With the final spring training in Tucson winding down this month, Barrio Brewing Co.’s Dennis Arnold often notes a particular bar stool in his massive, 750-seat restaurant, Gentle Ben’s.

“We used to do a ton of business when the [Chicago] White Sox were here,” says Arnold, who separated the brewing operation from his restaurant in 2007. “[Former Sox star] Frank Thomas would park himself at that bar stool and hold court. Every March, it was always, ‘Which player will walk through the door next?’”

The White Sox skipped town last year, buying their way out of a lease at Tucson Electric Park (TEP) to relocated with the Los Angeles Dodgers to a gleaming new complex in Glendale, just west of Phoenix. This year, the Colorado Rockies are leaving venerable Hi Corbett Field and the Arizona Diamondbacks are bolting TEP for greener pastures in Scottsdale, putting all 14 teams in the Cactus League in greater Phoenix.

Tucson residents aren’t happy. Arnold grouses about the city’s decision to put TEP out among the industrial parks on the south side of town.

“What large stadium built anywhere in world didn’t attract one square foot of private business around it?” asks Arnold, rhetorically. “They could’ve put it downtown and revived the city center. It could’ve been fantastic if they put it in the right location.”

Nimbus Brewing Co. owner James Counts says customers at his brewpub, which is less than two miles from TEP, have told him they feel abandoned.

“We’ve heard from a lot from people,” says Counts. “Most of them tell us is that they feel baseball has turned its back on them.”

Tucson doesn’t even have a triple-A team anymore. The Pacific Coast League team that played at TEP for 10 years relocated to Reno, Nev., last year. But spring training is the one that really hurts. The Cactus League has had at least one team in Tucson since the mid-1940s, when Bill Veeck brought the Cleveland Indians to town. Veeck owned a ranch near Tucson at the time.

The Tribe played at Hi Corbett Field until 1992. The Rockies took their place in 1993, Colorado’s inaugural season, and the team has trained there ever since.

“No one wants to see spring training leave,” says Thunder Canyon Brewery owner and brewmaster Steve Tracy. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s good for business. We’ve always drawn people here who come to Tucson to follow their teams every spring.”

Counts, Tracy, and Arnold are giving travelers another good reason to come to Tucson. They’re forming the foundation for a craft brewing resurgence. As recently as the late 1990s, the city had as many as 10 craft brewers, most of whom Arnold characterizes as homebrewers who took advantage of all the investor dollars being thrown around then.

“They loved brewing beer, but they failed to recognize that they were in the bar and restaurant business,” says Arnold. No one was surprised that when the Internet bubble burst, so did Tucson’s craft brewing scene.

The remaining three are now reaping the benefits of a public that has finally gotten turned on to craft beers.

“Tucson is usually five to 10 years behind the rest of the world,” jokes Arnold. “Five years ago we couldn’t get anyone interested in an IPA, now it’s my No. 2 beer.”

Tracy is just as amazed at the newfound passion for IPAs, so much so that he now has two of his own always on tap, just in case he runs out of one.

“I remember back in 1998 when we opened, we couldn’t give our IPA away,” he says. “We brewed a batch and had it on tap and no one wanted to try it. It took us a while to do it again, but now it’s one of our flagships.”

Counts has seen the same thing happening at Nimbus, plus another trend that has just recently bubbled up.

“Everyone seems to be embracing the Belgian styles we’re coming out with,” he says.

The brewers aren’t limiting themselves to just IPAs and Belgians. All three say that the locals are always demanding something different, from Nimbus’ Old Monkey Shine, a malty English pub-style ale, to Barrio’s Moca Java Stout, which is loaded with coffee, lactose and cocoa. Tracy says he’s had tremendous success with fruit beers — Strawberry Lightning is on tap now — and he’s currently at work on an imperial porter.

Baseball may be leaving town, but Tucson’s craft brewing scene is reborn. And who knows? The beer is getting so good and so creative, big Frank Thomas may be compelled to return to his favorite bar stool for another pint.

– Chris Gigley is a freelance writer.

Air Canada
Headquarters: Montreal, Quebec
Slogan: “Go far.”
Why we love it: Air Canada’s planes are equipped with XM radio (XM Canadian radio, but XM radio nonetheless), television screens and music ports, and interactive games in every seat in both business and economy. They also offer USB ports to charge electronics so you can start playing with your handheld mp3 player/latest iThing immediately upon exiting the aircraft. Plus, February 6th marked the fourth humanitarian flight to Haiti to deliver medical supplies.
Most memorable moment: Air Canada was the official airline of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, responsible for transporting over 2,700 athletes to and from the games. Twenty Air Canada employees participated in the running of the torch. Oh, Canada.
Beers: Kokanee Beer, Budweiser, Bud Light, Alexander Keith’s
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Three

Alaska Air
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington
Slogan: “North of expected.”
Why we love it: This airline has a very feel-good background, founded on the principles of “can do” and “neighbor helping neighbor.” The airline claims these are the Alaskan way. And we like that they offer a little Alaskan flavor on their beer menu.
Most memorable moment: This airline took part in the historic Berlin Airlift in 1948, risking life and limb and airplane alike, and also helped to bring thousands of Yemenite Jews to Israel for their safety from Arab unrest.
Beers: Alaskan Amber, Corona, Miller Light, Budweiser.
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Three

