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.
Q&A With Ken Grossman
This is a fun little video, apparently Sierra Nevada “[t]hrough Facebook and Twitter recently invited anyone who had a question for Ken Grossman to toss it our way. He combed through them and had fun answering a few in this video, and he typed up several others at” their blog, in a post entitled Your Questions for Ken Answered. Enjoy. [Note: For some reasons the graphics with the questions are displaying right now, but hopefully that will be fixed soon, but the answers are still there. For now, you can play Jeopardy.]
The Last Barfighter
This funny spoof of The Last Starfighter — an admittedly guilty 80s pleassure — caught my attention, partly because I have warm spot for the movie, and partly because it’s pretty clever all on its own.
“The Last Barfighter is the first ever beer-dispensing arcade game,” it’s also an online ad created by Big Boss Brewing of Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s funny on several levels. Within the game, the text during the battle reads “To the Victor Goes the Pour.” And once someone wins, and they’re getting their reward — their cup is filled with beer — the screen reads “DRINK YOUR BEER and GO TALK TO GIRLS.” Good advice for the hardcore videogamer. Enjoy.
The Celebrator Silver Polka
During last night’s Celebrator 25th Anniversary Party, Vic Kralj, from the Bistro, wrote a spoof of “Roll Out the Barrel” for our silver anniversary, entitled the Celebrator Silver Polka. Then he rehearsed it with regulars and friends from his beer bar, unveiling it as a special surprise for Tom Dalldorf during the party. Below is a video the evening’s performance.
And here’s the sheet music, if you want to sing along.
Afterwards, Tom was presented with a framed copy of the song.
And later he and Arlene posed with some of the culprits who perpetrated his surprise.
Celebrator Anniversary Party 2013 Video
Videographer Steve Atkinson again was on hand at last night’s 25th Anniversary Party, the last big event in this year’s SF Beer Week. Here’s his fun video of the evening’s festivities.
KegWorks Amazing Bottle Cap Wall
Here’s a pretty amazing time lapse video of KegWorks decorating the wall in their new office with 60,000 crowns. Thanks to Charlie Papazian for tweeting this video. It looks like a great way to use the space. KegWorks reached out to customers and fans on their blog, asking people to send in their beer bottle crowns, which they then put up on one large wall. The details are below, but watch the video to get the true scope of the project.
- Approximately 60,000 bottle caps
- 459 square feet of wall space
- Many rolls of 30 mil thick magnetic sheeting adhered to the wall
- 43 KegWorks employees putting up caps
- Started: Tuesday, November 27th @ 3:47pm (Dogfish Head)
- Last cap: Wednesday, January 23rd @ 2:31pm (Harpoon)
SF Beer Week Opening Event 2013 Video
Each year, videographer Steve Atkinson has done a video of the opening celebration for SF Beer Week. There’s a lot of fun interviews, though I confess I’m slurring my words a bit in my short ramble about the beer scene 25 years ago. Enjoy.
Anchor Releases California Lager
Last night I atended a special release party at Anchor Brewery for their newest Beer, Anchor California Lager. It’s the same beer that was the first in their Zymaster series. According to Anchor co-owner Keith Greggor, the reaction to the beer was overwhelmingly positive, especially from distributors, and that persuaded the brewery to release it as a year-round beer in 12-oz. bottles. The release also coincides with a new partnership between Anchor and the California State Parks Foundation, where a portion of the proceeds from the beer will be donated to the parks foundation, a very worthy cause in my opinion. For now, the beer will only be available in California.
From the press release:
Today, Anchor Brewing announces that Anchor California Lager®, California’s first genuine lager reborn, is being added to our core lineup of distinctive beers with case sales supporting the California State Parks Foundation. This new release is currently available in California only.
Anchor California Lager was the first beer in our Zymaster® Series, originally released as a limited draught beer in early 2012.
“Our first release of this historical brew was immensely popular with the public and also with our Anchor employees,” said Keith Greggor, CEO of Anchor Brewing Company. “From day one, Anchor California Lager resonated with us not only because of its distinctive flavor, but also because of the rich brewing history that it celebrates.”
