Bill’s Facebook page was updated this morning with the following message. “William is still in the ICU and his family thanks everyone for their thoughts and prayers.” Bill’s wife, Daryl updated her own Facebook page last night that she is “sad to report that Bill is not getting better,” which is truly disheartening news.

Let’s all continue to send our best wishes and prayers for Bill’s recovery. For the last three nights out at SF Beer Week events, we’ve been conducting toasts at 7:00 p.m. I’d like to suggest that we continue that practice each night until Bill can join us in toasting his own health.

Also, as of this morning, there are 133 comments wishing Bill a speedy recovery on his Bottom’s Up blog. If you haven’t already done so, head over there and let him know he’s in your thoughts and prayers. It may not be much, but it’s all we can really do for now.

 
UPDATE 2.13 1:00 PM: Daryl Brand posted that there is “no change in Bill’s condition.” Damn.
 

Advertising Age — and for that matter, almost everybody else — broke the news yesterday that Anheuser-Busch’s Chief Creative Officer for over twenty years, Bob Lachky, will be leaving the company next month. According to Harry Schumacher, who’s rarely wrong I should add, said Lachky let the press know during a “conference call with reporters.” Most articles report that the decision to leave is not related to InBev’s acquisition of the company, but I have a hard time swallowing that entirely. Surely, it had something to do with it, but no executive ever says so in these situations. And Lachky was the consummate professional. I’d interviewed him several times and always enjoyed his perspective on the beer business. Lachy was also responsible for A-B’s successful Super Bowl advertising and helped create “‘Wassup?!,’ the Budweiser frogs and ‘Real Men of Genius,’ the most-awarded radio campaign in history.”

Curiously, A-B President Dave Peacock is quoted as saying they won’t be replacing Lachky, instead remarking “that rather than appoint a new chief creative officer, A-B will use a more ‘decentralized’ approach to creative development in the future, with marketing VP Keith Levy and various brand teams assuming many of his former responsibilities.” That sure sounds like InBev’s coast-cutting to me, eliminating a position and assigning the work to several individuals.

That’s me talking with Bob Lachky at an A-B reception during GABF a few years ago. Ironically, the person on the right edge of the photo with his back to the camera is my friend and colleague Bill Brand, who’s still in bad shape at SF General Hospital after being struck by a San Francisco Muni train Sunday night. (Photo by Banjo Bandolas)

I got a brief note from Daryl Brand, Bill’s wife, who let me know this morning that the doctors have told her that Bill is in stable condition, which is very good news. She’s promised to post updates on Bill’s Facebook page as she learns more.

Let’s all continue to send our best wishes and prayers for Bill’s recovery.

UPDATE: Found out the following from a reporter friend (thanks again, Brent) who heard back from a colleague at the Contra Costa Times. Bill has apparently had surgery to relieve pressure in his brain. He has a broken bone in his neck but no others were broken. His lungs are struggling, still somewhat critical I’m afraid, but he’s stable all the same.

A reporter friend (thanks Brent) just sent me this terrible news. Bill Brand, longtime Bay Area beer writer and reporter with the Oakland Tribune, was critically injured last night when he was struck by a Muni train near Pac Bell Park south of 21st Amendment in San Francisco where he had just left to catch a ride to BART. The following information was posted on his Bottoms Up column in the Oakland Tribune.

Bill Brand was in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital after he was hit about 9:10 p.m. Sunday, family members said.

He was was walking near Second and King streets when an N-Judah train struck him, according to the San Francisco Municipal Railway.

In his career with the Tribune, Brand covered a host of topics for the newspaper, including crime and science. After leaving the paper in July, he continued to write a regular beer column titled “What’s on Tap” and contribute to the Bottoms Up blog.

At Bottoms Up, they’re asking to hear from “blogging buddies, commenters and community members in the comments section so they “can pass your best wishes as soon as we’re able to share them.” Let’s do our part to inundate him well wishes.

