Video #306: Hot Thoughts w Newburgh Brewing - Sweater Brewer Talk.

Sometimes an on-camera conversation goes to a deeper level than just reviewing the property we're visiting - and last summer at Newburgh, we got into some very cool issues - on a pretty hot day. Press play for some Deep Thoughts and Sweaty Brewers (and Happy Hour Guys.) Enjoy!

Soon, there will be San Francisco treats!

Yup; that's the Golden Gate, from about 4000 feet.

Yup; that's the Golden Gate, from about 4000 feet.

Our digs on Tomales Bay. WOW! (Thanks, Tony Magee!)

Our digs on Tomales Bay. WOW! (Thanks, Tony Magee!)

Lagunitas, Petaluma, CA, USA, Earth, Sol, Local Group, Virgo Super Cluster, Space.

Lagunitas, Petaluma, CA, USA, Earth, Sol, Local Group, Virgo Super Cluster, Space.

Don't take my awesome beer! With Mark and Jack Alger at Lagunitas.

Don't take my awesome beer! With Mark and Jack Alger at Lagunitas.

We think these guys will be ok. The brewery, and us.

We think these guys will be ok. The brewery, and us.

Gnawin' dem bones at SMOKESTACK. I do look a tad dog-like here...

Gnawin' dem bones at SMOKESTACK. I do look a tad dog-like here...

Magnetic Letters R Us, at Brewcade in the Castro.

Magnetic Letters R Us, at Brewcade in the Castro.

Sometimes, as The Happy Hour Guys, we just get an opportunity to go where the wind takes us. And one of the directions we've always wanted the wind to blow? Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. We've been seriously lacking in our coverage there since the beginning; we've been around the country and around the world, but as far as the American West goes, we've always had a problem with getting very far north of LA. (I mean, we're Actors, can you blame us? Spielberg might call at any minute.) 

Those of you who know our content know that we've spent a lot of time in Colorado, a ton of time in the East Coast (we're based in New York City), we been down south, Texas, the Midwest (tons of stuff in Michigan); but NorCal? Seriously lacking. Now if your show is about Craft Liquids and great places to drink them, that's leaving out all whole lot of material. A ton. Okay, several tons. So when the opportunity arose for us to get to San Francisco, we jumped on it. It went a little bit like this: Mark is on the National Tour of the Broadway musical Newsies, and they are 'sitting down' in San Francisco for the month. I got a cheap fare, the good folks at Lagunitas gave us the use of their guest house for couple of days (many, many thanks, Tony Magee!!), and WE WERE ON.

Truly, I'm not going to give it all away, because in a 52 hour period we shot lots and lots of footage - maybe days worth of footage - (damn, I have a lot of editing to do) and this stuff is going to translate into some pretty terrific episodes. But for your edification (and jealousy) let me give out the lineup of where we were:

We opened in San Francisco's Castro District  at Brewcade, a Craft Beer Haven full of arcade games and flavor; that night made our way out to Tomales Bay about an hour and a half north of San Francisco near Marshall; the next day it was off to Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma California, and a day with some of the coolest damn people we've ever had the opportunity to spend the day with, in the brewery, the performance space, their FARM; then north to Santa Rosa and the Russian River Brewing Company (just north of Petaluma), where, because of the release of Pliny the Younger the week before, the staff had the 'thousand yard stare'... and they had every right to have. PTSD from Craft Beer. It happens.

We ended this epic trip back in San Francisco's Dogpatch District, at the Magnolia Brewing Company's Smokestack BBQ joint, with English style ales and some of the best brisket we've had in recent memory. Then I was back on a late plane and seemingly instantaneously, in New York with a cold wind cutting thru me and the snow melting around my boots, wishing I was back in Golden Gate country.

Man, is there a lot of fun content coming soon. As I said, we shot hours of footage - and here are some stills to hold you over until then we start rolling them out. 

If you have a chance... get yourself to NorCal!

Cheers!

Video #303: NYC Beer Week 2015

Those of you in reach of NYC are in for it. And by "it" we mean a crazy amount of amazing stuff!  NYC Beer Week 2015 runs from Friday, February 20, through Sunday, March 1.  That's ten days of beery excitement in the greatest city in the world (and one of the fastest growing craft communities as well)! Check out this promotional video we contributed to the celebration:

Here are direct links to tickets for prime events:
• Opening Bash: Saturday February 21, 1-5pm.
• Brewers Choice: Tuesday February 24, 6-10pm.
• Closing Beer & Brass Brunch: Sunday March 1, Noon-4pm.

The festivities kick off on Friday, February 20, with Opening Tap, a plethora of special and rare beers tapped at participating venues across the city. And there will be events throughout the five boroughs over all ten days: special pourings, tap takeovers, beer brunches, food pairings, and much much more. Check out the website for additional events, and be sure to check in with your NYC local hangouts and favorite NYC breweries for what they will be offering.  It'll be a great ten days.  Celebrate NYC and craft beer!

Pappy Van Winkle is amazing...and everything that's wrong with the booze industry.

Jimmy had a shot of Pappy Van Winkle the other night. He was at a bar with some friends, one of which was having an auspicious birthday, and wanted to celebrate. The bartender whispered some magic words: "We have Pappy 20, and 23. Off menu." So Jimmy ordered a shot of the 20, neat. It arrived, everyone tasted, and all praised what was a lovely, lovely brown spirit.

Then, the bill came. $150. For a single 1 and 1/2 ounce of liquid.

