Perhaps you already saw this over at Beer Therapy, but Firestone Walker Brewing’s award-winning brewmaster, Matt Brynildson, was recently invited to brew at Marston’s Brewery in the United Kingdom. Brewers selected from Japan, Australia and Denmark will join Brynildson to bring their talents and recipes to the U.K. for the JD Wetherspoon International Beer Festival.

What you probably didn’t know is that I’m joining Matt on his trip to Marston’s. We leave this afternoon and will arrive in London Monday morning way freaking early. Assuming I can find a WiFi signal, look for posts from across the pond later this week.

Matt at the Boonville Beer Festival with Shaun O’Sullivan from 21st Amendment.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association (a.k.a. the NBWA) held their annual convention in San Francisco from September 14-17. The NBWA is a trade organization for beer wholesalers and distributors. After Prohibition, the three-tier system was created and has been an integral part of the beer industry ever since. I don’t normally attend the convention, but since it was in my back yard, I decided I couldn’t miss it this year. I’m glad I went. There were a lot of people there I knew and there was a lot of buzz in the air over some big things happening in the industry.

Some NBWA luminaries at the NBWA welcome reception. From left, Jamie Jurado (with Gambrinus), Lucy Saunders (the Beer Cook), Charlie Papazian (President of the Brewers Association), Kim Jordan (from New Belgium Brewing) and Tom Dalldorf (from the Celebrator Beer News).

For more photos from the first day of this year’s NBWA Convention in San Francisco, visit the photo gallery.
 

If you’re planning on being at the Great American Beer Festival this year, particularly at the Thursday or Friday night sessions — and think you know beer trivia? — then have I got a game for you. The beery punster, Tom Dalldorf, he of the Celebrator Beer News, will be hosting a beer trivia game show — Win Beer Stein’s Money — at GABF this year. If you’ll be there, you can sign up now to be a contestant online.

Two weekends ago, the San Francisco Brewers Guild held their annual beer festival on board the Jeremiah O’Brien, a World War II era Liberty Ship anchored at Fisherman’s Wharf. I missed Saturday but stopped by on Sunday to enjoy some beer brewed in San Francisco.

The beer flag was flying, aboard …

The Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien.

For more photos from this year’s Brews By the Bay Festival, visit the photo gallery.
 

I got this joke this morning from Lisa Morrison, the Beer Goddess, so if you think the joke is sexist, take it up with her. I’m not taking the heat for this one. But it is funny.

It was a hot day in Minnesota. Helga hung out the wash to dry, put a roast in the oven and then went downtown to pick up some dry cleaning. “Gootness, it’s hotter Dan hell today,” she mused to herself as she walked down Main Street. She passed a tavern and thought, ‘Vy nodt?’ So she walked in and took a seat at the bar.

The bartender walked up and asked her what she would like to drink.

“Ya know, its zo hot, I tink I’ll have myself a cold beer,” Helga said.

“Anheuser Busch?” the bartender asked.

Helga blushed and replied, “Vell fine, tanks, und how’s yur viener?”

Thanks Lisa, for the morning chuckle.

Yes, I mean that literally. While I would argue that Ray Daniels — author, publisher, real ale festival organizer and Cicerone founder — has plenty of heart, I only recently learned that he underwent open heart surgery. The surgery took place on August 11 and by all accounts was very successful. In typical writer’s fashion, Ray has started a blog about his recent experiences — A Healing Heart — where you can read all about it.

I admit to a few panicked moments earlier today when I realized it hadn’t been updated since August 12, but I made a call and have been assured he’s not only doing great, but is back at work already. I tried to reach Ray, but was only able to leave a message. If you know Ray Daniels, let him now you’re thinking of him and let’s all wish him a speedy recovery.
 

According to a story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, a 28-year old graduate student (in chemistry, no less) was arrested last Friday for using dried poppy pods in his homebrew. Police believe that the student extracted opium from the poppy pods, converting it to morphine before using it the beer. That type of poppy — not the California poppy, California’s state flower — is a Schedule II drug, classified as a narcotic, by the federal government.

According to the student, Chad Renzelman, he bought the poppies on eBay (and wasn’t growing any) and used them last month to brew a beer with a group of friends that he homebrews in weekly in a co-op. Though all of the poppy beer is gone, it reportedly was slightly stronger but had nothing beyond a little “kick to it.” In addition to the Poppy Ale, the co-op has also recently made a chocolate mint stout and a mango blonde ale, so flavored beers are nothing new.

Renzelman also says in the article that “lab investigators from the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, chemists from the state Department of Justice and officials from county Environmental Health were called to survey [his] backyard because police suspected he was dumping hazardous poppy waste there.” Apparently some were even wearing those scary-looking hazmat suits to sift through his compost heap looking for his spent grain.

