Jesse Friedman @ Almanac Beer Co.

[joe1]

I'm drinking this right now and its like kind of a drain pour so can you like refund me my money and send me another one? ; )

 

[beerandnosh1]

If you are ever down here and in the San Fernando Valley for any reason, Brent's is the ****. Surly waitresses and everything.

I know brent's (and their brisket cabbage soup) very very well, though i usually end up going to the new-not-as-good Westlake location

 

[beerandnosh1]

I'm drinking this right now and its like kind of a drain pour so can you like refund me my money and send me another one? ; )

Has it gotten infected with lacto and brett?

 

[beerandnosh1]

Great, looking forward to hopefully seeing some experimentation with that in the future.

Oooh also,I saw on your blog that u made a trip to Belgium recently....What was it like going to visit Cantillon, 3F, etc. as a brewmaster who specializes styles that they have heavily influenced? Was the trip mostly business oriented, or did you just pop by those breweries to enjoy yourselves? Had Jean or Armand heard or tried any of your beers, and if so, did they give you any feedback/comments? Or is that totally not a thing/a faux pas?

I've been to Belgium twice - once on my honeymoon, and again for tour de geuze last year.

Pics:

3F: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfriedman/sets/72157624738890988/

La Chouffe: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfriedman/sets/72157624738909680/

Orval: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfriedman/sets/72157624738913146/

Cantillon: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfriedman/sets/72157624614504043/

and then my more recent trip:

3F, Boon, De Ranke, Westy, Rodenbach, (side trip to amsterdam) Cantillon.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfriedman/sets/72157634054503921/

For the second trip, i was picked up at the airport by Pete (wicked) Slosberg, and taken straight to 3F to help label Armand 4 bottles. With gluesticks. So if you have one and your label fell off... sorry.

Belgium is spectaular: the classics are amazing, and there are endless number of great local brews you've never heard of. As a rule, most things are hopper than you expect.

I gave Armand a bottle of my beer, but asked him not to open it until I left. (I'm fairly certain he would hate it.) Rodenbach's unblended foderbier is the best beer in the world - and they don't sell it.

I shared a bottle of fresh denoggenizer that i brought rover with Armand too - he said the same thing all Belgians do: "This is undrinkably hoppy. Can I please have some more?"

I also attended the zythos fest, which is the closest thing belgium has to gabf. I'm in awe of Belgian brewers and the classics, but I immediately missed American beers over there too. There just isn't the breadth, the experimentation, or the delicious IPAs that we've come to expect as normal for American craft. In fact, there is just a nascent craft movement growing over there. And I'm very very excited to see what the Belgian who are paying attention to American beer are going to do next.

 

[joe1]

Has it gotten infected with lacto and brett?

yup.. time to brew a fresh batch!

 

[beerandnosh1]

yup.. time to brew a fresh batch!

I have two thousand pounds of peaches being delivered tomorrow.

 

[jmgrub]

I know brent's (and their brisket cabbage soup) very very well, though i usually end up going to the new-not-as-good Westlake location

Truth.

 

[buzzword]

can I come help with literally anything sometime?

 

[shelf_turd_ferguson]

We've discontinued the four-packs completely now and all of our fresh beers - Gose, IPA and a new about to be released Dy Hopped Saison come in 22oz bottles and draft that hit a better price point than the four packs ever could. I'm of course aware of the "non-sours from Almanac suck" perception of our earlier attempts (I have internet at the brewery), but first impressions are tough to shake. I'm incredibly proud think our fresh beer lineup right now and would encourage you (and anyone else reading this) to give them another shot..

So the three or four that were in four packs are no longer being brewed?
buzzword might want you to get me some soon to be .rar Almanac

Your Belgium pictures are great and took me back there quickly. What camera did you use?

I had a bottle of Golden Gate Gose with TheOrtiz01 and I thought it was perhaps not oaky, but woody.
Not to bastardize, but a half-horrible analogy would be AVBC's KYH Gose aged on wood chips. Was this something you noticed? If so, was it intentional?

 

[beerandnosh1]

can I come help with literally anything sometime?

Maybe.

 

[beerandnosh1]

So the three or four that were in four packs are no longer being brewed?
buzzword might want you to get me some soon to be .rar Almanac

Your Belgium pictures are great and took me back there quickly. What camera did you use?

I had a bottle of Golden Gate Gose with TheOrtiz01 and I thought it was perhaps not oaky, but woody.
Not to bastardize, but a half-horrible analogy would be AVBC's KYH Gose aged on wood chips. Was this something you noticed? If so, was it intentional?

