Photo: Judy Ashworth with Andy Musser, former Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster, now Anchor’s rep in Philadelphia. Taken at Anchor’s 2007 Christmas party.

The trouble with blogs is they’re linear. They’re like a moving finger that writes and moves on. Early this month I posted part of an article I wrote for Northwest Brew News about Judy Ashworth, who without a doubt was America’s first craft beer publican. She held court at a place called Lyons Brewery in Sunol, which is in the San Francisco East Bay about 50 miles east of San Francisco.

The comments posted by former Lyons pub folks have been great. Unfortunately the post is buried four screens back….

Here’s the top of the story…

Time Machine — Remembering When…

By William Brand

It’s almost impossible to imagine the Northern California pub world of 30 years ago: With luck, in a typical neighborhood tavern, there were perhaps four taps, Bud, Coors, Miller and maybe, for variety: Schlitz or Olympia. Differences were slight: Bud was fizzy, Coors was light, Miller tasted slightly sweet, Schlitz was dry, Oly was sour.

Anchor was evolving into something splendid, but it rarely made it out of San Francisco and certainly never to neighborhood bars.

There was no light beer; counting calories like avoiding cholesterol and stopping smoking were in the future and bars were smoke-filled; ashtrays were ubiquitous.

The beer was boring – there for the mild buzz, although most of us got our buzz outside with reefer.

We were between wars: Vietnam had dribbled into closure, more crap was ahead, but Billy Joel hadn’t yet written the song. All we wanted _ those of us who had chosen to oppose the war, dropped out and grew our hair long, and those who got drafted and wound up getting their asses shot off in Nam _ was a little peace.

Beer was boring, so what… Well, craft beer changed all that, it was like the Billy Joel song, NewAlbionMendocinoNewmansSierraNevadaWidmer…

But what about the lowly pub? Those smoke-filled arcane places full of stoners sipping tepid lager? What happened to them? They were hit by a whirlwind, her name is Judy Ashworth.

A single mom with three kids, she bought Lyons Brewing, a pub in bucolic Sunol, California in1983. “It was a longneck, Bud-drinking cowboy bar,” Ashworth says. “I was 39 years old, the owner wanted to sell and couldn’t so he sold it to me on a note.”

“I was known as a mixologist, even then. I had a mix, I called ‘Judy’s mix,’ Bavarian Dark and Coors. But I’m not even sure why, but I wanted other beers. READ THE REST OF THE POST…

And here are some of the comments:

A. Ass Says:
April 17th, 2008 at 11:24 pm e
Thanks for the story on Judy Ashworth. That brought back some meories. My (eventual) wife and I stumbled across the Lyons Brewery Depot completely by accident one night and never looked back. What a treasure that place was. I still drink from the glass we got at the benefit, still occasionally wear my LBDCC shirt, and still curse that fire every time I drive through Sunol.

She was always very welcoming, and enthusiastic about her newest discoveries. We learned a great deal about beer from Judy, and I’m glad to hear she is doing well.

William Brand Says:
April 18th, 2008 at 7:07 am e
All hail Judy!! (May she open another pub))

Jessejps Says:
April 26th, 2008 at 9:04 pm e
Lyon’s brewery was such a big part of my life in my 20’s. from the time I turned 21 until I move away to Seattle I was there every Tuesday and almost every Sunday. with the “Tuesday night crew” Rick was our barman, Mark, Dave, Erik, Bob, Brian, and a cast of others who I aplogise for leaving out. Judy’s Pub was where I learned to truly love Beer. She had a “Passport” where you could get a stamp for every new beer you tried at 25 you got a free beer, 50 was a t-shirt and 100 was a huge glass boot full of the beer of your choice. I lost track of how many different beers I tried after 150 or so. It was that kind of place, Judy was always looking for good beers and we watched new breweries come and go or grow and succeed. It was the only place I know of to have barley wine on tap. Judy LOVES to talk about beer, and she definetely knows her beer.
Great friends, great beer, so many great memories. It’s good to hear that Judy is doing well. The Tuesday night Crew still meets at the Hopyard in San Ramon as far as I know, the faces may have changed a bit, I know Mark, Dave, Eric, Dan and Rick are still around. I live in Minnesota now, maybe I’ll make it out there to look them up this summer

