Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Georgia Action Alert

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I almost missed posting this before it’s too late. According to the new grassroots organization, Support Your Local Brewery, there’s legislation in Georgia that will be bad for small brewers and their ability to offer samples of their beer at their brewery during tours. The vote is on Tuesday, June 19 so if you’re in Georgia contact your Congressperson as soon as possible, and no later than the end of the business day on Monday.

Here’s the press release from SYLB:

Georgia’s beer consumers and brewers are facing a threat that could adversely impact the business operations of in-state breweries and consequently your access to Georgia’s craft-brewed beer.

The Georgia Department of Revenue is proposing to adopt a new rule that would severely restrict beer tasting for attendees of brewery tours (please refer to the Synopsis for the actual rule language). The Department will consider adoption of this rule on Tuesday, June 19 – now is the time to make your voice heard in opposition to this rule.

Please read the following information which includes a message from Terrapin Beer Co.’s John Cochran who has been working with Georgia’s small production breweries to oppose this measure. You will find all the information you need for contacting the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue.

John has also included a suggested message to send, and Support Your Local Brewery suggests you visit the Beer Serves America web site for detailed information on the economic contribution of Georgia’s beer community to state coffers. Please consider including some of this information in your message to underscore the valuable economic contribution being made, which in no way should be jeopardized.

Thanks for your support in protecting Georgia’s brewers and beer consumers.

If you want to read the a synopsis of the bill itself, you can view it at the SYLB website.

From John Cochran of Terrapin Beer Co.:

All Georgia breweries need your help. We recently received notice that the Georgia Department of Revenue has decided to change the rules that apply to tours at breweries in Georgia. The new proposal calls for a limit of a 2oz pour of each beer style on the tour with a maximum limit of only 16oz. The 16oz pour is only possible if we have eight different styles of beer to offer on the tour. If a brewery only has four beers available to taste, then only 8oz can be poured at the tour.

It is the belief of the Georgia breweries, and our wholesalers, that the proposed rule change would effectively kill the tours. Since the breweries have spent significant sums of money on tasting rooms for the purposes of conducting tours this investment would be lost. In addition it would cause the layoff of employees who now operate as tour guides and could cause serious harm to the bottom line of all breweries. The tours are our main marketing tool and by losing the ability to continue tours as they are currently structured, we would lose customers, lose sales, and find it much more difficult to continue in business.

If you have enjoyed tours at Sweetwater and Atlanta Brewing in the past and you would like to continue to enjoy tours at those locations and at Terrapin Beer Company (tours starting this fall if these proposed changes do not take effect) then please take the time to help fight for our rights.

Atlanta Brewing, Sweetwater and Terrapin have worked together to craft a response to the proposed rule changes. If you agree with us that the proposed rule change is egregious and will harm the brewery tours and thereby harm our businesses, please take the time to send the attached response to the Department of Revenue, as indicated below.

E-mail your comments to regcomments@dor.ga.gov and be sure to include a reference to “NOTICE NUMBER AT-2007-1” on any correspondence you send.

The SYLB also helpfully has a template of a short letter you can use to send, which I reprinted below:

To: Commissioner Graham

Re: Notice Number AT-2007-1
560-2-2-.61

The Georgia Department of Revenue has proposed a significant change in the states’ long standing policy on service limitations for brewery tours. The proposed new rule will adversely affect my decision as a customer of the breweries, to attend the tours. By doing so it will also put at risk the brewer’s investment in facilities designed to attract and accommodate tour attendees such as myself and will severely limit the marketing and sales of the brewery’s products. I oppose adoption of the proposed rule change and respectfully urge the department to withdraw proposed rule 3a.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS HERE

If you can help out, please send in your comments as soon as possible. The craft beer community thanks you for your help.
 

Auburn Alehouse Set to Open Thursday

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Brian Ford, the former brewer at Beermanns Beerwerks near Sacramento has been trying to get his new brewpub open for some time now. Finally, his new Auburn Alehouse Brewery & Restaurant will be opening this Thursday, June 21 in Old Town Auburn, California, which is also just outside Sacramento. I saw Brian and tried a pair of his beers at the Raley Field Brewfest May 12. Brian even invited me up this weekend to try things out but with Father’s Day it just didn’t work out.

Photograph by Ben Furtado of the Auburn Journal
 

 Yesterday’s Auburn Journal, the local paper, ran a nice introductory story on the brewpub.

