1 00:00:00,515 --> 00:00:01,650 It's the brew 2 00:00:02,102 --> 00:00:02,602 podcast. 3 00:00:03,530 --> 00:00:06,070 It's the drive B with her Linda, our 4 00:00:06,070 --> 00:00:09,020 guest today is Tony Mcgee, the man who 5 00:00:09,020 --> 00:00:12,034 founded Lag. He's been in once before, Tony, 6 00:00:12,193 --> 00:00:13,700 welcome again, it's great to see you dude. 7 00:00:14,018 --> 00:00:14,256 Thanks. 8 00:00:14,986 --> 00:00:16,417 You really look good. What have you been 9 00:00:16,417 --> 00:00:18,324 doing? Well, you told me the other day 10 00:00:18,324 --> 00:00:19,914 that you've been doing, like, a lot with 11 00:00:19,914 --> 00:00:21,527 like, horses and gardening 12 00:00:21,981 --> 00:00:22,713 and Yeah. 13 00:00:23,510 --> 00:00:25,584 Yep, basically, my wife and I just retreated 14 00:00:25,584 --> 00:00:27,338 to a little piece of property. We are 15 00:00:27,338 --> 00:00:29,491 already living on and we just right away, 16 00:00:29,571 --> 00:00:31,245 our neighbors put their houses up for sales 17 00:00:31,245 --> 00:00:33,415 sweep. We bought those beautiful. So we had 18 00:00:33,415 --> 00:00:35,012 this nice little spread out there, and we 19 00:00:35,012 --> 00:00:35,252 just 20 00:00:36,130 --> 00:00:37,966 we started just accepting, 21 00:00:38,525 --> 00:00:40,680 friends that hurt my wife's horses who were, 22 00:00:41,094 --> 00:00:43,414 these horses were you know, in their twenties 23 00:00:43,414 --> 00:00:45,975 and now they're in their thirties and... So 24 00:00:45,975 --> 00:00:48,135 we called a place the last resort. So 25 00:00:48,135 --> 00:00:50,489 we got 14 horses. You and 2 donkey 26 00:00:50,549 --> 00:00:53,109 and 2 mules and no kid. Yeah. Yeah. 27 00:00:53,350 --> 00:00:53,850 And 28 00:00:54,390 --> 00:00:55,530 planted 7000 29 00:00:55,590 --> 00:00:57,838 trees, so it's all just comes pasture. So 30 00:00:57,838 --> 00:01:00,143 we still have 20 count calf pairs, but 31 00:01:00,699 --> 00:01:03,799 but 7000 trees basically forest us in the 32 00:01:03,799 --> 00:01:04,299 property 33 00:01:04,609 --> 00:01:06,619 The last time I saw Tony was actually 34 00:01:06,915 --> 00:01:07,392 Friday. 35 00:01:07,789 --> 00:01:09,641 He was gracious enough to join 36 00:01:10,015 --> 00:01:12,242 me and Don Barclay, who 37 00:01:12,798 --> 00:01:15,040 was worked at new A and found Men 38 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:15,597 brewing company, 39 00:01:17,187 --> 00:01:18,381 and Mark Carpenter, 40 00:01:20,847 --> 00:01:22,930 Yeah. Mark Carpenter from anchor. 41 00:01:23,566 --> 00:01:25,316 I got to interview both of them. Yeah, 42 00:01:25,475 --> 00:01:26,907 Tony on that, mike. Yeah. On this mic. 43 00:01:27,066 --> 00:01:27,464 Okay. Yeah. 44 00:01:28,670 --> 00:01:30,968 Last Friday for the museum of Sonoma County, 45 00:01:31,285 --> 00:01:34,058 the exhibit of, beer and hops. 46 00:01:34,930 --> 00:01:37,009 And you No. Log is is part of 47 00:01:37,009 --> 00:01:37,668 the history. 48 00:01:38,122 --> 00:01:40,109 Yeah. You know? How... That was That was 49 00:01:40,109 --> 00:01:41,778 so fun. Thanks for coming doing that. That 50 00:01:41,778 --> 00:01:43,209 was very fun. It was that's the first 51 00:01:43,209 --> 00:01:44,694 thing I've been asked to do since so 52 00:01:44,814 --> 00:01:46,173 since 2017. 53 00:01:46,413 --> 00:01:48,091 So was a nice nice time to relax, 54 00:01:48,251 --> 00:01:49,769 but also, it was a great thing to 55 00:01:49,769 --> 00:01:51,527 be called because they had the brewery be 56 00:01:51,527 --> 00:01:53,285 part of something that's a museum and very 57 00:01:53,285 --> 00:01:55,134 cool. That's a... Did you ever think you'd 58 00:01:55,134 --> 00:01:57,126 be in antiquity or in art in the 59 00:01:57,126 --> 00:01:59,198 archive? You what? You know? I always hope 60 00:01:59,198 --> 00:02:00,552 to 1 day I'd be worth something, you 61 00:02:00,552 --> 00:02:02,023 know? So It's 62 00:02:02,398 --> 00:02:04,547 I'm looking at good beer hunting dot com, 63 00:02:04,706 --> 00:02:06,934 and let me read the this article by 64 00:02:06,934 --> 00:02:09,242 just about any standard, Tony Mcgee should be 65 00:02:09,242 --> 00:02:11,327 considered 1 of the most success full Americans 66 00:02:11,327 --> 00:02:12,843 to have ever worked in beer. 67 00:02:14,278 --> 00:02:17,628 The entrepreneur started California's Lag brewing company in 68 00:02:17,628 --> 00:02:18,665 19 93, 69 00:02:19,144 --> 00:02:20,555 grew its Ipa focused 70 00:02:20,992 --> 00:02:22,981 portfolio owned to 1 of the largest breweries 71 00:02:22,981 --> 00:02:23,697 in the country. 72 00:02:24,651 --> 00:02:25,390 And now 73 00:02:25,844 --> 00:02:27,037 we're gonna talk about He. 74 00:02:27,848 --> 00:02:29,200 Well, so how did that start? 75 00:02:29,915 --> 00:02:31,926 I how did the He Yeah 76 00:02:32,381 --> 00:02:33,494 interaction start? Yes, please. 77 00:02:34,687 --> 00:02:35,935 You know, I I 78 00:02:36,531 --> 00:02:38,759 we were beginning to sell beer overseas, you 79 00:02:38,759 --> 00:02:40,590 know, here and there. That's very difficult to 80 00:02:40,590 --> 00:02:42,738 do and it's hard to do well. It's 81 00:02:42,738 --> 00:02:44,966 easy to do it poorly. Sure. And of 82 00:02:44,966 --> 00:02:47,130 course, And end up with old beer here 83 00:02:47,130 --> 00:02:49,062 and there all over the world and your 84 00:02:49,119 --> 00:02:51,188 reputation suffers. And so... But but I knew 85 00:02:51,188 --> 00:02:52,462 that we wanted to do that, and I 86 00:02:52,462 --> 00:02:54,292 could see that the Us market was filling 87 00:02:54,292 --> 00:02:56,856 up. With breweries. It was not a bad 88 00:02:56,856 --> 00:02:58,370 thing, but it was filling up. I mean, 89 00:02:58,450 --> 00:03:00,203 there was it really had brewery was opening 90 00:03:00,203 --> 00:03:01,956 every day. When when we started, I think 91 00:03:01,956 --> 00:03:03,629 there were 1200 breweries in the country, and 92 00:03:03,629 --> 00:03:05,479 when I did the made the He could. 93 00:03:05,638 --> 00:03:07,097 I think they're were 1200 in California. 94 00:03:07,476 --> 00:03:08,915 Yeah. And so I just thought I was 95 00:03:08,915 --> 00:03:11,013 like, you know, we need to cast 96 00:03:11,631 --> 00:03:13,961 a long line here to to start looking 97 00:03:13,961 --> 00:03:15,736 at a future that's bigger than just 98 00:03:16,113 --> 00:03:18,743 having fist fights in arm wrestling with with 99 00:03:18,743 --> 00:03:20,496 breweries in the United States in order to 100 00:03:20,496 --> 00:03:21,864 hold her You know, when you first... 101 00:03:22,580 --> 00:03:25,128 Anakin it was the last family owned global 102 00:03:25,128 --> 00:03:27,038 bridge. Yes. I remember. Yeah. Bad that's that 103 00:03:27,038 --> 00:03:28,764 was the reason why them, You know, place 104 00:03:28,963 --> 00:03:30,634 we didn't talk to other brewers, never talked 105 00:03:30,634 --> 00:03:33,020 to an he bush. Never talked to miller 106 00:03:33,020 --> 00:03:35,008 coo never right who's just He. 107 00:03:35,724 --> 00:03:38,443 And that is a for... From all reports 108 00:03:38,443 --> 00:03:40,988 that I know, a great company. And when 109 00:03:40,988 --> 00:03:43,135 that happened, I thought it was a good 110 00:03:43,135 --> 00:03:45,441 idea for you. Wow. Well, that's something. 