William Brand Says:
April 26th, 2008 at 10:36 pm e
Wow Jesse. Those are memories. If you cone back here this summer and go to the Hopyard and those same people are still there, let me know. I’d love to write about them (and you)

You know, you had a front seat on Craft Beer history. Lyons was totally unique. She was far ahead of her time. Thanks for the info and memories. wb

Help. I need a secretary or an aide-de-camp. I’m VERY LATE with this posting. Let me explain, last year I volunteered to do a San Francisco pub crawl for KQED, KTEH, the public broadcast stations. It was a big success.

This year I’m doing a Belgian Beer Tour, also with Mr. Toad’s Tours furnishing the transportation. It up right now on the KQED Online Auction. There are only two moe days remaining to bid.

So if the idea of a whole lot of great Belgian beer at a number of spots in the East Bay and San Francisco grabs you and you feel like making a charitable, tax deductible donation, check it out. This is for a very worthy cause and the price is low.

Bill, I was at the Toronado “pre-opening” last Thursday in San Diego. It’s in the North Park area, at - I think- 4026 30th Ave, near University.

Not sure when it will officially open. Small but cozy place, lots of beer people there. Dave Keene was pouring lots of great beers, including Malheur Brut and a giant bottle of Duvel. Alan Moen

Great shot of the pour Alan,.

Jay Brooks at brookstonbeerbulletin.com says the owner is Ian Black, who worked at the Toronado in San Francisco.

Dean Biersch on the back deck of his new Hopmonk Tavern which opens Thursday in Sebastopol. That’s a pint of Hopmonk Kellerbier from Gordon Biersch. The tavern and beer garden is not connected to Gordon Biersch. It’s Dean’s first restaurant opening in 8 years.

FROM THE EARLY DAYS IN THE LATE 1980s in Palo Alto, the Gordon Biersch brewpub chain – guided by partner Dean Biersch – carved out a niche for comfortable, but posh digs, with clean-tasting, fresh beer from partner Dan Gordon, the German-trained, American brewer.

Over the next two decades, Gordon Biersch rose in splendor, spanning the nation with 25, uber-fancy establishments. The two partners sold the brewpub business to Big River Brewing, Chattanooga, TN and and raised money for a San Jose brewery by handing control of the busuiness to a Las Vegas investor. Dan Gordon’s happily brewing beer in San Jose. Dean Biersch moved to Sonoma. He’s divorced with three kids, one 13-year-old and twins, 10.

And tomorrow, (Thursday, April 17, 2008), Dean’s back in the restaurant business.

Eight years after he opened his last Gordon Biersch restaurant, he opens Hopmonk Tavern: A Beer Garden in Wine Country, 230 Petaluma Ave.
in Sebastopol, CA. (Don’t live in the Bay Area? Here’s a map.)

But don’t look for posh. The whole emphasis is comfort. It’s at the convergence of two state highways, on the edge of downtown Sebastapol, on the route to the Pacific Coast. The landmark, L-shaped building, built in 1903, was the power house for the Petaluma & Santa Rosa electric railroad that ran through Sebastapol. For a decade, it was a brewpub, Powerhouse Brewing, which closed in 2005. It became Sebastapol Brewing, which closed last year.

If you’ve visited either of the previous brewpubs, you’re in for a shock. The interior is totally changed. Biersch has covered the concrete floors with Douglas fir planks, recycled from a split pea factory in Idaho. When I visited last week the new booths, plush, 1950s-style naugahyde, I think, were still covered in plastic. There’s a new bar and a small brewplant, which, Dean said, will be used later.

