Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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New Bay Area Brewfest This Saturday

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This Saturday in San Mateo, a new Bay Area beer festival will take place at the County Expo Center, aptly named the Bay Area Brewfest. The Expo Center a good, centrally-located spot for a beer fesitival with plenty of parking, and the Bay Area could really use a good annual beer festival. There’s plenty of good small ones here and there but there hasn’t really been a good big one in the area since the KQED Beer & Food Festival and the Berkeley Beer Festival both stopped pouring for good several years ago. So it’s with high hopes Jeff Moses, who is also the GM for Coast Range/Farmhouse Brewing in Gilroy, has organized this new event. I’ll be there to offer my support along with fifty breweries who’ll be pouring samples of their beer from 12-6 p.m. Tickets are $25.00 at the gate and include admission, entertainment, and tastings.

Please think about coming out and supporting the festival so it can be an annual event. The first year’s turnout will go a long way to insuring future festivals.

6.10

Bay Area Brewfest (1st annual)
County Expo Center, 2495 South Delaware Street, San Mateo, California
[ website ] [ tickets online ] [ map ]

Fowl Ball?: Widmer Buys a Piece of Goose Island

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Well this one certainly came out of left field. I’m not quite sure what to think about it. I really like Kurt and Rob Widmer. I like them a lot, in fact, both personally and professionally. They pioneered American-style hefeweizen, in fact invented the style. They co-founded the Oregon Brewers Festival to support and promote the craft beer industry as a whole. They brew many great beers — their potato beer is still the best of its type I’ve ever had — in many diverse styles. And they’re both very affable and down to earth people who make the beer community a better place for their having been a part of it. So I originally greeted the news of their arrangement with Anheuser-Busch somewhat suspiciously. But in the end they’ve been able to make it work for them, a trick few have been able to pull off. Which makes Widmer Brothers all the more impressive for having been able to walk that fine line between craft and business so successfully.

So does buying a minority interest in Goose Island Brewing of Chicago make sense? In some ways, yes it does. From a distribution point of view, it seems to make very good sense for both parties. If each begins making the other’s beer for their own markets, that too makes good business sense. So why does it give me pause? I’m not sure, but I think it has something to do with A-B buying a 35% stake in Goose Island and then Widmer buying a presumably much smaller piece, when they themselves are are part-owned by A-B (39.5%). I can’t put my finger on what bothers me about this, perhaps it is just simple paranoia on my part. For now, I’ll try to concentrate on the positive aspects of this and try to silence that voice in the back of my head and wish Kurt, Rob and John and Greg Hall all the best.

Senate Votes Against Abolishing Estate Tax

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I realize this is not, strictly speaking, beer news, but given the NBWA’s unrelenting efforts to help their rich members avoid paying taxes, and my diatribe about it two days ago, I wanted to update the story. Today, the Senate voted to “reject a Republican effort to abolish taxes on inherited estates during an election year with control of Congress at stake,” according today’s San Francisco Chronicle. The vote was three short of the votes needed to advance the bill.

Also from the Chronicle article:

“The estate tax is an extremely costly tax for a wealthy few that comes at the expense of every other American born and yet to be born for decades to come,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Under current law this year, the first $2 million of a person’s estate or $4 million of a couple’s, escapes taxation. The remainder can be taxed at rates up to 46 percent.

According to the most recent statistics available from the Internal Revenue Service, 1.17 percent of people who died in 2002 left a taxable estate.

“Repealing the estate tax during this time of fiscal crisis would be incredibly irresponsible and intellectually dishonest,” Sen. George Voinovich (R) of Ohio said.

Unsurprisingly, the NBWA wasted no time expressing their displeasure with the Senate vote. From their press release:

“We are disappointed about today’s vote regarding a permanent solution to the death tax which hurts small family-owned businesses. Make no mistake about it. Those Senators who previously supported death tax repeal and today opposed this effort to proceed to H.R. 8 are standing in the way of a permanent solution. Those Senators that voted “no” on cloture have essentially voted “yes” to increase the death tax to 55 percent in 2011.

