Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Watermelon Funk is Funkadelic

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During last weekend’s bus trip to Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, Vinnie brought out a couple of pitchers from the barrel of his collaboration with 21st Amendment that’s been sitting in wood for a year now. Essentially as an experiment, Shaun O’Sullivan gave some of his Watermelon Wheat to Vinnie Cilurzo who put it in old pinot noir barrels and spiked it with Brettanomyces. According to Vinnie, who’s been tasting it every couple of months, it’s been a roller coaster of ups and downs, flavor-wise. But both he and Shaun believe, after a good year, that it will very shortly be ready to unleash on the world. There are only about 50 or so gallons and it will be available only at 21st Amendment and Russian River, and possibly at the Toronado. (As of Saturday Dave Keene had not yet tasted it to give his approval for carrying the beer.) Also, five gallons were sent to Boston, I think for Beer Advocate’s Belgian Beer Festival that starts on Friday. So there are only three, maybe four, places where you can try this beer, and not much at any single place. So needless to say, as a great fan of sour beers, I was thrilled to get a chance to sample it.

It was a little cloudy with a dull golden color and a thick white head. It had sharp, fruity estery aromas though not too pronounced with some of the signature “horse blanket” aromas coming through. Delightfully sour flavors and chewy, with a strong candied sweet-tart puckered essence. At the end, the mouthfeel became very juice-like — or à la Jolly Rancher — and this was the only place that the fruit was identifiable as watermelon as it washed down the back of the throat. Overall, a very complex, sour beer. There’s an awful lot going on in this beer. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I quite enjoyed it and hope they’ll do it again soon.

 

The Watermelon Funk, a collaborative concoction.

Lagunitas Labels Trashed by Beer Man

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The Beer Man, Todd Haefer, is at it again. A few weeks ago he wrongly accused wood-aged beers of being a passing fad, despite record numbers of them entered at GABF. The upcoming Barrel Age Beer Festival at The Bistro was expecting to get about 50 beers entered and as of a few days ago 65 were coming. So for that reason I was a bit suspect of his using a moniker that implied expertise and respect. He may be “a” beer man, but I don’t think he’s “the” beer man.

Today’s prouncement confirms that, I think. In a review of Lagunitas’ Censored Ale (f.k.a. Kronick) which in and of itself wasn’t bad, he attacked brewery owner Tony Magee’s delightful beer label ramblings with a no-holds-barred, tell-me-how-you-really-feel, full-frontal-assault. Here’s what Todd had to say:

I do have to mention that Lagunitas has some of the dumbest beer-style descriptions I’ve ever seen on a Web site. Just check out this link for Censored Ale and you’ll see what I mean. It’s not funny, not cool, not cute, it’s just … dumb and doesn’t tell you anything about the beer.

Here on the left coast, Lagunitas’ labels have something of a cult following and articles have been written on the labels alone. Not the beer, mind you, just about the labels. Of course, we also have the benefit of context and knowing Tony. Oh, and we have a sense of humor, too. Because Tony’s labels are often hysterical, and many times confounding and perplexing. But the one thing they never are is dull. Who said beer labels have to tell you something about the beer or the beer style? Go in your refrigerator right now. How many beers have a story about the beer on the label? Half, maybe less? So why can’t Lagunitas let the beer speak for itself and have a little fun on the labels? After re-reading this label I’m a little confused as to why Beer Man thought it was a beer description, albeit a “dumb” one, in the first place. Here is the label rant from Lagunitas Censored Ale:

Anyway, we were going out to, uh,the ,uh, you know, thing, and all, and when we got there, well, uh, the dude was, like- “whoa man!” I mean, and we were all, uh, you know – “whoa!” and stuff, and when I said to him, like, you know, “hey man”, and all they, I mean he, was all “what?” and stuff- and I just told him what you said and all and they were all man- “not cool dude”, but whatever- so, uh, we split and went back to my lair and just hung out and whatever, but the whole thing was, like, just SUCH a bummer and all but, you know, it was cool and stuff, but you just gotta, you know, about the dude and all, like, it’s cool and all you know, but what’s up with that “blah blah blah”? Whatzit got to do with beer and all? I mean, really, dude, whatever…but, it’s cool and all…

So what part of that did Beer Man think was a “beer-style description?” Honestly, even if you don’t find it funny, cool, cute or informative, you can’t really believe it’s trying to describe the beer, can you? You’d have to figure it was ironic and not serious wouldn’t you? But it proves once again Tony Magee’s most prophetic quote.

