Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Ithaca’s Twin Fermenters

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It’s never too late to celebrate great news. Congratulations to Jeff and Heather O’Neil on the birth of their twins, August William and Clara Jean, born July 21. Jeff is the brewmaster at the Ithaca Beer Co. Join me in wishing Jeff and Heather best wishes on the addition of two new fermenters to their brewery family.

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Jeff and Heather with the twins — Clara on the left, August the right — and their 4-year old son Henry Sinon.

Particulars:

Label: August William
Original Gravity: 6 lbs., 7 oz.
IBUs: 20 in.
Style: Boy
Release Date: July 21, 2010; 4:20 p.m.

Label: Clara Jean
Original Gravity: 7 lbs., 6 oz.
IBUs: 19 in.
Style: Girl
Release Date: July 21, 2010, 4:21 p.m.

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Ithaca brewer Jeff O’Neil with his twins.

Vinnie’s 40th Birthday Party

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This Sunday, Vinnie Cilurzo, founder and brewmaster at Russian River Brewing, turned forty. His wife Natalie pulled out all the stops and made it a two-day celebration, beginning with a barbecue at the production brewery.

Vinnie & Terrence Sullivan, from Sierra Nevada, filling barrels
We arrived a little early, and Vinnie and Terrence Sullivan, assistant brewer at Sierra Nevada Brewing was there with kegs of a beer that Vinnie brewed in Chico, and they were now filling into wine barrels to store in the barrel room for aging. The beer is for a special project for next year, and I can’t say more than that at this point.

My son Porter & Terrence's son Riley in Russian River's barrel room
We brought our kids along and happily so did Terrence and his wife. Their son Riley and Porter got along immediately and were thick as thieves playing in the barrel room and the rest of the brewery.

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We dropped the kids off at Grandma’s, put them to bed, and rejoined the party, which had moved to the brewpub, where we caught up again with Natalie and Vinnie.

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Natalie had a bunch of great cupcakes made, including several custom ones with a few logos you may recognize.

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The band playing was one of Vinnie’s favorites, The Famous, a San Francisco band. They even did a special song for the occasion, Pliny the Elder.

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Vinnie and me toward the end of the evening. The next day, we had brunch at Willie BIrds, near the brewery. After that, the party resumed back at the brewpub, but sadly without us. It was time to get the kids home.

Below is a slideshow of Vinnie’s 40t birthday party. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

Beer Waterfall

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In a scene straight out of a deranged adult version of Willy Wonka, the beer waterfall on the belated birthday card below arrived in my mailbox today.

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The card was primarily the work of my friends Ray and Cornelia, both Beer Drinkers of the Year in separate years. But they took it along with them to Brewvival in Charleston, South Carolina and had a few more friends sign it, which was very cool of them. There were separate notes from Julie and Jason from Brusin’ Ales and also Patrick Rue, from the Bruery. Then there’s another birthday greeting from a name I can’t quite read, though the initials look like G.H. Of course, it’s the thought that counts and I really appreciated getting the card. Thanks guys!

But there was one more note, from the John Hancock of the signatories, big and bold. His (or her) message took up nearly the entire inside left side with the following: “I want to see this in your fucking blog!” So how could I refuse? If only I could figure out the identity of my mystery person. Here’s his signature below. Any guesses?

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Beer Birthday: J (Yes, Embarrasing Myself This Time)

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Today is my 51st birthday, and I’ve been overwhelmed by an embarrassment of riches from well-wishers sending me notes via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. Thanks to one and all. Since it’s usually me posting embarrassing photos of my friends and colleagues, last year I posted a bunch encompassing my first 50 years on a page entitled Beer Birthday Overkill. From old baby photos to the high fashion of the 70s and beyond, they’re still up and good for a chuckle. So again in a spirit of fair play and transparency, here are a few more cringe-worthy photos from my days of youthful indiscretions.