“On behalf of America’s beer distributors, we will continue to work with Congress on a permanent solution to the death tax that will allow small business owners to plan for the continuation of their businesses with certainty and without fear of a looming death tax threat that could mean the death of the family business.”

Oh, those poor rich families. They may be family-owned, but small they’re not. But I guess money makes people do and say crazy things. So the spin machine is again in high gear. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of this issue.

Keg Disaster Averted in San Diego

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Yussef Cherney, intrepid Ballast Point brewer in San Diego, California, acted heroically yesterday to save a 100-keg batch of Ballast Point beer. In the middle of the brew, a water main broke leaving the brewery without water, according to a report by NBC San Diego. Rather then have the batch ruined, a brewery employee drove around the area and discovered the spot where the main had broken and alerted local water officials. Within hours it had been fixed and the water was flowing again to the brewery, effectively saving the brew. Way to go go guys!

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 ]

John Hickenlooper Finalist for World Mayor Award

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John Hickenlooper, the current mayor of Denver, Colorado is one of 50 finalists for the 2006 World Mayor Award, although he’s among only ten finalists from North America and a mere seven from the United States. Anyone apparently can vote, so go cast your vote for John now. John founded the Wynkoop brewpub in Denver’s LoDo area (Lower Downtown) when there was nothing there but a jazz club (El Chapultepec) and abandoned warehouses. Today it’s one of the busiest areas there boasting great restaurants, clubs, and Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies baseball stadium. John’s a great guy and by all accounts has been doing a phenomenal job as mayor. It would be fun and great press for the craft brewing industry as a whole if John won. So go vote now!

Before his mayoral days, at GABF with Joanne and Jessica (both formerly of the Brewers Association). Joanne Carilli is now with White Labs and Jessica left the BA last year to pursue teaching.

House Resolution 753 Passes

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After only about two months, House Resolution 753 passed unanimously, with 70 co-sponsors, including twelve house members from California. H.R. 753 was the brainchild of the Brewers Association and “commend[s] America’s craft brewers for their many and varied contributions to our nation’s communities, economy, culture and history.”

The resolution was spearheaded by Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and with over 70 additional Congressmen cosponsoring the measure. The following California house members co-sponsored the bill: Ken Calvert, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Jane Harman, Mike Honda, George Miller, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Hilda Solis, Ellen Tauscher, Mike Thompson, and Lynn Woolsey.

From the press release:

“This is an important and significant first step in our effort to raise the profile of craft beer and brewing in Washington,” said BA president Charlie Papazian. “The amount of support we received from Members of Congress was extremely gratifying and was due in large part to the efforts of individual professional Brewers Association and American Homebrewers Association members calling and writing their Congressman to ask for their support of the resolution.”

The resolution, which also recognizes the establishment of American Craft Beer Week, was a featured element of a Capitol Hill Congressional reception held on May 16th which featured BA member beers from across the country paired with a variety of artisinal foods. At this event, Congressmen Boehlert and DeFazio were publicly recognized and thanked for their outstanding support of America’s craft brewers

From left: Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian, Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR).

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.

Enough Already: Time to Cry Bullshit

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Okay, I’ve had enough. Time to speak out. I’ve been getting press releases from the National Beer Wholesalers Association for many months now about the [expletive deleted] estate tax (it’s correct name by the way; they keep calling it the “death tax,” which alone pisses me off). I’ve been simply deleting them but the sheer number of the e-mails I’ve gotten over the last few months is truly staggering, maybe one every other week. There is no other issue facing the beer industry that’s received that kind of attention from a trade organization since they talked about changing the way that breweries are taxed. And it doesn’t even directly relate to beer, just the companies themselves. Today I got yet another one and it was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. There has simply been far to much attention paid to this issue and far too much misinformation given the small number of people it will benefit. Even though the NBWA is a trade organization of companies that distribute beer, it’s seldom that I agree with their agenda, and this is a perfect example. It happens — take the Costco case in Washington — but generally they advocate for their members and that’s not always the same as what it is in the best interests of craft brewers, which is where my sympathies lie.

