Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

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I was fortunate enough today to have a preview taste — from the tank — of the newest beer from Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California. Bottling will likely begin next week and should be in stores shorty thereafter. The new beer is called Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale, a homage to the troubles Lagunitas has recently faced with the state ABC. And yes, they have already received label approval, believe it or not. As is common wth many beers from Lagunitas, it is quite singular and defies easy style classification. After discussing it with owner Tony Magee and trying a sample directly from the tank, the best way I can describe it is a well-hopped imperial mild! It’s around 10.2% abv and the alcohol presence is definitely felt as is the big hop character. But it has the light body of an English mild that’s easy drinking with a clean, refreshing finish. These seeming contradictions, however, work and the beer has great potential. It will be interesting to taste the finished product.

The label for Lagunitas’ newest beer.

Eye on the Bay Beer Program Airdate Moved to April 24

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Mark your calendars again and reset your Tivos. After last night’s debacle where the pinheads at KPIX decided to bump Eye on the Bay last night when the NCAA final went long so we could endure the full hour of mindless talking about a basketball game over and over again. Then instead of showing Eye on the Bay after that, a show which KPIX paid to produce, they instead showed a repeat of the pathetic sitcom Two and a Half Men. But I learned today that the program has been rescheduled for April 24 at 7:00 p.m. So let’s try this again:

On Monday, April 24, CBS’s affiliate in the Bay Area, KPIX Channel 5, will be featuring Bay Area Beer on its show Eye on the Bay. The show will feature home brewing with Homer Smith at the Oak Barrel in Berkeley, beer news with Tom Dalldorf at the Celebrator Beer News office in Hayward, segments from Buffalo Bill’s, The Bistro, Drake’s Brewing, and Beer Chef Bruce Paton. The website listing indicates a start time of 7:00 p.m. but it’s still after a basketball game, so you never now.

Bay Area Beer to Be Featured on KPIX Channel 5

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Mark your calendars and set your Tivos. On Monday April 3, CBS’s affiliate in the Bay Area, KPIX Channel 5, will be featuring Bay Area Beer on its show Eye on the Bay. The show will feature home brewing with Homer Smith at the Oak Barrel in Berkeley, beer news with Tom Dalldorf at the Celebrator Beer News office in Hayward, segments from Buffalo Bill’s, The Bistro, Drake’s Brewing, and Beer Chef Bruce Paton. The program will come on immediately following the NCAA Final Four Championship Game so consult your local listings. The website listing indicates a start time of 9:30 p.m. but because of the game it could be slightly later.

UPDATE (Apr. 3): It appears the pinheads at KPIX decided to bump Eye on the Bay last night when the NCAA final went long so we could endure the full hour of talking about the game over and over again. Then instead of showing Eye on the Bay after that, a show which KPIX paid to produce, they instead showed a repeat of the pathetic sitcom Two and a Half Men. I imagine it had something to do with advertising commitments, but it was very frustrating. Eye on the Bay is also shown every morning at 9:30 a.m. so it’s still possible it wll be shown then.

UPDATE (Apr. 4): They did finally air the show this morning at 9:30 a.m.

SF Chronicle Weighs in on Organic Bud

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Today’s San Francisco Chronicle, in the Thursday Wine Section, features an article entitled Brewing Behemoth Sneaks into Organics by staff writer Carol Ness. She begins by musing. “Organic Budweiser. What’s next, the hybrid Hummer?” Overall the article is pretty fair, although is does lean slightly on the side of the organic community. There’s a great quote in it by Ted Vivatson, co-owner of Eel River Brewing in Fortuna, where Ted doesn’t mince words.

