The San Francisco-based band The Famous regularly plays the beer circuit and can frequently be seen performing at beer festivals and brewpubs around the Bay Area. They’re a terrific band. I’ve seen them several times, most recently at Vinnie Cilurzo’s 40th birthday party at Russian River Brewing. At Vinnie’s party, The Famous did a song created for the occasion, Pliny the Elder or The Pliny Song, an awesome little homage to the beer and the man it was named for. They’ve now recorded a studio version of it, and have created a music video to go along with it. Enjoy.
Celebrate Triple Rock’s 25th Anniversary Monday
Geez has time flown. Twenty-five plus years ago you weren’t even allowed to operate a brewpub in the State of California. Finally in 1983 that finally changed, thanks to some hard work and a lot of meetings. Shortly thereafter, the first two brewpubs in California opened, Mendocino Brewing and Buffalo Bill’s. The third opened 25 years ago come this Monday, March 14, 1986. It was started by the Martin brothers — John and Reid — who had both homebrewed in college. It originally opened under a name you may not be familiar with: Roaring Rock. Unfortunately, the folks from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who brewed Rolling Rock, thought the name was too close to their own, and so the Martins had to pick a new name. Eventually they settled on Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse.
Triple Rock when it opened in 1986.
This Monday, March 14, 2011, Triple Rock will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of opening its doors. Here’s what will be going on at the brewpub all day long:
In celebration Rodger has re-brewed “Brew #1,″ the first beer ever made in the Triple Rock system. Reid & John originally brewed it on Christmas Day 1985. On March 14th we will be pouring Brew #1 (a Pale Ale) all day for just $1.75 a pint (the original price for a pint in 1986). We will also tap a hopped-up cask version of Brew #1 at 5 pm. Kind of a “2011 hopping meets 1986 cask ale” beer. Come by and try both of them!
The kitchen will be serving some old-school items, such as our original Muffaletta sandwich. But no, you’re not going to have to go to the “window” to order your grub, like you did in ’86.
John & Reid will preside over the tapping of the cask, and maybe go for another round of arm-wresting (John lost to Reid at the Festivus celebration last Dec.) Join past & present TRB brewers, staff, and long-time regulars to toast The Rock’s 25 years of making beer!
We’ve also created a special anniversary tee-shirt that pays homage to our original name, ”Roaring Rock Brewery”. There will be just one small print run of this shirt, so you should get yours before they’re gone. But, if you are up on your trivia of the early days of Roaring Rock/Triple Rock — you just may win one!
Strong Women Brew Strong Beer
Just stumbled upon this awesome ad for Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. They’ve used the “Strong Women Brew Strong Beer” slogan on other artwork, but this new version by local illustrator Janet Allinger is the best yet. It has a “Rosie the Riveter” feel to it and according to her blog it will be used as a poster by the brewery. I hope they’ll have a version to buy in their online shop soon. I know at least a few brewsters who will probably want one for themselves.
Brewing TV Visits The Bay Area
A few months ago the good folks from Brewing TV in the wilds of Minnesota came for a visit to the Bay Area. Brewing TV is part of Northern Brewer Homebrew Supply. In addition to mail-order business, they also operate two homebrew shops in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Jon Weber, from Beer Obsessed acted as their guide as they visited the Marin Brewing Company, Triple Rock Brewery, Linden Street Brewing Company, Dying Vines Brewing along with some homebrewing with Nathan Smith. I met up with them at Marin Brewing where we talked more generally about beer in the Bay Area. Enjoy.
Beer Birthday: Jay Brooks
Today is my 52nd birthday, and I’ve again been overwhelmed by an embarrassment of riches from well-wishers sending me notes via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. My sincere thanks to one and all. As it’s usually me posting embarrassing photos of my friends and colleagues, for the third year in a row, here’s some howlers of me from over the years.
This hilarious photo we discovered literally yesterday in the bottom of a box of wrapping paper while my wife and the kids were wrapping my birthday gifts. I’m not entirely certain, but I believe this is from the 5th grade, when I would have been around 11, in 1970. Porter took one look at it and declared my haircut made me look just like Justin Bieber. He meant it as a compliment, but that’s not how I took it, of course. And how about that bow tie?
Another classic Easter photo. The girl is actually my aunt, by marriage, despite being a year younger than me. She was my stepfather’s little sister.
My 10th grade Winter dance. I know I should know her name, but damned if I can remember it. I recall her last name, but not her first. What is wrong with me?
Attending a wedding with my new girlfriend Sarah when she was a friend’s bridesmaid just a few weeks after we started dating, and a few years before we married.
At Woodstock ’94 with my friend Keith, who now lives near Greenwich, England.
There’s many more where these came from, for a good laugh just check out the photos from the last two years at Beer Birthday: J (Yes, Embarrasing Myself This Time) from last year and Beer Birthday Overkill, from 2009, when I posted a bunch encompassing my first 50 years on planet beer. Oh, and thanks once again for all the birthday wishes.