111 00:03:46,013 --> 00:03:47,682 You know. Some people didn't. A lot of 112 00:03:47,682 --> 00:03:49,829 people didn't. Yeah. But and and, you know, 113 00:03:49,909 --> 00:03:51,658 the thing is too that, you know, it's 114 00:03:51,658 --> 00:03:53,169 a it's a good company, but it's also, 115 00:03:53,328 --> 00:03:54,697 you know, it's company brought a lot of 116 00:03:54,697 --> 00:03:57,090 change to log. And but the thing is 117 00:03:57,090 --> 00:03:58,525 that these are changes that would have had 118 00:03:58,525 --> 00:04:00,360 to happen, and I couldn't have done them. 119 00:04:00,918 --> 00:04:02,434 You know? I couldn't have really we you, 120 00:04:02,513 --> 00:04:05,483 we Not without logging need I mean, He. 121 00:04:05,723 --> 00:04:07,481 Yeah. I mean, what, we even, like, you 122 00:04:07,481 --> 00:04:08,839 know, they need to be restructured in the 123 00:04:09,079 --> 00:04:10,677 Us. You know, we we just been growing 124 00:04:10,677 --> 00:04:13,075 so fast for so long. That end up 125 00:04:13,075 --> 00:04:15,327 kind of little fl and not so focused. 126 00:04:15,567 --> 00:04:17,964 Yeah. Yeah. And I couldn't have made those 127 00:04:17,964 --> 00:04:19,882 changes that had to happen. I I wouldn't 128 00:04:19,882 --> 00:04:20,921 had the heart to do it even if 129 00:04:21,001 --> 00:04:22,874 I knew how to do it well. So 130 00:04:23,171 --> 00:04:25,562 He is very focused on making things make 131 00:04:25,562 --> 00:04:27,634 sense. And so that's now. 132 00:04:28,431 --> 00:04:29,649 Is now He... 133 00:04:30,677 --> 00:04:33,137 Totally owned lag? Yes. Oh, Yeah. They do. 134 00:04:33,375 --> 00:04:34,486 Since 2017 135 00:04:34,486 --> 00:04:36,073 though. Yeah. Okay. And you've been out and 136 00:04:36,073 --> 00:04:36,708 you're were retired. 137 00:04:37,343 --> 00:04:38,319 I have been 138 00:04:38,692 --> 00:04:38,850 retired. 139 00:04:39,660 --> 00:04:41,887 From Lag. I've re chatted and everything else. 140 00:04:42,443 --> 00:04:44,590 Well, good for you And your your your 141 00:04:44,590 --> 00:04:46,737 life is beautiful and you're still in the 142 00:04:46,737 --> 00:04:49,454 bay... In in our area. Yeah. Yeah. It's 143 00:04:49,454 --> 00:04:51,041 nice I wouldn't ever wanna leave this in 144 00:04:51,121 --> 00:04:53,026 Yeah. You know? You know, the funny thing 145 00:04:53,026 --> 00:04:54,693 is is like, we always side of the 146 00:04:54,693 --> 00:04:56,281 brewery. I always side of the brewery. I 147 00:04:56,281 --> 00:04:57,804 think people who did it, whether they thought 148 00:04:57,804 --> 00:04:59,867 about it or not acted this way. We 149 00:04:59,867 --> 00:05:01,137 thought of was an art project. 150 00:05:02,010 --> 00:05:03,597 And and the thing about... You know, an 151 00:05:03,597 --> 00:05:05,676 art project is, you know, picasso might work 152 00:05:05,676 --> 00:05:07,346 on a painting for a year and suffer 153 00:05:07,346 --> 00:05:09,095 over it and started 3 times and throw 154 00:05:09,095 --> 00:05:10,447 it away and res sketch it and start 155 00:05:10,447 --> 00:05:12,276 up. And finally, when he all done with 156 00:05:12,276 --> 00:05:14,365 it, he sells it. It leaves a studio 157 00:05:14,365 --> 00:05:16,845 and it never comes back. You know? Right. 158 00:05:17,084 --> 00:05:18,365 And you move on to do something else. 159 00:05:18,524 --> 00:05:18,685 You know, 160 00:05:19,805 --> 00:05:21,245 Well, and in know brewery was like that 161 00:05:21,245 --> 00:05:23,420 for us. And, the stuff all the stuff 162 00:05:23,420 --> 00:05:24,480 in the past that Lag 163 00:05:24,939 --> 00:05:27,660 did is is well known and loved and 164 00:05:27,660 --> 00:05:29,500 people love hanging out there, and you got 165 00:05:29,500 --> 00:05:30,960 the stage and the 166 00:05:31,274 --> 00:05:33,035 What are you calling that? The we call 167 00:05:33,035 --> 00:05:34,795 it the amp theater at? Yes. It it 168 00:05:34,795 --> 00:05:36,714 is the outdoor amp computer. There's so much 169 00:05:36,714 --> 00:05:37,355 going on there. 170 00:05:38,394 --> 00:05:39,115 It's very cool. 171 00:05:40,086 --> 00:05:42,234 So whatever every time time I travel, you 172 00:05:42,234 --> 00:05:45,098 know, I see Anakin. I'm kinda can I 173 00:05:45,098 --> 00:05:45,735 see luggage? 174 00:05:46,133 --> 00:05:48,397 Now this is on my brain. Lag is 175 00:05:48,532 --> 00:05:52,211 everywhere, but I brought... I invited La to 176 00:05:52,426 --> 00:05:55,066 lithuania as first craft beer festival And ironically, 177 00:05:55,305 --> 00:05:57,615 the brewer an organizer for that was actually 178 00:05:57,615 --> 00:05:59,367 at my house yesterday, and I took him 179 00:05:59,367 --> 00:06:00,801 over to Russian River brewery, 180 00:06:01,693 --> 00:06:02,672 Rays richard spot, 181 00:06:03,209 --> 00:06:03,709 and 182 00:06:04,246 --> 00:06:05,523 and if we just stood the chairs, it's 183 00:06:05,762 --> 00:06:07,437 Kat and went lithuania raining them. But you 184 00:06:07,437 --> 00:06:08,256 should seen 185 00:06:08,727 --> 00:06:10,711 I have these pictures of of 186 00:06:11,346 --> 00:06:13,330 these beer bloggers and the fur... And the 187 00:06:13,330 --> 00:06:16,425 first only woman beer in Lithuania, my friend 188 00:06:16,504 --> 00:06:16,822 Os, 189 00:06:17,314 --> 00:06:20,354 and all these people standing around the the 190 00:06:20,354 --> 00:06:22,834 table that La was pouring and Lithuania and 191 00:06:22,834 --> 00:06:24,274 this old Soviet factory, 192 00:06:24,914 --> 00:06:27,884 taking pictures and totally geek out on the 193 00:06:27,884 --> 00:06:30,038 bottles, and I I remember somebody walking up 194 00:06:30,038 --> 00:06:32,432 going to my eyes deceive me? Do I 195 00:06:32,432 --> 00:06:34,363 see la eat? And this was... Like, they 196 00:06:34,363 --> 00:06:36,281 weren't distributing there yet. This was just a 197 00:06:36,281 --> 00:06:38,620 special event. Yeah. But that is how 198 00:06:39,398 --> 00:06:42,296 excited people were, you know, to 199 00:06:42,915 --> 00:06:43,828 to see 200 00:06:44,205 --> 00:06:45,262 your beer there 201 00:06:45,718 --> 00:06:47,232 and to get to try it and it 202 00:06:47,232 --> 00:06:49,223 was, like, the longest line in the whole 203 00:06:49,223 --> 00:06:50,988 the whole place. Wow. Yeah. I mean, the 204 00:06:50,988 --> 00:06:52,735 only other 1 I had seen that kind 205 00:06:52,735 --> 00:06:53,950 of reverence for 206 00:06:54,323 --> 00:06:55,276 was anchor. 207 00:06:55,832 --> 00:06:57,420 So the anchor team was 1 of the 208 00:06:57,420 --> 00:06:58,691 first fears that had gone in, you know, 209 00:06:58,770 --> 00:07:00,217 when they when they we're able to get 210 00:07:00,217 --> 00:07:02,371 out of the Soviet union. Right. You got 211 00:07:02,371 --> 00:07:04,386 to, like, hang out with Mark, Carpenter 212 00:07:04,844 --> 00:07:06,279 Friday too. Yeah. It was great to seeing 213 00:07:06,439 --> 00:07:08,672 Mark, and he's he's the best, right at 214 00:07:08,672 --> 00:07:10,996 least so cool. Yeah. Those guys are. But, 215 00:07:11,155 --> 00:07:12,110 you, there's... You know, 216 00:07:14,258 --> 00:07:16,087 is a former musician. You know, you... You 217 00:07:16,087 --> 00:07:17,678 know, the... You you don't copy other people's 218 00:07:17,678 --> 00:07:19,368 legs, but you You try to copy how 219 00:07:19,368 --> 00:07:22,005 they thought. You play harp, Right. Harp... No. 220 00:07:22,325 --> 00:07:24,322 Guitar actually. Oh, okay. I thought give monica. 