Man, this is getting old. (KIDDING!) Jack McAuliffe is in the news again, this time in today's Washington Post. All I have to say is: Better late than never. Or: About time. Or, well, whatever.

I told Jack he should have some t-shirts printed up to read "FoFOF," the letters standing for Friends of Famous Old Fart.

Small side note to this particular story: Back when Jack's brewery was open and he was out there alone in the brewing wilderness, the Washington Post was pretty much the only newspaper to take him seriously. A reporter showed up at New Albion one day and wrote a great piece about Jack and his work. That's where the lovely photo comes from, which I reproduce here in case you're one of the few beer-people who have not yet seen it. Enjoy!

Andy Crouch (one of my favorite contrarians) has a new book out: Great American Craft Beer: A Guide to the Nation's Finest Beers and Breweries.

You know what to do.

'Cause ya know, the best of them aren't beer bloggers, if you know what I mean.

Case in points is one of my complete, total favorite bloggers (notice lack of adjective), Jeff Alworth and this recent rumination.

I mean, come ON. How can you NOT love this guy?? I'd marry the guy except I'm old enough to be his mother and he's out of my league. Oh, and, uh, I'm already married.

And then there's this from the always delightful Alan McLeod and Stan Hieronymus. Start with the original post by Stan. And then make sure to read the comment from Alan (who lives here).

The "money quote" is as follows:

 We may not know who is craft beer but we sure as hell will know what is craft beer by who isn’t.

Seriously. What's not to like?

Who says nothing happens in August? Just got an email alerting me to a new brewery in St. Louis (or Sant Looois, as the natives call it). Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. is the work of a trio of locals, two of them former A-B employees. (Or ABIB employees). Check it out.

This piece in last Sunday's New York Times: An interview with Brian Grossman, son of Sierra beer guru Ken Grossman. Good stuff, and wonderful insight into a successful family company.

Oh, boy, can't wait to read this one! Sounds like a winner. Won't be out until October (and hey, who knows? Maybe by then I'll have a chance to read something other than poultry industry trade journals).

I've been hearing about this for months, mostly via Jack McAuliffe, but now there's finally something up that everyone can enjoy: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is celebrating 30th anniversary this year.

The company kicked off the festivities a few days ago by launching a special website. There you'll find photos, videos, and information about the special beers being planned for the occasion. The site is here.

So, hey, take a break and go for a visit. (Apparently that's not a photo of Jack himself, but of his brother Tom. As Jack says, he musta been seriously fucked up when he sent that to Chico. Me, I blame his post-accident meds.)

(And by the way, he's feeling much better. Back to his old cranky, sassy self --- and looking forward to the brewing collaboration in the spring.)

UPDATE: according to Jack's siblings, yes, that's really Jack in the photo. So: either they're crazy or Jack is. My vote's on the latter. Tip o' the mug to Loyal Reader Dave for reminding me to post a notice about all of this here at the blog. And now, per Dave's instructions, it's back to work for me.

Okey-dokey, folks. Now you CAN see "Beer Wars" --- and I don't wanna hear any excuses about why you didn't/haven't seen it. As of tomorrow (February 1, 2010), the film is available on-demand. Details here. See it. Or else. (No, I've not figured out what the "or else" part is. But I will . .  . )

Over at A Good Beer Blog, Alan McLeod has rolled out the winners of this year's photo contest. The "grand prize" winner (and, ahem, loser) are here. The other winners are here and here and here. Round of applause and a cup o' cheer, please, for Alan, who gets nothing out of this except the pleasure of sharing the photos with all of us.

How's that for use of slash marks?

The lovely Bryan Kolesar at BrewLounge is once again running a brew-round-up, in which he asks various beer types to opine about the current and future years. His own take is here. Part One of "others'" views is here.

Elsewhere in the net-o-sphere, the equally lovely Stan Hieronymus has added more thoughts on his views about "lists." Leave it to him to be, well, thoughtful. Lew is up to his usual, so you should take a gander. Why? Because I like him. (Not, mind you, that I know the guy. I just like his smarts, talent, and wit.)

The folks at All About Beer finally (as in finally) have their new website up and running, so that's another place to visit.

Jay Brooks, a guy whose interests range far, wide, and in between, has a marvelous post about Gregg Hinlicky's portraits of brewers. The image of Fritz Maytag is a marvel. (Full disclosure: Fritz and I are friends, and the portrait captures the man's spirit and intelligence.)

Reminder: only a few days left to submit your beer photos to the 2009 contest. Tim Beauchamp has a number of posts worth reading (he's a ranter after my own heart).

And if you've ever wondered "What ARE the dimensions of a stainless steel firkin?" --- wonder no more. Tom has the answer.

