Happy American Craft Beer Week! It’s a celebration that was started by the Brewer’s Association in 2006, to draw attention to small and independent craft breweries across the U.S. While cities all over the country are enjoying their own individual Beer Week celebrations at various times of the year, this week in May celebrates craft beer from coast-to-coast.

Check with your local craft brewery, they may be holding special events this week–or just pop in and join the celebration by lifting a glass of handcrafted brew! From my father Jack McAuliffe’s first microbrewery in Sonoma, CA in 1976, to the more than 2,300 craft breweries across the United States today–this good beer movement is more than just a fad. The American craft beer industry provides more than 100,000 jobs–something the President and Brewer-in-Chief should take note of! Craft beer rocks this economy!

Across the craft beer nation, on Thursday, May 16th at 8 p.m. EST, a coast-to-coast toast will be heard. Here in Northeast Ohio, I’ll be leading that cheer at Market Garden Brewing. Join me at 7 p.m. in the Ohio City Room for a bit of craft beer history as I discuss New Albion Brewing Company, and my father’s legacy. Then at 8:00, we’ll raise our glasses to herald craft beer across the land. The cost is $15 at the door, and will include light appetizers and a sample of New Albion Ale.

Meanwhile, you can pour yourself your favorite cold one right now and take a craft beer quiz to see if you are indeed a Craft Beer Champion. (<—-Click on link to take quiz.) It’s just for fun, and bragging rights of course.  I cracked open a New Albion Ale, and scored 90%. Hey, I even provided you a few of the answers right here in this blog post.

Cheers to American Craft Beer!

A very happy birthday to my father, founder of New Albion Brewing Company, and the Father of Craft Beer, Jack McAuliffe! Thank goodness he was born–thus the great modern U.S. craft beer revolution was born! (And so was I…) Cheers~

One thing I’ve heard over and over again when meeting folks who love New Albion Ale is, “When can we get some swag?” And today I can tell you–right now!  Check out my New Albion Swag Store — there’s a tab right here on my blog–and order a really cool baseball t-shirt, a mug, a mouse pad, key chain or one of any other really great items! The logo is the original New Albion Ale label, not the modified one found on the Boston Beer release.  Buy something for yourself, and don’t forget, craft beer lovers everywhere would love a great beer gift from the original craft brewery!

The story of my father–Jack McAuliffe, the Father of Craft Beer in the U.S.–is an interesting one, and one I love to share. It has been told in books; notably Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer by Maureen Ogle in 2006, and in the recently published The Audacity of Hops: The History of America’s Craft Beer Revolution by Tom Acitelli. It has been told on blogs and in newspapers and on local TV news and radio interviews recently with the re-release of New Albion Ale. Jack shared it himself on stage at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver last October. And Boston Beer shared it in a wonderful video.

But Jack is enjoying his retirement too much to keep telling his story. So I’m going to keep telling it for him. People want to learn about the roots of this modern day craft brew phenomenon. I’ve found they love to hear about this curmudgeon with a hankering for flavorful European ales, porters and stouts who decided he was just going to brew it himself if no one else here in America was going to do it. I want to keep his story alive and in the hearts and minds of good brew lovers.

If you’d like to hear the story sometime, I’m happy to join you and a group of friends and re-tell it. I enjoy offering a bit of craft beer education along with some New Albion Ale samples, and can even provide you and your friends with some delicious food pairings to enjoy as we chat. I’ve had fun doing this kind of thing in classes with The Chubby Cook, and as a charitable contribution for several fundraising events in the past year.

I’m happy to hold this event at your home, your brewpub, your book club, your favorite watering hole, wherever!–please contact me with a comment here on my blog, or through email at renee@brewersdaughter.com, or on Twitter @brewersdaughter, or on my Facebook page,  and I’ll be glad to help you plan an evening with The Brewer’s Daughter. Yes, there is a fee associated with my time/travel and any beer/food I provide, but I think you’ll find it quite reasonable and a lot fun! Have beer knowledge and samples, will travel! Hope to see you soon! Cheers~

Recently the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article about the return of New Albion Ale, and KCBS radio picked up the story. The hosts of the morning news, Dave and Janice interviewed me. You can listen to the audio here, it’s a short 5 minutes.

KCBS SAN FRANCISCO INTERVIEW 4-6-13

Cheers!

