Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Single Hop Festival at Drake’s: “Summit Hop”

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July 8, from Noon to 6:00 p.m., at Drake’s Brewing in San Leandro, California you’ll have a unique opportunity to taste at least sixteen beers all made with the same hop, but with different malt, yeast and water. This should be a lot of fun. Perhaps I’ll see you there.

From the press release:

We will have around 17 local breweries in house with their beers, and all will have made a “single hop beer” or in this case “same hop beer.” The idea was to have each brewer make a beer with their own malt, water and yeast, but have everyone use the same hop. This year we are using the new Summit hop. Come on by and see for yourself how different malts, yeast, water and brewing techniques can change a beer. Brewers will also be bringing some of their other fine products. We will also be playing the game that will be sweeping the brewing nation — Washoe. The $35 admission price includes entry to the fest, all the beer you wish to responsibly consume, entry into the Washoe tournament, a festival t-shirt and a great time. Please join us!

Drake’s is about a 15-20 minute walk from the San Leandro BART station. Buses run up and down Davis Street. Cabs are available at the BART station. We are located at the loading dock area around the back of the Wal-Mart. This is to benefit San Leandro school teachers. Hope to see you here.

 
 

Come out to the festival and meet Drake’s brewers Rodger Davis and Melissa Myers.
 
 

Breweries Attending

  • Bear Republic
  • Bison
  • Drake’s
  • E.J. Phair
  • Eldo’s
  • Iron Springs
  • Magnolia
  • Marin
  • Moylan’s (still a maybe)
  • Piza Port (still a maybe)
  • Rubicon
  • Russian River
  • Sacramento
  • Seabright
  • Sudwerk
  • Thirsty Bear
  • Triple Rock
  • 21st Amendment

 
 

7.8

Single Hop Festival & Washoe Tournament (2nd annual)
Drake’s Brewing, 1933 Davis Street #177, San Leandro, California
510.562.0866 [ website ] [ directions ]

New Bay Area Brewfest This Saturday

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This Saturday in San Mateo, a new Bay Area beer festival will take place at the County Expo Center, aptly named the Bay Area Brewfest. The Expo Center a good, centrally-located spot for a beer fesitival with plenty of parking, and the Bay Area could really use a good annual beer festival. There’s plenty of good small ones here and there but there hasn’t really been a good big one in the area since the KQED Beer & Food Festival and the Berkeley Beer Festival both stopped pouring for good several years ago. So it’s with high hopes Jeff Moses, who is also the GM for Coast Range/Farmhouse Brewing in Gilroy, has organized this new event. I’ll be there to offer my support along with fifty breweries who’ll be pouring samples of their beer from 12-6 p.m. Tickets are $25.00 at the gate and include admission, entertainment, and tastings.

Please think about coming out and supporting the festival so it can be an annual event. The first year’s turnout will go a long way to insuring future festivals.

6.10

Bay Area Brewfest (1st annual)
County Expo Center, 2495 South Delaware Street, San Mateo, California
[ website ] [ tickets online ] [ map ]

Beer School is Back at 21st Amendment

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21st Amendment brewpub’s beer school, which was monthly but has been on sabbatical lately, is returning.

From the press release:

Join us Tuesday, June 13th at 6 pm on the mezzanine at the 21A for an evening of Summer Brews. Beer and brewers from all around the Bay area will be pouring as we discuss the history and styles of summer beer.

$25 for beer samples and appetizers.

6.13

21st Amendment Beer School: Summer Brews
21st Amendment Brewery – Restaurant – Bar, 563 2nd Street, San Francisco, California
415-369-0900 [ website ]

House Resolution 753 Passes

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After only about two months, House Resolution 753 passed unanimously, with 70 co-sponsors, including twelve house members from California. H.R. 753 was the brainchild of the Brewers Association and “commend[s] America’s craft brewers for their many and varied contributions to our nation’s communities, economy, culture and history.”

The resolution was spearheaded by Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and with over 70 additional Congressmen cosponsoring the measure. The following California house members co-sponsored the bill: Ken Calvert, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Jane Harman, Mike Honda, George Miller, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Hilda Solis, Ellen Tauscher, Mike Thompson, and Lynn Woolsey.

