Jesse Friedman shows off Almanac's beer. Photo courtesy Damian Fagan.

Almanac Beer Company is one of the newest players in the ever-active San Francisco brewing community. Partners Damian Fagan and Jesse Friedman joined together to form the company, which took several years and culminated in a launch brew that was produced in the summer of 2010 and will be available this month. Jesse is known in the food and drink community for his three-year old blog Beer & Nosh, and he is overseeing the beer production. Damian, an accomplished designer and artist, is in charge of day-to-day operations at Almanac. The two met in their home brewing club, recognized each other's talent, and soon set off on a more serious beer venture.

After a couple years of research and trials, Jesse and Damian settled on what they would like to produce: beers using seasonal ingredients that were local to the Bay Area. "It dawned on us that we should be doing to beer what's being done to food—particularly in the Bay Area," says Damian. They wanted to "design a beer that's on par with the food that we have on our tables."

Sebastopol Berry Farm blackberries. Photo courtesy Jesse Friedman.

For this first beer, dubbed Summer 2010 Blackberry Ale, Jesse and Damian settled on a Belgian-style golden ale that is barrel-aged with four varieties of Sonoma County blackberries (Cherokee, Marion, Ollalie and Boysenberries). The beer was produced last summer and aged in red wine barrels for 11 months before blending. A team of friends and family bottled the beer in late May 2011—309 cases of 750 milliliter bottles—and it is now finishing up. The first time the public can taste it will be a launch party at City Beer Store on June 30 (details below).

The beer that Almanac has produced is dry, crisp and complex and should appeal to those who would normally avoid beers made with fruit. "It's not that we're not fruit beer fans, but we want people to know that it's not a cloyingly, fruity beer," says Damian. It has a plush mouth feel, a fruity nose and a punchy, tart flavor, and I was surprised that it was quite apricoty for being billed as having blackberries. Damian explains that the fruit changes on a molecular level during fermentation. "You start with blackberries, but with fermentation and aging the molecules actually change and mutate, which is why you get hints of other flavors. The blackberry notes came out as apricot and mango. That was a really interesting evolution."

Almanac Summer 2010 Blackberry Ale. Photo by Jennifer Maiser.

The beers are bottle conditioned which means that they go into the bottle uncarbonated, and that natural yeast and sugar is added individually to each bottle, where the final fermentation occurs. Bottle conditioned beers usually have more complexity and can be held on the shelf longer than force-carbonated beers. Bottle conditioned beers also have some variation from bottle to bottle, which means that the beer won't taste the same way twice—a feature that most beer connoisseurs really enjoy.

Of all the steps that it took to get this beer to market, the bottle conditioning was the most stressful part for Jesse and Damian. "Looking at all the hurdles that we had to cross along the way, the only thing that could have spelled disaster for us had been if the beer didn't carbonate," says Damian. The tricky part to bottle conditioning is to be sure that you get carbonation, but not too much. Laughing, Damian said "It was such a sigh of relief when Jesse and I opened the bottles separately and heard the carbonation. And of course, waiting for a few seconds to make sure that the beer didn't come roaring back out of the bottle."

Almanac is a "gypsy brewery," a term that refers to brewers who borrow space or rent at already established breweries to craft their beer. Almanac used space at Drake's Brewing in San Leandro for the Blackberry Ale. They were able to lean on Steve Altimari of Highwater Brewing for advice on this first brew. Altimari also brews out of Drake's.

Damian and Jesse aren't the first Bay Area brewers to attempt a local beer—last year, Thirsty Bear Brewing released a delicious "Locavore Ale" in conjunction with farmer Nigel Walker at Eatwell Farm. They did this using Eatwell's own malted barley and hops grown by Hops-Meister in Clear Lake, California. That may have been the only batch of Locavore Ale, however. The costs were prohibitive, and it required a huge amount of effort to produce the beer. Systems aren't set up for some parts of the beer to be created locally at the moment; Eatwell's barley had to be sent all the way to Colorado to be malted.

Almanac's beer will be available at several events (see below for information), and at a few places around the Bay Area for sale: City Beer Store, Healthy Spirits, Jug Shop and some Whole Foods locations in San Francisco. It will retail for approximately $20 for a 750 milliliter bottle.

What can we expect next from Almanac? "Stone fruit is in season, and we're looking to brew in July. It's looking like it may be a saison with some kind of stone fruit. We both really, really want to brew a saison."

In addition to Almanac's beers, be sure to track down Jesse's delicious, seasonal sodas around San Francisco. You can find them at the Hapa Ramen booth and at the New Taste Market Place. His smoked strawberry vanilla bean soda was one of my favorite sips last month.

