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Beer Birthday: Tom Nickel

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Today is Tom Nickel’s birthday, who turns the big 4-0 this year. Tom was a brewer at Oggi’s in San Diego and now owns O’Brien’s, one of the best beer bars in San Diego. Join me in wishing Tom a very happy birthday.

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Tom (third from the left) at OBF with John Harris from Full Sail to his left and Tom’s former girlfriend Becky on his arm. I don’t recall who the fellow is on the far left.

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Tom in the dunk tank to raise money for the brewer’s guild the night before OBF at the brewer’s dinner.

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Tom with Wil Turner, from Goose Island, at a GABF brewer’s reception a few years ago.

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Tom and me at GABF in 2005.

The Firestone Walker Invitational

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This weekend down in Paso Robles a new beer festival debuted. The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest took place at the Mid-State Fairgrounds. I drove down Friday with Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, who was scheduled to make cotton candy with sugar infused with Centennial hops. The festival was simply one of the best organized, best run, most enjoyable beer festivals I’ve been to in a long time, which was especially impressive given that it was a first time event. Here’s how Firestone Walker’s brewmaster Matt Brynildson described what he was going for with the FWIBF:

The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest was born from a dream of creating a world class festival featuring not only the best brewers in the world, but brewers whom we feel are leaders in the craft beer revolution. These are folks of like mind and spirit, some new friends some of many years, who share our same passion for making craft beer and sharing it with the world. This is a day where we can all put down our sales and marketing pitches and simply commune and share our beers and stories with people who are truly interested in craft beer. The ground rules are simple. Bring a session beer and a special beer accompanied by the artisan who created it. Brewers, their beers, good music and folks who care.

In order to insure everyone could have a good time, many aspects of the festival were limited. There were only 40 breweries pouring their beer, 21 restaurants making their food and a limited number of tickets sold. I never heard the final head count, though throughout the day I heard estimates that ranged from 2,500 to around 3,200 but whatever the finally tally it never felt overly crowded and there was plenty of room in the Frontier Town area of the fairgrounds to stretch your legs and move about.

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Interviewed by the Brewing Network during the event, Brynildson added that he simply put together a wish list of breweries he would like to have at his event — several that didn’t even distribute in California — and was overwhelmed by how many quickly accepted his invitation. But that was awesome for anyone attending, as the likes of Bell’s, Boulevard, Revolution, Southern Tier, Three Floyds and others were there pouring beer.

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The night before the festival, Firestone Walker Brewing hosted an event for the brewers and media at their new taproom adjacent to the brewery.

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Mikkel and I trying to mimic the fighting lion and bear in Firestone Walker’s logo Friday evening. I guess I’m the lion.

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The festival opened Saturday at 1:00 p.m. At least an hour before, all of the ticket holders were checked in, had their wristbands on, glasses in hand and a program to study while they waited. When the gate opened promptly at one, everybody could just walk in and begin sampling their first beer. It was the first of many well-executed and well-planned aspects of the festival. Others included water stations throughout the festival grounds, ample ice, plenty of shade, abundant nibbles, and more substantial food available for purchase.

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There were two excellent bands — and perhaps best of all — the music was segregated from most of the beer and food booths, in a separate arena right next to them so that you could hear the music no matter where you were, but it was never so loud that you couldn’t carry on a conversation. If you wanted to dance or just listen to the music, all you had to do was wander inside the music area where there was stadium seating and a stage.

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Also, with a 2 to 1 ratio of breweries to food vendors, there was something to nibble on every other booth, such as this amazing dish by Chef Dallas of the Tenth Street Basque Cafe (author of Never Cook Bacon Naked).

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It was also great seeing Noah Regney, who used to brew for Pizza Port, but recently moved to Hollister Brewing, along with his fiance Sarah Huska, who used to live in Chicago where she worked with Ray Daniels on the Cicerone program. They seemed so happy, I always love seeing people in that state of bliss.

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Bay far, Masafumi Morita, from Yo-Ho Brewing in Japan, travelled the farthest.

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It was a gorgeous day on the central coast, perfect weather for a festival.

