Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

Don Younger In Hospital

By

horse-brass
Don Younger, owner of the Horse Brass in Portland, has been the subject of numerous rumors today throughout the Twitterverse. I wanted to find out what’s really going on so I called a friend in Portland who’s close to the situation, and here’s what I’ve learned.

Don fell last week and broke his shoulder, and was taken to the hospital. Because of numerous medications he’d been on and the health of his lungs, doctors have him on a respirator and are keeping him for observation. The prognosis does not appear favorable and there apparently isn’t much that the doctors can do except watch, and wait, at least for now. Don’s a tough customer, and has as strong a will as anyone I’ve known, so I’m hoping that will see him through this. It looks like we should know more in the next few hours or days.

Please join me in sending your prayers and positive thoughts Don’s way. Drink a toast to Don’s health. I’ll update this as new information becomes available.

UPDATE: John Foyston has more information up at the Oregonian.

younger-porter
Don with my son Porter when he was a toddler at the Rogue Alehouse in San Francisco.

younger-dalldorf
Don sharing a beer with me and Tom Dalldorf at the Celebrator offices a number of years ago.

Our Kids Ain’t Learning Too Good

By

Marin-I
Did you know that words can have more than one meaning? Pretty elementary stuff, you’d think. Unless, of course, you can use ignorance to create propaganda for your cause. This one might be funny, if it wasn’t presented so seriously. I can almost understand that the kids of Roseburg, Oregon might be confused, but their parents and the Marin Institute should feel at least a little embarrassed.

Here’s what happened. The Marin Institute today accused Anheuser-Busch InBev of targeting families by advertising “Family Packs” of beer for sale around the town of Roseburg. A youth group there, apparently confused, sent photos of the ads to the Marin Institute who promptly went on the attack.

Bud-Family

Here’s some of the rhetoric inspired by these ads:

“We knew that the Anheuser-Busch InBev marketing team was willing to stoop low, but this time they’ve really outdone themselves.”

“Cheaper than Capri Sun, it makes a perfect addition to a brownbag lunch for preschoolers and teenagers alike!”

Busch-Family

And here’s the final volley:

How does Anheuser-Busch InBev think they can get away with this? Maybe they figure if they keep it in local communities, next to your kids’ school (as opposed to say, on national TV during the Super Bowl), they won’t get caught. All the while, of course, proclaiming all the wonderful work they do to counter underage drinking with useless educational brochures. Sorry, Bud – you’re not fooling anyone.

Except that ABI isn’t advertising “Family Packs,” they’re advertising “24 Pack Cubes” and “30 Packs” of the “Bud Family” and “Busch Family.” Notice in the Bud ad, the two statements are on separate lines, “Bud Family” on one line, then “24 Pack Cubes” on the second. By “Bud Family,” ABI means the family of products under the “Budweiser label, which are:

The Bud Family

  • Budweiser
  • Bud Light
  • Budweiser Select
  • Bud Light Lime
  • Bud Light Golden Wheat

In the Busch ad, it’s on three lines. In this case, it includes the following beers:

The Busch Family

  • Busch
  • Busch Light
  • Busch Ice

Nobody’s trying to fool anybody. The ads are pretty clear if you know how to read and understand what words mean in context. Somebody really needs to buy the Marin Institute a copy of Eat, Shoots & Leaves. I don’t know the ages of the kids in the local “youth group,” so I can forgive them, but at some point an adult they encountered should have had enough book learning to point this out to them.

As to the fact that they accuse ABI of being “willing to stoop low” and declare “this time they’ve really outdone themselves,” all I can do is shake my head and think — yet again — this is such a perfect example of “the pot calling the [brew] kettle black.”

Ominous Sign For The Future of Rock Bottom’s Beer

By

rock-bottom
I’d been hearing rumors about how the merger between Gordon Biersch and Rock Bottom was going, and the news wasn’t all good. I’d heard there had been few changes for Gordon Biersch brewers, but that life was getting more difficult for Rock Bottom’s brewers, who were used to having a certain amount of freedom to choose what they brewed. It probably didn’t help that Allen Corey, who had been running Gordon Biersch, became President and CEO of the newly merged company consisting of both brewpub chains, plus a third chain. One chain’s philosophy was bound to be favored over the other.

