Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

CCBA ABC Workshop At UCSD Next Week

By

CCBA-logo
Next week, on Tuesday, February 12, at the International House Great Hall, on the campus of UCSD in San Diego, the California Craft Brewers Association will host an ABC Workshop. The workshop is only open to California craft brewers, out of state craft breweries doing business in California and CCBA Allied Trade Associate Members, and pre-registration is required. You can pre-pay through PayPal or send an e-mail to the CCBA, with details on how to do so here.

Registration for the workshop will begin on February 12 at 12:15 PM and will begin at 1:00 PM and will last until 5:00 PM. There will also be a Beer Social afterwards. If you’re not involved in SF Beer Week, this is your chance to get answers to puzzling questions straight from ABC.

CSBA high res7

Brewhog Determines An Early Spring Bock For 2013

By

groundhog-day
Over in Gobbler’s Knob, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil the Groundhog — a.k.a. the Brewhog — raised up his head this morning and looked around, and this year did not see his shadow. You know what that means? It means an early spring, and earlier spring bock for us. You can see a video of Punxsutawney Phil here. And there’s more information about Groundhog Day from the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

groundhog-beer

Pliny the Younger Day 2013

By

pliny-the-younger
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.

P1010350
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.

P1010318
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.

P1010308
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!

P1010325
Vinnie Cilurzo giving a last minute pep talk to the brewpub staff before opening the doors.

P1010326
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.

P1010332
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.

P1010338
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.

P1010341
Vinnie Cilurzo, enjoying the day.

P1010358
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.]

P1010361
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.”

P1010364
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.

P1010395
Back in the brewery, a final moment toasting with Natalie and Vinnie. Here’s to Pliny the Younger 2013.

P1010415
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.

The Band Is Back For Strong Beer Month

By

21st magnolia-new
It’s February, and that means it’s time for the 11th annual Strong Beer Month, once again with six new extreme beers each at 21st Amendment and Magnolia throughout the month. Try them all, and you get to keep the commemorative logo glass. Just collect all 12 punches in your Strong Beer Month ticket before the beer’s all gone.

Here’s the beer for this year:

Side M: Magnolia:

  1. Promised Land Imperial I.P.A.: 10.5% abv
  2. McLean’s Wee Heavy: 8.4% abv
  3. Delilah Jones Rye: 9.6% abv
  4. Quadlibet for Tenderfeet: 9.4% abv
  5. Old Thunderpussy Barleywine: 10.6% abv
  6. Smokestack Lightning Imperial Stout: 9.8% abv

Side Two: 21st Amendment:

  1. Lord & Master Strong English Blonde: 8.2% abv
  2. Dub Step Imperial I.P.A.: 10.2% abv
  3. Nelson, Jade, and Helga Imperial I.P.A.: 10.5% abv
  4. Red Giant Imperial Red Alek: 11%
  5. Two-Lane Blacktop Imperial Black I.P.A.: 10% abv
  6. Hendrick’s Imperial Stout: 8.6% abv

This year’s theme is the 1969 album “The Band” featuring Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, John Simon, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel, and while I know the names, I couldn’t pick most of them out in a line-up, so I’m not sure who’s playing who this year.

strong-beer-month-2013

And here’s the back cover, too:

strong-beer-month-2013-2

Firestone Walker Invitational Tickets On Sale February 1

By

firestone-walker-long
Tickets go on sale in a few minutes for the second annual Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival, scheduled to take place June 1, 2013. Beginning February 1, you can buy tickets online for the festival, one of the highlights of last year’s festival season. Check out my write up from last year’s inaugural event. It was a really great event last year. If you didn’t make it, consider attending this year’s festival. I’ll see you there.

fwibf2013_horizontal
From the press release:

Top brewers from around the nation and world will once again turn wine country into beer country with the return of the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest in Paso Robles June 1, 2013—featuring 40+ craft breweries, rare beers, live music, local chefs, brewer Q&A sessions and more.

Tickets will go on sale on February 1, 2013 via www.firestonebeerfest.com. The event is hosted by Firestone Walker Brewing Company and held at the Paso Robles Event Center in partnership with the Paso Robles Pioneer Day Committee. Proceeds from the event benefit Pioneer Day, a local community celebration established in 1931.