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Another classic from the early 70s, around 1972 or 73 when I was 13 or 14. It was taken for a church directory when the Lutheran Church I attended was celebrating their 100-year anniversary, or something like that. My Mom actually made the jacket and, no offense to her, but she was not the finest seamstress to peddle a sewing machine. You gotta love the butterfly bow-tie look. I’m sure glad that died a much-deserved fashion death.

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At Woodstock (’94 — I’m not that old!) and yes, that’s a can of Miller Genuine Draft I’m holding. After a few days in the mud, we couldn’t be very picky or stand on ceremony about using the proper glass, sad to say. The sleepy-looking fellow next to me is Jim Noecker, my oldest friend in the world, who I’ve known since we were in kindergarten together.

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While I can’t recall the exact details of where or when this photo was taken, it was definitely on one of my first dates with my wife Sarah, which places it around 1993 or so, roughly seventeen years ago. Good god, we look young.

There’s many more where these came from, just check out Beer Birthday Overkill and thanks again for all the birthday wishes.

Beer Birthday: Pat Hagerman

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Today is the 46th birthday of Pat Hagerman, co-founder of ReelBeer.com, one of the first beer portals to establish a presence on the internet. I’ve known Pat for a lot of years in a variety of enterprises. Pat also has a son, Jack, who’s a little older than Porter so we’ve seen him at birthday parties from time to time, though it’s been a little while. These days, I usually run into Pat at beer events, though I suppose technically he’s also my boss since for a while I’d been filling in for Stan writing the Real Beer Blog, though happily now Stan’s back. Join me in wishing Pat a very Happy birthday.


Pat (at right) with Tom Dalldorf in New Orleans for the Craft Brewers Conference in 2003.


A self-portrait of me and Pat at Falling Rock in Denver at the 2005 Great American Beer Festival.

My Report Card From 2009

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Last year at this time, I made my usual five predictions for the 2009 beer year. Let’s see how I did.

 
2009 will be the year of the collaboration beer.

My Score: A+
Boy howdy, was it ever. Even Sierra Nevada waded into the collaborative pool with their first one. Collaborations between brewers were everywhere throughout the year and at this point I’d wager they’re here to stay.

 
Food & Beer Goes Mainstream.

My Score: B-
While beer dinners and food pairing events are still on the rise, things didn’t reaching the tipping point I thought they might or hoped they would.

 
Merger shakeouts will effect small brewers.

My Score: C
While mergers among distributors did continue in 2009, and the mess between ABIB and MillerCoors and their distributors still hasn’t reached a final solution, most regional brewers didn’t feel the pinch much. The fact that craft beer is growing faster than domestic and imports didn’t hurt, either. But some small brewers continued to look for alternative distribution solutions so it’s still not all rosy either.

 
Beer prices will continue to rise.

My Score: A
All the rising ingredient costs finally caught up with the big brewers, who previously had been trying to keep retail prices down. But InBev’s philosophy regarding pricing is fundamentally different than A-B’s had been, so when they announced price hikes, everyone else followed suit (as they usually do).

 
New Drys’ attacks will be more aggressive.

My Score: A+
This one was probably a little too predictable, but I was yet again surprised by just how aggressive these buzzkillers were in 2009. The vituperation of their rhetoric, the lengths they went to bend facts to their will and the outright fabrications are just astounding, especially given that the basis for their point of view is often on moral grounds. That their words and deeds can be so void of morality in the ends-justify-the-means approach taken seems a cruel irony that appears lost on them.

 
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Overall Score: B+
I think I did better last year, though in three out of five this year I think I hit the nail on the head pretty well. But the other two, not so much. C’est la vie. Now, to put on the ol’ thinking cap for next year’s predictions. See you next year!

Tomorrow I’ll make my predictions for 2010.

Beer Birthday: Tom McCormick

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I’ve known Tom since he was still at the beer distributor he founded, McCormick Distributing, which then, as now, promoted craft brewers and better imports. Tom has also worked as a consultant, with Wolaver’s and Real Beer, and now runs the ProBrewer website. But these days his primary job is running the California Small Brewers Association. Join me in wishing Tom a very happy birthday.