Almanac Beer Co. Events

Bottle Release Party at City Beer Store
Thursday, June 30, 6pm - 10pm
1168 Folsom Street (map)
415-503-1033

Healthy Spirits presents Almanac Beer Co. at Fat Angel Food & Libation
Thursday, July 7, 6pm - 10pm
1740 O'Farrell Street (map)
415-525-3013

Shotwell's Bar
Thursday, July 14, 6pm - 10pm
3349 20th Street (map)
415-399-9898

Information:
Almanac Beer Company website
Twitter: @AlmanacBeer
Almanac Beer on Facebook
Almanac Beer photos on Flickr

Summer is a tricky thing in San Francisco. A morning in July here often feels like a morning in February, much to the consternation of shivering tourist. We grab what sun we can two days here, three days there, until the fog rolls in and we're grabbing our sweaters and pashminas instead, shrugging our pasty shoulders all the while. If one never leaves the City, one has but few clues as to what life is like on the hot, sticky Outside. And I like that just fine.

I always know it's summer when I see berries flooding the markets. I grab baskets of them-- strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, snozberries-- and challenge myself to eat them all before they rot in my fridge, which happened last year, much to my shame. I decorate my cereal with them, never quite looking as well-placed as on the cereal boxes I never buy. I pretend I'm putting them in the wood chipper as I drop them into my blender to make smoothies. I sprinkle them over ice cream. I eat them out of hand.

If I want to put a little effort (and I do mean little) into doing something with berries, this year, I'm making berry pudding, one of the easiest and reasonably healthiest desserts around. If I were forced to give this dish human form, I would vote for Betty White. Rose Nyland-sweet, Sue Ann Nivens-tart, and just about as quick and clever as all Miss White's snappy answers on The Match Game. Put a little whipped cream on her and she's good to go. She's always good to go.

This is a recipe that is wonderfully simple in both preparation and outlook. Berries in, berries out. I was going to say it was easy- breezy but, unless eating raw fruits has a certain effect on your G.I. tract, it is merely easy. The only real time involved is the time the berries and bread must spend in the refrigerator, getting to know each other.

Berry Pudding

Many of the recipes I've read for Berry Pudding call for the berries to be cooked with sugar. I strongly object. Not to the sugar, mind you, but to cooking the berries. One might as well be using frozen fruit, and that, my friends, is a capital "C" crime in my book-- at least in high season.

I might suggest letting your berries ripen a bit before making them into pudding. They will thank you for it.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup strawberries, chopped
1/2 cup blueberries, whole
1/2 cup raspberries, whole
1/2 cup blackberries, whole
2 tablespoons sugar, taste the berries to determine their sweetness before adding sugar. Adjust accordingly.
8 one half-inch slices of white bread, brioche, or other neutral starchy vehicle, cut to the shape of whatever molds one is using.
A splash of complementary booze (blackberry brandy, Cointreau, etc.) Complementary as in "will complement the flavor of the berries", not complimentary, as in "free". Of course, if your alcohol is both complementary and complimentary, I say bravo to you.
A pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Wash berries well, but gently. Chop strawberries to the approximate size of the other berries. Place all berries into large bowl and sprinkle with sugar, salt, and booze. Let sit for five or so minutes.

2. After the berries have macerated a bit, lightly crush them. I feel I was a bit too excited when it came time to inflict harm upon mine. Stir.

3. Cover the bottoms of your molds with your most attractive bits of berry, since this will be the top of the dessert when it is unmolded. Place one piece of bread on top. Add more berries, a second layer of bread, then more berries.

4. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing gently down upon the filled molds to remove any major air gaps.

5. Refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

6. To unmold, gently run the tip of a sharp knife between the outer edge of the filling and the inner edge of the mold. Hopefully, you have been clever enough to have removed the plastic wrap before doing so. Place serving plate over the top of the mold, invert, and gently giggle the pudding free of its form. Repeat with the remaining puddings, if you are serving them all at once.

7. Top with whipped cream, ice cream, or bacon. Whatever makes you happy.

Dear Miss Manners,

"When dining, does one place one's Blackberry to the right of the plate, or to the left, near the salad fork?"

The answer to this unsent question is, of course, never. I don't care if you're the Pope. Of course, popes don't use Blackberries. They use people who use Blackberries.

Hey there, Mr. Business Guy. Ho there, Little Miss Connectivity. You want to see a hand held device appropriate for restaurant use? Look down and to your right, it's called a table knife.

It looks a lot like the one with which I'll impale your (expletive) PDA if you use it one more time during your meal.

At some point a decade or so ago, P.D.A. went from meaning an improper "public display of affection" to "personal digital assistant." The employment of either P.D.A. is rude at the table, displaying a certain lack of respect for your dining companions. Would you like to watch your mother give good old dad a hand job during the salad course? No? Then what makes you think they want to see you texting friends or fielding phone calls over dessert?

It's not just Blackberries. Last night, I watched as two men ate dinner together. Not such a strange occurrence, except for the fact that one of the men did not take his iPod headphones out of his ears for the entire duration of the meal.