Frontier Airlines
Headquarters: Denver, Colorado
Slogan: “A whole different animal.”
Why we love it: This airline is a relative newbie (established in 1994), and under the branding and ownership of Republic Airways Holdings Inc. is a leading low-cost airline in the U.S.  In 1993, execs from the original Frontier Airlines as well as newcomers from Republic Airways gave Frontier a fresh start. Codeshare agreements with Midwest Airlines (also owned by Republic Airways) means a consistent in-flight experience between the two airlines (as well as Chautauqua Airlines, Lynx Aviation, Midwest Airlines, Republic Airlines, and Shuttle America) and access to 70 different destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica. Frontier has grown in size and popularity as various airlines have cut-back or disintegrated altogether over the nearly 100 years of commercial air service our fine country has enjoyed.
Most memorable moment: Almost all of the aircrafts that Frontier flies feature an animal on the tale of the plane. And every one of these critters has a name: Hector the Sea Otter and Jack the Rabbit, for example.
Beers: Miller Genuine, Miller Light Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Newcastle
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Four

Virgin Blue
Headquarters: Queensland, Australia
Slogan: “Keeping the air fair.” “Now there’s an idea.”
Why we love it: Virgin Blue is the second largest airline in Australia and another low-cost option.
Most memorable moment: Virgin pioneered another unique airline that has received a lot of media attention, Virgin Galactic. With Galactic, a flier pays more or less his or her gross earnings for 15 fiscal years (if you’re a magazine intern) to fly to the earth’s uppermost atmosphere and enjoy zero gravity, spectacular views, and an incredible chance to see the earth where only a handful of others have had the opportunity to go. Flights cost $200,000, so it would be wise to begin saving now.
Beers: Victoria Bitters, Crown Lager, Pure Blonde
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Three

Allegiant Airlines
Headquarters: Las Vegas, Nevada
Slogan: N/A
Why we love it: Originally dubbed WestJet Express but required to relinquish the name to an existing airline with the same name, Allegiant was rebranded in 1997. Allegiant focuses on flights to airports that have limited service from mainline air carriers.
Most memorable moment: This airline is so new that currently their most memorable moment seems to be opening their doors. But you can only go up from there, right?
Beers: Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra.
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Two

WestJet
Headquarters: Alberta, Canada
Slogan: “We succeed because I care.”
Why we love it: This airline, founded in 1996, hopes to be a leading commercial airline by 2016. Like so many new airlines, the craft comes equipped with a number of conveniences, including LiveTV.
Most memorable moment: In 2006, Westjet was accused of — and admitted to — using various tools of espionage to gain valuable company information regarding Alaskan Airlines business practices. The company issued a formal apology and gave $10 million to various children’s charities.
Beers: Molson, Coors Light
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): One

Hooters Air
Headquarters: Alberta, Canada
Slogan: Too busy staring to ask.
Why we love it: This airline, founded in 2003, flew its last run in 2006. It was advertised as a low-fair airline, the brain-child of the fine folks at Hooters (not the ones in orange, but the men behind the women of Hooters) and was targeted to the golf-and-business crowd. While the airline is out of service and could not be reached for comment, reviews on popular travel sites claimed the service wasn’t as lowbrow as you’d expect — in fact, most passengers seemed pleasantly surprised by Hooters Air. The increased fuel prices following Hurricane Katrina were the demise of the brand, but it was sure nice while it lasted.
Most memorable moment: The stewardesses of Hooters Air wore — what else? –the official Hooter’s garb: orange hotpants and bosom-baring tanks, in which they performed all of the typical duties of a flight attendant… but just looked better doing it.
Beers: If we knew, we’d be raising a toast.
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): N/A

– Mariah Beckman is an editorial intern at DRAFT Magazine.

Since when is air travel all about getting from A to B? Life isn’t about the destination — it’s the journey. Make your next airline journey an informed one with DRAFTMag.com’s pick of airlines who present their client-base with popular and indigenous brews to ease the travel-weary mind. In part one, we check in on some of the big boys and girls in the industry. Come on back tomorrow for round dos.

American Airlines
Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas
Slogan: “We know why you fly.”
Why we love it: American Airlines carries more passengers from the U.S. and Latin American than any other airline, making it the most likely carrier the next time you fly. American Airlines was formed after years of aviator hunting — the conglomerate originally began seeking out small aviary companies, including Charles Lindburg’s employer, Robertson, in 1929 — and by 1934 had become a lindy-hopping version of the airline we know and love today. Far from being old-fashioned, this company was the first commercial airline to hire both a female and Aftrican-American pilot. They were even forward-thinking enough to establish a stewardess college in the 1950’s. How cute is that?
Most memorable moment: In February 2010, American Airlines launched a site dedicated to commemorating the achievements of African Americans in aviation and aerospace, Black History in Aviation. Equality? We’ll drink to that.
Beers: Amstel Light, Heineken, select domestic beers (check your flight for specific beers offered)
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Three

Delta Airlines
Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
Slogan: “Change is___”.
Why we love it: Delta is the largest airline in the world in terms of passenger and fleet size, and until mid-’10 will be the only airline to offer service to every continent except Antarctica. The airline’s roots as an aerial crop dusting operation are amusing, considering that they currently traffic over 170 million passengers and do not seem to be the least bit concerned with boll weevils.
Most memorable moment: In 2009, Delta merged with Northwest Airlines to become the largest airline in the world, just in time for their 80th anniversary.
Beers: Corona Extra, Michelob Ultra Light, Miller Light, Heineken
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Two

