GABF: Elk Grove, which closed last week, wins two medals in Denver
By William Brand
Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 2:08 pm in General.
OK the results of the brewing competition are in and there’s a really sad note. Bill Wood, the champion brewer at Elk Grove Brewery in Elk Grove near Sacramento won two medals in the this fiercely contested competition.
But damn it, Elk Grove closed last weekend, a victim of the mortgage crisis and our dismal economy.
Bill won a silver with Bock Lager in the Bock category, which had 36 enries. He also won a third place bronze for Bad Dog Brown Ale.
Congratulations Bill.
The rest of our winners in a moment…
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]
October 12th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
No offense, but isn’t he more a victim of his own poor business model/ decisions than events surrounding him? Just checking…
October 13th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
You know, I don’t know . I haven’t seen their books. I do know it is/was a funkly kind of place like you might find in a small down, no more a village crossroads with lots of regulars, working people, blue collar folks. Country music and rock n’ roll on the juke box and similar live music on weekends. Great ole’ bar with top-notch beer and friendly folks.
Then in the 90s suburban developers moved in and developed the farmland between I-5 and Highway 99. So Elk Grove wound up being two towns, the rather posh line of gated, suburban communities between I-5 and Highway 99 and the original village of Elk Grove east of Highway 99.
The original Elk Grove is/was withering. Don’t know if the brewpub was attracting the new residents or not. But, according to the pub’s lawyer the sub-prime mortgage crisis hit those new communities hard. Lots of foreclosures. Lots of empty houses.
Elsewhere, in the Central Valley, the economy sucks. I believe it was a kind of twin whammy for the brewpub. It had failed once before and the present owners resuscitated. But obviously, it was surviving on a shoestring.
Anyway,m that’s my take.
October 18th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Does anybody know what the fate of all of those the beautiful European steam jacked brewing system shall be?
Regards,
-Alex
October 20th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I don’t know what;s happening to the equipment Alex. But I intend to talk to Bill Wood this afternoon. Will ask.