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At the CBC banquet with Nancy Johnson, director of the GABF.

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Tom with Greg Koch, co-owner of Stone Brewing, after a CSBA meeting in San Diego the year before last.

Beer Birthday: Stonch

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Today is the 30th birthday of Jeff Bell, whose alter ego is Stonch, one of England’s best bloggers. He also runs a pub, The Gunmakers, in Clerkenwell, a village in the heart of London. When I was in the UK late last summer, I stopped by to meet Jeff on my way back from Burton-on-Trent, slogging my way from the train station with my rollerbag in tow through the darkened streets of London, weaving this way and that until I finally made my way to his pub. It was great to finally meet him in person since we’d been corresponding for so long, and I had a fun, albeit short, visit, which I thought I’d share on the occasion of his birthday. Join me in wishing Stonch a very happy birthday.

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Jeff Bell, a.k.a. Stonch, at The Gunmakers Pub in central London.

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The pub’s centerpiece mirror opposite the bar.

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I had a wonderful Theakston’s Old Peculiar on cask, an entirely different beer from the bottled version. And Stonch had some terrific cheese to pair with it that was delicious.

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But for Jeff it was a work night, so I left him to it, and set off on the long journey to stay with one of my old best friends near Greenwich, who over ten years ago moved to London after marrying an Englishwoman, Alex.

In Memory: Jim Kennedy

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The late Jim Kennedy’s birthday is also today and I didn’t want to forget to raise a toast to him tonight, either. I never got the opportunity to meet Jim, but we had a lot of mutual friends and colleagues. Jim Kennedy founded Admiralty Beverage (acquired by Columbia Distributing in 1995) and was instrumental in the success of countless early microbreweries in Portland and the Pacific Northwest.

Chosen as “best beer pioneer” by Willamette Week in the weeks prior to his death, here’s what they had to say in 2002:

Let’s all raise a pint to Jim Kennedy. Don’t know who he is? If you’re a beer imbiber, chances are you’ve admired his work. The Pacific Northwest’s quality beverage scene would not exist without Kennedy and what friends call his infectious passion for the finer things in life. Founder, with his wife, Bobbie, of the Admiralty Beverage Company, Jim helped bring craft beers—as well as imports and fine wines—to these parts. He was a major supporter of breweries like Widmer and Deschutes in their early days. It’s a terrible irony that the man so many describe as the most vital force in the country’s thriving brewing scene has only a few weeks to live. After a serious battle with cancer, Kennedy says he doesn’t expect to live out the summer. A few weeks ago, he and Bobbie threw a living wake at Portland Brewing Company. Jim didn’t want to miss a last chance to party with his friends.

My friend and publisher, Tom Dalldorf, attended that living wake, and spent an hour or so interviewing Jim Kennedy. That interview appeared in the August/September issue in 2002. It hit the streets just a few days after Jim passed away. Please join me in raising a toast to his memory.

George Washington: Father of Our Country and Brewer

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Today of course is George Washington’s birthday. In addition to his many accomplishments as a farmer, military leader, statesman, and our first president he was also a great lover of beer. He was especially fond of Porter. But it was small beer that he made at Mount Vernon and his 1757 handwritten recipe for it survives at the New York Public Library in a notebook kept by Washington. Here it is transcribed below:

To Make Small Beer

Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. — Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask — leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working — Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.

And according to an article entitled Smashing Pumpkin by James Roberts (a.k.a. Dr. Fermento), the Celebrator’s Alaskan correspondent, Washington loved pumpkin porter, too.

Our forefathers made pumpkin ale. The pilgrims didn’t necessarily get off on vegetable beer, but it this was a matter of need. Brewing supplies were short in the New World; anything that fermented was fair game. And by all accounts George Washington made a pretty fair pumpkin porter.

There has been not been much written about Washington’s love for beer, but here you can find some additional information:

From Brewed In America by Stanley Baron, 1962: George Washington: President & Beer Lover

From Fermenting Revolution: George Washington, Our Porter-Pounding Founding Father