More from the article:

Police reported finding a pressurized canister of homemade beer laced with morphine in Renzelman’s garage, as well as lab equipment contaminated with opium alkaloids and other hazardous chemicals. Police suspected the poppies were used in the beer production, but that’s still illegal, Capt. Steve Clark said.

If convicted of the crime he was arrested for — suspicion of possessing and manufacturing a controlled substance — Renzelman could be sentenced to seven years in prison.

On one hand, it seems awfully silly that homebrewing with poppies caused such a scene, but I guess that’s the nature of our no tolerance drug policy. Where, by the way, do all the poppy seeds that end up on bread come from? But on the other hand, it seems pretty unlikely that a graduate student in chemistry wouldn’t know he shouldn’t be messing around with opiate poppies.

Trying to catch up from the NBWA Convention earlier this week in San Francisco and shooting a TV show yesterday (more about that later), I’m a little late with this news. Ray Merkler at Bathtub Brewery has announced that the next session’s theme will be “Beer & Memories.” I guess I forgot. He elaborates.

Is there a beer that reminds you of a specific memory?

If you’re thinking, “Huh?” then you might want to craft your response along the lines of “Whenever I drink [insert brew here] it reminds me of that day …” Or perhaps it’s the reverse. Oooooh.

Hmm, that could open a can of worms … or even a can of beer. Join us Friday, October 3, all over the beer blogosphere to see what everybody remembers.

Ah, memories. Persistent little buggers.

I saw today that MillerCoors has shut down the Brew Blog, which Miller launched roughly two years ago.

The Brew Blog was written by Jim Arndorfer, who had previously written for Ad Age. I just met him in person for the first time at the NBWA Convention earlier this week in San Francisco, but we’ve corresponded routinely. I wish him well in whatever he does next. Here’s what he has to say in the last post: You’re reading the last post from brewblog.com. If you’ve come to rely on this blog to contribute to your perspective on the beer industry, rest assured that MillerCoors will still do that. But we are a new company, and it’s time to move on to new and different ways of communicating. When Miller Brewing Company launched its preview edition of Brew Magazine in the fall of 2004, it said, “Our company is changing fast, and we wanted to create a magazine that captures the spirit of the new Miller, the spirit of the ‘Able Challenger.’” When the franchise expanded to a Web site and daily blog in June 2006, the opening post said the blog would give the brewer the ability “to contribute to the conversation about the American beer business every day.”

And it’s fair to say Brew met these objectives. The blog broke industry news and highlighted industry trends, while the magazine covered the big changes that transformed the U.S. beer business. One of the most dramatic changes was, of course, the creation of MillerCoors.

As the strongest No. 2 the beer industry has seen in decades, the new MillerCoors needs to communicate differently than the old Miller did. And so it’s creating a variety of new communications tools to establish a new voice and perspective with its employees, distributors and retailers, and to help it become America’s best beer company. You’ll soon hear more about these initiatives.

Good luck with your next endeavor, Jim.

Today is Paddy Giffen’s 58th birthday. Paddy was the original brewer at Marin Brewing, did some distilling and was briefly with Bear Republic. I saw him a few months ago at the Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastopol, and these days he’s brewing at Lagunitas. Join me in wishing Paddy a very happy birthday.

Paddy and Britt Antrim, himself formerly with Anderson Valley, Kona and Great Divide, but now with Celestial Seasonings, at the Craft Brewers Conference in Austin, Texas.

Today is fellow beer writer and blogger extraordinaire Stan Hieronymus’ 60th birthday. Stan recently penned Brew Like a Monk, a terrific book on abbey and trappist styles, and earlier, along with his wife, wrote several books on beer traveling along with food and beer.

He usually writes the Real Beer blog, Beer Therapy, too, but while he’s on a fifteen month trip around-the-world with his family, I’m filling in there. To follow along with his current exploits, check in at The Slow Travelers.

He’s still occasionally writing at Appellation Beer, Beer Travelers, and Postcards from a Barstool, and Brew Like a Monk, the blog. Join me in wishing Stan a very happy birthday.

Fearing I would run a two-year old photo of him taken at the Seattle CBC, he sent me this recent one. Here’s Stan at Cantillon in Brussels on Monday. Thanks, Stan, I like this one, too.

Today is the birthday Dan Gordon, co-founder of Gordon Biersch Brewing, which began in San Jose, California. Dan turns 48 today. Join me in wishing him a very happy birthday.

At the Celebrator tasting us his newest beer, an unfiltered Dunkelweizen.

Dan at yet another private Dunelweizen tasting.

I love this early promotional shot they use on Gordon Biersch’s website.