24700 Wed Jun 25 10:30:27 -0700 2003 19 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 96934 SF's only microbrewery is having one of their pre- Giants homegame summer parties. Complimentary beer sampling (Prohibition Ale, Big Daddy IPA, Speakeasy Lager) Hot Dogs (Aidells not Albertsons) and Tours of the brewery. Meet the fun crowd on the patio. Speakeasy Giants BBQ Fri June 27th 5-7PM 1195 Evans St (1 mile east of 3rd St nr Keith) tel. 642-3371 www.goodbear.com Wed Jun 25 10:30:27 -0700 2003 0 DukeDee 1 96943 Thanks for the tip. But "only" microbrewery in San Francisco? Magnolia, Thirsty Bear, and 21st Amendment brew their own beer. Wed Jun 25 12:35:47 -0700 2003 96934 0 nja 2 96967 well intentioned comment I suppose-but uninformed nonetheless. A microbrewery does not sell any of their products on premises. does that sound like 21A, Beach Chalet, Magnolia, SF Brewing or any of the other BREWPUBS in town? Wed Jun 25 18:43:20 -0700 2003 96943 0 dukedee 3 96971 Ah, so Speakeasy in the only small production brewer within San Francisco that does not sell its beer on premises. Okay. I supposed Anchor Steam doesn't count because they're too big. That's a bit suprising, and somewhat sad. It led me to this article on the demise of so many microbreweries and brewpubs in the bay area. Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2003/03/17/focus1.html Wed Jun 25 20:02:24 -0700 2003 96967 0 nja 4 97050 Anchor is pretty much the grand-daddy of all microbreweries in Ca. I still consider it a micro, given it's extremely small level of production compared to the major brands. It's only recently that I've been able to find Anchor out of state. Thu Jun 26 15:10:14 -0700 2003 96971 0 Zach Georgopoulos 5 97640 Anchor has been available for many years in distant markets. I used to pack the car with it when I visited Chicago until it became available here in NoVA. It's even exported IIRC. Thu Jul 03 06:49:34 -0700 2003 97050 0 Jim Dorsch 6 97859 I've seen Anchor at a bar in Paris. I was going to order it, but decided that at $10 a glass I would wait until I got home. Mon Jul 07 12:59:50 -0700 2003 97640 0 nja 3 97256 I don't completely agree with your definition of microbrewery. While these places brew kegged, bottled (and recently canned) product for sale outside the brewery, they sometimes have pubs on premises. But that is not their main business. I do agree with your definition of Brewpubs, like Magnolia, 21st Amendment, Beach Chalet, E&O, SF Brewing, Thirsty Bear, the place in the Inner Sunset (forgot what it is called now), Gordon Biersch, and even the late 20 Tank. By far the bigger problem is people who confuse homebrewing with microbrewing. (grin) Sat Jun 28 07:45:25 -0700 2003 96967 0 Bryan Harrell 4 97378 The most commonly--though not unanimously--accepted definitions in the U.S. brewery industry come from the Assocation of Brewers. These are their definitions: [QUOTE] Microbrewery: A brewery that produces less than 15,000 barrels (17,600 hectoliters) of beer per year. Microbreweries sell to the public by one or more of the following methods: the traditional three-tier system (brewer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer); the two-tier system (brewer acting as wholesaler to retailer to consumer); and, directly to the consumer through carryouts and/or on-site tap-room or restaurant sales. Brewpub: A restaurant-brewery that sells the majority of its beer on site. The beer is brewed primarily for sale in the restaurant and bar. The beer is often dispensed directly from the brewery's storage tanks. Where allowed by law, brewpubs often sell beer "to go" and /or distribute to off site accounts. Note: IBS re-categorizes a company as a microbrewery if its off-site (distributed) beer sales exceed 50 percent. Regional Brewery: A brewery with the capacity to brew between 15,000 and 2,000,000 barrels. [/QUOTE] Elsewhere on the site they add: "(breweries and brewpubs producing less than 15,000 barrels per year (that's 465,000 gallons) are defined as microbreweries)" I also read elsewhere, but I cannot find the link right now, that to be called a "brewpub," there is no limit on your production. In other words, a company can make more than 15,000 barrels and still be called a brewpub as long as they sell more than 50% of their beer on site. So, as I understand all of this: - An establishment can be called both a microbrewery and brewpub if they make less than 15,000 barrels and sell more than 50% on site. That means that Magnolia, 21A, Thirsty Bear, Beach Chalet, etc. are microbreweries and brewpubs. - Speakeasy is the only microbrewery in San Francisco that is not also a brewpub. - As I said in my other post, Anchor is too large to be called a microbrewery. - Gordon Biersch is a whole different animal. They used to be a microbrewery/brewpub. However, some time ago Dan and Dean sold the restaurant half of their business and kept the more profitable brewing operations (a friend at Stanford business school told me that they were required by law to do so because their brewing operations grew too large). So there is now a regional brewery in San Jose, owned by Dan and Dean, that distribute their beer. I don't know if Dan and Dean own the brewing operations within each restaurant or