Don Barkley Returns to His "Roots"

The last two chapters of my beer book cover the "microbrewing revolution" (or "real beer movement" or whatever tern you prefer). I interviewed a number of people involved in changing the American beer scene. One of my most important sources of information was Don Barkley.

In the 1970s, he was an avid homebrewer who enrolled in the UC-Davis brewing program with the goal of going professional. More important, he was one of two "employees" at New Albion, the nation's first microbrewery (he got paid in beer; I guess that made him an employee....). His recollections of what happened there proved to be an unexpected and priceless treasure for me.

I met Don in person at the 2006 GABF, and then got to drink some beer and enjoy serious talk time with him and his wife in San Francisco in October 2006.

Anyway -- I just learned, thanks to Stan, that Don has retired from Mendocino (where he went after New Albion closed) and joined a new small-scale craft-brewing venture called Napa Smith Brewing Co.

I'm delighted to hear this. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Don is the longest serving brewmaster now working in the United States. And he's young (53). He's got a lot of great beer left in him.

And I know this much about being in my fifties: new challenges are crucial to keeping the mind and spirit young.

So this is exciting news about a guy that I ilke and admire. You can read about the venture here and at Bill Brand's blog.

Don, here's to you!

And a BIG tip 'o the mug to Stan for alerting me to this news.

Beer Haiku

Okay, more cool stuff. Check out beerhaikudaily.com,which is precisely what the name implies. Thanks and a tip 'o the mug to the folks at Imbibe magazine.

Jim Koch -- Good Guy of the Day, Week, Month

As every beerdrinker knows, beer prices are rising to infinity and beyond. There are many reasons, but one of them is that there's a serious shortage of hops in the United States. Serious enough that some brewers have not been able to buy what they need.

Jim Koch to the rescue. Jim is the brains behind the Boston Beer Company, which makes the Sam Adams line of beers. He's also a good guy (I interviewed him for the book) whose head is screwed on straight.

A fact he demonstrated this week when he announced that he would sell his extra hops to any brewer that needed them. You can read the announcement at Stan's blog.

People Power

Okay, this falls into the "seriously cool" cateory: There's a piece in today's New York Times about a device that uses the human knee as a power generator. With it, one "minute of walking can power a cell phone for 10 minutes." That's amazing -- because of course cell phones have to be charged, and that requires electricity and electricity ain't cheap (especially in "third world" countries) or "green." You can read the article here.

As always, a BIG tip 'o the mug to the Times' for its free content. (Also in today's issue, a truly grim article about plunging profits at newspaper around the country. I have to wonder: how many newspapers will still be around in two years?)

New Beer Book, Part Two

Several months ago, I noted that another beer book was due out soon. It has now been published and the final version has a different sub-title than was advertised pre-publication: It's BREWING BATTLES: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN BEER, by Amy Mittelman. As near as I can tell, it's a POD book and apparently only available from the publisher or from Amazon. But hey, Amazon is one of the greatest creations of the past century, sooooooooo............

Anyway, the book is out, and the first eight or nine pages cover colonial brewing, something that will make many people happy.

Cows in Space

I'm not keen on passing on internet sites, because god knows there are too many and too many people emailing each other links to sites -- but even I thought this was way too funny to pass up. Cow abductions! Tip 'o the mug to my buddy Danielle Schaaf. Who can also be found here. (Although not often enough... she's a very funny woman.)