221 00:07:24,482 --> 00:07:26,240 And and and and mostly poorly, but I 222 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:27,935 I work at. But the thing is you 223 00:07:27,935 --> 00:07:29,774 copy there what they're thinking, not their legs. 224 00:07:29,935 --> 00:07:32,495 You know? Yeah. Right. So would anchor was 225 00:07:32,495 --> 00:07:34,035 somebody who I copied every 226 00:07:34,414 --> 00:07:36,347 bit of the thinking that I possibly Doing 227 00:07:36,347 --> 00:07:37,777 very. On the very first day. You know. 228 00:07:38,015 --> 00:07:40,479 What are we tasting now? It's tastes very 229 00:07:40,479 --> 00:07:40,717 familiar. 230 00:07:41,591 --> 00:07:42,624 This is actually 231 00:07:43,834 --> 00:07:46,235 Tony and I both forgot beer. And so 232 00:07:46,235 --> 00:07:48,254 the I went searching through 233 00:07:48,634 --> 00:07:51,684 the Wine catcher radio fridge and found a, 234 00:07:52,959 --> 00:07:56,305 speaking of history, eraser 5 red rocket Ale. 235 00:07:57,754 --> 00:08:00,223 I might have some fresher beer, newer beer. 236 00:08:00,621 --> 00:08:02,214 Fine. On its way over here. I said... 237 00:08:02,612 --> 00:08:04,763 It tasted familiar. And yeah. It is because 238 00:08:04,843 --> 00:08:06,730 I've tasted it. Yeah. And actually funny, Richard 239 00:08:07,009 --> 00:08:08,527 Nor grove had messaged me today he's getting 240 00:08:08,527 --> 00:08:10,145 me a sign for 241 00:08:10,524 --> 00:08:13,080 the museum of Sonoma County Beer exhibit. Okay. 242 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:14,848 So actually, I wanna talk about that a 243 00:08:14,848 --> 00:08:16,598 little bit because that's that's how Tony and 244 00:08:16,678 --> 00:08:17,951 I re reconnected. 245 00:08:19,701 --> 00:08:20,519 I was really 246 00:08:21,709 --> 00:08:23,307 pleased when you you said yes to come 247 00:08:23,307 --> 00:08:25,225 in to do the video. And then you 248 00:08:25,225 --> 00:08:26,823 had to go in and see them installing, 249 00:08:27,623 --> 00:08:29,621 and you saw a piece of equipment. Oh, 250 00:08:29,701 --> 00:08:30,714 yeah. Yeah. Yeah that 251 00:08:32,832 --> 00:08:34,910 has had some kind of old school brewing 252 00:08:34,910 --> 00:08:36,828 equipment in there. And 1 1 thing in 253 00:08:36,828 --> 00:08:39,306 particular was that Gru tank. Yeah. And Gru 254 00:08:39,386 --> 00:08:40,285 Tanks were these 255 00:08:40,599 --> 00:08:42,113 stainless steel tanks that came out of the 256 00:08:42,352 --> 00:08:44,423 Uk in other parts of Europe, and they 257 00:08:44,423 --> 00:08:46,335 they're there... They didn't ship beer breweries and 258 00:08:46,335 --> 00:08:48,341 ship beer to bars and ke. At at 259 00:08:48,341 --> 00:08:50,809 the time earlier. They they shipped them where 260 00:08:50,809 --> 00:08:52,480 they had trucks with hoses that would pull 261 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:53,992 up. And the and the trucks would, like, 262 00:08:54,072 --> 00:08:55,919 fill up, like a gas tank. They fill 263 00:08:55,919 --> 00:08:57,679 up these beer tanks in the back. Was 264 00:08:57,839 --> 00:08:59,440 Gru a guy or a company was a 265 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,279 company. Yeah. They made these little these little 266 00:09:01,279 --> 00:09:03,199 tanks are a there were 7 barrels, but 267 00:09:03,199 --> 00:09:04,639 there were some number of leaders on their 268 00:09:04,639 --> 00:09:06,329 side of on their side of the pond, 269 00:09:06,489 --> 00:09:07,285 but but these things, 270 00:09:08,321 --> 00:09:09,835 at some point, the republicans, 271 00:09:10,393 --> 00:09:12,226 the, you know, bar owners figured out that 272 00:09:12,226 --> 00:09:14,068 they could take the top off them and 273 00:09:14,068 --> 00:09:16,053 start filling them back up with water after 274 00:09:16,053 --> 00:09:18,458 they sell some of the beer. And so 275 00:09:18,514 --> 00:09:20,181 increase their margins, of course, you know, but 276 00:09:20,181 --> 00:09:22,023 the breweries sort of got wind of. Thought. 277 00:09:22,420 --> 00:09:23,850 Alright. That's the end of the Gru tanks. 278 00:09:24,247 --> 00:09:26,789 And so they just methodically started, taking them 279 00:09:26,789 --> 00:09:28,616 out of pubs and replacing the with Ke. 280 00:09:29,108 --> 00:09:31,574 And this this fellow that built my very... 281 00:09:31,813 --> 00:09:34,120 My first 2 Brew houses, at John Cross 282 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:35,813 out of Porter, Cool, California 283 00:09:36,125 --> 00:09:36,605 Cdc, 284 00:09:37,084 --> 00:09:38,924 he he he he bought all of the 285 00:09:39,084 --> 00:09:41,725 Gru tanks that that were available and and 286 00:09:41,725 --> 00:09:43,725 the pretty much the whole of the craft 287 00:09:43,725 --> 00:09:46,693 brewing was I mean, size anchor and Sierra, 288 00:09:46,853 --> 00:09:47,491 who came earlier. 289 00:09:48,049 --> 00:09:50,681 Everyone that came after, like, about 19 90, 290 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,313 but pretty much built their breweries on with 291 00:09:53,393 --> 00:09:55,160 Gru tanks at some point. Somewhere in them. 292 00:09:55,638 --> 00:09:57,228 And so that little tank is it just, 293 00:09:57,308 --> 00:09:58,739 like, 1... It's like, 1 of the founding 294 00:09:58,739 --> 00:10:00,568 rocks of craft brewing, you know, these... Well, 295 00:10:00,886 --> 00:10:03,690 Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewery brought Gru over, 296 00:10:03,850 --> 00:10:05,309 and it was funny because 297 00:10:06,089 --> 00:10:08,169 this is like a... I'm just I'm just 298 00:10:08,169 --> 00:10:10,409 volunteering for this. I don't work for the 299 00:10:10,409 --> 00:10:11,690 museum, although I I'd love to that. It's 300 00:10:11,690 --> 00:10:12,625 super fun I'm enjoying 301 00:10:14,105 --> 00:10:14,605 but 302 00:10:15,304 --> 00:10:16,825 they were, like, I don't know. Is it 303 00:10:16,825 --> 00:10:18,904 is a brewing equipment gonna fit in here, 304 00:10:19,144 --> 00:10:21,239 and that little gru does fit an It's 305 00:10:21,239 --> 00:10:22,837 like, I think that's gonna be something that 306 00:10:22,837 --> 00:10:24,355 people go look at while they're there. Yeah. 307 00:10:24,595 --> 00:10:26,113 And then there was just all those old 308 00:10:26,193 --> 00:10:28,910 Grace brothers bottles. And. And there was, like, 309 00:10:28,990 --> 00:10:30,991 a little box of old hops to remember. 310 00:10:31,229 --> 00:10:33,133 Yeah. Yeah. And I was asking tony. Was 311 00:10:33,133 --> 00:10:34,799 like, wow, that's that's so small. How could 312 00:10:34,799 --> 00:10:36,410 they have done anything was such a small 313 00:10:36,639 --> 00:10:39,273 a amount of pops. But yours weren't very 314 00:10:39,273 --> 00:10:39,832 bitter back then. 315 00:10:40,630 --> 00:10:42,864 So hot hops were just added just to 316 00:10:42,864 --> 00:10:44,381 just to mute the sugars, but not to 317 00:10:44,381 --> 00:10:45,992 be a flavor. You know, yeah. That's weird 318 00:10:45,992 --> 00:10:48,467 it. It's totally different. It's got everything's changed. 319 00:10:48,786 --> 00:10:48,946 Yeah. 320 00:10:49,664 --> 00:10:51,101 You know, you... It's it's strange thing. 1 321 00:10:51,101 --> 00:10:53,097 of the things I think is interesting. Most 322 00:10:53,097 --> 00:10:55,345 interesting about craft brewing as a whole. It 323 00:10:55,345 --> 00:10:58,212 said many ways it reinvented making beer. You 324 00:10:58,212 --> 00:10:59,668 know? Because beers were not 325 00:11:00,123 --> 00:11:01,716 made the way we all made them, And 326 00:11:01,716 --> 00:11:02,990 we did it because we didn't know any 327 00:11:02,990 --> 00:11:05,101 of or. Yeah. But because of of the 328 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:06,916 interesting things happened, you know? And so... 329 00:11:07,794 --> 00:11:09,549 And, like, adding all the hops. So we... 330 00:11:09,709 --> 00:11:11,225 You know, us at it, you, when we 331 00:11:11,225 --> 00:11:13,234 were me and a friend of mine, grant 332 00:11:13,393 --> 00:11:14,509 Asked from Rin brewing. 