Following up on our overview episode at Lagunitas from a few months back, here's a companion piece; highlighting not only their hyper-local philosophy, but also Lagunitas' mandate to protect the little guy. Talk about an organization that puts their money where their mouth is. Press play for some late day NorCal sun, belly laughs and a lot of good thoughts. Cheers!
Gone, or not forgotten: 5 bars The Happy Hour Guys want you to remember.
Great Bars form the very fabric of our communities. They were Social Media before social media was electrified. Take some advice from us; the next time you stop in somewhere for a glass or a pint, don't watch TV - start a conversation.
And raise a glass to these terrific places:
The Collins Bar
The Collins was a midtown NYC watering hole that was #Craft before it was cool. Sadly it succumbed to the pressure of development, and a Big Shiny Expensive Building rises there as we speak.
The Jameson Tavern
The Jameson Tavern still exists! But it has endured a number of challenges in recent years, and could use all the help it can get. Stop in on the off-season and ghost hunt, like we did.
McReilly's Pub
McReilly's was a neighborhood touchstone in Long Island City, NY. Mark made it for the closing day party a sad loss to the area indeed.
General Lafayette Inn & Brewery
Boasting some terrific history and an in-house brewpub, General Lafayette's was a real gem just outside of Philly that closed around 2010. A great loss to that community, and to the beer culture at large.
Mulberry Street Bar
We got to step back in time to one of NYC oldest bars with this Little Italy gem, which still exists, but has endured some challenges from developers as well. Donnie Brasco, The Sopranos, and Law & Order all shot here in the past. Formerly called Mare Chiaro, the place has a social club décor that's barely changed since it opened in 1908: a towering, ornate wooden back bar with inset mirrors at the top, a subway tile floor, and swaths of pressed tin along the ceiling and walls.
Got a great Local that needs saving? Reach out to us here at the website - we'd love to help. Cheers!
Video #312: Transmitter Brewing, BC1, and...LIC? WTF?
In the most industrial of neighborhoods of NYC, a Transmitter: A small brewery making, of all things, Farmhouse Ales. And the proprietors of Beer Culture, a local favorite Happy Hour Guys haunt, just happen to be there on this day... brewing a house beer?
Click play to enjoy the smallest of details in the largest of cities - and once again, a big shout-out to Squigs for some stellar camera work.. Cheers!
Blogpost: Much Montana!
Montana! The sky out there really is bigger...and so is the Craft.
Jimmy has just returned from a week in the Big Sky State (he flew out to see the Happy Hour Gal performing in shows at the Alpine Theatre Project and, as usual, he took the THHG camera gear with him). Last Fall at The Great American Beer Festival, when Montana clocked in with a surprising 6 medals (including 3 Golds), Mark and Jimmy knew that things were changing in a state that had previously been relatively quiet, Craft-wise. Folks, there is MUCH Craft news to report from northwest Montana!
In Whitefish, MT.
The visit began with a trip to the Bonsai Brewing Project in Whitefish. They've just moved in to a new facility and boast a 7 barrel BrewHouse in a beautifully designed former restaurant on a plot of land "just across the tracks" from downtown. It turns out that Whitefish, on the shores of beautiful Whitefish Lake, is a stop on one of the major east-west rail arteries in the NW United States - (in fact, the creation of the Great Northern Railway spurred the development of the town.) But back to Bonsai: Head Brewer and Owner Graham Hart was featuring 10 different beers the day we visited, from a 'Bouquet IPA' brewed with Lavender, Rose and Juniper, to Brother George, a funky barrel-aged dark ale that set our senses humming like strummed guitar strings. And why the name Bonsai? "We like small and incredibly well made, suggesting an age possibly beyond our years", suggested Graham. "We're lurking in the shadows of giants."
Turns out they're poetic as well as ingenious in Montana.
Focus.
Another hallmark of this part of the state is that it's on the very doorstep of Glacier National Park, one of the most stunning Tracts of Land in all of the U.S. - so the second day of CraftVenturing took Kristen & Jimmy to Glacier Distilling Company in nearby Coram, MT; Glacier Distilling is just a few miles from the west entrance to the Park. Owner Nicholas Lee started GDC in 2010 after getting snowed in with some buddies in a nearby mountain pass. When the conversation turned dystopic (as stormy night talks often will... I mean, don't they for you?) Nick realized that while Montanans were distinctly capable of riding out an apocalypse with most basic needs cared for...NO ONE WOULD BE MAKING ANY WHISKEY. Of course this needed to be taken care of immediately, and thus, GDC was born; fast forward to today, when they're distilling 15 different products using 3 separate stills, ranging from a dynamite cask-strength Rye Whiskey to a Prohibition inspired 'white dog' called Glacier Dew. A morning of shooting and sampling that included some nicely palate pleasing cocktails, and then an afternoon hiking up to Avalanche Lake in the Park: This was an amazing, memorable day.
Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park.
Oh, sweet mystery of life...
Day 3 found the crew at Glacier Hops Ranch back in Whitefish; after paying such close attention to Craft Beer around the world, it's terrific to delve into the craft and science behind the specific ingredients that make them so great - and no ingredient is as lauded in Craft Beer (for better or worse) as hops. Owner Tom Britz has a limited experimental 1/8 acre plot on farmland he owns; his initial intention was to awaken farmers and investors to the fact that Montana has a perfect climate for hop growing, with long summer growing days and low humidity - a terroir perhaps even on par with one of the epicenters of the hop world, Eastern Washington.
Jimmy will now be using this shot for everything.
Mission accomplished: Tom has had enough interest (and support) that he'll be entering Phase Two next year by planting a massive expansion of 27 acres! And much of his projected crop is already spoken for through term contracts from local brewers that are growing fast and are desperate to source local hops for 'wet hop' harvest beers, as well as pellet-tized hops for year-round use. Oh, and one huge difference between Glacier's product and other hop growers; with all hop growers, the processing from field to pellet involves drying hops so that they don't spoil. But too high a temperature during that process (unavoidable when you're processing A LOT of hops) can actually boil away some of the most tender oil compounds in the hop cone; so Tom uses a low-heat drying process (he calls it 'Artisinal') that preserves many of the hard to maintain flavoring / aroma oils that brewers so deeply prize. It's slower and more expensive, but the rewards are instantly noticeable. The upshot? Expect big things from Glacier Hops Ranch in the coming years.
Glacier Hop Ranch Owner Tom Britz and the Happy Hour Gal.
And from The Happy Hour Guys, expect upcoming video episodes to augment each of these places in this here blog post! Stay tuned, everyone - because it's always a good time to laugh, learn, and drink. Now let's get our Big Sky on.
CHEERS!
Video #311: The Guys and Smokestack at Magnolia Brewing.
Today, Mark Jimmy and Kevin (thanks for camera work, man) touch down in the Dogpatch District of San Francisco, and dive headfirst into great beer, BarBQue, and FOOD SCIENCE! (She blinded me!) At Smokestack at Magnolia Brewing, they know that what is simple can be complex, and vice versa. What is the Maillard Reaction, anyway? And why is it so important to BOTH food and beer? Press play, good fans; Knowledge is Power.
Video #310: BrewcadeSF - Craft Beer and Classic Arcade Games in the Castro!
Craft Beer has landed in neighborhoods around the country, and in so many different ways, including this dynamite stop in San Francisco's Castro District. Long an historic and iconic neighborhood in relation to the LGBT Community, the Castro is also now finding ways to lead in Craft. Join Mark and Jimmy as they make another stop on a recent NorCal tour at Brewcade, where the sound of quarters dropping into Defender, Joust and Buck Hunter mingle with the clink of glasses filled with a well-curated Craft list. Cheers!
We're headed back to the Berks. (And MOE's!)
It's not often that we hope to go back to a particular Craft destination... oh, who are we kidding, we hope for it all the time. But there are so many other tremendous places to visit, and more every second, that it almost doesn't seem fair to go back to a place when there are so many more to discover; there are only so many hours in the week. However, sometimes, 'The Work' orders us to places, and we just have to go.
That being said, Jimmy is heading back to the Berkshire Theatre Group this summer for the first time since 2011. Perhaps one of the prettiest (and during the summer, the ARTSIEST) destinations in the mountains of the East Coast, the Berkshire Mountains are home to great theatre including BTG, Williamstown, Shakespeare & Company, and Barrington Stage:
Always great to be headed to do a fantastic show with old friends, and new ones yet to be made. And if we're in Western Massachusetts, THAT MEANS WE'RE HEADED BACK TO MOE'S TAVERN, one of the most stupendous Craft Bars we've ever been in. (And that is saying something!) Here's our coverage from the visit 4 years ago:
We can't wait to see what other Craft Destinations have sprung up in Western MA since we've been in residence. What's new in the area? Got a line on a good new bar, Craft Maker of some kind (any kind, really!) or destination? Give us a shout in the comments below. And here's to Musical Theatre in Very Pretty Places. CHEERS!