Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Make Your Own Beer Labels

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Courtesy of the folks at Australia’s Brewtopia, in New South Wales, you can make your own beer labels online. Brewtopia sells private label wine beer and bottled water that you can put your customized label on either with your company’s logo or for a wedding, anniversary or other event. I’m sure there must be something similar in the U.S., but I’ve never seen one that offered so many choices and ways to fool around making your own labels.

For the beer labels, there are a dozen basic templates that you can add your own graphics to, change the text and colors and generally muck about with it until you’re satisfied with the results. You’ll need a screen capture program if you want to keep the results of your efforts, because the work can’t be saved unless you’re in Australia and ready to buy your own contract beer. But it’s a great deal of fine if you just want to play around with your own labels.

Here are some of the labels I made for the Bulletin:
 

 

 

Eric Rose’s Hollister Brewery Open

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For eight years, Eric Rose was the head brewer at Santa Barbara Brewing. And life was good. But Eric, like many brewers, dreamed of opening his own place one day. That day was Sunday, when his Hollister Brewing opened its doors to the public for the first time.

Situated in a modern strip mall setting in Goleta, a high-tech suburb of Santa Barbara, the new building, brewery and restaurant was built from scratch. I was in Santa Barbara over St. Patrick’s Day weekend (the missus had business that took her there for a long weekend) and hooked up with Eric for my regular column in Ale Street News, the Left Coaster. I’ve always liked Eric’s beers and feel like he often doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, despite winning awards for his Belgian-style beers and hoppy west coast IPAs.

Rose is installing a brand-new 10bbl system and will offer twelve of his own beers — all of them organic — in a wide range of styles along with eight guests taps featuring his friends’ beers. After he’s up and running, he also expects to start doing some barrel-aged beers in small quantities.

Also from my Ale Street News column:

His new brewpub, named Hollister Brewing Co. for the street in the Santa Barbara suburb of Goleta where it’s located, will be something of a Gastropub among chain restaurants. They’ll serve reasonably priced upscale food made for all-local ingredients prepared by the former chef from Bouchon, one of the most well-respected local restaurants. The menu will feature eclectic brew food with homemade sauces, specialty pizza and six daily lunch specials to cater to the high-tech industry nearby.

As Rose tells me, “there used to be a time when you had to choose between being green and good taste.” But now that you can have both, he believes more people will make the responsible choice that gives them both great taste and the feeling that they’re doing the right thing, too. Organic beers have truly come of age.

So far in the first few days he’s getting some good reviews from locals and the local paper, the Santa Barbara Independent has written favorably about the opening.

I’m really looking forward to tasting what Eric will be brewing at his new venture. If you visit Santa Barbara, be sure to stop by his new place and give it a try.

From the Independent article:

Located at the northeast corner of the Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta, the new brewery is replacing Camino Real Café. The three looked at a number of different locations, but decided on the Camino Real Marketplace because of the activity surrounding the area. “It’s a very important part of the Goleta Valley,” Rose said. With traffic being generated by a movie theater, Home Depot, Starbucks, and Borders, the trio envisions the brewery as another option for older college students and researchers to enjoy a nicer beer, as there is nothing of the sort in Goleta. The brewery has “enough TVs to make sports fans happy,” but is low-key enough that it isn’t a sports bar, Rose said.

Hollister Brewer Eric Rose in March.

All A-Gush for Allagash

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Beer Chef Bruce Paton’s next beer dinner next year will feature brewmaster Rob Tod and the beers of Allasgash from Portland, Maine. It will be a four-course dinner and well worth the $85 price of admission. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Friday, May 25, 2007, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations. Make your reservations soon, because the dinner, as usual, should fill up fast and this is yet another dinner you won’t want to miss.
 

The Menu:

 

Reception: 6:30 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre
Hugh Malone Ale

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

Chef’s Selection of Cheeses with Traditional Accompaniments

Beer: Allagash Interlude

Second Course:

Medallions of Dayboat Scallop with Anise Cured California King Salmon, Fennel, Corn and Morel Mushrooms

Beer: Allagash Odyssey

Third Course:

Cutlets of Slow Roasted Lamb with Fingerling Potato Risotto and Bing Cherry Compote

Beer: Allagash Inoculator

Fourth Course:

Banana Upside Down Cake with Butterscotch Mascarpone

Beer: Allagash Curieux

Three of the beers that will be served at the Allagash Beer Dinner.

