We had organic beers on tap from Gordon Biersch and Capitol City Brewing, and more in bottles from Wolaver’s. Everything was gone by the end of the event. Organizers say about 150 people attended, which means after you add in the sponsorships, the event raised over $6,000 for local community projects.

Next year I’m looking forward to inviting a couple other local brewers to make organic beers for the event. I’d like to get Rock Bottom and Flying Dog involved. And we might have one or two new local brewpubs in operation by then so I’d like to get them to brew organic for this too. Of course, my secret hope is that they will brew organic once and then be convinced to make organic beers all the time!

Here’s more coverage from the Gazette.

Join me Friday night at the Busboys and Poets in Shirlington, VA for an organic beer tasting and book signing.

The event will feature tastings of five organic beers for a measly $10! Here’s the lineup:

• Oxford Raspberry Wheat
• Stone Mill Pale Ale
• Oxford Amber Ale
• Peak Nut Brown Ale
• Bison Chocolate Stout

The event starts at 6pm, this Friday, at Busboys and Poets in Shirlington. All the details are right here.

Make a night of it and stop right down the street afterwards and have an organic Trippel at Capitol City Brewering. Which leads me to the second event…

Organic Beer Mini-Festival/Fundraiser

Drink great one-of-a-kind organic beers and raise money for the Takoma Foundation. This Saturday, 4-7pm at the Cady Lee historic mansion right next to the Takoma Metro Station; tickets are $35 (and tax-deductible) and include unlimited samples of four organic beers, hors d’ouvre from the Olive Lounge and lots of homemade snacks!

The beer lineup includes:

• Organic Bohemian Pilsener from Gordon Biersch
• Organic IPA from Wolaver’s
• Organic Oatmeal Stout from Wolaver’s
• Organic Belgian Trippel from Capitol City Brewing

Mike McCarthy, head of brewing operations at Cap City, will be on hand to discuss his new line of seasonal organic beers. And, as usual, I’ll be talking about beer and sustainability and hawking copies of Fermenting Revolution. Plus live bluegrass, Irish and jazz provided by the Kinsmen. All proceeds support the Takoma Foundation’s community development grants.

All the details are right here. This is going to be awesome.

————

A couple years ago we celebrated my father’s 75th birthday with a big family reunion. I wanted to bring beer that upped the ante from the usual BudMillerCoors but could please a very mixed crowd. Hook and Ladder seemed perfect, some lighter beers that wouldn’t be too challenging but were probably a lot more flavorful than light industrial lagers, plus they have a cool story about donating money to burn victims. So I picked up a couple cases of Lighter and Golden Ale and hit the road for the reunion.

Socializing with the extended family, we opened a few beers. They gushed. We opened a few more. They gushed. We let them settle out in a pitcher and then tasted them. They were as undrinkable as they were unpourable. We abandoned them and sought out a local beer store for replacements. Being the beer-know-it-all of the family, I was embarrassed about my beer faux pas.

In retrospect, I’m not sure if the problem was over-carbonation, oxidation, infection, or a combination thereof. Suffice to say my first impression was bad – a contract brewed-beer company that was all firefighting hype and apparently paid no attention to making beer. There are many tales of  contract beers that were all marketing and no beer, so I quickly judged Hook and Ladder as one such case and never drank their beers again – even though their offices are literally up the street from my home.

As it happens, one of my sisters has a friend who works for Hook and Ladder. They were having dinner together recently and my name came up due to our mutual interests in beer. As a result, John Timson, VP of Marketing and Sales, contacted me and last night I sat down with him for a tasting at their Silver Spring, Maryland digs.

John Timson, VP of Marketing and Sales, points to Hook and Ladder Brewing Company's "World Domination Plan."

It’s kind of funny. I travel all over the world for beer and here’s a beer company literally four blocks away from my home that I’ve never visited. So I was happy for the invitation and eager to give these beers a second try in hopes that my first impression might have been a fluke.