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Pat McIlhenney, from Alpine Beer Co., with Tomme Arthur, from the Lost Abbey.

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An unknown friend of Claudia and Rodger Davis, from Faction Brewing, along with Fraggle from beer Revolution.

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Patrick Rue, from the Bruery, with some Black Tuesday. Another great feature of this fest was that each brewery brought something rare, along with a session beer.

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Me, with Megan Flynn, from Beer West, our friend Marieke Gerritsen, and another friend.

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Lincoln Anderson, from Three Floyds, who brought along Dark Lord, accepts the “People’s Choice” award, voted on by the crowd attending the fest.

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Matt Brynildson toward the end of the day, enjoying the festival he conceived. The entire gang from Firestone Walker did an incredible job pulling off this festival and are to be congratulated. If you missed it this year, be sure to try and come next year. There’s no way this isn’t just going to get beter and better.

Celebrity Beer Gossip

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I know it’s a good thing when celebrities drink craft beer, because people tend to copy their behavior. So the more celeb’s drinking good beer, the more some people might pick it up, too. But I can’t help but find it a little sad, too. I just don’t find all the minutiae about famous people very interesting. It’s just not my thing, though I have friends and loved ones who feel otherwise, so I do tend to find out about these gossipy items anyway, sometimes whether I want to or not. Case in point, I just learned that actress Charlize Theron served Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA at her house in Los Angeles during the Super Bowl. And that’s great, don’t get me wrong. Charlize Theron was, at one time, on my list of five (married men will know what I’m talking about here) so I’m certainly glad to know she has good taste in beer.

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The whole thing was captured in nauseating detail in the U.S. Showbiz section of the UK’s Daily Mail in an article titled — believe it or not — We’re in for a Super night: Charlize Theron hardly breaks a sweat as she carries a case of beer to a Super Bowl party. They have five, count ’em five, photos of Theron carrying the beer from her car to the house. The running commentary is hilariously absurd, though I couldn’t help but hear it in my head as if being read by Robin Leach from Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous.

To be fair, I’ve posted a photo of television celebrity Nathan Fillion drinking a Drake’s IPA through a curly straw, that my wife took during an L.A. Browncoats convention a few years ago, but somehow that seems different. Or maybe I’m just fooling myself. What I really wanted to know from the article is why she chose that beer, and how she and her guests enjoyed it. Now that I’d find far more interesting than how she managed to carry it a few feet without breaking a sweat.

Jeff Bagby Leaving Pizza Port To Open His Own Brewery

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San Diego Beer Blog had the news today that Jeff Bagby is leaving his position as head brewer at Pizza Port in Carlsbad. Nacho will taking his place for now, though Jeff will be staying on in a consultant role while he firms up plans to open his own brewery. That’s awesome news for Jeff and I’m sure that whatever he does will be amazing.

Jeff Bagby & His Girlfriend, from Pizza Port - Carlsbad
Jeff and his fiance Dande at GABF a few years ago.

David Farnsworth From Lucky Baldwins Passes Away

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David Farnsworth, who co-founded the well-known beer bar Lucky Baldwins in Southern California, passed away yesterday. The Full Pint has the full story, and a hat tip to Dr. Bill, who gave them the news. I only met David a couple of times, but used to talk to him on the phone regularly when I was with the Celebrator full-time. He definitely did a lot for the beer scene in California and will be missed. Raise a glass of Belgian beer tonight in his memory.

Beer In Art #145: Ben Sanders’ Beer Portraits

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This week’s works of art are part of a series of “beer portraits” by a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, where he studied illustration & design. Ben Sanders lives in Los Angeles, where since graduating in 2009, he’s been involved in “a number of projects that include Illustration, Graphic Design, Large Scale Painting, Sign Painting, Sculpture, Book Design, and Book Binding.” There are nine paintings currently in the series, of which these are my favorites:

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Orval

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Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

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Chimay

You can see the rest of the six paintings in the series at Sanders’ website and some of his non-beer work at his gallery.

