Dave Burkhart, Anchor Brewing‘s resdient historian, put together a great little video all about the connection between beer and baseball in San Francisco, along with its rich history, of course. The video brings to mind this great quote, by Peter Richmond. “Beer needs baseball, and baseball needs beer — it has always been thus.”
Date Announced For 2013 Brews On The Bay
The San Francisco Brewers Guild today announced the date for this year’s Brews on the Bay beer festival aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien, docked at Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf. This marks the 10th anniversary of the festival, which will take place on Saturday, October 19, from Noon to 5:00 p.m. According to the press release:
Enjoy over 50 different beers made by San Francisco breweries, while soaking up the salty air, sunshine, live music, food, and spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and San Francisco.
This year’s event is shaping up to be our biggest and best yet. Although we’re still finalizing some of the details, you can expect our member breweries to serve unlimited eight ounce pours of their latest and greatest IPA, farmhouse ale, session beer, barrel-aged sour, imperial stout, and many other beer styles. The brewers will also be on hand to answer any questions about your favorite beers.
In addition to the local beer, we’re going to serve up local food and music. San Francisco’s best food trucks will line the pier to fill your mouth-watering needs. We’ve also enlisted The Brothers Comatose to play their lively roots music on the ship’s deck.
Brews on the Bay tickets will go on sale August 5th at 10:00am.
Anchor Brewing Announces Zymaster #4: Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale
Anchor Brewing announced today the 4th beer in heir Zymaster series. This latest offering — Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale — is a beer made with local herbs from nearby Fort Ross, which is located along the coast in Sonoma County. This sounds like an interesting beer. I can’t wait to try it.
Here’s the full story, from the press release:
Over 200 years ago, ninety miles up the coast from San Francisco, the Russian American Company built a stockade that became known as Fort Ross. It was home base for Russia’s fur trade and, in the 1820s and ’30s, supplied the Russian colony of New Archangel (now Sitka) with grain from “bread plants” like wheat and barley. The farms were small and the harvesting primitive. Reaping was done with sickles and threshing by driving horses over the sheaves.
Among the native plants at Fort Ross is a perennial evergreen shrub, prized by the local Indians for its healing powers, whose purple flowers bloom from May to early July. The Spanish missionaries called it Yerba Santa or Holy Herb. Our Zymaster® Series No. 4: Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale is inspired by the wheat, barley, and Yerba Santa at Fort Ross and the hardy souls who harvested them. Fermented with a local saison-style yeast, this unique brew celebrates the history and flora of Northern California like no other.
Our Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale (7.2% ABV) is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale with a California twist. The unique bitterness and earthy spiciness of Yerba Santa, a native California herb, perfectly complement the fruitiness and clove-like flavors created by a local saison-style yeast. And in addition to hops, barley malt, and wheat malt, we used toasted Belgian wheat malt, which gives our Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale its distinctive maltiness and burnished bronze color.
Zymaster Series No. 4: Fort Ross Farmhouse Ale will be available in draught and 22-ounce bottles and will be poured in select bars and restaurants throughout the United States, as well as the Anchor Taproom, starting June 2013.
Mateveza/Samuel Adams Collaboration Beer Being Released Tonight
Tonight from 6-9:00 p.m. at Cervecería de MateVeza, located at 3801 18th Street in San Francisco, there will be a beer-tasting of a new collaboration beer. Here’s the story:
Samuel Adams and MateVeza will come together to celebrate and introduce their limited-release collaboration beer, Boston Tea Party Saison. The unique brew combines MateVeza’s signature ingredient — yerba mate tea — and Samuel Adams’ one-of-a-kind Kosmic Mother Funk (KMF).
After completing a Brewing and Business Experienceship, an extended craft brewing mentoring program offered by Samuel Adams, MateVeza founder Jim Woods teamed up with his mentor to create a unique collaboration beer. The Experienceship is offered to craft brewers as part of Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, a micro lending and coaching program available to food, beverage and hospitality small business owners as well as craft brewers.
Jim Woods and Samuel Adams brewer Dean Gianocostas in Boston on the day they brewed the collaboration beer, Boston Tea Party Saison.
Here’s their description of the beer itself:
Samuel Adams and MateVeza came together to brew a Saison, which is a farmhouse beer traditionally brewed in the autumn or winter for consumption during the summer for the farm workers. The final recipe combines MateVeza’s signature ingredient — yerba mate tea — and Samuel Adams’ one-of-a-kind Kosmic Mother Funk (KMF), a blend of wild yeasts and bacteria designed to give beers unique flavors. The bright and satisfying brew has a slightly earthy and deliciously fruity character with a hint of spice and a long dry finish.
If you’re in the city tonight, stop by and give the beer a try. See you there.
Chris Spinelli and Jon Mervine from Roc Brewing (who also did a similar collaboration beer, though their beer is ThreeNinety Bock), and in the middle Jim Woods, MateVeza, and Jim Koch, from Boston Beer.
Craft Beer: A Hopumentary
Here’s an interesting video on craft beer by a Jeremy Williams entitled Craft Beer — A Hopumentary. What’s cool about it is that it features Ron Lindenbusch from Lagunitas, Craig and Beth from City Beer Store, Andy French from Southern Pacific Brewing, Zeitgeist, and homebrewer Nathan Oyler. My favorite factoid: craft beer represents 7% of the market, but employs 50% of the employees in the industry.