 
5.25

Dinner with the Brewmaster: Rob Tod of Allagash

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

Tomme “Moses” Arthur Releases 10 Commandments

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Tomme “Moses” Arthur, Director of Brewing Operations for Port Brewing and the Lost Abbey, today announced their newest seasonal release. The new seasonal is called the Ten Commandments, a big, complex beer to mark their first anniversary.

From the press release:

While not exactly descending the mountain with two stone tables, Port Brewing / Lost Abbey’s award-winning brewmaster Tomme Arthur did make his mark on the craft beer world today with the release of Ten Commandments, a Belgian-style dark farmhouse brewed with raisins, fresh rosemary and honey. As an added twist, a secondary wild yeast was also added to the brew during bottling.

The craft brewer’s anniversary issue, Ten Commandments is a mocha-garnet-colored ale that offers a rich, rustic texture with strong notes of banana and fig, invoking the complexity and character of the artisanal beers of the southern Belgian countryside.
“I’ve always been inspired by the unpredictability and artistic style of Belgian ales like Fantôme’s Black Ghost,” said head brewer Tomme Arthur. “In creating Ten Commandments I wanted to emulate that perspective but add an unexpected touch. Using mercurial yeast like Brettanomyces in combination with raisins, herbs and honey delivers a pleasant, full-bodied profile and mélange of flavors unlike any other beer.”

Ten Commandments is 9 percent alcohol by volume and ships in 750ml cork-finished bottles. Brewed in limited quantities (280 cases in 2007) and released annually during the brewery’s anniversary, it is available directly from the brewery and in Port Brewing markets May through September.

About Port Brewing / Lost Abbey

Founded in 2006, Port Brewing Company produces a line of award-winning American ales as well as the groundbreaking Lost Abbey family of Belgian-inspired beers. Craft brewed under the direction of co-founder and two-time Great American Beer Festival brewer of the year, Tomme Arthur, four beers are issued under the Lost Abbey label year-round: Avant Garde, Lost and Found, Red Barn and Judgment Day. Additionally, a number of seasonal and specialty releases including Ten Commandments, Cuvee de Tomme and the Angel’s Share, are offered at various times throughout the year. As many of these are blended and aged for up to 18 months in French Oak, Brandy and Bourbon barrels, Lost Abbey beers are universally recognized for their complexity, unique flavors, and bold, boundary-pushing styles. Port Brewing is located at 155 Mata Way, Suite 104, San Marcos, CA 92069, USA., web: www.lostabbey.com.

Celis’ Return to Texas Doubtful

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In his regular column, The Beer Sphere, in the Dallas/Forth Worth Star-Telegram, Barry Shlachter reports that the “long-anticipated collaboration between Belgian brewing legend Pierre Celis and Texas’ Real Ale Brewing Co. has fallen through.”

From Shlachter’s column:

“Just too many obstacles,” said Brad Farbstein, president of the Blanco-based micro-brewery.

Real Ale’s proposed “Brussels” line of ales based on Celis recipes was scuttled because the state interpreted the deal as violating Texas’ contract brewing regulations.

Complicating the arrangement was Celis investing in his daughter’s drinking establishment in the Austin area, Farbstein said. Texas’ three-tiered system — production, wholesaling and retailing — forbids participation in more than one sector.

Well that’s certainly bad news. It would have been nice to see Pierre return triumphantly to the states.

Session #4 Announced: Drink Locally

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Snekse, of the Gastronomic Fight Club, a primarily food-oriented blog from Nebraska, will be hosting June’s “Session” and will be taking us in a bit of a different direction.

With this Session, he wants to “create a guide book of tasting notes to drinking local.”

The idea here is to be as helpful as possible for visitors to your area. What is the beer/brewery/brewpub that you feel is quintessential to your city? What do the locals drink? What could a tourist drink that would make them feel like they’ve found something special; something that they’re going to miss when they go home?

Here are the rules:

  • You can pick anything commercially made within 150 miles of your house, but try to pick the brewery or brewpub closest to your house (NOTE: the average American lives within 10 miles of a craft brewery).
  • You can select any beer or even a sampler if you want.
  • If you select a single beer, let us know why you choose this beer (e.g. favorite, seasonal, limited edition, best seller).
  • Preferably you’ll shy away from beers with wide distribution outside your immediate area.

