Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Anchor To Receive Ralston Award From SF Museum & Historical Society

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Fritz Maytag may have stepped back from his daily duties at Anchor Brewing, the brewery he owned and ran since 1965, but that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down. He’s still running his winery, York Creek Vineyards, and consulting with the new owners of Anchor Brewing & Distilling.

And later this month, on November 18, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society will present their William C. Ralston Corporate Award to Fritz Maytag and Dave Burkhart on behalf of Anchor Brewing.

From the press release:

Receiving the Ralston Award on behalf of Anchor Brewing will be Fritz Maytag and David Burkhart. Maytag, considered the father of modern microbreweries, had been at the helm of Anchor Brewing for 45 years. Maytag helped spark a revival in the craft of making beer by hand and inspired thousands of entrepreneurs to follow him in creating small, artisan breweries. He won the 2008 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award. The company was sold this spring but he serves as Chairman Emeritus, Anchor Brewing Company.

Burkhart, a staff member of Anchor Brewing and a California-born historian and honors graduate of Yale, is the author of Earthquake Days: The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire in 3D and the editor of Cocktail Boothby’s American Bartender. He is also a professional trumpeter who teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and performs with the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. His latest book project is called Cocktails & Punches in Mark Twain’s San Francisco.

Congratulations to both, and to Anchor. Tickets to the Awards Luncheon may be purchased online.

Craigslist TV: Drinking Buddy For Hire

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I must confess that at first I was skeptical about a press release I received yesterday from Craigslist TV, a new division of Craigslist, which they describe as “an online documentary series. In March 2010, craigslist provided “opt in” check boxes for craigslist users interested in having their adventures on craigslist chronicled, and sponsored the friendly folks at Brownstone Entertainment to follow up on those stories.” They also have a YouTube Channel.

I don’t now how many they’ve done, but the one they sent me is episode 204, and it follows the exploits of a bartender — Daniel — who listed his services for hire as a “drinking buddy,” offering people that he’d listen to whatever they wanted to tell him for the price of a drink. It sounded pretty goofy to me, but it actually seems to work. Like many good bartenders, he does seem to be a good listener and he has an intuitive grasp of what they need to hear in response. As three out of the four we see tell him — and remember this is L.A. after all — it’s cheaper than therapy and just as effective. So what could have been downright creepy is instead oddly sweet and almost moving. When Daniel talks about his philosophy of doing this, he seems sincere and watching him work, he seems fairly effective. Maybe this will become a recognized profession at some point. After all, who likes to drink alone?

Good People Vote

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While perusing BuzzFeeds’ 100 Best Signs At The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear, at #99 the photo features the “Good People Vote” signs from Flying Dog Brewing being held up at the Rally To Restore Sanity over the weekend. Since today is Election Day here in the U.S., this is a great message. So go vote. After that “Then Drink Good Beer!” Now that’s good advice.

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The World Series At 21st Amendment

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In an effort to help the Giants win for the last win in Game 2 — and being superstitious — I met an old friend of mine from Pennsylvania (actually we were in kindergarten together, making him my oldest friend) who was in town on business Thursday. We met at the 21st Amendment Brewery to watch the game. Hop Crisis, 21 A’s Imperial IPA was tasting fine, as was their regular IPA. I also had one of Rodger Davis’ IPAs from Drake’s (I was in a hoppy mood).

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From the moment I got there, I knew we would win, because karma was with me. First of all, I found a parking space directly across the street from 21st Amendment and then not only was co-owner Shaun O’Sullivan there with a seat for me, but he was wearing one of my logo shirts! Thanks Shaun!

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My friend Jim, from Shillington, PA, though he now lives in upstate New York. That’s 21A sales manager Lloyd Knight’s infamous orange vest I’m sporting.

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Since we were just a few blocks from the stadium where the game was being played, at the 7th inning stretch we walked down to the ballpark just to drink in the atmosphere.

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Even McCovery Cove was packed with boats.

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There were tons of people hanging out around the ballpark, and there was an electric vibe in the air. Very cool. I hope this helps recreates that atmosphere tonight! Go Giants!

Oakland’s Newest Brewer

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Just got some great news. Steve McDaniel, co-founder of the soon to be open Oakland Brewing, and his lovely wife Justine Nguyen, had their first child yesterday. Justine gave birth to Merritt just after Noon on October 30. It sounds like mother and son are doing great, as Justine is up and using Facebook. Join me in wishing the happy couple all the best on their birth of their son. Congratulations Steve and Justine!

