Today is the 72nd birthday of Pat McIlhenney, brewmaster and founder of Alpine Beer Co. near San Diego. Pat made some amazing hoppy beers. Unfortunately, his beers are hard to find up our way, and then his brewery was acquired by Green Flash Brewing several years ago, who eventually shut it down. Happily, he started McIlhenney Brewing, along with family members Shawn, Jamie and Val McIlhenney, and has subsequently retired. Join me in wishing Pat a very happy birthday.
Today is the 51st birthday of Drew Beechum, who’s a past president of the Maltose Falcons homebrewing club and its current webmeister. He’s also the author of The Everything Homebrewing Book: All you need to brew the best beer at home! and wrote a regular column for Beer Advocate magazine. Join me in wishing Drew a very happy birthday.
Today is the 65th birthday of Alex Puchner, who’s the Senior Vice President of Brewing Operations, and its first brewmaster, for the BJ’s Restaurant Brewhouse chain. He started with the chain in 1996, a co-founder, when they built their first brewpub. Alex had been homebrewing for a decade before that first brewery. There now have 174 locations in 23 states, although they backed away from their brewpub model and contract most of their beer, but have added lost of guest taps and good bottled imports, including a great selection from Belgium. Alex has been very active over the years in the beer community and the CCBA, and has been great for beer in California, providing many people’s first introduction to craft beer with BJ’s. Join me in wishing Alex a very happy birthday.
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Monday’s first ad is for Maier Bock Beer, which was published on April 6, 1912. This one was for the Maier Brewing Co., of Los Angeles, California, which was originally founded in 1874 by Wattelet & Vogel, as, curiously, the Philadelphia Brewery, though Maier became involved at least as early as 1882. This ad ran in The Los Angeles Times, also of Los Angeles, California.
Today is Steve Wagner’s 68th birthday. Steve is a co-founder of Stone Brewing and the former president of the California Craft Brewers Association. In the late 1980s, Steve was a member of the band “The Balancing Act,” who put out several albums on I.R.S. Records, then he just presided over one of the most successful microbreweries in the U.S. for quite af ew years, but after being acquired, he has retired and hopefully just enjoying his himself. Join me in wishing Steve a very happy birthday.
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Sunday’s second ad is for Maier’s Select Bock Beer, which was published on March 29, 1913. This one was for the Maier Brewing Co., of Los Angeles, California, which was originally founded in 1874 by Wattelet & Vogel, as, curiously, the Philadelphia Brewery, though Maier became involved at least as early as 1882. This ad ran in The Los Angeles Evening Post Record, also of Los Angeles, California.
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Friday’s second ad is for Maier’s Bock Beer, which was published on March 27, 1913. This one was for the Maier Brewing Co., of Los Angeles, California, which was originally founded in 1874 by Wattelet & Vogel, as, curiously, the Philadelphia Brewery, though Maier became involved at. least as early as 1882. This ad ran in The Los Angeles Times, also of Los Angeles, California.
Today is the 41st birthday of Alexandra Nowell, who cofounded the Mellotone Beer Project in Cincinnati, Ohio. I first met Alexandra when she brewed at a variety of Bay Area breweries, including Moylan’s and Drakes, before moving south to Kinetic Brewing a few years ago, and was also later the former brewmaster of Three Weavers Brewing in Inglewood, southwest of L.A. She more recently moved to Covington, Kentucky and, I think, was working as a technical consultant for CLS Farms, in the Yakima Valley, Washington, before starting Mellotone Beer Project in Covington. Join me in wishing Alexandra a very happy birthday.
Today is the 60th birthday — The Big 6-O — of Paul Segura, who is the brewmaster at Karl Strauss Brewing Co., a position he’s held for the past twenty-five years. Before that he brewed at Hops! Bistro & Brewery and Hang Ten Brewing. In addition to brewing, Paul is also a co-host on The 91X Beer for Breakfast Show and was an instructor for the UCSD Professional Certificate in Brewing. Plus he’s a great ambassador for beer in San Diego. Join me in wishing Paul a very happy birthday.
Today is also the birthday of Chuck Silva, former brewmaster at Green Flash Brewing in San Diego. His West Coast IPA took the world by storm, and personally, I loved his Tripel and Le Freak. The big, shiny new brewery they built was also pretty amazing, but sadly the honeymoon didn’t last too long. Eventually Chuck wanted to create something of his own, and so he opened Silva Brewing Company in the Central Coast of California, around his native San Luis Obispo area in Paso Robles. Unfortunately, after eight years, Chuck closed down the brewery two years back, and I haven’t heard yet what he’s doing now. Join me in wishing Chuck a very happy birthday.
