Sierra Nevada Brewing sells its beer in all fifty states, and has sold increasingly more over the last few years. Not surprisingly, there have been rumors circulating for some time about them building a brewery farther east, in such places as Tennessee and Virginia. It seems they had also identified a site in Black Mountain, North Carolina, which is near Asheville. Sierra Nevada had been considering building there “a beer facility and retail outlet that would employ as many as 140 people.” According to ABC Channel 13 in Western North Carolina, “[t]he company requested an interchange at Blue Ridge Road and Interstate 40. The Black Mountain town board asked the state to build it in hopes of luring the business but, it was not approved by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.” No word as to why the state would turn down the request.
Beer Birthday: Crazy Dave Heist
Today is also the 55th birthday of “Crazy” Dave Heist, former owner of Hoptown Brewing in Pleasanton, California. Dave was brewing at Santa Cruz Aleworks for a time, but is now happily retired, at least for the time being. Join me in wishing Dave a very happy birthday.
Out in front of The Bistro in Hayward at the 2008 Wood Aged Beer Festival. From left: Jeremy Cowan, owner of He’Brew, Judy Ashworth, Dave Heist, and Zak, also from He’Brew.
“Crazy Dave” at the Mammoth Lakes Bluesapalooza in 2007.
Kenny Gross and Dave last year at the Bistro’s Wood Aged Beerfest.
Damaged Lagunitas Brewing Equipment At The Dock
You may recall that earlier this month, the Lagunitas Brewhouse [Was] Destroyed At Sea. Lagunitas owner Tony Magee, through his Twitter Feed, just posted a number of new photos of the equipment as it arrived at the Port of Stockton this weekend. I’d say my usual “enjoy,” but it’s a little on the painful-to-see side.
The Lauter Tun at the Port of Stockton.
The most-damaged side.
A close-up of the damage.
And this is a shot of “the crane what done it,” that is smooshed the brewhouse lauter tun.
And yet another damaged piece of equipment.
Mastering The Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener
Curious how to properly use a butterfly beer opener? Not to worry, Lagunitas has your back. Watch and learn, grasshopper.
Bistro West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Fest Results
On Saturday, the 6th annual West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Fest took place at the Bistro in Hayward. 67 different barrel-aged beers were served to a packed house on a beautiful fall day. Festival goers voting for their favorites chose the following three for the People’s Choice Awards:
- Brette Davis Eyes, from Drake’s
- Rumpkin, from Avery Brewing
- Big Woody Barleywine, from Glacier Brewhouse
Congratulations to all the winners.
El Cerrito Brewpub Owner Injured By Police During Occupy Oakland
I was really hoping to avoid writing about the Occupy Oakland horrors currently going on in the city I used to call home. But last Thursday, Oakland Police apparently injured yet another war veteran — two tours, one each in Iraq and Afghanistan — simply trying to walk to his home, rupturing his spleen in the process and refusing him medical attention for eighteen hours! It turns out the man, Kayvan Sabeghi, is a co-founder of Elevation 66 Brewing, a new Bay Area brewpub which opened in nearby El Cerrito this past September. As a result of his beating, Sabeghi ended up in intensive care fighting for his life, but nobody knew about it until Friday, because the police that beat him bad enough to give him a lacerated spleen and a few broken ribs ignored his pleas for help, instead hurling insults at him and calling him a heroin addict, an alcoholic and a diabetic, none of which were true.
So that means the police injured not only another war veteran, but also a small business owner — in right wing parlance a “job-creator” — who according to what I’ve read posed no real threat to the peace at all. What’s perhaps most disturbing of all is the comments on news websites where many are suggesting his story is not true, or he deserved it or simply applauding the police for hurting him. That people can be so cruel is not exactly news to me, but it’s still pretty hard to stomach.
The Daily Kos posted a story, now updated three times, on Friday, which includes an interview with the victim’s sister. There are also reports on the UK’s Guardian, Reuters and the Huffington Post.
The El Cerrito Patch also covered the incident, as they’d previously written about his brewpub, Elevation 66, in Made-In-El Cerrito Beer: Elevation 66 Brewer Describes New Pub’s Approach. In addition to the brewpub’s website, their Facebook page also has updates about Sabeghi’s progress. Let’s all wish him a speedy recovery. And if you’re hankering for a beer, perhaps a trip to El Cerrito is in order.
Lagunitas Brewhouse Destroyed At Sea
Ouch. As many of you probably know, Lagunitas Brewing is in the process of installing a new 250-barrel brewhouse, but there may be a bit of a delay. Apparently the brewhouse was on its way to California, tied down on the top of the deck in the Caribbean, when a storm hit the cargo ship. As it “rolled back and forth by more than 40 degrees a crane came loose from its chains and crushed the brewhouse. The 30′ diameter lauter tun caught the blunt of the attack, and appears to be a total loss.”
The Bay Brewed: A Rock & Roll Beer Festival
This sure sounds like a fun new event. The San Francisco Brewers Guild along with City Beer Store and The Bay Bridged is putting on a beer festival and a music festival called The Bay Brewed, which is scheduled to take place on December 3, from 2-7 p.m. at San Francisco’s Verdi Club, located at 2424 Mariposa Street. Here’s some more info from the press release:
Presented in partnership with the City Beer Store and the SF Brewers Guild, a ticket to The Bay Brewed includes unlimited beer tastings from San Francisco Bay Area breweries including 21st Amendment, Anchor Stream, Beach Chalet, Lagunitas, Magnolia, Social Kitchen & Brewery, and Speakeasy, and musical performances from four excellent San Francisco bands: Weekend, Sleepy Sun, Extra Classic, and Terry Malts. Food will be available for purchase courtesy of Rosamunde Sausage Grill.
Christian Cunningham, General Manager of The Bay Bridged, explained the desire to create an event pairing local bands and local craft beers: “San Francisco’s music and beer scenes are both unbeatable when it comes to the talent and creativity of the people involved. The Bay Brewed is our way of bringing together people who like great music and people who like great beer for a unique event that couldn’t happen anywhere but San Francisco.”
Ticket prices are $45 and can be purchased online, or buy them at the door for $55. According to the ticket page, “[y]our ticket purchase includes performances by four great local rock bands — Weekend, Sleepy Sun, Extra Classic, and Terry Malts — and a commemorative mug that gets you unlimited beer tastings all day long from an array of awesome local breweries. In partnership with the City Beer Store and the SF Brewers Guild, you’ll be sampling beer from and meeting the brewers behind 21st Amendment, Anchor Stream, Beach Chalet, Lagunitas, Magnolia, Social Kitchen & Brewery, and Speakeasy, with more still to come.”
David Farnsworth From Lucky Baldwins Passes Away
David Farnsworth, who co-founded the well-known beer bar Lucky Baldwins in Southern California, passed away yesterday. The Full Pint has the full story, and a hat tip to Dr. Bill, who gave them the news. I only met David a couple of times, but used to talk to him on the phone regularly when I was with the Celebrator full-time. He definitely did a lot for the beer scene in California and will be missed. Raise a glass of Belgian beer tonight in his memory.
Beer In Art #145: Ben Sanders’ Beer Portraits
This week’s works of art are part of a series of “beer portraits” by a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, where he studied illustration & design. Ben Sanders lives in Los Angeles, where since graduating in 2009, he’s been involved in “a number of projects that include Illustration, Graphic Design, Large Scale Painting, Sign Painting, Sculpture, Book Design, and Book Binding.” There are nine paintings currently in the series, of which these are my favorites:
Orval
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Chimay
You can see the rest of the six paintings in the series at Sanders’ website and some of his non-beer work at his gallery.