Southwest Airlines
Headquarters: Dallas, Texas
Slogan: “You are now free to move about the country.” “Just plane smart.” “Wanna get away?” “It’s on.”
Why we love it: It isn’t just because the original flight attendants were chosen by the same man who picked out Hugh Hef’s stewardesses. (They wore hot pants and go-go boots, and served “love potions” and “love bites” that looked suspiciously like Coke and peanuts). No, it’s Southwest’s low-fare that attracts us — they are the nation’s leading low-cost airline in terms of passengers carried per year. They also have a series of crafts, called Spirit One, that are painted and themed inside and out to look like, among other things, Shamu, Sports Illustrated cover model Bar Refaeli, a basketball, and Tinker Bell.
Most memorable moment: In 1983, author Winifred Barnum transformed the real-life struggle between emerging airline Southwest and other incumbent (i.e., successful) airlines into a children’s book called “Gumwrappers and Goggles.” In this Jay-Jay the Jet Plane-style tale, a little airline is taken to court because the older airplanes won’t let him join in their airline games. Then The Lawyer and Good Air Fairy uphold his right to fly, and the little engine that suddenly could learns the magic of honestty, hard work, and love. Awww… While no names were specifically mentioned in the tome, the plane’s colors were the same as Southwest’s. The book inspired a musical of the same name that is coincidentally only shown in cities where Southwest flies.
Beers: Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Miller Light, Heineken
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Two

US Airways
Headquarters: Tempe, Arizona
Slogan: “Fly with US.” “Fly the flag with USAir.” “USAir begins with you.”
Why we love it: This airline began as a simple mail carrier in 1939. Today they consider themselves one of America’s greatest success stories.
Most memorable moment: In 1992, US Airways officially purchased Donald Trump’s small airline, Trump Shuttle, and got to say “You’re fired” to The Donald himself. Respectfully, of course.
Beers: Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck’s
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Two

Continental Airlines
Headquarters: Houston, Texas
Slogan: “Work hard. Fly right.”
Why we love it: This airline offers in-flight live television (90 channels, which is more than some people get at home) and inflight Internet. It’s not blazing fast so you might not be able to Google apps on your iPhone, but you’ll be able to check out the latest DRAFTMag.com posts at 39,000 feet. And while Continental may only offer three drafts in the U.S., they certainly get points for being indigenous with their selection of continent-appropriate brews.
Most memorable moment: Honestly, Continental has a pretty dull history. We looked but nothing flew (ha!) to the forefront. Also, they never called us back.
Beers: Corona Extra, Heineken, Miller Lite, Assahi, (Japan only), Gold Star (Israel only), Tsing Tao (Hong Kong only), Yanjing (Beijing only)
Pilot wings for beer selection (out of four): Two

– Mariah Beckman is an editorial intern at DRAFT Magazine.

Enjoy.

Snooki – Sam Adams Imperial Stout: Stout dark ale with plenty of kick (remember those back walkovers at the Shore’s Club Karma?) that screams, “Party’s heeeeeere.” Full-bodied and robust, this craft brew packs a dynamite punch (and knows how to take one, too), and is available in plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and animal print corsets.

DJ Pauly D – Shock Top Belgian White: Hardly a hair gel-stiff mix (4.5 percent ABV), this good-natured, amicable brew is quite popular with boardwalk babes and Israeli stalkers. Down a DJ’s dozen, though, and you’ll be spinning faster than “bang the beat” records, ready to get down to “strictly business”: jacuzzi, bedroom, business, sleep. It’s a blown-out brew the way God (and Rhode Island guidos) intended.

Ronnie – Red Stripe: Hooray for this stumpy 12 oz. bottle with a bold lager flavor and anger management issues. When push comes to shove (sorry, Sammi), and you’re wound up tighter than an Affliction t-shirt, there’s only one way to get the party started. (And no, it’s not Ron Ron Juice.) Take “one shot, kid” of this heavy-handed brew to relax your juiced-up delts and get you “ready to party… and just get creepy, filthy, and weird.”

Sammi “Sweetheart” – Sweetwater IPA: Loaded with intense hop flavor and dark eyeliner, this craft ale is lovable by name but bitter in taste. Imbibers of this hoppy brew beware: Get caught talking to a tall blonde pilnser with a hairsprayed poof, and you’ll end up crying, hugging, and forfeiting your manhood while the IPA gives her number to a cop.

Vinny – Birra Messina: If you’re looking for a Sicilian craft brew with a great sociable flavor as infectious as pink eye, you’ve found your perfect pint. With aromas of hops and Axe body spray aplenty, you’re guaranteed a fist pumpin’ good time with each and every sip. It’s all about the GTL, baby. (Great Tasting Lager, of course)

J-Woww – Dorada, Especial: Bursting forth with big melon flavor (that’ll whap! you in the face if you dance too close), this supple cerveza (no lie, she’s Irish and Spanish… go figure) is best served with house music and a side of Pauly D’s pierced prosciutto. A 5.5% ABV light golden lager, this malt from Madrid drops candied hints of sweetness throughout, but don’t be fooled by palette pleasantries (or silicone implants, for that matter). One false move, and you’re liable to end up on the receiving end of a spinning back punch, courtesy of a Barcelona biatch with bad hair extensions.

