Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

California State Fair Beer Competition Winners

By

cal-state-fair
On Monday, the results of this year’s California State Fair competition for “Commercial Craft Beer” were released. As usual, the winners are listed confusingly by county, with no overall list. Why they do this is beyond me. Also, the commercial competition is judged using the 23 BJCP categories, plus three for mead and two for hard cider. I have nothing against the BJCP guidelines, though they were developed primarily for homebrewing and often don’t fit commercial standards as well. The only standard that commercial beers need to satisfy is that of their customers, who could often care less what style a beer is as long as they like it.

At any rate, the top honors went to:

  • Best of Show: Sudwerk Marzen
  • Best of Show 1st Honorable Mention: Triple Rock IPAX
  • Best of Show 2nd Honorable Mention: Lightning Brewery Elemental Pilsner
  • Best of Show 3rd Honorable Mention: Fox Barrel Mulled Cider
  • Best of Show 4th Honorable Mention: Sudwerk Dunkelweizen

And the “1st Gold” Awards in each category were as follows:

  • 1A,B. Lite American Lager & Standard American Lager: Michelob Ultra
  • 1C. Premium American Lager: Michelob
  • 1D,E. Helles & Export: San Pedro Longshoreman Lager
  • 2A. German Pilsner: Lightning Brewery Elemental Pilsner
  • 2B,C. Bohemian & Classic American Pilsner: Sierra Nevada Summerfest
  • 4. Dark Lager: Sudwerk Marzen
  • 5A. Maibock/Helles Bock: San Pedro Welke Bock
  • 5C,D. Doppelbock & Eisbock: Lodi Eisbock
  • 6A,C: Cream Ale & Kolsch: River City Kolsch
  • 6B. Blonde Ale: Eel River California Blonde
  • 6D. American Wheat or Rye: Santa Cruz Ale Works Hefeweizen
  • 7. Amber Hybrid Beer: Jack’s Gridiron Amber
  • 8A,B. Bitter Ordinary/Special/Best: Faultline Pale Ale
  • 8C. Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale): Anderson Valley Boont Extra Special Beer
  • 9A,B,C. Scottish Ale: Devil’s Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale
  • 9D. Irish Red Ale: Taps Irish Red
  • 10A. American Pale Ale: Auburn Alehouse American River Pale Ale
  • 10B. American Amber Ale: Mad River Jamaica Red Ale
  • 10C. American Brown Ale: Omaha Jack’s Up Town Rancho Brown
  • 11. English Brown Ale: Tied House Ironwood Dark
  • 12A. Brown Porter: Mammoth Lakes Double Nut Brown
  • 12B,C. Robust & Baltic Porter: Uncommon Brewers Baltic Porter
  • 13A,D,E. Dry, American & Foreign Stouts: Mad River Steelhead Extra Stout
  • 13B,C. Sweet & Oatmeal Stout: Etna Brewing Grubstake Oatmeal Stout
  • 13F. Russian Imperial Stout: Fifty-Fifty Brewing Totality Imperial Stout
  • 14A. Engllish IPA: Eel River Organic IPA
  • 14B. American IPA: Triple Rock IPAX
  • 14C. Imperial IPA: Moylan’s Hopsickle Imperial XXX IPA
  • 15A. Weizen: Sierra Nevada Kellerwiess
  • 15B,C. Dunkleweizen & Weizenbock: Sudwerk Dunkelweizen
  • 16A,C. Witbier & Saison: The Brewhouse Baseball Saison
  • 16B,D,E. Belgian Pale Ale, Biere de Garde & Belgian Specialty Ale: River City Cap City Pale Ale
  • 17. Sour Ale: Valley Brew “Bill Brand-Bic”
  • 18A. Belgian Blonde Ale: Uncommon Brewers Siamese Twin Ale
  • 18B. Belgian Dubbel: Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double Abbey Style Ale
  • 18C. Belgian Tripel: Main Street Bishops Tipple Trippel
  • 19A. Old Ale: Lightning Brewery Old Tempest Ale
  • 19B. English Barleywine: Schooner’s Old Diablo Barleywine
  • 19C. American Barleywine: The Brewhouse Big Johnson Barley Wine
  • 20. Fruit Beer: Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat
  • 21. Spice, Herb Vegetable & Winter Beers: Marin Hoppy Holidaze
  • 22C. Wood-Aged Beer: Mayfield Iconoclast Nocturna
  • 23. Specialty Beer: Drake’s Impinoir Stout
  • 27. Apple Cider: Crispin Cider Crispin Light
  • 28. Specialty Cider: Fox Barrel Mulled Cider

cal-state-fair-2010

BrewDog In San Francisco

By

brew-dog
Last night Monk’s Kettle in San Francisco hosted a little meet and greet with co-founder James Watt of BrewDog in Scotland. Having just enjoyed a cheesesteak together at Jim’s Steaks with James (and Greg Koch and Bill Covaleski) in Philadelphia the week before, I felt duty-bound to find out how he enjoyed the state sandwich of Pennsylvania.

