Heretic Brewing - Jamil's Going Pro!

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munche

munche

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I saw this today and thought it might be of interest for us homebrewers:
http://beernews.org/2010/11/heretic-brewing-to-open-in-san-francisco-next-year/

(San Francisco, CA) – Homebrewing celebrity, Jamil Zainasheff, made a big announcement this week.


It came on an episode of Brewing TV, posted online yesterday. Around the 16:20 mark, Zainasheff reveals that he’s starting a new brewery called Heretic Brewing. Here are the scant details thus far:

- Located in East Bay of San Francisco
- 30 barrel brewhouse
- Expected to release first beers in February or March 2011
- Will be packaged in kegs primarily to start with 750s and bombers shortly thereafter
- Should be pouring at Homebrewers Conference in June in San Diego
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I know I'll be pouring some of my beer fund into this! Super cool. :rockin:
 
Fantastic, now I have yet another great reason to enjoy my bi-monthly San Francisco fix!!
 
Jamil has a lot of PR momentum (especially on the BN forum). His recipes are great, and his beer karma is good.

I wish him the best of luck with this venture. Can't wait to see what his first brews are.

Me, I'm guessing a tasty Pale Ale. Dead Guy clone type.
 
Wish him luck, though I think the name is sorta lame. I mean what's so "heretical" about the brewing the BJCP for years and years...? ;)
 
I am also interested to see what brews are released first. I think a pale ale would be a good guess since they are located in Cali and will be distributing in that area initially.
 
bierhaus15 said:
Wish him luck, though I think the name is sorta lame. I mean what's so "heretical" about the brewing the BJCP for years and years...? ;)
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I never get this argument. Brewing beer to enter into competitions isn't limiting, the BJCP categories by definition include all beer (since there is category 23) but the vast majority of commercial beer fits in a category other than 23, the guidelines are very broad. When I judge, about 60 percent of beers score below 35 which is low enough to not place in a competitive competition. Of these, about 95% are scoring that low for reasons other than stylistic accuracy. In other words, people brewing good beer are taking home hardware and people brewing okay beer aren't. "Brewing to style" is a phrase the latter group use as an excuse.

As an example of Jamil's creativity, he has several second round NHC medals in scottish and scotch ales, a category where almost everything he does is "wrong". His schwartzbier is nothing like any german example and he won with that too. Further proof both that he is not some historical style nazi and that if you manage to make an excellent beer you'll find that it will score high even if it is on the margins of the style.
 
Congrats! He has been a huge influence on homebrewers (myself included) and I'm sure he'll find success! Can't wait to try the brew.
 
Always nice to see when one of us homebrewers goes pro...keeps the dream alive that we might get to leave our lame ass jobs someday and spend our days doing the back breaking labor of love called brewing...and if successful in the venture can return to the homebrewers by letting them come do the heavy lifting, I mean apprenticeship thing.
 
while i'm happy for him, am i the only person who could care less about the infamous jamil? everyone puts him up on a pedestal. is it really deserved? all hype... i bet his beers are average at best:cross:

edit: i'm a hater!!
 
jessup said:
edit: i'm a hater!!
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Yep, hater. He has won a lot of brewing awards. That means he does make good beer.

He has written books on brewing. His brewing classic styles (IMO) is the best recipe book there is.

He tirelessly promotes homebrewing. Mostly through the Brewing Network, but you can get his podcasts through Itunes too.

I'd say that a lot of brewers do put him on a pedestal, and that kind of worship I find a bit weird. But he is on hell of a knowledgeable brewer and for that alone I admire him.
 
remilard said:
I never get this argument. Brewing beer to enter into competitions isn't limiting, the BJCP categories by definition include all beer (since there is category 23) but the vast majority of commercial beer fits in a category other than 23, the guidelines are very broad. When I judge, about 60 percent of beers score below 35 which is low enough to not place in a competitive competition. Of these, about 95% are scoring that low for reasons other than stylistic accuracy. In other words, people brewing good beer are taking home hardware and people brewing okay beer aren't. "Brewing to style" is a phrase the latter group use as an excuse.

As an example of Jamil's creativity, he has several second round NHC medals in scottish and scotch ales, a category where almost everything he does is "wrong". His schwartzbier is nothing like any german example and he won with that too. Further proof both that he is not some historical style nazi and that if you manage to make an excellent beer you'll find that it will score high even if it is on the margins of the style.
Click to expand...

Yeah not only that but with his own brewery who knows what he'll do. He might surprise us when not brewing for a competition. He can do whatever he wants as long as it sells.
 
Just think, we will all be able to taste the real "Brewing Classic Styles" beers now, not just our bastardized versions of them.
 
passedpawn said:
Yep, hater. He has won a lot of brewing awards. That means he does make good beer.

He has written books on brewing. His brewing classic styles (IMO) is the best recipe book there is.

He tirelessly promotes homebrewing. Mostly through the Brewing Network, but you can get his podcasts through Itunes too.

I'd say that a lot of brewers do put him on a pedestal, and that kind of worship I find a bit weird. But he is on hell of a knowledgeable brewer and for that alone I admire him.
Click to expand...

He is also an extremely nice guy. Before I met him I kinda wondered if he would be a dick (I've actually never met a real dick homebrewer, but as with all groups of people social skills vary), but he is one of the nicest people I have met. My wife and I met him briefly once and the next time we saw him, he approached us and greeted us by name. Every time I have been in the same room as him he spends 100% of his time talking to fans and people with questions rather than just hanging out with his old friends (which, if I am ever a minor homebrew celebrity, I would be tempted to do).

