Bottoms Up

I stopped into a most unusual beer tasting Saturday afternoon – in the back of Virginia Bakery on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, CA.

To appreciate it, you’ve got to know Gary Larson. Gary’s a retired Berkeley police officer; for much of his 30 years of service, his beat was West Berkeley, an area which ranges from the marina on San Francisco Bay to some of the toughest neighborhoods in Berkeley to the posh Fourth Street shopping area.

You always knew when Gary was around: He’s at least 6 feet – 5 inches tall. He has a son, who is much taller and played pro basketball in Norway.

Gary’s always been interested in many things: The Sons of Norway, teaching Norwegian at a summer camp, rowing on San Francisco Bay in an authentic Viking longboat; dancing the polka – he’s from South Dakota.

And beer, good beer, a fascination that began when he was Peace Corps volunteer in South America. Anyway, a love of beer led to his love of brewpubs. He’s always traveled widely and his trips always involve brewpubs. He’s visited somewhere around 500 in the U.S., and Europe. When I launched What’s On Tap, the Newsletter, back in the 1990s, he was the brewpub writer.

After he retired from the Berkeley PD, Gary signed on as an emergency volunteer supervisor with the American Red Cross. If there’s a disaster anywhere in the U.S, Gary will be there: Katrina, Oklahoma floods; hurricanes and 9-11. Yes he was there too and I believe it was the only time he didn’t visit a brewpub.

But in the years that followed, he’s caught most in the New York metro area.

His apartment’s filled with beer he’s collected on his travels and occasionally, he holds a beer tasting, among other reasons to make more room in his apartment for new beer.

This is a guy who has set routines in Berkeley and one of them is morning coffee at Virginia bakery. He has friends everywhere and naturally he knows the bakes at Virginia Bakery.

The bakers made pizza and Gary brought the beer: Mahrs Brau Jubelfestbier, 4.9 percent from Bamberg, Germany; Santa’s Butt Winter Porter, 6 percent, Ridgeway Brewing, Oxfordshire, UK, Wreck the Halls Holiday Ale, 6.5 percent, Full Sail, Hood River, OR. Hoppy Holidaze, 7 percent, Marin Brewing, Larkspur,CA.; Altenmunster Winterbier Doppelbock, 7.2 percent, Allgauer Brauhaus, Germany.

Also: Lump of Coal Holiday Stout, 8 percent from Ridgeway; Jewbelation 5766, Shmaltz, Saratoga Springs, NY and Noel Christmas Ale, 2006, 9 percent, Affligem Brouwerij, Belgium.

One of the bakers brought a 2006 Old Crustacean Barleywine,11.5 percent. from Rogue, Newport Oakland.

By the time I got there, two hours into the tasting, the tasters were in a merry mood. Lump of Coal was gone, unfortunately. This is a fine, English stout with a bit of a kick from the alcohol, very drinkable.

I looked forward to the Affligem Noel. But I found the 2006 sadly faded. I had really liked the 2007, just the right spicing.

My favorite of the day was the Rogue. A year of aging had done Old Crusty justice. Mellow, smooth, a lot of sweetness, balanced by the hops and alcohol. A fine beer indeed.

Finished off the afternoon with a piece of cheesecake, a Virginia bakery speciality. A nice Saturday afternoon indeed.

Photo: Gary Larson hoists a glass of Old Crusty.