Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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CBO Job Update

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About six weeks ago, Four Points Sheraton posted a job listing for CBO, Chief Beer Officer. I speculated at the time that it appeared to be more of a promotion than a legitimate job opening, but a fun one all the same. Travel Weekly (free subscription required) is reporting that to date over 5,000 CBO hopefuls from 31 countries on all of the inhabited continents have applied for the position. And people from all 50 states along with D.C. and Puerto Rico have filled out the application.

One curious statistic is that although only about 10% of the applicants have been female, a higher percentage of women got a perfect score on the beer knowledge quiz. What’s odd to me about that is that the quiz was so easy you’d have to be a block of wood not to ace it. I don’t mean to suggest only beer geeks would know the answers, I mean that absolutely anyone with a pulse and just a few synapses of thought should have no trouble getting every one right. The quiz answers are so telescoped that I’m mouth-droppingly amazed to learn that some people actually didn’t get a perfect score on it. But that aside, it still seems like a fun promotion. Who wouldn’t want that for a job title?

If you want to apply and see how easy the quiz is for yourself, there’s still time to apply online before the deadline ends on January 12, 2007.

Eat Well with Urthel

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Beer Chef Bruce Paton’s first beer dinner next year will feature brewster Hildegard van Ostaden and the Urthel beers of Brouwerij de Leyerth from Belgium. It will be a three-course dinner and well worth the $80 price of admission. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Monday, January 8, 2007, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations. Make your reservations soon, because the dinner should fill up fast and you don’t want to miss this one. I know I say that every time, but it’s true every time. I’ve met Ms. van Ostaden before and she’s a delightful speaker, not to mention her beers are uniformly fantastic. This will be the first big Bay Area beer event of the new year.
 

The Menu:

 

Reception: 6:30 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre
Urthel Hop It

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

Salad of Assorted Fresh Shellfish with Warm Fennel Vichyssoise

Beer: Urthel Hibernus Quentum Tripel

Second Course:

Confit of Lamb with Truffled Potato Gratin, Wilted Bloomsdale Spinach and Black Trumpet Mushrooms

Beer: Urthel Vlaemse Bock

Third Course:

Tartare of Figs and Buddha’s Hand with Chocolate Sabayon, Vanilla Mascarpone and Cocoa Nib Cookie

Beer: Urthel Samaranth Quadrium Ale

Some of the beers that will be served at the Urthel Beer Dinner.

 

1.8

Dinner with the Brewmaster: Urthel

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

Beer 101

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Today’s Wilton Villager, serving the town of Wilton, Connecticut, reprinted an item from the Fort Worth/Dallas Star-Telegram. It’s a pretty basic twenty questions that tell readers about many of the basics of beer that the non-beer geek will likely be unfamiliar with. So while it’s old hat for even the most casual beer fans, it’s a great overview for the 95% of the population who don’t drink craft beer. The author, Daniel Cooper, even listed his sources, which included Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion, Real Beer and All About Beer. One of the first steps in conversion is education, so it’s great to see this making the syndication rounds.

Creative Solutions

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In an effort to discourage driving after a bit too much holiday celebrating, the Police Department of Burlington, Vermont came up with a creative solution. They printed up logo pint glasses with one of four designs — “a police patch, a special response team patch, a K-9 logo or a Bennington Police Department 150th anniversary badge logo” — and then distributed them to area bars and restaurants. The idea, according to an AP Wire story, was that if patrons see one of the police logos on the beer they’re drinking then they might think twice about trying to drive drunk. Of course, I can’t resist asking why they didn’t also put logos on cocktail and wine glasses, too, especially since spirits and wine contain higher concentrations of alcohol and thus would represent a greater danger, at least from the police department’s point of view. But it’s still a pretty clever idea and far better than random checkpoints or other draconican measures. If more police departments took up this idea think of the extra money they could make to support education programs — because you just know they’d be people who would collect the pint glasses.

Picture me on a pint glass.

Beer & Christianity

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christmas
It’s Christmas Eve and I’m sitting at my in-laws drinking a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. The kids are asleep, the presents are wrapped and we’ve finished the traditional meal of Chinese take-out (don’t ask). The rest of my wife’s family (she has four siblings) is watching television and finishing their own wrapping, kibitzing in the way brothers and sisters do. I can hear their conversations waft into the front room with all the presents snuggled under the tree — which is where I’m sitting alone — along with the Christmas music on my iPod playing in the kitchen. Christmas is always a time of reflection for me. While I’m grateful that my in-laws have welcomed me so openly into their family, I still can’t help but feel a little sad at this time of the year. My own parents and grandparents are long gone as are all but a handful of uncles, aunts and cousins who remain far away in Pennsylvania.

