Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

Sasquatch Legacy Project Event in San Francisco

By

Last night was the charity event at 21st Amendment Brewery for the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation. They served the Sasquatch Legacy Project’s Imperial Red Ale, which was a collaborative effort. The beer was created by the current Foundation Brewing Scholarship recipients (Barney Brennan of Full Sail Brewing, Jenn Gridley of Fish Brewing, and Markus Stinson of Elysian Brewing).

All proceeds from last night’s event supported the Foundation’s scholarship program. The foundation honors the memory of iconoclastic brewer Glen Falconer, who died in a tragic accident in 2002. He brewed at Wild Duck Brewery in Eugene, Oregon. The foundation raises money for scholarships so that worthy brewers can attend the Siebel Institute in Chicago.

Host Shaun O’Sullivan from 21st amendment, Quentin and Yuko Falconer from the foundation, and Vic Kralj, from the Bistro in Hayward.

Shaun O’Sullivan as a literal hophead.

Quentin Falconer, Glen Falconer’s brother, addresses the crowd.

The Imperial Red was quite tasty with rich, roasted malt character and hints of figs and raisins. The flavor gave you an overall impression of thick earthiness and finished clean. At 8.2% abv, it packed a bit of a wallop, but was very drinkable. Hops were muted but the beer was still nicely balanced. The color was a rich mahogany with ruddy red streaks when held up to the light.

Alcohol Found in Space: Now That’s Moonshine

By

Anybody else remember Apollo Beer? They had a lager and an ale in a distinctive blue bottle and supposedly the yeast strains had been to the moon or in space or something like that. I don’t recall that it tasted very good, but it was a great gimmick and a terrific looking package.
 
 

Well, according to ABC in Australia, scientists have actually discovered a cloud made of alcohol in our galaxy, and it’s enormous. At almost 288 billion miles across, it undoubtedly exceeds all of the alcohol ever produced on earth through all time.
 
 

From the ABC story:

The vast bridge-shaped cloud of methyl alcohol has been spotted in a region of our galaxy, the Milky Way, that is called W3(OH), where stars are being formed by the gravitational collapse of concentrations of gas and dust, the discoverers said in a press release.

If you squint really hard, you can see the giant cloud of moonshine.

Eye on the Bay Beer Program Airdate Moved to April 24

By

Mark your calendars again and reset your Tivos. After last night’s debacle where the pinheads at KPIX decided to bump Eye on the Bay last night when the NCAA final went long so we could endure the full hour of mindless talking about a basketball game over and over again. Then instead of showing Eye on the Bay after that, a show which KPIX paid to produce, they instead showed a repeat of the pathetic sitcom Two and a Half Men. But I learned today that the program has been rescheduled for April 24 at 7:00 p.m. So let’s try this again:

On Monday, April 24, CBS’s affiliate in the Bay Area, KPIX Channel 5, will be featuring Bay Area Beer on its show Eye on the Bay. The show will feature home brewing with Homer Smith at the Oak Barrel in Berkeley, beer news with Tom Dalldorf at the Celebrator Beer News office in Hayward, segments from Buffalo Bill’s, The Bistro, Drake’s Brewing, and Beer Chef Bruce Paton. The website listing indicates a start time of 7:00 p.m. but it’s still after a basketball game, so you never now.

Michael Jackson & Pizza Port On Conan O’Brien

By

Wow, television seems to have finally discovered craft beer. For the second time this week, beer will be featured on a major network, this time on the Conan O’Brien Show. Tomorrow night, April 5, (check your local listings for the time) at 12:35 a.m. here in the Bay Area. For most people that will be on KNTV Channel 11, though for most cable subscribers here it’s shown on channel 3.

From the press release from Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing:

Beer drinking insomniacs of the world to unite.

April 5th, 2006 Michael Jackson, the foremost authority on beer in the world, will be appearing on The Conan O’Brien Show (12:35 pst). Michael will be promoting his latest book on Belgian Beers. As part of his appearance on the show, he will be promoting his Rare Beer Club. As Pizza Port and now Port Brewing have been partnered with Michael and the Beverage Bistro (club distribution network) for the last three years, we have been asked by them to provide a beer for the show.

Port Brewing Co. recently shipped several bottles for the show. Many of you know that Port Brewing Co. will be producing a line of beers under The Lost Abbey brand name. The first of these beers to be released will be called Avant Garde. The beer is also scheduled as the May Rare Beer Club shipment of the month. Look for Avant Garde to be one of the beers that Michael pour on Wednesday night.

We will be releasing this beer from Port Brewing in May to coincide with the release of 150 cases to the membership of the Beverage Bistro Rare Beer Club. The new brewery project is up and running and we hope things continue to go well as we kick off our draft beer sales in the next weeks. Our Sharkbite Red bottles are now available in Southern California thanks to our good friends at Stone Distributing Co.

Here’s to late TV and another reason to have a beer.