From the press release:

“This is an important and significant first step in our effort to raise the profile of craft beer and brewing in Washington,” said BA president Charlie Papazian. “The amount of support we received from Members of Congress was extremely gratifying and was due in large part to the efforts of individual professional Brewers Association and American Homebrewers Association members calling and writing their Congressman to ask for their support of the resolution.”

The resolution, which also recognizes the establishment of American Craft Beer Week, was a featured element of a Capitol Hill Congressional reception held on May 16th which featured BA member beers from across the country paired with a variety of artisinal foods. At this event, Congressmen Boehlert and DeFazio were publicly recognized and thanked for their outstanding support of America’s craft brewers

From left: Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian, Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR).

Festival Announcement: North American Organic Brewers Festival

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The 2006 North American Organic Brewers Festival will be held June 10 from 12:00-9:00 p.m. at World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon.

I received the following information about the upcoming festival from Roots Brewing, who is putting on the festival.

North American Organic Brewers Festival

At the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon on June 10, 2006, from 12-9pm.

North America’s only organic beer festival will feature over 30 organic beers from the Pacific Northwest and as far a field as Germany, England, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Texas. From pale ales and pilsners to imperial stouts and dopplebocks, organic brewers are taking the craft beer revolution to the next level.

The North American Organic Brewers Festival is a celebration of sustainability and benefits Oregon Tilth, a certification body which supports organic farming, the Oregon Food Bank which feeds the hungry, the World Forestry Center, which is dedicated to sustainable forests, and My Father’s House a local shelter for homeless families. Local sustainability-oriented businesses, including organic produce delivery companies, garden centers, and green builders, will be on hand. Food vendors will include organic and free-range options from a range of international cuisines.

Family Friendly

An indoor children’s area will feature face painting, games and a soda pop garden, and the festival is adjacent to the Children‘s Museum, World Forestry Center, and Oregon Zoo.

Music

Music on the outdoor stage will be provided by Orkestra, the Stumptown Jug Thumpers, Baktune, Vivid Curve, Left Hand Monkey Wrench, Adair Village, and Wow and Flutter.

Cost

Admission to the festival is $4 which includes a mug, tickets for 4 ounce samples of beer will be $1. Attendees get $1 off admission with three cans of food for the Oregon Food Bank, a validated MAX ticket, or a World Forestry Center ticket. The Forestry Center will offer a $1 discount for festival attendees.

Location

The festival will be held at the World Forestry Center, which is located adjacent to the MAX light rail station, and attendees are encouraged to take public transportation.

Portland, Oregon not only boasts more breweries than any other city in the world, it is one of the greenest in North America. The city is a leader in recycling, green building, and livability. The festival’s stunning setting in Washington Park looks out over the fir forests of Portland’s West Hills, and Mount Hood, the source of some of the best drinking and brewing water in the country.

6.10

North American Organic Brewers Festival
World Forestry Center, Portland, Oregon
[ website ] [ e-mail ]

400-Year Old Ram Brewery to Close in Merger

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Two rival British brewers, Charles Wells and Young’s announced today that they will be merging, effective October 2 of this year. The new company will be named Wells & Young’s Brewing Company Ltd. All operations will be moved to Charles Wells’ Bedfordshire brewery and the Wandsworth Ram Brewery will be closed.

The Ram Brewery in Wandsworth (south London) is the oldest brewing site in England, having had a brewery at the location for over 400 years, since 1581, which was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Young’s family acquired the brewery in 1831 and have operated it there ever since.

The BBC is reporting the closure will cost about ninety jobs and will leave London with only two brewing giants, Fuller’s and Anheuser-Busch.

Reports in This is Money, a UK financial site, and The Morning Advertiser, a website dedicated to licensee’s (pubs), both have additional details on the merger.

From the press release:

The company will be owned 40 per cent by Young’s and 60 per cent by Charles Wells, reflecting the assets being contributed by each shareholder, which for Charles Wells include the freehold land and production facilities of the Eagle Brewery.

Wells & Young’s will be operated as an independent company, at arms length from its two shareholders. Both Young’s and Charles Wells will continue to operate their pub estates independently of each other and both have entered into separate three-year rolling (five-year minimum) supply agreements with Wells & Young’s.

Paul Wells and John Young toast the merger of their two companies.