In addition to the article, the Chronicle convened a tasting panel which tasted Wild Hop Lager blind against five other beers, three of which were also organic. Wild Hop Lager came in last. I had previously reported hearing rumors of authorization of Wild Hop Lager in Whole Foods, among others, but one of the people on the Chronicle’s tasting panel was Cyrus Kayvan, beer buyer for Whole Foods. After the tasting, Kayvan commented about Wild Hop’s future by saying. “Not in my store.“

Watermelon Funk: A Collaboration

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21st-amend russian-river
The fruit beer craze is definitely over, not that that’s a bad thing. Most of the remaining fruit beers are very worthwhile and quite tasty. Beers such as New Glarus’ Raspberry Tart, Unibroue’s Quelque Chose or Great Divide’s Wild Raspberry Ale spring to mind. But a local favorite has to be Shaun O’Sullivan’s Watermelon Wheat, that has become as much a sign of summer as the first robin is of spring. A ubiquitous sight at 21st Amendment during the warm weather, Watermelon Wheat is very refreshing with strong watermelon aromas and flavor from the many pounds of watermelon added to each batch.

Shaun has now given several barrels to Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River Brewing and he’s put them in oak barrels and sparked them with the Belgian yeast Brettanomyces. Nobody knows what this experiment will taste like, but I for one hope to be around when we find out. It should, at the very least, be quite interesting.

Photo Gallery: Celebrator 18th Anniversary Party

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The Celebrator Beer News held it’s 18th Anniversary Party Sunday evening at Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley, California. In addition to being a fun event, it was also for a worthy cause this year. A portion of the proceeds will reportedly be donated to Louisiana breweries through Abita and the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. The entire evening featured mardi gras touches from the green and purple decor to the ubiquitous beads to the evening’s opening act, a local cajun band. The second band was the Hysters, the crowd-pleasing big band of Anchor Brewery workers, and the final act was the Rolling Boil Blues Band. There were 50 beers from 15 breweries and food was prepared on site by Jeremy Sowers’ Emergency BBQ. Jeremy is also a local brewer, with gigs at Jack’s in Fremont along with Devil’s Canyon. Many of the Bay Area’s beer cognoscenti was on hand to enjoy the revelry, and we had a number of surprise guests from out of town, too. The Trumer folks were gracious hosts, providing a shuttle to and from the Shattuck BART station, along with much else. This was the second year this event was held at Trumer and it’s felling like home already for future anniversary parties.

Host for the evening Tom Dalldorf, publisher of the Celebrator.

Tim Blasquez and the gang from Sierra Nevada Brewing.

Bob Brewer from Anchor Brewery serves up the new Anchor Bock to Portland beer sage Fred Eckhardt.

Ed Chainey from Anderson Valley Brewing.

Kenny Gross with Ommegang.

Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing.

Jeremy Sowers from Emergency BBQ, who prepared the food for the event.

Kendra belts out a tune with the Hyster’s, the band made up of Anchor Brewery employees.

Some party-goers sat and enjoyed the beers.

While others danced to the music.

While still others talked with old friends. Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing with Chris Black, co-owner of the Falling Rock in Denver. Plus, it was Chris’ birthday.

Melissa Myers and Rodger Davis from Drake’s Brewing sandwich Cynthia Kralj, co-owner of the Bistro.

Jamie Jurado, Director of Brewing Operations for Gambrinus (and who own Trumer Brauerei) and Lars Larson, brewmaster of Trumer Brauerei.

Judy Ashworth, Fred Eckhardt and Lori Ashworth.

Beer chef Bruce Paton from Cathedral Hill Hotel and Pat Mace, from Lagunitas Brewing.

Roger Lind, the original Jolly Roger from Lind’s Brewing which is now Drake’s and Steve Altimari, brewmaster from Valley Brewing in Stockton.

Jen Garris, from Magnolia, and Matt Salie, from Big Sky Brewing.

L.A. Celebrator correspondent Don Erickson finds a quiet place to enjoy his barbecue and pulled pork.

The Rolling Boil Blues Band.

Boil front man Tom Dalldorf.

In true Mardi Gras fashion, the band throw beads to the audience.