Top 50 Breweries as of 2005 Announced

By

The Brewers Association of Boulder, Colorado, released today a list of the country’s top fifty brewers based upon 2005 sales. Seven of the fifty are California brewers, with five from Oregon and two from Washington. Only seventeen of the fifty states include a top fifty brewery.

  1. Anheuser-Busch Inc., St Louis, Missouri
  2. Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  3. Coors Brewing Co., Golden, Colorado
  4. Pabst Brewing Co., San Antonio, Texas
  5. City Brewing Co., LaCrosse, Wisconsin
  6. D. G. Yuengling & Son Inc., Pottsville, Pennsylvania
  7. Boston Beer Co., Boston, Massachusetts
  8. Steel Brewing Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  9. High Falls Brewing Co., Rochester, New York
  10. Latrobe Brewing Co., Latrobe, Pennsylvania
  11. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, California
  12. New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colorado
  13. Pittsburgh Brewing Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  14. Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (owned by Miller)
  15. Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, Texas (owned by Gambrinus)
  16. Matt Brewing Co., Utica, New York
  17. Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, Oregon
  18. Redhook Ale Brewery, Woodinville, Washington
  19. Lion Brewery, Inc. , Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
  20. Pyramid Alehouse/Breweries Inc., Seattle, Washington
  21. Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon
  22. Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co., Juneau, Alaska
  23. Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Missouri
  24. Harpoon Brewery, Boston, Massachusetts
  25. Carolina Beer and Beverage Co., Mooresville, North Carolina
  26. Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, Oregon
  27. Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco, California
  28. Gluek Brewing Co., Cold Springs, Minnesota
  29. Gordon Biersch Brewing Co., San Jose, California
  30. August Schell Brewing Co., New Ulm, Minnesota
  31. Mendocino Brewing Co., Ukiah, California (owned by UB Group)
  32. Summit Brewing Co., St Paul, Minnesota
  33. Magic Hat Brewing Co., South Burlington, Vermont
  34. Shipyard Brewing Co., Portland, Maine (owned by Harpoon)
  35. Bell’s Brewery Inc. Galesburg, Michigan
  36. Long Trail Brewing Co., Bridgewater Corners, Vermont
  37. Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, Illinois
  38. Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, New York
  39. Abita Brewing Co., Abita Springs, Louisiana
  40. Stevens Point Brewery Co., Stevens Point, Wisconsin
  41. BridgePort Brewing Co., Portland, Oregon (owned by Gambrinus)
  42. Rogue Ales, Newport, Oregon
  43. Rock Bottom Restaurants Inc., Louisville, Colorado
  44. Pete’s Brewing Co., San Antonio, Texas (owned by Gambrinus)
  45. New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, Wisconsin
  46. Joseph Huber Brewing Co., Monroe, Wisconsin
  47. Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, California
  48. Stone Brewing Co., San Marcos, California
  49. Flying Dog Brewery, Denver, Colorado
  50. Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, California

From the press release:

“Craft brewers deliver the flavors that beer drinkers increasingly desire,” said Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association. “As a result more than 30 of the top 50 US brewers are craft brewers.”

Overall, the beers brewed by top 50 producers include well-known brands from Budweiser, Miller and Coors as well as nationally distributed craft beers like Boston Beer Company‚s Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale. Examples of other craft brands from top 50 brewers include Anchor Steam, Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Boulevard Pale Ale and Brooklyn Lager. The top-50 also includes Rock Bottom Restaurants Inc. which operates more than 30 brewpubs around the country.

“More than 1400 breweries operate in the US today, said Ray Daniels, Director of Craft Beer Marketing for the Brewers Association, “when you look at the top 4 percent of all brewers ‘our top 50 list’ craft brewers constitute the majority.”

More than half of the top 50 brewers can be found in just five states now, according to the Brewers Association. California and Wisconsin each host seven top breweries while Oregon has five and Colorado and Pennsylvania each host four top producers for a total of 27 in these five states.

The remainder of the top 50 operate from Minnesota (3), New York (3), Texas (3), Massachusetts (2), Missouri (2), Vermont (2), Washington (2), Alaska (1), Illinois (1), Louisiana (1), Michigan (1), Maine (1) and North Carolina (1). Complete listings of the top-50 are included below by rank and by state.

The craft beer segment includes more than 1300 breweries who produce an all-malt flagship beer. It includes brewpubs (brewery/restaurant), microbreweries (less than 15,000 barrels per year) and regional craft brewers (15,000 to 2 million barrels per year). The Brewers Association has tabulated industry growth data for these breweries annually since 1985.

Top 10 craft brewers in the United States include Boston Beer Co (MA), Sierra Nevada Brewing Co (CA), New Belgium Brewing Co (CO), Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co (WI), F.X. Matt Brewing Co. (NY), Widmer Brothers Brewing Co (OR), Redhook Ale Brewery (WA), Pyramid Alehouse/Breweries Inc. (WA), Deschutes Brewery (OR), and Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co (AK).

Arrogant Bastard Oxide April Fool’s Day Hoax

By

The date I received the press release for Stone Brewing’s arrogant Bastard Oxide Energy Ale — April 1 — was already a clue. But the press release and website was done with such a straight face and so professionally that it did give one pause; at least enough to read on, if for no other reason than to confirm that it was a hoax.