The Tyranny Of The Disgruntled Minority

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Tomme Arthur, from the Lost Abbey, has an incredibly restrained post up about the travails created by a single individual person who went to the trouble to lodge a complaint about every beer tasting room in the San Diego area. “Apparently they were concerned that we didn’t have a GIANT BLUE “A” on our cold boxes!”

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So Tomme and every other San Diego brewery has spent the week, and boat loads of money, getting up to “code” to satisfy an army of inspectors who didn’t know there was a problem — and in fact there wasn’t — until some pinhead decided to bring it to their attention. Perhaps most remarkably, winery and brandy tasting rooms are exempt from any regulations — so typical — but I certainly hope they find out who this “concerned” soul is. Read all about it at Tomme’s latest rant, I’d Like To Thank Some People.

Prohibition Through Taxation

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Being April Fool’s Day, this might almost seem laughable, if it wasn’t so serious and obvious an attempt to bring about prohibition through taxation. (And thanks to the many people who sent me information about this, you know who you are, I appreciate it.) A San Diego couple, Kent and Josephine Whitney, have introduced a ballot initiative they’re calling the “Alcohol-Related Harm and Damage Services Act of 2010.” If that sounds innocuous, it’s not. If they collect the required 433,971 signatures by August 23, it will be on the California ballot this November. The “Act” seeks to raise alcohol taxes as listed below. If you have a drink in your hand, put it down first. If you’re standing up, sit down. Drum roll, please:

  • Spirits — 2,700% increase [from $0.65 per 750 ml bottle to $17.57]
  • Beer — 5,500% increase [from $0.11 per 6-pack to $6.08]
  • Wine — 12,775% increase [from $0.04 per 750 ml bottle to $5.11]

No, those aren’t typos. The anticipated revenue of $7-9 billion would be used to fund the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, whatever that is. It won’t be used to fix the state deficit apparently.

In the OC Weekly Blog, Dave Lieberman correctly comments that “this is Prohibition through taxation” [a phrase I hope he won’t mind me borrowing]. He continues.

“The armchair libertarians must be having sedentary conniption fits from Yreka to Ysidro. Nowhere does it say that alcohol has to be a zero-sum game, not to mention the fact that the vast majority of those who do drink do so responsibly, which means you’re taxing those who play by the rules to pay for those who don’t.”

Ballotpedia lists a dozen reasons for the ballot measure, each one more fallacious than the last. The Whitney’s blame alcohol for murders, pregnant women drinking, burdens on health care, underage drinking, binge drinking; pretty much everything any neo-prohibitionists has ever thrown up against the wall, while naturally ignoring all of the personal responsibility for any of those actions. It’s as if they’ve drank the anti-alcohol kool-aid and believe unquestioningly all of the propaganda from those groups. To blame the alcohol and not the people who engage in those behaviors is a common tactic lately but ignores logic, common sense and any notion of fairness. It also reveals quite a lot about the mindset of the people who believe such nonsense. Also, if the ballot measure should pass, it would declare all of that nonsensically bad propaganda masquerading as statistics as true!

It also ignores the physical and mental health benefits of responsibly drinking moderate amounts of alcohol. Numerous studies have shown many, many health benefits to moderate drinking, not least of which are the many studies that show that people who drink moderately tend to live longer and be healthier than people who either abstain or overindulge. So in effect, this ballot measure would most likely make people in California less healthy.

Curiously, the State Attorney General’s summary says:

Additional state revenues of between $7 billion and $9 billion annually from an increase in state excise taxes on alcoholic beverages, with the proceeds going to support alcohol-related programs and services. A decrease in state and local revenues from existing excise and sales taxes on alcoholic beverages of several hundred million dollars annually due to a likely decline in consumption of alcoholic beverages.

The Initiative’s Analysis from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office goes into more detail but remains similarly conservative in the negative consequences while swallowing wholesale the notion that it would actually bring in the estimated $7-9 billion in additional excise tax revenue. First of all, the loss of business and company’s going out of business outright would cause that figure to be greatly reduced from the start. If a bottle of wine has at least $5.11 in state excise taxes plus all of the other taxes, plus the costs of ingredients, manufacture, packaging, transportation, etc. even two-buck chuck is going to become ten-buck Ken or worse.

