Yesterday afternoon The Trappist in downtown Oakland, California, opened their doors and hearts for a memorial to honor our fallen comrade, beer writer Bill Brand. It was a gathering of the Bay Area beer community to pay our respects to Bill’s memory and tell stories of Bill’s life and how his infectious enthusiasm and passion for good beer intersected in so many of our own lives. I was honored to be asked to MC and got the ball rolling with a toast and some of my own reminiscences and then for a little over an hour, a parade of brewers, writers, and assorted friends and fans stood on a chair and told their personal stories of Bill to the assembled throng, a veritable who’s who of the Bay Area beer scene. We were also honored to have Bill’s wife, Daryl, in the audience, along with Bill’s two daughters, Amanda and Meredith. The event ended up being a fitting and moving tribute to Bill’s life and his involvement with the beer community, as we drank toast after toast with one of Bill’s favorite beers, Anchor Porter. L’Chaim, Bill. You will be missed.

Jim Koch, from Boston Beer, generously sent a wreath of beer flowers that made a terrific centerpiece. Thanks, Jim — it was appreciated by all.

A friend of Bill’s, Mike Condie, put up a display of recent articles celebrating Bill’s life in various local papers along with a couple of framed photos taken at beer events. These and a guest book signed by everyone who attended the memorial were then given to the family.

Chuck, co-owner of The Trappist (at right), served up pints of Anchor Porter, from a keg tapped especially for the event.

Steve Bruce, from the Toronado, and Jen Garris, were early arrivers and managed to secure seats.

Ed Chainey graciously donated a 3L bottle of Chimay Blue.

I started things off with a toast and a story.

The toast.

Last up was Shaun O’Sullivan, who had written a Ken Kesey-ian rant for the occasion.

Bill’s daughter Amanda, wife Daryl and Shaun O’Sullivan after the memorial.

Got some exciting news from Anat Baron, the director of the new documentary film Beer Wars, which is that it will premiere on April 16 in Los Angeles. Baron has invited me to the premiere and I can’t wait. She’s been working on the film for several years now, and judging from the trailer, looks to ruffle a few feathers. It also should be highly entertaining and, hopefully, influential in getting consumers to understand the importance of supporting craft brewers, not just because the beer usually tastes better, but also because it makes economic sense to support local businesses, too.

Baron’s a fan of the Bulletin, and we had lunch in Berkley last year when she was in town visiting her relatives in the Bay Area. I love the message she’s hoping to spread about small beer vs. big beer; it’s a titanic struggle, and one which many people don’t fully understand, even some who work in the industry.

Here’s how the film’s website sums up the movie.

In America, size matters. The bigger you are, the more power you have, especially in the business world.

Director Anat Baron takes you on a no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry that ultimately reveals the truth behind the label of your favorite beer. Told from an insider’s perspective, the film goes behind the scenes of the daily battles and all out wars that dominate one of America’s favorite industries.

Beer Wars begins as the corporate behemoths are being challenged by small, independent brewers who are shunning the status quo and creating innovative new beers. The story is told through 2 of these entrepreneurs – Sam and Rhonda – battling the might and tactics of Corporate America. We witness their struggle to achieve their American Dream in an industry dominated by powerful corporations unwilling to cede an inch.

This contemporary David and Goliath story is ultimately about keeping your integrity (and your family’s home) in the face of temptation. Beer Wars is a revealing and entertaining journey that provides unexpected and surprising turns and promises to change the world’s opinion on those infamous 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

Cool. Beer Wars should be fun.

An impromptu memorial event has been scheduled to honor and remember Bay Area beer writer Bill Brand, who passed away on February 20, after being hit by a Muni Train the evening of February 8. Though there will be a family event and undoubtedly other events from the other areas of Bill’s rich life, this one is intended to be for the beer community to celebrate Bill’s contributions and impact on the Bay Area beer family. It will take place at The Trappist, where owners Chuck and Aaron have graciously agreed to host it at their establishment. The event will begin at 1:00 p.m. this Sunday, March 1, which is an hour before The Trappist’s regular opening time. The Trappist is located at 460 8th Street in Oakland, near the 12th Street BART station.

Some details are still being worked out, but the format will likely be to provide an opportunity for everyone in the beer community who knew Bill and was effected by his tireless efforts to share their memories of Bill and hoist a pint or two to his memory. I believe Chuck and Aaron are trying to get a keg of Anchor Porter, Bill’s favorite beer for Sunday. I’ve been asked to MC and start the ball rolling and then we’ll open it up to people to take turns sharing their memories and stories of Bill with the assembled party. Think of your favorite story of Bill you’d like to share for a few minutes. Over the course of the day, I suspect an amazing portrait of Bill will emerge as more and more of us pay our respects to his memory. Please join us if you’re able.

Special thanks to Gail Ann Williams and Steve Shapiro from Beer by BART and also Mike Condie for putting this all together; and, of course to Chuck and Aaron for allowing us to use The Trappist.

Dueling laptops; Bill and me at Magnolia on February 6 for the tapping of Napa Smith Original Albion Ale by Don Barkley. Photo by Shaun O’Sullivan.

Bill toasting with a pitcher of Oakland’s Linden Street beer. Photo by RRifkin.

More mindless fun, this time in the form of chalk drawings from Inside the Crainium. Among the chalk drawings was this one below of a large mug of beer. But check out the others, too, there’s some pretty cool ones.

I spent part of today just staring at the blue sky today, unusual this week, and pondering life and death and what’s it all mean? And by shear coincidence, I later happened upon a very cool series of photographs of the sky with objects held up in front of the sky to comic effect. The series is called SkyPlay and many are cooler than the two below, but these were the ones that were at least beer-related. Good for a chuckle, which I needed. Enjoy.

According to Bottoms Up, Bill Brand passed away during the night, surrounded by friends and family. The Oakland Tribune has an obituary with a guest book for people to sign. According to a family friend, “a memorial service is planned and details will be announced later today.” This is a dark day for the beer community. Let’s give whatever love and support to his family that we can.

Loving bad puns as I do, I found that this silly animated gif has some groan-inducing bad puns. And the one universal thing about bad puns, especially the really bad ones, is they cry out to be shared. If I groan, so too shall you. Enjoy.

Assuming Sunday February 8 as Day One, the day Bill Brand was hit by a Muni Train, then today is Day 12 and there’s still been no change in Bill’s condition. The latest updates from Bill’s wife, Daryl, are from this morning where she writes that she is, understandably, feeling “horribly sad, [because] Bill continues to show no signs of improvement.” And also this morning on Bill’s Facebook page, the “family reports he shows no improvement and that’s not good. We are still waiting for that miracle.”

I don’t presume to speak for the entire Bay Area beer community, but I’ve talked to a staggering number of people over the past dozen days about Bill and to me there appears to be a general feeling of helplessness that there isn’t anything more we can do, no way we can truly help. All we can really do is wait and hope and pray for good news. We can — and should — keep Bill in our thoughts and hearts and continue toasting him each night around seven. Given the nature of his injuries, it may be days, weeks or even longer before his condition improves significantly. This is a vigil, and I, for one, am prepared to wait, and watch, and hope, no matter how long it takes.

Goldstar Beer, an Israeli brand made by Tempo Beer, the country’s largest brewer, recently had some funny ads that played on stereotypical perceptions of differences between men and women. The campaign was called Thank God You’re A Man and featured flowcharts. Two of the flowchart ads were on a great advertising website I check out from time to time, Ads of the World. Click on the images to see them in their original size.

Thank God You’re A Man #1

Thank God You’re A Man #2