Let's put that sticker shock in perspective: Given that there are about 16ish shots in a 750 ml bottle, that means that this bar will make around $2400 for that brown liquid. Not a bad profit, even considering that this bottle likely cost them (because it was off-menu and likely purchased retail, from a profiteer - they wouldn't tell us exactly where) around $1000. (EDIT: A reader, Jim, correctly states that 99% of the time restaurants and bars pay wholesale for Pappy, if they have the chance to purchase. And AN ENTIRE BOTTLE of Pappy 23 retails in some markets for $149!!)

Now, we get it - we live in a free country with a Capitalist system: There are lots of popular drinks out there, astonishingly well crafted, and the producers of these drinks, if they are lucky enough for it to achieve the cult status that Pappy has, can charge "whatever the traffic will bear" as it were. But when there is rarity or cultishness around a 'WHITE WHALE' (as these types of drinks are called), profiteering inevitably comes into the picture. And we believe that it spoils the intent with which the drinks were made in the first place.

According to our sources, some distributors in the US are now tying whether or not a liquor store receives bottles of Pappy to quantity sales of other whiskies, some of which are exceedingly hard to move in large batches. In other words, a store must move X cases of another product to earn the right to 'get Pappy'. This leaves the smaller Mom and Pop stores at a huge disadvantage, as they simply can't move the number of bottles necessary to qualify. In the Craft Beer world, pursuit of rare releases like Cigar City's Hunahpu Stout have led to black/gray markets springing up, in which a profiteer will buy multiple bottles at the brewery, then sell them online for a steep markup.

Buy it from a retailer you trust.

Buy it from a retailer you trust.

We've spoken to the good folk at Cigar City; in the case of Hunahpu Stout, they just want to make great beer, and they've set what they believe to be a fair price this beer - the fact that someone who had nothing to do with making the liquid is profiting from a black market re-sale is an insult to the work that they've put in to making it in the first place. 

In both cases, the producers have the best and worst kind of success; their drinks have become astonishingly popular, but a great deal of the money that is changing hands over them never makes it back to their pockets, where it belongs.

Our advice? Stay away from profiteers. The point of having these amazing beverages is to experience them the way the producer intended - in the case of Cigar City, buy from a reputable retailer like Bruisin' Ales, or GO TO TAMPA YOURSELF - because bev-touring is awesome.

And as far as Pappy goes, we agree that it's wonderful, amazing, astonishing; but there are many, many other fantastic, aged bourbons out there that won't deliver such a blow to your wallet. Want to be super cool? Find the next one that less people know about. The Elijah Craig 23, for instance.

What about you? What are your feelings about Bev Sticker Shock, and Profiteering? Leave us a comment below.

And we'll see you next time!

De Garde Brewing: Sweet and Sour in Coastal Cow Country

Having just opened to the public in 2013, de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, Oregon is making waves in the big beer ocean of the Pacific Northwest.  They were heralded by Beer Advocate as the best new Oregon brewery in early 2014.  And considering their spontaneous fermentation, barrel aging, and unique plan of attack right out of the gate, we can see why.

De Garde Brewing in Tillamook, Oregon.

De Garde Brewing in Tillamook, Oregon.

Squigs here.  On Christmas Day, I was reading an article about the top-rated beers in each state.  Although the chosen stats seemed a bit arbitrary, I was intrigued to see an Oregon brewery listed that I hadn't heard of.  As a native Oregonian (now living in NY), even I can't keep track of what's new and exciting in Oregon brewing. I was already planning a trip to the Oregon coast, and a visit was a great possibility.

Sampling the wares: Rojo Dos, Bu, Imperial Peach Bu, Berry Bu.

Sampling the wares: Rojo Dos, Bu, Imperial Peach Bu, Berry Bu.

Trevor Rogers and Linsey Hamacher wanted to make spontaneously fermented wild ales so they had to seek out a place where the air was alive with happy strains of bacteria and yeast.  They found it in the fertile dairy land already home to renowned cheesemongers including the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  Add to this the coastal breezes wafting over the Coastal Mountain Range and you've got a diverse array of critters ready to party down in the de Garde coolship and barrels.  And with assistant brewer Will (formerly of Pelican Brewing) and taproom maven Sierra, they assembled a great – albeit VERY busy – team.

The menu board.

The menu board.

As an example of their wares, on my visit I sampled a selection of their Bu Weisse (a take on a Berliner Weisse, named with a Moroccan Berber possessive word meaning "my" or "mine" that Linsey picked up in the Peace Corps).  The base Bu and a couple brewed with local fruit: Berry Bu (with blackberries, boysenberries, and blueberries) and the Imperial Peach Bu.  Rounded out the tasting with the Rojo Dos (sour red).  All were incredible, but I returned to a full pour of the amazing Imperial Peach.  And of course I had to take a couple bottles to go: The Lucy (a Lambic based brew with muscat grapes) and the Deux Tetes (a wild collaboration with Pippin apple juice from Portland-based cidery Reverend Nat's).

They periodically host bottle releases and other popular events (as attested by de Garde fans at 5th Street Growlers in Corvallis) and you can find some of their bottles in local markets.  I'd love to see beer and cheese pairings which would be a mind-blowing sampling of all the region has to offer.  Wow!

Keep an eye on de Garde.  And if you find yourself on the Oregon coast, don't miss a chance to drop by.  See their website for hours.  They're located at 6000 Blimp Boulevard which is named for the neighboring blimp hangar that houses the Tillamook Air Museum.  They seem to be quite a fitting neighbor for a brewery where the brews seem to be flying out of the place.

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