After a long, cold winter on the North Coast, there is nothing better than a sunny day at the ballpark, with a hot dog (with Bertman’s Mustard of course!) in one hand and a tasty brew in the other! My home field is The Jake (yes, I still call it that, even though Jacob’s Field is now dubbed Progressive Field–just doesn’t have the same ring to it). Every year we make it to a handful of baseball games to cheer on our Tribe–and though they haven’t been contenders lately, we always have a good time. The season has already kicked off with a couple of good away games and the home opener is this Monday. Though the forecast calls for a chance of showers, we Clevelanders are just happy if it isn’t snowing on Opening Day.

Fortunately, the Indians’ management sees to it that craft beer fans have more to choose from than the standard ballpark Big Name beers. Several Great Lakes brews are available, as are craft beers representing our rival teams. A recent issue of Beer Connoisseur magazine quotes Dan Smith, the team’s food and beverage V.P., as saying “beer offerings are tweaked throughout the season to appeal to fans of the visiting club. That means it is possible to find brews by beloved brands like Bell’s, New Holland, Avery, Bear Republic, Moylan’s, Full Sail, Weyerbacher, Sam Adams, Harpoon, Goose Island and Dogfish Head, depending on who’s in town.”

Who are you cheering for this year? And what will you be drinking at the park? ”Play ball!” boys of summer, and we’ll be there to cheer you on, beer in hand!

Since New Albion Ale was released by the Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) in January, there has been quite a bit of buzz about this pioneering beer. I’ve shared the news on my Brewer’s Daughter and New Albion Facebook pages, and on Twitter @BrewersDaughter and @NewAlbionBrewCo. But I thought it would be nice to compile a few of my favorite articles, reviews, interviews and videos here:

I never thought I’d see my name in the Men’s Journal. But I did get a mention in this very nice article. And I love the introduction of New Albion:  ”…a single citizen quietly began his own kind of revolution against the tyranny of the mass market. Jack McAuliffe, a Navy veteran living in northern California, started brewing his own beer.” Nice to be included in such a popular mass market publication–the Boston Beer PR team is doing a great job!

Just last Friday, WILK in Northeast Pennsylvania featured New Albion Ale on their Friday Beer Buzz radio program. They interviewed Boston Beer’s founder, Jim Koch, who continues to share Jack’s story as the Father of Craft Beer. You can both watch and listen to the interview HERE. Kathy Phillips at The Better Beer Show out of Anchorage, Alaska, did a very nice interview with both me and Jack as well. You can listen to the podcast HERE.

Now there have been plenty of amateur reviews of New Albion on all kinds of video blogs, but one of my very favorites comes from the Brewsky Brothers out of Columbia, South Carolina. Jon and Nick are not the most sophisticated craft beer guys you’re going to find sharing their opinions of various brews, but they are certainly fun. (And they get points from me for being fans of the Cleveland Browns.) You can watch their review of New Albion Ale on their YouTube Channel, HERE.

Another very nice video review came from our friends at Basic Brewing, James and Steve. They homebrewed a clone of New Albion and gave it a taste test HERE, a nice twist on a generic review.

During Jack’s Great Beer Tour of 2013 in January and February, he was interviewed by Kyle Munson of the Des Moines Register. There is both an article and a video that came out of that stop, and I was absolutely impressed by the comprehensive nature of Munson’s reporting. You can read/view it HERE.

There have also been a lot of citizen beer blogger reviews of New Albion, and I think my favorite so far has been a side-by-side comparison of our Ale with Budweiser, by Active Brewer, L. Allen Huerta. He drew the comparison because when New Albion Ale came out in 1976 (before he was born), most Americans were most likely drinking Bud. I thought Allen’s review was very thoughtful, and you can read it HERE.

Of course, if you haven’t seen the video produced by the folks at Boston Beer, explaining the roots of New Albion Ale and featuring interviews with Jim and Jack, you must take a look at “A Taste of History.”

I do appreciate every review, interview, mention and Untappd check in of New Albion Ale. Thank you so much for your support, dear readers. Cheers to keeping the good word going!

March is here already, and there are plenty of great things going on–not the least of which is the arrival of Spring! (Don’t forget to set your clocks back this weekend!) My calendar is filling up fast.

• My girl Ali is coming home from college for a weekend–yay! She’s decided that Tulane isn’t the place for her, so she’ll be touring another school while she’s in Ohio. We are kind of reliving the whole college process from last spring, oy!
• St. Patrick’s Day fun and revelry! (Reminder: do NOT call it St. Patty’s Day!) Our dinner club is having a special St. Patrick’s Day themed Iron Chef competition. Perhaps Guinness will be the secret ingredient?
• Craft Brewers Conference in D.C.! And I’ll catch up with friends while I’m in my hometown.
• March Madness! I love picking teams and following the brackets. Favorite teams include: Akron U., Ohio State, Maryland and Tulane! GO Zips and Buckeyes! Fear the Turtle and Roll Green Wave!
• Spring break for some of you–Ali gets to go to Florida, lucky! Are you headed anywhere warm and sunny?
• And the Easter bunny will make an appearance on the last day of the month. (I’m actually more excited about the next day: Dyngus Day! A Polish “holiday” they’ve recently been celebrating in Cleveland–it involves pussy willows, squirt guns, polka and of course beer! Technically April 1st, but I’ll lump it into this month’s fun.)