In the meantime, there’s an extremely wide range of beer on tap, including a special pils: Hopmonk Kellerbier, brewed by Gordon Biersch. I found it crisp, malty, excellent. Also Dan Gordon’s wonderful new Dunkelweizen, intense and interesting. I’m posting my Beer of the Week column about it in a few minutes, because the link’s expired to our newspapers. Hopmonk’s also stocking about 75 Belgian beers in bottles, ranging in prices from $5 - $8. We’re making every effort to keep prices low, he said. All beers are served in the appropriate glassware.

Dean has brought in a beer sommelier, Anastasy Tynan, an ace homebrewer from Hawaii to select beers offered and to provide expert help to patrons. They both prefer to call the post, “Hop Monk.:” Great idea, not so pretentious.

More about the beer in a minute.

There’s also a beer garden now. Dean says they jackhammered out the concrete, covered the ground with decomposed granite, there’s even a firm path for wheelchairs and the whole place, including the outside beer garden, has wheelchair access. Most trees in the beer garden are just planted, but there’s lighting and tables and it’s already a pleasant spot It’s sheltered from the wind and might be hot in the sun, but very pleasant in the evening.

The other part of the building’s has been converted into a music hall, with seating, a bar and a stage. Dean hopes to bring in top and indie local and Bay Area musicians. He’s even added a “green room” for visiting musicians.

About the food, Dean has hired Lynn McCarthy, an outstanding young chef from Sun Valley, Idaho. He has rebuilt the kitchen for her. The idea, they both explained, is to produce rustic tavern food, very unpretentious, but very real food. “We use very heavy flatware, rustic plates, our mussels come in an iron pot and we have lots Belgian style dishes,” Dean says.

During a tour, McCcarthy set out some of her specialities. What grabbed me were the “small plates.” A charcuterie plate of cured meats, Prosciutto and a “tavern pate,” is $10.50. The pate is made from chicken livers in a reduced Calvados apple brandy, from California Cider Co., at the edge of Sebastopol. Wow. Another was an artisanal cheese plate, three local cheeses, including Carmody, a Munster-like cheese from nearby Bellwether Farms, served with fresh bread and fruit, $12.

This is a place to sit down, munch, enjoy the beer and the atmosphere and not spend a ton of money.

About the beer on tap right now…It’s a long list, Stone Brewing Smoked Porter, Anchor Liberty Ale, Belhaven Scottish Ale, Ducjhesse of Burgundy, Eel River Organic Porter, Fullers London Pride, Mendocino Spring Bockk, Moonlight Death & Taxes, New Belgium Mothership Wit, Rogue Dead Guy Ale and Sonoma Farmhouse Saison from Lagunitas. They also plan to have cask ales on hand pump.

Gee, I reckon I might find something here to drink. See you there.

OK, we’re up over here at ‘da buzz and running hot. So welcome and hang on….next up in a couple of hours: A look at Hopmonk Tavern & Beeer Garden in Sebastopol, the first project by Gordon-Biersch founder Dean Biersch in eight years…It opens tomorrow, Thursday, April 17, 2008.

Photos: Gail Williams, Steve Shapiro of beerbybart.com at The Trappist, holding the pub’s extensive beer list. It’s a book.

Below: A glass of De Glkazen Toren Saison d’Erpe-Mere.

Made it to to The Trappist in Oakland Saturday afternoon with Steve and Gail from beerbybart.com. This place rocks. Wound up discovering two new-to-me beers one spectacular, the other quite interesting.

Chuck Stilphen, who owns The Trappist along with business partner Aaron Porter, poured us the first: De Glazen Toren Saison D’Erpe-Mere. It’s touch, from the city of Erpe-Mere, and it’s an ale.

This is one brewery that’s showing the world that Holland is no longer a country that produces endless bland lagers.

It’s a beautiful beer, a clear, pale gold with a spicy nose. There’s a slight initial sweetness fading quickly into a long, drying follow with a mounting sourness. It’s not mouth-puckering, just adds some interesting balance. The finish is so dry that I’m guessing it might have some coriander. I give it ***1/2 stars.

According to the brewery Web site, the brewery, which means ” the glass tower” was founded in 2004. The founders, a lawyer and a mathematician who was a town alderman met in 1988, and “discovered they had a common passion: beer.”

