Beer Birthday: Aaron Gore

September 24, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the 39th birthday of Aaron Gore, who has been working in some capacity in the craft beer world since he reached adulthood. He’s a freelance writer as The Ale Chaser from his home in South Carolina, and works full time for the 5th Ingredient, a brewing software company. He’s also a co-founder of the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame and the Evergreen Brewing Initiative. I’d been interacting with Aaron online for some time now, but started working with him more closely on the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame, and finally had a chance to meet in Philadelphia earlier this year during the Craft Brewers Conference. He’s a great advocate for craft beer and a worthy addition to the new generation of beer personalities championing better beer. Join me in wishing Aaron a very happy birthday.

Me and Aaron finally meeting in person at this year’s CBC in Philadelphia this year.

Me and Aaron again, but this time from Aaron’s perspective (and camera).

Pete Slosberg and Aaron at this year’s CBC.

[NOTE: Last two photos purloined from Facebook.]

Beer In Ads #5357: Bavaria St. Pauli Bock

September 23, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Wednesday’s poster is another one for Bavaria St. Pauli Bock, which was also created around 1935. This poster was made for the Bavaria-St. Pauli-Brauerei, of Hamburg, Germany, which was founded in 1922 from the merger of Bavaria Brauerei AG (founded in 1897) and St. Pauli Actien-Brauerei (founded in 1862). The poster was part of a series created by German artist Ottomar Anton.

Historic Beer Birthday: Conrad Walter

September 23, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Conrad Walter (September 23, 1819-July 29, 1873). He was born in Horstein, Alzenau in Unterfranken, in Bavaria, Germany. He came to the United States in August of 1846, arriving in Baltimore, Maryland aboard the Isaac Newton, which set sail from Bremen. He eventually settled in Louisville, Kentucky, where he married Eva Bessenbacher on May 23, 1848. Ten years later, in 1858, he founded what would become the Clay Street Brewery in Louisville, Kentucky, which was originally known simply as the Conrad Walter Brewery.

After founding the Clay Street Brewery (on Clay between Walnut and Madison), he operated it from 1858 until his death in 1873. His widow continued to operate the brewery until 1890 when sons John E. Walter and Frank Walter became the owners.

Beer Birthday: Yuseff Cherney

September 23, 2026 By Jay Brooks 2 Comments

Today is the 57th birthday of Yuseff Cherney, co-founder, former COO and head brewer of Ballast Point Brewing in San Diego. Although not too long after selling Ballast Point in later 2015 to Constellation Brands, Yuseff left the brewery, in July of 2016. For a time, he was focusing his energy on their rebranded spirits division, called Cutwater Spirits, although more recently that was sold, as well. I used to run into Yusseff in the Bay Area or at GABF, but I’m not sure we’ll see him as much in the beer world. He’s a great person and a terrific brewer. Join me in wishing Yusseff a very happy birthday.

Sierra Nevada’s Steve Dressler with Yuseff and his wife at the Chico leg of Beer Camps Across America a few years ago.

Claudia Pamparana, co-founder of Faction Brewing, Yuseff, Jeff Bagby, and his then-assistant brewer, Noah Regney, now with Hollister Brewing at the Boonville Beer Festival in 2007.

Yussef with Fal Allen (from Anderson Valley) at Prost Brewing during CBC a few years ago in Denver.

Yusseff-01 — Matt Matthew Brynildson, Earl Kight, and Yuseff at the European Beer Star Awards in Germany a few years ago.

Yusseff-03 — Yuseff with 2013’s Hop Queen. (Note: last two photos purloined from Facebook.)

Beer In Ads #5356: Bavaria St. Pauli Bock

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Tuesday’s poster is for Bavaria St. Pauli Bock, which was created around 1935. This poster was made for the Bavaria-St. Pauli-Brauerei, of Hamburg, Germany, which was founded in 1922 from the merger of Bavaria Brauerei AG (founded in 1897) and St. Pauli Actien-Brauerei (founded in 1862). The poster was created by German artist Ottomar Anton.

Historic Beer Birthday: Lord Chesterfield

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Lord Chesterfield, whose full name was Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (September 22, 1694-March 24, 1773). He “was a British statesman, and a man of letters, and wit. He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfield, and Lady Elizabeth Savile, and known as Lord Stanhope until the death of his father, in 1726. Educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he subsequently embarked on the Grand Tour of the Continent, to complete his education as a nobleman, by exposure to the cultural legacies of Classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to become acquainted with his aristocratic counterparts and the polite society of Continental Europe.

In the course of his post-graduate tour of Europe, the death of Queen Anne (r. 1702–1714) and the accession of King George I (r. 1714–1727) opened a political career for Stanhope, and he returned to England. In the British political spectrum he was a Whig and entered government service, as a courtier to the King, through the mentorship of his relative, James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, the King’s favourite minister, who procured his appointment as Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales.

