Dear Editor:
Just a note to clarify and give proper credit where credit is due. Though I am responsible for the formulation and did help brew the first batch of Ramm's Head Ale at Whaler's in Kauai [see Celebrator, October 1999], I was not the founding head brewer. I was honored to be a guest for a day in the brewhouse as a close friend of the REAL founding head brewer, Mike Hall.

Mike is the best brewer on the planet, IMHO. There is an explosion of commercial microbrewing in California's Central Valley and Sierra Foothills. Mike has a hand in a great deal of it.

Cheers,
Andy Ramm
Not the Founding Head Brewer of Whaler's
Via email

Dear Andy:
Graeme Merrin, the owner of Whaler’s, was extraordinarily generous with beer samples when I wrote that story. My notes were, shall we say, somewhat undependable. I do recall having several pints of the Ramm’s Head Scotch Ale, which was quite remarkable. The record shall be corrected and Mike Hall’s rightful place as “founding head brewer” restored. Thanks for setting us straight. — Tom Dalldorf, cub reporter

Dear Editor or Fred Eckhardt:
The article [by Fred Eckhardt] in your October 1999 issue was mean-spirited and inaccurate. The first sentence in the article sets the tone. First off, Paul Shipman doesn't have a posh office in Woodinville. He does have a partitioned cubicle in Seattle/Fremont. Secondly, at the 1997 Craft Brewers Conference, Mr. Shipman matter-of-factly told the truth about the future of craft brewing, which, I might add, was quite prophetic. He stated that there was too much product on the shelf, that small brewers would have trouble distributing their beer nationally, that there would be a shakeout for shelf space and that middle-tier regionals were doomed... All of these things have come true!

Euphoric craft brewers of ’97 didn't want to hear the truth... Northwesterners in particular don't like to hear bad news. Like the Jack Nicholson character in “A Few Good Men," it was like, “the truth... you can't handle the truth.” Yet here we are! Read his keynote speech at that convention again. The guy wasn't rejoicing, but telling it like it was — and is.

There was another inaccuracy. Pabst didn't get tired of owning Blitz-Weinhard, as stated in Mr. Eckhardt’s article. Pabst was forced to sell Weinhard's in an antitrust order from the feds. You see, the government didn't want Pabst to own Blitz-Weinhard and Olympia — too close together and too much regional market share. (Pabst couldn't keep Blatz in Milwaukee either, for the same reason.) The Dean of American Beer Writers should get his facts straight.

Thanks for letting me set the story straight myself.

Ken Jennings
Via email

(Reply to Mr. Jennings by Fred Eckhardt)

Dear Mr. Jennings:
Apologies. I've been a friend of Paul Shipman for at least 15 years. I have no ax to grind about his office space, only his views about contract brewing and the value of America's wonderful old-line, mid-sized breweries. His office in Fremont was (the last time I visited there in 1990) adequate, and certainly not a cubicle. However, I didn't know that he had not moved to Woodinville, where I assumed he'd have had something better than his old Fremont Street office. I apologize, but "posh" is not an insult.

In the "bad news department" à la Jack Nicholson, I can only add that one man's truth is another's barf. As for Pabst being forced to sell because of government antitrust ORDER, I didn't read it that way, and in any case I was trying to remember Blitz, one of my favorite old breweries.

In 1985, General Brewing's Paul Kalmanovitz offered to buy Pabst — this after Pabst agreed to be acquired by G. Heileman in 1983. These were complications I didn't feel compelled to ramble on about. I was trying to shorten that part of the article. Perhaps I should have spent another thousand words on the subject, but it wouldn't have changed anything in the final analysis. Pabst ended up selling Blitz to Heileman while keeping Blitz's best label (Olde English 800), and that was what I was trying to get across. The government's machinations in these matters are something someone else will have to go into; I have little interest in that aspect of the thing.