P1000381
Dana Blum, from Anchor Brewing, James Watt, from BrewDog, and me at Monk’s Kettle.

I was handed a 5 a.m. Saint when I walked in joined the conversation already in progress. Apparently, cheesesteaks don’t compare favorably to haggis, but I think it’s all about what you grew up with, so I take no offense. We talked World Cup, Philly and beer, of course. John Dannerbeck and Dana Blum, both from Anchor Brewing, added golf to the discussion, and it turns out James is a big fan. I then moved on to the Hardcore IPA, brewed with American hops like Simcoe. At 9.2% a.b.v. and the Simcoe, it’s more like an American version, which is what they were going for.

James Pours Sink the Bismarck
James pouring samples of Sink the Bismarck.

I was going to leave early, but James opened bottles of both Sink the Bismarck and Tactical Nuclear Penguin so I stuck around, not wanting to miss another opportunity to try them both. This version of Bismarck had far more peaty aromas than the last one I had — a plus, I think — and the Penguin had a thinner mouthfeel and more spirity flavors, with less roasted malt character.

Dinner With A Trio Of Lambic Legends

By

monks
Tuesday night in Philadelphia, I was fortunate to get an invitation from Tom Peters to attend his Lambic Dinner at Monk’s Cafe. The dinner included three of the best lambic brewers from Belgium: Frank Boon, from Brouwerij Boon; Armand Debelder, from Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen; and Jean Van Roy, from Brasserie Cantillon. It was an awesome dinner with some just spectacular beers.

Tom Peters, Frank Boon, Jean Van Roy, Fergie Carey and Armand Debelder
Tom Peters, Frank Boon, Jean Van Roy, Fergie Carey and Armand Debelder at the main table.

It was an eight course beer dinner prepared by guest chef Brian Morin, who cooks at the beer bistro in Toronto, Canada.

Tom Peters with guest chef Brian Morin, from Toronto's beer bistro
Tom Peters with guest chef Brian Morin.

You can see each of the eight courses below in the slideshow of the Monk’s Lambic beer dinner. 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.

Hammer Time

By

philly-beer
I arrived in Philadelphia on the train yesterday afternoon not sure what to expect. My first event wasn’t until Tuesday so I had a wide open evening. So I called a few people, including the wonderful Jennie Hatton — my agent — and also with the P.R. firm for Philly Beer Week. She was two blocks away at Misconduct with Eric Wallace from Left Hand Brewing and encouraged — no insisted — I join her there. It’s been my personal experience that nobody ever says no to Jennie Hatton, so there I went. Eric handed me his terrific barley wine and the evening began, not with a whimper but a bang. The bang, it turned out, was the now legendary “Hammer of Glory,” which Jennie had just retrieved from McGillin’s. I was even honored to carry the Hammer a time or two, which being an organizer of SF Beer Week, almost felt a little subversive. But as a Pennsylvania native and big supporter of PA beer, it also felt right at home in my hands.

Me with the Hammer of Glory
Me holding the legendary Hammer of Glory.

From there, we went to Local 44, scene of the scandalous PLCB raid by state troopers a few months back, where the fame of the Hammer of Glory spread and they were pouring more Lost Abbey beers than I’d ever seen in one place before.

Local 44 owner Brendan, the Hammer & Jennie
Local 44 owner Brendan Hartranft, the Hammer and Jennie.

After a quick stop at the City Tap House, we crawled over to Standard Tap, where their Bear Ninja Cowboy contest was about to get under way. In case you’re confused, essentially it’s beerchambeau: Bear beats Ninja, Ninja beats Cowboy and Cowboy beats Bear.

The Hammer at Standard Tap's Bear Ninja Cowboy beerchambeau
Bear Ninja Cowboys, refs the Hammer and Jennie.