333 00:11:15,466 --> 00:11:15,625 He 334 00:11:16,343 --> 00:11:18,097 you know, he... We were some... I think 335 00:11:18,097 --> 00:11:20,144 we're probably among the first besides home brewers 336 00:11:20,264 --> 00:11:22,564 to be piling the hops into the end 337 00:11:22,564 --> 00:11:24,547 of the boil in the kettle. But that's 338 00:11:24,547 --> 00:11:26,371 not how it was done, and no textbook 339 00:11:26,371 --> 00:11:27,720 ever told you to do that. You always 340 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:29,888 add a all front. But you didn't know 341 00:11:29,888 --> 00:11:31,167 better, so you did it your way. We... 342 00:11:31,326 --> 00:11:32,066 Did a flavors 343 00:11:32,605 --> 00:11:34,283 get you that's all you see your pallet 344 00:11:34,283 --> 00:11:37,081 rather than the dogma. Exactly. Things happen. They're 345 00:11:37,081 --> 00:11:37,320 interesting. 346 00:11:39,092 --> 00:11:41,905 What has Designer can change anything at Lag 347 00:11:42,681 --> 00:11:44,994 because, you know, you mentioned a lot of 348 00:11:44,994 --> 00:11:47,307 people are are mad, and I don't get 349 00:11:47,307 --> 00:11:49,716 why that happens. Yeah, you know, people you 350 00:11:49,716 --> 00:11:51,472 sold it and you're retired and you're happy. 351 00:11:51,712 --> 00:11:53,388 Yeah. People don't like change, you know. Yeah. 352 00:11:53,548 --> 00:11:55,543 But every everything has to grow up and 353 00:11:55,543 --> 00:11:56,900 eventually you want. You know, if somebody has 354 00:11:56,900 --> 00:11:58,351 a kid, you wanted to get out of 355 00:11:58,351 --> 00:12:00,265 the stroller or get on a bicycle go 356 00:12:00,265 --> 00:12:02,179 out, eventually leave the house and have adventures, 357 00:12:02,339 --> 00:12:02,578 you know. 358 00:12:03,296 --> 00:12:05,050 But so the the brewery should do the 359 00:12:05,050 --> 00:12:06,645 same thing. I mean the brewery is creation. 360 00:12:06,979 --> 00:12:08,737 Just like a like like a child. Exactly. 361 00:12:09,136 --> 00:12:11,053 So people... I think if they got upset 362 00:12:11,053 --> 00:12:13,290 it was because they didn't quite understand the 363 00:12:13,290 --> 00:12:15,541 trajectory of. And something that they loved was 364 00:12:15,541 --> 00:12:17,697 being changed. Yeah. But here's the interesting thing 365 00:12:17,697 --> 00:12:19,852 though. And this is to He Credit. They've 366 00:12:19,852 --> 00:12:21,529 changed a lot of the structure of management, 367 00:12:21,688 --> 00:12:23,226 a lot of the structure of the salesforce 368 00:12:23,285 --> 00:12:26,017 and However, they have not touched the recipes. 369 00:12:26,256 --> 00:12:28,594 Yep. And I and those former 370 00:12:29,213 --> 00:12:31,290 former employees are many of the people who 371 00:12:31,290 --> 00:12:33,534 are pitching. Well, well, the ones... Some of 372 00:12:33,534 --> 00:12:34,885 the people who were some of the, you 373 00:12:34,885 --> 00:12:36,475 know, that needed to go, I wouldn't have 374 00:12:36,475 --> 00:12:37,985 had the heart to do. They they didn't. 375 00:12:38,383 --> 00:12:40,149 But like, the the brewers are the same 376 00:12:40,149 --> 00:12:42,387 brewers I left behind. Exactly. And the the 377 00:12:42,387 --> 00:12:45,344 brew master Jeremy Marshall. He's still There. There's 378 00:12:45,344 --> 00:12:47,901 no change to the beer. No. And that's 379 00:12:47,901 --> 00:12:49,180 the main point. That's right. 380 00:12:49,834 --> 00:12:51,270 And and and so He why is in 381 00:12:51,270 --> 00:12:53,185 that point. They they they love beer. They 382 00:12:53,185 --> 00:12:54,860 really do love beer, but they also love 383 00:12:54,860 --> 00:12:57,505 efficiency and operating and... Well, they're dutch. This 384 00:12:57,505 --> 00:13:00,125 other... Are Dutch. Yeah. But Yeah. But, you 385 00:13:00,125 --> 00:13:01,713 know, Dutch actually is funny Dutch are more 386 00:13:01,872 --> 00:13:04,784 American than than any other European I have 387 00:13:05,064 --> 00:13:07,059 they're really Yeah very familiar, you know, there. 388 00:13:07,298 --> 00:13:09,134 Yeah. They're they're like us. We're like them, 389 00:13:09,293 --> 00:13:11,389 maybe You know, I don't know. I remember 390 00:13:11,527 --> 00:13:13,455 you had just had like, this is, like, 391 00:13:13,535 --> 00:13:15,864 a really vivid memory. You would just had, 392 00:13:16,796 --> 00:13:18,944 like, some neck surgery. Yeah. And like, a, 393 00:13:19,023 --> 00:13:21,189 like, a few days later, he was out. 394 00:13:22,224 --> 00:13:24,216 You're working the back or whatever those things 395 00:13:24,216 --> 00:13:26,846 are called, Yeah. Building the apa empathy, there's 396 00:13:26,846 --> 00:13:28,758 slope. Yeah. And I was, like, look at 397 00:13:28,758 --> 00:13:29,316 him, Like. 398 00:13:30,604 --> 00:13:31,956 And then if, like, like, a few days 399 00:13:31,956 --> 00:13:33,308 later, I get a I get a call 400 00:13:33,308 --> 00:13:35,774 from Ron Linden Bush saying, hey. Hurley, 401 00:13:36,411 --> 00:13:38,263 we we've been a band here from England 402 00:13:38,423 --> 00:13:40,101 Gomez, and we need a hostess with the 403 00:13:40,101 --> 00:13:41,859 most is to make sure the band's happy 404 00:13:41,859 --> 00:13:43,936 and and Fed, so we can deal with 405 00:13:43,936 --> 00:13:45,375 this new appetite Or and can you get 406 00:13:45,375 --> 00:13:47,862 us security guard, which I did. And then 407 00:13:48,022 --> 00:13:49,058 I had so much fun with those guys. 408 00:13:49,298 --> 00:13:52,088 They were from Liverpool. Yeah. Gomez. You guys 409 00:13:52,088 --> 00:13:53,683 said... You got the best bands That was, 410 00:13:53,763 --> 00:13:55,371 like, how did that idea my back because 411 00:13:55,451 --> 00:13:57,279 I remember when you were just a, like, 412 00:13:57,835 --> 00:13:59,289 like, pouring out of 413 00:14:00,855 --> 00:14:03,016 you know, just c on dirt. You know, 414 00:14:03,413 --> 00:14:05,320 back in the day. I I always wanted 415 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:06,989 to have bands, you know? And we... And 416 00:14:06,989 --> 00:14:08,339 that's why we had a staged damp in 417 00:14:08,339 --> 00:14:10,405 the, the beer garden, but I realized pretty 418 00:14:10,405 --> 00:14:12,564 quickly there. If we had real musicians can 419 00:14:12,564 --> 00:14:14,573 play that people were drinking beer. They weren't 420 00:14:14,867 --> 00:14:16,851 there for a shell. Right. So that wasn't 421 00:14:16,851 --> 00:14:18,519 gonna work. We had. So there was this 422 00:14:18,519 --> 00:14:20,524 little lot between the buildings, and that became 423 00:14:20,524 --> 00:14:22,517 the outdoor and theater. Yeah. And I I 424 00:14:22,517 --> 00:14:25,545 love that. And... So, Laura Laura, Mu who 425 00:14:25,545 --> 00:14:28,027 was there for a long time. She she 426 00:14:28,027 --> 00:14:30,962 was just a wizard at finding these bands 427 00:14:30,962 --> 00:14:33,501 just before they would break and become big. 428 00:14:33,739 --> 00:14:35,247 And so bands would play 1 year and 429 00:14:35,247 --> 00:14:36,858 the next year, they couldn't play there because 430 00:14:36,858 --> 00:14:38,935 they had to play up 3008 rooms. You 431 00:14:38,935 --> 00:14:41,332 know. No man's got really big. Yeah. I 432 00:14:41,332 --> 00:14:41,812 