Gordon Biersch going public

[chazwicke]

Looks like GB is going public with an IPO comming soon.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1351880/000119312506019812/ds1.htm

[jjpm74]

I wonder if this means they'll become the McDonalds of brewpubs as they were already going in that direction before this announcement (in terms of name recognition and market saturation)? Never cared for their beers to be honest.

[chazwicke]

Locally they make well crafted beers that are part of their standard line and the brewmasters are also granted some autonomy to brew specialties as well. I would not consider them the McDonalds of brewery chains. That might be reserved for the ill fated HOPS chain. there are other chains that make good beers as well.

[jjpm74]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Locally they make well crafted beers that are part of their standard line and the brewmasters are also granted some autonomy to brew specialties as well. I would not consider them the McDonalds of brewery chains. That might be reserved for the ill fated HOPS chain. there are other chains that make good beers as well.

While I don't like their beers (although their dopplebock was pretty good) that's not what I was getting at. I was just wondering how much they'd ultimately end up expanding and how much autonomy they'd allow in the future. It'd be pretty interesting if this company became a brewer who only distributed to their franchises as I don't know of any other who have done so on as large a scale as they'd like to.

[chazwicke]

We have several in my area and I have been to many GBs over the years. They do make well crafted brews if somewhat geared to a wider audience. But this is from a post on DC-Beer that Jason Oliver made about Allen Young:


I want to clarify something. We only hired Allen Young on the condition
that he would resurrect the Chesbay Bock at its origin of VA Beach!! I for
one would think that to be one of greatest things to happen in our corner of
the craft brew revolution. Revolution being a full circle, and to have one
of the nations pioneering brewers brew the groundbreaking lager at the point
of inception would be truly special. Welcome aboard Allen and send more
cheese!

Jason Oliver
Regional Brewer
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group


So you can see that they do allow autonomy and freedom to some degree. The locations in the DC area usually have something wonderful on along with their standard mandated repitoire.

[brewcrew76]

I have only been to a GB once and don't have any in this area so I can't comment on them but I think Rock Bottom is the McDonalds of brewpubs. Luckily the Chicago RB has Pete who makes excellent beers and is allowed to brew what ever he wants but all other RB's I have been to are awful.

[steveh]

Originally posted by brewcrew76
but all other RB's I have been to are awful.

Have you been to Milwaukee's? I hear good things - also, there's a RB in Des Moines, IA (of all places) that wasn't at all as bad as the Cleveland RB - my first experience with the chain.

I'd vote to steer clear of any Ram Brewery, if we're picking chains. I love when I have to tell them, "Uh - no chilled glass please?"

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by chazwicke
resurrect the Chesbay Bock at its origin of VA Beach!! I

What can you tell us about this brew?

S.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by brewcrew76
I have only been to a GB once and don't have any in this area so I can't comment on them but I think Rock Bottom is the McDonalds of brewpubs. Luckily the Chicago RB has Pete who makes excellent beers and is allowed to brew what ever he wants but all other RB's I have been to are awful.

Rock Bottoms around here are fine. One of them gets lauded fairly regularly and the other has occasional moments. The DC Chophouse which is part of the Rock Bottom Chain has some very nice brews including a Bourbon Stout that is aged in Woodforedes Reserve Barrels and is one of the best Bourbon Stouts I have had.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by steveh
What can you tell us about this brew?

S.

Steveh, Chesbay might have been the first East Coast craft brewer. One guy has a business card that states it was founded in 1980!!!! I remember going there in 81 or 82. Anyway the beers were very good but they were packaged in green bottles which certainly did not hold up very long on the shelves.

Here are some Random comments from the recent discussion on DC-Beer:

As a former brewer for Native Brewing Company you
> would think that I should know something about this,
> but does anyone know if Native beers are still being
> brewed by someone? I still see the ad for Native in
> MABN but have not seen any beer in ages. Is it still
> on tap anywhere in NoVA? If not add it to the list.
> Native Dark was a very yummy beer steeped in the rich
> local brewing tradition (re: GABF gold medal winning
> Chesbay Double Bock/Chesbay Brewing Co c.1987, bronze
> medal winning Native Dark Horse/Virginia Brewing Co
> c.1989).