They became homebrewers and dreamed of opening a brewery, but they lacked training. So they abandoned their careers and enrolled in a three year brewing course at CTL Institute in Ghent, Belgium. Ergo, they brew ales in the Belgian style.

The saison, which they say is in the style of Hainault province, the westernmost province, which borders France and is the original home of the style. This is a beer to savor. Don’t know if it can be found here in bottles, but I’m gonna look.

Gail discovered the second beer, Jolly Pumpkin La Roja. She found in buried in The Trappist beer list, which is bound and about an inch thick.

Jolly Pumpkin Artisian Ales is a craft brewery in Dexter, MI. Their focus is Belgian-style ales with an emphasis on ancient Belgian styles. La Roja’s an American version of a Flemish brown (or red, you call it) ale like Duchesse de Bourgogne.

The Duchess is a blend of new and barrel aged beer, so it has a most unusual sweet-sour balance that some of us (me) like and others despise.

La Roja’s a blend of beer barrel aged from a few months two to three years in oak, but not blended with just brewed beer. So, there’s zero sweetness. It’s very, very tasty: a pleasing sourness, lots of vanilla and oak. I give it ***

Photo: Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Label

Rose & Crown, 547 Emerson St., Palo Alto. Photo by Jatbar.com.

I love doing the blog equivalent of PSAs — Public Service Announcements.

Here, in the public interest, are beers just added at the Rose & Crown in Palo Alto, and on tap at City Beer in San Francisco and The Trappist in Oakland. Do you have a favorite pub with rotating taps. Let me know what’s on and I’ll post it here.

Rose and Crown. New rotationals, from proprietor Kasim Syed.

Full Sail Nut Brown and Imperial Stout
Devils Canyon Rye IPA
Drakes Denogganizer Double IPA
La Chouffe Houblon Double IPA (Rotating Belgian)

Coming up will be the Drakes Expedition, Nostradamus Belgian Brown, Red Rocket, and Firestone Union Jack IPA (Which may be here to stay)

On tap at City Beer in San Francisco:

Sierra Nevada Stout
Marin Brewing Company Marin Star Brew Triple Wheat
Avery Maharaja
Anderson Valley Summer Solstice
Moonlight Bombay By Boat
Hofbrau Maibock

On tap at The Trappist

Koningshoven Trappist Quadrupel 10% ABV 25cl $8
Brasserie d’Achouffe Houblon Chouffe 9% ABV 25cl $6.
Chimay Cinq Cents Triple 8% ABV 30cl $6.
Brouwerij St. Bernardus Prior 8 8% ABV 33cl $6.
St. Feuillien Triple 8.5% ABV 33cl $6.
Het Anker Gouden Carolus Grand Cru 10.5% ABV 25cl $8
Unibroue Trois Pistoles 9% ABV 25cl $6.
Linden Street Common Lager 5% ABV 45cl $5
North Coast Pranqster 7.6% ABV 33cl $6
Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet 8% ABV 33cl $6 Flying Dog Pale Ale 5.5% ABV 33cl $5
Brouwerij de Glazen Toren Saison d’Erpe-Mere 7.5 % ABV 33cl $8.
Van Eecke Poperings Hommel 7.5% ABV 33cl $6.
North Coast Old #38 Stout 33cl. $5
De Koninick 5% ABV 33cl $6.

This is an except from an article I wrote recently for Northwest Brewing News, Seattle. This segment is about Judy Ashworthstrong>, the very amazing lady who single handedly and nearly by accident either created the concept of a multi-tap pub specializing in good craft beer or made it famous. I think she actually did both things. For damn sure back in the 1980s no one else had a “Farewell to Bud” party.

