Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Titletown vs. Brooklyn

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If you’re a regular Bulletin reader, you probably already know I’m a huge Green Bay Packers fan. It’s really the only professional sports team I have any loyalty to whatsoever. I have rooted for other teams in other sports, but the Pack has been my number one team since I was literally for years old. So on Sunday, of course, they’re playing the New York Giants in the NFC Conference Championship Game, which will decide which team will play the New England Patriots (probably) in the Super Bowl on February 3.

It’s obviously a big game for both places where the teams are located and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Green Bay Mayor James J. Schmitt have placed a friendly wager with one another on the outcome of the game. The bet has been reported in both New York (in Newsday) and in Green Bay (on WBAY Channel 2).

If the Giants win, Mayor Schmitt will send Bloomberg a gift basket from “World Cheese Champion” U.S. Specialty Cheese, featuring 10 pounds of assorted cheese spreads; 20, 16-ounce aged natural strip steaks from Smithfield Beef; 3 pounds of chocolates from Beertsen’s Candies; and a pair of cheese wedge sunglasses.

If the Packers win, Mayor Bloomberg will send a specially made 10-pound New York-style cheesecake from Carnegie Deli in Manhattan; a case of Brooklyn Lager from Brooklyn Brewery; and 20 pounds of Porterhouse steak from Peter Luger Restaurant in Brooklyn, along with six bottles of Peter Luger steak sauce.

It’s nice to see Brooklyn Lager representing New York, but where’s the Wisconsin beer? Titletown Brewery is right there in town. How about a couple of growlers of Titletown’s Mediator, a Belgian Dopplebock. Hell, my friend Todd Ashman, who’s now with Fifty Fifty Brewing used to be the brewer there. There beers are decent, at least the few I’ve had a GABF. And I love their name.

If not Titletown, even though it seems the most appropriate, there are even three other breweries in Green Bay. There’s Green By Brewing, with their Hinterland Beer, also on Dousman, and then there are two Legends Brewhouse & Eatery locations.

In the end, it probably won’t matter because hopefully Green Bay will win the game and Mayor Schmitt (with his great beery name) won’t have to pay up at all, instead receiving a nice care package from New York City. Fingers crossed.

The Titletown Brewery on Dousman Street is located in an old Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Depot.

 

Chanukah vs. Christmas

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Saturday afternoon there was a fun little event at the fabulous new City Beer Store, dubbed Chanukah vs. Christmas — because marketeer extraordinaire Jeremy Cowan, founder of He’Brew, was behind it. Essentially it was just an opportunity to taste around thirty different winter beers, including He’Brew’s Jewbelation 10th Anniversary Ale (last year’s beer) and He’Brew’s Jewbelation 11th Anniversary Ale on Rye. Craig and Beth, who own City Beer Store, put on a great event and the place was packed.

As for the beer, it was nice to see that about a third of the beers were from Belgium and included a few I hadn’t tried before. Standouts among the imports included St. Feuillien’s Cuvee Noel, the Delirium Noel and, of course, Samichlaus.
 

City Beer Store owner Craig Wathen, holding a magnum of 1994 Anchor Christmas Ale, and Jeremy Cowan, holding a bottle of He’Brew’s 11th Anniversary Ale.

 

For more photos from the Chanukah vs. Christmas Beer Tasting, visit the photo gallery.
 

Anchor Christmas Bash 2007

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Last night was the annual Anchor Christmas Party at the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco. I’ve been going to this party for more than ten years now and it’s always a great event. Anchor puts on a terrific spread of food and all of the Anchor beers are available on tap, including this year’s Christmas Ale. The main floor of the brewery where the taproom is and the beautiful copper kettles are fills up with local beer industry people and other friends of the brewery.

My wife Sarah, beer chef Bruce Paton and Jen Garris, with New Belgium Brewing.

For more photos from this year’s Anchor Christmas Party, visit the photo gallery.
 