That all seems to have come to a head, as John Fosyton reports in the Oregonian, the Portland Rock Bottom’s celebrated brewer, Van Havig, has been “asked to leave” the company. Havig had been brewing for Rock Bottom for 16 years and consistently brewed some of the best beer I’ve had at any brewery. Foyston speculates that Havig may have been shown the door for publicly voicing his concerns with the direction the company had been taking since the merger, and primarily the loss of freedom for the brewers, for the first time imposing standardization. That was one of the hallmarks of Rock Bottom, their independence, and was the reason they won so many awards at GABF over the years. That they’re now apparently losing that independence can’t be a good sign for the future of the chain’s beers, if not the chain itself.

But the real loss is Havig. Van’s a terrific brewer and not having him brew for Rock Bottom makes them all the poorer. If you know about a brewing job, preferably in Oregon, drop John Foyston a note and he’ll see that Van gets it.

Binge Drinking Excuses From The OLCC

By

olcc
Just in time for New Year’s Eve — a.k.a. Amateur Drinking Night — the OLCC has released yet another PSA, this one featuring the message “Binge Drinking Doesn’t Start With A Drink. It Starts With An Excuse.” The video lists four presumably common excuses for drinking too much, though frankly I’ve never heard another living soul say them, not even a variation of them. I’m not saying the excuses aren’t something to avoid — they are — but they don’t seem all that reasonable to me. Perhaps I don’t hang around with enough binge drinkers, despite theoretically being one myself (at least at every five-course or more beer dinner I attend, since the federal definition is absurdly five drinks in a row). As a result, like their other PSAs, it appears well-meaning but unintentionally a little funny. I’m of the opinion that people who want to binge drink don’t need any made-up excuse. They do so for their own reasons, no excuse necessary.

And frankly, this needs to be said. If someone wants to drink a little too much on occasion — such as a holiday celebration — I say they should be able to, provided they don’t drive or otherwise put others at risk. As the saying goes, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”

The OLCC’s “How To Throw A Party”

By

olcc
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) has produced a couple of PSA videos about safe drinking during the holiday season. The latest, How To Throw A Party is hilarious. With wonderfully cheesy music, faux grainy 8mm school film quality, and purposely groovy language it manages to get across a relatively good message about safe drinking over the holidays and even includes some decent party tips. Enjoy.

A week earlier, the OLCC debuted Safe Oregon Holidays. While not quite as retro as How To Throw A Party, it does still include a few gems.

Not to be snarky, but I especially love the designated driver … on horseback. Are they suggesting that’s how she’ll transport her drunk friends home?

Beer In Art #105: Arthur Runquist’s Homesteaders

By

art-beer
This week’s work of art comes courtesy of Eric Steen, who also writes the beer blog Beer and Sci-Fi. We got to talking about beer and art during the recent Beer Bloggers Conference in Boulder last month and Eric told me the story of how the Portland Art Museum commissioned him to do an art & beer project the last two years as a part of their Shine A Light, a non-traditional one-night experience showing art in a different light. For the project, Steen “invited three breweries to tour the museum. They each selected an art piece and then brewed beer inspired by that artwork. For the first Shine A Light exhibition in 2009, Chad Kennedy, from Laurelwood Public House & Brewery, chose Homesteaders, by Arthur Runquist, which was painted in 1939.

Arthur_Runquist-Homesteaders

Homesteaders is an oil painting, on canvas, 38.5 in. wide by 32.5 in high and is the Fine Arts Collection, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration. It was created as a part of the WPA, or the Works Progress Administration, back in the day when the government actually cared about art and supported it. Today, the painting is owned by the Portland Art Museum.

For Steen’s art & beer project, he curated his concept by putting together art with beer to fulfill his concept of the two being paired together.

chad-kennedy-laurelwood
Chad Kennedy with the beer he made, inspired by Homesteaders, that was served for free to museum guests. (photo by Vivian Johnson)

As Kennedy explained his choice of the Homesteaders:

Homesteaders by Arthur Runquist drew me in for several reasons. The simplest and perhaps most obvious connection between my beer brewing and this painting was the corked bottle sitting on a log in the foreground of the painting. While this piece is about the hard work and perseverance of pioneers and laborers (this is a WPA funded piece), the bottle in the forefront signals the rewards of hard work – this is very similar to how I see our beers’ role in society.

Secondly, the subjects in this painting are working as a team to achieve a common goal. As a small brewery this reminds me of our work environment. Not only are we a small team of brewers, but as craft brewers, we’ve made the conscious choice of striking out on our own; sometimes taking big risks in hope of new experience, and if we’re lucky others will follow us and the journey will be a benefit for the greater good — In our case, making our beer culture stronger, moving away from mass marketed, lifeless beer.

