Before Prohibition single-handedly decimated the brewing industry in America, the majority of beer that would find its way into a man's belly was brewed locally. It's truly exciting to be living in a time when the momentum seems to be shifting back to the side of smaller, home-grown operations that can serve their local markets, and Golden Road Brewing is wasting no time quenching us Angelinos' thirst for craft beer.

It's official and announced by Boston Beer Company that their subsidiary "Alchemy & Science" has bought Angel City as it's first brewery. A&S is run by Alan Newman who helped found Magic Hat out of Vermont. (Magic Hat was sold last year to North American Breweries which owns Pyramid, Genesee, Labatts, etc) Michael Bowe, Angel City founder and a Falcon, is staying on for two years. Congrats to Michael for successfully establishing his brand and attracting national attention to brewing in Los Angeles.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1116_051116_brewery.html

Thought this was very interesting... makes me want to work out a spicy chica recipe.

Great Midwestern Beer Run

For those of you who don't know, erstwhile Falcon and brewer of all things "MEGA", Jonny Lieberman, is a Senior Editor at Motor Trend. Basically, he gets handed lots of cars, free gas and an excuse to swear and write funny things about motors in print.

Was out with Marlen on other errands this morning and she spotted the brewery sign on the side of the big blue building and told me, "turn around!" We did and then I followed my nose. They were brewing. We didn't try to get a tour, but probably could have talked our way in if we had wanted. But the taproom is open as well, two buildings to the south. So what is it? Golden Road Brewing in Glendale is open now. We went into the taproom for a quick pint. Today they had four of their own beers up on tap. I had the Point the Way IPA and Marlen had the Schwartz Stout(served on a nitro tap too).

The big number arrived by voice mail Monday. Depressing. Bewildering. Large.

I put out a plea for the number of another plumber on the yahoo email group. The first response was back-channel from a DIY (do-it-yourself) Falcon who ended up changing the course of the brewery construction.

The none-too-delicate suggestion was that I stop typing so much and pick up a wrench.

If some of you are hoping this means I won't continue to prattle on endlessly about every valve and coupling, guess again. The total blog reads may suffer, but not more than you, dear reader.

No word from the plumber. The dogs have stayed in the yard. I have to admit, life would be simpler with propane.

It's been a busy week, but not for the brewery. My plan to let the plumber take some time evaluating the BTUs has worked splendidly. Not a peep.

I have had time to ponder the advantages of propane. I had the feeling some brewers I communicated with were rooting for propane, kind of like someone might root for a sports team. Looking back, I can certainly see advantages.

Happy Prohibition repeal today!

Today marks the anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution thanks to the votes in Pennsylvania, Ohio and (oddly enough) Utah. Federal Prohibition officially ended on December 15th, 1933, but the important day is December 5th 1933 as the day it all officially went down.

Ingredients:

Walnuts or Pecans (I use large bag of pecans at Costco: ¾ of the bag makes 3 batches)
4 – 6 Large Hershey Bars or any kind of chocolate (4 bars makes 3 or 4 batches)
2 cubes of butter (½ lb)
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Water (Sometimes I substitute “Beanie's Big Ass Porter” for the water)

Items you'll need:
Non-stick sauce pan (cleans up easier)
Wooden Spoon
Parchment paper
Cookie Sheet (9” x 13”)
Chopper or food processor
Container for the nut/chocolate mixture
Butter knife

INSTRUCTIONS:

Dearest Falcons!
I just wanted to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to bring a toy to our 3rd Annual Spark of Love Toy Drive. We collected 3 big boxes and 3 giant Hefty bags full of toys for the children. We delivered them to the Fire Department on Fallbrook. They were truly astounded to see how many toys we were unloading from the car. They asked us to thank all of you for your generosity.

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Milestone passed! The first purchase! Two of these babies:

http://www.instawares.com/thunder-group-natural-gas.thu-irbr002cn.0.7.htm

Thanks again to Rich for finding THE cheapest gas burner on the internet.

The plumber came this week to look at the brewery site. It sounds like his first brewery.