Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Photo Gallery: Drake’s Summit Hop Festival

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Today was Drake’s 1st annual Beer Festival & Washoes Tournament in San Leandro. The festival involved 19 beers all made with the same hop — Summit — but with each brewery free to use whatever malt, yeast and water they wanted. Essentially, these were all single hop beers. I was fortunate enough to judge the beers and it’s certainly very interesting to see what different brewers will do with the same recipe and the same hop.

Rodger Davis, head brewer at Drake’s enjoys a pint of his own.

The judges. Clockwise from bottom left: Judy Ashworth, Bill Tarchala, me, Craig Cauwels of Schooner’s, David Hopgood of Stone, [I never did catch his name] and Paul Marshall, who ran the competition.

Brenden Dobel of Thirsty Bear, Rodger Davis from Drake’s and Arne Johnson from Marin Brewing.

Rodger Davis again, Dave Keene from the Toronado, Melissa Myers (also from Drake’s), James Costa from Moylan’s and beer enthusiast Motor.

The Washoes Tournament gets underway.

Craig Cauwels from Schooner’s and James Costa from Moylan’s.

Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River and Rich Norgrove from Bear Republic.

Alec Moss from Half Moon Bay Brewing with Vinnie Cilurzo and Dave Keene.

Christian Kazakoff and festival winner Daniel Del Grande from Bison Brewing.

Dave Keene and me.

Pyramid CEO Resigns

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Pyramid Brewing announced today that CEO John Lennon has resigned, effective immediately. The company is reporting that Lennon left to “pursue other business interests,” which is about a vague as you can get. He had been on the job only since last August, and before that he was with Beck’s. It will be interesting to see what finally comes out as the real reason for his departure, because in my mind these sort of things don’t play out like this unless there is a hidden agenda.

He will be replaced by board member Scott Barnum, who previously has worked for Pete’s Brewing and Miller. Barnum is a resident of the Bay Area and will apparently maintain offices both in Berkeley and Seattle.

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 ]

Bay Area Brewfest 2006

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Yesterday a new beer festival took place in the Bay Area. The Bay Area Brewfest was held at the County Expo Center in San Mateo, California and appeared to be a modest success. Attendance rumors were that around 1,200 people sampled the fifty or so craft and imported beers available at the festival. The music was very good and mercifully not too loud. For a first-time festival, the organization seemed outstanding. As I’ve said before, the Bay Area could really use a big outdoor festival to showcase the area’s wonderful and many contributions to the beer scene. Is this is? Not yet, but the potential is definitely there. I would have liked to see more local breweries there, but perhaps next year?

Even though attendance was good, it never felt crowded at the Expo Center, and there was plenty of parking.

Festival organizer Jeff Moses, who’s also GM of Coast Range/Farmhouse Brewing Co. of Gilroy, California.

Music was sponsored by the local radio station 107.7, The Bone, who had a stage with seating set up on one end of the festival area. You could hear the music throughout the festival, but it was never too loud, a rarity at these type of events.

Jeremy Cowan, of Shmaltz Brewing, shows off his new 10th anniversary brew Genesis 10:10.

J.J. Phair, owner of the award-winning E.J. Phair Brewing.

The wold looks rosier when seen through beer goggles.

Jack Curry, co-owner of the Prince of Wales, a San Mateo institution and great beer pub.

Fellow writers Lisa and Mike Pitsker, along with their son James, my table-mates at the festival.

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 ]

History’s Most Profitable Beer Run

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When Andrew Morbitzer went on a beer run to get his wife another beer and some peanuts at San Francisco’s AT&T Park on Sunday, he had no idea the lucky day he was about to have. As he waited in line, he heard the crowd roar and was sure he had missed Barry Bonds’ historic 715th home run putting him ahead of Babe Ruth and #2 on the all-time home run list behind Hank Aaron. But two fans above him missed catching the ball in the melee and it careened down the causeway and into the concession area behind the center field bleachers where Andrew was in line. He snagged the ball and was immediately surrounded by police and whisked away for safety. The ball could reportedly be worth as much as $100,000. Sadly, the reports did not include what kind of beer his wife wanted.

Gordon Biersch Releases Hefeweizen in Bottles

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Gordon Biersch has just released their German-style hefeweizen in 12-oz. bottles. Currently, they are available throughout northern California and parts of southern.

From the press release:

“Natural fermentation imparts distinctive notes of citrus and a magnificent effervescence, making our Hefeweizen the perfect beer for spring and summer,” said Dan Gordon, Gordon Biersch co-founder and director of brewing operations. “Hefeweizen has been one of our most popular seasonal draft brews for years. Crafted using traditional Bavarian brewing techniques and ingredients, it has a crisp taste and aromatic character that captures the essence of Bavarian-style unfiltered wheat beer unlike any other Hefeweizen on the market.”

Translated from German, Hefeweizen means “yeast and wheat.” Gordon Biersch uses a unique Bavarian yeast strain, 67% malted wheat and 100% Bavarian Hallertauer hops to achieve a fresh, effervescent beer with a distinctive flavor profile that includes hints of banana, bubble gum and clove. Naturally carbonated to a level 20% higher than most beers, it is a refreshing beer, perfect for warm weather.

Dan Gordon was the first American in more than 30 years to graduate from the prestigious five-year brewing engineering program at the world-renowned Technical University of Munich. Under his watchful eye, Gordon Biersch adheres to the strictest brewing standards in the world, using only the highest quality two-row malted barley, Hallertauer hops, and German yeast from Weihenstephan to brew its celebrated beers. In 1997, Gordon Biersch began bottling and distributing its famed brews with the opening of its 114,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art brewing and bottling facility in San Jose, California. The Gordon Biersch Brewing Company is now largest brewery in the Bay Area.

Lagunitas in Egg & Butter Parade

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Today I took my kids, Porter and Alice, to the Butter & Eggs Day Parade in Petaluma, California. My son has been going through a farm animal phase and we though he would get to see a lot of horses and other animals in the parade. What we didn’t count on seeing was a float from Lagunitas Brewing Co. of Petaluma, though I suppose we should have. They had a flatbed truck with a band playing and all sorts of merriment going on. When the parade ended they kept on driving down the street, not stopping until they reached the Buckhorn Saloon, where I finally caught up with them for a drink.

The Lagunitas Float.

Pat Mace, a salesman for Lagunitas at the Buckhorn Saloon after the parade.

Russian River Wins Triple Gold

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Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo, the owners of Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, California were beaming Friday night at the Gala Awards Dinner for the 2006 World Beer Cup. And with good reason, they’d won not only three gold medals but also World Beer Cup Champion Brewmaster and Brewery of the Year for Large Brewpub.

The three gold medals were for Temptation (in Category 48: Other Belgian-Style Ale), Blind Pig IPA (in Category 79: American-Style India Pale Ale), and Pliny the Elder (in Category 80: Imperial or Double India Pale Ale).

Vinnie and Natalie, with BA President Charlie Papazian, accepting one of their three golds.

Back on stage for the big award.

Natalie leans in for a celebratory kiss. Congratulations to Vinnie and Natalie and Russian River Brewing.