The good news is that fresh beer on draft did make a much better impression than the family reunion snafu. The Golden Ale (5.5% ABV) is a medium-bodied table beer on the sweeter side of malty. It’s understated, not particularly wild or exciting, but flavorful and easy to drink for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The new Irish Red Ale, called Pipe and Drum (5.1% ABV), is also malt-forward with pronounced caramel, and lightly toasty undertones. When they are packaged, stored and served properly these are both good sessionable ales and after last night’s tasting I am happy to drink them again.

Hook and Ladder has moved their contracts through several different breweries and I suspect this is the root cause of the quality control issue I encountered back at the family reunion. At the moment, they are brewed by High Falls Brewing Company in Rochester, New York, makers of Genesee Cream Ale and Dundee’s Honey Brown, among several other beers. This kind of brewery-hopping is one of the potential pitfalls of contract-brewed beers. But as long as the beers taste like they did last night, I’ll be happy to support my neighborhood contract-brewed beer company.

Speaking of beer in the neighborhood, for close to two years now Hook and Ladder has been planning to open a brewpub in an old firehouse on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. Ever since, I’ve been fantasizing about being able to roll home from a brewpub located just up the hill from me! But alas, delays have been interminable. John tells me they are now aiming to break ground in mid-July with hopes of being open by Christmas. The bad news is that its not planned to be a brewpub afterall, but rather a taphouse with Hook and Ladder beers. If all goes well, they might eventually buy an additional property next door to the firehouse and install a brewing system there.

I’m disappointed that they are not planning to brew on premise any time soon, but this fits with the contract-brewed approach. In essence, Hook and Ladder is not a brewery but a beer marketing company. As long as the beers are good, I’m perfectly okay with contract beers. Actually, two of my all-time favorite beers, Tuppers Hop Pocket Ale and Pils, are contract brewed. Coincidentally, they both have a charity hook as well, Tuppers gives a percentage of proceeds to the Childrens Hospital, and Hook and Ladder gives “a penny in every pint” and a “quarter in every case” to the Hook and Ladder Foundation in support of fire burn victims.

Luckily, my first impression of Hook and Ladder was not my last and now I’m looking forward to trying their new pale ale scheduled for release this fall.

Get Canned is a fundraising event designed to help support the Food Bank for New York City. They’re asking attendees to bring canned goods to support all the folks who have recently, um . . . gotten canned.

Oh, and if you can’t make the event, you can still buy an organic cotton t-shirt to support the cause. Yes, you can.

Details:
WHAT: Get Canned – You Can Make a Difference
WHERE: e l e m e n t, 225 E. Houston Street @ Essex Street, New York City
WHEN: Tuesday, December 16th, 7:00 – 10:00 PM
COST: Free if you bring cans, $10 otherwise.
WHY: “In light of the recent downturn in New York City’s economy, Get Canned will offer an entertaining and charitable networking event for those affected. This event is open to everyone, from downsized professionals and potential employers to those new to the job market. Get Canned also welcomes those with fantastic, secure jobs to come mingle, enjoy and support The Food Bank For New York City.

Being laid off, or ‘getting canned,’ rarely has a positive side to it, but Get Canned embraces the theme – collecting canned goods in place of a cover charge, offering canned beers and gourmet hors d’oeuvres made from traditional canned foods, and sending guests home with eco-friendly gift bags with various goodies, such as pink slips.”

Visit the Get Canned website for more info.

Reunion ’08 is the result of a multi-tiered cooperative effort. Pete and Alan of Pete’s Wicked joined forces with Dan Del Grande of Bison Brewing, who in turn has a partnership with Butte Creek Brewing in Chico, CA.

Labeled as an Organic Red Rye Ale and billing itself as “A Beer for Hope,” Reunion may sound like a plug for Obama but the hope referred to here is related to the fact that all the profits from this beer are donated to the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research in honor of Pete and Alan’s friend Virginia MacLean who succumbed to myeloma last year.

What better way to honor Earth Day than with a beer that celebrates a cancer victim’s life by using barley, rye and caraway seeds that are free of cancer-causing pesticides? Given its northern California origin, this is unusual in that it is not a California hop-bomb but instead its malt emphasis evokes caramel and fruitcake, an American evolution of the traditional English brown ale.