First Radical Beer Open Winners Announced

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The first annual Radical Beer Open, sponsored by Real Beer and Brewers Supply Group, and inspired by Randy Mosher’s book, Radical Brewing, was held last week in New Mexico. Brewers were only allowed two entries and were judged by a blind panel of commercial brewers and BJCP judges. The results were announced today, with Real Beer News writing the story.

Here is a list of the winners:

CATEGORY 1: 5% ABV & LESS

Gold – Witbier, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, New Mexico
Silver: Orange Blossom Wheat, Papago Brewing, Scottsdale, Arizona
Bronze: Ich Bin Ein Berliner Weisse, Nodding Head Brewery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

CATEGORY 2: 5.1-7.5%

Gold: Temptation, Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa, California
Silver: Supplication, Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa, California
Bronze: Cerise Cassée, Cambridge Brewing, Cambridge, Massachusetts

CATEGORY 3: 7.6% ABV & MORE

Gold: Three Philosophers, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, New York
Silver: World Wide Stout, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, Delaware
Bronze: Samuel Adams Double Bock, Boston Beer Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (brewery)

CATEGORY 4: WILD

Gold: Le Woody, Pizza Port, Solana Beach, California
Silver: La Folie, New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colorado
Bronze: De Wilde Zuidentrein, Flossmoor Station Brewing Co., Flossmoor, Illinois

Randy Mosher’s Radical Brewing, which inspired the Radical Beer Open.

Glen Hay Falconer Foundation Scholarships Announced

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The Glen Hay Falconer Foundation announced today the two recipients for this year’s brewing scholarships to the Siebel Institute in Chicago. This year congratulations go to Chad Kennedy, the newly named head brewer of Laurelwood Public House & Brewery and Ben Millstein of Kodiak Island Brewing. Kennedy and Millstein will attend the World Brewing Academy’s Concise Course in Brewing Technology held at Siebel Institute of Technology’s Chicago campus this November.

From the press release:

The Selection Committee, consisting of Tom Dalldorf of Celebrator Beer News, Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi Brewing Company, John Harris of Full Sail Brewing, John Maier of Rogue Ales, Ralph Olson of Hopunion, Shaun O’Sullivan of 21st Amendment Brewery, and Chris Studach of Cascade Brewers Society were tasked with selecting only two recipients from a deep and talented group of 25 deserving candidates. Speaking for the entire committee, one member highlighted the challenge: “The group of applicants was just too big and too talented to chose only two. It was the toughest decision that I have faced in years!”

In making its final decision, the Selection Committee members were impressed by Chad and Ben’s demonstrated accomplishment and dedication to furthering their brewing skills. In the words of a committee member: “Chad’s accomplishments in a fairly short time are only overshadowed by his clear desire to succeed in brewing. Perhaps even more important is his understanding of the open and sharing nature of the brewing community and his strong motivation to give something back to it.” And for Ben: “Ben’s dedication to the art of brewing is hugely obvious. To overcome the obstacles he has from a beginning homebrewer in remote Alaska, to successfully found and operate a homegrown, Alaskan brewery is inspiring.”

The Foundation extends congratulations to Chad and Ben and sincere appreciation to all the applicants for their interest and enthusiasm for the brewing scholarships. The Foundation also thanks the Selection Committee for its dedication and energy and wishes to express its deep gratitude to the Siebel Institute for its co-sponsorship and its continuing support for the Foundation’s brewing scholarship program.

The foundation honors the memory of iconoclastic brewer Glen Falconer, who died in a tragic accident in 2002. He brewed at Wild Duck Brewery in Eugene, Oregon.

Job Listing: Beer Salesmen for California

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Artisanal Imports, importers of some excellent Belgian and English beers such as St. Feuillien, De Leyerth and Meantime, is looking for part-time/independent salesmen for both the Northen California and Southern California areas. They’re looking primarily for assistance in the areas of the independent off-premise and on-premise.

Check out their portfolio, they have eight imported brands and have recently added Flying Dog Brewery from Denver, Colorado (who recently bought Frederick Brewing — and renamed it Wild Goose Brewery — of Maryland)

If you’re interested or would like to learn more, please call Sean Knoll on his cell phone at 303-564-8841. Serious inquiries only, please.