Utah beer laws in The New York Times

I was a little surprised to discover the Happy Valley of my childhood mentioned in a New York Times article, but it made more sense when I learned the article was about a controversial vote over allowing alcohol sales. Last year the city council of Hyde Park, just south of the Idaho border in Cache Valley, voted 3-2 to allow  beer sales at Maverick, only the convenience store in town. Then several of the town's 3,900 residents gathered enough signatures to temporarily block the new ordinance.

My Dad's back porch in North Logan, Utah

It was strange reading about Cache Valley in the New York Times, because my friends and I are planning on opening a brewery there, Cache Valley Brewing Company. That project has been brewing on the back burner for a while now, and is bubbling over with possibilities.

However, that project will just have to wait until I have finished my documentary about next year's annual Pliny the Younger release at Russian River Brewing Company next February in Santa Rosa, California.

EDB's Beer, Cider & Spirits conference brews jobs

[originally published in Oak Leaf News Nov. 18, 2013]

Conference Pans Out New Job Prospects For SRJC Students In Liquid Gold Rush

Sonoma County EDB's confernece on Beer, Cider & Spirits

Sonoma County’s first-ever Beer, Cider and Spirits Conference tapped opportunities for Santa Rosa Junior College students in the county’s $200 million home-brewed industry. Speakers and panelists included 2nd District Assembly member Wes Chesboro and brewers from 20 breweries, five cideries and four distilleries in Sonoma County, the birthplace of the modern microbrewery.

2nd Dist. Wes Chesboro addresses the EDB conference.

Chesboro said California’s 422 craft breweries, opening at a rate of about one a week, employ 48,000 people, pay $850 million in taxes and add $4 billion to the state’s economy. Chesboro described California’s craft beer industry as “guerilla capitalism” battling the “culture of sameness placing mediocrity over adventure”  and tapping into the barrels of people looking for a new favorite.

California Craft Beer Association Executive Director Tom McCormick outlined the industry’s positive impact on city and state economies, as well as Sonoma County’s world-wide fame as the cradle of the craft beer countermovement.

When Sonoma’s now-tapped-out New Albion Brewery opened in 1976, Jack McAuliffe transformed used dairy equipment to build from the ground up what became the first microbrewery in the U.S. McCormick said New Albion is known around the world, even in recently-visited Denmark where he said, “they treat you like a rock star if you say you’re a brewer from Sonoma County.”

Keynote speaker Tom Magee of Lagunitas Brewing Co.

Tom Magee, owner of Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, delivered the keynote address, dropping only one F-bomb in the process. Lagunitas accounts for 70 percent of the county’s beer sales and half the county’s 680 craft beer employees, and their soon-to-open expansion in Chicago will quadruple their production. Magee said the decision to expand came after “running the numbers” of their shipping costs of $150,000 per week and discovering he could borrow $25 million with that kind of cash flow.

Magee also spoke about “bankers, not brewers” running multinational beer conglomerates like InBev, the world’s largest brewing company that owns Budweiser, Busch, Löwenbräu, Michelob, Natural Light and several other brands found in supermarkets. Magee said Budweiser’s release of American Ale was “full of capitulation; it gave drinkers permission to leave the reservation” by offering an option besides the standard pilsner style.

“If the tail can wag the dog that hard, it’s not the tail anymore,” Magee said. Lagunitas attracted the interest of several Dartmouth MBA students “turning their backs on the morass of soullessness of Wall Street.”

"Branding of Sonoma County" panel

Ken Weaver, author of “The Northern California Craft Beer Guide,” sat on the panel “Branding of Sonoma County.” Weaver said the county’s craft breweries benefit from the tourism industry already deeply rooted and growing for another purpose, Sonoma County wine.

Jay Brooks, a syndicated beer writer on the same panel, spoke about the built-in recognition of the Sonoma name. While wine drinkers might view Napa and Sonoma interchangeably, craft beer drinkers only know Sonoma. “Around the world, people know the Big Three,” Brooks said, referring to Lagunitas Brewing Company, Bear Republic Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing Company. “People come to visit the Big Three and find out about the other 17.”

The panel on “Liquid Assets” included Richard Norgrove, owner of Bear Republic Brewing Company in Healdsburg, who said his biggest resource was his employees, but even with great employees a company still needs to have a product. “There is no such thing as a ‘loss leader,’” Norgrove said. “Every aspect of your business must be profitable, every decision has to make sense – but your bottom line is not always key.”

On the same panel, Fred Groth described using the Kickstarter website to raise $25,000 for equipment to expand his Sonoma distillery, HelloCello & Prohibition Spirits.