And on a tangential note, here’s another beer-inspired Earth Day sentiment from Don Russell in his Joe Sixpack column in the Philly Daily News – what ever happened to refillable beer bottles?

According to a press release from the company, SweetWater also helps campaign for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeepers, Earth Share of Georgia, and Georgia ForestWatch.

“We are making this our primary charitable initiative for the next twelve months,” said Hugh Sisson, founder of Clipper City.  “Our injured young people returning from war should be a major priority for all American citizens and we feel compelled to do what we can as a small business to assist in their recovery and their return to a productive lifestyle.”

According to the brewery’s press release:

About 24 million living Americans have served in the armed forces, with nearly 18 million wearing the uniforms of the U.S. military during times of war and conflict.  In Maryland alone, over 3,200 returning veterans have already enrolled for care throughout the VA Maryland Health Care System.  The funds generated from Clipper City’s efforts will be used to support transportation, emergency lodging, outreach efforts and child care costs associated with the health care needs of returning veterans throughout the state.

I recently watched a documentary called The War Tapes. It was produced by a handful of soldiers in Iraq who volunteered to carry video cameras with them from their first day of duty until they went home a year later. The results were edited into this documentary. After watching it, I was left with the distinct impression that war isn’t over when soldiers come home. Their lives are messed up for a long time. Helping vets cope with ‘normal’ civilian life is a worthy cause.

In case Clipper City’s fall seasonals, Winter Storm and Below Decks, are not enough to convince you to buy their beers and support this cause, here’s a trailer of The War Tapes which should really make you want to help out by doing something as easy as drinking beer. It might even make you want to volunteer somewhere helping out veterans.

“. . . is comprised of influential women of high achievement in the culinary, beverage and hospitality industries. Membership is by invitation only, and DC Dames range from top chefs, restaurateurs and caterers to renowned journalists, authors and hospitality executives. Our members are at the forefront of shaping decisions regarding what we choose to eat and drink everyday. As a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, Les Dames d’Escoffier, Washington, DC offers scholarships to women seeking advancement in culinary-related fields, and offers grants to non-profit organizations that support women and help better our community. Members of Les Dames d’Escoffier share their expertise by offering educational programs which are open to the public, and volunteering for worthy food-related causes throughout the year.”

I mention this group because one of their members got in touch to let me know about an upcoming event they are hosting called the Octoberfest Dinner and Beer Tasting. Details as follows:

WHEN: Monday, October 15, 2007 at 6:30 PM

WHERE: Rustico, 827 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, VA 22314, 703.224.5051

COST: Tickets are $75 for members of Les Dames d’Escoffier; $85 for non-members. Price includes dinner, beer, wine, gratuity and tax.

REGISTRATION: Reservations close October 11, 202.973.2168. Space is limited.

Seung and I ate at Rustico about a month ago and were impressed by the atmosphere, food, and absolutely superb beer and food pairing program. They have an option called the “Trio” – tastes of three items each paired with a four ounce sample of beer. We got three of these sets, sharing everything and loving every minute and bite of it.

Intrigued, I googled that phrase, partly curious to see what page on my site showed up in the results, but also because I was intrigued to find whatever the person was actually seeking.

Turns out that Greenpeace is carrying on a tradition that became popular at the beginning of the Iraq war – peace activists bearing witness by baring it all. Greenpeace organized a publicity stunt in the Swiss Alps at the Aletsch Glacier that involved 600 people getting naked in order to draw attention to global warming.

Click the photo to read the article and watch a video of the event. Warning, the images contain lots more naked people.

What’s this got to do with beer? Check out my recent post about how beer is helping to slow climate change.

This story did make me think about my own lack of personal action to stop global warming and the war (which is largely about oil and therefore global warming). I do a lot in my job promoting renewable energy and I live a relatively low-impact lifestyle compared to many Americans, but I haven’t engaged in any public demonstrations lately. Maybe I’ve just been sitting around drinking too much beer. But nude protests? That would get me back out in the streets. Add some beer to it and you’d really have my attention. Hey, now there’s an idea!

Oh, and if you’re wondering what I had on my site that lead that web-searcher astray, it was my post in this month’s Session about Mfula Mfula homebrew in South Africa. Go figure.