if each restaurant owns the brewing. -Nick Link: http://www.beertown.org Mon Jun 30 15:48:27 -0700 2003 97256 0 nja 5 97412 The Assn of Brewers needs to define the various segments of the industry fairly specifically because they compile data by segment. I would say that common (nonstatistical) usage is that a microbrewery is a production brewery, i.e., not a brewpub. Sure, it gets complicated sometimes because a micro might have a pub. While it's true that a brewpub can brew an unlimited quantity of beer, in practice, no brewpub makes more than a few thousand barrels a year. When the AOB compiles data, they break some figures down by brewpub, micro, regional specialty brewer, etc. Everyone understands that the micro category doesn't include brewpubs, and vice versa. Mon Jun 30 20:36:40 -0700 2003 97378 0 Jim Dorsch 5 98213 A final thought, which will probably only been seen by Hot Posters, and even they won't care... (g) When this discussion was going on, I was curious about Gordon Biersh so I sent them an email. I just got their answer, which I'll paraphrase: The Gordon Biersch Brewing Company owns and operates a brewery and bottling facility in San Jose, and sells 100% of its product through distributors; none is sold directly to consumers. The restaurants, owned by Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, produce their own beer according to qualitative standards and production methods established by the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company. Each restaurant sells 100% of the beer they produce on site. So each restaurant is a true brew pub. -Nick Fri Jul 18 15:45:31 -0700 2003 97378 0 nja 6 98214 Oh, we care. Plus, we appreciate obsessive diligence when it comes seeking the truth about food and drink (oh, yea and that other stuff too). Fri Jul 18 16:09:17 -0700 2003 98213 0 Pssst 7 98215 Plus, when someone does a search and this thread turns up, the information will be complete. Thanks! Fri Jul 18 16:14:43 -0700 2003 98214 0 Ruth Lafler 8 98216 and a complete thread warms the heart of this chowhounder! Fri Jul 18 16:21:21 -0700 2003 98215 0 jen maiser 9 98217 (sniff) (sniff) aww, I'm feeling the love. Mon Jul 21 14:23:13 -0700 2003 98216 0 nja 1 97255 "SF's only microbrewery" Doesn't the venerable Anchor Brewing Company count as a microbrewery? I like them as much as Speakeasy. Just curious about your opinion. Bryan Sat Jun 28 07:38:51 -0700 2003 96934 0 Bryan Harrell 2 97368 According to the Association of Brewers, Anchor is a Regional Brewery--they brew more than 15,000 barrels annual ("microbreweries" are under that amount) but less than 2,000,000 barrels. Link: http://www.beertown.org Mon Jun 30 15:13:18 -0700 2003 97255 0 nja 3 97432 I stand corrected, and thanks for seeking out all that detailed information to make your point. But I do wonder about the significance of the distinction. To me, both Anchor Brewing products and Speakeasy products are in the same category -- very good and honest products, and not Bud/Miller/Coors. I do appreciate the fact that Anchor does not advertise -- I suppose that makes them seem smaller than they really are. Interestingly, Mendocino Brewing Company does not seem like a microbrewery to me, but rather a regional brewer. Tue Jul 01 10:13:32 -0700 2003 97368 0 Bryan Harrell 4 97438 Agreed. There's another term used in the industry, Craft Beer, to describe what you are getting at. A long explanation can be found at the link below, but the basic idea is that a Craft Beer is an artisinally made beer, regardless of production volume. Anchor Steam is a generally considered a craft beer. As you might expect, there are endless debates on what makes a "Craft Beer." Interestingly, Fritz Maytag, founder of Anchor, dislikes the term: "'Craft beer' is any malt beverage sold by a crafty person . There is too much gratuitous defining and categorizing going on in the brewing industry for our own good. Let the brewers brew and label and create on their own! When the term "micro" was coined, there were maybe three of us ; I thought the name was great, and still do (but) almost immediately critics and experts were defining what "micro" meant, and to my amusement, the definitions usually excluded us, even when we were really tiny. "Craft" brewer (is) terrible (but) a microbrewery is a relatively small brewery that is dedicated to making really traditional beer and ale with the most modern equipment possible. -Fritz Maytag" http://www.allaboutbeer.com/columns/fred3.html Link: http://www.beertown.org/education/craft_defined.html Tue Jul 01 12:16:51 -0700 2003 97432 0 nja 5 97638 When all is said and done, I usually agree with Fritz Maytag, who is an acquaintance of mine. I have been writing about beer for ten years, for the Celebrator Beer News and other publications, and generally prefer the term craft beer, over microbrew, but really like to just call it beer. I subscribe to the idea that there is no such thing as a bad beer -- just some are better than others, and a few are even way better than others, and you can find all of those at the Toronado in SF. Owner Dave Keene has a great sense for good beer. There are other great beer places in SF, too. We are really lucky here. Thu Jul 03 04:03:55 -0700 2003 97438 0 Bryan Harrell