“The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest was born from a dream of creating a world-class festival featuring not only the best brewers in the world, but brewers whom we feel are leaders in the craft beer revolution,” said Matt Brynildson, Brewmaster at Firestone Walker Brewing Company. “This is a day where we can all put down our sales and marketing pitches and simply commune and share our beers and stories with people who are truly interested in craft beer.”

Last year’s inaugural fest sold out quickly and was widely praised as one of the nation’s can’t-miss craft beer events, with attendees embracing the casual open-air setting, access to rare beers and opportunity to hang out with leading brewers.

The lineup for the 2013 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest is still being finalized, but attendees can expect 40+ breweries, 20 restaurants and three bands. The event will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Last year’s participating breweries included Three Floyds and Sun King from Indiana, Founders and Bells from Michigan, Mikkeller from Denmark, Yo-Ho from Japan, Dogfish Head from Delaware, Southern Tier from New York, and several California breweries, including Russian River, Stone, Lost Abbey, The Bruery and Golden Road.

Each participating brewery will pour one “sessionable” beer registering less than six percent alcohol by volume, as well as one rare specialty beer. Brewers will be on hand to talk to attendees about their beers.

The cost is $75 per person, and attendees must be 21 years or older. Admittance includes complimentary tastings of beer and food while supplies last, as well as a logo snifter glass. Ticket availability is limited.

“The brewers really go all out at this event,” Brynildson said. “You will recognize some of the beers, but you can also expect the unexpected.”

Firestone-Walker-Invitational-Beer-Fest (1)

Alaska Barleywine Festival 2013 Winners

By

alaska
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.

GABBF-Logo

Annie Leibovitz Shoots Stella Artois

By

stella-artois
A couple of days ago, Stella Artois sent out a press release that iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz was hired by Anheuser-Busch InBev to shoot photos for their Belgian lager. The photos are being released at the Sundance Film Festival, which started two days ago, apparently amid much hoopla. Which makes sense when you realize that Stella Artois is an “official sponsor” of the independent film festival, listed as a “sustaining sponsor.” They’re in fact the only big alcohol company sponsor, among quite a few corporate sponsors. I don’t know why that seems odd to me, but I guess I thought Sundance was supposed be about independent filmmakers, especially when the site also includes a donations page where they make it sound like your $10 will make a grassroots movement possible. Maybe I’ve become jaded, but the nearly two dozen truly big sponsors plus what looks like it could easily be another hundred more company sponsorships, seems counter to the principal of “independent” and their mission of “discovery and development of independent artists and audiences.”

In both the press release, Stella Artois Unveils New Campaign Shot by Legendary Photographer Annie Leibovitz and the Stella Artois website, they refer to it as a “collaboration” between the beer and photographer. But how is hiring a famous photographer and paying her to work a “collaboration” in any meaningful sense?

Merriam-Webster defines collaborate as “to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor.” That’s what brewers do when they get together to brew a beer, most times at least, but this just seems like a big company paying a lot of money (one presumes Annie Leibovitz doesn’t work cheap) to an expensive big-name photographer to sell a big product. Does that make it art? I honestly don’t know. I think I’m cranky and overworked these days.

Here’s some more press release spin:

It features British Actor, Noah Huntley and Ukrainian model Tanya Ruban and will appear in the printed fashion titles such as GQ, Elle and Vanity Fair, beginning in February 2013.

“Annie Leibovitz’s work marries artistic genius with painstaking craftsmanship to create timeless beauty,” said Emma Fox, Global Marketing Director, Stella Artois. “This concept is a personal one for Stella Artois. Our fans experience the beer in its finished form, but 600 years of brewing expertise helped make this possible. So we wanted to celebrate both the beauty and the craftsmanship that go into its creation”.

So here’s the results, or at least two of them. You can see lots of behind the scenes of the photoshoot itself — why you’d want to, I don’t really understand — in the Stella Artois Studio, what the press release refers to as an “online experience.”

Leibovitz-stella-artois-1

It’s not that they’re bad photographs, but they certainly don’t make me want to drink Stella Artois. Didn’t Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer already do this in The Fabulous Baker Boys.

Leibovitz-stella-artois-2

Good Food Awards 2013

By

good-food-awards
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.

good-food-awards-winner

Breweries By The Numbers 2012

By

brewhouse
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

By

anchor-new
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.

zymaster-3-stout

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.