As for Paul Shipman's comments at the 1997 Craft Brewers Conference in Seattle, I was quite angry when I heard him speak, so much so that I bought the tape, just to get the facts straight. I just listened to those inane ramblings one more time to see what I might have missed that Jack Nicholson could have noticed. Shipman's theme, "Unity and Craftsmanship" (his own title for that babblement), was anything but that. No unity, and other people's craftsmanship and jobs placed on the chopping block. In fact, he spent his whole time railing against contract brewing. That's OK; I have no great love for contract brewing. But it's abominable to demand the elimination of our beloved old middle-line brewers, including the sacking of their employees’ jobs, just to stop Jim Koch and his Boston Beer Company.

It was Jim Koch who kept alive both Heileman's Pittsburgh (home of Iron City Lager, an exceedingly ordinary brew but one beloved by a number of locals in that city) and our own Portland Blitz, also beloved by many. I have no love for Koch's wretched marketing; some folks tell me it “sucks,” and I don't argue with that. But I must tell all and sundry: Jim Koch does brew great beer, using true craftsmanship, and he has introduced a whole generation of Americans to great beer with taste. He has made a huge number of converts to craft beer, and they have gone on to drink a lot of microbrewed beer. He has done more for craft brewing than Redhook ever has managed, especially regarding its alliance with Anheuser-Busch, which company has nearly destroyed the American craft brewing industry à la the great Budweiser-NBC-Stone Phillips infomercial the previous October (1996). And that's one of the major reasons the craft brewing industry is having a difficult time. Tell that to Jack Nicholson! I no longer drink Redhook when I have a choice.

Mr. Jennings, if you are ever in Portland, look me up. My phone number is in all of my books. We can have a beer; you can tell me about Jack Nicholson, and I'll tell you about Stone Phillips, who used to dabble in news for NBC. He does infomercials now.

Fred Eckhardt
Portland, Ore.

Dear Editor:
I don't buy your lame attempt to "distance" beer from "other drugs" [CBN Editorial, August/September 1999]. The fact is, whether you like it or not, that alcohol IS a drug. It is a chemical substance that is psychotropic, i.e., it affects the mind, the mood, consciousness. Alcohol, like marijuana, cocaine and LSD, is an intoxicant.

The fact is, whether you like it or not, that the unwise use of alcohol creates far more problems in our society than the unwise use of all the substances you call "street drugs" put together.

The fact is, whether you like it or not, that, as the nonpartisan Drug Abuse Council reported nearly 20 years ago in its final report, after five years of the most lavishly funded investigation conducted on the topic up to that time, "alcohol and secobarbital — both legally produced psychoactive substances — are the drugs most likely to be involved with subsequent assaultive behavior," and "there is no substantial evidence to link the use of any other drug, licit or illicit, with assaultive crime."

The fact is, whether you like it or not, that marijuana "is enjoyed in this country (and indeed around most of the civilized world) by many millions of people," just like beer.

I say all this, not as a prohibitionist, but as an avid, enthusiastic beer drinker who loves your publication and believes ALL intoxicants ought to be legal. Contrary to the uninformed assertion of Earl Dodge of the National Prohibition Party (profiled in the same issue), one who seems to have agreed with me on this was Abraham Lincoln. He said, in December 1841, early in his political career, that "a prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."

Jeff Riggenbach
San Francisco, Calif.

Dear Jeff:
Whoa there, big fella. One crusade at a time, please! Our editorial simply addressed the use of federal funds to put antialcohol ads into the antidrug campaign. Are you with me so far? Rather than address the nation’s bankrupt policies on drug enforcement, we are simply trying to keep a legal beverage, beer, from being lumped into that bankrupt drug policy. (Although it didn’t happen this year, wait until next year.) Reread your argument and stop at the part where you said, “the unwise use of alcohol creates far more problems.” You bet it does. We are, however, talking about the wise use, the moderate consumption of beer, which does not take on the psychotropic attributes of a drug. Our point remains that teaching little Johnny that drugs are bad and that dad and mom’s beer and wine are drugs dilutes whatever good an antidrug program might do. — Ed.

