Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Talking About Hops & History In San Francisco

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Last Thursday, I helped the San Francisco Brewers Guild put together a fun event at the Old Mint with Flipside and the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society called Hops and History. My part during the event included being the moderator of a panel discussion about opening and running a brewery in the city of San Francisco.

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Shaun O’Sullivan (21st Amendment), Shaun’s son Ryan, Dave McLean (magnolia), Keith Greggor (Anchor) and me. Below is the audio of our discussion.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was a gallery showing of local breweriana, provided by my friend Ken Harootunian, along with some pieces from Anchor Brewing and some labels from SF Brewers Guild executive director Brian Stechschulte.

Below are a few highlights from the gallery:

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The gallery room.

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Acme Beer.

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Steam Beer wooden sign.

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More Acme Beer artifacts.

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The original artwork from a Lucky Lager ad.

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Items from Rainier, Lucky Lager and Regal Pale Beer.

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Lucky Lager. Ice Cold.

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An old, pre-Prohibition, wooden keg and taps from Anchor, along with some additional steam beer artifacts.

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Another Acme pin-up ad.

The First 10 Days Of Beer Hunt

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Today’s infographic is an interesting one. It was created by the makers of a new iPhone app, Beer Hunt, which looks to be giving Untappd a run for the money. It was created by Monkey Inferno, located in San Francisco. Essentially, it gives the stats of beer check-ins for Beer Hunt’s first ten days of use. It will be interesting to see it updated for the first month, first quarter, etc. to see how the data changes.

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Click here to see the infographic full size.

Beer In Ads #897: A Toast To You

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Tuesday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1949. The scene in the ad depicts a ceremonial burning of the mortgage — presumably because it’s now paid off and not in protest — with the assembled party goers toasting the event with beer, and making the comparison to champagne that Miller continually advanced as its selling point. It’s funny to think that there was a time when people actually paid off their mortgages in full and owned their homes outright, but it happened. It was even relatively common enough back then that it could be used in a beer ad. But when’s the last time you heard of that happening recently?

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Beer Goddess Becomes Co-Owner In Belmont Station

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Whew, some great news was finally released yesterday. I’d known this was coming for many months, but was sworn to secrecy, so it’s terrific to now be able to spread the word. My good friend, and colleague, Lisa Morrison — a.k.a. the Beer Goddess — has become a co-owner of Portland’s well-known beer store, Belmont Station. According to the press release:

Belmont Station owner Carl Singmaster announced today that he is bringing on a new business partner, Lisa “Beer Goddess” Morrison, to manage the day-to-day operations at Portland’s most highly regarded beer store and café.

Morrison is joining the Belmont Station family as co-owner, sharing financial responsibilities with Singmaster, in addition to managing the daily operations.

“When my bride Amy & I decided to move to Oregon years back,” notes Singmaster, “I had planned to be an investor & part-time adviser to Belmont Station to help them grow the business. Instead I wound up buying the majority ownership upon arrival in 2006 and have spent the past seven years working with a phenomenal group of beer lovers in the best beer community in the world to grow Belmont Station into the special place it is now. Having recently completed an expansion of our Biercafe, I believe it’s time for someone new to lead the next stage. When I realized that Lisa Morrison, an internationally revered writer and promoter of craft beer, was interested, it seemed the perfect match to ensure that Belmont Station continues to be a premier place for brewers to display their art and beer lovers to congregate and share good times with great beer.”

As host and producer of Beer O’Clock Radio, the Northwest’s only weekly commercial radio show about beer; author of the beer traveler’s guidebook, “Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest”; and writer for several blogs and columns in national magazines, Morrison is one of the preeminent beer evangelists in the country. She also has taught dozens of classes on beer — from simple tastings to proper glassware — and has founded and organized numerous beer events and fundraisers. But Morrison says while her decade-plus of work has been mostly about broadcasting information about beer, she looks forward to working one-on-one with customers, brewers and distributors to craft a more personal connection with beer.

“When Carl asked me if I would be interested in partnering with him at Belmont Station, it was a dream come true,” Morrison said. “I am thrilled to be a part of such a well-known, highly respected, and well-loved part of Portland’s incredible beer community.”

Carl and Lisa will be celebrating this new chapter with a party at Belmont Station Friday, May 31 starting at 5 p.m.

As you probably know, Belmont Station was founded in 1997, and was originally located right next door to the Horse Brass, since Don Younger had a hand in its creation. It later moved four blocks away to its present location at 4500 SE Stark in Portland.

Congratulations to Lisa as she begins the next phase of her career in beer.

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