Just wanted to pass on some good beer news…
- Enegren Brewing has installed new tanks
- Highland Park Brewing and Smog City are both hiring
- Taprooms are re-opening
May not seem like much but considering 2020, we should take these wins.
No I in Beer
Though I am nowhere near a fan of country music and this Brad Paisley song is a little too on the nose….
…I do appreciate that the singer went all in to celebrate two friends who just want to have a beer together, by buying a stores worth of beer for them.
Some good news, indeed.
Next
What can we do? Many people of privilege (that includes me) are trying to answer that question. Because posting on social media that you support taking down systemic racism brick by brick, is just one small step, there needs to be an AND.
I have a few ideas that I think will remove a brick or two and if we all each remove a brick or two, maybe, maybe we can affect change.
- Hiring – there needs to be a concerted and sustained push to get minorities into the brewhouse. Internships, learning a trade, summer work. Use any way (government program, school program, others) that will get a representative of the community workforce.
- Incubator – opening a brewery is costly. It is a large barrier to entry. There needs to be co-brewing spaces that allow Black, Latino, Asian, Women, LGBTQ and others to enter and create their own business.
- Seeing – I dare a hot brewery that can sell their hot new IPA or pastry stout to put conditions on those sales. Maybe you have to take a tour of historic landmarks of racism AND to those people and places that are making a difference. Get people out of their comfort zone and put their eyes on a world they probably do not see.
Those are bigger plays but for the average beer consumer, you can still vote with your dollar. Buy and talk about beers from minority owned businesses. Buy and talk about any Black owned brewery in your city. In Los Angeles, Crowns and Hops are in the process of their taproom and brewery. On the flip side, any brewery that espouses hatred should not be purchased.
We need to make our corner of the world better.
Aftermath – Part 9
It is not too often that folks will openly let you know that their establishment is not safe. But everything is bigger in Texas, including hubris.
But this post is not about knowing that this bar will soon be on the news as a virus hotbed. It is about the smaller signs to look for when going to a bar or taproom.
A. Tables should either be removed or blocked from use.
B. Doors should be open to avoid contact.
C. Windows should be open to avoid recirculating air.
D. You should see hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies around and being used.
E. There should be a restricted amount of people inside.
F. Masks should be on
Here is a way simple analogy. You do not go to a car dealership and ask for a car with either seatbelts, airbags or anti-lock brakes. There is no OR, it is AND. Same with virus safety. A mask and six feet is safer than just a mask. That is why you need to look and see first before sitting down.
What Does It Stand For?
There is not a lot of things that CCBA could stand for (that makes sense) but Kern River Brewing has found the right combo of words to honor both the California Craft Brewers Association AND give a shout out to hang tough because California Can Beat Anything.
#FWIBF Not Forgotten
Last Friday I just could not shake the feeling that something was off. It wasn’t anything to do with the my little cocoon or the batshit crazy and sad week this country went through.
It was the first time that I really felt the absence of the beer community.
I don’t normally gain energy from being around people. Harsh truth be told, I could live without 45% of this country who think (refuse to have thoughts) in a certain way. And yet, the crowds of people who make the trip to Paso Robles are both fun and fascinating.
The two or three days that I spend at Firestone Walker HQ is like floating on air. I take the tour most years to see how things have changed (always drastically), I find beer to bring back home from their shop, I visit a distillery or winery, enjoy BBQ the night before the fest, get some Negranti Ice Cream and Twisted and Glazed Donuts. My internal battery is charged.
The festival itself, as I have written in the past, is perversely hard to write about. It is so smoothly operated that the only lead some years is how hot it is. You basically just have to write about the beer that you personally drank because there is so much that it is hard to wrap your word arms around it.
I would write up excited posts before driving up the 5 and exhausted post some after driving back down the 101. I don’t know if 2021 will be changed or disrupted by the events of this year but next year, I will return. I need to.
That boost was really missed this year.
No Beer Today
The Firkin for May 2020
I have to say that the moves that the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) have made during this pandemic have been mostly smart and effective. They moved with decent speed to allow beer sales to reflect the curbside and on-line ordering marketplace. Let breweries ship beer within the state and have loosened restrictions so that sidewalks and parking lots could be used as seating for patrons to keep that distancing effort alive.
But I am at a loss about this food and alcohol rule. Otherwise known as The Stuffed Sandwich for the great deli and beer lovers spot here in Southern California that operated under the weird rule that you could not purchase beer unless you ordered food.
Now that seems to be back on a larger scale for breweries wanting to re-open their taprooms. But what if I am a vegan and it’s a BBQ truck, or it’s a seafood truck and I am allergic to shellfish or if I just want a beer? Maybe they are looking to force breweries to help out restaurants?
Whatever the reasoning, I see people buying the lowest cost item and then not eating it. It has a two-drink minimum comedy club vibe to it. And it seems to put brewpubs into better position than taprooms.
Or am I reading this rule incorrectly?
Virtual GABF
The Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the big beer festival on the calendar is not going on as in the past. Instead of September 24-26 at the Big Blue Bear and in person in Denver, it will now be an “immersive online experience October 16-17.”
Though this sucks for the beer community and the breweries and bars in Denver that saw a big attendance boost, it was not a decision that comes as much of a surprise considering how 2020 is shaping up to be a year filled with bad news.
According to the Brewers Association, the virtual GABF is still in the planning stages but expect to see beer tastings, brewer interviews as well as food and beer pairing ideas possibly with a delivery of beer angle as well.
The good news is that the beer competition will take place in 2020. Will Pandemic beer be a style category?
I see this as a golden opportunity to try out crazy ideas and also how to incorporate more of the country into GABF since plane fare and time away is now off the table as an excuse not to go. And if all goes well with the re-openings, maybe smaller, mini GABFs can be held around the country. I vote for any wacky plan.
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