Anchor Steam’s® roots go back to the Gold Rush, long before icehouses and modern refrigeration made traditional lagers a viable option. In 1876—thanks to an ice pond in the mountains and a belief that anything is possible in the Golden State—a little brewery named Boca created California’s first genuine lager. Anchor California Lager is our re-creation of this historic beer.
Made in San Francisco with two-row California barley, Cluster hops (the premier hop in 19th-century California), and our own lager yeast, Anchor California Lager is kräusened and lagered in our cellars. This all-malt brew is a delicious celebration of California’s unique brewing heritage.
The California grizzly bear on our Anchor California Lager label is from a woodcut by Durbin Van Vleck (1833–1898), courtesy of The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. First published in 1856 in San Francisco, it is a superbly crafted rendering of an original illustration by Charles Christian Nahl (1818–1878), who had painted both eastbound and westbound versions of this bear. Nearly a century later, Nahl’s bear served as inspiration for the design of the bear on California’s modern state flag. Although that bear is heading west, our bear—like the bear on Boca Brewing’s historic lager label—is heading east.
Anchor California Lager (4.9% ABV) is unique. Crisp, clean, and refreshing, its rich golden color, distinctive aroma, lingering creamy head, balanced depth of flavor, and incredibly smooth finish are like no other lager today.
Anchor California Lager is now available year-round in 6-packs, 12-packs, 22-ounce bottles, as well as on draught at select bars, restaurants and retailers throughout California.
Anchor’s history, California’s first genuine lager beer, and our state parks were all born in the second half of the 19th Century. To celebrate California’s unique heritage, we are proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds from Anchor California Lager case sales will support a new partnership with the California State Parks Foundation. As a tribute to our shared history and traditions, we’re forming an Anchor California Lager Grant, to be awarded by the California State Parks Foundation as a part of their Discretionary Grants program to benefit state parks.
California State Parks Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting, enhancing and advocating for California’s 280 state parks – the largest state parks system in the United States. California State Parks Foundation’s work revolves around the belief that all Californians deserve access to excellent state parks – from beaches to mountain ranges, deserts to redwood forests, and everything in between.
From last night’s release party:
And finally, here’s a new video about the beer:
Beer Camp #93: Celebrator 25th Anniversary Double Pale Ale
In anticipation of the 25th Anniversary of the Celebrator Beer News magazine, which takes place this year, we decided to make a special beer to commemorate our silver anniversary. So in December of last year, the largest Sierra Nevada Beer Camp took place when eighteen writers for the brewspaper assembled in Chico, along with state Assembly Member Wesley Chesbro, who leads the beer caucus in Sacramento, got together at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. to make a beer. Our intrepid chronicler, Mike Condie, put together this great little 15-minute video of our Beer Camp.
The beer we made will be available at locations around the country starting around now and through SF Beer Week. Each writer at Beer Camp got to find a home for his or her kegs in their hometown. For example, my kegs will be at Taps in Petaluma and as a guest tap at Russian River Brewing.
The beer we made is essentially a Double Pale Ale, based on the original Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. We then imperialized it and changed the hop bill, with an eye toward reflecting past, present and future symbolically with the hops. For past, we of course used Cascades, for the present we chose Citra and for the future an experimental hop with no name, only a number. The beer finished at 9.3% a.b.v. Look for it during SF Beer Week events. It will also be pouring at the Celebrator 25th Anniversary Party at the Oakland Marriott on Sunday, February 17, the final big event of the 2013 beer week. Perhaps I’ll see you there.
The Lagunitas Loft Couch Goes To Chicago
If you’ve ever been to the loft that overlooks the Lagunitas Brewery, you’ve probably seen this orange couch. I’ve sat in it on numerous occasions. As I remember it, it’s a pretty comfy sofa, and you sink right into it.
But I guess I’ll have to travel to Chicago if I want to sit on it again. Check out its journey in this humorous video from Lagunitas.