Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Triple Rock’s 25th Anniversary

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Monday marked the 25th anniversary of Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse’s opening in 1986. Triple Rock was the third brewpub to open in California, the fifth in the U.S., and the only one still owned and operated by the original founders — John and Reid Martin. I stopped by this afternoon to join in the celebration and partake of the special beers that brewmaster Rodger Davis whipped up for the occasion.

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The Triple Rock truck was running again and parked out front.

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Davis re-created Batch No. 1, the first beer Triple Rock brewed.

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The first beer John and Reid brewed was a pale ale created on Christmas Day in 1985. Rodger altered the recipe slightly to account for different yeast and varied the amount of hops.

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Several former Triple Rock brewers stopped by for the party, including Shaun O’Sullivan, co-founder of 21st Amendment, whose first brewing job was at Triple Rock.

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AT 5:00 p.m., co-founder John Martin tapped a firkin of the Batch No. 1 that current brewmaster Rodger Davis dry-hopped and aged for a beer that was both historical and modern.

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Founders, and original brewers, John and Reid Martin, with their latest brewer, Rodger Davis, toasted the first 25 years with a beer bridging the past, the present and their future.

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John Martin with Shaun O’Sullivan, Reid Martin, Homer Smith (owner of the local homebrew shop, Oak Barrel, where the Martins bought all the ingredients for their first batch in 1985), and longtime beer salesman Ed Chainey.

Congratulations to John and Reid Martin. I hope to try the next anniversary beer 25 years from now.

Session Five-0 Ponders The Philosophy Of “How Do They Make Me Buy Their Beer?”

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Our 50th Session — The Big Five-0 — is a monumental one and our host, Alan from A Good Beer Blog, is tackling it with appropriate seriousness, especially considering it’s on April Fool’s Day. He’s chosen as his topic How Do They Make Me Buy Their Beer? Alan elaborates:

What makes you buy someone’s beer? Elemental. Multi-faceted. Maybe even interesting.

  • Buying beer. I mean takeaway. From the shelf to you glass. What rules are dumb? Who gives the best service? What does good service mean to you? Please avoid “my favorite bar references” however wonderful. I am not talking about taverns as the third space. Unless you really really need to and contextualize it into the moment of transaction at the bar. If you can crystallize that moment of “yes” when the bartender is, in fact, tender go for it.
  • What doesn’t work? What fad or ad turned you off what had previously been turned on about some beer’s appeal? When does a beer jump the shark? When does a beer store fail or soar? When does a brewery lose your pennies or earn your dimes?
  • Go micro rather than macro. You may want to explore when you got tired of “extreme” or “lite” or “Belgian-style” but think about it in terms of your relationship with one brewery rather than some sort of internet wave of slag … like that ever happens.
  • What is the most you paid for a great beer? More importantly – because this is not about being negative – what is the least? I don’t mean a gift. What compels you you to say this is the quality price ratio (“QPR”) that works best for you? When does a beer scream “you would have paid 27% more for me but you didn’t need to!”?

So pull out your wallet. Stare at it. What beer makes you open it up and throw down your hard-earned cash? Then tell the world what it is for the next Session on Friday, April 1. No fooling.

Beer In Ads #331: Budweiser, Andrew Jackson 7th President

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As today is Andrew Jackson’s birthday, for Tuesday’s ad I dusted off this 1908 ad for Budweiser in which Olde Hickory features prominently. The ad’s headline reads “1908 Budweiser is ‘Liquid Bread’ / ‘Liquid Life’ The Natural Drink of America / Andrew Jackson 7th President of the United States.” Below the drawing of Jackson on horseback in battle, the text suggests he drank only beer. “All his life,” begins the ad copy,” he drank the generous creative juices of the malt.” They don’t write ’em like that any more.

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Fairfax Brewfest This Weekend

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This Saturday in the city of Fairfax, in Marin County, the 16th annual Fairfax Brewfest will take place from 1:00-5:00 p.m. Along with festival sponsor Iron Springs Pub & Brewery, at least 17 breweries will be pouring their beer. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, for unlimited samples and full details, along with how to buy advance tickets online, can be found at the festival website. See you there.

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New Pliny The Elder Video By The Famous

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The San Francisco-based band The Famous regularly plays the beer circuit and can frequently be seen performing at beer festivals and brewpubs around the Bay Area. They’re a terrific band. I’ve seen them several times, most recently at Vinnie Cilurzo’s 40th birthday party at Russian River Brewing. At Vinnie’s party, The Famous did a song created for the occasion, Pliny the Elder or The Pliny Song, an awesome little homage to the beer and the man it was named for. They’ve now recorded a studio version of it, and have created a music video to go along with it. Enjoy.

Maine Beer

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Today in 1820, Maine became the 23rd state.

