Beer Birthday: Porter

September 10, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Alright, you caught me again. It’s not the birthday of the beer style, Porter. Strictly speaking, this isn’t really a beer post but it’s my son’s 18th birthday today, but since his name is Porter I figured people wouldn’t feel too duped by the title. It is accurate, after all. In previous years, I’d written that “one day soon, we’ll brew a porter together.” Well that day finally came, and six years ago on his birthday weekend it was Porter’s Porter Day, when he made his first batch of homebrew, with a little help from our friends. Anyway, please join me in wishing Porter a very happy birthday!

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At Porter’s birthday party when he turned one, trying to get at a keg of Russian River. That’s my boy! NOTE: To those of you reaching for the phone to call child protective services, put down the receiver. He did NOT drink any beer. His mother got to him before he figured out how the tap worked.

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A beautiful memory at the Rogue Alehouse in San Francisco when Porter couldn’t have been more than two, if that. Much to my surprise, Porter utterly charmed Don Younger with his ability to swiftly climb a bar stool. Don was very impressed, and so was I.

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Twelve years ago, showing off a 5th-birthday present from Grandpa, a Union Pacific Challenger steam engine.

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Porter several years ago, when he came with me to visit Southern Pacific Brewing in San Francisco. He was trying to emulate his then-hero Tim Lincecum, at least hair-wise, pitching-wise he was more of a closer. Timmy may be gone, but the hair remains.

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Me, Porter and Vinnie Cilurzo, after Porter’s Porter Day six years ago.

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Also six years ago, Porter’s second batch, a version of Hair of the Dog’s Doggie Claws, made with the Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton, but mostly Alan Sprints, whose own birthday was just a few days ago.

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Wowing the ladies with his diving prowess during a vacation in Solvang a few summers ago.

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Porter riding Amtrak, also during a summer vacation a few years back.

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Porter with his sister sporting their World’s Okayest siblings shirts.

Brookston Fantasy Basketball 2019

September 10, 2019 By Jay Brooks

We’ve done March Madness fantasy games in the past, which I’ve called Märzen Madness, but I’ve never done an NBA fantasy basketball game of any kind. Since my son has been playing high school basketball for the past few years, my interest has grown, not to mention our local Golden State Warriors have been a lot of fun to follow lately. So this year, I thought, why not give it a try? Our league is called Hoops & Hops and will last all season long.

Similar to both Baseball fantasy and Football fantasy, in Basketball fantasy you draft a team, play your starters and then earn points for what they do in each game. I tried to keep it fairly simple since I’m both an idiot when it comes to the finer points of basketball (and especially NBA) knowledge and also since this is all so new. Each team has a roster of 16 players, from which you’ll start 10 players each day. Scoring is also fairly straightforward, with 1 point for a free throw, 2 points for a field goal, and 3 points for a three-pointer. Then there’s also points for total rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots and negative points for a turnover. And there are big points for the elusive double-doubles and triple-doubles, but that’s it. There were a lot of other statistics you can give points to, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. If you see something you think should be added, say something now, since I can edit the stats before the season starts, but not after.

The season starts on October 22, so you have about 6 weeks to sign up, which is good since I don’t know what I’m doing and that gives us more time to fix anything. We need a minimum number of 4 teams, but we can have as many as 16, although we have to have an even number. I’m not sure why that is, because you get points just for how your players do rather than going head-to-head against other players, but c’est la vie. So while there’s no hurry per se, the sooner you sign up, the sooner you’re locked in to fielding a team this season. We’ll use the Autopick draft feature, again to make things easier, and once it’s set to “Go” then the draft will run, usually overnight. In order to sign up for a team, you’ll need a Yahoo ID (which is free if you don’t already have one), and then simply follow this link and follow the instructions to join Brookston’s Hoops & Hops. When you sign up, you’ll also get a chance to look over the league settings for rosters and scoring, and please do let me know if you have any suggestions for improving things, keeping in mind my goal of keeping it fairly simple. Enjoy.