Natlie Cilurzo [left] on "Brewing Solutions" panel

Natalie Cilurzo, owner of Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa spoke on the “Brewing Solutions” panel about the country’s most regulated industry. Of the nine regulatory challenges she raised, waste water topped her list as a barrier for new or expanding breweries. Cilurzo said Russian River Brewing Company, whose annual limited release of their Pliny the Younger brought Sonoma County $2 million in tourist dollars this spring, is not considering expanding their world-famous brewery partly because of regulatory barriers.

While brewery waste water is not toxic, it provides rich nutrients for organisms that overpower sewer systems. Assuming Russian River invested $1 million in a water treatment system for a brewery three times their current size that discharged only 100 percent pure water, sewage hook-up fees would be $1.2 million in addition to any monthly fees, Cilurzo said.

During the tasting session after the conference, some of Sonoma County’s world-famous home-brewed legends offered advice to SRJC students intent on tapping into the craft beer industry.

Russian River pours the world-famous Pliny the Elder

“Biochemistry knowledge is critical if you want to be a brewer,” said Lagunitas’ maketing head Ron Lindenbusch. “If you want to be in the marketing end of things, SRJC has a great culinary program to be able to take the whole ‘beer & food’ thing to a whole other place.” Students interested in restaurants and hospitality, already in place for the wine tourism industry, benefit by incorporating craft beer into those existing programs. “You learn that, and then you try to put a ‘beer’ angle to it, and you’ve got something that has a dual purpose in the consumer’s mind,” Lindenbusch said.

“There’s not currently any type of brewing science class [at SRJC],” Lindenbusch said, “but anything you know about making wine translates into beer in a lot of ways – a lot of the same chemistry, the same biochemistry. But you’ve got to make sure you’re old enough to drink before I can encourage that!”

Sebastopol's family-owned organic Devoto Orchards cider

Cilurzo advised SRJC students interested in opening a beer bar or a brewery that having enough start-up money is essential. “You need to have tons of capital, and you need a plan,” Cilurzo said. “You need money. No matter what you’re going to do, get money. If you just get to the almost-open point, but don’t have enough money to open, or once you get open and can’t get people in your door, it’s not going to work. It looks like a money-making venture, but it’s not; it’s a money-spending venture.”

Santa Rosa City Council member Gary Wysocky, former adjunct professor of accounting at Sonoma State University, advised SRJC students interested in any industry, “It’s all about personal connections. You do what you can to get in front of people, you do whatever job is offered, and you work your way up the food chain. But people skills are what matter.”

Wysocky also said desire was essential and “timing’s not the only thing – it’s everything. You can have forever-bad timing but you just have to be ready when that break comes your way – and it will. You just have to be patient for it and ready for it.”

Don Winkle, business attorney with Spaulding McCullough & Tansil LLP and moderator of the Brewing Solutions panel, advised SRJC students against sloppy texting habits to set themselves apart. “Learn how to write,” Winkle said. “Learn how to express yourself clearly and professionally and you will have a leg up on many, many people – regardless of what degree you get."

Sonoma County's 20 Breweries, 5 Cideries, and 4 Distilleries

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board held their first-ever Beer, Cider & Spirits Conference on November 12, 2013 in Santa Rosa, and they published their list of 20 breweries, 5 Cideries and 4 Distilleries:

Breweries:
101 North Brewing Co - Petaluma
3rd street Aleworks - Santa Rosa
Bear Republic Brewing Co - Healdsburg
Carneros Brewing Co - Sonoma
Dempsey's Restaurant & Brewery - Petaluma
Healdsburg Beer Company - Healdsburg
HenHouse Brewing Co - Petaluma
Hopmonk Tavern - Sebastopol
Lagunitas Brewing Co - Petaluma
Moonlight Brewing Co - Santa Rosa
Old Redwood Highway Brewing Co - Windsor
Petaluma Hills Brewing Co - Petaluma
Russian River Brewing Co - Santa Rosa
Ruth McGowan's Brewpub - Cloverdale
Sonoma Spring Brewing Co - Sonoma
St. Florian's Brewery - Windsor
Stumptown Brewery - Guerneville
Warped Brewing Co - Sebastopol
Woodfour Brewing Co - Sebastopol

Cideries:
California Cider Inc (Ace Cider) - Sebastopol
Devoto Orchards Cider - Sebastopol
Murray's Cider - Petaluma
Sonoma Beverage Works - Healdsburg
Tilted Shed Cider Works - Forestville

Distilleries:
Hanson Spirits, LLC - Sonoma
HelloCello & Prohibition Spirits - Sonoma
Spirit Works Distillery - Sebastopol
Sweetwater Distillers - Petaluma

More about the EDB's Beer, Cider & Spirits Convention to follow...