Knowing (and apparently sharing) my love for all things fried and potato, Jennie took me to the North Bowl Lounge & Lanes, just a short walk from the Standard Tap for some tater tots. This very cool bowling alley also has an amazing menu of tater tot dishes, on the order of Totcho’s but with a dizzying variety of choices. We went with the Wakin’N Bacon, tots with cheddar, bacon and a hard fried egg. I also ordered a special hot dog that was also cheese, bacon and a fried egg. Holy moley, they were good, some of the best tots I’ve ever had.

Jennie w/tots & a dog at North Lanes Lounge
Tots, a dog, some eggs, bacon, cheese and Jennie.

The last stop of the night was Doobie’s, a wonderfully unpretentious neighborhood bar. It was great quiet spot to end such a great night. Plus, there was a number of people there I’d hadn’t seen in a while. They were also pouring some of the last of the elusive Standard Porter, a collaboration beer for Philly Beer Week.

Standard Tap owner Willam, Doobie's owner Patty, Suzy and Brian, both from Sly Fox Brewing and, of course, the Hammer
Standard Tap owner William Reed, Doobie’s owner Patty with the Hammer, Suzy Woods and Brian O’Reilly, both from Sly Fox Brewing.

Below is a slideshow of my Hammer Time evening. 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.

The Great Lambic Summit

By

cantillon-rdg
This event just looks awesome. After whetting my appetite at the Monk’s Cafe’s lambic dinner Tuesday night, Shelton Brothers is putting on The Great Lambic Summit at the University of Pennsylvania the following evening, Wednesday June 9, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Here’s a description of the event:

The Lambic World is more divided, politically charged, and fraught with danger than the Middle East. So it’s a really big deal when you get Armand Debelder (3 Fonteinen) Frank Boon (Brouwerij Boon), and Jean Van Roy (Brasserie Cantillon) together at the same table. In fact, it’s never been done before.

On Wednesday evening, June 9th, as part of Philly Beer Week, these three greats — indisputably the three most traditional and authentic producers of real lambic in Belgium — will be gathered first to celebrate and praise each others’ work. Liberal quantities of special beers from each producer will be passed around, including some rare items being flown over to the U.S. for the very first time for the occasion. There will be some artistically prepared foods, naturally, including cheeses made with Gueuze from 3 Fonteinen and Cantillon. But there will also very likely be some fireworks. Even at the top, not everyone sees eye to eye, to say the least. And there will probably some discussion, and some dirt dished, about what’s going on in the darker corners of Lambic World. Dan Shelton, beer importer, lambic fan, and well-known pain-in-the-ass, will be hosting the discussion and doing his ugly best to make sure that the evening is not without controversy, just the way you like it!

It all happens under the wise and watchful eye of the Sphinx, in the Lower Egyptian Room in the depths of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Art. The ancient inhabitants of the Nile River Valley were of course the first great civilization to make an art and religion of brewing beer — relying on unseen and then unknown wild yeasts to ferment their brew, just as the famous brewers and blenders of lambic beer in Belgium’s Senne River valley do today.

You really can’t afford to miss once in a lifetime chance to drink some extremely rare lambic beers with the people who have dedicated theirs lives to the art.

old-lambics

Here’s the lineup:

Frank Boon, Brouwerij Boon
Armand Debelder, 3 Fonteinen
Jean Van Roy, Brasserie Cantillon
The world’s best lambic beer, and good food, served.

Tickets are $50 person, cheap at twice the price. See you there!

Outside Lands Music Festival Pairs Rock & Roll … With Wine

By

woodstock
I have nothing against wine, I drink it fairly often and am an unabashed cross drinker. But this is still a little odd, to me. The Outside Lands two-day music festival that will take place in Golden Gate Park in mid-August appears to be wine only. And that’s despite having Heineken as one of the “partners” of the festival. The tagline for Outside Lands 2010 is “Music — Food — Wine — Art,” listed that way even on the Tickets page — they go on sale tomorrow. There are some great bands playing, including a favorite of mine — Gogol Bordello — a band I can’t imagine without beer. To me that seems like an epic fail. Rock & Roll without beer is like … well, I can’t think of an apt metaphor. It’s just wrong.

Short Pour Film Winner Announced

By

short-pour-films
“The inaugural Short Pour Film Festival on the subject of beer, which was announced last August, was judged last weekend. The films will debut at the Monterey Beer Festival on June 5th, 2010, from 12:30pm to 5pm.” The Winning Film, along with the entire One Hour & Twenty Minute Program, will be shown in the historic ”King City Room”, a 10,000 square foot building at the Monterey Fairgrounds (home to The Monterey Jazz Festival & The Monterey Blues Festival).