This got right by me --- but this past week Pete Brown was named Beer Writer of the Year by the British Guild of Beer Writers. To which I say: Congratulations, Mr. Brown!

Pete is an immensely gifted writer (note that I did not describe him as a "beer writer"; he transcends the genre). He's also an extraordinarily nice and generous human being. So --- Pete: here's to you.

Another matter that I lost track of (because right now I'm losing track of things right and left. If it doesn't involve the history of meat in America, my brain's not connecting ). Anyway: Alan McLeod is taking submissions for this year's Yule Beer Photo competition. You have one week to send your photos to him. Do it!

I'm not a beer aficionada (I'm a historian, folks; not a gourmet). The whole beer-as-object-of-devotion-and-adulation thing is annoying as hell. Don't ge me wrong: I appreciate well-made beer, but as a fetish, well . . . Anyway, this today from Alan at the Good Beer Blog. Now Alan is something I can see as an object of devotion/adulation, me being a serious fan of contrarianism.

I admire Shawn Connelly: he's smart, talented, and  engaged with the world around  him. And --- he acts on his passions. What's not to like? (Some of you already know him. He's the brain behind Aleluminati and Beer Philosopher.) Naturally I was glad to see this three-part interview with him. (The link is to part one; links to parts two and three are at the bottom of the first installment.) Enjoy!

Who knew? Turns out there was a method to Greg's madness backstage at the "Beer Wars" premiere. He had a phone/camera/something in his hands the entire time (and the "entire time" was hours on end). What was he doing? Making a "vblog." Which, mercifully, he edited down to eight minutes.

So if you want to know part of what happened backstage, have at it. Sadly, he didn't include any of what happened after the film ended --- when Sam, having been corralled entirely too long, went in search of beer. (And could not find any.) (I'm not kidding.)

. . . who have nothing to do with each other. (Er, I mean whose Good Deeds are unrelated to one another.) (Although I doubt they know each other.)

First, if you live in the Portland, Oregon, area, you're lucky: A group of local mixologists are mixing it up ("it" in this case being beer and spirits) this coming Sunday on behalf of Schoolhouse Supplies, which provides school supplies for kids in need. Read more here at Jacob Grier's blog. Then be there, or be square.

Second shout-out (and, really, the two are not connected): chops to Carl Miller at BeerBooks.com. Besides running BeerBooks, Carl is an accomplished historian whose focus is beer. This week I learned  that his new project involves tracking down the story --- the real one --- about the Conrad-Busch-Budweiser relationship. This is a labor of love (although one that I hope will reward him in more than love) by one of the good guys.

So, go get 'em, Carl. (Frankly, better you than me wading through all those legal briefs. . . )

How's that for random acts of blogging? Well, okay, long as I'm here and long as you asked: Yes, am hard at work on the manuscript. Spent a miserable week tearing a chapter apart and trying, with not much success, to reassemble it. Every book has such a chapter: one that does not want to come together. Does. Not. But I'll get the bastard in the end. 'Cause I always do.

You-Know-Who (yes, Dexter) sent me a bunch of links about a certain Hawaiian beer. I accidentally deleted the email, but here are two mentions of the beer to which Dexter referred: From Jack Curtain's Liquid Diet, and this from The Full Pint. I gotta say --- I wouldn't turn down a glass of the stuff.

I was vaguely aware of Sam Calagione's latest foray into beer weirdness, but today Lex from Scholars & Rogues sent me  a link to this article that has more detail. In this case, Sam is working with Patrick McGovern, an archaeologist whose name is well-known to alcohol scholars.

For more on the beers the duo created, see this. The beers are available to the public, but in limited editions (translation: move quickly if you want to try one.) McGovern has a new book out that sounds fascinating. I have not read it yet, but plan to. If nothing else, I'm looking forward to finding out what's new in alcohol archaeology since I first investigated it for my book seven years ago. (*1)

Anyway, all worth reading. And thanks again to Lex at Scholars & Rogues for the tip.

______________

*1: (I had this screwball idea that I would open my beer book by looking back --- waaaay back --- beer's ancient history. I spent months wading through archaeological studies. In the end, I opted for a different tack with the book, but I still have the chapter I wrote. One of these days, I plan to post it as a PDF file --- once I figure out how to create an online PDF file.)

How's that for a combo? The folks at Fullsteam Brewing (which I can't spell properly because I don't know how to make a backward "F") are smart, lively, and entertaining. As evidenced by this post about persimmon beer. (And no, not just sayin' that 'cause it mentions me.)

This particular post was written by Sean (as in Sean Lilly Wilson); his partner-in-beer is Chris Davis. You can follow them on Twitter as @fullsteam. Check 'em out.

The guys at BeerQuest TV have posted the pilot episode of their series. You can see it here.