A couple of days ago, a press release caught my attention from ChristiaNet, which purports to be the “world’s largest Christian portal.” They released a poll taken on the website in which an almost two-thirds majority declared that beer is bad and that overall “drinking beer, wine, liquor, or alcoholic beverages of any kind is wrong.” Naturally the headline only mentioned beer, stating that “Drinking Beer Is Wrong According To ChristiaNet Poll.” This has been rolling around in my head for the last two days and since ChristaNet [Link now dead] has seen fit to throw beer drinkers under the bus at Christmastime, I felt it appropriate to stand up for beer during the same time. So lest you think I’m being sacrilegious, remember that the press release was published three days before Christmas.

So let’s take a look at this issue. ChristiaNet, who I was previously unfamiliar with, in the press release claims they get “twelve million monthly page loads, receive around one million visitors per month and have 400,000 email subscribers who have access to an online shopping mall, job bank, Biblical and life application resources, free ecards, Christian blogs and friendship communities.” Out of those million monthly only 339 responded to the poll that is the subject of their press release. Of those few motivated to take the poll, 192 apparently believe “it isn’t appropriate behavior” for Christians to drink beer, when they answered the question “should Christians drink beer?” So of the approximately 2.1 billion Christians worldwide, less than 200 have a problem with people drinking beer. Eighty were okay with it and another 62 were undecided. And those staggeringly ridiculous statistics warranted a press release that was picked up by news organizations? What exactly was the point of the press release? If you can figure it out, please let me know because I’m stumped. Jesus obviously drank something alcoholic at the last supper, so if He could have a glass, why not the rest of the faithful?

I guess wine during communion is apparently different. I realize Catholics who believe in transubstantiation think the wine is actually the blood of Christ so perhaps that doesn’t count. But Protestants don’t accept transubstantiation so the wine is merely symbolic and therefore just wine. What makes that acceptable but beer is inappropriate? Especially when you consider that it may well have been a mis-translation that Jesus turned water into beer instead of wine. If the same mis-translation continued through the last supper, perhaps Christians today would wash down the body of Christ with beer instead of red wine.

Is it the amount? According to the press release, many respondents made “the distinction that it should be done in moderation and not to get drunk” and also found it “acceptable unless abused or causes someone else to sin.” The release also mused that “[w]hile an occasional drink might have some health benefits, too much can cause health problems. The risk of becoming addicted to it should be considered by those who are tempted.” But that’s true of anything. Too much of almost anything can be bad for you. Certainly extremism of any stripe leads to much unpleasantness. But the stereotypical frat boy mentality of drink ’till you puke is not seriously advocated by any organization that I know of, so who are they targeting. Is there any group — pro or con — that doesn’t think drinking in moderation is the way to go? So again I have to ask — rhetorically at least — why ChristiaNet is going out of their way to paint a picture in which a majority of Christians are against drinking beer? Virtually all of the Christians I know love the stuff and have no problem whatsoever with it.

Many neo-prohibitionist groups seem to have strong ties to extremist religious groups, so is ChristiaNet among them and that what’s going on here? Sadly, I have only questions and no answers. But it creeps me out more than a little to see the holiday of Christmas being used as a time to call into question whether a third of the world’s population has a problem with my beverage of choice. And worse still, using such flimsy statistics as support for their agenda, whatever it truly turns out to be.

But tomorrow (later today, really) my kids — Porter and Alice — will wake me way too early, excited to see what Santa brought them. I’ll have on my traditional Celebration Ale t-shirt I’ve worn every Christmas morning for over ten years. This is Porter’s fifth Christmas and the first one where he’s truly excited about it and is learning the traditions that define us as a nation. He delighted in picking out the perfect tree, stringing the lights, and hanging the ornaments. He insisted we hang a wreath on the front door of our new house. For the last month, one of the books we’ve been reading at bedtime is Are You Grumpy, Santa? and as a result we had to bake chocolate chip cookies to leave out for Santa. When his grandmother said we only had sugar cookies he informed her that they would make Santa grumpy. Needless to say, there were freshly baked chocolate chip cookies left out for Santa’s butt next to the tree. I say “were” because my sister-in-law and I just ate them — leaving a few crumbs behind on the plate — to keep the illusion alive. After we open the presents there will be a feast and I’ll have a few different holiday beers. And I’ll try to figure out why on one of my favorite days of the year, drinking a beer is so wrong. Why do I feel like my ability to enjoy a good beer is constantly under attack? Why can’t we all just say Merry Christmas, share a yuletide brew and get along? I’ll even start the ball rolling.