Maine
State_Maine

Maine Breweries

Maine Brewery Guides

Guild: Maine Brewers Guild

State Agency: Maine Liquor Licensing and Compliance Division

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  • Capital: Augusta
  • Largest Cities: Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, Auburn
  • Population: 1,274,923; 40th
  • Area: 35387 sq.mi., 39th
  • Nickname: Pine Tree State
  • Statehood: 23rd; March 15, 1820

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  • Alcohol Legalized: June 30, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 38
  • Rank: 16th
  • Beer Production: 1,040,538
  • Production Rank: 41st
  • Beer Per Capita: 24.5 Gallons

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Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 44.9%
  • Cans: 46.5%
  • Kegs: 8.4%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.35*
  • Per Case: $0.79
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $10.85
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $10.85
  • * Plus: 6.5% sales tax exemption ended 2009 – all beer now pays sales tax

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $29,861,860
  • Direct Impact: $206,658,510
  • Supplier Impact: $104,087,723
  • Induced Economic Impact: $254,531,193
  • Total Impact: $565,277,426

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. (Mon–Sat)
    9 a.m. to 1 a.m. (Sun)
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: ABV > 15.5% wine sold in state-contracted stores. Alcohol may not be purchased after 1 a.m. any day of the week, may not be purchased prior to 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and not prior to 9 a.m. on Sunday.

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Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

The Chemistry Of Beer

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ACS
I got an interesting press release this morning from the American Chemistry Society (ACS) touting the Chemistry of Beer, as they put it, “just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day. Today they “released a new video, The Chemistry of Beer, which focuses on the science involved in producing the world’s third most popular beverage (after water and tea).”

From the press release:

Shot in high-definition format, the video features Sam Adams Senior Brewing Manager Grant Wood, who holds a degree in Food Science & Technology from Texas A&M University. It explains the process of turning barley, hops, water and yeast into a lager or ale. Among the insights:

  1. Yeast is the most important ingredient because it determines if the brew is ale or lager.
  2. Water is crucial, too, and it must be free of organic substances and “off” flavors.
  3. Key flavor compounds are packed into those little flower clusters called hops, which add flavor and a pleasant bitterness to the beer.

Produced by the ACS Office of Public Affairs, the video includes plenty of “did-you-know” fodder for those St. Patrick’s Day conversations over a pint. Did you know, for instance, that the fermentation process in which yeast produce alcohol also produces almost 600 flavor compounds? The Chemistry of Beer ends with a message that all drinkers should take to heart, St. Patrick’s Day and every day: Drink responsibly!

The whole video was shot at Boston Beer’s pilot brewery in their Jamaica Plain location in Boston. Grant, who you probably know if you’ve visited the brewery or have been in the industry for any length of time, gives a polished tour and explanation of the brewing process. It’s probably nothing you haven’t seen before, but it’s relatively comprehensive and does a good job of explaining brewing in a nutshell, with an emphasis on the chemistry, of course.

Beer In Art #118: Frank Waller’s Harvesting Hops

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This week’s work of art is by New York artist Frank Waller, a founding member of the Art Students’ League in 1875. The painting, Harvesting Hops Near Cooperstown, New York, was completed in 1884 and today hangs in the Fenimore Art Museum.

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The Fenimore also has a short biography of Waller:

A nineteenth century American painter, educator and etcher, Frank Waller (1842-1923) began his career as a businessman. In 1870, however, he traveled to Rome to study art under John G. Chapman. For the next several years Waller traveled extensively in both Europe and Egypt. Upon his return to the United States he became a founding member of New York’s influential Art Students’ League (1875) and served as its first president. As well, Frank Waller served as honorary secretary of the Egypt Exploration Fund Society. He was also a noted architect and a Fellow of both the Academy of Design and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

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My sister-in-law sent me this delicious looking recipe for a chocolate cheesecake made with Guinness, though I suspect any Irish dry stout would work. The recipe comes from Closet Cooking, a food blog by a man named Kevin in Ontario, Canada.

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This recipe for the Guinness chocolate cheesecake is a pretty basic chocolate cheesecake recipe with the addition of the Guinness but the similarities stop there. The addition of the Guinness changes the texture and properties of the cheesecake making it more souffle like. Normally you can tell when a cheesecake is done by shaking it a bit and if only the center wiggles it is done but the entire surface of this cheesecake will wiggle the whole time, even after 2 hours of baking. You pretty much just have to trust the recipe and the results are certainly worth it!

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The Guinness chocolate cheesecake is a moist one as might be expected with all of the extra liquid provided by the Guinness but it is also nice and light and creamy. This cheesecake has a texture that seems to be like a cross between a souffle and fudge and it is simply amazing! The Guinness flavour is very subtle but it seems to enhance the overall chocolate flavour which is quite welcome. In all honesty, this cheese cake does not need any garnishes but feel free to top it with some Bailey whipped cream if you like.

Here’s the recipe, but without the blockquotes for ease of reading:

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake
(makes 6+ servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Guinness

Directions:

1. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, sugar, and butter and press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.
2. Melt the chocolate in the cream in a double boiler.
3. Cream the cream cheese.
4. Mix in the sugar, chocolate, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and Guinness.
5. Pour the mixture into the spring form pans.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 60 minutes.
7. Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 60 minutes.
8. Let it cool completely.
9. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge overnight.

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Boy that looks tasty. I’m hungry.