Cheers for Beer

Some people are quite content to buy their necessities and luxuries, but there is another part of the population that enjoys the process of making things themselves.

By Dianne Boate and Robert Meyer
Published: April, 2006

Some people are quite content to buy their necessities and luxuries, but there is another part of the population that enjoys the process of making things themselves. With Dianne being part of the latter group, it is no wonder she was attracted to find out about how to make beer, remembering that someone had said, If you can make bread, you can make beer. So, we took that a step sideways and made some bread with beer. This is not a new idea.

In the mid ’70’s a man in San Francisco created beer-bread kits to sell. You can do it yourself with just 3 ingredients: biscuit mix, beer and sugar, but if you search online for beer bread you will find some other interesting recipes. We tried two batches made with Gordon Biersch Marzen lager. Delicious! Also, if you look in your cookbooks under beer, you will find quite an array of other beer ingredient recipes, from soups to batters to marinades and stews.

It took a few years of walking and driving by, but at last, Dianne’s curiosity about the intriguing store on the corner of San Francisco’s 17th Ave. and Clement St., propelled her through the front door of Brewcraft.

Everything you need to make beer, wine, cider, mead, vinegar is here. That means 60 barleys and grains, 50 kinds of yeast, bottle caps, brushes, books and buckets. This could startle a novice like me, but not to worry. Kits are available in three price ranges (starting at $25) that contain recipes, ingredients and instructions. What is even better is that, with the purchase of a kit, you receive an invite to attend Mon. evening brewing classes. Beginners are talked through the process, and given written information. Note: We found out that brewing refers to the cooking process. Next comes the fermentation period, the clarification, and finally, the bottling. It takes 30 days to get to the first sip.

The owner of the store, known as Griz, invites students to get their own intuitive feel about making beer, probably not that different from flying a plane by the seat of your pants, and offers valuable tips from his years of experience. His store is a statement, he said, against the encroaching plastic fantastic of the world of super chain stores. He is strong on an individual’s creation of their quality of life, and for him, hand crafting beer is part of that. His philosophy really brings attention to the homebrewer’s passion for making beer. This is the feeling we have experienced so many times in the world of fine, handcrafted wines and spirits.

Mendocino is a hot bed of wineries and we go and discover breweries. The breweries are mostly local community microbreweries. The exception is Mendocino Brewery Co., which makes brands that are shipped out of the area. It is California’s first brewpub, and maker of the popular Red Tail Ale, which can be found all over the Bay Area. More Mendocino breweries can be found online: www.lakemendocino.com/brew.htm