A brewer speaks at the Democratic Convention.

Bill Butcher is a 40-something small-business owner in Alexandria, Virginia. A past wine company executive, his business now is beer, and he's all in.

Butcher opened Port City Brewing Company, in Alexandria, in 2010, the first production brewery to operate in that town —located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.— since 1916.

Tonight, Mr. Butcher goes —not to Washington, but— to Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been invited to speak before the Democratic National Convention. I asked him about this signature honor, what he would be speaking on, and about his brewery.

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YFGF: How did you receive your invitation to speak?

I got a call from the campaign a few weeks ago. The DNC [Democratic National Committee] was looking for a couple of small businesses that had gotten SBA [Small Business Administration] loans over the past few years. That's how we got on their radar. It turns out that many of the local DNC folks are also fans of our beer.

YFGF: When will you be speaking, and how much time have you been allotted? (Will you be talking to an empty chair?)

I will be speaking for about 2 minutes, between 9:00 and 9:30 on Wednesday evening. No empty chairs: that's been done! 

YFGF: Without giving away the speech itself, what will be your major points?

The administration had enacted a program to waive the fees on SBA loans and cut red tape to get banks to start lending money to small businesses again. We were able to take advantage of this program, which encouraged our bank to work with an independent start up, and saved us money on fees, which we were able to invest instead in more brewing equipment. 

YFGF: What have been the challenges of small businesses in this economic environment?

Capital is still very hard to raise. It's not easy to get a business loan, and banks are not in the business of taking risk; they make sure that the loans are fully collateralized. The SBA continues to have a positive impact in helping entrepreneurs get loans, by being an additional guarantor. This additional security encourages banks to work with more small businesses. 

YFGF: Is mixing politics and beer business a good thing?

While I do vote in every election, I do not get involved politically. I'm simply too busy running our business. Our beer is served at Republican fundraisers as well as Democratic fundraisers. I believe that beer is apolitical, and it is something that brings people together. Tonight, I'm there simply to tell our story. We were able to take advantage of an SBA program that helped us finally get the attention of a bank, and encouraged them to make us a loan. I think that no matter your politics, we can all be pro-business, pro local business, and pro small business. That's what we are. 

YFGF: Let's talk about Port City Brewing. What is the percentage of sales growth since you opened the brewery in February 2011?

We brewed 3000 barrels (~42,000 cases) of craft beer in our first year. We will roughly double that this year with about 85,000 cases. We will continue to grow our business in our existing markets, and open new markets as long as we can ensure continuity of supply. We are seriously committed to no out of stocks for our existing customers. Due to our careful planning, we have not let any of our customers down by not having product available for them. We are quite proud of that. 

YFGF: Is local citizenry attuned to supporting local businesses like yours?

Definitely! I see a real sense of local pride developing around our brewery, as well as around the whole emerging local DC beer scene. 

YFGF: What do you think your greatest achievement with Port City has been?

We are only at the beginning of this adventure. We still have a lot to do! We wake up every day ready to hustle, and we know that if we're not brewing great beer, then people will have no reason to buy it.



Our beers are now sold in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and North Carolina, and are available in about 600 bars, restaurants, and retailers from Asheville to Annapolis. I am very proud of our distribution that we have been able to achieve; it's a good start! We are building a solid foundation for success, and that is our greatest achievement. 

Tonight, Bill Butcher's television audience will include many Virginians and, nationwide, many small-brewery owners and brewers. They'll be listening with interest; they'll be watching with pride.

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I know what you're thinking, and sorry. I'm not here to give out free beer.

You know, I don't have time to pay much attention to politics because I'm too busy running my business. I think a lot of small-business owners feel the same way. We don't care about the daily back and forth of campaigns. We just want leaders in Washington who believe in us and make it just a little easier for us to succeed. Our president is that kind of leader.

There were moments when my wife Karen and I wondered if we would ever get our business off the ground. I remember what it was like to go to bank after bank after bank hearing "No." We may not have ever gotten to "Yes" if it wasn't for President Obama and the SBA loan program he started.

For these last four years, I've had a president who's on my side. He cut small-business taxes 18 times. He kept middle class taxes low, which meant more customers for my product. He knows that growing the middle class helps businesses create jobs.

And I know that if he gets a second term, entrepreneurs like me will have the best possible chance to succeed.