Although I confess to a chuckle over this amusing understatement:

All beer is brewed using traditional ingredients like malted barley, hops, fresh water and yeast, as well as some specialty ingredients like wheat, maize, spices and regional fruits.

As opposed to …? When I first read that, it made me think the reporter was informing the reader as to what beer is made with, but to be fair, she copied this statement from the Auburn Alehouse’s website, but changed the first few words from “All beers will be brewed using …” to “All beer is brewed using …., which changes the meaning considerably.”

But that gentle gaffe aside, it was great to see Brian’s new venture get some local attention. Their website lists nine regular beers and will also be supplemented “seasonal or monthly special brew,” along with what they’re calling “Pub Brewed Special,” which sounds like very small batches.

Also the food to be served at the restaurant sounds pretty damn good. The chef is Luis Gomez, who is also a co-owner. He’s apparently been cooking for almost thirty years centering on “Mediterranean and Southwestern flare.”

The restaurant will also feature more than a dozen appetizers, including crab cakes, alehouse wedge fries and pub pickle chips, roughly 30 entrees including steak, fish and pizzas, soups, salads and desserts.

And the cheeseloaf sound pretty tasty, too. It’s described as a “[b]aked to order sourdough round loaf, stuffed with Gruyere, Parmesan, Swiss, garlic butter, and chives, served with balsamic and olive oil.” He’ll also be using as many local ingredients as possible. I’m looking very forward to the time when I can try Brian’s beer and eat some of the food at Auburn Alehouse.

 

Frustration Brews Around Gilroy Beer

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Gilroy’s local newspaper, the Gilroy Dispatch, runs a regular feature entitled the Red Phone, where they reprint phone messages from area citizens to local issues. The following one was printed yesterday about the on-going brouhaha over the Gilroy Garlic Festival’s refusal to allow a local brewery to pour their beer at the festival:

Pour judgment

It is a shame when we allow the greed of one beer distributor to stop the ability of one of our own businesses to participate and actually show their product to the public. If we are really a community that cares, then we should support our local businesses, not give them the only distribution rights, but at least have the decency to let them compete. The quality of the beers offered by Coast Range/Farmhouse is far superior to those that will be distributed at OUR (Garlic) Festival. Have we lost our perspective and the purpose of this fabulous little festival that really puts the spotlight on not only our Garlic, but our city, our amenities and yes, our businesses? Would it make the Chamber of Commerce, the Garlic Festival and the people of Gilroy happy if Coast Range went under?

New IPA From Landmark

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LANDMARK BEER COMPANY RELEASES ITS THIRD BEER, LANDMARK INDIA PALE ALE

Syracuse, NY — Landmark Beer Company is proud to announce that it’s much anticipated India Pale Ale is now available. This beer is a full flavored American style India Pale Ale. We use Centennial, Columbus and Cascade hops to give it a bold hop aroma, flavor and bitterness throughout.

Beer Facts:

Release Date: May 2007
Hop Variety: Columbus, Centennial, Cascade
Stats: 6.8% alcohol by volume, 68 bittering units
Availability: year round in bottle and draft form.

The New Stone Brewery

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I was down in San Diego Sunday through Tuesday for a CSBA meeting and finally had a chance to see the new Stone Brewery, along with their World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido on Monday for the very first time. The place is very impressive from top to bottom and seems very well-thought out at every stage. The food was pretty tasty, too, especially the deep-fried garlic mashed potato balls. Yum.

Stone’s gleaming new brewery during our tour by new head brewer Mitch Steele.

Co-owner Greg Koch toasting the end of a great day, in front of his Stone World Bistro & Gardens.

For more photos from my Stone Brewery and the World Bistro & Gardens tour, visit the photo gallery.
 

More on Garlic Festival’s Local Faux Pas

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I’m happy to see I’m not the only one bothered by Gilroy’s decision to ignore local brewers in favor of an Anheuser-Busch distributor and their flimsy, unconvincing excuses for the same. Cynthia Walker publishes a weekly column in the Gilroy Dispatch and her most recent one takes on this issue. In addition to simply preferring Coast Range’s beers, she also makes her case based on aesthetics, economics, ethics and a sense of justice.

I think one of her most compelling arguments is that if the food served at the garlic festival is meant to showcase garlic’s uses and its gourmet pedigree, you don’t pair it with an industrial beer, you pair it with a craft beer.