Mike “The Situation” – Yuengling Black & Tan: Modeling a traditional English Half and Half (and underwear with Bar Rafaeli), this pilsner-style brew is “fake bake” golden in color and ripped up like Rambo. Caramel smooth with malty notes, any night of the week’s a perfect excuse to grab a 6-pack of this 4.7 percent ABV craft brew, pick out a girl to bring back from the club, and have yourself a situation.

Angelina – Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA: This strong craft brew (18 percent ABV) won’t talk with its hands, but if you fail to drink in moderation, you’ll have to deal with an early A.M. headache and that annoying Staten Island accent. Luckily, the brief pain will pass, pack its –ish in trash bags, and take itself out to the curb, missing out on reality television infamy and a big pay day.

– Adam Tokarz is a Boston-based freelance writer who reminds his friends to stay thirsty and always wear sunscreen. He can be reached at adam.tokarz(at)gmail.com.

When Chris Johnston leaves his office and steps out onto Woodward Avenue in Ferndale, a suburb north of downtown Detroit, signs of revitalization are apparent. He sees people everywhere.

If Johnston hadn’t opened Woodward Avenue Brewers in 1997, Ferndale would probably still be a ghost town. But amid layoffs, real estate foreclosures, and generally bad news that has hung over the city like a dark cloud for the last four years, Ferndale is a growing and thriving beacon. And Johnston’s brewpub, known among the locals as “the WAB,” is the undisputed “third place” in the neighborhood. Customers think of it as more than just a place to have a beer.

“People have watched us grow and evolve over time, and they feel like they’ve been a part of our growth and the growth of the neighborhood,” says Johnston. “We’ve been a constantly changing, and they like that. They like remembering when we didn’t have booze or when we didn’t have a patio. It shows them how far we’ve come.”

What customers don’t like remembering is the neighborhood before the WAB. Really, it was no neighborhood at all.

“It seemed very desolate,” recalls Johnston, who spent two years renovating the building before it opened. “We did a lot of the renovation work ourselves and spent most of our time inside. When we’d come out for breaks you couldn’t tell whether it was 9 a.m., noon or 6 p.m. There were never any people around. It took years for that to change.”

It took some pretty good beer, too. In the beginning, Johnston’s brother, Grant, served as brewmaster and he created six flagship beers that remain on the menu to this day. The Custom Blonde ale, says Johnston, is the best seller.

“When people say they want another kind of beer we don’t have, we steer them to the Blonde,” he says. “It’s the most versatile beer we have.”

Custom Blonde is a light-bodied ale brewed with wheat, aromatic malts, and mild hops that give it a clean finish. But there’s much more diversity to the lineup than that. Johnston says the WAB’s current brewmaster, Greg Burke, has taken the brewery to another level since he came on board in 2005.

“I think I just more or less refined each particular beer and made each one more stylistically accurate while distinguishing the beers from one another,” says Burke, who has been brewing professionally for 15 years. Prior to taking the job at the WAB, the American Brewer’s Guild grad worked at Grizzly Peak Brewing Company in Ann Arbor, Motor City Brewing Works in downtown Detroit, and Redwood Lodge in Flint.

Another thing Burke has done at the WAB is put interesting spins on the flagship beers. The Vanilla Porter, for instance, is based on the WAB’s signature beer, the Custom Porter. The addition of pure vanilla creates a flavor with more balance between sweetness and bitterness. Burke intends to keep experimenting on new beers and on his customers.

“We have two guest taps in the brewpub I use to push the envelope and expose people to new stuff,” says Burke. “Brewing is like any individual sport. You’re competing against yourself. You always have to strive to be better and it’s good to have other examples to measure yourself against.”

If there’s a positive outcome of Detroit’s economic malaise, both Burke and Johnston says it’s a paradigm shift among residents about the beer they drink. More people than ever are moving to craft beers.

“When my idea for the brewery came about 15 years ago, it was because I saw microbreweries getting popular out West,” says Johnston. “Eventually, the national fad wore off and we watched the trend go down. I think because of the economy, it’s come back because certainly there’s a focus on supporting what’s here. Actually, I think there’s a passion for local products in general.”

Johnston says the strong buy-local sentiment has bolstered the craft brewing industry statewide, making him feel more optimistic about the future of his business, his neighborhood, and his city. Already, more happy faces are showing up at the WAB every night. And Burke says craft brewers across Michigan have pulled together to support one another and positioning themselves for collective prosperity down the road.

The general mood around Detroit, at least, seems to be changing for the better. If anyone can sense it, it’s the guy who almost single-handedly revitalized a neighborhood in the nation’s most downtrodden city.

“I think when the economic downturn started, people were in a state of denial, then a state of shock,” says Johnston. “Now I think it’s time for people who are capable of doing things to lead the way and promote business around here and show people we can survive. I’m certain we will.”

– Chris Gigley doesn’t smoke, but he almost had to have a cigarette after pairing the WAB’s Vanilla Porter with the bacon-swiss loose burger. It was that good.

SF Beer Week kicks off its second annual festival on February 5th. In preparation for the glorious 10-day experience, we caught up with beer writer Jay Brooks who helped found the event last year. He talks to us about his favorite events, using social media to recruit the masses, and why too much choices is a good thing indeed.