Happy Repeal Day

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Today is the 74th anniversary of the repeal of national Prohibition in the United States. Bob Skilnik has, naturally, the most complete account at his Beer In Food blog. His piece is called “National Prohibition; Its REAL Anniversary” and goes into great detail about the history swirling about at that time. It’s definitely worth a read.

In addition, Eugene, Oregon bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler has been leading an effort to make December 5 a holiday and he’s also set up a Repeal Day website. And Dewar’s is also running a Repeal Day promotion to celebrate the day (and sell some whisky, of course). Seems like a good idea to me, we can never have too many holidays to remind us what a bad idea Prohibition was, especially with the neo-prohibitionists of today trying so hard to bring about another one.

 

Revelers enjoying the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.
 

GABF 2007: Day 3, Friday

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Friday we finished judging at Noon and I rushed over to a media lunch with Lucy Saunders, Sam Calagione and Marnie Old. Then there was the Alpha King Challenge at Falling Rock along with some other events Chris Black had planned for us, including kegs of Sierra Nevada’s new Harvest Ale. After that, the Friday Night Session resumed at 5:30 and was as crowded as expected.

Past Alpha King winner Brendan Moylan, who owns both Marin Brewing and Moylan’s, downstairs waiting for the results of this year’s contest.

Chris Black also had as his guests the father and son brewers from Bosteels in Belgium.

Back at the Denver Convention Center, John Mallet, from Bell’s Brewing, shows he’s ready to strut his stuff at the disco (at right) with (from left) Bob Pease and Ray Daniels, both with the Brewers Association, along with British publican extraordinaire, Mark Dorber, who do not look quite ready for the dance floor. Though to be fair, Ray looks like he’s leaning into the idea.

 

For many more photos from Friday at GABF, visit the galleries for the Friday Daytime Events and the Friday Night Session.
 

GABF 2007: Day 2, Thursday

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Thursday morning began, not counting judging, with a quick trip to Great Divide Brewing‘s Hospitality Reception for brewers and the media. I’ve been going to their soirée for as long as I can remember. Then the first session began at the Denver Convention Center. The first session is not usually as crowded as later ones, but all four session sold out in advance, which is the first time that’s happened. As a result, Thursday night was every bit as packed as Friday and Saturday. New Glarus ran out of beer in less than three hours.

At the Great Divide Brewery on Arapahoe in Denver, the only couple to have both won Beer Drinker of the Year, Cornelia Corey and Ray McCoy.

At the Denver Convention Center, this year’s festival fittingly included tributes to Michael Jackson throughout, including this large banner that hung in the center of the hall.

The panelists from one of the “In the Brewing Studio” discussions, this one on women in brewing. From left: Carol Stoudt (from Stoudts Brewing), Jennifer Talley (from Squatter’s Pub Brewery), Natalie Cilurzo (from Russian River) and Teri Fahrendorf (formerly with Steelhead Brewing)

 

For many more photos from Thursday at GABF, visit the galleries for the Great Divide Reception and the Thursday Night Session.
 

GABF 2007: Day 1, Wednesday

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Each year, the night before GABF, the Brewers Association holds a reception at Wynkoop for the brewers and then afterwards the party continues just around the corner at The Falling Rock. Below are links to galleries from both parties. Look for additional photo galleries from the festival throughout the day.

At the Brewers Reception, Chris and Cheryl Black, owners of the Falling Rock, Mark Dorber, formerly the publican of the White Horse in London (and now owner of the Anchor, his new venture) and Glenn Payne, of Meantime Brewing.

Over at the Falling Rock, Greg Koch, from Stone Brewing, gets down, gets funky.

 

For more photos from the night before GABF, visit the galleries for the Brewers Reception and the Falling Rock
 

25 Years of California Brewpubs

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Thursday, September 13, marked the 25th of anniversary of the signing of the California bill — AB 3610 — which removed the “tied house” restriction then present in California prohibiting any person or company from brewing beer and selling it directly to the public. The new bill allowed beer to be sold where it was brewed, as long as the brewer also operated a restaurant at the same location. It was only the second brewpub law passed in the country at that time. The bill was written by then-state legislator Tom Bates, who is now the mayor of Berkeley.

