Pacific Brew News

I’m a big fan of folk and bluegrass music, along with the old outlaw country and rock musicians like Waylon Jennings. It should come as no surprise then that I was among the first in my area to see Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges in the theater when it came out last week – an amazing flick if you’re into that sorta thing.

In the movie there’s a pretty memorable scene where the old-school rocker walks onto the parking lot of a modern day country star – think… who the hell is a popular country dude these days? Think of him – or her. Anyway, old-school is in the stadium parking lot, walking between the big and shiny buses that belong to the super star after leaving his crappy old truck that he’s had for at least twenty years (is Garth Brooks still a top-notch country singer?). Old-school sleeps in crappy hotels, plays in small-town bars, eats cheap food and is a purist – he is country through in through. The super star? Well, he acts like a super star I suppose. He certainly has the talent, but the character seems shallow when contrasted to the complexity that is Old-School.

I can’t get this parking lot scene out of my head, in part because the song that plays in the background is a Waylon Jennings tune called Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? If you’re not familiar with the song, check out the lyrics below:

It’s the same old tune, fiddle and guitar
Where do we take it from here
Rhinestone suits and new shiny cars
We’ve been the same way for years
We need to change

Somebody told me when I got to Nashville
Son you finally got it made
Old Hank made it here, we’re all sure that you will
But I don’t think Hank done it this way
I don’t think Hank done it this way

Ten years down the road, making one night stands
Speeding my young life away
Tell me one more time just so I understand
Are you sure Hank done it this way
Did Ol’ Hank really do it this way?

I’ve seen the world with a five piece band
Looking at the back side of me
Singing my songs and one of his now and then
But I don’t think Hank done ‘em this a’way
No I don’t think Hank done ‘em this a’way

Now, I know I’ve been working in the beer biz too long, because all I can think about is today’s ‘rock star’ brewers and the ones we don’t know that work their asses off (those aren’t mutually exclusive, by the way). I’m not going to call anyone out, but in my mind I can see an old-school brewer walking through the big and shiny new brewery in town run by a hipster with a great plan and a few great batches under his belt. This old-school brewer may have 10, 15, 25 years experience, maybe has seen the rise and fall of many faces in the business, certainly knows what his customers like and most assuredly has a silent opinion about how a brewery should be run. Still, the youth and energy of the hipster brewer may have propelled him to the top of the charts, earning him space in national magazines, websites, podcasts – hell, he’s a frickin’ rock star among brewers. In my mind it’s Bad Blake meets Billy Sweet (old-school, rock star in Crazy Heart).

I liken Old-School to a man named Allen Sprints, from Portland. He’s a brewer’s brewer, using equipment that looks like a garage sale outcast and running a brewery the way he wants, the only way he knows how. Allen’s beers are fantastic, with depth of character and complexity, sometimes rough around the edges and always interesting. People like him are heroes to me in the beer world. There’s also folks in small towns like Baker City, Oregon, or Auburn California and Stevenson Washington: Brewers that maybe we don’t know by name or even by face, but who make beer in cramped spaces that are intended to appeal to the people at their bars. Sure, some of these guys get popular, but in a world like craft beer, popular is a relative thing.

I think about the hipster brewers of the day – from Michigan to California, Florida to Washington – and wonder what their operations look like through the eyes of the old-school. Is there a bit of jealousy, a silent cynicism, or maybe something altogether warmer and truer? I don’t know. I haven’t asked and doubt I will – you see, my wonders are mysteries I don’t care to have the answers to. I love my curiosities and don’t need to see what’s behind the curtain.

All this also led to another thought. Take this line and mull it over a bit:

I’ve seen the world with a five piece band
Looking at the back side of me

Legacy. I often wonder what happens to the band members of brewing, the brewers that mash-in and do the day-to-day work in any given brewery in the country. I’ve wondered if the rock-stars have a legacy that goes beyond their brewery doors. Are there young brewers that learn the ropes and go on to become their own success story? If there is, we don’t hear about it too often. In fact, the person I think of when I think of legacy is an unknown-to-most brewer in Sacramento that’s been at the helm some 19 years now. In that time several young brewers have interned or worked with him, many going on to become even more successful. Ah, even more curiosities.

I don’t have any answers here, for the most part I don’t even have questions. For the most part, I just have observations and things I wonder about, mostly to myself. I don’t feel there’s anything right or wrong in the thoughts here – the hipsters of the day aren’t necessarily more or less talented than the old-school brewers, they’ve just taken very different paths to get to where they are. I don’t think Fritz done it this way…

Hell, just for fun, let’s make our own song. Maybe the Rolling Boil Blues Band will sing it someday.

It’s the same old brew, hops and barley
Where do we take it from here
Big brew decks and new shiny tanks
We’ve been the same way for years
We need to change

Somebody told me when I got to San Fran
Son you finally got it made
Old Fritz made it here, we’re all sure that you will
But I don’t think Fritz done it this way
I don’t think Fritz done it this way

Ten years down the road, making one night stands
Speeding my young life away
Tell me one more time just so I understand
Are you sure Fritz done it this way
Did Ol’ Fritz really do it this way?

I’ve seen the world with a three-man brew crew
Looking at the back side of me
Brewing my beers and one of his now and then
But I don’t think Fritz done ‘em this a’way
No I don’t think Fritz done ‘em this a’way

Post Scripts

First, why Fritz? Well, the guy, like him or not, is credited for the start of the modern craft beer revolution by many. He’s the old-school if there could be one. Now, his assertion that Steam Beer was somehow unique to Anchor is another story, hell – that wasn’t even unique to San Francisco, but you get the point. I’d also recommend that you don’t take anything here too seriously. Allen isn’t the sole hero of old-school workers, he’s just a man that popped in my head as I was writing. There are people across the country (and the globe) that work long and thankless days to produce truly fantastic beer with character and imagination.

Second, none of this matters. At the end of the day 99% of the craft brewers in this country work their asses off to either promote their brand (new school?) or keep their tanks full or both.

Finally, before we draw lines in the sand or debate which business model or brewery is better than the other, we all need to step back a bit and relax. Craft beer is still a drop in a big beery bucket – and an industry like this takes all types. I’d suggest that there is room for as many brewer personalities as there are beer drinker personalities – and we know that beer fans are all over the board! Enjoy a beer. Think about where it came from, what it means, why you care, then take another long drink and remember all that thought isn’t nearly as good as the beer in your glass.

In the end know this: this post really was just inspired by a song.