Bill is a terrific person and an asset to the Bay Area’s beer community, a tireless champion. I’ve been with him at events three out of the last four days, so I can hardly believe this news. With everyone here in the Bay Area for SF Beer Week, let’s all stop for a moment tonight, say at 7:00 p.m. and drink a toast to Bill and especially for a speedy recovery.

UPDATE: I got a call from Jesse Friedman of Beer & Nosh, who sat with Bill last night a dinner. By coincidence, he lies near the hospital and stopped by to see Bill and find out how he was doing. Jesse spoke to Bill’s wife and Bill is in a coma and his prognosis is not known at this time. As I learn more details, I’ll add them here.

UPDATE 2: Shaun O’Sullivan told me as Bill was leaving the 21st Amendment, he paused at the front door to dial a number on his mobile phone, then stepping into the night, turning left. He most likely called his wife, Daryl, s several reports indicate that, such as the following by Robert Salonga in the San Jose Mercury. “I spoke to his wife, and it sounds like he was on the phone with her just before the accident,” Dean Taylor [of the SF Police Dept.] said. “The train’s driver saw him, and he appeared to walk onto the track, where he was struck by the first eighth of the train, the part up front where passengers get on.”

Brand was knocked into a nearby pole by the impact, Taylor said.

February brings our 24th monthly Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, so that we can finally fill a case. Hosted by David Turley at Musings Over A Pint, he correctly asserts that any beer is made better by sharing it, and suggests that a Belgian Tripel, because of its uniquely strong qualities, is ideally suited to this purpose.

Beer is best when it’s shared, and a strong beer is just right for sharing. Belgian Tripels are big beers with a flavor profile that is enjoyed by both experienced and new beer fans. Be it an intimate evening, or watching a ball game on TV, a Tripel is made for sipping and sharing. For Session #24 the theme is “A Tripel for Two.” What Tripel would you pick to share with that good friend, family member, or lover?

To me, I like when commercial brewers take the parameters of a more or less traditional style and turn it on its head, creating something both surprising and unique. As far as I’m concerned, beer styles are only useful guidelines, not hard and fast rules. In competitive judging, they may be necessary evils but for professional brewers style definitions, if adhered to strictly, seem to me a bit like gross limitations on creativity. And Belgian beers, since that’s what were looking at today, are known for each brewery making a unique beer that’s difficult to pigeonhole into a style category. And in fact, we create broad, almost vague, categories just so we have somewhere to put them for competitions.

As much as I enjoy Session and even middle-of-the-road beers, it is the extreme and strong beers that often seem best for sharing precisely because in most cases, less is more — or at least enough. That makes one bottle enough for two, three or occasionally more to all enjoy. With smaller beers, you share by each having your own, making it the company that’s shared. With Tripels, it’s both the beer and company that’s shared. That’s what I love most of all with big beers. They facilitate fellowship. How can you not love a beer that by its very design brings people together?

I like to give credit where credit’s due, and the original idea for this came from Rodger Davis, the head brewer at Triple Rock. But it was fortuitous that I ran into Don Barkley at the Falling Rock in Denver during GABF week last year. I hadn’t seen Don probably since CBC in Austin the year before when he accepted an award on behalf the famously reclusive Jack McAuliffe, his old boss at New Albion Brewery, the first modern craft brewery in America. But I knew he’d recently started brewing again at a new venture, Napa Smith Brewery in Napa. So I asked what he thought about recreating one of the original New Albion beers for SF Beer Week, as a way to tie the history of Bay Area beer together from its humble beginnings to its illustrious present. Don told me he had all the old brewing logs and would be more than pleased to brew it. “Which one do you want?” He asked with a wry smile. “Do you think anybody else would be interested in a keg of it if we made some, too?” Don wondered aloud. Well, needless to say the entire batch is sold and will be featured throughout SF Beer Week, a fitting tribute, I think. Once back in the Bay Area, Dave McLean took over working brewer to brewer to make it happen and today Don Barkley will tap the first kegs of the “Official Ale of SF Beer Week,” which will be called “Napa Smith’s Original Albion Ale.” It’s essentially the New Albion Pale Ale and only one batch was brewed, so when it’s gone, it’s gone.