What’s your role in SF Beer Week?

I’m one of the founders. It stemmed out of two different ideas. I used to be the GM of the Celebrator beer magazine and we had an event that we ran for six or seven years called Beerapalooza. We had a few events that took place over the same week. Then, some of the folks in San Francisco — most notably Shaun O’Sullivan and Dave McLean — who have strong beer months during the month of February had also looked at events like Philly Beer Week and thought that the format might work well in San Francisco. There were six of us initially last year and reconfigured Beerapalooza as SF Beer Week and made it a new event and made it what it is now.

How much work is it? Is it ever overwhelming?

It’s pretty overwhelming. [Laughs] I think last year, it succeed in spite of ourselves. We paid for all of it ourselves, each of the people who founded it. We didn’t have sponsors the way we do this year. It was hard work.

This year, there are a lot of people working hard still, but because we’ve had some sponsorship money, we’ve been able to develop the Web site in a better way, more streamlined. We were able to have a small paid staff that was responsible for taking care of those things and not just have people try to fit it in wherever they could around their other job. That’s made a big difference I think we’re a little more prepared this year than we were last year.

What’s different this year?

The biggest one is probably that last year, there were a lot of people and breweries who didn’t quite get what we were trying to do ahead of time at least. Now that they saw how successful the first SF Beer Week was, we have a lot more people coming to us and saying, “Hey, I want to be a part of this.” They saw how it went, that it did bring people into the city, and that everyone who put on events had good attendance. Everything worked out kind of the way we expected, which was that you throw a lot of great events and people are helpless not to come.

You have a pretty comprehensive Web presence with a Twitter feed, an iPhone app, and a fun Web site. Can you talk a little bit about the social media aspects of planning Beer Week?

That’s a product of really looking at the importance of social media to events and really bringing in people who are really good at it. Gannett SF is the company we turned to. That’s something we couldn’t afford last year, but this year we could and it was important to have that eye-catching site. I mean hell, we’re in Silicon Valley. If our Web site didn’t look good, we’re doing something wrong.

Are you noticing the social media efforts helping to reach new people?

It’s hard to tell. There certainly are new venues and people who are putting on events that are different from last year. We’re certainly seeing involvement from groups who weren’t involved last year, who took more of a wait and see approach. So yeah, but it’s hard to tell who’s going to attend and whether that’s going to change and grow. We certainly hope so. We’ll see.

You have roughly 20 events per day. How do you suggest people choose what to attend?

I think there are two ways that people can look at that. One is what’s close to them. For people who are in the South Bay, maybe it makes sense to look at what’s there. The second way is what’s most exciting to you. It’s hard to choose. That’s our No. 1 complaint, and that’s a complaint we like to hear: “There’s too much. I can’t decide!” I think that’s great.

The fact that there are overlapping events that lots and lots of people would want to go to speaks well of what we’ve tried to do with our beer week. This is certainly not to pour alcohol on other beer weeks, but something we set out to do was to not have the “Pint Night” sort of events. We didn’t want to have happy hour type of events, but to have all the events that are going on showcase beer in a really good light. There has to be something to it. We have less events than some of the other beer weeks but we think that the quality of all the events really is our goal, and for that I think we are succeeding.

Any events you’re specifically looking forward to?

Lots of things. One of the most fun events I went to last year was a cheese and beer event at the Bistro in Hayward. The cheese event was very different from any one that I’ve ever been to. What they did was they got five different cheeses and five different breweries, and they asked brewery to pick one of their beers to pair with each of the cheeses. Everybody got a lump of cheese and then five small pourings of a beer from each brewery. Basically, you sat down with one cheese and five beers and tried that cheese with each of the five beers trying to decide which one paired best. They tallied that up and at the end — I don’t think there were any losers, but they said which one most people seemed to think worked best with the cheese.

Usually when you do a cheese and beer pairing, it’s one cheese and one beer. This was a way to make it much more fun and educational in so far as you tried a range of beers with the same cheese and you saw what worked and what didn’t work in a much more real-time sort of way that I hadn’t seen before. I’m looking forward to that again.

When you wake up on the morning or the afternoon of February 15th, how will you know SF Beer Week has been a success?

I think it’s the passion of all the people in the Bay Area. Every community has it’s own vibe for its beer scene, and ours is one of people who are really passionate about what they are doing. You see the same people event after event, and we’re all here for the same reasons: It’s fun, it’s enjoyable, it enriches our lives.

– Noah Davis is editor of DRAFTMag.com.

Kona Oceanic Organic Ale
Freaky coincidence, or a sign the brewing industry has something to do with the Island’s mysteries? This saison is both brewed in Hawaii (where the series is shot) and named after the parent airline of doomed Flight 815.

Atlanta Brewing Co. Numbers Ale
We’re almost as obsessed with this biscuity, grassy Southern session beer as we are with 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.

LeftHand SmokeJumper
We’ll take our smoke in liquid form, thanks; this campfire smoke-laced beer is much more satisfying and certainly less physically painful than the island’s course-correcting smoke monster.

Widmer Hefeweizen
Could Widmer Bros. Brewery be a money-laundering front for Charles Widmore? Nice try, buddy; really creative name-change trick.

Celestial Meads Clarity
Made with raw honey, this delicate, fruity mead represents what we loyal viewers need this season — a clear explanation of the blurry, time-jumping story arc.