So, I dunno, he is a great brewer and and very generous in terms of helping other people out. My guess is that even his money making projects (books, iphone app) are a labor of love and he would make far more just working more at his day job (well, I guess now his previous day job).

Anywho, I hope South Bay Drugs carries Heretic beers otherwise I'll need a Bay Area trading partner in a few months.
 
I wonder where in the east bay he's setting up shop? I'm curious if he is setting up a contract or shared situation with an established entity? Maybe someone like Ale Industries, who are right next door to More Beer.
 
Shooter said:
I wonder where in the east bay he's setting up shop? I'm curious if he is setting up a contract or shared situation with an established entity? Maybe someone like Ale Industries, who are right next door to More Beer.
Click to expand...

Doubt it, no way their system (based on the pictures on their website) is 30 barrels.
 
No man deserves a pedestal, but he certainly has put in a ton of effort in getting out the best possible information to homebrewers for many years and for that he has rightfully earned respect. I'm sure he doesn't do it altruistically since there is no such thing, just the invisible hands benefit to many brewers as he seeks his path.

In many ways it is the same as folks on this board who have posted hundreds of responses while putting in a good effort to getting the best information possible...I'm sure there are tons of folks here who would do everything JZ does as well, they just can't afford the lifestyle, so in the meantime they keep chugging along helping each other out by answering "is this infected" to a new brewer for the 500th time.
 
Way to go Jamil!. Even if I didn't like his beers (never had one). I give him props. Instead of talking about opening some type of brew business, he's actually doing it. I wish him success and I'll be sure to buy his brew if I ever come across it.
 
Shooter said:
I wonder where in the east bay he's setting up shop? I'm curious if he is setting up a contract or shared situation with an established entity? Maybe someone like Ale Industries, who are right next door to More Beer.
Click to expand...

Someone on beernews.org made a blog comment wondering if maybe he's doing something like an alternating proprietorship with E.J. Phair. They just opened a new brewery in Pittsburg, CA and the new Heretic Brewing Twitter account lists that same city... I don't know how big the system is there though.

Also, if you're a regular listener to The Brewing Network you'll know that Chad/Shat recently became assistant brewer there in the last few months... and JZ has always had really high praise for his beer.

I guess we'll find all the details eventually though.
 
Would also explain why JZ hasn't brewed a Can You Brew It clone in quite some some.
 
remilard said:
Doubt it, no way their system (based on the pictures on their website) is 30 barrels.
Click to expand...

No, I've stood right next to it during one of their open houses and it's definitely not 30 barrels. Good call!

SPLASTiK said:
Someone on beernews.org made a blog comment wondering if maybe he's doing something like an alternating proprietorship with E.J. Phair. They just opened a new brewery in Pittsburg, CA and the new Heretic Brewing Twitter account lists that same city... I don't know how big the system is there though.

Also, if you're a regular listener to The Brewing Network you'll know that Chad/Shat recently became assistant brewer there in the last few months... and JZ has always had really high praise for his beer.

I guess we'll find all the details eventually though.
Click to expand...

You might be on to something here. I think E.J. Phair might be the place.
 
I'd buy his beer. And I second the opinion that he is a nice guy. I know a couple of people personally, who have emailed him questions and gotten very prompt and polite responses.

Sadly, I'll never have the chance to taste his beer since his brewery is so small and I live way over here. If he ever gets into packaging bottles, maybe I could do a swap with someone?? You KNOW he's going to have that Hazelnut beer for sale!
 
His interview with the BN last night was interesting. Looks like possibly a sour for one of their first batches... they're looking to do some interesting things from the start and not just be another Pale Ale, IPA, standard style line-up brewery. Kegs first then maybe 750ml, eventually with the aim to raise capital and build their own brewery.

Jamil even said he hates brewing to style! So much for the style Nazi argument :D
 
jessup said:
while i'm happy for him, am i the only person who could care less about the infamous jamil? everyone puts him up on a pedestal. is it really deserved? all hype... i bet his beers are average at best:cross:

edit: i'm a hater!!
Click to expand...

I read the books and think Jamil puts out some of the best information available. I couldn't make it to an event at my LHBS he attended, and I was pissed about that. I think he's nothing but great things for our hobby.

BUT, I find the podcast annoying. The other guy doesn't seem to know much at all, and I understand that they are putting out a relaxed-style show, but it's just annoying to me. Sorry :(
 
Brewdouche-RuBrew said:
So is any of this confirmed yet?
Click to expand...


What would you like confirmed?

It will be an alternating proprietorship with EJ Phair.

Jamil will be the "Chief Heretic"/Brew master, I will be his head brewer.

We do not yet know what the first beer will be.

No date can be pinned down yet on when we will be up and brewing, though February/early March seems realistic at this point.

We are slated to be serving at the NHC Pro Night, and almost certainly the BN Anniversary Party.

Don't expect any sort of standard BJCP styles out of us, at least not right at the beginning.

I will say that sours/brett beers are a near certainty out of us eventually.
 
passedpawn said:
Yep, hater. He has won a lot of brewing awards. That means he does make good beer.

He has written books on brewing. His brewing classic styles (IMO) is the best recipe book there is.

He tirelessly promotes homebrewing. Mostly through the Brewing Network, but you can get his podcasts through Itunes too.

I'd say that a lot of brewers do put him on a pedestal, and that kind of worship I find a bit weird. But he is on hell of a knowledgeable brewer and for that alone I admire him.
Click to expand...

I too have the utmost respect and sincerest admiration for what he has accomplished and wish him only thebest on his newest venture but,

I do so tire of all the "Jamil says...."
 

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