Bottoms Up

Somehow this week has sped by with me on the sidelines. Things are happing in the Bay Area beer world:

Events: Tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 3.,  Deschutes “Abyss” Night, Toronado, 547 Haight St., San Francisco. 6 p.m. until closing. No admission, pay for your beer. Abyss Imperial Stout ‘08, the stony, blended, barrel-aged beast, will be on tap. They’ll also have the Deschutes ‘07 and Deschutes ‘08 in bottles.

Wednesday, Dec. 3,  6 p.m. The Sweet and Bitter, Beer & Chocolate tasting,  hosted by Sheana Davis, Epicurean Connection, Rogue Ales Public House, 673 Union St., San Francisco, $40 for Rogue Nation members, $45 others. (Go to Rogue.com to become a member. It’s free.)  Doors open at 6 p.m.,  tasting from 6:30-8:30.  Reservations: 415-362-7880, e-mail:  cheryl@rogue.com

Wednesday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m. Repeal Prohibition dinner, 21st Amendment Brewery, Rare seasonal beers, guest brewers and a five-course meal. $75. Reservations  415-369-0900

Friday, Dec. 5, 4 p.m. Repeal Prohibition Parade (aka We Want Beer! March)
Parade begins at Justin Herman Plaza (1 Market Street)  with a full marching band and a coterie of revelers in 1930’s garb. Parade ends at 21st Amendment Brewery with a Repeal Prohibition celebration featuring a three-piece jazz band, special menu items, and a password-only speakeasy. Password retrieval instructions will be twittered. Admission is free: 415-369-0900  Note: We’re offering a $100 birthday bounty for people turning 21  on December 5, 2008. (They already have someone who will turn 75 on Dec. 5. Still looking for a 21-year-old.

Friday, Dec. 5, Saturday, Dec. 6, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m., both days. The Trappist will have two  Christmas beer tastings on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6. $25. No reservations. Pay at the door. Hint: come early. This one’s gonna’ be hot.

Also: Don’t forget Pacific Coast Brewing’s 20th annual Tasting of Holiday Beer, Saturday, Dec. 13, noon-4 p.m. $50. Reservations: 510-936-2739. Pacific Coast’s at 906 Washington St. in downtown Oakland.

If you live in Weed (California), you’ve gotta’ have a sense of humor about the name.  But the proprietor of Mt. Shasta Brewing got into a hassle with the Bushies in the federal government over this bottle cap slogan: Legal Weed. He won in court and now his beer is headed our way,  it’s gonna’ make an appearance Monday,  Dec. 15, at Pete’s Brass Rail in Danville (CA).

Here’s the list from Pete’s: Featured beers will be Mountain High IPA (Which, by the way, beat Racer 5 for Gold at the West Coast Brewer’s Festival in Sacramento this year!), Shastafarian Porter (Which, by the way, took Gold over Deschutes Black Butte Porter at last year’s WCBF!) & Abner Weed Amber Ale (Which, by the way, knocked the stuffing out of my last batch of homebrew!)…

Moving on… got this note from a regular blog poster…” Spotted three cases of The Abyss at BevMo on Geary, San Francisco.” Ahh great news when the mighty BevMo stocks an edgy beer. Curious about Abyss? Later today, I’m going to post my column, written earlier this year about how they made the beer. So hang on…or Google Abyss and William Brand.

And this comes from SBS Imports of Seattle, Washington:

• Bell’s Brewery has agreed to be the 2009 partner for the latest brew in the De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Series. The yet to be designed beer will be brewed in March at De Proef in Lochristi, Belgium and released to the USA market in September 2009. The initial beer in the series was Signature Ale - originally brewed in 2007 with Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/Lost Abbey. Jason Perkins of Allagash collaborated in 2008 on Les Deux Brasseurs. Both beers have been exceptionally well-received by beer enthusiasts.