Beer In Ads #3111: Black Horse Ale And Porter

September 9, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Monday’s ad is for Black Horse Ale And Porter, from maybe the 1940s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is a little bit of a departure because I wanted to feature a Porter since my son Porter’s birthday is tomorrow. It was made for the Dawes Brewery located in Lachine, a borough within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1811 by Thomas Dawes, and was continued by his family after his death until 1909, when it was one of sixteen breweries that merged to become National Breweries Ltd. In 1952, the group was sold to Canadian Breweries and renamed the Dow Brewery. This poster was created by English-Canadian painter and commercial illustrator Arthur Henry Hider. At first, I thought it was signed “Rookwood Granite,” but that’s actually a type of Percheron, which is a type of draft horse that originated in France, and also the type owned by the brewery.

Beer In Ads #3110: Dinkelacker Bock Bier

September 8, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Sunday’s ad is for Dinkelacker Bock Bier, from 1940. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was made for the Familienbrauerei Dinkelacker located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1888 by Carl Dinkelacker, and the beer is still being brewed today at the same location. The poster was created by German graphic designer and artist Otto Ottler.

Beer In Ads #3109: St. Benno-Bier

September 7, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Saturday’s ad is for St. Benno-Bier, from 1905. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was made for Löwenbräu AG, located in Munich, Germany. The beer is still being brewed today. The beer was made in honor of St. Benno, who is the patron saint of Munich. The poster was created by German artist Otto Obermeier.

Beer In Ads #3108: Liebfrauenbier

September 6, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Friday’s ad is for Liebfrauenbier, or “lady beer,” from 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was made for the Hacker Brauerei of Munich, Germany, which was founded in 1417, by Maria Theresia Hacker’s father and her new husband, Joseph Pschorr. Pschorr bought it and turned it into Munich’s biggest brewery. Unsatisfied, he started a second brewery, naming it after himself, the Pschorr Brauerei, and when he passed away gave each of his breweries to one of his sons. In 1972, finally, the two merged to become the Hacker-Pschorr Brewery. The poster was created by German artist Otto Ludwig Naegele.

Beer In Ads #3107: Zeughauskeller Zürich

September 5, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for the Zeughauskeller Zürich, from 1937. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was made for the Zeughauskeller Zürich, which is not a brewery, but a restaurant located in Zürich, Switzerland. The building was built in 1487, and rebuilt in 1867, and the name, Zeughaus, means that at some point weapons and war equipment were stored and repaired there. The restaurant opened in 1926, and now only displays weapons, including (at least according to legend) the crossbow used by William Tell. I’m not sure who the artist was who created this poster, but his initials were K.M.

Beer In Ads #3106: Brauerei zum Warteck

September 4, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Wednesday’s ad is for the Brauerei zum Warteck, from 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was made for the Brauerei Warteck, located in Basel, Switzerland. It was founded in 1856, although that’s the year that founder Niklaus Emanuel Merian-Seeber started his restaurant, and added a brewery six years later, in 1862. In 1988, Warteck was bought by the Brauerei Feldschlösschen, who in turn today is owned by the Carlsberg Group. I also don’t know who the artist was who created this poster.

Beer In Ads #3105: Gugolz Bierbrauerei

September 3, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Tuesday’s ad is for the Gugolz Bierbrauerei, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was made for the Gugolz Bierbrauerei, located in Langnau am Albis, which is a village in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. It was founded in 1869 but as far as I can tell went out of business in 1905. I also don’t know who the artist was who created this poster.

Beer In Ads #3104: Feldschlösschen Bockbier Dunkel

September 2, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Monday’s ad is for the Feldschlösschen Bockbier Dunkel, from 1920. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster was made for the Brauerei Feldschlösschen, in Rheinfelden, Switzerland, which was founded in 1876 as the Wüthrich & Roniger Brewery. In 1890, the company was reorganized and renamed Feldschlösschen. Apparently, the brewery is in the shape of a castle and Feldschlösschen means ‘small castle in the fields’ in German.” Today, the brewery is owned by the Carlsberg Group. The artist who created this poster only signed it with the monogram, St., so I’m not sure who that was.

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