But their relentless pursuit of this estate tax agenda framed in terms of protecting family businesses from having their hard-earned money taken from them is, simply put: bullshit. The only people effected by the estate tax will be people whose estates are valued above a certain amount and chances are if you’re reading this you’re not someone who will be effected by it. 99% of the people in the U.S. will pass their estates on to their loved ones and pay zero income tax. So that begs the question “why is the NBWA so hot about this issue?” And the answer is simple. Because their membership is choked with a few mega-huge distributors who are part of the 1% that might have to pay something when one of their patriarchs (or matriarchs) sadly passes away. The “small family-owned businesses” that the NBWA goes on about saving is just propaganda. But at this point I’m beyond that epithet. Let’s call a spade a spade. It’s just bullshit. This is a few rich families using a trade organization for their own selfish ends. When their press release talks about “92,000 hardworking Americans” almost none of them will be effected by the estate tax, unless of course, the family decides to fire some of them rather than lose their country club membership.

To read the facts about about this issue, try Myths and Facts About the Estate Tax at Fair Economy. Or try Nolo Press’ assessment. And here’s an estate tax calculator at Americans for a Fair Estate Tax. There is also information at the IRS.

A report in late April by Public Citizen revealed that:

18 families worth a total of $185.5 billion have financed and coordinated a 10-year effort to repeal the estate tax, a move that would collectively net them a windfall of $71.6 billion.

Here’s the propaganda-filled NBWA press release:

As the Senate prepares for a possible vote on the [estate] tax this week, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) is ensuring Senators know that America’s beer distributors need permanent relief from this onerous tax.

Earlier today, NBWA’s Federal Affairs team delivered a bottle of Blue Moon beer to each Senator. Each bottle was accompanied by a message urging Republicans and Democrats to set aside their differences and provide small businesses with permanent relief from the death tax once and for all.

“Beer distributors around the country have waited a long time for the Senate to act on the death tax,” said NBWA President Craig Purser. “Since it happens only once in a blue moon, we wanted to take the opportunity to remind Senators how important permanent death tax relief is to the small family-owned businesses that NBWA represents.”

Permanent relief from the federal death tax is a top legislative priority for the nation’s beer distributors. Many beer distribution companies have been family-owned and -operated since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Today, beer distributors employ more than 92,000 hardworking Americans. Aside from stripping these small business owners of their livelihood, the death tax can also cost the community jobs and economic output.

At the left is the marketing piece sent to every member of Congress urging them to repeal the estate tax, along with a bottle of Blue Moon beer. Below is the label to Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, the stealth micro owned by Coors, itself a rich family-owned company. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?

So what are we to conclude from the facts vs. the propaganda spewing out of the NBWA? I think it tells us a lot about the make-up of beer distributors nationwide. There are, of course, small beer distributors doing a great job of promoting and selling great beer. I personally know several of them, past and present, in California, Oregon and Washington. But I don’t think any of their interests are being served by squandering NBWA funds on fighting the estate tax. But I guess the little distributors don’t have much of a voice in a trade organization so obviously dominated by giant companies.

I think the reason this pisses me off so much is the misuse of emotional imagery about “America’s family-owned businesses.” All the rhertoric paints a distorted picture of reality that benefits a few rich families which — and this should not be overlooked — if they’re successful means the rest of us will be picking up their tab. If the estate tax is repealed and that money is no longer collected from these super-rich families then one of two things will occur. Either the services that money would have paid for will be cut or you and I will be paying higher taxes to make up the difference. That means small craft brewers and beer consumers will have to pay so that these super-rich beer distributor families can stay super-rich. Now how fair does that sound?

Update on Latrobe Brewery

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I was away this weekend camping with the family and some friends — which also meant I missed a great beer festival in Santa Rosa — and I’ve been trying to catch up on what I’ve missed. It seems there’s a lot of information flying around about what’s going on with the Latrobe Brewery sale/closing.

