Jimmy's back in the 'Wingman Chair' today at Beer Sessions Radio on the Heritage Radio Network - today's show features updates from our show, Brewer Jeff "Chief" O'Neil, and Beanery Brewing! Listen live at 5pm EST, or find our stream later. Cheers!
Video # 309: Firestone Walker Lion down with Mission Dolores.
4th avenue near Carroll St. in Brooklyn has long been one of NYC's most vibrant neighborhoods, and at one point was a leader in Craft, as prior to Prohibition there were many breweries within just blocks. Nowadays, after years of being a Craft desert, there's a diversity here that boggles the mind and rivals any other Spectrum of Awesome in New York City. The Guys make their way to Mission Dolores for a meet-up with The Lion himself, David Walker of Firestone Walker Brewing, who is visiting Craft Street (and seeing the growth for himself) from Paso Robles, CA. Enjoy!
'THE' Brink? Really?
Craft, Yoopers and Waterfalls: Tahquamenon Falls Brewery & Pub.
Over and over again on our show, we've proven the Rule of the Exceptional: You'll find Craft in amazing places. Even in the middle of a 50,000 acre State Park in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Tahquamenon Falls, near Paradise, MI. The Upper Peninsula, y'all. It's magical.
The Tahquamenon River's tannin-rich, tea colored water flows through the northeastern Upper Peninsula, old canoe/portage shortcut for the natives that were traveling along the southern shores of Lake Superior to trade in Sault Ste Marie to the west. And unbeknownst to many, in the midst of that river line is the second highest waterfall east of the Mississippi, beaten in height only by Niagara Falls. The entire park contains wonder after wonder - stunning views, hiking and cross-country ski trails, nature as varied as moose, martens, black bear, wolves, and... Craft Beer?
Camp 33.
Jack Barrett of the Barrett Logging company purhased the land adjacent to the falls because he and his wife, Mimi, enjoyed the beauty of the area so deeply. In the 1950s, he built a road to the site near the falls and gifted most of the land to the State for use as a Park, with a detail in his instructions that the road must terminate 3/4 of a mile from the falls, near Camp 33. If you want to see the water, you've gotta walk.
With "Brewster" Lark Ludlow at the Brewery. Jimmy's drinking the Stout, BTW. Nice.
"People come in the restaurant and say, 'Oh, I can't see the falls from the window here,' laughed Lark Ludlow, the Owner and 'Brewster' of Camp 33, or the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery. "And my answer always is, 'Nope. No, you can't.'" They want it that way.
Lark is Jack's granddaughter - the family set aside a 2 acre parcel at the termination of the road into the Park that they still own - a rare private property inside of a State Park - and perhaps the only one in the US that has a Craft Brewery on site. The structure was christened Camp 33 when originally built, as most logging camps are numbered instead of named, and it would be the 33rd logging camp of the Barrett Logging Company. The grandkids rebuilt it in 1990 to serve the Park, and in 1996 Lark had the idea that maybe this 'Craft Beer thing' might be a good addition. But who would brew? Well, she did. And still does.
She started brewing onsite with a 10 barrel system in 1996, making her only the 3rd Craft Brewer in the Upper Peninsula, after The Vierling Brewpub in Marquette and Lake Superior Brewing in Grand Marais (also a brewpub). She offers a rotating lineup of beers, and had 4 taps running the day we visited. Our favorite was a lovely Stout that leaned towards the sweeter side, with plenty of roasty/chocolate-y notes. A full restaurant with a menu of local items (get the whitefish!) offers plenty to pair with.
Camp 33 is an unusual and extremely welcoming part of a trip to a gorgeous area - The Happy Hour Guys recommend a beautiful drive, an even prettier walk to the thundering falls, and the capper (as always) a terrific pint to make the day even more memorable.
And we'll see you next time. Cheers!
Video #308, Lagunitas: Flyin' high in NorCal.
FINALLY! The Happy Hour Guys have flown/driven coast to coast to get some coverage in NORCAL. We begin our tour in Petaluma, CA at Lagunitas Brewing, a friendly, music and herb driven collective that has gone from founder Tony Magee selling kegs out of his car in 1994 to a nationwide force in Craft Brewing that is selling world-changing beer. Click play to be introduced to this craft family, and big thanks to Matt Fabiano and Kevin Carolan for some stellar camera work. Cheers!
With Chief Marketing guru Ron Lindenbusch, "The Beer Weasel".