Similarly, if just the state excise tax on a six-pack of beer starts at $6.08, again plus every other cost of doing business, just who in their right mind believes that consumers will continue to merrily drink the same amounts at exponentially higher prices? Don’t even get me started on how many dollars will fly out of California by people driving to bordering states to buy their alcohol. You’re going to see a cottage industry in just-over-the-border liquor stores popping up wherever a road leaves California. It’s absurd to believe the revenue stream would continue at the same rate.

That analysis suggests that only several hundreds of millions of dollars would be lost in decreased consumption seems laughably conservative. Here’s some of their reasoning, from the analysis:

Effects on Existing State Excise and SUT Revenues. The decline in taxable consumption of alcoholic beverages that would likely be caused by this measure would reduce the revenues received for the General Fund from the existing state excise and SUT revenues. We estimate that this could potentially result in a loss of state revenues of several hundred million dollars annually.

Effects on Local Revenues. The likely decline in taxable consumption of alcoholic beverages due to the increase in the excise tax imposed under this measure would also affect local SUT revenues. We estimate that local governments, primarily cities and counties, would experience a decrease in sales tax revenues of approximately $100 million on a statewide basis due to the excise tax increase.

Indirect Economic Effects. If the measure were to result in declines in overall economic activity in California, it could produce indirect state and local revenue losses. Such effects could occur, for example, if businesses were to close because they could no longer remain profitable as the overall economy adjusted to a lower demand for alcohol in the long run. If these lost resources were not redirected back to California’s economy into equal or more productive activities, then it would likely lead to a net loss in taxable income and spending for state and local governments. The magnitude of these potential revenue losses is unknown.

See that last bit? “The magnitude of these potential revenue losses is unknown.” I can pretty much tell you it’s going to be staggering. It would be a near prohibition, with a return to illegal hooch. After homebrewers start selling their kitchen beers under the table, new law enforcement agencies will be created to stop them, every homebrew shop will be watched and anyone with a pair of rubber boots will be under suspicion.

So who the hell are the Whitneys and why are they trying to effect an alcoholic Armageddon? Those are good questions, I think, and there’s at least one very disturbing possibility. The V Bit Set speculates that it may be simply for money. Doing some detective work, internet style, he points out there is a Kent Whitney in the San Diego area who owns the 21st Century Wellness Initiative, and the ballot measure would provide “fifteen percent for the funding of grants for naturopathic treatment and recovery programs for alcohol addiction.” Are the two connected? He admits it’s wild conjecture at this point, but it is compelling nonetheless. If it turns out to be true, how vile and repugnant would this be? On an unimaginable scale, I’d have to say. To attack an entire healthy industry, putting thousands of workers and hundreds of businesses at risk of being removed from the economy for personal gain would be one of the most abominable acts of all time. If they’re sincere, it’s clear they either didn’t think through their actions or are entirely hostile to anyone who enjoys, makes or sells alcohol.

Stone To Release Collaboration Video

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Stone Brewing, at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time, will be releasing their latest video project, Stone Skips Across the Pond, a record of their collaborations with two breweries. [NOTE: the video, once released at 1:00 p.m. PST, will be available at Stone’s Blog.] If you just can’t wait to see some of it, check out the trailer.

The first collaboration is with Nøgne Ø, the Norwegian craft brewery. After brewing there, the Stone team heads to Scotland to brew yet another collaboration with BrewDog.

I had an opportunity to screen the video last night, and it’s a fun short film at just under 30 minutes. It was filmed again by Redtail Media, the same team that created I Am A Craftbrewer. The production values are amazing. The film stars not just Greg Koch, but also his business partner Steve Wagner and head brewer Mitch Steele, some amazing landscapes, terrific looking food, some beer you’ll be jealous you didn’t have along with the brew crews at both Nøgne Ø and BrewDog. Looks like it was a fun time. It’s a great window into the camaraderie among brewers, regardless of national boundaries, in the craft beer world

Next Thursday, Part 2 will be released, followed by parts three and four on each subsequent Thursday. For now, enjoy part one.