Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Rogue Rum

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Saturday after the Oregon Brewers Festival, Tom Dalldorf, Stephen Beaumont and I went to the Rogue Brewpub on NW Flanders. Stephen wanted to try Rogue’s new rums and Tom and I were game to come along.

The Rogue Distillery sits above the brewpub.

Where they make two kinds of rum, a white rum and a dark rum.

John Couchot, who runs the new Rogue House of Spirits in Newport which opened June 10, shows us the still and gives us a little tour.

While Stephen Beaumont and Tom Dalldorf listen. Barrels along the walls age rum.

Tom gets a snoot full. We did have a barrel tasting of the white rum, which was excellent.

My friend Adam Lambert works for Rogue and his palatial office is above the distillery.

A Quick Trip to the Horse Brass

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After brunch, we made a quick visit to the Horse Brass Pub, one of the best beers bars in Portland, and the country for that matter. It’s owned by my friend Don Younger, who’s done a great deal to support craft beer over the years. This year is the 30th anniversary of the Horse Brass Pub. It’s beer selection is naturally excellent and has an authentic British pub feel. I had a couple of yummy cask beers.

Our bartender at the Horse Brass, who’s been there since the beginning.

Lisa Morrison enjoys a pint.

One of Don’s former employees did this painting of him during a trip to England in 1997. I’ve always loved it and happily this visit was able to manage to get a decent photo of it.

AP Discovers Wild Hop Lager

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Yesterday’s media ran a story by AP entitled “Organic beer sales grow, Anheuser-Busch enters market.” The article itself is fine, mostly comprehensive and well-written. But what struck me was the phrase A-B “enters market” (my emphasis) because I started writing about Wild Hop Lager on March 23. To my mind, almost four months later is not exactly a scoop by the mainstream press.

One statement in the article was quite interesting regarding sales of organic beer:

While organic beer sales are still minuscule in the overall beer industry, they are rising fast. North American sales of organic beers grew from $9 million in 2003 to $19 million in 2005, according to the Organic Trade Association.

That’s slightly better than doubling sales growth in two years’ time, which is pretty impressive.

Latrobe Rumor Mill

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On Tuesday I heard that the buyer for the Latrobe Brewery was rumored to be D.G. Yuengling & Son of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Recent news reports from local Pittsburgh media discuss that possibility plus address other potential buyers.

Sierra Nevada Brewing:

Steve Harrison, vice president of the Chico, California, brewer, said his company was not interested in the plant.

Ken Grossman, president of Sierra Nevada Brewing, said yesterday his firm was initially contacted by InBev after the sale.

“We had some casual interest when it first came on the market, but the facility is way too large for us to consider,” Grossman said, “and without a brand, well, it just doesn’t fit into our plans.”

Sierra Nevada produces 600,000 barrels a year of its own beer and does not do contract brewing for other beer companies. Latrobe Brewing produces 825,000 barrels annually but has capacity for 1.3 million.

Boston Beer Company:

Boston Beer Co. had conversations with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and because of opposition to its plans to build a brewery in Freetown, Massachusetts were considered a good candidate. “However, voters in Freetown on Monday approved a lucrative tax-increment financing proposal, an agreement that will give Boston Beer tax breaks averaging 33 percent for 20 years, said John S. Ashley, chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Freetown.”

“In addition to building a plant, Boston Beer Co. purchased a brewer in Cincinnati, Ohio, last year and spent $11 million on improvements. The company sold more than 1.3 million barrels of beer last year, according to its annual report.”

Boston Beer Company is “too far down the line” with plans to construct the new brewery in Massachusetts to be a serious contender for Latrobe.

D.G. Yuengling & Son:

The “chief operating officer for D.G. Yuengling & Son of Pottsville, Schuylkill County, said yesterday it already operates three breweries and is not actively seeking to add beer-making capacity.”

“It’s not us who is moving close to a deal. We already have a lot on our plate. But we never say never,” said David A. Casinelli, who pointed out the company operates two breweries in Pottsville and bought a former Stroh’s plant in Tampa, Florida, in 1999.

Further, “the governor said Yuengling did not express interest in the plant, to his knowledge.”

This had been the strongest contender in my mind because I’d heard their name from a friend who’d heard it from an industry insider. So either these news sources are smoke and mirrors or in fact Yuengling is not the potential buyer.

Pittsburgh Brewing Company:

Pittsburgh Brewing was an early name mentioned in reports but being in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy made that possibility more remote. They have not been seriously mentioned as a potential buyer for a couple of weeks now.

Conclusions:

Governor Rendell said there has been interest in purchasing the Latrobe Brewing plant from two brewers and four or five investor groups, but the investors were unable to come up with financing. As to who they are and who ultimately buys the Latrobe Brewery, if anyone, will still have to wait for an official pronouncement. Until then, it’s anybody’s guess.

Yuengling Rumored Buyer of Latrobe Brewery?

