Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Brew Your Own Beer TV Debuts Tonight

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B.Y.O.B. TV — Brew Your Own Beer TV — the new television show that will air on local KOFY Channel 20 debuts this evening at 10:30 p.m. KOFY TV20 / Cable13 will be airing the half-hour B.Y.O.B. TV this Saturday, April 23 at 10:30 p.m. If you miss its debut, it will also air on Saturdays at 1:00 a.m. and Sundays, starting April 24th, at 9:30 p.m. On Sunday, the re-runs will air during their “local’s only” programming block. You can catch it three ways: on TV Channel 20, Comcast Cable 13 and Comcast Cable HD 713.

B.Y.O.B. TV will be hosted by Justin Crossley and Jason Petros of The Brewing Network, the #1 on-line radio network dedicated to the art of beer making. The show follows 8 teams, each consisting of 3 eager home brewers as they’re challenged in various stages of the beer brewing process in hopes to escape weekly elimination. The final brewer left standing will win the ultimate prize, a trip to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in the Czech Republic and become the B.Y.O.B. TV Brewing Champion.

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“We want the average consumer to be able to watch this show, enjoy it from an entertaining perspective and gain an appreciation and knowledge for some of the best craft brews in the marketplace”, said Crossley, “at the same time we hope the show will encourage others to tackle the art of home brewing on their own.”

Various craft and import beers from around the region and the world are participating in the show to place emphasis on their commitment towards the innovation and brewing science behind beer making; partners include Pilsner Urquell, Lagunitas, Blue Moon, Grolsh and Blake Brewing. Additional breweries, brew masters and beer and food connoisseurs are participating as well.

While there’s no actual brewing in episode one, we do get to meet the teams and learn how the process will work. But don’t change the channel just yet, things will definitely start to pick up in episode two when the teams do their first batches of beer and things will just keep going from there. Should be fun.

Below is the trailer for the show:

Moylan’s Releases Orange & Black Congrats Ale! For Giants’ Opener

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As the Giants get ready to take on the Athletics in the annual Bay Bridge Series that begins tonight, a local brewery gets set to release a new beer to honor San Francisco’s world series victory last year. Moylan’s, in Novato, California, will release Orange & Black Congrats Ale! on March 31 to coincide with the start of the regular baseball season. The special limited release is an American black ale, 6% a.b.v. and 32 IBUs. It will be available on draft, in growlers from the brewpub and in 22 oz. bottles.

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From the press release:

In honor of the World Champions at the Cove, Moylan’s has created a smooth, American Black Ale brewed with orange zest. A hearty brew for the bleacher bums, the gardeners of turf and patient fans who have endured 54 years of pine-grabbing torture. This ale is a reflection of the many dedicated hearts and minds needed to brew a quality beer. It is made with Montana-grown pale two-row barley malted by Malteurop, crystal and black malted barley grown and roasted in Bamberg, Germany by Weyermann Specialty Malts. The robust flavors in the Black and Orange beer also include Canadian-grown barley supplied by Gilbertson and Paige and Mt. Hood and Liberty hops grown in the Yakima Valley by Puterbaugh Farms for Hops direct.

All the oranges used in this brew were grown locally in the California sunshine. Moylan’s offers an adult beverage to salute the Bat, the Stick, the Rally throng, the Crab, the Seal, the Golden voices in the box and all of the San Francisco legends that helped them see the dream become reality. The Orange & Black beer will be officially released on the Giants Opening Day on March 31st and will be available for a limited time. Alcohol by Volume 6.0%, total IBUs 36, 1.068 Original Gravity. This beer will be seen on draft at the pub and in select locations throughout the bay area.

This should be the perfect beer to enjoy as the Giants begin their run for back to back world series victories.

Gordon Biersch Creates World’s Rarest Beer: Hoppotamus Maximus

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I ran into Dan Gordon, from Gordon Biersch, at CBC yesterday and he told me about a new beer they’ve created, Hoppotamus Maximus, a hoppy and oh-so-rare beer that few people — unfortunately — will ever get a chance to sample. He’s teamed with Justin Crossly of The Brewing Network to tell the story of how he created the beer. It’s a pretty funny spoof of the hype surrounding hard-to-find beers, and the humor is as dry as I expect the beer would be.

Fritz Maytag & Ken Grossman Give Keynote At CBC 2011

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Earlier today the 2011 Craft Brewers Conference began with the morning program, which ended with a keynote address by Fritz Maytag and Ken Grossman. It was more of a casual talk or reminiscence, with Maytag and Grossman talking about their early days, with both the challenges and joys of those times when their were trying to get their respective breweries off the ground. They sat opposite one another on comfy chairs and talked for just over 30 minutes finishing with a toast using the collaboration imperial stout they did together last year, Fritz & Ken’s Ale.

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It was a highly entertaining talk and even quite funny in places. I’d forgotten my Flip camera, but I did manage to record the audio of the talk. The keynote is introduced by Tom McCormick, executive director of the California Small Brewers Association, and then it’s Ken and Fritz for thirty plus minutes. Enjoy.

The Birthplace Of Craft Brewing: Colorado?

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I should say at the outset that I love Colorado. I go there at least once a year, have many beer friends and colleagues there. There are many, many great breweries there and their beer culture should be celebrated. Of that, I believe there can be no doubt. And in fact, a new documentary film is seeking to do just that, a laudable enterprise. The title is Beer Culture: the Movie, and the idea behind it is the following. “Beer Culture is a documentary film about the growing rich American Culture in Craft Beer by telling the inspirational stories of unwavering motivation by some of Colorado’s top Brewers.” It’s release date is Summer 2011. Frankly, I can’t wait, it looks great. Free Mind Productions should be proud of what they’ve done so far. They’ve also just released a new trailer with tons of great teasers, and lots of great people being interviewed, including Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, Eric Wallace, Marty Jones and Charlie Papazian.