Hite Beer
Maybe if we drink the No. 1-selling lager from their homeland of South Korea, Sun and Jin will find a way to transcend their four-decade time rift and be together already.

Naked City Brother Orchid
This new, fruity Belgian ale from Seattle hearkens two of our favorite LOST elements: The Orchid station, site of that crazy frozen donkey wheel, and “Brotha,” the aww-shucks Desmondism.

Boulder Beer Flashback Anniversary Ale
It’s one flashback we won’t get sick of — an intriguing “India brown ale” that’s both citrusy and roasty. Still, we can’t help question the beer’s eerie circumstances: It’s the brewery’s ninth release in its Looking Glass Series (Looking Glass=the underwater station where Charlie met his fate), and it was crafted to celebrate the anniversary of when two university professors decided to start a brewery in the 1970s. What’s next? Are they gonna reveal they were researching the effects of time travel on rats with Faraday?

Firestone Walker Double Jack IPA
The Losties’ fearless leader is suffering from a serious case of dual personalities: The first few seasons of LOST showed us kind-hearted, valiant Dr. Jack, but recently, we’ve seen only boozed-up, pill-popping Jack. So, we’re hoisting this high-alcohol IPA and hoping Good Jack triumphs over Nasty Jack in season 6.

Brownings Dharmahead Trippel
Because if we don’t drink the Dharma beer, there might be another “incident.”

Located on the shore of Lake Huron in Tiverton, Ontario, Steelback Brewery is a small craft brewery dedicated to providing its imbibers with a premium Canadian beer at a premium price. But its award-winning Red Maple lager (a Gold Winner at the Ontario Brewing Awards, the maple lager is brewed traditionally with locally-sourced maple syrup for a smooth, creamy texture) only tells part of the story.

In 2008, Frank D’Angelo, then-CEO of Steelback and its avid, often-flamboyant pitchman, sold his share of the brewery to business partner Dr. Barry Sherman, billionaire owner of Apotex, Inc., Canada’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs. In turn, Dr. Sherman handed the reigns of his brewery to 24-year-old son Jonathon, a recent college graduate who studied industrial engineering and operations research at Columbia.

DRAFTMag.com caught up with Jonathon recently to discuss his portfolio of craft brews, Steelback’s new direction, and the challenges he’s faced as a young, unproven CEO in his first year at the helm.

DRAFTMag.com: All right, first things first. Give us your 30 second elevator pitch for Steelback beer.
Jonathon Sherman: Steelback is a new company. It was formed in May, 2008, and it’s a very small craft brewery in Ontario. All our craft brews are made by very traditional processes of brewing the beer. We’re a craft brewery that has won a number of different awards for quality of our beer, and our prices are pegged to the national brands, so we consider ourselves a craft brew for the everyday guy.

DM: Tell us a little bit about what makes your beer unique.
JS: Steelback has its own unique natural spring water source. We don’t have problems with filtering city water and that type of stuff. We pull our water right from the ground, treat it the way we want, and pull away or add minerals as we see fit. No one else can tap into our water source.

We’re also located in the country, so we can procure ingredients locally rather than have them shipped in from all over the place, using local buyers within 100 miles and locally-sourced food items. So that’s definitely been playing well for us.

DM: According to The Toronto Star, Frank D’Angelo is, “a man who breathed and lived fabulosity” and was coined “the consummate promoter.” He’s had energy drink companies, restaurants, even toured with his own rock band (Steelback 20-20). How has the face of Steelback changed since you’ve assumed the CEO position? What was/is your relationship with D’Angelo now?
JS: I guess I’ll answer the second part first. There’s no more association with Frank, the old owner. He’s no longer involved with the company at all from a marketing, ownership, or contributions perspective. And when he departed a couple years ago, we took six months to restructure the company. Everything was reviewed and really the only thing that remained with the old company was the name.

One of the common questions we get right now is, “Why didn’t we decide to change our name?” The reason we kept it is because there was so much history and so much done with the name Steelback, and so much money was spent in advertising. Now, the budget that was previously used by the old company for advertising is being greatly reduced, pretty much exclusively dedicated now for a sales team which goes door to door to bars, gets our beer on tap, and then sits there, talks to the regulars, educates them, and does a lot of sampling. Our new approach is basically, “One bar at a time.” Our approach from the beginning has been one-on-one education and really convincing people to become brand ambassadors.

DM: Has your craft beer portfolio changed?
JS: Yes. So there were a few brewmasters over time, and the brewmaster we kept from the old company [Jayne McGillivray], her background was more in quality control. In the six months of restructuring, she took her course for master brewing and is now an accredited beermaster. We also hired a consultant, a retired brewmaster, to help us reconfigure some of the equipment, tune up some of the recipes, and implement processes to standardize the whole brewing process. This way, we could abolish one of the flaws of the old company, which was inconsistency in the product.

We’ve streamlined the portfolio, so the old company was offering, I think, either 12 or 13 types of beer, many of which were competing against each other. What we did was limit them down to their unique different types, so now we have: one dark lager; one honey brown lager, which we call our premium draft, which is kind of like an easy-drinking, lager kind of beer for the summertime; a light, a 4 percent, low calorie beer; and we have our mainstream lager. And, once in awhile, we’ll come out with a specialty beer [like the Red Maple lager].