The overall winner is “The Swagger Stagger” in San Francisco by Sayre Piotrkowski, which you can watch below.

The runner-up was by the Beer Nation Show and titled “Legend of Craft Beer Bandit” by Mike Winn & Seth Wright.

The winners will also be screened at this year’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver, September 16-18.

Win Tickets To The SF Giants Brewfest Saturday

By

sf-giants
Come join me and my family this Saturday for the inaugural San Francisco Giants Brewfest at the ballpark, sponsored in part by the San Francisco Brewers Guild. All seven brewery members (Beach Chalet, 21st Amendment, Thirsty Bear, Social Kitchen Brewery, Magnolia Pub, Speakeasy & Gordon Biersch) will be pouring their beer from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and then the game begins at 6:05. Tickets are $20, which includes a commemorative glass, unlimited samples, music by “The Famous” and tickets to the Giants vs. Diamondbacks game.

Giants-Brewfest-2010

What could be better than a deal like that? How about free tickets? Leave a comment here telling me why you’d like to go to the Brewfest and the baseball game this Saturday and the best answer will win two tickets, courtesy of the San Francisco Giants and the Brewer’s Guild. Comments, or entries, must be posted here by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday (yes, that’s in two days) and the winning entry will be announced at 6:00 p.m. The winner will then be able to pick up their tickets at will call on Saturday. See you there!

Print

UPDATE 5.27: And the winner …? It was a tough choice, there were many worthwhile entries. I almost chose the newly engaged couple, and the recent San Diego transplant. Then there was the never-been-kissed friend and the intern on his first weekend in San Francisco. But I was most moved by the plight of Stuart Dejesus, who desperately needs a day away. He’s trying to plan a wedding with twin 10-month old babies. I think he and his fiance deserve a day in the (hopefully) sun. Congratulations Stuart, your tickets will be at will call under your name.

The Beer Circus Is Coming To Town

By

lagunitas-circle
If you missed last year’s Lagunitas Beer Circus, you missed one of the most amazing spectacles involving beer I’ve ever had the pleasure of attending. It was so good, they’ve moved it to May for the better weather and because it deserves its own time slot.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2nd annual Lagunitas Beer Circus, which will be held Sunday, May 16 from 1:00-6:00 p.m. Tickets are $35, which includes admission and 10 beer tokens, and be purchased by calling 707.769.4495.

Here’s a description of the circus from one of two Facebook pages for the event.

This year’s going to be c-r-a-z-y. In lieu of a bigtop they’re gonna take over the entire Lagunitas parking lot and Beer Sanctuary. More space means more Circus.

Already confirmed are awesomeness like a midway with carnival games; different stages with bands like the kings of klown-fi, Gooferman; aerialists, contortionists, and sideshow freaks like Jo-Jo The Dog-Faced Boy and The Bearded Lady; oilpunks of the Golden Mean Giant Snail Car and burlesque teasers Boiler Bar Revue & Theater; with tons more to be announced.

Oh yeah, and the beer in Beer Circus? Well, this is a Beer Festival and Lagunitas always does ‘em right. So with your ticket you’ll get a healthy number of pours. Not only from their standard lineup and one-of-a-kind brews found only in their TapRoom, there’ll be taps from 10 local breweries: Ace Cider, Dempsey’s Brewing, Russian River, Moylan’s, Marin Brewing Company, Moonlight Brewing, Sonoma Springs Brewery, Napa Smith, Third Street Aleworks, and Iron Springs Brewerys (hopefully with their Ambrewlance).

I had such a great time at this last year, it’s definitely one not to be missed. See you there!

Lagunitas_BeerCircus_flyer_2010

New Oakland Beer Fest This Weekend

By

oakland
A new Bay Area beer festival will be held this Saturday, May 1, from Noon to 3:00 p.m., at Jack London Square. It’s sponsored by the local radio station KGO. It will be called the Craft Beer and Fine Food Celebration and will a benefit for the Alameda County Food Bank. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. According to the website, you’ll be able to “taste 30 different craft and specialty beers, along with delicious food from fine Bay Area restaurants.” So far, nineteen breweries are listed on the website along with ten food providers. There’s also a Facebook event page with additional details.

Craft-Beer-Fest