The Brookston Family Blog
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Yesterday, Sarah broke her toe in two places. She’s apparently feeling alright but must stay off her feet as much as possible for a few days, at least. There are photos, I’m told, but they’ll have to wait until I get home from Denver. But in the meantime please send Sarah your well wishes.

Here’s a sample of the World’s Shortest Books:

Zagat’s Guide to Cities without a Starbucks

Amelia Earhart’s Guide to the Pacific Ocean

Different Ways to Spell Bob

Things I Can’t Afford by Bill Gates

The first session was Thursday night, and is usually the least crowded of the evening tastings. It’s also a first chance to see a number of people.

Melissa at her booth with the pirate ship display her friend Jeff made.

Sam Calgione from Dogfish Head Brewing Co. in Delaware.

Jeff Bagby, So.Cal. brewer at Pizza Port, Tomme Arthur, brewer at Solana Beach Pizza Port, and Eric Rose, brewer at Santa Barbara Brewing Co.

Natalie Cilurzo, of Russian River Brewing, mugs for the camera while Vinnie chats with Carol Stoudt.

The gang from Saint Arnold in Texas, including the actual Saint himself.

Tom Nickel, brewer at Oggi’s Pizza, and me.

The merchandise booth with swag from many of the participating breweries.

After the kick-off, we headed back to the Falling Rock. My friend Jeremy Cowan, who owns Schmaltz Brewing Co., was debuting his new winter ale, Jewbelation 5766, so I promised him I’d be there.

Chris Black, owner of the Falling Rock, taps the first keg of Jewbelation.

Don Younger and me.

Jeremy holding court with a pitcher of his new yummy beer.

I got all of the beer labels correct, of course. But then I’m a professional. How many can you guess correctly?

Next up was a kick-off party hosted by Brewers Supply Group at their warehouse in Denver. They threw a great barbecue spread and had many yummy beers including many aged in wood. There were also brewer’s games such as BMX obstacle course and big can shot put.

The Brewers Supply Group GABF Kick-Off Party.

The winning throw as the 32 oz. can of Natural Light travels 61.5 feet.

Generally Lyman doesn’t pose for photos, but here’s a rare shot of him and Alice.

Grandpa and Alice.

First stop Thursday was the annual Great Divide reception that owners Brian and Tara have been throwing for media going on seven or eight years. I was at the first one and have missed only once in the intervening years. They’re very cool people and always host a great party.

At the Great Divide reception.

Dave Alexander, owner of the Brickskeller in D.C., and Carol Stoudt, owner of Stoudt’s Brewing Co. in Adamstown, Pennsylvania.

While you’re working, I’m drinking beer right now. To get an idea of what I’m doing, here’s some shots of the hall from last year’s Great American Beer Festival.

The Colorado Convention Center floor where over 350 breweries sample the crowd with over 1,600 beers.

The front of the hall.

Now you can relieve stress with the satisfying sounds of popping bubblewrap without the mess. Try the manic mode for those special moments of tension.

Ever since Lyman got Ruthanne a new digital camera last Christmas, her photos have been steadily improving. Here is a sample of some photos Grandma took earlier this week.

Here are quite a few friends that I got to see Wednesday night at the two events that evening; the first was at Wynkoop and the second at Falling Rock.

My former boss Tom with Jim Cline, GM at Rogue, and John Bryant, from O’Dells.

Garrett Oliver, brewer at Brooklyn Brewing Co., and Vinnue Cilurzo, brewer at Russian River Brewing Co.

Arne Johnson, brewer from our own Marin Brewing Co., and me.

Joanne Carilli, from White Labs, and me.

Ed and Carol Stoudt, from Stoudt’s Brewing Co. in Pennsylvania (near where I grew up) and Brian Dunn of Great Divide Brewing Co. in Denver.

The New Belgium Brewing Co. team; owners Jeff and Kim Jordan and brewer Peter Bouckaert.

Me and Pat Hagerman, co-owner of Realbeer.com and the gracious host of the Brookston Family Blog.

Nancy Johnson, director of the festival, and Chris Black, owner of Falling Rock.

Jeremy Cowan, owner of He’Brew the Chosen Beer, and yours truly.

Don Younger, publican extraordinaire and owner of the Horse Brass in Portland, Oregon, and Mark Silva, co-owner of realbeer.com and realbranding.com.

Niki Way, the entertainment for the evening at Falling Rock.

We’re here in Denver and, more importantly, I have access! Yeah! So look for drunken posts throughout the week, especially late at night.

My roomie Melissa and me in our room.

Google Globe Trotting is a pretty cool site featuring satellite photographs of famous places and events around the world using Google Earth. Sadly, the most popular one is Bill Gates’ house.

Bill Gates’ house from space.

Anybody interested in playing fantasy hockey? I sent out a few invites but I don’t expect we’ll get many players. This is new for us. Announcing for the first time, the Great Beer Hockey League. I figured what the heck, I know even less about hockey than I do about baseball, so how about a hockey league? So I worked with one of our intrepid fantasy players who does know hockey and we came up with a simplified game to try for the first time to see how it goes. I don’t know how many of you like hockey, but even if you don’t, consider giving it a try just for the fun of it. You can’t suck worse than I do. And you’ll get one more chance to beat me again this year. The only hitch (it’s always something) is you need to sign up by Friday preferably and Monday morning at the very latest. The season starts next Wednesday and we need a little time to run the autopick draft, which we’ll turn on early afternoon on Monday October 3. So come on, give it a try. It might even be fun. Besides, what else do you have to do once football season is over?

Here’s the info on how to join:

In order to join the league, follow the link above or go to game front page, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 18984
Password: beer

We will send you a confirmation with further details once you have completed the registration process.