DM: So you’re in the midst of completely restructuring a national Canadian brewery to a quite different business model: a smaller, localized brewery with minimal advertising. What sorts of challenges have you faced as a young CEO?
JS: To put it to scale, we went from over 100 employees to a company of 10. In the beginning, I didn’t have much of a practical business background, so I surrounded myself with an experienced team. Like a very well learned CFO who I hired in for the first year to make sure that everything was being properly managed from a financial point of view. We’ve already discussed the fact that we brought in a retired veteran brewmaster to reconfigure the recipes because I could never go in there and say what they’re doing right off the bat. You learn from the people you surround yourself with.

Along with streamlining the number of beers that we offered, we also reviewed the packaging itself. In the past, there was plastic bottles, there were cans, and there were glass bottles. With twelve brands and three different package formats, it’s a lot of inventory to manage. So the new approach is to move exclusively to the brown glass bottles so the beer stays fresh as long as possible and there’s much less inventory to manage. We can now monitor it close enough so that it’s not sitting on the shelf longer than it should.

DM: Now, despite the different national and international accolades that Steelback’s garnered over the years, beer Web sites rate Steelback pretty low across the board. Do you feel the new Steelback (post-2008) should be held to its own rating standard?
JS: It’s part of the challenge that we’re dealing with, the old stigma of the company. A lot of the international Web sites probably don’t realize that we are a new company and haven’t tried the beer again, because… on the grand scale, Steelback is a relatively obscure, unknown brand. Locally, there are beer bloggers that have recognized the changes we’ve made and have started making comments on Web sites. But it all takes time. If you narrow the search to southern Ontario, beer-blog type reviews, you’ll see more positive reviews recently. Unfortunately, on the international scope, it’s hard for us in a single year to make people aware.

– Adam Tokarz is a Boston freelance writer who uses “Once, in a Blue Moon” to start all his debauchery-filled stories. He can be reached at adam.tokarz(at)gmail.com.

Toronto is ruled by giants. Just ask any brewing company not named Molson, Labatt, or Sleeman. Or, better yet, ask any hockey team not named the Toronto Maple Leafs. The little guys have an uphill battle convincing the people of greater Toronto that there’s more to both beer and hockey.

But they’re trying. The city’s craft brewing community is a small and determined band of beer enthusiasts, each putting their own unique spin on beer to attract fans. The one making the most noise is Steam Whistle Brewing Co., based in a historic roundhouse in the shadow of CN Tower. Thanks to its location near Rogers Center and the home of the Leafs, Air Canada Center, its bar and brewery tours have become pre-game staples for the locals. The beer has become a draw, too.

“Our thing from the beginning has been to do one thing really well,” says Sybil Taylor, marketing communications manager for Steam Whistle.

That one thing is Czech-style pilsners. Steam Whistle doesn’t produce anything else. It has a new custom-built Czech brewhouse and a Czech brewmaster, Marek Mikunda, who honed his skills at the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in the Czech Republic. The result is a bright, smooth, and thirst-quenching beer that rivals the pilsners from the old country.

Steam Whistle is the only craft beer hockey fans can buy at a hockey game — any hockey game — in the area. The brewery supplies the Toronto Marlies, the Leafs’ top minor league affiliate. The Marlies play five minutes down the road in Ricoh Coliseum, an imposing concrete building reminiscent of the grand-old NHL hockey arenas. That includes Maple Leaf Gardens, which still stands dormant north of the city center.

“There really isn’t a bad seat in [Ricoh Coliseum],” says Chris Goddard, Steam Whistle’s marketing director and resident hockey afficionado. “But the Marlies just haven’t been able to draw. If people don’t have Leafs tickets, they’d just rather watch them on television than go out for a Marlies game.”

What they miss is great hockey in a great, old arena for a fraction of what it costs to see a Leafs game. Great Lakes Brewery’s John Bowden is just as perplexed as Goddard by Toronto hockey fans’ fixation on the Maple Leafs. He should know. He is one. Bowden has never been to a Marlies game, and he offers no explanation for it.

Launched in 1987, Great Lakes is the first craft brewer in Toronto. Today, the brewery has a storefront and brewhouse just west of downtown that’s visible from the Gardiner Expressway, the main artery leading to and from Toronto. Bowden often leads tours of the brew house, which is more typical of Ontario craft brewers — small. While Steam Whistle produces more than 12,000 gallons of beer each day, Great Lakes’ daily output is about 1,320.

Great Lakes produces seven beers, three of them seasonals. Soon, says Bowden, there will be more. Seasonal beers are Great Lakes’ strongest performers, and beer lovers who visit the city right now are in luck. Its winter ale, which features generous amounts of cinnamon, honey, ginger, and orange peel, is easily the brewery’s most popular seasonal brew.

“I think there’s been a huge shift toward more flavorful beers in Toronto,” says Bowden. “But it’s sort of a chicken-and-egg thing. Until people find beers like ours and try them, they won’t start asking for them at bars. But the ball has started rolling for sure.”

A sign of that are two other small breweries that have opened in the neighborhood. Cool Brewing Co., with a three-beer lineup that includes a unique hemp-based red lager, is about four miles north. Black Oak Brewing Co., which brews an award-winning nut brown ale, is less than two miles to the east.