saw Char. 433 00:14:42,531 --> 00:14:43,490 Yeah. Carl Dent. 434 00:14:44,384 --> 00:14:46,381 Tiny universe there. Yeah. So I just saw 435 00:14:46,461 --> 00:14:48,219 Laura... The other day. She's booking the bands 436 00:14:48,219 --> 00:14:50,856 at Little Saint He. Oh, she. Yeah. Good 437 00:14:50,856 --> 00:14:52,944 for her. And she's and crazy stuff, like 438 00:14:53,024 --> 00:14:56,208 Phoebe bridges before Phoebe got. Yeah. She had... 439 00:14:56,447 --> 00:14:58,676 She just has an ear for for for 440 00:14:58,676 --> 00:15:00,524 musicians, You know, O do. Right on the 441 00:15:00,524 --> 00:15:01,883 cusp. And I can't wait to talk more 442 00:15:01,883 --> 00:15:04,061 about this, the great famed 443 00:15:04,839 --> 00:15:06,597 Tony Mcgee, founder of 444 00:15:07,157 --> 00:15:08,915 Lag is back with us. 445 00:15:09,809 --> 00:15:11,488 In this article, I'm looking at it, You're 446 00:15:11,488 --> 00:15:14,625 called the famed founder of the s irr 447 00:15:14,684 --> 00:15:18,440 04:20 friendly and foundational Northern California brewery. I 448 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,048 say that says it all. How you bad 449 00:15:20,048 --> 00:15:21,950 though. They not they said it. 450 00:15:23,139 --> 00:15:26,151 As this website calls him the man, the 451 00:15:26,151 --> 00:15:26,389 myth. 452 00:15:27,038 --> 00:15:29,266 Searching for Tony Mcgee. Well, he's not hard 453 00:15:29,266 --> 00:15:30,618 to find. He's right across from me now. 454 00:15:31,413 --> 00:15:32,925 It's great to have you and men. Yeah, 455 00:15:33,004 --> 00:15:33,720 it's nice to be here. 456 00:15:35,334 --> 00:15:37,754 So we've talked about the sale in He 457 00:15:37,894 --> 00:15:38,615 and all that crap. 458 00:15:40,054 --> 00:15:41,355 Let's talk about 459 00:15:42,388 --> 00:15:45,334 since you're retired, though, the future of craft 460 00:15:45,334 --> 00:15:47,962 beer in especially Sonoma County because it's gone 461 00:15:47,962 --> 00:15:49,236 out of control. I don't know. What do 462 00:15:49,236 --> 00:15:51,796 they call Santa Rosa the Beer city. Yeah. 463 00:15:52,034 --> 00:15:54,020 Yeah. It there's and there's so many great 464 00:15:54,020 --> 00:15:56,641 breweries, and they're all wonderful people. Yeah. I've 465 00:15:56,641 --> 00:15:58,626 had them all on. Wow, you know, I 466 00:15:58,626 --> 00:15:59,444 mean, it's, 467 00:16:00,627 --> 00:16:01,819 you know, this is the best time in 468 00:16:01,819 --> 00:16:03,487 the last thousand years to be a beer 469 00:16:03,487 --> 00:16:05,394 lover. Right? I mean, you you you could 470 00:16:05,394 --> 00:16:07,063 go your whole life, have beer every day 471 00:16:07,063 --> 00:16:08,572 and never drink the same beer twice, You 472 00:16:08,572 --> 00:16:10,419 know, and So it's it's a... You know, 473 00:16:10,499 --> 00:16:12,253 it's a great thing. It's it's a difficult, 474 00:16:12,412 --> 00:16:13,368 you know, economic, 475 00:16:14,404 --> 00:16:16,078 environment, but it could be that, you know, 476 00:16:16,238 --> 00:16:18,165 the, you know, when there are so many 477 00:16:18,165 --> 00:16:20,316 breweries it's difficult to build volume, but Yeah. 478 00:16:20,475 --> 00:16:22,307 But it could be that it's a craft 479 00:16:22,307 --> 00:16:24,552 and and that's what it needed to be 480 00:16:24,552 --> 00:16:26,535 all along. Right. And and it's returning to 481 00:16:26,535 --> 00:16:29,152 be that just through, you know, just through, 482 00:16:29,232 --> 00:16:30,818 you know, the the number of part players. 483 00:16:31,389 --> 00:16:32,668 So it's so it's, you know, it's like 484 00:16:32,668 --> 00:16:34,426 having a a little furniture shop or something, 485 00:16:34,586 --> 00:16:36,344 and we make beers. We know our customers, 486 00:16:36,504 --> 00:16:38,741 our customers know us. And Yeah. That's a 487 00:16:38,741 --> 00:16:41,074 beautiful thing, man. That is. That's a uniquely 488 00:16:41,313 --> 00:16:43,871 Sonoma county thing. Yeah. I agree. Yes. Know. 489 00:16:44,110 --> 00:16:44,610 So 490 00:16:45,709 --> 00:16:47,787 lug is part of the museum the Sonoma 491 00:16:47,946 --> 00:16:50,513 County exhibit that opens tomorrow to the members 492 00:16:50,513 --> 00:16:52,577 of museum sonoma candidates. It's called On tap. 493 00:16:52,974 --> 00:16:55,832 The first history of Bi Hops 494 00:16:56,785 --> 00:16:57,023 in, 495 00:16:57,674 --> 00:16:59,190 Sonoma County. So, of course, you know, the 496 00:16:59,190 --> 00:17:00,386 first in ingredient in America it was new 497 00:17:00,466 --> 00:17:02,540 Avi in the town of Sonoma. The hot 498 00:17:02,540 --> 00:17:04,670 picking machine, the Don arrow was invented in 499 00:17:04,789 --> 00:17:05,266 Santa Rosa. 500 00:17:06,300 --> 00:17:08,368 And they still have dan howard operating up 501 00:17:08,368 --> 00:17:10,357 in, Y Valley. Washington I talked to Tom 502 00:17:10,437 --> 00:17:13,077 Fraser, his family. Was the don hours. Right 503 00:17:13,077 --> 00:17:14,508 yeah. The other day, and, yeah, they moved 504 00:17:14,508 --> 00:17:16,417 all the operations up there, but they still 505 00:17:16,417 --> 00:17:17,849 own the building where least to make them 506 00:17:17,849 --> 00:17:19,219 across what used be the the holes the 507 00:17:19,299 --> 00:17:20,657 Goose and burn now. Oh, really. In railroads, 508 00:17:20,737 --> 00:17:22,815 it's square Santa Rosa. But some of the 509 00:17:22,815 --> 00:17:24,893 questions I was asking you and, 510 00:17:26,091 --> 00:17:28,343 Don and Mark on, you know, Show the 511 00:17:28,343 --> 00:17:29,858 end other day was, like, what was your... 512 00:17:30,417 --> 00:17:31,852 Like, let's go back to, like, the beginning. 513 00:17:32,012 --> 00:17:33,368 I let's talk about the history. Like, what 514 00:17:33,368 --> 00:17:34,027 was your 515 00:17:34,564 --> 00:17:36,558 inspiration to start a brewery and how did 516 00:17:36,558 --> 00:17:39,526 that get started? Oh, well. You know, for 517 00:17:39,526 --> 00:17:41,362 a lot of people, that came later in 518 00:17:41,362 --> 00:17:43,118 particular, it was the fulfillment of a dream. 519 00:17:43,278 --> 00:17:45,194 You know, they've been home and there's this 520 00:17:45,194 --> 00:17:46,471 idea, and they tried to raise some money 521 00:17:46,471 --> 00:17:48,323 and started you know, for me, it was, 522 00:17:48,883 --> 00:17:51,280 I fell into it. I was selling commercial 523 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,237 printing and the Gulf war started and all 524 00:17:54,237 --> 00:17:56,727 my printing customers went away and When I 525 00:17:56,807 --> 00:17:58,241 I finally got back on my feet. I 526 00:17:58,241 --> 00:17:59,755 just said I'd never gonna let that happen 527 00:17:59,755 --> 00:18:01,826 again. And so I thought about what else 528 00:18:01,906 --> 00:18:03,044 I could do and then 529 00:18:03,754 --> 00:18:05,111 don't know. I thought I wasn't gonna be 530 00:18:05,111 --> 00:18:07,427 married forever at that point. And so, you 531 00:18:07,427 --> 00:18:09,423 know, life just kind of spins you around 532 00:18:09,423 --> 00:18:10,940 him. And so I said, well, I know 533 00:18:11,019 --> 00:18:12,616 I'm gonna do on it quits. I I'm 534 00:18:12,616 --> 00:18:15,180 gonna start a start to stop selling printing 535 00:18:15,180 --> 00:18:17,009 by starting a little business, and this will 536 00:18:17,009 --> 00:18:18,442 be what my b brother got me a 537 00:18:18,442 --> 00:18:20,112 homebrew kit for Christmas in 92. 