I’m posting this as part of a beer bloggers First Friday posting project. On the first Friday of each month, all of us who choose to create a post on the same subject, usually a style of beer. But this month it’s people and when it comes to beer people, Judy’s unique and amazing… Come with me on my time machine…

By William Brand

It’s almost impossible to imagine the Northern California pub world of 30 years ago: With luck, in a typical neighborhood tavern, there were perhaps four taps, Bud, Coors, Miller and maybe, for variety: Schlitz or Olympia. Differences were slight: Bud was fizzy, Coors was light, Miller tasted slightly sweet, Schlitz was dry, Oly was sour.

Anchor was evolving into something splendid, but it rarely made it out of San Francisco and certainly never to neighborhood bars.

There was no light beer; counting calories like avoiding cholesterol and stopping smoking were in the future and bars were smoke-filled; ashtrays were ubiquitous.

The beer was boring – there for the mild buzz, although most of us got our buzz outside with reefer.

We were between wars: Vietnam had dribbled into closure, more crap was ahead, but Billy Joel hadn’t yet written the song. All we wanted _ those of us who had chosen to oppose the war, dropped out and grew our hair long, and those who got drafted and wound up getting their asses shot off in Nam _ was a little peace.

Beer was boring, so what… Well, craft beer changed all that, it was like the Billy Joel song, NewAlbionMendocinoNewmansSierraNevadaWidmer…

But what about the lowly pub? Those smoke-filled arcane places full of stoners sipping tepid lager? What happened to them? They were hit by a whirlwind, her name is Judy Ashworth.

A single mom with three kids, she bought Lyons Brewing, a pub in bucolic Sunol, California in1983. “It was a longneck, Bud-drinking cowboy bar,” Ashworth says. “I was 39 years old, the owner wanted to sell and couldn’t so he sold it to me on a note.”

“I was known as a mixologist, even then. I had a mix, I called ‘Judy’s mix,’ Bavarian Dark and Coors. But I’m not even sure why, but I wanted other beers.

She credits her early education to Bob Hufford, a homebrewer. “He came into my pub and was so excited that I had San Miquel in bottles. He brought in some of his homebrew and I was blown away. I had no idea what real beer tasted like.”

“He said, ‘Hey, there’s this brewery Sierra Nevada going to start and Buffalo Bill’s and Mendocino Brewing. So I met all these people and brought in their beer.”

She took up homebrewing; she became a contest judge. She met fledgling craft brewers from everywhere. On June 6,1986, she had a ‘Farewell to Bud’ party. She replaced Bud with Lighthouse Lager from Santa Cruz Brewing Co.

“I never looked back, I said I’d never have a national beer brand again. Usually, I had to go to the brewery and pick up the beer. The only one that delivered was Sierra Nevada.” It took her six months to convince Anchor to bring their beer all the way – 60 miles east to Sunol.

“I got rid of the national brands and all their promotions. I found out people would actually come in and not swill beer. They’d sit there and quaff it and thoroughly enjoy it. We had Hells Angels. I allowed them to come in, but no chains, no clubs.”

Ashworth has Dec. 23, 1987 engraved in her brain. The pub burned to the ground that day. “Everything was gone. I was standing there and Mark Carpenter and Bob Brewer came up from Anchor. Each had two cases beer. I was standing there crying and the brewers and everybody had a fundraiser for me.

“They told me, ‘You’ve got no choice. You have got to continue. You are our spokesman. They were so busy brewing beer and trying to survive, they had no money to advertise. I was out there teaching people about good beer.”

She reopened in nearby Dublin in 1988. English beer writer Michael Jackson was at the opening. She had multi-taps, all craft beer. She introduced beer and chocolate fests. Her pub became world famous.

“It was an incredible, amazing chapter in my life,” All these people from all walks of life, doing what they loved to do: make beer and drink good beer.” She cracks a big grin. “If I opened a pub, it would be real small and cozy and only carry the best of the best.”

Epilogue
Judy Ashworth sold her famous pub in 1998, not long after she suffered cardiac arrest. A breast cancer survivor with a pacemaker to keep her heart running, she lives on an acreage in Contra Costa and is in training for a 100 mile bike marathon. She’s thinking about opening a small pub when she turns 70.