Sonoma County Beer, Cider, and Spirits Conference - Nov. 12, 2013

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board's first-ever Beer, Cider and Spirits Conference will be held Tuesday Nov. 12, 2013 in Santa Rosa. Keynote speaker is Tony Magee from Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, and other local brewers will speak as well, including Richard Norgrove from Bear Republic Brewing Company in Healdsburg and Natlie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa.

Craft beer brings over $120 million to Sonoma County's economy each year. The 2013 release of Pliny the Younger at Russian River Brewing Company brought in over $2 million tourist dollars over the two-week one-a-year event. Tourism to Sonoma County in general brought in $1.47 billion in 2011.

Sonoma County Beer, Cider and Spirits Conference
1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 12, 2013
Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa
170 Railroad Street, Santa Rosa

This one-of-a-kind event will close out, so RSVP soon.
Sonoma County Beer, Cider and Spirits Conference on Facebook

Russian River Brewing Co's Natalie Cilurzo serves a 3-liter bottle of Supplication

How I discovered Microbrews

Growing up in Utah, my exposure to good beer was very limited. Usually we drove the 19 miles across the border to the Idaho State Liquor Store in Preston to get brands unavailable in Utah. Sometimes we homebrewed.

About 20 years ago I moved to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County and a friend took me to a coffee shop that had North Coast Brewery's Old Rasputin emperial Russian stout on tap. I had never seen a coffee shop with beer on tap, and the taphandle picture of Rasputin's hypnotic eyes made me want to give it a try. It was delicious from the first sip, and it changed my life. The coffee shop offered a drink called Anastasia's Revenge, a pint of Old Rasputin with a shot of espresso in it. I would have a Revenge before my typing class, and it always perked me up into just the right mood.

Since then, I learned about other Sonoma County-brewed treasures, like Racer 5 from Bear Republic in Healdsburg and Brown Shugga from Lagunitas in Petaluma.

Charlie Papazian autographs The Joy of Homebrewing at Russian River

Of course, things changed for me when Russian River Brewing Company opened across the street from the public library in Santa Rosa. Little did I know that I was visiting a legend in the making, it was simply conveniently located a short walk from my house, and their beers were tasty.

When RRBC first opened, they had both Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger on tap. It was no big deal at the time; it was just something we locals took for granted. While The Elder was a year-round release, The Younger was a seasonal release that came out each February. For long-time regulars, it simply came down to a decision between an 8% Elder in a 20-ounce glass or an 11% Younger in a 10-ounce glass. Sometimes you felt like the bigger glass, and sometimes the smaller.

February 2013 release of Pliny the Younger in Santa Rosa, California

Everything changed in 2008, when the annual Younger release occurred during SF Beer Week. That was the first year of lines waiting for the now-world-famous triple-IPA. Sadly, a few greedy people ruined things for everybody by buying the maximum of four growlers of Younger, emptying the 500-gallon serving tank by 8 p.m. the first day. Adding insult to injury, they were offering the growlers for $150 on Craiglist.

Since then, nobody is allowed to buy growlers of Pliny the Younger anymore, but hundreds of people still come from all over the world to stand in line over eight hours for the change to get a 10-ounce glass of golden ambrosia. The Sonoma County Economic Development Board says those beer tourists brought in $2.3 million during the two-week event.

More details about the 2013 Pliny the Younger release at Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California.

Brewery documentary videos

I have been lucky enough to live in Sonoma County, home of several world-class breweries, for the last 20 years. I have seen lots of changes and growth in the craft beer industry, and as a videographer I have begun capturing some of that golden brewery magic on tape.

Our opening credits for Maximum MicroBrew contains footage of the very first bottling of the world-famous Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing Company.

The very first bottling run of Pliny the Elder at Russian River Brewing Co.

Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company talks about his beginnings as a homebrewer growing up on a winery.

Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company talks about the historic New Albion Brewery founded in 1976 in Sonoma. California.

Russian River Brewing Company's house band The Mud, The Blood and The Beer play live.

Natalie Cilurzo serving Blind Pig at the Face to Face beerfest.

My Oak Leaf News article about the Pliny the Younger release at Russian River Brewing Co. in 2013.

We'll keep you updated on new video documentaries about microbreweries in Sonoma County, and beyond.