New San Francisco Brewery Announced
According to Inside Scoop SF, a new brewery to be named Phantom Coast Gastropub and Brewery has signed a lease for 5,000-square feet in the Tenderloin. The specific address is 65 Taylor Street, which used to house the Sixty-Five Club. According to the article, “The guys behind the project are Keith Wilson and Casey Gray, who own Tope in North Beach together; Wilson also owns the Boardroom in North Beach. But according to Wilson, a bigger gastropub and brewery project has always been the goal.” There’s not much else that’s been revealed yet, other than this.
Phantom Coast — a moniker stemming from a name that they saw on a vintage San Francisco map of the bay-side waterfront — will focus on West Coast beer and wine. Wilson and Gray are going to brew their own beer, but with at least 75 taps (!) on the premises, they will also highlight West Coast craft breweries and local wineries. Everything — both beer and wine — will be served on tap, Wilson says, thereby minimizing waste and passing on savings to customers.
Their plan is to have live music — with the hope that the city can help out with the permitting process there — and create a raucous, “Bavarian-style” atmosphere with big tables and communal seating. There will be food, too, with housemade sausages, housemade pretzels, salads, sandwiches and more.
The current estimate for opening is early 2014, which more likely means we’ll see Phantom Coast open next summer.
Talking About Hops & History In San Francisco
Last Thursday, I helped the San Francisco Brewers Guild put together a fun event at the Old Mint with Flipside and the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society called Hops and History. My part during the event included being the moderator of a panel discussion about opening and running a brewery in the city of San Francisco.
Shaun O’Sullivan (21st Amendment), Shaun’s son Ryan, Dave McLean (magnolia), Keith Greggor (Anchor) and me. Below is the audio of our discussion.
One of my favorite parts of the evening was a gallery showing of local breweriana, provided by my friend Ken Harootunian, along with some pieces from Anchor Brewing and some labels from SF Brewers Guild executive director Brian Stechschulte.
Below are a few highlights from the gallery:
The gallery room.
Acme Beer.
Steam Beer wooden sign.
More Acme Beer artifacts.
The original artwork from a Lucky Lager ad.
Items from Rainier, Lucky Lager and Regal Pale Beer.
Lucky Lager. Ice Cold.
An old, pre-Prohibition, wooden keg and taps from Anchor, along with some additional steam beer artifacts.
Another Acme pin-up ad.
History & Hops This Thursday
Join us this Thursday for what’s shaping up to be a fun evening of Hops and History at the former U.S. Mint building in San Francisco. The event is being put on by Flipside, a San Francisco History Events Group, in conjunction with the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. The Society is currently “undertaking the restoration of San Francisco’s landmark Old Mint to house the future San Francisco Museum at the Mint,” and in the meantime is using the space to hold local history-themed events. Flipside worked with the San Francisco Brewers Guild — and I helped a little bit — but especially SF Brewers Guild executive director Brian Stechschulte to create an evening that includes a program of talks about the history of beer in the city, and also includes a gallery showing of San Francisco breweriana on loan from my friend Ken Harootunian, along with some pieces from Anchor Brewing. Here’s what will be going on during the event, which takes place from 6:30 p.m. until 9:30:
- John Freeman: The Curious 150 Year Cycle of Brewing Beer in San Francisco
- Dave Burkhart, Anchor historian: History of California Lager
- A History of Yeast: Man’s Oldest Industrial Organism
- San Francisco Brewers Guild Panel Discussion (led by yours truly)
- Screening of Brewers by the Bay film
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online at eventbrite. Here’s what your ticket includes:
- Unlimited tasting of all breweries. Participating breweries include 21st Amendment, Magnolia, Triple Voodoo, Beach Chalet, ThirstyBear Brewing Company, Cerveceria de MateVeza, Speakeasy, Pine Street Brewery, Anchor and Pacific Brewing Laboratory.
- Presentation on brewing history
- Interactive yeast exhibit
- Historical brewing memorabilia exhibit by Ken Harootunian & Anchor
- Food available for purchase from by Off The Grid
- Docent led tours of the historic 1874 Old Mint
- Souvenir sampling mug included
- Photobooth sponsored by UpOutSF
- Music by DJ Jacob
Join us Thursday for Hops & History. See you then.
Muni Settles Bill Brand Case
The Oakland Tribune is reporting that a settlement has been reached in the wrongful death suit brought by the family of beer writer and journalist William Brand, who was struck and killed by a Muni train in February of 2009. The report says that at $900,000, the “settlement is one of the largest in recent years for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.” While it’s not enough to bring Bill back, hopefully it will be of some comfort to his family that a certain amount of justice has prevailed and that they may hopefully find some peace of mind over his loss. You can read the full story by the Tribune at SF transit agency approves settlement in Muni crash that killed Oakland Tribune journalist.
Bill was a great advocate for craft beer in the Bay Area, and we’ve continued to toast his memory at both the opening and closing events for SF Beer Week each year.
Here’s to you, Bill.
SF Beer Week 2013: Opening Night Video
Here’s another cool video of the opening celebration from this year’s SF Beer Week. It was created by Jick Pictures and features some pretty cool animation, too. Enjoy.