Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Celebrator 25th Anniversary Party

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The closing event for SF Beer Week was again hosted by the Celebrator Beer News, who held their 25th Anniversary Party at the Oakland Marriott Convention Center on Sunday. Over 600 people attended the festival, which had a Mardi Gras theme, and 50 breweries were pouring their beer.

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The tap handle for the beer that a group of Celebrator writer’s collaborated on to celebrate our 25th anniversary at Sierra Nevada Brewing

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Some festival attendees really got into the Mardi Gras spirit.

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Though not everybody, as evidenced by the Beer Wench, Ashley Routson, and recent husband Angelo De lseo.

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Steve Altimari, from High Water Brewing, also made a special blended beer for our 25th anniversary celebration.

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The view from the Brewing Network corner.

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Midway through the festival, all of the Celebrator writers in attendance got up on stage and we drank a toast to craft beer, the brewers and our industry, and I introduced publisher Tom Dalldorf.

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Then Tom led us in a 25th anniversary toast.

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Del Grande, Bison Brewing owner, dressed as a bison, giving high fours to anyone who would lend a paw.

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Fraggle and a bemused Jen Muehlbauer.

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Rich Norgrove, from Bear Republic and Brian Ford, from Auburn Alehouse, bookending a friend who’s name I can’t remember, another brain cell casualty of getting old.

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Terence, from Sierra Nevada, with Natalie, from Russian River.

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The long and the short of it, with Sean Paxton, Nicole Erny and some friends.

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Don Gortemiller, from Pacific Coast, and Dave Heist, formerly of Hoptown, with a friend.

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More buffalo hijinks toward the end of the evening.

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Don Ericson and Tom Dalldorf raise a toast to our 25th anniversary. See you next year.

Toronado Barleywine Festival 2013

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Yesterday was the 20th annual Toronado Barleywine Festival, the original SF Beer Week event, that predates our beer week by fifteen years. I arrived a little late, sad to say, because Porter had his little league tryouts in the morning, but for at least the fourth year in a row, my luck held. When I arrived, it was already in full swing.

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Luckily, I found Sean Paxton holding down Matt Bonney‘s table near the front of the pub.

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The table already had a full compliment of all forty barley wines. Since Sean was looking to go roaming himself, I graciously agreed to take over table babysitting duties, which allowed me the opportunity to try every one of this year’s barley wines.

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There were some very good, even great, ones, of course, and a number of decent beers, and a few that weren’t as good as one might have hoped.

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But over all, I think my favorite barley wine of the day was Mad River’s John Barleycorn, which in many ways has become the epitome of an American-style barley wine for me, and seems to get better every year. Other stand-outs included Heretic’s Dead Weight, Moylan’s Old Blarney, Drake’s Jolly Roger and Anderson Valley’s Horn of the Beer. I also enjoyed Bear Republic’s Old Scoutter’s 2010, Berryessa’s Cliff’s Fiscal and Widmer’s Old Embalmer.

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The back room, which is normally only used for special events (and Washoe’s) was configured in a new way this year, which seemed to allow more people to taste, with one side having long picnic tables and the other a place to stand and try the beers with a long table running the length to hold multiple barley wines. This also made the middle wider and easier to traverse than in previous years.

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All in all, another great beer festival, with some spectacular barley wines. But if you didn’t get a chance to go on Saturday, don’t dispair, the barley wines will be there at least until Monday, and some will probably be hanging around a little longer, until they run out.

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Russian River Brewing Honored By California State Legislature

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California State Senator Noreen Evans, from District 2, honored Russian River Brewing Co. with a Resolution from the California Legislature. The resolution was also signed by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro, who joined me and the crew from the Celebrator Beer News, at Beer Camp #93 at Sierra Nevada. Evans was also joined on stage by State Senator Alex Padilla, from District 20 (the San Fernando Valley) so that both the southern and northern parts of the state were represented.

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Senator Padilla, Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo and Senator Evans presenting a joint legislative resolution from the State of California yesterday.

The joint legislative resolution “recognizes RRBC’s outstanding community and customer service, exemplary business ethics and liquid craftsmanship that have provided the county with huge local economic benefits through jobs, sales and distinction.”

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Senators Alex Padilla and Noreen Evans, Tom McCormick, Executive Director of the CCBA, and Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo yesterday at the Russian River brewpub.

Congratulations to Vinnie and Natalie, and all of the Russian River Brewing employees, for this great honor.

Below is a short video I shot of the ceremony (using Sean Paxton‘s camera because mine was unwell, and who also shot the above photos for me — thanks Sean).

UPDATE: Here’s the actual resolution:

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Bistro Double IPA Winners 2013

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Societe‘s The Roustabout was chosen best in show at the 13th annual Double IPA Festival today at the Bistro in Hayward, California. The full winner’s list is below.

And for the second year, Triple IPAs were judged this year.