538 00:18:20,590 --> 00:18:21,744 I'm brew in January, 539 00:18:22,765 --> 00:18:23,265 December 540 00:18:23,644 --> 00:18:26,845 of 93, the brewery is open. Logging more 541 00:18:26,845 --> 00:18:29,815 seizure. 93. Yeah Yeah. More seizure than it 542 00:18:29,815 --> 00:18:30,453 was a decision. 543 00:18:31,171 --> 00:18:32,686 But the thing is is I recognize recognized 544 00:18:32,686 --> 00:18:34,861 all kinds of things in brewing that are 545 00:18:35,239 --> 00:18:37,312 similar to music. I mean, they're very there... 546 00:18:37,472 --> 00:18:39,881 You know, there's There's there's themes and there's 547 00:18:39,881 --> 00:18:42,376 development if there's range and there's rhythm in 548 00:18:42,435 --> 00:18:43,792 know if you drink a beer, you'd have 549 00:18:43,792 --> 00:18:45,388 a little taste. It's like a little 3 550 00:18:45,388 --> 00:18:48,196 minute, 3 second ay dude. You know, there's 551 00:18:48,196 --> 00:18:49,712 a beginning. There's a middle and there's an 552 00:18:49,712 --> 00:18:51,865 hand and gray notes and there's little travel 553 00:18:51,865 --> 00:18:54,519 notes in the highlights And... So there's 554 00:18:54,896 --> 00:18:56,651 everything about beer I recognize it was like 555 00:18:56,731 --> 00:18:57,105 I was 556 00:18:58,097 --> 00:19:00,322 Everything in life had prepared before it. So 557 00:19:00,401 --> 00:19:01,911 I just went with it. A lot of 558 00:19:01,911 --> 00:19:05,406 the beer lag is hop focused. 559 00:19:06,057 --> 00:19:06,375 Ipa, 560 00:19:06,931 --> 00:19:09,158 and and we'll talk about that. How did 561 00:19:09,158 --> 00:19:11,145 that... What what major come up with that 562 00:19:11,145 --> 00:19:12,894 idea to to do that? Mh. Well, well, 563 00:19:13,133 --> 00:19:15,335 my friend Grant Johnston, who was a brewer 564 00:19:15,454 --> 00:19:16,886 I'm ren brewing for a long time. It 565 00:19:16,886 --> 00:19:17,920 was 1 of the private... 1 of the 566 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:19,988 most awarded homebrew brewers of all time. You 567 00:19:19,988 --> 00:19:22,295 know. But he's just the most curious guy 568 00:19:22,469 --> 00:19:23,903 And and at, he would go home every 569 00:19:23,903 --> 00:19:25,736 day after brewing and rear brewing, and he'd 570 00:19:25,736 --> 00:19:27,170 go back to his apartment and a little 571 00:19:27,170 --> 00:19:28,923 house he rented in wood acre, and he 572 00:19:28,923 --> 00:19:30,756 would, he he to homebrew. And so I 573 00:19:30,756 --> 00:19:31,791 started meeting up for home brewing it. 574 00:19:32,601 --> 00:19:34,981 Before Log was even open, and and I 575 00:19:34,981 --> 00:19:37,123 just... He was doing things with hops where 576 00:19:37,123 --> 00:19:38,788 they were going in late late late in 577 00:19:38,788 --> 00:19:40,296 the boil and was very unusual. 578 00:19:41,027 --> 00:19:43,494 But it instead of having bitterness for being 579 00:19:43,494 --> 00:19:44,926 in the boil the whole time, they went 580 00:19:44,926 --> 00:19:46,279 in the end, so it it's just the 581 00:19:46,279 --> 00:19:46,757 flavor 582 00:19:47,155 --> 00:19:48,164 fraction of the 583 00:19:48,919 --> 00:19:50,904 components of the hops. They say. And so 584 00:19:50,904 --> 00:19:52,413 we did that and all of a sudden, 585 00:19:52,492 --> 00:19:54,239 it was, like, a place to stand. These 586 00:19:54,239 --> 00:19:56,542 are flavors that hadn't really been expressed before, 587 00:19:57,098 --> 00:19:59,424 and you know, everything comes from somewhere, and 588 00:19:59,504 --> 00:20:01,258 I don't wanna say we invented anything. But 589 00:20:01,258 --> 00:20:02,933 what we... I think we discovered a set 590 00:20:02,933 --> 00:20:05,486 of flavors. Apparently as we... And but then 591 00:20:05,486 --> 00:20:09,090 19 95 came along, and the crap industry 592 00:20:09,090 --> 00:20:11,164 kinda went into a big spin tails spend 593 00:20:11,164 --> 00:20:13,237 and nobody is growing and lots of people 594 00:20:13,237 --> 00:20:14,992 gone out of business. And by the time 595 00:20:14,992 --> 00:20:17,066 it all came back about 2001, 596 00:20:17,877 --> 00:20:18,593 2002. 597 00:20:19,071 --> 00:20:20,662 The things we were we were doing were 598 00:20:20,662 --> 00:20:22,889 working, and other brewers looked at what we 599 00:20:22,889 --> 00:20:24,812 were doing that was working and then, that 600 00:20:24,812 --> 00:20:26,955 was... It's just like music. Yeah. If somebody's 601 00:20:26,955 --> 00:20:28,305 doing a certain groove that works, 602 00:20:29,098 --> 00:20:29,813 you incorporated. 603 00:20:30,289 --> 00:20:32,789 It's not it's not copying. It's emulate 604 00:20:33,246 --> 00:20:34,601 Exactly. And then you make it your own 605 00:20:34,601 --> 00:20:36,036 and you do your own things. And so 606 00:20:36,116 --> 00:20:36,993 III 607 00:20:36,993 --> 00:20:38,906 don't wanna, you know, even even Fritz May 608 00:20:38,906 --> 00:20:41,233 tech go with Liberty hale was doing that 609 00:20:41,233 --> 00:20:43,786 hop forward thing before us, you know? But, 610 00:20:43,865 --> 00:20:45,939 you know, III think we made it our 611 00:20:45,939 --> 00:20:48,731 central thesis in Right. In a lot in 612 00:20:48,731 --> 00:20:50,645 a way that that be it became our 613 00:20:50,645 --> 00:20:50,725 voice. 614 00:20:51,616 --> 00:20:53,710 Where's the name lag anita come from, 615 00:20:54,166 --> 00:20:55,760 yeah, after that last time you were, but 616 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,194 it's been so long at don't remember. K. 617 00:20:57,433 --> 00:20:58,969 It's this little town and West, 618 00:20:59,425 --> 00:21:00,755 you know, kind of just west a fair 619 00:21:00,874 --> 00:21:02,781 facts since francis. Drake where I lived. Yeah. 620 00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:04,609 1 side of the science says, welcome to 621 00:21:04,688 --> 00:21:06,675 La The other science says, thanks for visiting, 622 00:21:06,754 --> 00:21:09,218 you know. And and and that's Thought I 623 00:21:09,218 --> 00:21:10,587 put the brewery with in the basement, and 624 00:21:10,667 --> 00:21:12,342 I filled out the paperwork with the word 625 00:21:12,422 --> 00:21:13,857 La anita sun in the name of the 626 00:21:13,857 --> 00:21:16,011 business everywhere. County said the county then and 627 00:21:16,090 --> 00:21:17,127 I went talk to them. And they're like, 628 00:21:17,367 --> 00:21:19,281 you're never going to do that in your 629 00:21:19,281 --> 00:21:20,334 house. In this county. 630 00:21:20,973 --> 00:21:22,811 Like, okay. So I ended up moving a 631 00:21:22,811 --> 00:21:24,649 little town of forest K next door, but 632 00:21:24,809 --> 00:21:26,807 I just thought the name looked pretty. Yes 633 00:21:26,886 --> 00:21:28,700 I just thought the letters, the letter from 634 00:21:29,058 --> 00:21:30,653 It's fun to say everybody loves seeing it. 635 00:21:30,813 --> 00:21:32,568 Okay. And I eat this. And and most 636 00:21:32,568 --> 00:21:34,003 people say it wrong, which was the best 637 00:21:34,003 --> 00:21:35,439 thing. In a way. It's say la qui, 638 00:21:35,599 --> 00:21:37,194 like a night. Yeah. You know. I love 639 00:21:37,194 --> 00:21:39,284 that too. You know Yeah. Like La qui. 640 00:21:40,323 --> 00:21:41,921 Every kind of... But the thing is is 641 00:21:41,921 --> 00:21:43,680 if you get it wrong, and then somebody 642 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:45,518 corrects you, you're in the family now. Yeah. 643 00:21:45,678 --> 00:21:47,276 Right now. It's like, now you you know 644 00:21:47,276 --> 00:21:48,609 something that the guy next to you doesn't 645 00:21:48,729 --> 00:21:51,603 know. He is a Tony Mcgee founder of 646 00:21:51,763 --> 00:21:53,200 Lag brewing company. 