Drawing inspiration from Homesteaders meant designing a beer that was out of the ordinary, took chances and struck out on its own. I considered the historical perspective of the painting and decided to utilize some non-traditional brewing ingredients – ingredients that likely would have been used by people in the painting to create a drink to help them relax when all the work was done.

Our beer still uses malted barley, but also contains malted wheat, corn and molasses for sources of sugar to ferment. In a nod to the fermentation vessels of the paintings day — we added a small dose of American oak to the fermented beer giving it a slight “woody” character. The beer doesn’t fall into a style but tries to take us flavor-wise to a place we’ve never been. In doing so, I hope the beer, as well as the painting, take you on a unique and inspiring journey.

In the video below, local artist Carson Ellis gives a short talk about Homesteaders, by Arthur Runquist.

To learn more about Runquist, the Laura Russo Gallery has a biography and a small gallery of his work.

Keeping The Bitter In Beer

By

hop-leaf
My friend, John Harris, the brewmaster for Full Sail Brewing in Mt. Hood and Portland, Oregon, has some cool t-shirts he’s created. I think you’ll want one or more of them for yourself. He brought a few of his latest ones along with him when we judged together at GABF. I bought one on the spot and thought I’d share them.

The shirt is perfect for hop lovers with the legend “Keeping the Bitter in Beer” with the chemical formula for humulone, C21H30O5, one of the main bittering compounds.

keeping-bitter-1

And here’s what it looks like as a shirt. You can get your very own for $20 (shipping included) and you can order one online at Bonds That Please

keeping-bitter-2

His other shirt is the chemical formulas for both alcohol and caffeine, the “Bonds That Please.” It’s also $20 (shipping included) and can be purchased online at Bonds That Please.

keeping-bitter-3

Beer In Art #90: Louie Van Patten & Cara Thayer’s Collaborative Beer Paintings

By

art-beer
Today’s paintings are part of an exciting new project by a married couple working collaboratively on their Beer Paintings. Louie Van Patten is from Des Moines, Iowa but studied painting in Central Oregon. His wife, Cara Thayer, learned her craft at the Art Institute of Chicago, but she’s originally from Bend, Oregon, and that’s where the pair now make their home. Their regular art, showcased at The Gryllus has been exhibited in Bend and from Palo Alto to Vancouver. But being in Bend, home to Deschutes, “phenomenal beer is unavoidable and is bound to convert anyone who tries it,” as was the case with Thayer and Patten. So they decided to combine their love of good beer with their art, and the result is the newly launched Beer Paintings project. The very first painting was done for their local beer store, The Brew Shop.

Patten_Thayer-stilllife1

They’ve also been painting bottles, cans and crowns. Here’s a representative sample below.

Patten_Thayer-oldrasputin
North Coast’s Imperial Stout Old Rasputin.

Patten_Thayer-tenfidy
Oskar Blues’ imperial stout Ten Fidy.

Patten_Thayer-3floyds
A crown from Three Floyds Brewing.

I asked Patten about the beer paintings.

These beer paintings have been somewhat of a side project, with our regular, very different body of work being the paintings at The Gryllus. Craft beer has always been a huge part of our painting ritual and one of our biggest interests outside of art. We did the first painting as a gift to The Brew Shop, but we found there was something really enjoyable about merging our hobby of collecting and drinking craft beers with our full-time painting practice. There is also something we like about the idea of an un-ironic contemporary still-life, especially in the case of painting something like Oskar Blues’ Ten Fidy, with canned beers typically being derided for their aesthetics. Ultimately, these paintings are about externalizing the beer drinking experience into something that can be enjoyed when you can’t imbibe. We like the idea of giving people who are passionate about good beer another way to show it, with the dignity it deserves.

And here’s their most recent painting, featuring some more really great beers, including a few local ones to me.

Patten_Thayer-stilllife2

Widmer’s Craft Brewers Alliance To Buy Kona Brewing

By

kona-white
The Oregonian is reporting that the Craft Brewers Alliance (essentially Widmer, with RedHook and distribution of Goose Island and Kona) will purchase Kona Brewing for $13.9 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Kona will become a “wholly owned subsidiary” and Mattson Davis will remain at the helm, with brewing for the mainland continuing to be done at Widmer and RedHook breweries.