Dear Editor:
My local brewery, John Willie Lee's, sells its two strong ales, Moonraker and Harvest Ale, across the U.S.A. Do any of your readers drink in any bars that sell these products? John Willie Lee's has a regular newsletter that it circulates among its pubs and would like photographs of any U.S. bar where its beer is on sale to print in their newsletter. If any reader could forward any suitable pictures (preferably showing a couple of bottles of the JWL product in "true" American surroundings), I will forward those to the brewery. If sending by e-mail, please send as .jpg file.

Paul Roberts
Middleton, Manchester, England

Dear Editor:
I am intrigued by Stephen Beaumont’s article “Two Days in the Valley… Napa, That Is” in your April/May 1999 issue. Most interesting is the fact that none of the breweries visited is actually in the Napa Valley, or anywhere in Napa County. In fact, the Culinary Institute of America was apparently the only Napa Valley stop on the two-day tour, though it is not in Napa, as the article suggests on page 12, but in St. Helena, as the caption states on page 48. All the breweries visited are actually across the line in Sonoma County, or up in Mendocino County.

In the article’s last paragraph, the author ponders making a future trek back to Northern California, “maybe even taking a little more time to do so.” I hope Stephen does make another trip. Even better, when he comes back, I hope he will spend enough time here in our neck of the woods to figure out where he really is.

Sincerely,
Byron Burch
The Beverage People
Santa Rosa, Calif.

Dear Byron:
Please forgive Stephen’s apparent locationally challenged prose. Your humble publisher/editor is partly at fault. I was driving Steve around in my usual cavalier manner, steering with my knee while working the mobile phone, taking pictures, reading maps, taking notes and what-not. Steve, something of a slave to public transportation, was unaccustomed to such apparent reckless disregard for his safety and kept his eyes glued to the road, thereby missing a good deal of the splendid scenery. Please note that authors are responsible for their text, and captions are the domain of the editor. Next time, an impromptu visit to The Beverage People will be requisite! — Ed.

Dear Celebrator:
My friend Amy cannot have "any wheat" anymore. She loves beer — what kind can she drink?? Please help!!!

Cindy Carter
Beverly Hills, Calif.
Via email

Dear Cindy:
Most "craft" beer is made with all-barley malt. However, some breweries will make an ale and use a little (5 to 30 percent) wheat to lighten it and give it more effervescence. It will not be called a wheat beer, however. Tell Amy to stick to REAL ales and lagers and feel free to call the breweries and ask about the wheat. They love to talk about beer! Glad to know that someone in Beverly Hills loves beer. — Ed.

Dear Celebrator:
Upon reading your winter issue during a plane ride back to Prague, Czech Republic, where I live now, I was horrified by an omission made by your traveling beer guy (name forgotten at the moment) [Beaumont again! — Ed.] who visited this beer-drinkingest of all nations recently. The Czech Republic is justifiably famous for its remarkably smooth and delicious Pilsners, and this high standard is upheld throughout the country. But a more delicious beer cannot be found than at Pivovarsky Dum, in the center of Prague, where they produce an intensely hoppy, unfiltered pale lager, not to mention a delicious dark lager that is remarkably un-sweet in a land where dark beers have quite a heavy taste and smell of caramel.

Your traveling beer-dude not only failed to taste these awesome beers, instead opting for Pivovarsky Dum’s banana, coffee and champagne specialty beers (a crime against his own person), but failed to report their existence to his readers (a crime against humanity). For this he must be punished — no Czech beers for one month.

As for readers who intend to drink beer in Europe, I implore you not to miss the Czech Republic, and particularly, those beers produced at Pivovarsky Dum. Let me know if you’ll be in town. I’d love to meet other Celebrator readers for a beer. Thanks, and keep up the good work.

Brett Aarons
Prague, Czech Republic

Dear Brett:
In vowel-deprived Eastern Europe, you certainly have a lot of A’s in your surname. A bit piggy, don’t you think? Thanks so much for calling our attention to Mr. Beaumont’s omission. He will be severely flogged with a whip of Saaz hops! I’m equally sure that, had our peripatetic pivo precursor known about the existence of Pivovarsky, he would have sought it out. In my short time in Prague I barely had time to visit U Flecku and a few other high-profile breweries. Next time, we’ll call you first! (Seems to me this is the second time I’ve had to make excuses for Beaumont in one issue. Hmmm…) —Ed.