647 00:21:54,956 --> 00:21:57,271 I wanna get your thoughts on Russian River 648 00:21:57,431 --> 00:21:59,684 Brewing wings, p the younger because. Because it 649 00:21:59,684 --> 00:22:02,724 such... It becomes such a huge thing. Yeah. 650 00:22:03,284 --> 00:22:05,444 Worldwide. Yes. It is. It I it's an 651 00:22:05,444 --> 00:22:05,944 astounding 652 00:22:06,259 --> 00:22:06,500 you know, 653 00:22:07,380 --> 00:22:09,220 how do how does 1 become Taylor swift. 654 00:22:09,380 --> 00:22:11,539 You know, I mean I... If it if 655 00:22:11,539 --> 00:22:13,460 if it happens, it happens and it certainly 656 00:22:13,460 --> 00:22:15,059 happened to Any and and that beer. Yeah. 657 00:22:15,299 --> 00:22:15,620 And it's 658 00:22:16,515 --> 00:22:18,755 you know, it's it frankly, it's it's a 659 00:22:18,755 --> 00:22:20,914 it's en, but it's also amazing. But the 660 00:22:20,914 --> 00:22:22,595 thing is when something like that happens then 661 00:22:22,595 --> 00:22:24,410 your job is the creators is not to 662 00:22:24,608 --> 00:22:27,391 fail that luck. And Vin and and Natalie 663 00:22:27,391 --> 00:22:29,799 certainly never failed that luck. Right. And and 664 00:22:29,856 --> 00:22:31,128 and then he did all sorts other things 665 00:22:31,128 --> 00:22:33,195 as whole other spectrum of the sour and 666 00:22:33,195 --> 00:22:35,677 the Belgian styles stuff that's... That just gave 667 00:22:35,677 --> 00:22:37,429 such breath to the whole thing. And wasn't 668 00:22:37,429 --> 00:22:39,123 just a a brewery that made 669 00:22:39,499 --> 00:22:41,729 happy beers. So Earl? Yep. 670 00:22:42,525 --> 00:22:42,579 Stuff 671 00:22:43,417 --> 00:22:45,513 some of my favorite beers at Lag 672 00:22:46,211 --> 00:22:47,886 used to do. I wish they would bring, 673 00:22:48,046 --> 00:22:50,360 I... But chronic and since, you know, which 674 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:52,295 became sent third. Mh. Of course. And a 675 00:22:52,295 --> 00:22:54,535 cappuccino stout. I absolutely love brown sugar of 676 00:22:54,535 --> 00:22:56,134 course, but, you know, that's a given. 677 00:22:57,015 --> 00:22:58,855 But, like, so like, what were some of 678 00:22:58,855 --> 00:23:00,464 your favorite bureaus that you... 679 00:23:01,579 --> 00:23:03,651 Cappuccino was the second beer I made. And 680 00:23:03,731 --> 00:23:04,766 I have a feeling it was 681 00:23:05,404 --> 00:23:07,316 probably 1 if not the, 682 00:23:08,352 --> 00:23:08,750 earliest. 683 00:23:09,403 --> 00:23:11,160 Coffee beers in the United States. Love that. 684 00:23:11,559 --> 00:23:12,596 It was it was a fun thing to 685 00:23:12,596 --> 00:23:14,352 do. It seems so wrong to put coffee 686 00:23:14,352 --> 00:23:16,028 and beer. I I used to describe it, 687 00:23:16,108 --> 00:23:17,385 like, a speed ball, you know, 688 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:19,880 between the alcohol and the and the caffeine 689 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:21,319 is like, having someone pull up on your 690 00:23:21,319 --> 00:23:22,679 hair while they stand on your foot, you 691 00:23:22,679 --> 00:23:23,960 know? Wonder I like it. 692 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,839 I ever remember being up of the loft 693 00:23:26,839 --> 00:23:28,929 to 1 day you guys would do the 694 00:23:28,929 --> 00:23:30,442 industry parties and up in the loft at 695 00:23:30,601 --> 00:23:31,579 La. And, 696 00:23:32,273 --> 00:23:34,902 La lu or, goat ice cream was there. 697 00:23:35,459 --> 00:23:37,710 And they were making... And beer shakes with 698 00:23:37,710 --> 00:23:40,190 cappuccino style and vanilla goat, ice cream, and 699 00:23:40,190 --> 00:23:42,190 it was, like, sounded so weird, but it 700 00:23:42,190 --> 00:23:43,869 was, like, putting the best things. It sounds 701 00:23:43,869 --> 00:23:44,509 great. It. 702 00:23:45,150 --> 00:23:47,644 Delicious. It was so so good. Yeah. Everything 703 00:23:47,644 --> 00:23:49,644 about craft brewing, it's about flavor. We live 704 00:23:49,644 --> 00:23:51,085 in a world of flavor now. You know? 705 00:23:51,325 --> 00:23:53,724 That didn't exist before that. That's like judging 706 00:23:53,724 --> 00:23:55,094 beer. It's so And and if you drink... 707 00:23:55,252 --> 00:23:56,524 And if you drink, like a a course 708 00:23:56,524 --> 00:23:57,875 banquet beer, I have no way to know 709 00:23:57,875 --> 00:23:59,067 this for sure, or if you could drink 710 00:23:59,067 --> 00:23:59,623 a Pb, 711 00:24:00,418 --> 00:24:02,882 there there's more hot presence in all those 712 00:24:02,882 --> 00:24:03,040 beers. 713 00:24:03,775 --> 00:24:06,174 There's there's more flavor present. And I think 714 00:24:06,174 --> 00:24:07,855 that at some point the people who are 715 00:24:07,855 --> 00:24:09,695 the, you know, the top of those companies 716 00:24:09,695 --> 00:24:11,862 set of themselves Oh my god. People are 717 00:24:11,862 --> 00:24:12,737 tasting the beer. 718 00:24:13,692 --> 00:24:16,237 You It's not just about brand imagery. It's 719 00:24:16,237 --> 00:24:18,801 not just about, you know, the party environment 720 00:24:18,801 --> 00:24:20,955 is not just about pricing. Know. It's flavor. 721 00:24:21,274 --> 00:24:22,711 Flavor used to be way down on the 722 00:24:22,711 --> 00:24:24,705 hierarchy of what mattered in the brand, You 723 00:24:24,705 --> 00:24:26,559 know? Now I I think moved way up 724 00:24:26,559 --> 00:24:28,640 and crap and change that. People are pick. 725 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:30,640 I just actually picked up a case of, 726 00:24:31,279 --> 00:24:32,819 the w bear 727 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:33,920 04:20, 728 00:24:35,371 --> 00:24:36,961 how so how did you... Like, did you 729 00:24:36,961 --> 00:24:39,187 start that or, like, was wrong? Like, not 730 00:24:39,187 --> 00:24:41,016 had did you meet them first?? No. We 731 00:24:41,016 --> 00:24:44,378 were... Ron knew those guys. From some somehow 732 00:24:45,166 --> 00:24:47,177 III think probably, you know, through the the 733 00:24:47,393 --> 00:24:48,904 through the Emerald cup, and he, you know, 734 00:24:49,063 --> 00:24:50,575 he's a judge in the emerald cup. And 735 00:24:50,575 --> 00:24:51,052 and and 736 00:24:51,863 --> 00:24:53,932 we were doing just 04:20 stuff on our 737 00:24:53,932 --> 00:24:56,161 labels and and and the Pos and stuff. 738 00:24:56,559 --> 00:24:58,946 And there's a brewery in Atlanta the apparently 739 00:24:58,946 --> 00:25:01,588 got a federal trademark on a registration for 740 00:25:01,588 --> 00:25:04,297 04:20, and and they they said, you know, 741 00:25:04,456 --> 00:25:05,890 you can't do that anymore. And we're like, 742 00:25:06,368 --> 00:25:08,694 okay. So we you thought, well, let's let's 743 00:25:08,694 --> 00:25:10,130 work our way up the tree. What's even 744 00:25:10,130 --> 00:25:12,125 cooler than 04:20. Oh, how about how about 745 00:25:12,125 --> 00:25:15,158 the gentleman that actually coined the dirt those. 