Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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New Beer’s Day Session Topic Announced

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Our 35th Session falls smack on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2010 and the hosts, Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beaune, have chosen an appropriate topic for the holiday: New Beer’s Resolutions. Their announcement is currently up on Beer For Chicks, but come the new year, the Session will be on the newly launching The Beer Chicks, a new website by Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beaune, authors of The Naked Pint. In a nutshell, here’s what they mean by New Beer’s Resolutions:

So we want to know what was your best and worst of beer for 2009? What beer mistakes did you make? What beer resolutions do you have for 2010? What are your beer regrets and embarrassing moments? What are you hoping to change about your beer experience in 2010?

The month of January, of course, is named for the Roman god Janus, whose domain was gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. He was the perfect choice when the calendar was changed around 713 B.C.E. when January and February were added to the Roman calendar (before that March and Spring were the beginning of the year). Janus is often depicted with two faces, one looking forward to the future and the other looking back to the past. That’s why the first holiday of the year is the ideal moment to stop and reflect on the year that just ended and to contemplate what path lies ahead in the coming one. Let’s hear how beer figures into that in 2010!

The BA’s Newest Brewster

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If you’ve spent any time in the brewing world or homebrewing, you know doubt know Erin Fay Glass, who’s the Membership Coordinator / Brewery Detective for the Brewers Association, while her husband, Gary Glass, is director of the American Homebrewers Association. On Thursday, they had their first child, a daughter. I spoke to Erin a few days before, and she just sent me the information below. Mother and child are doing great. Here’s what Erin had to say:

Been unplugged way more than usual. Maya Ryleigh is doing really well – certainly keeping us busy. We are totally, utterly smitten with this little gal. I see what people mean by a parent’s love. It’s like she’s been here all along.

Particulars:

Original Gravity: 6 pounds, 14 ounces
IBUs: 19.5 in.
Style: Girl
Release Date: November 19, 2008
Label: Maya Ryleigh Glass

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Maya Ryleigh

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Maya with her parents, Gary and Erin.

Subsequent Stumbling Session Scheduled

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The topic of our next Session has been announced and it’s Stumbling Home. Our host for Session #34, James Davoli at Two Parts Rye, describes what he means by that:

It’s time to give a shout out to your favorite watering hole. How good are the beers? Any interesting cast of characters? What are your drinking buddies like? They probably need to be embarrassed on the internet. Now’s the time.

You don’t have to limit yourself to one. Feel free to reminisce about the good old days if you like. Maybe you are a shut-in like this guy, and don’t get out that much, talk about the home bar.

There is a catch. This booze stuff has interesting side effects. That means, you can’t get behind the wheel. You gotta walk, take public transportation, or be a regular supporter of your favorite taxi company. Bicycles are acceptable but you still need to be careful. I have the cracked helmet and scars to prove it. Gotta love the 5 mph one man crash.

Walk back home by December 4 and let us know what you stumbled upon.

Final Beer Dinner At Cathedral Hill Coming October 23

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The final beer dinner to be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco is scheduled for Friday, October 23. For the past eight years, the Beer Chef, Bruce Paton, has done over 60 beer dinners featuring beers from around the corner and across the world. But what you probably didn’t know is that many of the recent dinners have been done on borrowed time. A medical corporation owns the land that the hotel is situated on, and for many years has been planning on building a new hospital there. It’s been postponed several times already and the hotel’s been able to keep renting rooms and doing beer dinners. But that’s finally coming to a close as a date is now set and the Cathedral Hill Hotel will be closing. A week after the dinner, on Halloween, October 31, the hotel will be torn down.

The final beer dinner will feature the beers of Allagash Brewing and brewer/owner Rob Tod will be on hand to talk about his beers. It will be a four-course dinner, and well worth the $100 price of admission. It will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations before it’s sold out. Don’t delay, it will likely sell out quickly. I’ll see you there.

The Menu:

Reception: 6:30 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre
Beer: Allagash White

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

Cannelloni of Dungeness Crab Legs with Citrus Lobster Sauce
Beer: Fluxus

Second Course:

Hobbs Applewood Bacon Fat Poached Duck Breast with Artichoke Fingerling Potato Hash
Beer: Hugh Malone

Third Course:

The Best of the Barnyard with Yam Crème Brule and Bloomsdale Spinach with Duck Ham
Beer: Odyssey

Fourth Course:

Sweet Trick or Treat
Beer: Vagabond

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Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef, with Rob Tod, from Allgash, at an earlier beer dinner.

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Dinner with the Brewmaster: Allagash
Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]

Framing Beer Announced For Next Session

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Andrew Couch at I’ll Have a Beer has agreed to host our 33rd Session and he’s announced his topic for it. And for those of us who are numbers geeks, it has nothing to do with Rolling Rock.
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Instead he begins with this wonderfully enigmatic tale:

My sister once told me a story she had heard about a sculpture exhibit: on the winter day it opened, the artist placed a coat rack next to the door. Predictably, the patrons hung their coats on it. Each day the artist moved the rack a bit closer to the rest of the exhibit, until the day came when the visitors chose not to use the “piece of art” for their coats. That day the artist placed a sign on the coat rack that stated simply, “Art begins here.”