California was home to three of the first five brewpubs in America. The second brewpub to open America (and the first in California) was the Mendocino Brewery in Hopland, California, which opened in August 1983. Mendocino Brewing has moved to a new facility in Ukiah and the Hopland location is now a bar, but the company is still going strong. The third brewpub in the U.S. was Buffalo Bill’s in Hayward, California, which opened in September 1984 and still a brewpub. And the fifth was Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley, California, which opened in March 1986. It’s also the only one still owned by the same people who started it.

Triple played host Thursday to a ceremonial signing of the bill by Tom Bates, who authored the original legislation. They also presented a proclamation — which I helped write — signed by state legislator for District 14, Loni Hancock.

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CSBA lobbyist Chris Walker reads a letter congratulating California small brewers from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Representative Loni Walker presents the state proclamation to Triple Rock owner — and CSBA president — John Martin.

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A close-up of the proclamation, which originally sough to declare the week beginning September 13 as California Craft Beer Week. Next year, with more lead time, we hope to make that an officially recognized holiday week for California.

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The brewpub bill’s author, Berkeley mayor Tom Bates, holds up a photo that ran in the Oakland Tribune 25-years before, of him celebrating the signing of Assembly Bill 3610.

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Then John Martin presented Mayor Bates with a specially made beer by Triple Rock brewer Christian Kazakoff. Wanting to make a truly California beer, Kazakoff brewed a California Common, better known as a steam beer. They called the beer AB 3610, in honor of the bill.

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The commemorative beer’s label art.

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Then mayor Tom Bates presented a framed copy of the original AB 3610, inviting everyone present to sign the mat.

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Everyone there also got a small glass of the commemorative beer and Mayor Bates led a toast to California’s beer industry.

Celebrate 25th Anniversary of California’s Brewpub Law

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This Thursday, September 13, marks the 25th of anniversary of the signing of the California bill — AB 3610 — which removed the “tied house” restriction then present in California which prohibited any person or company from brewing beer and selling it directly to the public. The bill allowed beer to be sold where it was brewed, as long as the brewer also operated a restaurant at the same location. It was only the second brewpub law passed in the country at that time. The bill was written by then-state legislator Tom Bates, who is now the mayor of Berkeley.

California was home to three of the first five brewpubs in America. The second brewpub to open America (and the first in California) was the Mendocino Brewery in Hopland, California, which opened in August 1983. Mendocino Brewing has moved to a new facility in Ukiah and the Hopland location is now a bar, but the company is still going strong. The third brewpub in the U.S. was Buffalo Bill’s in Hayward, California, which opened in September 1984 and still a brewpub. And the fifth was Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley, California, which opened in March 1986. It’s also the only one still owned by the same people who started it.

Join the California Small Brewers Association Thursday as we drink a toast to the law that changed our beer landscape for the better.

From the press release:

On September 13th at 5:00 pm, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates will join brew pub owners to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the California law that legalized brewpubs. The bill — AB 3610, authored by then-Assemblyman Tom Bates — was soon replicated around the country, creating the national brewpub industry and introducing millions of people to good beer.

The September 13th event will include a ceremonial “bill signing” by the owners of Bay Area Brew Pubs, an honor to Mayor Tom Bates for writing the legislation, and a special beer brewed just for the occasion by Triple Rock Brewery.

“In the early 1960s, I spent time in Germany as an officer in the U.S. Army. When I got home, I realized you couldn’t get a good beer in the United States,” said Mayor Tom Bates. “When a group of entrepreneurs and beer enthusiasts approached me about changing State Law to provide a market for smaller, craft breweries, I jumped at the opportunity. Every time I travel around the country, I am amazed to see the wonderful legacy of my legislation.”

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Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Brewpubs!

Triple Rock Brewery, 1920 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California
510.THE.BREW [ website ]