Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer, Water & Responsibility From Full Sail

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Boy, the Hood River is picturesque, especially as it’s filmed in this newly produced video for Full Sail Brewing, all about Beer, Water & Responsibility. In today’s Press Release, they discuss their water and how they strive to use it wisely.

A great brew begins with great water. Full Sail is located in Hood River, Oregon at the base of Mt. Hood, where pristine water literally flows from the springs on the mountain. The video was filmed at and around the brewery, celebrating both the breweries exceptionally low water use and the beauty of the environment that inspires this commitment to preserve this valuable resource.

“When we look out from our brewery we can see both the Columbia River and the snow-capped peaks beyond, highlighted up against the clear blue skies. We feel so lucky to work in this truly amazing place. It would be impossible to live and work in the Columbia River Gorge and not be inspired by the sheer beauty of the place. It’s not hard to figure out what would attract us to this setting. And it is our love for this environment that drives our sustainable practices, so pure water, local ingredients and responsible processes are poured into each and every pint,” says Full Sail’s Executive Brewmaster, Jamie Emmerson.

It really is a beautiful part of the country, something of a paradise, especially since there’s so much good beer all around.

Alaska Barleywine Festival 2013 Winners

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Here are the winners from this weekend’s Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival in Anchorage, Alaska.

  1. Anchorage Brewing Barley Wine, Anchorage, Alaska
  2. Firestone Walker Sucaba, Paso Robles, California
  3. Black Raven Old Bird Brain Barley Wine, Redmond, Washington

And the Best Winter Beer:

Congratulations to all the winners. Thanks again to Tom Dalldorf from the Celebrator Beer News, for sending me the winners.

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Good Food Awards 2013

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Earlier tonight, the 2013 Good Food Award winners were announced at a ceremony at the Grand Hall in the San Francisco Ferry Building. I had hoped to be there, but have been hunkering down trying to finish my book before SF Beer Week kicks off in a few weeks.

This is the third year for the Good Food Awards, where in addition to beer, they also judge Charcuterie, Cheese, Chocolate, Coffee, Pickles, Preserves and Spirits. The website also includes a ninth category, Confections, but for some reason they’re not listed among the winners. I judged the first year, and again this year. The awards are conducted by the Seedling Projects.

Congratulations to all the winners.

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Breweries By The Numbers 2012

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The Brewers Association just released the number of breweries in the U.S. as of the end of last year. As of December 31, 2012, there were 2,336, which represents an increase of 387 over the previous year, meaning just over one new brewery opened every single day. Just as staggering; the total number of breweries-in-planning stood at 1,254.

And here’s the breakdown:

  • 24: A-B or MillerCoors owned
  • 109: Regional Breweries
  • 1,084: Microbreweries
  • 1,119: Brewpubs

Anchor Zymaster Series #3 Is Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout

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Anchor Brewing announced today the release of the third beer in their Zymaster Series, a stout to be called Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout.

From the press release:

Named after a San Francisco sailing legend from a time when stouts were first exported to the West Coast, Zymaster® No. 3: Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout will be released in selected Anchor markets in January 2013.

Our Zymaster® Series No. 3 (7.4% ABV) is a dry, Irish-style export stout akin to those brewed in the 1800s for the long voyage to San Francisco. Black as night, this high-gravity, malty brew offers intense but well-balanced flavors and aroma, with hints of dark chocolate and roasted coffee.

The arrival of a clipper ship in gold-rush San Francisco brought mail and news of “the States,” would-be miners and entrepreneurs, boots, shovels, pickaxes, butter from New York, cigars from Havana, and stout from as far away as London and Dublin.
The stouts that San Franciscans imbibed in those days were no ordinary ales. They were export stouts—dark, intense, high-gravity brews created especially to survive a long voyage like those around Cape Horn.

It took the average clipper three to four months to sail from New York to San Francisco. But not the Flying Cloud, which, in 1851, made the trip in 89 days and 21 hours anchor to anchor. With the exception of its own 89 day and 8 hour voyage three years later, its record remained unbroken until 1989. Thanks to this clipper’s “extreme” design and the savvy of its captain, Josiah Creesy, and his wife and navigator Eleanor, the Flying Cloud quickly became a San Francisco sailing legend. We celebrate it and a legendary brewing tradition with our Zymaster® No. 3: Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout.

That sounds tasty, I can’t wait to give their new stout a try.

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The beer will be in stores and select bars any minute now. Here’s where it will be available.

Zymaster® Series No. 3: Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout will be available in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Georgia and Florida.

Megan Fox For Brahma Beer

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Today I saw in the UK Sun that American actor Megan Fox is doing ads for Brahma, the Brazilian Budweiser, an especially accurate association since Brahma is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev. Why do we care? We don’t, but I’m game to look at a couple of ads with Megan Fox in them. Isn’t that why advertisers chose her? Of course, it’s still a tasteless, flavorless beer.

As Mais Gostosas do Carnival (The Hottest Carnival)

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Is it just me, or does that beer have his arm around Fox? Is the beer wearing sunglasses because he doesn’t want to be seen with Megan Fox?

Convidando Megan Fox Pra Uma Brahma (Inviting Megan Fox for a Brahma)

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And here she is going off to have a picnic. According to the Sun, she’s flying down to Rio to do a commercial and pose for some more ads.

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Although humorously enough, a few years ago the hipster appeared more partial to Pabst Blue Ribbon. This was taken by paparazzi in 2009. Ah, sex and beer. What’s not to love. It seems to me, the big brewers follow a variation of the old lawyer’s adage. “When the law is on your side, argue the law. When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When neither the facts nor the law are on your side, make an ad hominem attack.” In the brewer’s world it’s more along these lines. “When the beer tastes good, promote the beer. When the brewery has personality, promote the brewer. When the beer has neither, promote a celebrity, a cartoon, or both.”

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