Re: Four packs - correct. We've ended the products on draft as well - onwards and upwards. The Gose and Almanac IPA (Self serving plug: first bottling early next month, 7.5% ABV, West Coast IPA with a touch of german roast malts for color. Dry hopped with Simcoe, Mosaic & Eldorado. Artwork by awesome local artist Erik Marinovich. Dated bottles.) are now out in 22oz year round.

The first sets are all on a Nikon D90, the big second set is on an Olympus OM-D EM-5.

As for the Gose - unsure where that would be coming from. The beer is 100% stainless, and contains no oak or wood. It does contain leaves from the Lemon Verbena.

 

[drgarage1]

Re: Four packs - correct. We've ended the products on draft as well - onwards and upwards. The Gose and Almanac IPA (Self serving plug: first bottling early next month, 7.5% ABV, West Coast IPA with a touch of german roast malts for color. Dry hopped with Simcoe, Mosaic & Eldorado. Artwork by awesome local artist Erik Marinovich. Dated bottles.) are now out in 22oz year round.

The first sets are all on a Nikon D90, the big second set is on an Olympus OM-D EM-5.

As for the Gose - unsure where that would be coming from. The beer is 100% stainless, and contains no oak or wood. It does contain leaves from the Lemon Verbena.

So glad your IPA will be dated -- will it be bottling date or a best by (hoping for the former)? Better than no date either way.

 

[beerandnosh1]

So glad your IPA will be dated -- will it be bottling date or a best by (hoping for the former). Better than no date either way.

Bottling Date

 

[drgarage1]

Bottling Date

Yes! There is no better feature in an IPA. Nothing more dangerous than buying a great IPA with no bottling date. The inconsistency of bottling dates on Lagunitas Sucks makes me crazy.

 

[buzzword]

Yes! Drinking 2x 32oz. Lagunitas Sucks makes me crazy.

FTFM

 

[drgarage1]

FTFM

Edward Sucks-Hands is a game where everyone ends up worse off, including initially amused observers.

 

[PeelBacks]

Process for selecting farmers/growers to partner up with?

Start with farms I'm already buying from at the Ferry Building usually, and then pick up a conversation. Nearly every farmer we've talked to has been super stoked to work with us. Most of their fruit disappears into restaurants they'll never eat at. So we make a point to give farmer's cases of beer they helped us to create - it's one of my favorite parts of working with them. We also work to find a price that is genuinely sustainable for the farms too. The life of a farmer is incredibly difficult - especially this year with the ongoing drought - so we think of it as economic sustainability to help ensure the farm is there next year.

The more beer we make, the more farmers we meet. Family famers turn out to be a pretty small and close knit community who all know and help each other, since it's them versus the big guys. (Sound familiar?) Then it really just boils down to logistics - can they deliver in big amounts, can they help break down the fruit if it needs processing, etc.

- Jesse

Can't believe you guys get the fruit for the beers from the Ferry Building farmers!! That and everything you do for them is awesome imo. I know it'd be a long shot (and the space may not even work) but the tasting room in the ferry building would be incredible.

what an awesome AMA. thank you Jesse for chatting with us and making great beer. so great to have a new barrel aged beer from you guys every month.

also shoutout to Damian for the awesome label designs!

Can't wait for the IPA!

 

[Stubs]

How did we end up with so much Almanac in Co?

Was not mad, just wondering how/why?

 

[TheMitz]

Thanks for coming to CO! I had a friend give me your sour porter last year and it was a very interesting beer, I would love to see it make the trip out here.

Did you find your own cultures and lock them in before you started your brewery, or have they also evolved as you grew?

 

[bsmithinc]

Jesse - You mentioned that neither your or Damian had no working in brewery's previously before starting Almanac. I know you said it took essentially trial and error to improve your technique - but practically speaking, were their brewers that came in and helped you along the way? Any other challenges?

 

[beerandnosh1]

Can't believe you guys get the fruit for the beers from the Ferry Building farmers!! That and everything you do for them is awesome imo. I know it'd be a long shot (and the space may not even work) but the tasting room in the ferry building would be incredible.

what an awesome AMA. thank you Jesse for chatting with us and making great beer. so great to have a new barrel aged beer from you guys every month.

also shoutout to Damian for the awesome label designs!

Can't wait for the IPA!

cheers!

 

[beerandnosh1]

How did we end up with so much Almanac in Co?

Was not mad, just wondering how/why?

I don't think we sent THAT much (we plan on sending more and growing the market). Our feeling is that when we enter a new state, we have to REALLY enter it. We're no going to launch and just send the year round fresh beers - we want to send the beers people are excited about. So we have a small hoard of bottles for just this occasion.

Really credit goes to our awesome local distributor Crooked Stave, who have been great to work with, and made sure the beer is going into the right spots.