Brekle’s Brown Released By Anchor
This evening at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, the brewery released their newest beer, Brekle’s Brown, named for the very first brewer at the brewery that would eventually become Anchor, Gottlieb Brekle.
Mark Carpenter, Anchor’s brewmaster showing off his latest creation, Brekle’s Brown.
The beer is a beautiful bright mahogany, with a tan head. The nose is malty sweet, with nutty aromas that continue through to the flavor. With a dry finish, it’s nicely sweet on the palate, and belies its 6% a.b.v. Easily a session brown. Another great complement to the stable of Anchor beers.
I’ll have more later on the event later, but with just another half hour to go, I’m going to go have another beer before heading on to the next event.
SF Beer Week On ABC 7 TV
On Monday, Rich Higgins (Director of SF Beer Week) and I went on the local ABC affiliate’s afternoon show, 7 Live, to promote SF Beer Week. Rich brought two of his beers from Social Kitchen & Brewery. First, his White Thai Affair (9.5% a.b.v., an imperial Rapscallion with galangal and lemongrass) was paired with a Kale salad with clementines and a ginger garlic vinaigrette. Then his Giant S’mores (10.5% a.b.v., a Belgian Imperial Stout) was paired with Point Reyes Original Blue cheese. Lastly, I picked up some beer ice cream from Humphry Slocombe made with He’Brew’s Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. and brought bottles of the beer so they could taste the beer the ice cream had been made with.
It was a quick 3-4 minute segment, as is the nature of these things, but overall I think went well. Of the three 7 Live hosts, our segment was with Lizzie Bermudez, though both of the others did get into the act with Brian Copeland snagging one of the beers of the table and Jennifer Jolly trying the ice cream, too. We got the message out about SF Beer Week and, I think, opened their eyes a bit to beer with food. The cheese pairing went over particularly well and the ice cream was a big hit, too. And it was great fun for us.
Bistro Double IPA Winners 2011
Firestone Walker‘s Double Jack was chosen best in show at the 11th annual Double IPA Festival today at the Bistro in Hayward, California. The full winner’s list is below.
- 1st Place: Double Jack, Firestone Walker Brewing
- 2nd Place: Hopsickle XXXIPA, Moylan’s Brewing
- 3rd Place: Hopocalypse, Drake’s Brewing
- People’s Choice Award: Kern River Citra Double IPA
Anchor’s Newest Beer: Brekle’s Brown
The story of Anchor Brewery begins shortly after gold was discovered in nearby Sutter’s Mill. That’s when German brewer “Gottlieb Brekle arrived in San Francisco with his wife Marie and infant son Frederick.” In 1854, Brekle applied for U.S. citizenship and 1871 bought an old beer-and-billiards saloon near Russian Hill. That location became “a little San Francisco brewery on Pacific, between Larkin and Hyde,” and 25-years later was known as Anchor Brewery.
On February 16, Anchor will unveil it’s newest beer, an all-malt, single hop brown ale named for the original Anchor brewer, Gottlieb Brekle, who was brewmaster from 1871 to 1888. Brekle’s Brown will then be available on draft only at select locations throughout the Bay Area for the remainder of SF Beer Week from February 17-20. Look for it at better beer bars everywhere.
Pliny the Younger 2011
Yesterday was Pliny the Younger Day at Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, California. I arrived a little before eleven, and owner/brewer Vinnie Cilurzo let me in the back of the brewpub. The difference between last year’s release day and this year’s was immediately apparent. There was relative calm in the place, the bar was not three or four deep, with people pushing against the bar clamoring for attention. Perhaps most importantly, both Vinnie and Natalie seemed relaxed, too.
Last year, you may recall, Russian River sold out of of Pliny the Younger, their Triple IPA that’s released just once each year, in just eight short hours. The brewpub was filled to the gills and the staff was understandably stressed and exhausted. The main reason this happened last year was nobody expected so many people to order growlers, and having placed few restrictions on them, they continued to honor orders until the entire supply of beer ran out.
Having learned from last that experience, this year no Pliny the Younger growlers were permitted. They also managed the door and made sure it was never too crowded inside, which made for a much more enjoyable experience. A line of people that stretched down most of the block outside waited patiently for their turn to come inside. As people left, a new customer took their place so there was a steady stream of new patrons.
I actually thought this year’s Pliny the Younger was even better than last year. It seemed more balanced and the hop wallop wasn’t as vegetal or oniony as I remember it being last year. There is nothing quite like having it fresh from the source on the day it’s released. And this year, they’ve allocated enough beer so it will be available for at least two weeks, giving many more people a chance to try get some.
It will also begin appearing in select accounts around the Bay Area, so keep an eye on your favorite water hole. But act fast, last year kegs of Pliny the Younger kicked at some bars in a matter of hours.
Vinnie Cilurzo, me and Joe Tucker (from Rate Beer) enjoying a day at Russian River Brewing.
Below is a slideshow of Pliny the Younger Day. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.