Yes, I do remember Native (Dark Horse/Chesbay Double Bock) and used to
travel 40 miles for a pint at the Union Street Pub in Alexandria every
couple months. "Native Dark" was brewed by Virginia Brewing as late as
perhaps 1999 out of Alexandria, but was never, IMHO, as good as good old
Chesbay Double Bock (CDB). CDB was unfiltered, sweet, brown colored and a
very strong alcohol level and one of my all time favorite beers. The latter
day version, Native Dark, was said to be (by the recent brewer, perhaps Mark

Loveland to whose post I am replying) what the German born brewer for
Chesbay (Martin ...?) "wanted" to brew, but he didn't have the right
equipment. Never the less, I loved the old CDB and just "liked" the more
recent "Virginia Native" which was more black colored, not sweet, not
translucent/unfiltered in appearance and seemed less strong in a.b.v.
Thanks for bringing those memories back, Mark! Now if someone could just

brew an indentical copy of the old CBD...

the original Chesbay "Schooner" Doppelbock, sold to Union Station unfiltered
as VA Native, was developed by Wolfgang roth (German born, Massters from
Weihenstefan), as were all Chesbay beers. He was invovled in the actual
construction and set up of the brewery in VA Beach (last time I drove by it
was an ice plant). His Assistant Brewer was Alan Young, more recently of
Ram's Head and Fordham. Alan was involved in the re-creation of the VA
NAtive Dark. I think he was also head brewer at Fordham.

Don't think Chesbay ever did any contract brewing. They went straight to
building a brewery. Jim Kohler, VA Beach veteranarian and homebrewer was
looking for a way to invest, and make some money off his hobby, which is
what led him to founding Chesbay.

My ears are burning! While it is sad to see that Gary is throwing in the
towel I hear they are building a second Kennedy Center in Saranac, New
York! But I kid! I have enjoyed the fact that all these beers and years
later that long term memory is unaffected by craft beer consumption.

I believe that the very first "contract brew" produced was the Union Street
Virginia Native. Wolfgang had a recipe he wanted to brew and Chesbay at the
time could not afford the packaging to put it in the market so we just had
this 2000 gallon ex-dairy tank full of this incredible double bock that we
would try to drink up ourselves. I can remember the day we had a chef and
some restaurant guys call that had visited the Wild Goose Brewery in
Cambridge and wanted to tour our place. They were all set to go with the
Amber as a private label, deals were all struck. To celebrate Wolfgang sent
me to the tank to tap out some beer that wasn't quite aged enough (only 11
weeks old at that time!) and I came back with this rusty, cloudy, dark brown
pitcher with a big rocky head on it. Well we got drunk, they all couldn't
stop drinking the stuff. That was the first contract brew, later it became
a Chesbay product but only as a filtered product. (Not even close to the
same flavor) And yes, I have a full circle story to end this rambling
flashback...I have just accepted the brewers position at the brand new
Gordon Biersch that is going in...Virginia Beach ! Grand opening is Mid-
July and after twenty years "A Young Brewer" as I was called at Chesbay will
be returning to brew at the beach! I am as happy as I can be and I wanted
to tell you guys I have sure missed the smell of wort. I want to especially
thank Jason Oliver for his help in convincing the great folks at GB to give
me a try. I talked with Jason and he thinks I will have a chance to brew a
son of Double Bock as a gap beer that falls between the seasonals so stay
tuned. Also to Chuck Triplett and Lyle Brown I am downsizing and selling a
lot of my personal collection on eBay as the weeks pass. Lastly, don't
anyone say a word about this to Bill Madden because he and no one at AC
Beverage knows I am leaving! But I kid.

Allen's Tavern Ale at Ramshead was also SPECTACULAR. In the years Allen
brewed for them we used to take visiting Brits to Ramshead, Annapolis and
they and we thought the "Tavern Ale" was great (and even better than Sierra
Nevada Pale Ale which was then our standard for comparison). Best wishes,
Allen, you are truly a gifted brewer and responsible for at least 2 of my
all-time favorite brews. The current Fordham Tavern Ale is good, but not
nearly as hoppy as Allen's was. By the way, the current Ramshead brewer's
seasonals are darn good - just had a couple of the Weizenbock seasonal and
also enjoyed December's Double Bock.

Thanks, Allen, and welcome back to brewing. Maybe I'll have to make a 4
hour trip to Va Beach in the future to try the Double Bock "Chesbay
DB/Native" reincarnation! Bit longer than 40 minutes to Union Street, eh?