Damn. Bill Brand’s wife, Daryl, left the following update around 9:30 this evening. “Still hoping for a miracle — Bill is not any better.”
Damn. We need a miracle.
Best of the West Fest
The final event of SF Beer Week was the Best of the West Fest, put on by the Celebrator Beer News. It was held at the Oakland Convention Center at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Oakland, the same venue where the National Homebrewers Conference will be held later this year. Instead of an anniversary party, the Celebrator’s annual party this year instead focused on celebrating beer in the Bay Area, in keeping with the SF Beer Week theme. Fifty-five breweries were pouring nearly 250 different beers throughout the evening and a record attendance was there to enjoy the evening. With so many familiar faces, both locally and from out-of-town, it sure felt like the perfect way to finish out the week. Everyone there seemed to be having a terrific time. After ten days of merriment and trying to attend as many events as possible, I’m certainly feeling exhausted, but overall it’s a good kind of tired.
Inside the Best of the West Fest, Motor (from Beerschool.com), Sarah Knopp (from Murphy’s Pub) and Jen Garris.
Many festival-goers came to the party in costumes, such as Alice and her cohorts through the drinking glass.
On the air with the Brewing Network, broadcasting live from the fest. From left: Shaun O’Sullivan, me and Tom Dalldorf.
Rodger Davis (from Triple Rock).
Jessica Jones (from Firestone Walker Brewing) at the end of the evening.
For more photos from Celebrator’s Best of the West Fest, start at the photo gallery for Part 1 or jump to Part 2.
Toronado Barleywine Festival 2009
Saturday, February 14 — yes, Valentine’s Day — began the 16th annual Toronado Barleywine Festival. The day started out cool, but with sun peaking through the clouds. As has been the case for the past few years, the line to get into the Toronado for the Barleywine Festival stretched down the entire length of the block on Haight Street, before opening at 11:00 a.m. It was another stellar festival and a great day, the second last of this year’s SF Beer Week.
Within minutes of opening its doors, the Toronado Pub was filled to capacity.
This year’s Barleywine Festival included 55 different beers, including as least one more unofficial one, for a total of 56.
For more photos from this year’s Toronado Barleywine Festival, visit the photo gallery.
The Beer Chef’s Beer & Chocolate Dinner 2009
The Beer Chef’s annual beer & chocolate dinner took place last Friday night at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. This is usually the most popular of the Beer Chef’s annual series of beer dinners, and this year was no exception, with 120 dinner guests. The chocolate came from a local chocolate maker, TCHO Chocolate, located at Pier 17 in San Francisco. The beers featured for the dinner was from Malheur, imported by Belukus Marketing. A great time was had by one and all; great beer, great food, great company.
The Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, with Nicole Erny, from The Trappist, and Jessica Jones, from Firestone Walker Brewing.
Our chocolatey dessert of Eggnog Pannacotta, Compote of Black Mission Figs and Cocoa Nibs with “Fruity” Chocolate Coulis, paired with Malheur 12.
For more photos from this year’s Beer & Chocolate Dinner by the Beer Chef, visit the photo gallery.
Beer in Art #15: Anne Erpino’s The Brewery
Today’s work of art is another modern one, painted just two years ago, by Ann Erpino, a California artist. The title of the painting is The Brewery, curious because it depicts not a brewery but a mug of beer with scientific symbols and formulas on and all around it.
The Brewery is part of a larger series of paintings, known as “The Science Series,” consisting of “sixty small paintings about DNA programming, mechanical thinking, life’s mineral origins, nanotechnology, and other research projects of the Erik Winfree Laboratory at Caltech are on exhibit during biannual Brewery Artwalks.”
It seems natural to me that brewing would be included, since so much of brewing is a mix of art science. But the caption seems to ignore that aspect, saying simply. “Some great and inspired ideas have been brewed over a cold mug of beer.” And while that is undoubtedly true, brewing itself is a science yet none of the symbols and formulas in the painting appear to be brewing related, just random. So while I like the idea of the painting, it feels a bit like a missed opportunity to really bridge the worlds of art and science more literally as well as symbolically, in the very way that craft brewers are doing right now. The fact that she’s lived in California for a long time makes that doubly troubling, since it seems more likely that she would have been exposed to craft beer and its artisan leanings. But c’est la vie, just enjoy the painting for what it is — which is quite a lot — and not for what it could have been.