She concludes her passionate obloquy with the following:

At the end of the day, the Chamber of Commerce is in the business of promoting Gilroy businesses. Promotion would be better served by allowing the breweries and wineries to promote themselves by selling their wares openly at the Garlic Festival.

Bust the trust. Open the gates. Let the good times roll.

Amen.
 

Get Wise With Schneider Weisse

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Beer Chef Bruce Paton’s next beer dinner next year will feature the classic beers of Schneider Weisse from Germany. It will be a four-course dinner and well worth the $75 price of admission. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Friday, June 22, 2007, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations. The reservations may be closed now, but perhaps if you call today they may let you in.
 

The Menu:

 

Reception: 6:30 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre
Schneider Edel Weisse

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

Butter Poached Gulf Prawns with Hobbs Apple Wood Bacon Flan and Citrus Nage

Beer: Schneider Weisse

Second Course:

Trifecta of Duck Preparations (Three Winners)

Beer: Aventinus Doppelbock

Third Course:

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Hazelnut Sabayon

Beer: Aventinus Weizen Eisbock

 
6.22

Dinner with the Brewmaster: Schneider Weisse

Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]

Chicago Beer Society Tackles Beers Inspired by Belgium

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When Ray Daniels and Randy Mosher put on a tasting, I sit up and take notice. This should be a good one. If you’re in the Chicago area in early July, you should definitely try to go to this one.

Chicago Beer Society Tasting Features Flavor & Diversity of Belgian Cuisine

From mussels to carbonnade and risotto to artisanal cheese, Belgian cuisine was made to pair with its flavorful and often quirky beers. On July 8, the Chicago Beer Society showcases the variety of Belgian-style beer and food with “Inspired by Belgium” a tasting grounded in the gustatory traditions of the European lowlands.

“In the past ten years, Belgian-style beers have captured the hearts and tongues of sophisticated American beer drinkers,” said Randy Mosher, organizer of the event and long-time Chicago Beer Society board member. “The unique flavors of the beers go beautifully with the flavors of Belgian cuisine.”

On Sunday, July 8, the Chicago Beer Society celebrates this culture with a tasting of Belgian-style beers and food. The event will take place from 1 to 5 pm, at the Dank-Haus, the German-American Cultural Center, at 4740 N. Western Ave., in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. Ticket price will be $50, for member and $60 for non-members.

Catering by the Hearty Boys, an nationally known local firm, will include Belgian-style cheese, kriek-glazed chicken wings, carbonnade Flamande (beef in beer stew) and a beery risotto with sautéed shrimp and asparagus. In addition, The HopLeaf’s Michael Roper, will serve their signature dish: mussels steamed in beer sauce.

A range of beers from Belgium and innovative American brewers will allow attendees to experiment with flavors and pairings of this rich culinary culture. Attendees can expect to find everything from witbier to saison and abbey style to sour beers as well as the utterly uncharacterizable creations that define the Belgian approach to brewing.

As for the facility: “It’s a gorgeous room, with plenty of space for this walk-around event,” says Mosher. And since it is across the street from the Western Avenue stop of the Brown Line and steps away from the intersection of Western and Lawrence, public transportation is readily available.

Founded in 1977, the Chicago Beer Society is America’s oldest beer appreciation society. We are a not-for-profit, volunteer-run group dedicated to promoting great beer in the Chicagoland area. We have a reputation for producing well-run, creative and educational beer events. Our membership currently is around 450 persons. Our website is www.chibeer.org.

For more information and tickets, contact the Chicago Beer Society or call 773-905-ALES.

Olympia Brewery Finds a Buyer

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Olympia Brewery in Tumwater, Washington has been fallow since 2003, when Miller Brewing shut it down. The following year they sold it to a startup who planning on bottling water at the former brewery. But they ran into financial trouble and were forced into an involuntary bankruptcy. A deal has now been submitted for approval by the bankruptcy court for a Seattle company, the Benaroya Company, to purchase the brewery for $45 million. A hearing will be held July 5 at which time motions will be heard and a decision made. So far, there’s no word as to Benaroya’s intentions for the property, whether they want to refurbish and open the brewery or raze the 120-acres and develop it. It would be nice to see open again as a brewery, but I doubt that’s what will happen. It’s possible that Benaroya could break up the land into pieces and someone could buy the brewery grounds while they develop the rest into something else, it just doesn’t seem likely that buyer will step forward with the resources to bring the brewery back into shape. I’d certainly like to see it saved, for no better reason than the last time I was there was on my honeymoon.