Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

Hog’s Apothecary In Oakland Looking For Founding Members

By

hops-apothacary
The Hog’s Apothecary, located in Oakland at 375 40th Street, is looking for founding members on the crowndfunding website Indiegogo. With less than 36 hours to go, they need just $3,000 to complete their vision of bringing an American-style beer hall to Oakland. Check out all of the details on Indiegogo or their Facebook page and support their efforts if it looks good to you. Here’s their pitch:

The Hog’s Apothecary is an American-style beer hall and gastropub brought to you by Bradford Earle and John Streit set to open this summer in Oakland’s Temescal District. The Hog will feature 32 American Craft brews and 4 local wines on draft, weekly firkin selections, a selection of craft bottles and a menu of artisanal sausages and roasts, a selection of charcuterie, appetizers and well composed salads, all crafted onsite.

Under construction since November, The Hog’s Apothecary is a locally owned operation. Owners Bradford and John are local residents, excited to make a lasting contribution to our neighborhood. We love Oakland and we could not be happier to be opening our first restaurant in the East Bay. We invite you to be part of speeding us to our grand opening and to making The Hog the place for you to hang out in the East Bay! We hope that you’ll become a Founding Member and feel that The Hog’s Apothecary is as much yours as it is ours.

We can never have too many good beer bars as far as I’m concerned. I wish them the best of luck.

hops-apothacary

Hammer Of Glory Stolen!

By

philly-beer
Well, this is horrid news. According to CBS in Philadelphia, Philly Beer Week’s “Hammer of Glory” has gone missing, presumed stolen. According to Philly Beer Week director Don Russell, “The Hammer was on display [at] the Fishtown Festival on Frankford Avenue when it went missing.” At some point, “somebody decided to pick it up and, you know, take off with it,” he added. He also said that they just want it back; “if you have it, just turn it in to a [Philly] Beer Week bar.” Hopefully, someone will do just that and return it. Read the full store here at CBS.

The Hammer at Standard Tap's Bear Ninja Cowboy beerchambeau
The Hammer at Standard Tap’s Bear Ninja Cowboy beerchambeau in 2010.

Me with the Hammer of Glory
Me with the Hammer of Glory during a Hammer Time pub crawl Jennie Hatton (pictured above) took me on a few years ago.

UPDATE: Happy news. Philly Beer Week’s Facebook page is now reporting that the Hammer of Glory has been found. Here’s the story:

The Hammer of Glory is SAFE! It was turned in an hour ago to Frankford Hall. The person who dropped it off said he found it under 95. We really need to thank the Philadelphia Police, the Philadelphia Media and all you beer drinkers who helped us spread the word and get the HOG back.

Whew. Below, the HoG safe and sound.

hoG-safe

Pedigrees Of Common Hop Varieties

By

hops-2
Today’s infographic is a dizzying chart of Pedigrees of Common Hop Varieties, created at the University of Minnesota, who began doing hop research in 2010. They describe the poster as a “24×36-inch poster [that] displays the pedigrees for over 40 varieties of hops developed by English, American, German, and Japanese breeding programs. From Brewer’s Gold to Bravo, Centennial to Millenium, Chinook to Challenger.” It’s also available for purchase.

pedigrees-of-common-hops
Click here to see the chart full size.

Mapping The Rise Of Craft Beer

By

maps-usa
Here’s a very cool interactive map from the New Yorker, part of their Idea of the Week for this week. Their map of the U.S. can show several different pieces of data about craft breweries and beer in the U.S., by state, and moving your mouse over each state reveals additional information. Give it a try.

Here, for example, is Total breweries. The darker the color, the more breweries.
ny-total-breweries

And here are new breweries opened in 2012.
ny-new-breweries-2012