Framing is a concept often associated with politics, but which in reality can be applied to virtually anything. Couch goes on to explain what he’s looking for, discussing the philosophy of framing beer and how to apply it to next month’s Session.

Imagine persuasively describing craft beer to someone who has until now entirely missed out, maybe in a sales situation. Perhaps it’s a brown ale and you can can describe the caramel and toast flavors, or it’s a pale ale and you have fruit or herbs from the hops. You might start having to defend yourself if it’s an IPA and those hops taste earthy, resiny, or particularly bitter. You’ll definitely meet some resistance if your favorite is an imperial anything, brimming with intensity and a sharp kick, or if you’d like to convince a person of the credibility of a sour beer or anything for which you must use the word ‘funky’. Each of these descriptions is inevitably an attempt to ‘frame’ the beer, putting the consumer in the proper state of mind to drink it.

For better or worse, in everyday situations beer comes with a label. This label very really ‘frames’ the beer inside. The fact that the beer comes commercially-produced signals the presence of investment (if not skill). A style name or tasting notes indicates the general characteristics to expect. If you know the brewery the beer is framed with your past experiences. Even the label art will affect your expectations for the beer.

What role does this framing play in beer tasting, especially for ‘professional evaluators’? Relate an amusing or optimistic anecdote about introducing someone to strange beer. Comment on the role a label plays in framing a beer or share a label-approval related story. I have not done much blind tasting, and I would be intrigued to hear about this ‘frameless’ evaluation of beer.

And drink a beer. Ideally drink something that you don’t think you will like. Try to pick out what it is about that brew that other people enjoy (make sure to properly frame the beer!).

Extra credit will be given for specific mention of the Post article prompting this topic, or for use of the phrase “priming the pump”.

Get framing. See you in November.

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First Beer & Bacon Festival Scheduled

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Ah, to be in Baltimore in the fall. The sound of pirates, the taste of beer and the sizzling goodness of bacon. That has all the makings of a wonderfully wacky and enjoyable event. Clipper City Brewing has just announced the 1st annual Heavy Seas Beer & Bacon Festival — Pyrates, Pigs and Pints. It will take place on Saturday, September 19, 2009 at the brewery in Baltimore. If you don’t recognize the significance of September 19, it’s Talk Like A Pirate Day.

From the press release:

Clipper City Brewing Company, brewers of the Heavy Seas brand, is a proud supporter of National Talk Like A Pirate Day and a true fan of bacon the world over. In the hopes that all those aspiring pirates will join them in the celebration of this heritage, the brewers have banded together to create the 1st Annual Beer & Bacon Festival on September 19th from Noon – 4pm. Tickets are limited to the first 350 who sign on board and the day will be filled with over 15 types of bacon from all over the world to sample, ten beers to sample, the bacon explosion, live music from Dirty Secret and even HUMAN BACON — walking around. Many of Baltimore finest restaurants, bars and foodie haunts will be on hand including: Alonso’s, Bad Decisions, Ciao Bella, Crazy Lil’s, Abercrombie, Captain Thom, Marsh’s Chili, Whisky Island Spices, Pussy Kat Punters, Sweet Kascade’s, Kooper’s, Slainte, and many more.

It includes a bacon tasting! Now that’s a great idea. I need to attend more bacon tastings.

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The Next “Session” Heads East

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Girl Likes Beer, who is hosting our next Session, has a personal goal to sample a beer from every country with their own brewery. She’s had quite a few west of her native Poland, but the east is still largely unexplored. So she’s invited us to go east with her. She explains:

I would like you to pick your favorite beer made east from your hometown but east enough that it is already in a different country. It can be from the closest country or from the furthest. Explain why do you like this beer. What is the coolest stereotype associated with the country the beer comes from (of course, according to you)? And one more thing. If you do a video or picture of the beer (not obligatory of course) try to include the flag of the country.

Well, this could be fun. Get out your maps, compasses and orienteering gear. And head east in search of beer.

Short Pour Film Festival

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According to the press release, “The “First Ever” short-film festival on the subject of BEER will debut at the Monterey Beer Festival on June 5th, 2010, from 12:30pm to 5pm.” Do you love beer? Have you ever thought about being a filmmaker? Or perhaps you’re already a professional or even amateur filmmaker. If so, here’s your chance to showcase your talent with a short (3 minutes or less) film about beer. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2010 and the form and rules can be found on the Night That Never Ends website. It’s free to enter your film.