The real kickers came in the list of ingredients:

And the warnings:

Pretty funny stuff. Good joke Greg.

Wild Hop Website Still Down

By

Someone posted a comment on Friday, March 31 at 12:52 p.m. indicating that “if you try to go to the [Wild Hop Lager] website now, you’ll find it’s down.” I checked it again a few hours later and it was still down, which is a little strange. Websites don’t usually go down for maintenance in the middle of the day and if they do, it’s usually for a short period of time. I tried to visit the website again this morning but it’s still down. All you see there now is a blank white screen with “This page is temporarily down. Please check back later.” It’s written in small black text which makes it a pretty sparse placeholder. In internet time, being down almost forty-eight hours is a very long time, indeed. I wonder what it will be like when it’s finally back up? It should be interesting to see what changes they’ve made.

UPDATE (Apr. 3, Noon): The website was still down as of Noon.

UPDATE (Apr. 4): Still down today. That’s four days now it’s been “temporarily” down.

UPDATE (Apr. 5): Day five of the website being “temporarily” down.

UPDATE (Apr. 7): Okay, it’s been seven days now. I’d say a week of being “temporarily” down strains the definition of “temporarily” quite a bit.

UPDATE (Apr. 9): Day nine of the website being “temporarily” down.

UPDATE (Apr. 17): Day seventeen and the website is still amazingly “temporarily” down.

UPDATE (Apr. 20): Day twenty of the website being “temporarily” down.

Molson Coors Likely to Sell Memphis Plant

By

It looks likely now that Molson Coors will go forward with the rumored sale of its Memphis plant to City Brewery of La Crosse, Wisconsin. City Brewery is reportedly doing due diligence on the Tennessee facility. With the merger of Coors and Molson that was completed February 9, 2005, Coors was looking for cost cutting measures it could take. I was fairly sure the Memphis plant was where they brewed Blue Moon, the Coors stealth micro that’s pretty much an open secret, except to the majority of consumers who don’t pay attention to such things. So I don’t where they’ll move its production, perhaps back to Colorado.

Bay Area Beer to Be Featured on KPIX Channel 5

By

Mark your calendars and set your Tivos. On Monday April 3, CBS’s affiliate in the Bay Area, KPIX Channel 5, will be featuring Bay Area Beer on its show Eye on the Bay. The show will feature home brewing with Homer Smith at the Oak Barrel in Berkeley, beer news with Tom Dalldorf at the Celebrator Beer News office in Hayward, segments from Buffalo Bill’s, The Bistro, Drake’s Brewing, and Beer Chef Bruce Paton. The program will come on immediately following the NCAA Final Four Championship Game so consult your local listings. The website listing indicates a start time of 9:30 p.m. but because of the game it could be slightly later.

UPDATE (Apr. 3): It appears the pinheads at KPIX decided to bump Eye on the Bay last night when the NCAA final went long so we could endure the full hour of talking about the game over and over again. Then instead of showing Eye on the Bay after that, a show which KPIX paid to produce, they instead showed a repeat of the pathetic sitcom Two and a Half Men. I imagine it had something to do with advertising commitments, but it was very frustrating. Eye on the Bay is also shown every morning at 9:30 a.m. so it’s still possible it wll be shown then.

UPDATE (Apr. 4): They did finally air the show this morning at 9:30 a.m.

Widmer Fixes Broken Halo IPA

By

Widmer Brothers Brewing, whose flagship Hefeweizen redefined that style for America, also makes many, many other excellent beers. And one of those, Broken Halo IPA, was their spring release last year. One of their most successful seasonal releases, demand for Broken Halo continued long after the seasonal cycle ended last summer. Widmer Brothers announced yesterday that it would be fixing that and making Broken Halo IPA a year-round addition to their portfolio.

From the press release:

Widmer Brothers Brewing announced today the launch of Broken Halo IPA, the result of a tried-and-true recipe from the company’s seasoned brewmasters. Broken Halo will be distributed to select West Coast bars, taverns and finer grocery retailers beginning the week of April 3, 2006. Inspired by the traditional India Pale Ale (IPA) recipe originating in 19th Century England, Broken Halo contains higher concentrations of hops and alcohol than typical beer, and will be ceremoniously launched the same week in history when Prohibition was repealed for beer on April 7, 1933.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate 73 years of the freedom to enjoy beer than with our new Broken Halo IPA,” says Kurt Widmer, co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing. “We saw the first signs of this IPA’s success when we offered it as a spring seasonal Ale, then as a Brewmasters’ Release recipe. With so many people at bars and taverns requesting it, the obvious choice was to listen and bring it back. Rob and I are really proud of the result and I think craft beer lovers will really enjoy it, too.”

Broken Halo uses Cascade and Columbus hops for balanced bitterness, flavor and aroma. Bitterness is 45 IBU, alcohol by volume is 6% and original gravity is 14.25 degrees plato.

The label for Widmer’s new Broken Halo IPA.