Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer Birthday: Mark Ruedrich

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Today is the 74th birthday of Mark Ruedrich, co-owner, and original brewer, of North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg. Mark was a marine biologist who discovered good beer while living in England. Looking for a spot to build a brewery in Northern California, he was drawn to the tidal pools around Fort Bragg, and built a mini-beer empire there beginning in 1988. His Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout was one of the first truly great world-class beers made by early American microbreweries and helped put the nascent industry on the map. Plus he’s great fun to share a pint with. He’s retired now from the brewery, but his legacy continues to pour great beer. Join me in wishing Mark a very happy birthday.

A promotion shot of Mark in front of the old brewery with the new facility across the street in the background.
North Coast brewer Ken Kelley with Mark at the brewery a few years ago.
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Mark with North Coast co-owner Tom Allen at GABF in 2006.

Beer Birthday: Vinnie Cilurzo

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Today is the 55th birthday of Vinnie Cilurzo, founder and brewmaster at Russian River Brewing. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know Vinnie is one of the best brewers in America and is credited with having made the first Imperial IPA. Along with his partner Natalie, his Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa, California won unprecedented back-to-back best brewpub (and brewmaster) awards at the World Beer Cups in 2006 and 2008, and their flagship Pliny the Elder has been picked as the best beer in America by AHA members seven years in a row, but was finally bested last year by Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, after which Vinnie sent Larry Bell and crew a case of Pliny. Vinnie is one of the nicest people in the industry you’ll ever meet. Last fall, they opened their new production brewery in Windsor, which is an amazing space. Join me in wishing Vinnie a happy birthday.

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Vinnie and his wife Natalie from presented to Tom Dalldorf (middle), owner of the Celebrator, a Balthazar of their yummy Damnation Ale in honor of the magazine’s 17th anniversary. A Balthazar is 12 liters or contains about 16 normal bottles of beer.
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Dave Keene, owner of the Toronado, Natalie Cilurzo, Dave’s wife Jennifer and Vinnie at CBC in Seattle.
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Garrett Oliver, brewer at Brooklyn Brewing Co., and Vinnie at the Brewer’s Dinner the night before GABF begins.
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Vinnie and Rich Norgrove from Bear Republic at the Summit Hop Festival a few years ago at Drake’s.
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Vinnie with his wife and Russian River co-owner Natalie at GABF in 2009.
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Vinnie and me his 40th birthday party at the brewpub several years ago.
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And again several years ago at the Firestone Walker Invitational, sharing some frites.

Beer Birthday: Travis Smith

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Today is the 46th birthday of Travis Smith, who was a co-founder of Societe Brewing Co. in San Diego. Before that, Travis brewed at Russian River Brewing for a number of years, before moving south, where he brewed at both The Bruery and the La Jolla Brewhouse. His brewery quickly became one of the destination spots in San Diego, and his beers are especially tasty, standing out in the area surrounded by numerous great breweries. More recently, Travis left Societe and is currently the brewmaster at the Lazy G Brewhouse in Prescott, Arizona.  Join me in wishing Travis a very happy birthday.

Travis “MacGyver” Smith showing off the cork gun he made with spare brewing parts lying around the Russian River brewpub. It shot a beer cork a pretty fair distance and would pierce cardboard at 100 feet.

Patrick Rue & Travis Smith, from The Bruery
Travis with Patrick Rue, from The Bruery, at GABF in 2009.


Agostino Arioli, from Birrificio Italiano in northern Italy, with Vinnie Cilurzo and Travis, at Russian River Brewing in 2008 working on a fun collaboration beer, La Fleuette.
Travis behind the handmade redwood bar at Societe a few days before they opened.

Beer Birthday: Steve Grossman

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Today is the 72nd birthday of Steve Grossman, a former Beer Ambassador at Sierra Nevada, and co-founder Ken Grossman’s older brother. “Steve grew up in Southern California, where he and his younger brother Ken learned about the art of home brewing. Steve continued to homebrew throughout college, and when Ken founded Sierra Nevada in 1980, Steve’s passion for craft beer was immediately put to good use. In the early years of the brewery, he helped establish the Southern California distribution network, and was involved in direct sales. For a time, Steve worked with Sierra Nevada’s international export program, and served as an ambassador and spokesperson for the brewery both domestically and abroad. Steve was also the director of the brewery’s wildly popular Beer Camp, which brings people to Sierra Nevada for a unique and intensive hands-on beer education.” Steve was a terrific ambassador not just for Sierra Nevada but for craft beer more generally, though more recently he’s retired and enjoying his golden (ale) years. Join me in wishing Steve a very happy birthday.