It looks to be an interesting way to approach the next Session, and it could be quite revealing. I certainly like the idea of each of us mining our own local areas for hidden treasure. So please join on the first Friday of June, which is also the first day of June. To participate, simply drop Snekse an e-mail “with the words “Session #4″ in the subject line,” and the following:

Include your name, the name of your blog, the URL to your post, the name of the brewery or brew pub that made the beer(s) you drank, where the place is located, the name and style of the beer(s) you drank and lastly, a general description of the availability of the beer(s). If you don’t have a blog, email me your notes and I’ll include them in the round up.

Boonville Beer Festival

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Saturday was the 11th annual Boonville Beer Festival, held as usual at the Mendocino Fair Grounds in Boonville, California. Over the last few years, this festival has really become one of the “must attend” fests of the year, and this time was no exception. I didn’t hear the final attendance figures, but it must have been another record year. I did hear that despite ordering almost double the festival glasses as last year, they still ran out early and had to resort to dixie cups for late-comers. It was also Cinco de Mayo and the festival tried to celebrate the Mexican holiday, as well.

The Anderson Valley horse-drawn coach transported VIPs from the brewery to the festival.

During the opening of the festival, we were serenaded by the traditional Humboldt Firkin Tappers. For a video of their performance, see the photo gallery.

Anderson Valley Brewery owner Ken Allen.

Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing.

Adrienne, in her watermelon wheat hat, and Motor, who podcasts at Beer School.

Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing, Aron Derosey from Beach Chalet , Jeff Barkley (also from Moonlight) and Melissa Myers from Drake’s.

Vinnie Cilurzo does a celebrity endorsement of 21st Amendment’s IPA in a can. Watch the commercial at the photo gallery.

In another bit of shameless promotion, Shaun O’Sullivan from 21st Amendment gets Matt Brynildson, from Firestone Walker, to wear the watermelon wheat pimp hat.

Claudia, Yuseff Cherney, from Ballast Point, Jeff Bagby, from Pizza Port Carlsbad, and his assistant brewer.

For many more photos from the festival, visit the photo gallery. At the photo gallery there is even video of the Humboldt Firkin Tappers and Vinnie drinking beer from a can. And if you’re a fire bug like me, there is also many photos of the bonfire, including what it looks like when a beer bottle melts.

Rally at Raley Field This Saturday

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This Saturday will be the Raley Field Brewfest in Sacramento, California, a benefit for the Northern California Brewers Guild. Tickets are $30 at the door, or you can save $5 by purchasing tickets online.

Here are some of the breweries slated to be pouring:

Rubicon Brewing Company, Blue Frog and Grog Brewery, Butte Creek Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing Company, Jack Russel Brewing Company, Marin Brewing Company, Moylans Brewing Company, Sacramento Brewing Company, Bison Brewing Company, Trumer Brauerei, Lockdown Brewing Company, Bear Republic Brewing Company, Elk Grove Brewing Company, Brew it Up Brewing Company, Hoppy Brewing Company, Two Rivers Cider, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Davids Ale Works, Black Diamond Brewing Company, Drakes Brewing Company, Valley Brewing Company and many more!

The festival will begin a 1:00 p.m. at Raley Field. “One ticket is valid for up to 10 tastings. Additional tastings can be purchased on-site.”

There will also be music and food available. Come out and support this very worthy cause. The newly formed Northern California Brewers Guild was created to keep good local craft beer available throughout northern California. Help them help you by attending the event and enjoying some terrific beers, most of which were created locally.

5.12

Raley Field Brewfest

Raley Field, 400 Ballpark Drive, West Sacramento , California
916.376.4700 [ information ] [ online tickets ]
 

Water Beats Milk, Ties Beer

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I wasn’t even aware there was a competition among liquids, but apparently it’s pretty fierce. This year for the first time bottled water beat out milk, according to Beverage Digest, and was roughly equal to beer for the year 2006.

According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “If the trend continues, Americans could be drinking more bottled water than tap water within a few years.”

“Tap water is in trouble,” quipped John Sicher, publisher of industry newsletter Beverage Digest.

Beverage Digest’s figures showed average per capita consumption of bottled water grew from 11 to 21 gallons between 1996 and 2006. Consumption of milk dropped from 22.7 to 19.5 gallons over the 10-year span, while beer consumption was steady at 21.8. Soft drink consumption dropped from 52 to 50.9 gallons, according to the figures.

No word on whether the water in beer is added to the water figures.