Particulars:

Original Gravity: 7 pounds, 11 ounces
IBUs: 21 in.
Style: Boy
Release Date: October 30, 2010
Label: Merritt Anh Xbalanque McDaniel

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Steve McDaniel and Justine Nguyen’s new son Merritt.

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A sleeping Merritt Anh Xbalanque McDaniel.

I Am A Craft Brewer: A Parody

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Given the controversy — people seemed to love it or hate it — over Greg Koch’s original I Am A Craft Brewer video, and the many similar videos that followed, I half expected this parody of I Am A Craft Brewer to be a dig at it, but it’s not at all. It’s more of a goofy homage to it, and at times it’s laugh-out-loud funny. Enjoy.

Giants vs. Rangers: San Francisco Brewery & Fort Worth Brewery Make Friendly Wager

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Craft brewers tend to not be as cutthroat competing with one another as a lot of other businesses. Most believe that the sale of one craft beer helps the sales of all other good beer, too. But that ethos doesn’t necessarily extend to sports. Case in point, the 2010 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers.

Shaun O’Sullivan, from the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco — in fact just a stone’s throw from the ballpark where the World Series will be played — got a call today from his friend and colleague Fritz Rahr, who owns Rahr & Sons Brewing in Fort Worth, Texas, proposing a friendly wager on this year’s World Series.

So here’s the bet, as told by Shaun O’Sullivan on the 21st Amendment website in a post entitled It’s On Like Donkey Kong:

If the Texas Rangers win the World Series (highly unlikely in my opinion, but I digress), I will wear a Texas Ranger’s shirt, drinking a Rahr and Sons delicious beer outside of San Francisco’s AT&T Park. And when the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers (they will), Fritz will be wearing a Giants shirt and drinking a 21st Amendment delicious canned craft beer outside of Arlington Field.

I can’t wait to see those photos. Just one more reason to cheer on the Giants. Though I confess that Rahr makes some outstanding beers and it would be nice to taste a few of them during the series, I think for now I’ll stick to Bay Area beers to root for San Francisco beginning this Wednesday. What will you be drinking during the ball games?

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Shameless Bragging: Winning the Russian River Invitational Washoe Tournament

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I love the game of Washoes, a game that Tomme Arthur from the Lost Abbey introduced into the brewing community almost ten years ago. I’ve been known to play for hours, given the chance. Almost every small brewery along the west coast has a set of boards, and you see them fairly frequently at events, too. So I was thrilled to be invited to play in the first annual Russian River Invitational Washoe Tournament last night. My partner was Dave Keene, owner of the Toronado. We’ve played together on numerous occasions, but never in a tournament like this. There were nine teams playing in a round robin double elimination tournament. Dave and I — “Team Toronado” — managed to go undefeated through the first three rounds, earning ourselves a bye going into the finals. Since we hadn’t lost a game, the other team had to beat us twice in order to prevail. But we never gave them the chance, and won the first game in short order to win the tournament. What great fun. There definitely need to be more organized washoe tournaments.

To learn more about the rules of Washoes, check out Washoe Rules, a web page put up by Vinnie Cilurzo with the agreed-upon brewing community’s rules. The game exists in many variations around the country, and most likely originated somewhere in the Midwest, but this is the set of rules by which we played.

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Dave Keene and me after our washoe victory.

The Case Of The IPA: A Mystery Told In 12 Bottles

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Buzzards Bay Brewing in Westport, Massachusetts, may have abandoned their flagship lager, but their creativity is still alive and brewing. Their latest idea is all over the labels of their new India Pale Ale, it’s a serialized mystery story told over twelve different labels, with each one containing a portion of the story. Here’s how they tell it at their new website, Just Beer:

Just beer is proud to reveal a unique collaboration between brewer and author.

“The Case of the IPA” is a hard-boiled detective farce printed chapter by chapter on 12 bottles of a newly released India Pale Ale. Each 22 ounce bottle not only has 22 ounces of brilliantly deduced IPA, but also 1 of the 12 chapters of the story. Each case has 12 bottles, which makes for the entire tale told in a case. And so, the Case of the IPA is indeed a case of the IPA.

Brewer Harry Smith proposed the idea to author Paul Goodchild and they quickly agreed on a format: a noir-ish detective serial. Smith brewed up a batch of hoppy craft brew whilst Goodchild penned the story. It’s a mystery of zany brewers and their intrigues; sure to tickle the ribs and please the belly of any fan of craft beer.

As this is a bottle by bottle mystery, Just Beer reminds all to “please read responsibly.”

You can also read all about it at the Cape Cod Times. And here’s Chapter 1 to whet your appetite and your thirst for more:

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