But if you’re in the right place at the right time today, you can get a chance to try it and even meet legendary brewer Don Barkley in the process. Here’s from the press release we sent out:

To kick start SF Beer Week, Don Barkley has decided that he will be roaming San Francisco on Friday, tapping his beer for the first time at 5 different San Francisco locations, starting at the venerable Toronado in the Lower Haight, and ending up spending his happy hour in SOMA at the 21st Amendment. Don will be officially tapping his beer at every bar he visits, sharing some pints, a few stories, signing his awesome new Celebrator cover issue, and celebrating the start of SF Beer Week all day on his pub crawl around the city. Which starts with:

HIGH NOON first tapping at the Toronado!

The first drops of the Original Albion will be poured at the place where it all began for most of us, the Toronado. Don will be at the T from Noon to 1pm, catch him if you can. The Original Albion Ale will be available all weekend, if it even lasts that long!

Watch Your Speed! 1pm-1:45pm

Before leaving the Haight, Don and crew will be tapping the Original Albion at Magnolia Pub, where you can take a break from Strong Beer Month to grab a pint of a beer that hasn’t been brewed in well over 20 years!

We’re on a Mission! 2pm-2:45pm

Next stop on the Original Albion pub crawl: the Monk’s Kettle. Catch a mid afternoon beer with Don and the boys at the Kettle, one of the best new beer spots in the city, an instant classic if you will. They are kicking off SF Beer Week by running specials on local craft brews all week long!

Bottled Beer Heaven! 3pm-3:45pm

The City Beer Store, your best option for a take home version of the best beers in all the land, will be hosting Don’s beer on draft too, so stop by and wet your whistle while you decide which beers are going to fill up your fridge!

Lower De Boom! 4pm-5pm

The 21st Amendment, one of the sites of Strong Beer Month 2009, welcomes Don for the day’s final tapping, part of the pub’s legendary post-work day happy hour, where you can let the Original Albion wash away your sorrows, and prepare for what is sure to be an action-filled SF Beer Week for the next nine days in February.

Throughout the ten days of SF Beer Week, Napa Smith Original Albion Ale will be available at select locations around the Bay Area. Here’s a list of where you’ll be able to find it:

Alembic Bar
The Toronado
The Monk’s Kettle
City Beer Store
Chez Panisse
The Bistro
Barclay’s
Magnolia Pub
Hopmonk Tavern
Rogue Ale House
Ben & Nick’s Bar & Grill
Cato’s Ale House
21st Amendment Pub
Jupiter Brew Co
Billco’s in Napa
Bounty Hunter in Napa
Murphy’s Irish Pub in Sonoma
The Celebrator’s Best of the West Beer Fest (on Sunday February 15)
 

Napa Smith Brewery’s ‘ORIGINAL ALBION ALE’

Don Barkley Master Brewer of Napa Smith Brewery and the original brewer for the New Albion Brewing Co., has brewed for SF Beer Week the original New Albion Pale Ale. “Using recipes from New Albion we have reproduced a great ‘straight forward’ pale ale that helped shape America’s brewing history”. Although this ale dims in the stark glare of today’s extreme beers, it holds high the unique character of true craft brewing. New Albion Brewery yeast was used for fermentation thanks to the generosity of the Mendocino Brewing Company, who still uses this yeast in their ales. Pale malt used at New Albion was sourced from San Francisco’s last producing Malt House (Bauer & Schweitzer) in this beer we used a blend of 50 % Great Western 2-row and 50% Gambrinus Pale Ale Malt. The Napa water was hardened with the addition of Gypsum to a level of 350PPM hardness. Hops used as in the New Albion recipe are Cluster for bittering and Cascade for aroma (This was the Cascades first introduction into the craft brewing industry).