But then at just past the one minute mark, one of the interviewees — I’m not sure who it is — says the following. “Pretty much everybody thinks of Colorado as the birthplace of craft brewing.” Really? Um, did I miss a meeting? That just sticks in my craw. Hyperbole is one thing, but that’s simply a false statement that is just not true. I know the producers didn’t say it, but they’re sure seizing it on it to promote their film. It’s not one of those subjective facts that people can interpret different ways, like who brewed the first Black IPA. We know Fritz Maytag bought the ailing Anchor Brewery in 1965 and turned into what it is today. We know Jack McAuliffe incorporated New Albion Brewery in Sonoma, California in October of 1976 and built the first modern microbrewery from scratch. Colorado’s first microbrewery was the Boulder Beer Company, which was founded in September of 1979. Those are the facts, plain and simple.

Maybe I’m being oversensitive, but I don’t think so. Last week, John Kerry was quoted in a press release about the new BEER Act that’s been introduced in the Senate that the “craft beer revolution started right here in Massachusetts.” Now this. I believe that Colorado has much to celebrate with its beer culture, but it doesn’t really need to take liberties with the truth to do that. It doesn’t need to throw California’s contributions under the bus to raise up its own. I don’t really feel like I should have to protect California’s place in the history of craft brewing. It seems like it should be fairly secure and unassailable, but here we are. I hope enough people will see fit to point this out to the producers of Beer Culture and they’ll remove it from the movie. They don’t need to keep something so blatantly untrue in there and for me, at least, it just mars the film’s credibility. The story of Colorado’s craft beer scene is a great and worthy subject for a movie, but it can only be improved by sticking to the facts … and the beer.

Celebrate Triple Rock’s 25th Anniversary Monday

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Geez has time flown. Twenty-five plus years ago you weren’t even allowed to operate a brewpub in the State of California. Finally in 1983 that finally changed, thanks to some hard work and a lot of meetings. Shortly thereafter, the first two brewpubs in California opened, Mendocino Brewing and Buffalo Bill’s. The third opened 25 years ago come this Monday, March 14, 1986. It was started by the Martin brothers — John and Reid — who had both homebrewed in college. It originally opened under a name you may not be familiar with: Roaring Rock. Unfortunately, the folks from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who brewed Rolling Rock, thought the name was too close to their own, and so the Martins had to pick a new name. Eventually they settled on Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse.

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Triple Rock when it opened in 1986.

This Monday, March 14, 2011, Triple Rock will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of opening its doors. Here’s what will be going on at the brewpub all day long:

In celebration Rodger has re-brewed “Brew #1,″ the first beer ever made in the Triple Rock system. Reid & John originally brewed it on Christmas Day 1985. On March 14th we will be pouring Brew #1 (a Pale Ale) all day for just $1.75 a pint (the original price for a pint in 1986). We will also tap a hopped-up cask version of Brew #1 at 5 pm. Kind of a “2011 hopping meets 1986 cask ale” beer. Come by and try both of them!

The kitchen will be serving some old-school items, such as our original Muffaletta sandwich. But no, you’re not going to have to go to the “window” to order your grub, like you did in ’86.

John & Reid will preside over the tapping of the cask, and maybe go for another round of arm-wresting (John lost to Reid at the Festivus celebration last Dec.) Join past & present TRB brewers, staff, and long-time regulars to toast The Rock’s 25 years of making beer!

We’ve also created a special anniversary tee-shirt that pays homage to our original name, ”Roaring Rock Brewery”. There will be just one small print run of this shirt, so you should get yours before they’re gone. But, if you are up on your trivia of the early days of Roaring Rock/Triple Rock — you just may win one!

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Strong Women Brew Strong Beer

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Just stumbled upon this awesome ad for Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. They’ve used the “Strong Women Brew Strong Beer” slogan on other artwork, but this new version by local illustrator Janet Allinger is the best yet. It has a “Rosie the Riveter” feel to it and according to her blog it will be used as a poster by the brewery. I hope they’ll have a version to buy in their online shop soon. I know at least a few brewsters who will probably want one for themselves.

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Brewing TV Visits The Bay Area

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A few months ago the good folks from Brewing TV in the wilds of Minnesota came for a visit to the Bay Area. Brewing TV is part of Northern Brewer Homebrew Supply. In addition to mail-order business, they also operate two homebrew shops in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Jon Weber, from Beer Obsessed acted as their guide as they visited the Marin Brewing Company, Triple Rock Brewery, Linden Street Brewing Company, Dying Vines Brewing along with some homebrewing with Nathan Smith. I met up with them at Marin Brewing where we talked more generally about beer in the Bay Area. Enjoy.

Beer Birthday: Jay Brooks

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Today is my 52nd birthday, and I’ve 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 third year in a row, here’s some howlers of me from over the years.

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This hilarious photo we discovered literally yesterday in the bottom of a box of wrapping paper while my wife and the kids were wrapping my birthday gifts. I’m not entirely certain, but I believe this is from the 5th grade, when I would have been around 11, in 1970. Porter took one look at it and declared my haircut made me look just like Justin Bieber. He meant it as a compliment, but that’s not how I took it, of course. And how about that bow tie?

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Another classic Easter photo. The girl is actually my aunt, by marriage, despite being a year younger than me. She was my stepfather’s little sister.

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My 10th grade Winter dance. I know I should know her name, but damned if I can remember it. I recall her last name, but not her first. What is wrong with me?

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Attending a wedding with my new girlfriend Sarah when she was a friend’s bridesmaid just a few weeks after we started dating, and a few years before we married.

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At Woodstock ’94 with my friend Keith, who now lives near Greenwich, England.

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