Happy Holidays, Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Men (and Women). Beery Christmas everyone.

Redbridge Gluten-Free Released Nationally

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As expected, Anheuser-Busch released Redbridge, a gluten-free beer made with sorghum nationally last week. As with their organic beers, A-B claims they will be making regular donations to a relevant charity, in this case to National Foundation for Celia Awareness, undoubtedly a worthy organization. The Redbridge website is also up and running now, too.

Here’s a portion of the press release:

Sorghum, the primary ingredient in Redbridge, is a safe grain for those allergic to wheat or gluten. It is grown in the United States, Africa, Southern Europe, Central America and Southern Asia. Sorghum beers have been available internationally for years and are popular in many African countries.

Redbridge is a hearty, full-bodied lager brewed using imported Hallertau and domestic Cascade hops. It is brewed with sorghum and has a well-balanced, moderately hopped taste. “We set out to create a fine, hand-crafted specialty beer made without wheat or barley,” said Angie Minges, product manager, Anheuser-Busch. “We’ve made Redbridge nationally available to make sure adults who experience wheat allergies or who choose a gluten-free or wheat-free diet can enjoy the kind of beer that fits their lifestyle.”

Redbridge contains 4.8% alcohol per 12-ounce serving. It will be available in 12-ounce, six-pack bottles. Redbridge is brewed at the Anheuser-Busch Merrimack, N.H., brewery.

The new six-packs for Redbridge, now available nationally.

Karl Strauss Dies at 94

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karl-strauss
I got an e-mail today with the sad news from an old friend, Matt Jamieson, who called on me when I worked as the beer buyer for BevMo. He used to work for Karl Strauss Brewing in San Diego.

karl-strauss-2

Yesterday, Karl Strauss passed away in Milwaukee at age 94. Born in Germany, and a graduate of Weihenstephan, Strauss worked for Pabst for decades before retiring as a vice-president. In 1989, along with cousin Chris Cramer and Matt Rattner, Strauss founded the San Diego microbrewery that bears his name. It was San Diego’s first one and today the company operates a brewery and six brewpubs. The brewery website has a nice tribute up and the San Diego Union-Tribune also has an article about Karl Strauss.

karl-strauss-1

Karl Strauss as a young man.

Editorial Nonsense from San Antonio

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My friend and colleague Lisa Morrison sent me a link this morning to an editorial from San Antonio, Texas (on MySanAntonio.com, a partnership between the newspaper San Antonio Express-News and the television station KENS 5) that had gotten her worked up before her morning coffee. But after taking a look at it myself, I understand her frustration. It’s enough to turn your hair red. The editorial is so ridiculous the author didn’t even sign their name to it, presumably they’re too embarrassed to forever link themselves to such blather. The entire argument, if you can even call it that, can be summed up neatly by the title, “TV + beer = round bodies.”

It’s mercifully short, at least, so go ahead a take a look for yourself. The entirety of their support for the argument that drinking beer and watching too much TV is responsible for the country’s obesity problem stems from three data points from an abstract released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week by way of a Reuters article. The first is that “two-thirds of Americans are overweight, including one-third of whom are obese.” Next is that “Americans will spend an average of nearly 4 1/2 hours daily in front of the television” (although the editorial says 10 hours, including “reading books and surfing the Internet” but leaves out the other Census data about listening to the radio, “listening to recorded music,” along with “reading newspapers, playing video games and reading other media.”). Lastly, we drink a half gallon of beer each week on average — I know I’m doing my part. So the editorial takes those pieces of Census data and believes they have the proof that “[b]eer and television lead to big bellies.” And not only does this constitute proof in the mind of the article’s anonymous author, but they also believe that their reasoning is “common sense.”

Here’s some more brilliant analysis:

The bureau does not interpret the data; it merely presents it, but it does not take a social scientist to see that there may be a connection between obesity and beer drinking and television viewing.

If people spent less time watching television and drinking beer, we might see a more encouraging figure when the bureau does its next abstract — a decrease in the amount of overweight Americans.

What the author fails to mention is the figures cited by Reuters come from a “1,300-page book of tables and statistics” that includes 1,376 separate tables of data. To cherry pick three of them and claim to prove a correlation between them is ludicrous.

Other data includes “Per capita consumption of corn sweeteners, including high-fructose syrup, totaled 78.1 pounds in the United States in 2004, up from 35.3 pounds in 1980 but on a downward trend from 81.8 pounds consumed in 2000.” But I’m sure all that sugar had nothing to do with obesity trends. It has to be the beer. That’s just common sense, right?

