The beer industry took a huge hit this week when one of our very special friends passed away. Paul Gatza eulogizes him grecefully, so I will simply pass along these kind words about a man we will all miss:

From: Paul Gatza 

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 Subject: Danny Williams

It is with heavy heart that I report that our dear friend Danny Williams passed away Monday night in his bed in Sunshine after a struggle with cancer. Danny served various functions for the Brewers Association over the last 15 years as a volunteer steward, World Beer Cup block captain, and contract cooler manager for the GABF competition, beer service team lead for the Craft Brewers Conference, and BIPS and BA Professional Division membership temporary caller.

Danny had hundreds of friends in the craft brewing community. His affable nature drew people to him and many people became his friends within moments of meeting Danny. Danny was ready to leave this Earth as his body shut down, so please consider this a time of joy that he is finally free from the pain of his pancreatic and stomach cancer.

Danny’s eldest son Josh, a Southern Sun Pub & Brewery server, is going to try to pick up the mortgage on the United Empire Gold Mines property in Sunshine that was Danny’s home since 2002, so hopefully that gem of history will host more gatherings of Danny’s and Josh’s beery friends. There have been requests for donations on the Brookston Beer Bulletin site and here in Colorado. His estate will receive benefit funds from a Feb. 11 auction of cool brewery stuff to be held at Backcountry Pizza in Boulder, and any surplus from the Boulder Strong Ale Fest to be held at Avery Brewing in March. Monies donated to these funds will help preserve the amazing beer storage area Danny built in the mine, which is featured in the most recent issue of All About Beer, was the subject of a great 2008 New York Times piece available at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/dining/25beer.html, and was the location of legendary Belgian-Style beer parties.

Danny and I were best friends. We hit it off drinking beers from 1 to 6 a.m. while sitting on a hillside overlooking the Shenandoah River at a Greenpeace staff training event in Harper’s Ferry, WV in 1990. Lawrence Daniel Williams was born in 1959. After growing up in the South (mostly North Carolina) and Germany, he moved to Boulder in 1991, started homebrewing in 1992, and began volunteering as a competition steward about 15 years ago.  He developed a deep knowledge and passion for craft-brewed beers. Whether he was working on the GABF or doing an educational beer tasting for back-of-house staff at a CBC hotel or helping the formation of a women’s beer appreciation group, he touched the local and national beer communities many times in many ways. I have been tipped off to the beers from many great breweries by Danny, and he was a key piece for educating me on what some of our member companies are up to. I miss him deeply already. And I am sure many of his close friends inside and outside of the brewing community feel similar sentiments.

Cheers to you, Daniel Q. Williams.

P A U L   G A T Z A 

WooHoo! Here is the 2012 Belgium Comes to West Chester Final Menu!

Check this out: Belgium Comes to West Chester is this Saturday the 28th. Our friends over at WC Dish are giving away two mug club memberships!!!! These babies will get you in to the 12:00pm Mug Club Only Preview! Head over there for your chance to win.

See you Saturday!

Hey gang!

we have a date for BCTWC 2012. It’s Saturday January 28th 2012! There are 29 breweries on the list and this year promises to be one of the best ever. We will have most of the ususal suspects and, of course, you will be able to purchase beer samplers of the etire line-up. I am super excited. Here’s the official announcement:

Belgium Comes to West Chester 2012

On tap now for St. Bethardus day!

Woo Hoo! On tap to celebrate: Brotherly Suds

The competition is over and we are pleased to announce the following Winners!!!!

Iron Brewer 2011  Judge’s Choice Winner:

 7zero2 Red Ale

Iron Brewer: John Mays

American Amber Ale.  Late hopped with Amarillo & Citra hops.  Dry hopped twice with Amarillo & Citra hops. 6.3% ABV 

Iron Brewer 2011 People’s Choice  Winner:

StrawBEERY Temptation

Iron Brewers: Melissa and Lawrence Roderick

A Strawberry Shortcake beer. It has 4 pounds of Fresh Organic Strawberries and an ounce of Fresh Vanilla Beans.

Summer is on it’s way for sure now. to that end we are rolling out the first of our Super Special summer beers: Mahalo, Apollo! (Welcome, Sun God). Here’s a short description “A wheat ale for summer spiced with Honey, Lemongrass, Grains of Paradise, and Amarillo Hops.” This beer totally rocks and is a staff favorite. Come and get it tonight!

In case you’re interested here’s the full jilt:

In early history spices were a luxury item and, consequently, one of the world’s most valuable trade goods. Until Hops became the dominant spice in beer, brewers (like us) would throw just about anything they could get their hands on into the kettle! Beer was commonly made with an ever changing mixture of herbs and spices know a Gruit to help preserve it, and to add bitterness and flavor until about the 13^th century. Brewers started using hops and stopped using gruit for a couple of reasons: 1) hops helped to preserve the beer better and 2) in France King Louis the 9^th threatened to cut off their heads if they didn’t buy his hops! In any case, consumers preferred the flavor of beer brewed with hops, and with a few exceptions spiced beers more or less died.

Mahallo, Apollo is a Summer Beer that blends traditions of European summer beer cultures into a product that is uniquely American. It’s a wheat beer. It’s strong. It’s flavored with Lemongrass from India and the West African spice Grains of Paradise. Lemongrass is a grass the smells like fresh cut lemon rind and Grains of Paradise is a ginger like seed that has a zesty flavor reminiscent of pepper, with hints of flowers, coriander and cardamom. The beer contains unpasteurized honey, and has been hopped with Amarillo adding to the peachy citrus nose. It was fermented with a Belgian yeast strain which enhances the complex flavor.  This unfiltered ale is crisp, refreshing, and food-friendly. Welcome Summer! 6.9% ABV 20 IBUs

Check out this video call “Beer Geek Meets Girl”. PG…but I spit my coffee out watching it!

One of the most famous Belgian brewers ever, Pierre Celis, passed away last Saturday evening at the age of 86.

Pierre revived the Hoegaerden witbier style in 1965 when, as a milkman, he took over the brewery from his neighbour Tomsin, who had stopped making wit in 1957, because he saw no future in it any longer. He was extremely successful and the brewery went from strength to strength until a fire put his dream into ashes in 1985. As the insurance cover was insufficient to restart, Interbrew (now AB InBev) came to the rescue, and gradually took over. This was the sign for Pierre to look for new horizons, which he found in Austin, Texas. He started all over with the original recipes, until the US brewery was taken over by Miller.

Still Pierre kept going, although at retirement age, Pierre launched various new beers, such as Grottenbier and Brussels. He spent a lot of time travelling between Belgium and US, the two countries he was passionate about, also with respect to the beers that are produced there.Pierre was suffering from cancer and his health had deteriorated pretty badly in recent months. That is why he spent his days in a home for the elderly in Goetsenhoven. Still, no one expected his death, which came as a shock, and which was one of the main headlines in the Belgian press over the weekend, rightly so. It is indeed a great loss for Belgium and the beer world as a whole as he was one of true pioneers for good beer, taking so many daring initiatives, and consistently going for quality. And he was a great and sociable person as well, passionate for good beer, always good-humored and willing to share ideas and knowledge, despite the setbacks he endured during his life.

In 1990, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a 6 pack of Grand Cru from a drive-through in Columbus, Ohio.

Pierre ‘s Beer Changed my life
Rest in peace, Friend.