And for the third straight year:

Congratulations to all the winners.

SF Beer Week Opening Celebration 2013

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It’s hard to believe this is our fifth SF Beer Week. Things seemed to go off without a hitch last night at the Concourse Exhibition Center and it was another great kick-off to over 500 events that will follow this week. I spent most of my time drinking and talking to old friends and meeting new ones, but did snap a few photos along the way.

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The calm before the storm, about an hour before the SF Beer Week Opening Celebration began last night.

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Alex from Uncommon Brewers.

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Natalie Cilurzo (from Russian River) and Dave Keene (from the Toronado).

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Jay and the crew from Pine Street Brewery.

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Angelo Roselle with Geno Acevedo from El Toro Brewing. Angelo’s on a mission to drink every beer in the book I contributed to, 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die, and Geno’s Oatmeal Stout was one of the beers that I wrote up for the book.

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The Concourse Exhibition Hall with the celebration in full swing.

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John Martin, me and Peter Hoey.

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Rodger Davis (now from Faction Brewing) with Gabbi mugging for the camera in the background.

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I finally had a chance to try the beer we made at Beer Camp in December. Our Celebrator 25th Anniversary Double Pale Ale is tasting better than I ever could have hoped. It should be appearing at bars and festivals throughout the week, so keep an eye out for it.

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Tom Dalldorf (from the Celebrator) and Dave Keene (from the Toronado).

Anchor Releases California Lager

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Last night I atended a special release party at Anchor Brewery for their newest Beer, Anchor California Lager. It’s the same beer that was the first in their Zymaster series. According to Anchor co-owner Keith Greggor, the reaction to the beer was overwhelmingly positive, especially from distributors, and that persuaded the brewery to release it as a year-round beer in 12-oz. bottles. The release also coincides with a new partnership between Anchor and the California State Parks Foundation, where a portion of the proceeds from the beer will be donated to the parks foundation, a very worthy cause in my opinion. For now, the beer will only be available in California.

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From the press release:

Today, Anchor Brewing announces that Anchor California Lager®, California’s first genuine lager reborn, is being added to our core lineup of distinctive beers with case sales supporting the California State Parks Foundation. This new release is currently available in California only.

Anchor California Lager was the first beer in our Zymaster® Series, originally released as a limited draught beer in early 2012.

“Our first release of this historical brew was immensely popular with the public and also with our Anchor employees,” said Keith Greggor, CEO of Anchor Brewing Company. “From day one, Anchor California Lager resonated with us not only because of its distinctive flavor, but also because of the rich brewing history that it celebrates.”

Anchor Steam’s® roots go back to the Gold Rush, long before icehouses and modern refrigeration made traditional lagers a viable option. In 1876—thanks to an ice pond in the mountains and a belief that anything is possible in the Golden State—a little brewery named Boca created California’s first genuine lager. Anchor California Lager is our re-creation of this historic beer.

Made in San Francisco with two-row California barley, Cluster hops (the premier hop in 19th-century California), and our own lager yeast, Anchor California Lager is kräusened and lagered in our cellars. This all-malt brew is a delicious celebration of California’s unique brewing heritage.

The California grizzly bear on our Anchor California Lager label is from a woodcut by Durbin Van Vleck (1833–1898), courtesy of The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. First published in 1856 in San Francisco, it is a superbly crafted rendering of an original illustration by Charles Christian Nahl (1818–1878), who had painted both eastbound and westbound versions of this bear. Nearly a century later, Nahl’s bear served as inspiration for the design of the bear on California’s modern state flag. Although that bear is heading west, our bear—like the bear on Boca Brewing’s historic lager label—is heading east.

Anchor California Lager (4.9% ABV) is unique. Crisp, clean, and refreshing, its rich golden color, distinctive aroma, lingering creamy head, balanced depth of flavor, and incredibly smooth finish are like no other lager today.

Anchor California Lager is now available year-round in 6-packs, 12-packs, 22-ounce bottles, as well as on draught at select bars, restaurants and retailers throughout California.

Anchor’s history, California’s first genuine lager beer, and our state parks were all born in the second half of the 19th Century. To celebrate California’s unique heritage, we are proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds from Anchor California Lager case sales will support a new partnership with the California State Parks Foundation. As a tribute to our shared history and traditions, we’re forming an Anchor California Lager Grant, to be awarded by the California State Parks Foundation as a part of their Discretionary Grants program to benefit state parks.

California State Parks Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting, enhancing and advocating for California’s 280 state parks – the largest state parks system in the United States. California State Parks Foundation’s work revolves around the belief that all Californians deserve access to excellent state parks – from beaches to mountain ranges, deserts to redwood forests, and everything in between.