Today he’s arguably best known for two things. The first is the numerous letters written to his illegitimate son Phillip Stanhope. They consisted of 400 private correspondences written over thirty years, first published a year after Lord Chesterfield’s death as “Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman.” From that correspondence, many quotations have become well-known, such as “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well,” “Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked,” “Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves,” and “Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no delay, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” Then there’s “Young men are apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are apt to think themselves sober enough” and “Choose your pleasures for yourself, and do not let them be imposed upon you. Follow nature and not fashion: weigh the present enjoyment of your pleasures against the necessary consequences of them, and then let your own common sense determine your choice.”

Portrait by Jonathan Richardson from 1728.Here’s the description from the Oxford edition of Chesterfield’s collected letters:

Not originally intended for publication, the celebrated and controversial correspondences between Lord Chesterfield and his son Philip, dating from 1737, were praised in their day as a complete manual of education, and despised by Samuel Johnson for teaching “the morals of a whore and the manners of a dancing-master.” Reflecting the political craft of a leading statesman and the urbane wit of a man who associated with Pope, Addison, and Swift, Lord Chesterfield’s Letters reveal the author’s political cynicism, his views on good breeding, and instruction to his son in etiquette and the worldly arts. The only annotated selection of this breadth available in paperback, these entertaining letters illuminate the fascinating aspects of eighteenth-century life and manners.

The second thing he’s known for today is Yuengling Brewery’s Lord Chesterfield Ale, which the brewery first brewed in 1829, the year they were founded as the Eagle Brewery.

The Lord Chesterfield Ale label in 1934. lord-chesterfield-3

Historic Beer Birthday: Alfred Werthmueller

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today is the birthday of Alfred Vinzenz Werthmueller (September 22, 1835-?). Werthmueller was born in Germany, and with a partner, brewed the first lager in the state of Iowa. He became part of the Wertmueller & Ende Co. Brewery in 1892 and appears to have been bought out by his partner, Charles Ende, when in 1902 the name changed to the Ende Brewing Co. It started out in Burlington, Iowa as the Union Brewery in 1856, and closed in 1915.

I can find almost no information about Werthmueller or even the brewery he was a partner in for ten years. He’s referred to as a brewer in USBA convention minutes, and for the Ninth Convention was still in Iowa, but during the Tenth Convention he’s listed as a representative of G. Bosch & Co. I can’t find any information about G. Bosch & Co., although there was a Bosch Brewery in Michigan from 1874 to 1973. But it was founded by a Joseph Bosch, so it may have been a different company. But that’s all I could find, and nothing about his later life or where he ended up.

burlington-1889 — Burlington, Iowa in 1889.

Here’s an account of the brewery from “100 Years of Brewing:”

Historic Beer Birthday: Clarence C. Geminn

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Clarence C. Geminn (September 22, 1915-April 21, 2006). He was born in Belleville, Illinois, and his German immigrant grandfather worked in a brewery and his father became a brewer at the Star-Peerless Brewing Co. in St. Louis, and Clarence apprenticed there, too, before getting his beer education at the Siebel Institute. After his graduation in 1951, he was hired by Genesee Brewing in Rochester, New York, and in 1959 became their Brewmaster. The following year at Genesee he developed the recipe for Genesee Cream Ale, which not only became their best-selling beer, it was also for a time the best-selling beer in America, all the more amazing because it was distributed primarily in the Northeast. Tom Acitelli has a nice history of the beer he wrote for All About Beer entitled “How Cream Ale Rose: The Birth of Genesee’s Signature.” In 1995, he retired after 36 years as brewmaster.

This is his obituary that’s been posted at his Find-a-Grave page:

It’s a trade that is often passed through the family, and it’s not unusual to hear that the son of a brewmaster has married the daughter of a brewmaster of another brewery. Keeps it in the family. Clarence Geminn, who’s of German descent, was brewmaster of Genesee Brewery from 1959 to 1978, one of only four brewmasters at Genesee since it started brewing in 1933. Born in Belleville, Ill., near St. Louis, his father was a brewmaster and his grandfather a brewery worker. In 1934, Geminn started work as an apprentice brewer at the same brewery where his father worked, the Star-Peerless Brewing Co. in St. Louis. Later, he went to the Siebel Institute, now in Chicago, and took a nine-month course to obtain a brewmaster’s diploma.
“It’s sort of a finishing school after you’ve had the practical training,” Geminn said. In 1951 he left Star-Peerless for Genesee. “You could see the handwriting on the wall. That little brewery wasn’t going to make it.” Geminn knew about Genesee because he met William Hoot at Siebel. Hoot is now president of Genesee and Wehle’s cousin. THE ROLE of the brewmaster has changed, Geminn said. Operations such as bottling are outside the realm of the brewmaster, and there are positions above the brewmaster, such as vice president of production, the position Geminn now holds. When Geminn worked in St. Louis, all the trappings of a brewmaster’s power were evident. “In the old days, the brewmaster had a residence on the property. He had free rent and free light. The brewmasters had their own formulas and they were very secretive. That’s where they got their power. “The owner must have known what was going on, but sometimes he didn’t. There were some tricks of the trade, like how you add the yeast and how to blend to achieve a uniform product that was the brewmaster’s secret.” – But even when Geminn came to Genesee in 1951, not all the traditions were gone. Asked if the brewery workers tipped their hats to him, Giminn smiled and said: “Yes, I had that happen to me. Nobody would come into my office until they took their hat off, and the foremen would practically click their heels.”