Dear Editor:
Thanks once again for the latest edition of your excellent Celebrator. However, I must disagree with your comments on canned beers. In the U.K. now there is a trend towards quality BCAs — bottle-conditioned ales. I would urge your readers to lobby your U.S. craft brewers for similar. You have some excellent microbreweries in the States — don't support ones that start to sell inferior products in cans.

he British canned beers you mentioned are public enemy number 1 in the eyes of CAMRA and all discerning beer drinkers here. Nitrokeg beer is currently being churned out by the big brewers in Britain and is replacing real cask-conditioned beers in many pubs. A bottle of Bud is far superior to any canned beer on the market. Doesn't that tell you how bad canned beer really is!

Cheers,
Paul Roberts
Manchester, England

Dear Paul:
Thanks for your response to the "canned crap" article. I have discussed the difference between CAMRA's agenda and ours with Roger Protz and others on several occasions. We are still trying to get the 90+ percent of the beer drinkers in America to stop swilling copious quantities of adjunct light lagers in favor of all-malt ales and lagers. You CAMRA chaps have another battle — one of large commercial breweries no longer willing to invest the time and money in presenting real ales in favor of gas-infused kegged products, both CO2 and nitrogen.

Please be aware that the canned nitro ales you loathe are a significant upgrade for our corn-and-rice-brew–swilling public and can be a transition to even better beers served fresh on draught. Also, I'd put a can of Guinness up against your bottle of Bud any day, partner. Autre temps, autre moeurs… — Ed.

(In a later email...)

Dear Editor:
I flew British Airways Heathrow to Manchester over the weekend and was surprised to see BA offering cans of London Pride! While nowhere near as good as bottled LP (and, of course, the draught is far better still), the canned version did have some taste and was superior to the usual BA offerings! So when one is dying of thirst and offered a free drink, I will agree that canned beer can be better than nothing!

Cheers,
Paul Roberts

Dear Paul:
Ah ha! Gotcha! It's really the contents, not the container. Agreed, there are much superior methods of beer service — but on an aeroplane … I can see the Celebrator headlines now: "CAMRA Endorses Canned Crap!" (Just kidding.) — Ed.

Dear Editor:
Mostly on the strength of the glowing report from last year's festival, I attended this year's Great Alaska Winter Brew & Barley Wine festival during "Fur Rondy" in Anchorage. As suggested by the article from last year (Vol. 11, No. 2), the festival this year was nothing less than fabulous; especially if one's idea of a great festival includes an opportunity to try unusual and often rare beers from a variety of outstanding Northwest brewers.

What I don't understand (especially as it was advertised that Mr. Dalldorf would be participating as a judge at this event) is why there was absolutely no publicity in the Celebrator for this event — not even a listing under the calendar of events. Outside of the GABF, I cannot think of another brew festival I've enjoyed more or found more interesting than the Great Alaska Winter Brew & Barley Wine festival. Shame on you for not doing a better job of bringing this event to the attention of your readers!

The editors of Celebrator should be forced to go without any Bigfoot or Old Foghorn for at least a month (or, worse still, never, ever, be allowed to taste the incredible barley wine from Alaskan Brewing or Glacier Brewhouse's "old/big woody"). Otherwise I think your magazine's generally pretty excellent…

John Michaelsen
Sacramento, CA

Dear John:
Please be advised that we always list beer events in the calendar for free — IF the organizers will send us a notice in time for the issue. We also LOVE the Alaska Barley Wine Festival (see our story on page XXX). We are assured by the organizers that next year’s event will be scheduled in plenty of time for magazine deadlines. Thanks for sucking up to us at the end of your letter. We like you, too! — Ed.