The local hockey team for Great Lakes Brewing is the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, part of the Ontario Hockey League. The OHL, one of three major junior hockey leagues in Canada and the U.S., is similar to NCAA basketball. Most of the good pros have come through the league, including the legendary Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and last year’s overall first-round pick, John Tavares. Even though the Majors play in Hershey Center, a gorgeous new hockey arena with even better sightlines than Ricoh Coliseum, the building is rarely full.

The gravitational pull of the Leafs doesn’t ease until visitors get about an hour away from the city, where OHL towns are staunch supporters of their own teams, even when the Leafs are on television. The best example is in Kitchener, where the Rangers play in one of the oldest arenas left in the league, Kitchener Auditorium, which opened in 1951. Attendance is always at or near capacity, the fans are loud and knowledgeable, and the cozy confines of the building produce a hockey atmosphere that is about as authentic as it gets.

The Sleeman Center in nearby Guelph is another great OHL rink. The home of the Storm is set downtown and adjoins a quaint indoor shopping mall, making the intermissions a little more bearable. Unfortunately, the arena is ruled by local brewing giant Sleeman. That’s fine during the game, but beer lovers should check out Guelph’s Wellington Brewery, Canada’s oldest independent microbrewery.

After experiencing greater Toronto’s array of OHL teams and craft brewers, the answer will be as clear as a Steam Whistle pilsner. When it comes to beer and hockey, smaller is better.

– Chris Gigley favourite thing about Canada is Tim Horton’s, where the combo meals don’t include fries. They include donuts. He suggests the Canadian Maple.

Don’t get us wrong; at DRAFTMag.com, we realize that sometimes the best part about beer is picking up a six-pack on the way home from a long day and simply relaxing. For some, that weekday pilgrimage is not likely to be replaced with a five-hour science experiment of lifting hot pots and a month of patience. But now that we got our feet wet (and sticky) in the homebrew process, there’s a couple a things you need to know…

Size matters
Viewers who caught Homebrewing an Apple Crisp Ale may have noticed the operation being done on a smaller scale. That homebrew kit in particular was from Brooklyn Brew Shop, a couple-run homebrew store that puts out kits in smaller, one-gallon sizes perfect for taking up little space in a New York City apartment. Brewing with this kit could only have been easier if they’d overnighted the beer straight from Brooklyn; plus, the price was right. It was about $60 for the baby kit and grain mix (including shipping from New York to Phoenix). The trade-off? Less beer to show for all your hard labor. This one gallon kit only yields about 12 bottles, and even less when you don’t pour hot wort very well.

Science rules!
Since no one saw fit to talk about brewing beer on Bill Nye or the Magic School Bus, homebrewing calls for a little brushing up on basic chemistry and physics. For starters, be sure to have some kind of unit converter handy to easily keep track of volume; measurements could be in ounces, gallons, cups, quarts, etc. The most insignificant error in converting units can have pretty profound effects on your final product. Next, take time to figure out how beer works (besides the obvious); Brew Your Own has a great article detailing how malt, yeast, hops, and water come together. Trust us on this one, if you don’t know roughly how beer is made in the first place, the already daunting homebrew instructions are going to seem a whole lot worse. Lastly, be smarter than gravity. Don’t assume that you understand all the physics of siphoning liquid from place to place. If physics weren’t your strong suit, practice siphoning with containers of water set on the same levels you plan to use for your beer.

Read the instructions
The straight-forwardness of this point is annoying, but skipping, mis-reading or mis-understanding even one step of the process could ruin your whole batch. If you are brewing by yourself, get a friend in on it to provide a second opinion. As a side note, read the instructions as soon as your kit is home (especially if it is being shipped, and even more so if you live in a warm climate). Depending on your brew, some ingredients (namely, liquid yeast) need to be refrigerated. So if you let your kit sit for more than a day, the included ice pack will do it’s predictable thing; not only will this grime up your brand-new kit, but the yeast will die.

You aren’t the first person to make beer
The Mesopotamians beat you to the punch by about five centuries, but the point is, you aren’t alone. If you think something isn’t going right, or you just want to know more, the answer to your question is probably online. Even more fun is the homebrew sub-culture; beer drinkers are already a subset of the mainstream, but when you begin to brew, you join the ranks of some pretty cool folks. The American Homebrewers Association has great resources and forums to answer questions you didn’t know you had, and you can find out what homebrew events or competitions may be going on in your area.

Have fun!
Brewing at home is a fun, interesting process that any beer connoisseur should dabble in at least once. Despite all the pointers on things that could go wrong, there are really only a handful of ways to mess up the brew. At the end of the day, you can enjoy drinking the craft beer of your choice, at Bud Light prices. By the way, how did that Apple Crisp Ale fair among DRAFT writers?

“Definitely a great brew for the winter season. This beer’s caramel malts, floral hops, and cinnamon undertone would pair perfectly with holiday cookies,” said Christopher Staten, DRAFT associate editor.

“What I love most about it is that its certainly an apple beer — there’s just the slightest hint of sour apple in the very back of the swallow — but that it’s a complete 180 from cider. The emphasis is on the apple skin, hops and, cinnamon; they combine to produce a really floral, herbal, and decidedly bitter beer that’s akin to a dark apple pale ale. It’s delicious — too bad the batch wasn’t bigger!” said Jessica Daynor, DRAFT Managing Editor.

– Sarah Whitmire is an editorial intern at DRAFTMag.com.