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From last night’s release party:

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And finally, here’s a new video about the beer:

Craft Beerds On Tour Beginning Tonight

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My neighbor, friend and colleague Fred Abercrombie, is debuting his new book, Craft Beerds, tonight at Taps in Petaluma. The book is a raucous look at nearly 200 beer labels involving beards, or beerds, and it’s just in time to kick off SF Beerd Week.

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Pick up your own copy of the book, signed by the author.

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I’ll be there at least the first hour, too, but if you can’t make it tonight at Taps, consider one of the other book signing events taking place during SF Beer Week. First, there will be an event at 21st Amendment on Tuesday, February 12 (Lincoln’s birthday) starting at 6:30 p.m.

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The next night, Wednesday, February 13, beginning at 9 p.m. they’ll be a book signing at Zeitgeist in San Francisco. They’ll also be featuring Lagunitas “SoCo ‘Stache Stout.”

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UPDATE: Author Fred Abercrombie with his bearded fans from last night’s book release party:

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Beer Camp #93: Celebrator 25th Anniversary Double Pale Ale

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In anticipation of the 25th Anniversary of the Celebrator Beer News magazine, which takes place this year, we decided to make a special beer to commemorate our silver anniversary. So in December of last year, the largest Sierra Nevada Beer Camp took place when eighteen writers for the brewspaper assembled in Chico, along with state Assembly Member Wesley Chesbro, who leads the beer caucus in Sacramento, got together at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. to make a beer. Our intrepid chronicler, Mike Condie, put together this great little 15-minute video of our Beer Camp.

The beer we made will be available at locations around the country starting around now and through SF Beer Week. Each writer at Beer Camp got to find a home for his or her kegs in their hometown. For example, my kegs will be at Taps in Petaluma and as a guest tap at Russian River Brewing.

The beer we made is essentially a Double Pale Ale, based on the original Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. We then imperialized it and changed the hop bill, with an eye toward reflecting past, present and future symbolically with the hops. For past, we of course used Cascades, for the present we chose Citra and for the future an experimental hop with no name, only a number. The beer finished at 9.3% a.b.v. Look for it during SF Beer Week events. It will also be pouring at the Celebrator 25th Anniversary Party at the Oakland Marriott on Sunday, February 17, the final big event of the 2013 beer week. Perhaps I’ll see you there.

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Pliny the Younger Day 2013

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This is the 9th year that Russian River Brewing has made their seasonal Triple I.P.A. Pliny the Younger, and the fourth year since it blew up into a huge event in 2010. I’ve been going every year since before then, and it’s been fun watching this event grow organically. This year was no exception, and was great fun. Oh, and the beer was pretty good, too.

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Each year since they were caught off guard in 2010, they’ve made changes each year to streamline the day, make it easier for more people to get a taste of Pliny the Younger and keep the event from spiraling out of control.

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When I arrived around 10:00 a.m., the line already stretched down the block from the brewpub entrance and turned the corner, running back to the beginning of the parking lot in the back of the block.

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The first people in line this was a trio from San Rafael, who started waiting in line at 3:00 a.m. the night before!

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Vinnie Cilurzo giving a last minute pep talk to the brewpub staff before opening the doors.

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Then the entire staff drank a beer shot of Pliny the Younger to prepare themselves for the onslaught of thirsty patrons about to fill the brewpub.

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Pliny the Younger 2013. This year’s version weighed in slightly higher than last year, at 10.8% a.b.v. The hop bill changed, Vinnie dropped Columbus, reduced the Tomahawk and stepped up Warrior, using it as the primary hop in the 30 day dry-hopping. Overall, Younger used Amarillo, Centennial, Chinook, Tomahawk and Warrior. He also changed the fermentation temperature, the dry hopping schedule and used even more hops. The result was an even smoother taste, amazing balance and terrific hop character. Big and bold. Vinnie believes it’s the best Younger yet, and it’s hard to disagree.

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The first customers of the day, having waited in line 8 hours for this moment. There were about 325 people in line when they opened the doors around 10:30, half an hour early.

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Vinnie Cilurzo, enjoying the day.

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One fun moment during the celebration, on stage, with Bell’s Hopslam. Last week, John Mallet from Bell’s Brewing came for a visit and left a case of their Triple IPA, Hopslam, and Vinnie and Natalie promised that they’d drink some of the beer on Pliny the Younger Day so Bell’s could post it on their Facebook page. [NOTE: So just to be clear, this is NOT Younger in bottles. There is NO Pliny the Younger in bottles.]

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Vinnie and Natalie slamming some Bell’s Hopslam. What did Mallett have to say about this year’s Younger? “It tastes like the rub table at hop selection.”

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By lunchtime, the brewpub was packed, and the line stretched down the block with people waiting for their turn to come in all day long.

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Back in the brewery, a final moment toasting with Natalie and Vinnie. Here’s to Pliny the Younger 2013.

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As I left the brewpub, relinquishing my spot for the next lucky person, I surveyed the line outside one last time, and noticed two artists capturing the spectacle in paint.