Below is her biography from Erpino’s website:
Ann Erpino earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art at U.C. Berkeley. She has traveled to many archaeological sites and natural landscapes, collecting reference material for her paintings.
Ann taught art classes for five years, and worked as a scenographic artist, mural painter, portraitist, curator, workshop organizer, and docent before becoming a full time painter in 2001.
She is currently finishing ‘The Science Series,’ 80 small paintings depicting nanotechnological research projects of the Erik Winfree Laboratory at Caltech. Ten of her paintings illustrating consciousness, commissioned by Dr. Christof Koch at Caltech, will be published this Spring.
Ann won the Los Angeles 2007 Open Call Award, and the Peoples’ Choice Award at Juried International Exhibition, A Taste of Chico. Her work belongs to collectors worldwide.
There isn’t much more information about Ann Erpino’s artwork, although a search will reveal she’s involved in numerous projects in the L.A. art scene. You could also visit her MySpace page and, of course, her own website, annerpino.com.
Toronado Barley Wine Festival Results 2009
Here are the results from the 2009 Toronado Barley Wine Festival in San Francisco:
- 1st Place: Big Woody, Glacier Brewhouse
- 2nd Place: Arctic Devil, Midnight Sun Brewing
- 3rd Place: Lower De Boom, 21st Amendment Brewery & Restaurant
- Honorable Mention: Abacus Blend, Firestone Walker Brewing
Congratulations to all the winners.
The Homebrew Chef’s A Night Of Ales
Thursday night, the Toronado and the Homebrew Chef put on a beer dinner entitled “A Night of Ales” featuring the beers of Firestone Walker. It was a seven-course dinner, including the Intermezzo. It was an amazing evening and the packed house all appeared to be equally impressed by both the meal and the pairings.
Matt Brynildson and Sean Paxton; the beer and the food at the “A Night of Ales” beer dinner.
For many more photos from Sean Paxton’s A Night of Ales beer dinner, visit the photo gallery.
Bear Republic Annexes Zeitgeist
I ran into Tom Dalldorf at the Magnolia vertical barley wine tasting, and we drove over to Zeitgeist, where Rich Norgrove, brewmaster at Bear Republic Brewing, was on hand for a meet the brewer event. We slipped in and out long enough to shake hands, take a photo, and slink away so we could get to our beer dinner on time.
Part of the Bear Republic brew crew (on left) with Rich and his wife Tami.
Old Thunderpussy Vertical
I made a brief stop on my way to last night’s “A Night of Ales” Beer Dinner at Magnolia, who was hosting a “Vintage Barleywine Tasting Event.” On tap was their Old Thunderpussy barley wine from 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (aged in a bourbon barrel), and 2009 four ways; cask-conditioned, cask-conditioned aged in a bourbon barrel, draught and draught aged in a bourbon barrel. All were available with a special menu of cheeses and a homemade rabbit terrine. The new Old Thunderpussy is also made each year for Strong Beer Month, but it was a real treat to compare the current version with the previous three years. I’d say the cask 2009 is probably my favorite, actually, but the 2008 from a bourbon barrel was a close second.
2005-09 Old Thunderpussy.
A satisfied brewer Ben Spencer and Magnolia owner/brewmaster Dave McLean.
Freaks and Beer Geeks
As promised, here are many, many more photos and vidoes of the fabulous Lagunitas Beer Circus, an event I hope becomes a permanent fixture of SF Beer Week.
Just a few of the clowns at the Beer Circus.
Peepshow Mini Golf, just one of dozens of acts going on Under the Big Top.
One of the performers from the Boil Theatre.
The Extra Action Marching Band closed down the circus.
For more photos from Lagunitas Beer Circus, visit the various galleries of photos and video from the event:
- Lagunitas Beer Circus: Freaks and Beer Geeks
- Lagunitas Beer Circus: Under The Big Top
- Lagunitas Beer Circus: The Boil Theatre
- Lagunitas Beer Circus: Extra Action Marching Band