Photo: This is a one I took with my cel phone at the Anchor Christmat Party in 2007. That’s Judy Ashworth with Andy Musser, who for years broadcast all the Philadelphia Phillies games. He’s now Anchor’s East Coast rep.

“Hi William, Just wanted to let you know that I like your articles so much that I’m starting to post them on my bulletin board. You’ve actually inspired me to try and educate my Concord customers to some of the finer brews made… and away from the Bud style beers. I’ve got people turned on to Arrogant Bastard and Brother David’s Double and Triple. They are moving slowly, but definitely picking up of late. And if worse comes to worse, I’ve got something good to drink for myself.” Andy Steinberg, Proprietor

With a note like this one, I had to visit. So late Saturday afternoon my daughter, who is 21, and I dropped in. It’s AJ’s Sports Pub & Grill, 4633 Clayton Road, Concord, CA 9521, 925-459-0574

I was hesitant for one reason: Before Andy Steinberg bought the place, it was an established called Mr. Pickwicks, one of those mock English pubs. It had moved here from a spot near I-680 in Pleasant Hill, where it was well-regarded. Well, the Fuller’s ESB on tap had turned. The hot dog was hmm. I left, and never returned.

The place has changed. The hot dog and garlic fries we ordered were first-rate. I asked for Fuller’s ESB. again and was told by the young woman wait staffer that they were “out of ESP. ” Except for Anchor Steam, the rest of the beer list was corporate: Bass, Bud Lite, Boddington’s, Harp, Guinness, Newcastle Brown, plus Lagunitas IPA and Fat Tire.

But my daughter spotted a note that said: “Ask about our seasonal specials” Turned out it was Stone Arrogant Bastard, which was gone. But the young woman said, “There’s one more. Anderson something…” Turned out it was Anderson Valley Brother David’s Triple Abbey-Style Ale. Wow. I ordered small glass, my daughter ordered a pint. It’s 10 percent, I drove home.

Andy Steinberg was there, said he got tired of working for other people and took over the pub 16 months ago; he’s added a dart board - a customer built it for free beer. There’s a pool table in the back room and the local homebrew club – Diablo Order of Zymiracle Enthusiasts – DOZE – meets here monthly.

He has a karoke night, an acoustic music jam night on Wednesdays, live music with lcoal bands on the weekend.

Steinberg admits he’s a wine guy, originally from New York. So he’s getting into good beer cautiously. Bud Light and Bud are big sellers; so is Stella Artois, the Belgian lager from InBev, he said. He replaced Arrogant Bastard with Brother David. My advice: Put ‘em both on and four more, let’s see: Maybe Lagunitas Censored, Gordon Biersch Dunkelweizen or Marzen and the IPA from his neighbor EJ Phair Brewing. Dump the slowest moving corporate beers and go for it. The DOZE folks alone will spread the word that there’s good beer on Clayton Road (an official beer desert) and so will I.

One othe note. He got tired of trying to run a pub and a kitchen, so he leased the kitchen to a Peruvian family. They offer a full menu of interesting dishes. Going to go back again and try it.

PHOTOS: Top: The bar at AJ’s Sports Pub & Grill.

Above: Brother David’s translucent copper triple Damn, it’s good.

As regular readers of this blog know, I’ve been scouting for good beer pubs in the South Bay. It’s been a difficult search. Lots of corporate beer down there: InBev, Guinness, Scottish & Newcastle. It’s strange, pubs don’t seem to tap the wealth of good craft beer available, from local brewers like Gordon Biersch, Firestone Walker and Sonoma County brewers like Bear Republic. Did see a bit of Lagunitas, mostly the IPA.

It’s been a sobering hunt and it’s far from over, but to remind myself that we live in a true beer nirvana in the northern Bay Area, at least, I checked the offerings of three local pubs. These are just the draft beers available. Check out the next three posts and remember, we have lots more: Lanesplitter, Luka’s, Bistro, Barclay’s, Jupiter, Albatross, Ben & Nicks, Cato’s Ale Hose, Pete’s Brass Rail, Hoptown...the mind reels.