Sierra Nevada head brewer Steve Dressler with Steve at GABF in 2006.

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Steve manning the Sierra Nevada bike bar at GABF in 2010.
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Steve checking out some hops at Beer Camp #93.
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Steve at an event at Four Point Sheraton in L.A. (purloined from Facebook)

Historic Beer Birthday: Alec Moss

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Today would have been Alec Moss’ 81st birthday, but unfortunately he passed away in early September several years ago. I first got to know Alec when I worked with him on some private label contract beers I did for BevMo when he was head brewer at the now-defunct Golden Pacific Brewery in Berkeley. Alec then spent some time at Redbird Brewing before moving to the coast to be head brewer at the picturesque Half Moon Bay Brewing, but he retired several years ago, although he was coaxed back for a time to work part-time for Anchor Brewing, building them a pilot system. Every time I saw him he seemed to be enjoying his retirement enormously, but then he unexpectedly fell ill. Join me in drinking a toast to Alec’s memory tonight.

Alec and me yesterday at his 70th birthday party at the Tornado.
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Alec in the brewhouse at Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.
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At the Toronado for He’Brew’s release party. From left: Alec, Pete Slosberg, formerly of Pete’s Wicked Ales, Jeremy Cowan of Shmaltz Brewing and Rodger Davis, now with Triple Rock Brewing.
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Alec with Tom Dalldorf at the 2011 Anchor Christmas party.
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Several years ago at the Breastfest in San Francisco, from left: Alec, Jeff Botz, Arne Johnson, Betsey Hensley, Vinnie & Natalie Cilurzo and Abalone Rob Mika.

Beer Birthday: Arne Johnson

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Today is my friend Arne Johnson’s 60th birthday — The Big 6-O. Arne was the head brewer at Marin Brewing in Larkspur, California, until it closed last year, and then was brewing at their sister brewery in Novato, Moylan’s Brewing, until Brendan closed that, as well, not too long ago. Arne makes some great beers and is a terrific person to boot. And he and some friends opened The Cooler in San Leandro, though that’s also been closed recently. More recently, Arne announced he’s accepted a position as brewmaster for Rockaway Beach Brewery in Pacifica. Join me in wishing Arne a very happy birthday.

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Arne and me earlier today at a birthday party for a mutual friend at the Toronado.
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Arne and me at the Brewer’s Dinner at GABF in 2006.
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Arne relaxing with a few barleywines at the Toronado Barleywine Festival.
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Rodger Davis of Triple Rock and Arne enjoy a beer out front in the warm sunshine at the Bistro’s Double IPA Festival.
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Arne Johnson and Melissa Myers, formerly with Drake’s Brewing, at the Boonville Beer Festival.

Beer In Ads #5013: T. & A. Goux Bock

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Monday’s ad is for Bock Beer, though who’s bock is unclear, at least I can’t make it out. The ad was published on July 1, 1899 and was for T. & A. Goux Resale and Wholesale Liquor Dealers of Santa Barbara, California. They were a liquor dealer founded by Thomas and Augustin Goux, whose father had emigrated to the U.S. to work at the French Consulate in Los Angeles. They appear to have been in business from 1890 to 1905. This ad ran in The Independent, also of Santa Barbara, California.

Beer In Ads #4998: Maier’s Bock Beer

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Saturday’s ad is for Maier’s Bock Beer. The ad was published in 1912. This one was for the Maier Brewing Co., which was located in Los Angeles, California and was originally founded in 1874, though they were known by a variety of names, using Maier Brewing from 1907-1971. This ad ran in the Los Angeles Evening Post Record, also of Los Angeles, California.

Beer In Ads #4993: Bock Beer Is A Glad Spring Beverage

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Monday’s ad is for Wahl’s Bock Beer. The ad was published on June 9, 1917. This one was for Hollister Brewery of Hollister, California, which was originally founded around 1897 by Adolph Wahl (although he appears to have been born Frederick Adolf Wahl). This ad ran in The Hollister Free Lance, also of Hollister, California.

Beer In Ads #4968: Bock Beer At The Owl

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Tuesday’s ad is for 5-¢ Bock Beer in “a glass drawn straight from the wood” and was published on May 13, 1933. This one was not for a specific brewery, but the Owl Cabaret and the A.B.W. Club, which was located in Mexicali, Mexico. This ad ran in The Imperial Valley Press, of El Centro, Canada.