I saw a woman who was so busy texting someone as she walked through our very busy dining room that she hit the chair of a man who was rising from his seat. There was no, "Excuse me, I'm sorry," from her. She didn't even bother to look up. I was tempted to trip her to see what it might take to make her drop her machine.

It's certainly annoying when I have to repeat a litany of specials to guests who are too busy on their phones to pay attention to me, but I take that as part of my job. After describing something a second time (unless there is a genuine communication problem), I consider myself done.

But I'd be happy to text you about today's whole fish, if you like, you self-involved (expletive).

Like I said, it's an annoying aspect of my job, and I deal with that type of rudeness in my own way. What I find so terrible about all this abuse of take-it-with-you technology is the toll I see it taking on the other diners, and on basic human interaction in general.

For example, on Tuesday evening, I waited upon a young woman, her boyfriend, and her mother. The young woman kept her Blackberry on the table to her right. She'd eye it occasionally as her mother or her French boyfriend spoke. When dessert time rolled around and I came over to the table, the boyfriend said they had made their selections. The girl didn't take her cue to order because she was busy texting someone. He gave her a soft, sing-songy "Heeeey!" and waved his hand in front of her face as one does when one is uncertain of another's consciousness. She pulled away like a sulky toddler. I could see the mother squirm. I felt terrible for the boyfriend, but I wanted to smack the girl. Hard.

What's getting me so angry is that no one is doing a god damned thing about it. As a server, it's not my responsibility to teach people lessons in manners. At the restaurant, I will just give you a wan smile if you misbehave, though some days the urge is more difficult to resist than others.

I am not seeing the recipients of this technological rudeness-- the boyfriends, the business clients, the parents-- call these idiots to task about this bad behavior. Maybe it's because they themselves are too polite to say anything. Whatever the case, their silence is sending a very bad sub-text message.

How long has this complacency been going on? Not forever, fortunately...

True Hollywood story--

In the days when cell phones were called mobile phones and still somewhat of a novelty, John Lovitz, Julianne Moore, Phil Hartman, and two people I did not recognize sat down at a booth in my section of the slick Beverly Hills eatery I worked in while at university. Mr. Hartman entered talking on his phone. When I approached the table, I asked quietly if I should come back when he had finished. Miss Moore nodded. Perhaps, I thought, it was a very important phone call.

After a while, it became quite clear to me that he was just yammering away on his new gadget, rudely ignoring his dining companions, but I stayed away from the table, nevertheless.

After a few more minutes, Miss Moore motioned me over to the table. She quietly asked for a piece of paper and a pen. When she had finished scribbling, she handed the paper back to me with a "thank you" and a sidelong glance at Mr. Hartman. I nodded and excused myself to read the note. On the paper were Mr. Hartman's name, his phone number, and instructions for me to call him.

I marched over to the hostess stand at the front of the restaurant, dialed the number, and held my breath. He answered up my call with an abrupt, "Yeah?"

"Mr. Hartman? This is your waiter, I was just wondering if you'd decided on your order yet..."

Silence greeted me on the other end. Then a loud burst of laughter from both the receiver and the back of the restaurant. When I returned to the booth, Moore beamed, Hartman glowered. Fortunately, Moore picked up the check.

My love for her has never wavered since.

I think what the world needs now is more people like Julianne Moore. I'd suggest putting her at every dinner table in America if I didn't think it would be both exhausting and physically impossible. I'm sure she's busy enough as it is.

My point, of course, is that she got it. And she found a way to correct the bad behavior that was both funny and very effective.

I think that's what we all need to do.

I realize I've done a lot of name-calling this morning. I don't necessarily think the perpetrators are bad people, but their behavior is soul-killing. You want to invest in some great personal connectivity devices? How about turning off your iPhone for two hours and start using some eye contact instead? Face-to-face communication is far more effective than interface-to-interface.

As TennisPeter from Andover, Mass commented at Ask Annie, "Checking your Blackberry 24/7 doesn't make you important. It means you are insecure and lack the confidence to say, 'I'm not working right now.' " I am inclined to agree.

Oh, and while I'm on a rant, take that ridiculous Bluetooth thing out of your ear. It makes you look like some crazy homeless person who happened upon a dumpster filled with business casual clothing in his size. Sometimes, I like to pretend that these devices are hearing aids. I mouth my words with care-- slowly and with volume. And then I tilt my head and smile at the wearer in a way that says, "See? I'm sensitive to your special needs."

Can you hear me now?

I feel much better getting that off my chest. There is, however, one little favor I'd like you to do for me...

The next time you dine with the technology-addicted, kindly remind them that, for at least the duration of the meal, the phone gets locked back in its cell, the "i" retreats to its Pod, and the only blackberries allowed on the table have been baked into a cobbler. Smile when you say it.

If that doesn't work, gently place a ball peen hammer next to you on the table. Every time your tablemate touches his or her device, gently finger your hammer. If they pick up their phone, you pick up your hammer, and so on.

I think that might be one message they're sure not to miss.