There are four separate categories for you to submit a film under:

  1. Live Action Short Films
  2. Animated Short Films
  3. Music Videos
  4. Commercials

Organizer Jeff Moses expects lots of lighthearted looks at brew, including personal stories about drinking beer with friends or visiting breweries. He also anticipates a few entries by “serious brewers” who’ll reveal the exact steps to making beer. I’m anticipating that Greg Koch will have an entry. Moses says being a bona fide beer connoisseur isn’t necessary for the creative process — just having a “connection” to brew should suffice. He also suggests “filmmakers throw back brewskis after shooting and avoid keg stands so they’re actually able to finish their projects.”
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The Short Pour Film Fest will take place on June 5th, 2010, during the Monterey Beer Festival (and is free to festival attendees) at the Monterey Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Road, Monterey, California, 93940 and will be free of charge to Monterey Beer Festival attendees.

Short Pour Film Fest honors both individuals who have achieved excellence in short filmmaking and amateur filmmakers. This unique short-film festival showcases film making talent on the subject of BEER.

Films will be shown in the historic ”King City Room”, a 10,000 square foot building at the Monterey Fairgrounds (home to The Monterey Jazz Festival & The Monterey Blues Festival).

SF Beer Week Coming In February 2009

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When Tom Dalldorf and I came up with the idea for Beerapalooza six years ago, our original vision was a week-long series of events celebrating all the wonderful beer here in the Bay Area, California. Unfortunately, there was just two of us, and we could never quite find the time to pull it together in a way that matched our imagination of what it should have been. Beerapalooza became static, with essentially five annual events—which were all great fun—but that was it. It started off with the Bistro’s Double IPA Festival and finished up with the annual Celebrator Anniversary Party. In between there was the cheese tasting at Rogue’s San Francisco Public House, the Beer Chef’s Beer & Chocolate Dinner and the legendary Toronado Barleywine Festival.

Then earlier this year, Philly Beer Week blew our socks off. What Tom Peters and Don Russell were able to pull off their first year was nothing short of amazing. We were envious and a little guilty that we hadn’t managed to put the same effort into to a similarly grand event here in the Bay Area. We returned from Philadelphia re-energized and committed to pulling it together.

So five of us involved in one capacity or another in the beer world formed an ad hoc committee to organize and promote the successor to Beerapalooza, which we’ve dubbed “SF Beer Week,” which will be held over ten days next year, February 6-15, 2009.

Philly Beer Week characterized their town as being “America’s Best Beer Drinking City.” Since we’re friends with the Philadelphia beer community — hell, I’m originally from Pennsylvania, having grown up just a hour west of Philly — we thought we’d have a little fun with an East Coast/West Coast smackdown and so we’re calling the Bay Area “America’s Original Craft-Beer Drinking City.” Not only are we having a bit of fun with the faux rivalry, but we think we have a pretty good claim to that title. With both Anchor Brewing and New Albion in the Bay Area, not to mention Sierra Nevada and Mendocino Brewing (started with New Albion’s eqiupment), and the fact that three of the first five brewpubs were located in the Bay Area, we feel confident of our claim to that title.

The plan is to showcase the legacy and heritage of beer in the Bay, with a goal of coordinating 100-150 events. The week will be anchored by the Bistro Double IPA Festival, the Toronado Barleywine Festival and will end with a new full-blown Bay Area Beer Festival. In between there will be beer dinners, cheese and beer pairing events, other gourmet food events savoring our world-class cuisine, meet the brewer evenings, homebrewing demonstrations, music, films and even a museum exhibition exploring the history of Bay Area brewing, from Monterey to Sacramento and beyond.

A new website went live over the weekend, in conjunction with handing out postcards announcing SF Beer Week at the Slow Food Nation convention. There’s not much there yet, but you can sign up to receive a newsletter to follow along as we add information over the coming months leading up to the 10-day celebration. Instead of just a few people doing a lot of work on SF Beer Week, we’re enlisting the help of as much of the beer community that’s willing and interested in helping. In that way, our goal is to create an event that’s not just for beer enthusiasts, but by them as well. We also hope to get the support of the wider community in the form of recognition by the City or cities and possibly the state along with support from local tourism boards.

If you’re interested in volunteering or getting involved with SF Beer Week by hosting an event, please contact us via Email. Either way, watch the SF Beer Week website or here for news about the event’s progress. And most importantly, consider showing your support for Bay Area beer by attending as many of the events as your liver and wallet will allow. There should truly be something for everyone, whether you live in northern California or have chosen SF Beer Week as the perfect time to visit us.

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Highway To Helles: Strong Beer Month Returns

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Beginning on February 1, 21st Amendment Brewery and Magnolia Pub & Brewery, both in San Francisco, will team up yet again to host their sixth annual Strong Beer Month. Each brewpub will create six different seasonal beers — and if you haven’t figured it out yet, they’ll all be strong — that will be available at the two locations throughout February. Many of these dozen beers have been created especially for this month, and will be available only until they run out. Sample them all, and you’ll receive a commemorative glass.

 

 

 
And this year’s poster is hilarious, a near perfect parody of AC/DC’s album cover for Highway to Hell. Compare it to the original below.