BN Army Blog

Celebrator 22nd Anniversary Bash @ Trumer Brauerei

Brewcaster J — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:27:03 EST

Celebrator Beer News held their 22nd Anniversary Bash this past Sunday back at Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley, CA. It was great to be back in a brewery setting for the event and rub elbows one last time with all the folks we ran into all throughout SF Beer Week. The only problem with being back in the brewery was the noise created by partying in a small warehouse space. For that reason, we were unable to conduct our normal live radio show this year. Instead we opted for video interviews, which are available below.

Here you'll find a few of the interviews we did with SF Beer Week organizers and some festival goers too. Enjoy and can't wait to see you at SFBW 2011!

Celebrator 2010 SFBW Wrapup from Justin Crossley on Vimeo.

Here also are some still photos taken throughout the evening by our very own Jason "Jipper" Petros:

Brian Hunt from Moonlight: 600 Words About Beer Styles

Brian Hunt — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:09:46 EST

Bear with me for a few minutes and imagine a different beer world … just a slight twist of plant genetic fate away from what we take for granted today…

Suppose barley had been native to the North America instead of the Middle East. Without barley, beer could not have existed in Europe; it would instead have been brewed in the Americas. Columbus would have sailed back to Europe with barley seeds and news of beer as a revolutionary new beverage, a welcome change from cider, wine and mead. It would be Columbus that European breweries would pay homage to, not Gambrinus.

Moving on a few years, enter a gifted writer named Michael Jackson. He chronicled the existing beers of the world in his books. The bitters of Burton, Kolsch of Cologne, Pilsners of Pilsen, Rauch beers of Bamberg, sours of the Senne Valley, Porters of London, and more. But if barley hadn’t been in Europe before Columbus, these styles could never have developed!

Imagine, then, that brewers on the New World continents would have been brewing beer with barley for thousands of years and today wouldn’t merely be copying beer styles from thousands of miles away in Europe. Imagine just in North America how many indigenous beer styles would have developed that would be completely unlike any we know today. Instead, the World Book of Beers would have been written about the delicate beers of Denver, the hoppy ales of Seattle, Steam beers of San Francisco, roasted beers of New York, herbed beers of Ann Arbor, wheat beers of Kansas, Spruce beers of Alaska, sour cherry beers of the Columbia River Valley, Rye beers of Fargo, and on and on.

Indigenous American beer styles! What a concept! Somewhere in Belgium today, a brewer would be scouring his books for clues as to what made the famous soft beers of Florida, and trying to re-create them. A brewer in Munich would be fretting about having the wrong water to make a Yakima Freshhop. A brewer in Prague would be trying to find that native phenolic yeast culture for that Pennsylvania beer he loved on his vacation over here. It could so easily have been reversed like this.

Look at San Francisco sourdough bread. It only works near San Francisco because of the weather and the wild organisms in the air. Fifty miles away and the dough won’t work the same. What beer styles such as Lambic must be made in one certain place on the planet, and how many of those places and beers are hiding right under our noses-waiting for us to discover them? How can we deny them to thirsty beer drinkers?

A beer style develops for so many reasons. The climate, food, native ingredients, wild cultures, water supplies, taxes, and commerce routes, all play a part. Here in the States, we have all those things in our own unique combinations. What beer style would have developed for the San Diego heat, Houston humidity, or with a Philly Cheese Steak? What would native herbs taste like instead of those in traditional gruit? What wild cultures are in the air in Missouri or Northern California? What is the ideal style of beer made with glacier runoff in Montana or from Amazon water in Rio de Janiero?

All these factors are still relevant today, we just have chosen not to appreciate that they are just as valid forces as why the Alt Beer in Dusseldorf is so wonderful. Maybe if we used our imagination, science, and palate, we could come up with the new old styles that could have been brewed here for centuries. We are a few thousand years behind Europe, but that need not keep us from exploring our options.

I trust that Michael Jackson would have done his part.

BJ's Grand Opening In Concord, CA.

Brewcaster J — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:19:51 EDT

Last Thursday, October 15th, Michael "Mufasa" Ferguson invited The Brewing Network to join him for the grand opening of the new BJ's Restaurant and Brewery in Concord, CA. There are many beautiful things about this new location and not the least of which is that it is within walking distance of the BN studios! So I'm pretty sure we just found a new favorite brewery. Here is Mufasa talking about the new location and what folks can expect at BJ's:

As Mufasa states, he really is all about the beer. BJ's is by far the best beer selection in the Diablo Valley area with 40 beers on tap and another 29 in the bottle, including an impressive Belgian beer selection. I'm always impressed when I see brewery locations include beers from other breweries and BJ's does this with gusto.

During our visit I tried three BJ's beers and one guest tap. I began with the light and easy Brewhouse Blonde paired with our appetizers of flat bread pizza and avocado egg rolls. The beer was perfectly carbonated, smooth and crisp, and went down great with the light fare.

We followed that with BJ's Piranha Pale Ale which was a great example of an American Pale Ale that is neither too far west coast or to far east. Its aroma is both hoppy and malty and the flavor is bold and balanced. This will be my go-to beer for every meal. In this case it came paired with my BJ's Favorite Pizza, topped with meatballs, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black olives, seasoned tomatoes and onions. I recommend this pairing to any person who....likes things that are awesome!!!

We ended the meal with Tatonka Stout (Mufasa's favorite) paired with Triple Chocolate Pizookie. The pairing defies description. Just go eat it!!! Really...right now. Come back and finish this later.

We ended the night with conversation about the craft beer world and where it's going over pints of Monks Cafe Flemish Sour Ale from BJ's guest tap selection. A perfect end to a great evening (well...not counting the karaoke with Mufasa later that night, but that's another story).

Bottom line to this review: Get to any new BJ's location you can. They have improved the floor plan and bar area immensely, added more taps than ever, and continue to produce great beer and great food consistently.

Tasty's Russian River Brew Day: Full Video

Brewcaster J — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:46:32 EDT

As reported in earlier BNARMY Blog posts, Tasty McDole was invited to brew at Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, CA. for the Great American Beer Festival's Pro Am competition. Below is the full video of Tasty's brew day as well as interviews with Brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo.

5th Annual Sasquatch BrewAm

Brewcaster J — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:25:11 EDT

Yesterday I was lucky enough to make my second appearance at the annual Glen Hay Falconer Foundation's Sasquatch BrewAm. It's a wonderful gathering of celebrity brewers and industry folks along with beer lovers like me, to get in a great round of par three golf while raising money for the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation brewing scholarship program, which sends brewers from the Pacific Northwest to the Siebel Institute to further their knowledge and the craft.

While I did not golf (for the second year, what is wrong with me?) I did get to wander around the course and speak with many of the brewers as well as the organizers, like The Beer Goddess Lisa Morrison. I brought a camera crew this year too so there will be a more comprehensive video of the days events posting soon, but for now I just wanted to put together some of the fun clips I shot with my little camera wile walking around.

I also have a heap of pics taken throughout the day that I'll try to get posted here tomorrow.

Prost!