Dear Editor:
Read about New Mexico's effort to change the legal BAC from .08% to .05%. Just thought you'd like to know that, here in South Carolina, there is NO legal BAC limit of any kind. The sole determining factor of DUI is the judge's discretion. There has recently been a law introduced that seeks to establish a legal limit of (get this) .16% as the definition of legal intoxication.

Scott W. Goodwin
Charleston, SC

Dear Scott:
You may be interested to know that the state of Washington has a bill to make it illegal to drive with a .02% BAC! — Ed.

Dear Editor:
On the cover of your Feb/Mar issue there is a picture in the upper right-hand corner of the canned beers. I need to know where you got the Kilkenny Beer (Smithwick's) that is shown at the far left. I am a homebrewer, and the reason I started brewing was to try to emulate that beer! Now it's too late to stop (it is my life, now). But I would still like to buy some. Please let me know where I might be able to buy it. Thanks, and keep up the good work!

Russell Berg
Via email

Dear Russell:
Those canned beers already got me in trouble (see above). We brought most of them back from a recent trip to England. The Kilkenny is not available in the U.S., as far as we know. Try making Caffrey’s — it’s available! Don’t ask Paul Roberts about it, however. — Ed.

Dear Editor:
I picked up this beauty (circa 1950). It’s a beer tray with “Mercer’s Meat Stout” printed on it. I thought you might like to query your readers to see if they know anything about the style “meat stout.”

Best wishes,
Ken Harootunian
Cazadero, CA

Dear Ken:
Thanks for the photo. Haven’t heard of a meat stout. Perhaps one of our readers will respond with some information. Their motto, “Meat Stout is better for you,” is a little weak. Better than what? They should have said, “You Can’t Beat Mercer’s Meat!” THAT would sell beer! — Ed.

Dear Hop Caen:
Just a note to let you know I really do enjoy your column in the Celebrator. Did Rick Fay ever find out who the mysterious BEER KING in Santa Cruz was? Hope it was a brewpub owner and not some importer! Loved hearing about the Englishman who is planning a six-month tour of dark duty to defend his mother's grave honor and recapture The Fine and Private Place title. Keep up the entertaining work.

Don Quine
Via email

Dear Don:
Thanks so much for the vote of confidence! Glad you "dug" the buried-at-the-pub story. No further word on who the “Beer King” might be. Mr. Busch rarely leaves St. Louis. And as to the “hope it’s not some importer” comment, remember that they bring us some of our finest beer experiences. Dare I say, Belgian?

Cheers,
Hop Caen

To Whom It May Concern:
Southern California gratefully lost the L.A. Rams some pigskin years ago. So it was with some amusement that on your “What’s Doin’ in Brewin’” page, I was informed that the first tapping outside of Seattle of Celebrator, the legendary German Doppelbock, took place at the irrefutable Toronado Pub in San Francisco, November 4, 1998.

For the record, we’ve been hoisting pints of that rarin’ dark Ram since late September 1998 at Pasadena’s Lucky Baldwins (17 S. Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, CA; advertisement in CBN, 12/98-1/99, p. 29). Set the record straight, please!

Sincerely,
Mark Granger
cc: Lucky Baldwins, Pasadena
cc: Toronado, San Francisco

Dear Mark:
Thanks for setting us straight on the first pouring of draught Celebrator, our namesake. Since Seattle is the home of the beer’s importer, Merchant du Vin, we assumed that it was available there. We were informed by the local distributor, however, that the Toronado was the first in California to pour this elixir. Congrats to Lucky Baldwins for having the good taste to get this fine brew. —Ed.

Dear Editor:
Remember the piece I did on Tokyo Alehouses? Apparently, stray Americans with photocopies of that article have been spotted in at least two of the places I wrote about, so Celebrator Beer News is being read — and used — by Tokyo-bound readers. You and yours have a happy holiday season.

Regards,
Bryan Harrell
Tokyo, Japan

Dear Bryan:
Great to hear from you. Glad to hear that your pearls of wisdom are being used in such a definitive manner. Quite a few people have been heard from who have been exploring the sake bars of San Francisco you wrote about recently. The power of the provocative pen! —Ed.