Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer Birthday Again: Jay Brooks

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Today was my 53rd birthday, and I’ve once again been overwhelmed by an embarrassment of riches from well-wishers sending me notes via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. My sincere thanks to one and all. As it’s usually me posting embarrassing photos of my friends and colleagues, for the fourth year in a row, here’s some howlers of me from over the years.

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An indian birthday at my grandmother’s house. No idea what year this was. It couldn’t be later than the mid-1960s.

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I can’t even believe this is me, it’s so posed. And what’s with the black baseball? Why is that the prop they chose?

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At my mom’s second wedding to my stepfather in 1964, before he became a psychotic alcoholic.

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Sitting on a cannon at the battlefield in Gettysburg.

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An elementary school photo, where they wet my hair and combed it in a way that I never, ever did, except in this photo. It almost looks like I’m bald and it’s a comb-over.

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It’s hard to tell in this early 1970s photo, but that outfit was green and purple; green jacket and tie with a purple shirt. Sheesh.

There’s many more where these came from, for a good laugh just check out the photos from the last three years at Beer Birthday: Jay Brooks, Beer Birthday: J (Yes, Embarrasing Myself This Time) and Beer Birthday Overkill, from 2009, when I posted a bunch encompassing my first 50 years on planet beer. Oh, and thanks once again to everybody for the generous birthday wishes.

Master Cicerone Chosen For SF Zagat 30 Under 30

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At last week’s Three Ring Circus beer dinner, Nicole Erny teased that she had big news coming this week, but told us she was sworn to secrecy. Well today she could finally reveal her news. Erny, who recently became the first female Master Cicerone — and only the fourth overall — has been selected by Zagat as one of their 30 Under 30: San Francisco’s Hottest Up-and-Comers. As for “why she made the list,” Zagat had this to say:

Sitting at the rusty old table with her grandfather as a child tasting different kinds of pears and plums from his orchard is what this up-and-comer credits for developing the neural pathways between the tongue and brain that are so integral in deciphering the nuances of beverages. In addition to being the exam manager for beer sommelier program Cicerone, she’s also its first female Master and is a leading figure on the San Francisco brewscape, especially during annual Beer Week. Blogging and tweeting under the handle @beer_muse, her mission is to raise the bar on how restaurants treat beer as part of their beverage program, with the help, of course, of gals like her.

Join me in congratulating Nicole on this latest honor. Things are really starting to happen for her, and it’s great seeing more and more people turning their passions into careers. Way to go, Nicole!

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Nicole and me at Sean Paxton’s Three Ring Circus beer dinner last Wednesday. (photo by Mike Condie.)

Bistro Double IPA Winners 2012

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Knee Deep Brewing‘s Hopologist DIPA was chosen best in show at the 12th annual Double IPA Festival today at the Bistro in Hayward, California. The full winner’s list is below.

And for the second straight year:

And for the first time, Triple IPAs were judged this year. Since there were only fifteen, only first and second places were awarded.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Beer In Ads #540: SF Beer Week 2012

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Friday’s ad couldn’t be more new, less historical, if it tried. It’s the new poster for this year’s SF Beer Week, which begins today. This year’s poster may be the best yet. Each of the objects, people, places, things represent the name of a local beer, so it’s game, as well as a piece of cool art. See how many you can find and figure out.

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New Sour Beer Brewery In Bay Area Announced

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Yesterday I received the word that there’s a new brewery opening soon in the Bay Area. It’s called The Rare Barrel and they’ll be a gypsy brewery specializing in sour beers. By gypsy, they mean to brew at area breweries and then ferment, age, package and serve their beers at their own facility, with that location still to be determined. One of the founders, Jay Goodwin, used to be the Head of Barrel Aging at The Bruery, so he knows his way around a barrel room.

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From the press release:

Northern California is rich in brewing tradition and is home to some of the best breweries in the world. Hoping to add to this proud history, we are pleased to announce that we will be launching an all-sour, all-barrel aged “gypsy” brewery in the San Francisco Bay Area named The Rare Barrel.

What do we mean by “gypsy” brewery? We plan to partner with the great breweries of the Bay Area for our brewing needs, and we will be building our own barrel warehouse for fermentation, packaging and serving our beers to the public.

Our team is made up of people committed to producing the highest quality sour beer. Co-founders Jay Goodwin, former Brewer and Head of Barrel Aging at The Bruery in Orange County, Alex Wallash, homebrewer and Sales Representative in biotechnology, and Brad Goodwin, entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical industry, make up our crew of passionate craft beer lovers.

We hope to release more details of our plan over the next few months. We look forward to producing beer with experimental methods, a singular focus on quality sours, and a commitment to the craft beer community.

No word yet on when we’ll see, or more importantly taste, the first beers, but you can follow their progress on The Rare Barrel Blog or on the website.

In the meantime, here’s how the describe the idea for The Rare Barrel:

As Head of Barrel Aging at The Bruery, Jay started focusing on inoculation and management of the sour barrels. The brewers would send him wort and he had a whole warehouse full of barrels to play with. The idea was born there. Why not team up with breweries here at home in the Bay Area and start entire sour-only barrel warehouse to Northern California?