SBS Imports is  headed by one guy: Alan Shapiro. He brings in a long list of great beer and what is undoubtedly the best cider sold in America (excluding the handful of craft ciders made in small batches around the U.S.) That would be Aspall, which I highly recommend.

An English blogger and pub proprietor is running a beer photo contest in conjunction with a Canadian beer blogger. There are prizes, but unless you’re gonna’  be in London in the near future, it’s useless to enter  for the prizes. but some of the photos are pretty cool. I noticed lots of U.S. entries…see ‘em all here.  And read the blog, here.

Readers of this blog know I’m a BIG FAN of Thomas Hardy’s Ale, the stoney English barleywine. I’m not alone. Got this from a blog reader and big fan of Thomas Hardy’s:

• Just Google’d Thomas Hardy’s Ale, and read your review of a previous vintage. Thought you would enjoy this story…………
• I am a store manager for BevMo! In San Diego, and my son and his wife in Cleveland had identical twin boys this past February.  My son is corporate beverage director for Hyde Park Grille; a high end steakhouse chain based in Cleveland. He talked about how cool it would be to buy some great 2008 vintage wines when they come out, and lay them down for John & Julian’s 21st birthday in 2029.
• I think you know where this is going… I called El Dorado, our distributor for Hardy’s, and got their LAST case of 2008 for my Grandsons.
• SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! John P.

Meanwhile, back in the annals of beer…As anyone who cares knows, the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition is Friday, Dec. 5. Here’s what the beer industry says:

Beer Industry Recognizes 75 Years of Post-Prohibition Brewing

WASHINGTON, DC – On Dec. 5, brewers, beer importers, and industry suppliers will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the national repeal of Prohibition.

The positive economic impact of Prohibition’s repeal was felt virtually immediately. More than 50,000 jobs were produced nationwide in brewing and related industries during the height of the Great Depression, and $25 million in economic activity was generated across the country in just the first 48 hours following repeal.  Since that time, the beer industry has grown exponentially into an economic force for America’s farmers, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers.

Directly and indirectly, the beer industry employs approximately 1.7 million Americans, paying them almost $55 billion in wages and benefits. The industry pays over $36 billion in business, personal and consumption taxes, including $5.2 billion in excise taxes and $6.2 billion in sales, gross receipts, and other taxes. In addition to this positive economic impact, the repeal of Prohibition also ushered in a new era of responsibility in how alcohol is regulated and consumed.

This moved on into a serious rant on taxation of beer and while I just lays me money down and drinks da’ beer,  here’s the rest of it:

• “The past 75 years powerfully demonstrate that a healthy beer industry strengthens the American economy,” said Beer Institute President Jeff Becker. “Looking forward, fair tax policies are essential to ensuring that brewers and beer importers can continue making significant contributions across the nation.”

• Today, the beer industry is burdened with an excessively high and regressive beer tax that unfairly hurts manufacturing employees and hits lower- and middle-income consumers hardest. Since the federal beer tax doubled in 1991, approximately 60,000 Americans lost their jobs in brewing, distributing, retailing, and related industries.

• Rolling back the beer tax increase would provide a much-needed shot in the arm to the nation’s struggling economy and help stimulate job growth. Additionally, a healthy and prosperous beer industry provides important revenue that helps fund many local projects such as new schools and roads.

• “From coast to coast, our members stand united as we celebrate this important milestone,” added Becker. “Together, we have built a strong record of growth and responsible community involvement, and that is something in which we can all take great pride.”

• Brewers and beer importers spend millions of dollars annually on numerous civic and community programs around the country. These include alcohol abuse prevention efforts, corporate philanthropy, and environmental initiatives.  For more information on these programs and the industry’s economic contributions, visit www.beerservesamerica.com

Parting shot…Fifty years ago the Heineken Beer company looked at reshaping its beer bottle to be useful as a building block. It never happened, so Buddhist monks from Thailand’s Sisaket province took matters into their own hands and collected a million bottles to build the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple. It puts every other bottle building we have shown to shame. More photos here.