I hear President Obama has been brewing some beer in the White House recently, and I know you're not supposed to endorse a competitor, but in this case I'm going to make an exception.

Our president has fought for small-business owners, and now it's time to fight for him. Thank you everybody.

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• Mr. Butcher speaks tonight between 9 and 9:30. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, himself a past brewery owner, speaks during the 8 o'clock hour. Full schedule of speakers: here.
• C-SPAN has the video of Butcher's appearance: here.
• Transcript above via Daily Kos.
• If you're at the convention, and you'd like to enjoy a Port City beer, here's a list of who's got it in Charlotte.

DRP welcomes Heavy Seas, with 5-course dinner

Del Ray Pizzeria presents 

A 5-course beer dinner 

featuring the menu of
Chef Eric Reid 

& the beers of
Heavy Seas Brewing, 
of Baltimore, Maryland. 

General Manager Sean Snyder welcomed the 25 guests to the restaurant's new upstairs private dining room. Co-hosting was Spencer Hannas, the newly-minted local representative for Heavy Seas, and Stephen Marsh, the brewery's cask cellarmaster. Photos and commentary added after the dinner.

• 1st COURSE 
  Kartoffelsuppe (Potato Soup) & Leberwurst
  
  Served with Heavy Seas
  Red Sky at Night Saison,
  on draught (7.5% abv, vintage 2011)
  
  
  
• 2nd COURSE 
  Spätzle and Mushrooms
  
  Served with a freshly tapped firkin of The Great Pumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale (8.5% abv)
  Reid and Snyder collaborated with Heavy Seas' cellarmaster Stephen Marsh to fill a cask of Great Pumpkin, adding smoked vanilla beans, fish peppers, Chipotle peppers, and molasses.
  
  Some of those herbs and vegetables, such as the fish peppers, had been grown on Marsh's own 2,00 square food garden in Maryland. Fish peppers have an interesting provenance. According to Mother Earth News:

  The ‘Fish’ peppers came from Baltimore, where they had been employed by African-American caterers to make white paprika for the cream sauces then popular with fish and shellfish cookery. In terms of heat, they are like cayenne, but are more mellow when cooked. The white pods were also used in soups where red peppers would have created a muddied appearance. These peppers had been in use since the 19th century, one of those secret heirloom ingredients that never showed up in cookbooks. They were simply part of oral tradition.




• 3rd COURSE
  Box Roasted Suckling Pig
  Sauerkraut and Warm Potato Salad
  
  Served with Heavy Seas Winter Storm Imperial ESB (7.5% abv)
  This will be the 2012 release for the brewery's award-winning annual winter beer.

• 4th COURSE 
  Veal Cordon Bleu
  Steamed White Asparagus
  
  Served With Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 American IPA (7.25% abv), on draught.
  
  
  

• DESSERT COURSE 
  Crumb Cake
  made with brown sugar and a touch of cayenne, finished with apple slices
  
  Served with Heavy Seas Below Decks Barleywine, on draught (10% abv, vintage 2011)

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• Del Ray Pizzeria
  2218 Mount Vernon Avenue,
  Alexandria, VA 22301
  (703) 549-2999
  http://delraypizzeria.com/
  Tuesday, 2 October, 7 pm
  Tickets: $59.00, via PayPal
• More photos: here.
• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virgina— I sell the beers of Heavy Seas Brewing.

Toward a better Labor Day

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

But despite that right of assembly, the United States is, today, less free for labor than 41 other nations —as rated by Freedom House— in part, because U.S. employers can, with relative impunity, fire or demote employees for attempting to assemble into a union. Although such 'freedom of association' is not explicitly protected in the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in many cases that the Constitution does do so implicitly.

From authors Richard D. Kahlenberg and Moshe Z. Marvit:

Labor must make clear, in word and deed, that it is part of a broader movement for social justice and against concentrated wealth and power, not just a special interest concerned only with its membership.

When union wages increase, nonunion employers respond by raising pay, too, to attract workers. And each percentage-point decline in the U.S. unionization rate has been accompanied by a comparable fall in the proportion of income going to the middle class.




Unions need to show that they are a vehicle for vindicating the individual rights that Americans hold dear against the power of large employers and the government. Just as Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for individual civil rights as a fulfillment of the Declaration of Independence’s promise of equal opportunity, so the labor movement should fight for individuals’ First Amendment right to engage in the freedom of association, including the right to form a union. [emphasis mine]

Federally recognized in 1894, Labor Day is an American holiday, observed on the first Monday in September, that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. Today, let's honor them by pledging to work toward a better Labor Day.