Since sour beers will take over 1 year to mature (a long time!), they are brewed less frequently due to limited fermentation space. Jay quickly realized that if they built their own brew house, it would collect probably a good amount of dust. Therefore, they decided to partner with host breweries in the Bay Area to produce our wort. While a host brewery will produce their wort, The Rare Barrel will manage fermentation, blending, packaging, and distribution. This model ultimately allows The Rare Barrel to maximize barrel aging capacity while supporting local craft breweries. It’s a win-win situation!

What’s SF Beer Week Like?

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John Heylin, of the Nor Cal Beer Guide, along with several other BABB members, created a little spoof or homage film for SF Beer Week entitled What’s SF Beer Week Like? Drawing on Reservoir Dogs and the cult status of Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, the minute and a half video might make you cry, especially if you can’t get Pliny in your hometown. But fear not. As is revealed in the end credits; “No Pliny the Elder was harmed in the making of this video.”

Here’s how John describes his film: “How spoiled is the Bay Area when it comes to beer? This spoiled. Come check out SF Beer Week from February 10th-19th and spoil yourself silly.” I spoke to Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River Brewing today, and he loved the video, thought it hilarious and sent it to all his employees.

Winter Brews Festival In Concord January 28

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The 3rd annual Winter Brews Festival, sponsored by the Brewing Network, will be held this year on Saturday, January 28 from Noon to 4:00 p.m. Thanks to the Occupy Berkeley movement, last year’s location was not available and BN thought they’d have to cancel. But the City of Concord came to the rescue, and this year’s event will be held at Todos Santos Plaza, just two blocks from the Concord BART station.
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Tickets went on sale tonight, and can be purchased online through Eventbrite.

Here’s all the info from the press release:

Todos Santos Plaza is normally closed to public events during the winter months. Due to the extreme situation, however, they graciously opened their doors to allow the event to go on uninterrupted. Partnering with the Todos Santos Small Business Association and a local environmental non-profi t organization, this event will proudly promote the value of local breweries, local businesses, and fresh beer.

Visitors will enjoy unlimited tastings from more than 30 world class breweries. Confirmed breweries include the 21st Amendment, Drakes, Heretic, Lagunitas, Magnolia, Triple Rock, and Russian River. This Winter Brews Festival promises to expose beer lovers, new and experienced, to a variety of appetizing and innovative beers. A portion of the proceeds will also benefit local nonprofit, the Coral Reef Alliance.

The 3rd Annual Winter Brews Festival will be held at the Todos Santos Plaza in Concord on Saturday, January 28, 2012, from 12pm to 4pm. Tastings will feature a wide variety of local brews and unique innovations from some of the best brewers around, many of whom will be pouring their own beers giving visitors an opportunity to learn more about how the beer is made. The event will happen rain or shine, with arrangements in place to keep festival goers dry or out of the sun. And with the Concord BART station just two blocks away, this afternoon event will no doubt satisfy locals wanting to enjoy some beers for a great cause. Tickets are $35 pre-sale or $40 at the gate and include unlimited pours and a commemorative glass. For more information on the event, and to purchase tickets, please visit The Brewing Network Ontap.

See you there!

Nicole Erny Becomes First Female Master Cicerone

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You probably already know about the thousands (just over 8,800) of beer industry professionals who have become Certified Beer Servers in Ray Daniels’ Cicerone program since it was launched in 2007. It’s essentially the beer equivalent of a sommelier. But did you know there are actually three levels of Cicerone certification? Until recently, only three persons had attained the third level, that of Master Cicerone, and one of them is Bay Area brewer Rich Higgins, who brews at Social Kitchen. Now a fourth person has earned the lofty position of Master Cicerone. It was announced today that Nicole Erny of “Oakland, CA earned the title of Master Cicerone® during testing in November.” That makes Erny not just the fourth Master Cicerone, but also both the first woman and the youngest person to reach that level. It also means that half of the world’s Master Cicerones are in the Bay Area.

Here’s more information from the press release:

Erny earned the certification through a series of exams culminating with two days of intense taste testing plus written and oral questioning about beer styles, draft systems, beer evaluation, brewing technology and beer and food pairing given November 9 & 10. The Master Cicerone exam includes 8 hours of written questions, 2 hours of oral questions and 2 hours of beer tasting and evaluation. Candidates needed an overall score of 85% to pass.

“During the Master Cicerone exam, Erny distinguished herself with her knowledge of all aspects of beer and her skill in tasting beer and creating interesting beer and food pairings,” said Ray Daniels, Director of the Cicerone Certification Program.

Since earning her Bachelor’s Degree in 2007, Erny has worked a specialty beer bartender, consultant and beer educator, putting on classes and beer and food pairings. She has sharpened her palate and beer analysis skills as a homebrewed beer judge and already holds the title of National Judge in the Beer Judge Certification Program.

Join me in congratulating Nicole on her wonderful achievement.

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At the Celebrator’s 20th Anniversary Party in 2008.