Session Beers, Organic Brewing and Artisan Food: How ThirstyBear Brewing Company is Doing It All

San-Francisco-based ThirstyBear Brewing Company is pulling all stops. Not only are they brewing the only organic beer in the city, but they also make artisan food and produce “session beers” – ideal for a long afternoon of sharing drinks with friends.

We talked to Ron Silberstein, managing member and founding brewmaster of ThirstyBear to find out how everything came together.

QUESTION: Can you tell us a bit about what you call “session beers”? What’s your goal when brewing these types of beers and which beers are your favorite?

Ron Silberstein: We would call any beer that one can drink several of over a few hours with little or no intoxicating effect a session beer. I would say any beer under 5% ABV would qualify as a session beer. By that definition, our Panda Bear (a light golden ale steeped with whole organic vanilla beans and TCHO organic cocoa nibs) is a session beer. Other than that, we don’t regularly offer traditional session beers. Certainly our Polar Bear Pilsner style, our Valencia Wheat (Belgian wit style) and our Meyer ESB go down easy, but all are above 5% ABV.
We have begun to brew other specialty session beers – our Citizen Beer series. Our first one was a bit light at 3.8% ABV but quite tasty with a Belgian yeast, American hops, and German malt. My current favorite beer is our Golden Hallucination – a dry, almost champagne like ale made with pilsner malt, Belgian yeast and hopped with copious amounts of Nelson Sauvin hops that give it an incredibly strong Sauvignon Blanc like nose. With an ABV of over 8%, it is NOT a session beer!

QUESTION: Aside from traditional beers, you also brew some unique mixes. Can you tell us a bit about those, what ingredients you’re using and how you come up with the recipes you use?

RS: We are inspired by brewers all over the world and our imaginations. We are not afraid to mix styles to create something unique. A light golden ale “dry hopped” with vanilla beans and cocoa nibs, a black lager with oyster shells and sea salt, a strong crisp ale with a powerful Sauvignon Blanc nose, sour bourbon barrel aged beers, double IPAs with all English, American or New Zealand hops – or a mix from around the world; we can go on and on. We brew for flavors that play off of each other. Most of our beers are designed specifically to complement our amazing Spanish-influenced cuisine.

QUESTION: One of your main goals is to offer a combination of hand-crafted beers and artisan Spanish food. Can you tell us a bit about the food you offer, what makes it special and how you decide the best combinations?

RS: Our chef takes the best that Bay Area and California farms, ranches and waters have to offer and makes it with a Spanish, Mediterranean thread. We use produce, eggs, poultry, dairy and meats sustainably sourced from local farms and artisan producers. Everything starts with the highest quality, seasonal ingredients. Then we formulate recipes that are based on the tapas style of cooking that originates in Spain. As in our brewery, we are inspired by tradition but not afraid to bend and blend it into something contemporary.

QUESTION: You’re San Francisco’s first and only CCOF certified organic brewery.Can you tell our readers what that means in terms of brewing and your brewery?

RS: 100% of our malt and hops is certified organic. Because there are fewer ingredients to choose from when brewing organic, it actually requires more creativity with the fewer choices. But those ingredients are better for the soil, better for our water, better for the farmers and contain zero pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.

It is a philosophical choice – by the time the barley is harvested, steeped in water, sprouted, dried in a kiln, mashed and then the sweet extract (wort) boiled, cooled and fermented – it’s not like the difference between an organic peach and a commercial one. But we know we are being better stewards of our planet and giving our customers a product with no chemical residues. It’s pure beer we can be proud of.