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• Read this marvelous rant from Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent Senator from Vermont: Labor Day, 2012. "The American people are angry."
• I would be sorely remiss, if, on Labor Day, I failed to thank the brewers —who make our daily beer, so refreshing after an honest day's work. So ... Thank you!

Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for Weeks 24/25/26, 2012

A bi-weekly*, non-comprehensive, roundup
of news of beer and other things.

Weeks 24/25/26
10 June - 30 June 2012

• 2012.06.30
  Aggressive storm, called a derecho, knocks out power to more than one million in Virginia, D.C., and Maryland. Via Huffington Post. YFGF photos: here.
  
  
• 2012.06.28
  In split decision, Supreme Court upholds the individual mandate of the Affordable Health Care Act, but as a tax. Via New York Times.
  
  
• 2012.06.27
  Cider making a 'comeback' in U.S., especially by big breweries. Via Washington Post.
  
  
  
• 2012.06.27
  Maryland's Heavy Seas Brewing Company hires former Sam Adams brewer as Director of Brewing Operations. Via YFGF.
  
  
• 2012.06.26
  Despite more consolidation among big breweries, beer blogger Beervana says fans of 'craft beer' need not be concerned.
  
  
• 2012.06.25
  The best restaurants, chefs, and bars in the Washington, D.C. area, as voted upon for the 2012 Rammy Awards of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. Via the Washington City Paper.
  
  
• 2012.06.25
  Supreme Court strikes down portions of Arizona immigration law , but allows 'show me your papers' provision. Via Washington Post.
  
  
• 2012.06.25
  2012 International Cheesemonger Invitational: Washington, D.C.'s Adam Smith of Cowgirl Creamery crowned champion. Via Cheese and Champagne.
  
  
• 2012.06.22
  It's the "Summer of Riesling": 22 June through 20 September, 2012.
  
  
• 2012.06.18
  Fraud scandal threatens Burgundy's vaunted reputation. Via New York Times.
  
  
• 2012.06.18
  Pitcher Roger Clemens found not guilty of all charges in perjury trial. Via ESPN.
  
  
  
• 2012.06.18
  The War of 1812, fought between the United Sates and the British empire, began on this date in 1812. Via Wikipedia.
  
  
• 2012.06.17
  Brewer Terry Hawbaker leaves Farmer's Cabinet Brewery in Alexandria, Virginia, after less than a year and just as distribution begins ... but only in Pennsylvania. Via Lew Bryson.
  
  
• 2012.06.17
  Senate Small Brewers Caucus members 1012 roll: here. House Small Brewers Caucus 2012 roster: here
  
  
• 2012.06.17
  Lost Rhino Brewing of Ashburn, Virginia, ferments a wheat beer with a 'wild,' native Virginia yeast. Via DC Beer.
  
  
• 2012.06.17
  It's Bloomsday 2012, and the 90th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses. Via Borderbend Arts Collective.
  
  
• 2012.06.15
  The top 20 U.S. markets for craft beer drinking, percentage-wise. Via [The Original] Beer in Baltimore.
  
  
• 2012.06.15
  Sandor Katz: author, Art of Fermentation: "The flavorful space between fresh and rotten." Via Fresh Air.
  
  
• 2012.06.13
  4,000 hours of jazz recorded at loft of photo-essayist W. Eugene Smith, discovered. Via Indy Week.
  
  
• 2012.06.11
  British beer historian, Martyn Cornell, tastes 137-year old beer: bottle of Allsopp's 1875 Arctic Ale. Via Zythophile.
  
  

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• * YFGF is several weeks behind in its updates for Clamps & Gaskets. As the column becomes 'current', readers can expect several consecutive Mondays of 3-week summaries.
• Clamps and Gaskets is a weekly wrap-up of stories  not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com. Most deal with beer (or wine, or whisky); some do not. But all are brief, and many are re-posts from twitter.com/cizauskas.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.

Pic(k) of the Week: The Road goes ever on and on!

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

With apologies to Bilbo Baggins (or not), Ethel Mae the beagle checks out life on the road.

McLean, Virginia.
25 August 2012.

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• Or, would that be apologies to Robert Earl Keen?
• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, often posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as subject. Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.