Is this a sign of maturity? At least a bit of what’s new these days just might be old, meaning “retro beers” don’t have a monopoly on nostalgia.
First, Bill Brand reports that New Albion Ale will be back for SF Beer Week. He’s got the details in his pdf newsletter, but check his blog for updates. Basically, Don Barkley — who worked with Jack McAuliffe at New Albion — pulled out an old ledger McAuliffe started and found a recipe.
Barkley brewed the “new” New Albion Ale at Napa Smith, the winery-brewery he recently went to work for after retiring form Mendocino Brewing.
You can see photos of a much younger Barkley in “MICROBREWERS: 1981 – 1996: A Photo History” (this link goes to a promo at YouTube). The self-published book contains hundreds of photographs of microbrewery pioneers along with commentary. It costs $64.95 (details).
What I’m really looking forward to is Jay Sheveck’s “Beer Pioneers,” a documentary he hopes to have ready in 2010. He’s been working on this for more than 10 years, and is still collecting interviews. He posted a teaser at Facebook that’s certainly worth your time. (Please read the text here as well.)
He’s even got footage of the elusive Mr. McAuliffe.