I read one forum post on the BrewBoard by a prominent (or at least active) member who took the position that Rolling Rock’s beer isn’t actually great craft beer and the Latrobe Brewery hasn’t been owned by the community for a long time now so what’s the big deal that it may be closed. It may be an unpopular position, but there is a lot of truth to it. InBev has owned the brewery for years and even my first post when the sale was announced I wrote about Rolling Rock’s faux micro status. It’s been marketed as a craft beer but generally the only people who bought that were bridge buyers and casual beer buyers. No hardcore beer geek thinks of Rolling Rock as a craft beer. But the potential closing of a an over sixty-year old brewery is another matter and erases any negative thoughts I have about the beer itself. Why? For one simple reason. I believe our brewing heritage should not disappear. I have mourned too many brewery closings in my brief lifetime. Back in the golden age of brewing — the latter quarter of the 19th Century — there were something like almost two-thousand breweries in this country. After Prohibition we lost more than half of them in one fell thirteen-year swoop. Over the subsequent half-century the number of breweries continued to steadily decrease until by the early 1980s there were only a few dozen left. If you read the Breweriana magazines you’ll quickly see how many abandoned and ruined breweries there are out there. And not all of them closed a long time ago. My wife and I visited the Olympia Brewery in Washington on our honeymoon not quite ten years ago. Olympia, of course, didn’t make a great beer but the brewery itself was beautiful and they had an unbelieveably amazing collection of beer steins. But it’s closed now. The Henry Weinhard brewery in downtown Portland — itself a beautiful brick building — was torn down only a few years ago. Now I didn’t drink either of those beers, either, but I still mourned their passing. And the same is quite appropriate for the Latrobe Brewery, too. The effort to save should be supported by all of us who love beer, regardless of personal feelings about Rolling Rock itself. It’s the history and heritage that is worth saving.

Here’s a round-up of recent news about the efforts to save the brewery:

On June 1, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, John Murtha, Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania’s 12th District, announced his intention to broker a deal for the Latrobe Brewery and Pittsburgh Brewing, itself in financial trouble. The makers of Iron City Beer have been in Chapter 11 (reorganiztion) bankruptcy since last December. Funding would likely have to come from state resources. Latrobe Mayor Tom Marflak doubted this plan out of hand.

The next day, the Tribune-Review quoted Pittsburgh Brewing president Joseph Piccirilli was willing to meet with Representative Murtha regarding the purchase of the Latrobe Brewery. Piccirilli further stated, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that “The Latrobe Brewery is a beautiful facility. I’m in the beer business and it’s practically in my back yard. We are in the midst of union negotiations and we are working very hard to turn our financial situation around. But if we can schedule something, I’ll speak with the congressman.”

Friday, June 2, a spokesperson for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell told reporters that Renaissance Partners, LLC, of Pittsburgh, “has been contacted by the state to study the Latrobe beermaking facility. Renaissance Partners works with the Governor’s Action Team on a regular basis.”

Yesterday, Governor Rendell said “he’ll offer incentives to any company that wants to buy Latrobe Brewing,” according to WTAE Channel 4 in Pittsburgh. From their coverage:

“The commonwealth’s going to come in and sweeten the pot a little bit and give some training money and incentive money so we can keep the jobs in Latrobe,” Rendell said. “There’s no guarantee, but we’re sort of getting our battle plan together.”

Monday, the Governor had spoken to InBev — the current owners of the brewery — and they informed him that “they had some interested investors in the facility.” According to the Tribune-Review report, InBev is “supposed to get back to [the state] this week.”

Today in a news brief, Governor Rendell says he is “guardedly optimistic” that a buyer can be found for the Latrobe Brewery, “including possibly finding another brewer to take over production or convincing private investor groups to buy the facility and develop a new brand.” The Governor’s made these remarks after a speech at the United Steelworkers Building in downtown Pittsburgh yesterday.

And as of this afternoon — around Noon — almost 18,000 people had signed the online petition to save the Latrobe Brewery. That’s three times as many signatures since the petition began almost two weeks ago.

With less than two months before the deadline passes and the brewery closes, at least there’s a lot of activity going on to try to save it. I tend to be pessimistic about these things but, as they say, hope springs eternal. Let’s prepare for the worst, but strive to do whatever each of us can to support the efforts to save the brewery. We owe it to every worker who ever set foot in a brewery to preserve what we can of the heritage that has brought each of us so much enjoyment throughout our lives.