VIRGO SUPER CLUSTER.
WHOA.
Video #307: The Celebration continues - Ale Street News, at Ginger Man!
Passing the milestone of our 300th episode has been humbling, exciting, and loads of fun; and what better way to continue the party than with a keen look at two East Coast Craft Beer institutions - a visit to The Ginger Man, a classic NYC beer bar that opened its doors in 1996, and a chat with Ale Street News, a Craft Beer periodical (that's newsprint, folks - actual physical newsprint!) that has been in circulation since 1992. Enjoy!
Video #305, At GABF 2014 - BEERicon.
*** OUR 300TH VIDEO EPISODE!!***
It's been 4 years since Jimmy and Mark dropped in to the Mother of all Beer Festivals in Denver; and goodness, how things have changed. Old friends meet new ones at, is it the Super Bowl of Craft Beer? Nope... it's BEERicon.
Featuring:
5 Rabbit Cerveceria (Chicago), Breckenridge Brewing (Denver) New Holland Brewing (Holland, MI) The BeerVangelist, Atwater Brewing (Detroit), handlebar mustaches, Whos (from CraftBeerVille?), Wayne and Garth, WomenEnjoyingBeer.com, BeerDrinkersSociety.com, Julia Herz (the Brewer's Association), Carhartt, Magnolia Brewing (San Francisco), the Big Blue Bear, and a bunch of people wearing... well click play and just see it.
Cheers!
Soon, there will be San Francisco treats!
Yup; that's the Golden Gate, from about 4000 feet.
Our digs on Tomales Bay. WOW! (Thanks, Tony Magee!)
Lagunitas, Petaluma, CA, USA, Earth, Sol, Local Group, Virgo Super Cluster, Space.
Don't take my awesome beer! With Mark and Jack Alger at Lagunitas.
We think these guys will be ok. The brewery, and us.
Gnawin' dem bones at SMOKESTACK. I do look a tad dog-like here...
Magnetic Letters R Us, at Brewcade in the Castro.
Sometimes, as The Happy Hour Guys, we just get an opportunity to go where the wind takes us. And one of the directions we've always wanted the wind to blow? Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. We've been seriously lacking in our coverage there since the beginning; we've been around the country and around the world, but as far as the American West goes, we've always had a problem with getting very far north of LA. (I mean, we're Actors, can you blame us? Spielberg might call at any minute.)
Those of you who know our content know that we've spent a lot of time in Colorado, a ton of time in the East Coast (we're based in New York City), we been down south, Texas, the Midwest (tons of stuff in Michigan); but NorCal? Seriously lacking. Now if your show is about Craft Liquids and great places to drink them, that's leaving out all whole lot of material. A ton. Okay, several tons. So when the opportunity arose for us to get to San Francisco, we jumped on it. It went a little bit like this: Mark is on the National Tour of the Broadway musical Newsies, and they are 'sitting down' in San Francisco for the month. I got a cheap fare, the good folks at Lagunitas gave us the use of their guest house for couple of days (many, many thanks, Tony Magee!!), and WE WERE ON.
Truly, I'm not going to give it all away, because in a 52 hour period we shot lots and lots of footage - maybe days worth of footage - (damn, I have a lot of editing to do) and this stuff is going to translate into some pretty terrific episodes. But for your edification (and jealousy) let me give out the lineup of where we were:
We opened in San Francisco's Castro District at Brewcade, a Craft Beer Haven full of arcade games and flavor; that night made our way out to Tomales Bay about an hour and a half north of San Francisco near Marshall; the next day it was off to Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma California, and a day with some of the coolest damn people we've ever had the opportunity to spend the day with, in the brewery, the performance space, their FARM; then north to Santa Rosa and the Russian River Brewing Company (just north of Petaluma), where, because of the release of Pliny the Younger the week before, the staff had the 'thousand yard stare'... and they had every right to have. PTSD from Craft Beer. It happens.
We ended this epic trip back in San Francisco's Dogpatch District, at the Magnolia Brewing Company's Smokestack BBQ joint, with English style ales and some of the best brisket we've had in recent memory. Then I was back on a late plane and seemingly instantaneously, in New York with a cold wind cutting thru me and the snow melting around my boots, wishing I was back in Golden Gate country.
Man, is there a lot of fun content coming soon. As I said, we shot hours of footage - and here are some stills to hold you over until then we start rolling them out.
If you have a chance... get yourself to NorCal!
Cheers!