Drake’s Lead Brewer Alexandra Nowell Departs For Kinetic Brewing

Last Friday, Lead Brewer Alexandra Nowell climbed the brewdeck with Arno Holschuh from Blue Bottle Coffee. Alex has been a staunch aficionado (read: addict) of Blue Bottle coffee for some time, so for her last Drake’s brew, she wanted to bring her two favorite beverages together in an imperial stout.

Yes, folks, you read that correctly. This Blue Bottle Coffee Imperial Stout (nickname: Alex’s Last Stand) will be Alexandra Nowell’s last beer at Drake’s, and while we’re very excited for her, we’re definitely bummed to lose such a talented brewer.

Where’s she going? Well, the Bay Area’s loss is the Southland’s gain. She’s heading south to the Mojave Desert to make her mark as the new Head Brewer at Kinetic Brewing Co, a brewpub just over a year old. “It’s still a real young, new market for beer, with a lot of room to grow,” says Alex.

In her time here at Drake’s Alex has certainly left her mark. She initiated and brewed the first Pink Boots Society Scholarship brew with her 2011 Pink Boots Saison, the proceeds from which fully funded two scholarships for female brewers wanting to move forward in the industry. She has led barrel program supplying the rotating barrel-aged blends and sours that have brought people from all over the Bay Area to our humble Barrel House. She personally visited the Yakima Valley last fall to hand select our hops from the best fields and lots in Washington.

And, last but not least, she now leaves us with the first official Blue Bottle collaboration brew. The Blue Bottle Coffee Imperial Stout will be a ~9.75% imperial stout made with Blue Bottle’s Honduras Capucas, which will be added in both the whirlpool and the secondary, which should give the beans plenty of time to infuse the brew with their chocolate, nut, and fruit notes. Look for the Blue Bottle Coffee Imperial Stout at the Barrel House in the coming weeks (and we suspect some of it will find its way toward Kinetic, as well).

If you’re looking to share one last pint with Alex, she’ll be attending the Drake’s Brewing Dinner at Cannery Row in Monterey this Thursday, or you can swing by the Barrel House this Friday afternoon and try the last of her Scholarship Sour- a barrel-aged sour Pink Boot Saison. Cheers!
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