And here’s his obituary from the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, New York on April 24, 2006.

And this article about Geminn is from the Belleville News Democrat of Illinois from March 10, 1964.

Beer Birthday: Carlos Sanchez

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the 68th birthday of Carlos Sanchez, who was the brewmaster at Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville, behind the Redwood Curtain. Carlos was a veteran brewer of over 20 years, having originally interned at Humboldt Brewing Co., becoming assistant brewer there in 1990. He also worked at Mad River Brewing and attended Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Brewing Technology. In 1996, the opportunity to start brewing at a local start-up tempted Sanchez to become Six Rivers’ first, and only, brewmaster. He’d been there a long time, brewing an impressive stable of beers, including many sound interpretations of classic styles and a few others that are utterly unique. Last year, he announced his retirement. Join me in wishing Carlos a very happy birthday.

carlos-6-rivers — Carlos between Six Rivers’ owners Meredith Maier Ripley and Talia Nachshon at their 11th anniversary party several years ago.

Historic Beer Birthday: George Kenneth Hotson Younger

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of George Kenneth Hotson Younger (September 22, 1931-January 26, 2003). “Younger’s forebearer, George Younger (baptised 1722), was the founder of George Younger and Son of Alloa, [Scotland] the family’s brewing business (not to be confused with Younger’s of Edinburgh). He was the great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of the brewery founder. “Younger’s great-grandfather, George Younger, was created Viscount Younger of Leckie in 1923. Younger was the eldest of the three sons of Edward Younger, 3rd Viscount Younger of Leckie.”

Here’s his biography, from Wikipedia:

He was born in Stirling in 1931 and educated at Cargilfield Preparatory School, Winchester College, and New College, Oxford, where he obtained a Master’s degree. Joining the British Army, he served in the Korean War with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. On 7 August 1954, he married Diana Tuck, daughter of a Royal Navy captain; they had 4 children.
He first stood for Parliament, unsuccessfully, in North Lanarkshire in the 1959 General Election. Subsequently, he was initially selected to stand for the Kinross and West Perthshire seat in a by-election in late 1963, but agreed to stand aside to allow the new Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home the chance to enter the House of Commons.
Following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather the 1st Viscount, Younger became Member of Parliament for Ayr in 1964 and served as Margaret Thatcher’s Secretary of State for Scotland for seven years. He subsequently succeeded Michael Heseltine as Secretary of State for Defence in 1986 when Heseltine resigned from the cabinet over a dispute about helicopters known as the Westland crisis.
Younger quit the cabinet in 1989, and joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, becoming its chairman in 1992. He was created a life peer as Baron Younger of Prestwick of Ayr in the District of Kyle and Carrick on 7 July 1992, five years before succeeding to the viscountcy. As such, he continued to sit in the House of Lords after the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999 which expelled most of the hereditary peers.

This is the Meadow Brewery around 1890, before it became known as George Younger & Sons.

This is part of Younger’s obituary from the Independent, the small portion that’s about his time working for the family brewery business, must of the rest is about his political career, which appears to be the primary focus of his life, the beer was apparently just an afterthought, something he had to do.

George Kenneth Hotson Younger was born at Leckie in 1931. After Cargilfield, where he was head boy, he went to Winchester. None of the honours which were later to come his way gave him such pleasure as being Warden of Winchester. After National Service in Germany and Korea with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, he went up to New College, where he read Modern History. Joining the family firm of George Younger and Company, part of Bass, he rose to be a senior sales manager – following the tradition of his great-great-great-uncle William McEwan, who combined a career as a politician with that of successful brewer (best remembered for Mc- Ewan’s Export). As the Edinburgh University Public Orator put it at the degree ceremony for Younger’s doctorate honoris causa in 1992,
There was not for this son an immediate short cut to the boardroom. Instead he worked through the company in a range of roles from labourer to sales manager for Glasgow. He played a significant part not only in brightening up the design of its canned beers but also in the dramatic reorganisation of Scottish brewing which first brought together several of central Scotland’s brewers into United Caledonian Breweries and then merged them with Tennants to form Tennant Caledonian Breweries Ltd, of which George Younger was a director from 1977 to 1979.