As Lisa put it:

I cannot believe this editorial actually targets beer consumption (and nothing else except watching TV) for the increased weight of Americans. Like eating too much food or drinking sugary sodas or even sipping too much of the Blessed Red Wine (caps intended) wouldn’t contribute to the creeping numbers on the scale …

There are obviously so many factors that lead to obesity that to simplify it as being caused by beer and television is more than a bit insulting. Not only do many other drinks — both alcoholic and non-alcoholic — also pack on the pounds but snack foods and other empty-calorie eats do at least as much to increase weight gain for sedentary people.

I can’t help but wonder who wrote the editorial and what their real motives or agenda were? Do I smell neo-prohibitionists trying to connect dots that aren’t there? Or merely some misguided journalist with a deadline and not much time to think about what he or she is writing?

Michael Jackson Reveals His Battle with Parkinson’s

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To those of us who have been around Michael Jackson any length of time lately, we’ve know something was affecting his health, but beyond speculation, no one knew for sure what. Michael has been understandably protective of his privacy and naturally everyone around him has respected that desire to keep his private life just that. I have just learned that Michael Jackson will be announcing through his Real Beer Club that he is and has been suffering for at least a decade from Parkinson’s Disease. An old girlfriend of mine’s mother has it, as more famously does another Michael, in this case Michael J. Fox, who has helped bring awareness of it to the forefront. At present there is no cure but much has been learned about managing the disease through the use of specialized drugs, such as L-dopa. Many are also hopeful that stem cell research may offer an opportunity to learn more about Parkinson’s that could ultimately lead to a cure.

Michael will likely make a full press release available after the holidays with additional details. For now, let’s send positive thoughts Michael’s way and give him the love and support he so richly deserves. Michael Jackson has done more to support and nourish the craft beer industry, especially in its early days, than any other single person. I, for one, first learned about better beer from the first edition of his World Guide to Beer while living in New York City in 1978. Having first met him almost fifteen years ago, I feel very fortunate to know him. Though it may sound cliched, he is one of the most generous, gifted people I have ever known. The fact that he has written so much so wonderfully while at the same time he’s been battling the effects of Parkinson’s disease quite frankly makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable and laudable. Please join me in wishing Michael Jackson all the best this holiday and throughout the coming year as his private battle becomes a public one, with all the difficulties that will add to his daily life.

The following letter is being sent to Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club members today:

I have been asked to write to you by Michael Jackson — who is currently traveling and researching on behalf of the Rare Beer Club.

Michael is notorious among his friends for his passionate commitment to his work, and for the fearsome schedule he sets himself. What he has kept from us is the fact that he has been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for at least a decade and perhaps twice as long.

During that time he has written several thousand tasting notes and several hundred articles and has also presented scores of tutored tastings, speeches and book-signings around the world. Further, Michael has produced new books such as Ultimate Beer, The Great Beer Guide, Scotland and its Whiskies, and Whisky — The Definitive World Guide which, incidentally, was named best drinks book of 2006 in the James Beard Award and also the recipient of three other international honors. He has this fall compiled an anthology of his writing for Slow Food and completed a further revision of the fifth edition of The Great Beers of Belgium; his Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch is also in its fifth edition.

Michael has great praise for the work of the medical profession in the development of treatments to combat Parkinson’s. He has recently been prescribed some new medication, and the calibration of doses has caused some problems, which are gradually being ironed out.

He tells us: “When everything is in place, I can run almost as well as I did when I played Rugby League. The problems arise when I become absorbed in writing, or in a conversation, and forget my medication. Even the slightest delay can make me very unsteady on my feet — unable to walk at times — and slurred in my speech. Understandably, people think I am drunk, especially given my profession. I am not. My wild days were long ago. My writing has always fostered the notion of tasting more and drinking less, and I am true to that philosophy. The Gods have a sense of irony in making me look drunk when at my intake of alcohol is at its most modest.”

As you can tell, Michael is in excellent spirits and very much looks forward to the next chapter of his life which he obviously expects to be productive. In addition to being a great example by the way he has lived with this disease, Michael is already talking about projects that will benefit others with Parkinson’s disease and you can be assured that we will be hearing a lot more from him in that regard in the future.

I know that you will all join us in wishing Michael the best during this holiday season and into 2007 and beyond as he continues to lead the discovery of exciting new beers!

Best regards,

Robert Imeson, President
The Michael Jackson Rare Beer Club

To learn more about donating to the National Parkinson Foundation, visit their website.

Beer Gift Packs

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The Dayton Daily News has an interesting gallery of beer gift packs available this year. They may not all be available where you live, but it might give you some ideas if you’re looking for a gift for the beer lover on your secret Santa list.