramento Beer Week (Feb 24 – Mar 3). We are working overtime to restock ourselves and maintain our inventory so we don’t have another “stout weekend” anytime soon.

We are in this situation because we slightly under-planned the turnout for our grand opening. We received more support than we could have ever imagined and we are very grateful. We also didn’t plan for that awesome newspaper article from the Sac Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/31/4154111/sacramento-brewers-tap-growing.html). Rumor has it that there was a line out our door and down the parking lot for the better part of three hours. We can’t verify that rumor because we were busy behind the bar, but that feels about right. We posted the few pictures we have of the opening on our website, but we didn’t have an opportunity to take too many. If you have some additional pictures that you don’t mind sharing, please send them to info@track7brewing.com.

We thank you for your patience with us as we get our inventory restocked. We look forward to seeing you at the Tap Room soon.

And for those of you that like a little food with great drink, we are pleased to announce that Wicked ‘Wich will be serving up some ridiculous sandwiches from their food truck at our opening.  Now you won’t have to worry about leaving for lunch or dinner.

We hope that you can stop by, check out the brewery, and raise a glass with us.  Cheers!