 

[beerandnosh1]

Thanks for coming to CO! I had a friend give me your sour porter last year and it was a very interesting beer, I would love to see it make the trip out here.

Did you find your own cultures and lock them in before you started your brewery, or have they also evolved as you grew?

We started growing the cultures once we started the brewery. We actually through a party, brought all of our favorite sour beers together, drank them, and collected the dregs. I grew up the culture for a few generations, then turned it over to Gigayeast. They're a new yeast lab / source in Belmont CA. Jim at Giga then took this bug mix apart, isolated the strongest strains, grows them up in the correct proportions for the beer we want, and creates fresh pitches of sour bugs.

If you have any interest in the bug mix, it's sitting in the bottom of every sour bottle.

 

[drgarage1]

We started growing the cultures once we started the brewery. We actually through a party, brought all of our favorite sour beers together, drank them, and collected the dregs. I grew up the culture for a few generations, then turned it over to Gigayeast. They're a new yeast lab / source in Belmont CA. Jim at Giga then took this bug mix apart, isolated the strongest strains, grows them up in the correct proportions for the beer we want, and creates fresh pitches of sour bugs.

If you have any interest in the bug mix, it's sitting in the bottom of every sour bottle.

I've actually got a really weird and interesting wild brett strain that's lodged in my home-brew system that I'd love to be able to keep viable -- is it possible to just drop it off with Jim and see what he finds? I really don't understand how yeast labs get their source strains, quite obviously.

 

[beerandnosh1]

Jesse - You mentioned that neither your or Damian had no working in brewery's previously before starting Almanac. I know you said it took essentially trial and error to improve your technique - but practically speaking, were their brewers that came in and helped you along the way? Any other challenges?

There is no question that Almanac wouldn't be where it is now without help from the local beer community. Off the top of my head, we owe debts of technical and best practices to: Steve Altamari of Highwater, EVERYONE at Drakes, Dave Mclean at Magnolia, Peter and Greg at Hermitage and Steve Donohue at SCVB. Even Vinnie has let me ping him with questions from time to time. I try to remember how much i've relied on these awesome people when new brewers reach out and ask for help and offer the same level of support I've always been extended. There aren't many industries where you can reach out and essentially say "i'm starting a competing business, can you help answer a few questions?" and the answer is always yes.

Many of our other challenges are more general small business questions than beer ones. Building a brewery is mostly paperwork and cleaning with just a little brewing on the side.

 

[beerandnosh1]

I've actually got a really weird and interesting wild brett strain that's lodged in my home-brew system that I'd love to be able to keep viable -- is it possible to just drop it off with Jim and see what he finds? I really don't understand how yeast labs get their source strains, quite obviously.

I'd encourage you to reach out and ask! Jim is a very curious and engaged scientist, and loves new challenges. Learn more about him here: http://testtube.com/brewage/yeast-cultivation

They are steadily branching into home-brew yeast pitches too. Great stuff.

 

[drgarage1]

I'd encourage you to reach out and ask! Jim is a very curious and engaged scientist, and loves new challenges. Learn more about him here: http://testtube.com/brewage/yeast-cultivation

They are steadily branching into home-brew yeast pitches too. Great stuff.

Thanks, I'll do that! I really don't want to lose this strain.

 

[TheMitz]

We started growing the cultures once we started the brewery. We actually through a party, brought all of our favorite sour beers together, drank them, and collected the dregs. I grew up the culture for a few generations, then turned it over to Gigayeast. They're a new yeast lab / source in Belmont CA. Jim at Giga then took this bug mix apart, isolated the strongest strains, grows them up in the correct proportions for the beer we want, and creates fresh pitches of sour bugs.

If you have any interest in the bug mix, it's sitting in the bottom of every sour bottle.

Thanks for the info! I enjoyed your Gose and might open my Dogpatch Strawberry tonight. Keep up the good work!

 

[bsmithinc]

There is no question that Almanac wouldn't be where it is now without help from the local beer community. Off the top of my head, we owe debts of technical and best practices to: Steve Altamari of Highwater, EVERYONE at Drakes, Dave Mclean at Magnolia, Peter and Greg at Hermitage and Steve Donohue at SCVB. Even Vinnie has let me ping him with questions from time to time. I try to remember how much i've relied on these awesome people when new brewers reach out and ask for help and offer the same level of support I've always been extended. There aren't many industries where you can reach out and essentially say "i'm starting a competing business, can you help answer a few questions?" and the answer is always yes.

Many of our other challenges are more general small business questions than beer ones. Building a brewery is mostly paperwork and cleaning with just a little brewing on the side.

So so cool, thanks Jesse. The Beer Talks you hosted for SF Beer Week were one of my favorite events. Plans for another?

 

[CornAndBeer]

Loving your beers out here in Omaha