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A colleague of mine today heard from an industry insider that the new buyer of the Latrobe Brewery may be D.G. Yuengling & Son Brewery of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Yuengling is the sixth largest brewer in the United States, having greatly increased their sales over the last several years. They also recently purchased the old Stroh’s Brewery in Tampa, Florida and built an additional facility in their hometown of Pottsville. By all accounts this expansion has been wonderful for their business and would give them both sufficient cash and the motivation to purchase another brewery to service the western part of the state and perhaps even expand into Ohio and West Virginia. So the rumor makes a lot of sense but only time will tell if it’s true or not.

Beer School is Back at 21st Amendment

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21st Amendment brewpub’s beer school, which was monthly but has been on sabbatical lately, is returning.

From the press release:

Join us Tuesday, June 13th at 6 pm on the mezzanine at the 21A for an evening of Summer Brews. Beer and brewers from all around the Bay area will be pouring as we discuss the history and styles of summer beer.

$25 for beer samples and appetizers.

6.13

21st Amendment Beer School: Summer Brews
21st Amendment Brewery – Restaurant – Bar, 563 2nd Street, San Francisco, California
415-369-0900 [ website ]

Ryer Islander’s Rye Ale Returns to Hoppy Brewing

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I have a special fondess for beers created by happy accident, such as Lagunitas’ Brown Shugga. Hoppy Brewing of Sacramento, California, is re-releasing their own happy accident, Ryer Islander’s Rye Ale (I also have an unnatural fondness for rye beers) as a seasonal ale that should be returning every year as a summer seasonal. Looks like I’ll have to get my lazy self up to Sacramento one of these days soon.

From the press release:

The next brewer’s special due on tap near the end of June is the return of a “new” annual favorite – Ryer Islander’s Ale. The Brew Crew has decided to add this beer to our small line of Perennial Specials (i.e., beers so well liked that we make them every year). So far they are all pale ales – broadly speaking. Fancy that… The progression will go from Tyson’s Twisted Pale Ale in the Spring, Ryer Islander’s Rye Ale in the Summer, Super Hoppy Pale Ale in the Fall, and after all of these years you should know by now what happens in the Winter… 😉

The back story on the Ryer Islander’s is the glory of serendipity and happy accidents. Often brewers will set out to make a beer style that is new, or experiment with new ingredients, and after those beers are made, there are usually partial bags of hops and malt that do not get used for anything else. With that being the case, then Ed will make what he likes to call “Sound Inventory Management” (SIM) beers – basically use the stuff up before it gets old and goes bad. It is kind of like the creations we have all made with the chicken in the freezer, half a bag of corn, some rice, and the remains of all of those dressing and condiment bottles we want to clear out of the refrigerator door. Sometimes those meals come out so well that we wish we had written down the recipe…

Ryer Islander’s Rye Ale is just such a recipe. First there was a mistake in one of the orders. Ed got three sacks of rye malt instead of the three sacks of rye flakes that is used in the Liquid Sunshine. After several subsequent deliveries where he completely forgot to send the rye malt back with the driver, he pretty much had to use it or lose it. Add that to a couple leftover partial sacks of Carapils and Extra Special Malt were thrown into the mash as well. On the hops side, Ed had partial bags of Challenger and Santiam to use up, and he always has plenty of Liberty that gets used in the Hoppy Face. The thought being – that ought to go well – shouldn’t it???

It did!!! The beer flew out of here like it was FREE or something… Almost as importantly, Hoppy’s General Manager, Mr. Kenny Turner really liked it, so we knew that we had not seen the last of it…

Ryer Islander’s Rye Ale is brewed with just over 30% Rye Malt, this unfiltered ale has a distinct rye bread character with a hint of roasted flavors and a tantalizing orange hue. A blend of Galena, Hallertau, and Liberty hops provides a spicy aroma. Alcohol by volume is about 6.0%, it is not really comparable to anything, and it should be on tap about mid-June.

Job Listing: Beer Salesmen for California

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Artisanal Imports, importers of some excellent Belgian and English beers such as St. Feuillien, De Leyerth and Meantime, is looking for part-time/independent salesmen for both the Northen California and Southern California areas. They’re looking primarily for assistance in the areas of the independent off-premise and on-premise.

Check out their portfolio, they have eight imported brands and have recently added Flying Dog Brewery from Denver, Colorado (who recently bought Frederick Brewing — and renamed it Wild Goose Brewery — of Maryland)

If you’re interested or would like to learn more, please call Sean Knoll on his cell phone at 303-564-8841. Serious inquiries only, please.

New Brewery in Brentwood?

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From an anonymous source comes the rumor that a new brewery to be called Nocturnal Brewing will open in early 2006. The address will be 2205 Fairview Avenue, Brentwood, California. The only particulars I know come from an anonymous post:

Started out two years ago as a thought of opening a brewpub in our local community. We are currently planning for an opening in early 06 as a Micro Brewery only with a focus in developing our recipes and producing quality beer.

If anyone has any additional knowledge, please let me know.