Today is the 38th birthday of Jeff Bagby, who until recently was the head brewer extraordinaire at Pizza Port in Carlsbad. There, you can read the entire biography of Jeff “Extra Spicy” Bagby. I’m not sure when it was written, but it definitely needs to be updated, as it ends with the following sentence. “Jeff has his sights set on winning a GABF Brewpub of the Year award and we most definitely believe it is in his future as well.” Two years ago at GABF, Jeff won an amazing seven medals and Pizza Port Carlsbad was awarded the Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year. That means his plaid pants got to go up on stage a record eight times! You can see a retrospective of Jeff’s plaid choices over the years, too, at Jeff “Lucky Pants” Babgy Wins Big. In fact, now that he’s working on opening his own brewery, which not yet have a name, I think perhaps he should consider “Plaid Brewing” or some variation of that idea, like “Plaid Pants Brewing” or “Lucky Plaid Brewing.” All, well some, kidding aside, Jeff is a terrific brewer and a hell of a washoes player, though I still think Dave Keene and I could beat him and Tomme again. Join me at wishing Jeff a very happy birthday.
Jeff with his girlfriend Dandelian at GABF last year. And yes, those are his lucky pants.
Greg Koch and Jeff at the Falling Rock.
Former Drake’s brewer Melissa Myers with Jeff at an event at Anchor celebrating the Toronado’s 20th anniversary.
Sam Calagione, Bruce Paton and Jeff at the Lost Abbey for a beer dinner during CBC.
Jeff at the Toronado for the annual Belgian Beer Dinner earlier this year, with owner Dave Keene wearing his “Who the F@#k is Jeff Bagby?” T-shirt.
Thursday’s ad is for the manufacturer Continental Can Company, from 1959, extolling the virtue of their can for beer. Showing an illustration of four seating men standing around an open refrigerator with a can of generic Light Beer in it, the company promises that “Continental has the right beer package for you!”
Today would have been Bert Grant’s 84th birthday, and he is definitely missed. Bert opened the country’s first brewpub in 1982 in Yakima, Washington and was a fixture in the industry until his death in late July of 2001. Join me tonight in lifting a pint to Bert’s memory.
Bert Grant and me at OBF in the mid-1990s.
Wednesday’s ad is a fairly recent one for the Chinese beer Tsingtao. It was created by artist Olly Howe. I love its rorschach-like quality and its amazing detail. It’s messy and organized at the same time.
For our 64th Session, our host, Carla Companion — a.k.a. The Beer Babe — who these days is writing at Beer Utopia, among others. She’s posted her Session announcement at both The Beer Babe and Beer Utopia, and it looks like you can leave a comment with your Session contribution on either page. Her topic, Pale in Comparison, is a return to our roots with a focus on a particular style of beer: Pale Ale. Here’s how she explains her plan:
What is the one beer style usually makes up the first position in the sample flight, but yet is usually the one that we never get really excited about? The Pale Ale.
While this style serves as the foundation to its big-hoppy-brother the India Pale Ale, lately “Pale Ale” has become a throwaway term. I hear bartenders and servers using it to describe everything from Pilsners to unfiltered wheat beers (I wish I was kidding).
Whether American (typically a bit hoppier) or English (a little more malty), these brews can be complex, interesting and tasty, and are all too often fast-forwarded through in a tasting or left as the “eh, guess I’ll have a pale ale” decision.
Your mission — if you choose to accept it — is to seek out and taste two different pale ales. Tell us what makes them special, what makes them forgettable, what makes them the same or what makes them different.
So that sounds like a fun task. She’s right about Pale Ales getting overlooked these days. It used to be one of the most popular styles. In the early days of the microbrewery, everybody had a pale ale. So stay out the sun — and keep your complexion pale — and
be here June 1 to tell us about your pale drinking experiences.
Tuesday’s ad is for Heineken. It looks like it’s from the 1960s or so, but it was definitely before 1991, when Heineken bought their importer, Van Munching & Co. One interesting thing I’m pretty sure isn’t on their neck label any more is the suggestion to “Serve at 45°-50° F.” Not sure about their claim of tasting “tremendous,” that’s not been my personal experience.