“Beer Speaks. People Mumble.“

21st Amendment Beer School on the Bus

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21st Amendment Brewery’s monthly beer school this month was a day-long bus trip from San Francisco north to Cloverdale and back again, with several stops at area breweries in between.

Shaun O’Sullivan, 21st Amendment’s brewmaster, in front of the 21-A beer school bus.

Newlyweds Rodger and Claudia Davis (Rodger is head brewer at Drake’s and Claudia works at 2st Amendment.

Shaun O’Sullivan, small brewer of the year Rich Norgrove, and Rodger Davis at Bear Republic Brewery in Healdsburg.

Shaun O’Sullivan making faces, sandwiched between The Brewing Network‘s Justin Crossley and Daniela.

At Bear Republic’s new production facility in Cloverdale, the back part of the brewery houses several Bear Republic race cars, including this antique car.

Nico and Shaun in the wild outdoors of Cloverdale.

Shaun O’Sullivan and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River at Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa.

For more photos from the 21st Amendment Beer School bus trip, visit:

21st Amendment Beer School on the Bus, Pt. 1
21st Amendment Beer School on the Bus, Pt. 2

Save Gas, Take the Beer Bus

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Join us for Beer School on the Bus!

From the press release:

A brewpub crawl, Saturday, October 14th at 10a.m. until 10 p.m. through the fall colors of Marin and Sonoma counties, enjoy Oktoberfest Beer School and samples on the bus. We plan on visiting the following great breweries: Bear Republic Pub and Brewery, Russian River Brewing Co., Dempsey’s Restaurant and Brewery, Iron Springs Pub and Brewery and Marin Brewing Co.

Price includes bus fare, beer and beer school on the bus, first beer or bloody mary free at the 21A, PLUS lunch and first beer FREE at Bear Republic. The price is only $65 per person. Reservations in advance only. This event will sell out. Call today! 415-369-0900.

 

10.14

Beer School on the Bus

21st Amendment, 563 2nd Street, San Francisco, California
415.369.0900 [ website ]
10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.

Festival Announcement: Brews on the Bay

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This Saturday is the San Francisco Brewers Guild’s beer festival — their third one — and it will again take place aboard the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, the National Liberty Ship Memorial on Pier 45 of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Over 50 beers brewed in the city will be available for sampling.


 

9.9

Brews on the Bay (3rd annual)

SS Jeremiah O’Brien, National Liberty Ship Memorial, Fisherman’s Wharf – Pier 45, San Francisco, California
[ website ] [ tickets ]

Monterey Beer Fest Profiled in SF Chronicle

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Jeff Moses, who produces the Monterey Beer Festival, among several other Bay Area beer festivals, sent me this article about the festival that ran in San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, while I was still out of town vacationing with the family. It’s nice to see a beer festival get some good, positive press for a change.
 

Monterey Beer Festival Brew with a View
September 9, 12:30-5 p.m.
Monterey Fairgrounds, Monterey, California

Five Reasons to Keep Drinking Beer

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The Metro, San Jose’s alternative weekly might not be exactly mainstream, but when I lived in the area the years ago, it was a pretty good paper. This week’s edition features a short little column listing five recently discovered health benefits associated with drinking alcohol in moderation. These included a healthier heart, lungs, bone density, help in fighting cholesterol, and reducing the risk of a stroke.

Get Your Freak Out

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Tony Magee, the iconoclastic owner/brewer of Lagunitas Brewing has been a big Frank Zappa fan most of his life and this year marks the anniversary of the release of Zappa’s first album, the Mothers of Inventions’ Freak Out. Tony spoke with Frank Zappa’s widow, Gail Zappa (who runs the Zappa Family Trust), and obtained permission to use the colorful album cover on the beer label for their new Freak Out Ale. Very different in appearance from most Lagunitas labels, the beer nonetheless is in keeping with their rebel chic ethic. And as mentioned on the label, let’s not forget Frank Zappa’s most famous beer quote:

“You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline — it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.”

— Frank Zappa

Click on the label for a larger view.