So, March forth and raise a glass of craft brew! Cheers~

One month from today I’ll be landing in the place of my birth–Washington, D.C.–for the 2013 Craft Brewers Conference. I last attended the conference two years ago in San Francisco.  Ambitious Brew author Maureen Ogle and I had come up with a talk that combined her perspective on the past of craft brewing; I added some comments about social media, marketing and the future of small breweries in the present; and somehow we got Jack to join us on stage, where he answered questions from the crowd (who really came to hear him). To our great delight, he received a standing ovation. It was our true motive all along, to get Jack there in front of that particular group of brewers and craft beer lovers. His reception confirmed we had ‘done good’–Maureen kept saying how she could die happy. I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face (and a tear from my eye).

It’s from a completely different perspective that I’ll be attending the conference this year: with an eye on how far I’ve traveled in life since being born in D.C. (mumble) years ago. In March, I’ll be sitting in on seminars and listening to speakers with my mind on the future of New Albion, a destiny whose possibility only opened up to me recently. Raised in Maryland just a stone’s throw from the Capitol Beltway, my future dreams then included being a veterinarian, or a teacher, or a disc jockey (I eventually had a career in broadcast news)–but beer? I couldn’t have pictured it. And now I embrace it. Fully. Whole-heartedly. Thanks to Jack, and Jim Koch, too.

If you’re going to be in D.C. for #CBC2013, there are several evening events where you’ll be able to find me, and New Albion Ale.

Tuesday, March 26

Small Batch Beer & Backyard Party at the American Tap Room, 3101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA  This $25 ticketed event features 5 small plate food and beer pairings, and includes New Albion Ale. The first 20 people will get a sample of Utopias as well!  Payment will be collected at the door. RSVP to events@americantaproom.com. There will be a limited number of tickets available.

Wednesday, March 27

“Beer Hunter : The Movie” Advanced Screening at RFD, 810 7th Street NW, Washington, D.C., 7-11 p.m. Join us to celebrate and remember Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter. Tickets are $100, and include complimentary craft beers, beer-centric food all evening, and a custom logo glass commemorating the event. There will be a toast to Michael Jackson featuring New Albion Ale. Only 125 tickets available. More information can be found here: http://www.beerhuntermovie.com/screenings.php

Friday, March 29

Backyard Beers with Boston Beer, Bourbon Glover Park, 2348 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington, D.C., from 6-9 p.m. Samuel Adams Small Batch beers with six different styles on tap: New Albion Ale, Whitewater IPA, Double Agent IPL, New World, Griffin’s Bow, and White Lantern. No cover charge!

These three events are open to the public, not just conference attendees. Hope you’ll make plans to join me for a toast or two–I’ll raise a glass to destiny!

When I first met my husband Paul, one of the very first dates we had was to share a few drinks at a local bar. I can still remember the thrill of his leg brushing against mine while we ordered another round. Having a beer with him is as much fun today as it was back then. My favorite times with him are most often when we’re sitting on a couple of bar stools enjoying each other’s company and a few brews, talking about our kids, sharing some laughs and making plans for the future.

Paul and I have enjoyed brewery tours from Northern California to the Delaware shore and anywhere else we’ve landed in between. We did the Winking Lizard World Tour together the past two years. We attended the Great American Beer Festival in Denver together last year. We hit as many Cleveland Beer Week events as we can every year. When we honeymooned in Napa and Sonoma back in 2002 (hey, we’re half Italian, we like our wine too!), we also made a stop at the Mendocino Brewing Company Hopland brewpub to pay homage to Jack’s ties there. And we had an annual St. Patrick’s Day party for 10 years running–we’re also half Irish!

Whatever we do, beer is a part of our life together–it seems it has been from the beginning. So this Valentine’s Day weekend it isn’t surprising that our plans are to double date with our best friends Cami & Tim, and try a new restaurant where we’ve heard there is a pretty good craft beer list–The Oak Barrel. And then we’ll catch that sappy, romantic film, “A Good Day to Die Hard.” Because that’s how we roll–always up for a new action adventure together, and a few brews with friends. Cheers and happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you find brew love, too.