Process:

Infusion mash 144 degrees F, 90 min.
Sparge at 170 degree F
Boil 90 min., Hops (1/3 cluster, 2/3 cascade)
1. at boil Cluster
2. 30 min Cascade
3. 60 min Cascade

O.G. 13.5 balling, Pitching Temp 60 F, using 0.75lb yeast slurry/bbl
Ferment at 68 F 6days
Secondary 60 F 8days
Final Gravity 1.6 balling
Bottle condition using cane sugar and yeast slurry for 1Million cells /mil

Style: American Craft Pale Ale, using New Albion Ale Yeast
First Available:. August 1977
Description: Medium body, Bright golden color, White dense foam head, Lightly hopped, Aroma is malty with some hop spiciness, full malt flavor accented with hop character, moderate bitterness, Clean, dry after taste with lasting richness. Fermentation and yeast character is clearly evident with this unfiltered Ale.

Alcohol: By volume 6.5%
Bitterness: 31 BU
Color: 18
CO2: 2.5 Vol.
OG: 13.5 Balling
FG: 1.6 Balling

I can scarcely believe it, but tomorrow SF Beer Week begins, unofficially at Noon (more about that later) and officially Friday night about 7:00 p.m. I haven’t even had time to post this week, I’ve been so busy trying to get last minute details taken care of, along with some Herculean efforts by Dave McLean and Dean James from Magnolia. The total tonight stands at 146 events, which exceeded my expectations. And more than that, I’m pleased with the types of events and some of the great places that you don’t normally think of as beer friendly stepping up and embracing beer week, high end restaurants like Oliveto and Chez Panisse. I’ve kissed and wife and kids and told them not to wait up for the next ten days, and am planning on trying to attend as many events as humanly possible. I’m prepared to be amazed. Are you?

A friend sent me these photos (thanks Jeff) and wondered whether they constituted “beer art” or “balloon craft?” I don’t know the answer either, if indeed there is an answer, but it’s a pretty awesome feat of balloon-making.

Unfortunately, you can’t drink it and I seriously doubt the balloons are filled with anything but air.

Tomorrow the 7th annual Strong Beer Month begins, a joint promotion between 21st Amendment Brewery & Restaurant and Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery. If you’re looking for something to do before the Super Bowl or if you want to miss it entirely, you couldn’t find a better reason than twelve new strong beers debuting between the two brewpubs.

Many of these dozen beers have been created especially for this month, and will be available only until they run out. Each year many do in fact run out, a few as early as mid-month, so get there early. Sample them all, and you’ll receive a commemorative glass.
 

 
Another great parody again this year. Last year, you may recall, they spoofed AC/DC’s Highway To Hell album cover. This year The Grateful Dead’s Go To Heaven is given a pitch perfect parody. And while McLean’s hair extensions are awesome, I think my favorite detail is Nico Freccia’s pornstar mustache.
 

Daniel Bradford, publisher of All About Beer magazine, launched his own blog yesterday. In Bradford On Beer, Daniel is planning on turning his attention from the business side of the beer world to the sensory pleasures of the beer itself, hoping “to make [him]self worthy of something like judging at the Great American Beer Festival.” Over the next year he’s going to “study, travel, taste, research, talk – whatever it takes to get me to the next level!” And his new blog he hopes “will be the public record of the trip, with all its embarrassing gaffs, exciting discoveries, foolish malapropisms, fascinating people, and beer, pints and pints of great beer.” It should be a fun and entertaining read. I certainly love a good malapropism. You just don’t see enough of those anymore, probably because most people only use simple words thus avoiding any accidental misuse by overreaching their vocabulary. But I’m sure Daniel’s word choices will be the very pineapple of perfection. Welcome to the Blogosphere, Daniel.