Who shout for attention and for beads to thrown in their direction.

At the end of the evening, from left: Shaun O’Sullivan, from 21st Amendment, Fred Eckhardt, a woman who wanted this picture taken, me, Tom Dalldorf and a brewer from Brewmasters, whose name is now sadly lost to me.

Valentine’s Day Rejection: It’s Delicious

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Russian River Brewing’s Valentine’s Day seasonal beer is called Rejection, a name so perfect for the holiday that I thought I’d go there today with my sweetheart (in this case with my daughter Alice) and try a pint.

When I arrived, Vinnie and his assistant brewer, Travis, were in the middle of a bottling day, the third in a row of four scheduled. So after a brief chat, we excused ourselves and with Natalie, Vinnie’s partner in all things, Alice and I went back to the brewpub for a little lunch. While Alice gnawed on her yummy pizza, Natalie and I talked about this and that. I had only visited the brewpub once other than on its opening day almost three years ago. The place still looks great; open, airy and inviting.

Since I specifically came for the Rejection, I ordered a pint of it, which came in a tulip glass. It’s a Belgian-style black ale, and is surprisingly mild given its name and the fact that roasted malt is used. But in fact Vinnie uses de-bittered black malt. This is a special malt that uses an evaporative process that makes it much less astringent than your average black malt.

This is the second year Russian River has brewed Rejection. The name came from Tomme Arthur, brewmaster at Pizza Port Solana Beach in San Diego who had an epiphany a few weeks before Valentine’s Day last year and rang up Vinnie to give him the idea. Vinnie looked around to see what he had around the brewery and rejection was born. This year’s, with slightly more planning time, uses a different yeast but is otherwise the same as the original. It’s 6.1% abv but tastes lighter than that.

Rejection has dark black color with a generous tan head and light nose with malty sweetmess. Clean, malty flavors with mildly sweet notes that are never cloying. There are delightfully subtle undertones of jam and plums. It has a wonderful mouthfeel and a very clean finish. If this is what rejection tastes like, give me more.

Russian River owner/brewer Vinnie Cilurzo with his assistant Travis and Brian Hunt, owner/brewer of nearby Moonlight Brewing who had stopped by for a visit today.

Marin Brewing Up a Quadruple

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Arne Johnson, brewmaster at Marin Brewing Co. in Larkspur, California (and the winner of this year’s Bistro Double IPA Festival), told me on Saturday that he’s brewed his first quadruple and that it’s in the tank now. He anticipates it will be available at the pub in about six weeks. That would be the week of March 26, the last week of the month. Mark your calendars, it should be worth waiting for.

Photo Gallery: 6th annual Bistro Double IPA Festival

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The 6th annual Double IPA Festival was February 11 at the Bistro in Hayward, California. It looked to be their biggest crowd yet for the popular event that highlights Double IPAs, one of the newest beer styles. A healthy percentage of the local beer cognoscenti was on hand to support the event and the extremely hoppy Double or Imperial IPA style.

 

A sign above the bar announces the beginning of Beerapalooza and the Double IPA Festival.

Inside the Bistro at peak festival time.

Bistro co-owner Cynthia Kralj shows off the festival t-shirts.

Rodger Davis of Drake’s and Arne Johnson of Marin Brewing enjoy a beer out front in the warm sunshine.

Shaun O’Sullivan of 21st Amendment and me, also outside along the side wall.

Bistro co-owner Vic Kralj and Dave Keene, owner of the Toronado. (Note Cathedral Hotel beer chef Bruce Paton accidently lurking over Dave’s shoulder.)

Shaun O’Sullivan gracefully accepting his third place award on behalf of 21st Amendment.

Arne Johnson accepting the first place award on behalf of Marin Brewing.

Vic presents the People’s Choice Award to Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing.

Natalie toasts the crowd.

The winners who were present for the award ceremony, from left: Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo, Shaun O’Sullivan and Arne Johnson.