746 00:25:15,397 --> 00:25:17,407 And they happen to be low. They have 747 00:25:17,407 --> 00:25:18,923 zap. We had 1 on the show. 748 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:21,955 A long time ago. And at first they 749 00:25:21,955 --> 00:25:23,950 didn't want... They weren't really sure they wanted 750 00:25:23,950 --> 00:25:26,122 to be known Right. As individuals. Although the 751 00:25:26,201 --> 00:25:28,358 Waldorf story was something. But and the little 752 00:25:28,358 --> 00:25:29,477 by the little, they started I realized realizing 753 00:25:29,477 --> 00:25:30,376 that there was 754 00:25:31,169 --> 00:25:33,231 credibility. I mean when 1 guy was ran 755 00:25:33,231 --> 00:25:34,501 a security company. You know, 756 00:25:35,215 --> 00:25:37,357 security cards. Another kid... Another guy thought that 757 00:25:37,357 --> 00:25:38,865 he didn't want his kids knowing that. You 758 00:25:38,865 --> 00:25:40,552 know? And And I you can't blame them. 759 00:25:40,712 --> 00:25:42,309 You know, but after a little while. It's 760 00:25:42,309 --> 00:25:44,624 like, they're they are, like, freaking yeah. Yeah 761 00:25:44,783 --> 00:25:46,960 Okay. Yeah. And they... They're called the W 762 00:25:47,098 --> 00:25:47,998 because they 763 00:25:48,855 --> 00:25:51,343 at 04:20 in the afternoon from... At Marin 764 00:25:51,422 --> 00:25:53,518 High school, they got out on the wall 765 00:25:53,656 --> 00:25:56,686 and get stoned. On under under the Louie 766 00:25:56,686 --> 00:25:59,573 pasteur stature. That's 04:20 Louie Break. Think was 767 00:25:59,573 --> 00:26:00,927 red went high. Right? It was Red high. 768 00:26:01,087 --> 00:26:02,840 Yeah. Yeah. It was red high. And Oh, 769 00:26:02,999 --> 00:26:04,992 okay. Those guys were super funny... They're like, 770 00:26:05,151 --> 00:26:07,157 lawyers and stuff down. There was just an 771 00:26:07,634 --> 00:26:10,968 Instagram, ad or or or post at with 772 00:26:10,968 --> 00:26:13,747 logging with all of them. Mh. And then 773 00:26:13,747 --> 00:26:15,753 on the couch, in the in the loft, 774 00:26:16,073 --> 00:26:18,790 jumping off the the couch then day. I 775 00:26:18,790 --> 00:26:20,628 was like, okay. I'm glad to see those 776 00:26:20,628 --> 00:26:22,626 guys are doing, well, I left Steve a 777 00:26:22,626 --> 00:26:24,397 master cp come on again, but So you 778 00:26:24,397 --> 00:26:25,832 guys, like, the beer circus, 779 00:26:26,390 --> 00:26:28,143 the wall does. I mean, you guys came 780 00:26:28,143 --> 00:26:29,440 up with, like, the 781 00:26:29,896 --> 00:26:30,396 craziest 782 00:26:31,011 --> 00:26:33,174 coolest most iconic ideas. You know, but the 783 00:26:33,174 --> 00:26:35,321 funny thing with even the beer circus, there 784 00:26:35,321 --> 00:26:37,707 was a the first first year that they 785 00:26:37,707 --> 00:26:40,013 did San Francisco Beer Week. Okay, a bunch 786 00:26:40,013 --> 00:26:42,736 of San Francisco Brewers who saw us as 787 00:26:42,736 --> 00:26:44,651 kind of crowding the market by selling so 788 00:26:44,651 --> 00:26:46,646 much Ipa, and we weren't from the city, 789 00:26:46,726 --> 00:26:48,242 and so they didn't invite us to the 790 00:26:48,242 --> 00:26:50,562 planning meetings. And next, we know we find 791 00:26:50,562 --> 00:26:52,728 out 1 of them has just has has 792 00:26:52,783 --> 00:26:54,925 assigned themselves as the person who's gonna do 793 00:26:54,925 --> 00:26:57,798 the lag tour. When the bus went north 794 00:26:57,798 --> 00:26:59,387 out of the city. And we're were like, 795 00:27:00,102 --> 00:27:00,340 alright. 796 00:27:01,055 --> 00:27:02,565 We are gonna put on a party that 797 00:27:02,565 --> 00:27:05,049 nobody has ever seen before. Yeah. The beer 798 00:27:05,049 --> 00:27:07,123 circus. We're gonna steal San Francisco beer week 799 00:27:07,123 --> 00:27:08,638 from here if we can. Are they still 800 00:27:08,638 --> 00:27:10,473 doing the beer circus and lug? I I 801 00:27:10,473 --> 00:27:12,626 don't know. I I don't have. But but 802 00:27:12,626 --> 00:27:14,635 that was why it was it was trying 803 00:27:14,635 --> 00:27:15,912 to make a point. It's like you wanna 804 00:27:15,912 --> 00:27:17,427 have fun. This is be the place to 805 00:27:17,427 --> 00:27:19,580 be. Beautiful? I did first aid for the 806 00:27:19,580 --> 00:27:22,053 first few beer circus as of volunteer interior 807 00:27:22,053 --> 00:27:23,170 I used to be an Em emt. Yeah. 808 00:27:23,662 --> 00:27:26,047 So much fun. Like, were, like, crazy marching 809 00:27:26,047 --> 00:27:28,376 bands that looked like That's right. Like nightmare 810 00:27:28,512 --> 00:27:31,055 before Christmas dressed up. There was... It was 811 00:27:31,055 --> 00:27:33,399 like, an r rated, maybe half that rated 812 00:27:33,777 --> 00:27:36,811 marching band... That's perfect. Yeah. It was it 813 00:27:36,811 --> 00:27:38,806 was everything was so adult and and the... 814 00:27:38,966 --> 00:27:40,882 But it was all 21. An overs. No 815 00:27:40,882 --> 00:27:42,493 no. It's all cool people played out it. 816 00:27:42,732 --> 00:27:44,429 I was right. And there was the clown 817 00:27:44,567 --> 00:27:46,481 that's my own death death metal. Yeah. It 818 00:27:46,481 --> 00:27:47,938 is the drive B, 819 00:27:48,634 --> 00:27:49,990 and it is brought to you, of course, 820 00:27:50,150 --> 00:27:51,506 by Russian River brewing. 821 00:27:52,079 --> 00:27:54,240 Home run pizza in Fair field into the 822 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:55,859 victory house at the 823 00:27:56,319 --> 00:27:59,140 Poppy bank epicenter, our guest today, the wonderful 824 00:27:59,612 --> 00:28:01,993 mcgee founder of Lag now retired. 825 00:28:05,009 --> 00:28:07,232 It is Beer Country here. Now in Sonoma 826 00:28:07,391 --> 00:28:07,891 County 827 00:28:08,839 --> 00:28:10,857 if... But, of course, it's known 828 00:28:11,396 --> 00:28:12,195 as wine country. 829 00:28:13,074 --> 00:28:15,152 Just 1... I don't think I've ever asked 830 00:28:15,152 --> 00:28:15,311 you, 831 00:28:16,190 --> 00:28:18,919 do you like wine and do you drink 832 00:28:18,919 --> 00:28:21,391 much of it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean 833 00:28:21,391 --> 00:28:23,624 love wine. Out. Now... Yeah. My wife always 834 00:28:23,624 --> 00:28:25,140 like, wine more than beer, You know? Yes. 835 00:28:25,379 --> 00:28:26,416 And she worked at the brewery for a 836 00:28:26,416 --> 00:28:27,147 long time. So... 837 00:28:28,259 --> 00:28:29,450 But there's a lot of things lot of... 838 00:28:29,688 --> 00:28:31,752 There's a lot things about crap running and 839 00:28:31,752 --> 00:28:34,292 white and the Wine business here that have 840 00:28:34,292 --> 00:28:36,383 a lot common. And Yeah. I agree. Especially 841 00:28:36,383 --> 00:28:38,381 the earlier days of of the wine business 842 00:28:38,381 --> 00:28:39,979 here when it was mostly mom and pops 843 00:28:39,979 --> 00:28:41,977 and Right. You know, and everyone is struggling 844 00:28:41,977 --> 00:28:43,336 to make it make it work and they're 845 00:28:43,336 --> 00:28:45,738 were ambitious only, like, but what they do 846 00:28:45,738 --> 00:28:47,642 is they loved what they had and that 847 00:28:47,642 --> 00:28:49,467 would... So that was that was inspiring. And 848 00:28:49,467 --> 00:28:50,498 you think about making a brewery Was like, 849 00:28:50,578 --> 00:28:51,847 well, I don't know anything about Wine by. 850 00:28:52,006 --> 00:28:53,613 No beer now but I see how they 851 00:28:53,613 --> 00:28:54,890 do it. We're gonna be the same way. 852 00:28:55,209 --> 00:28:56,965 We're gonna invite people in every day of 853 00:28:56,965 --> 00:28:58,162 the week who want people to come and 854 00:28:58,162 --> 00:28:59,040 party with us. You know? 855 00:28:59,759 --> 00:29:00,738 So I know why 856 00:29:01,355 --> 00:29:04,018 operational. Outside of a lag is is He 857 00:29:04,950 --> 00:29:07,574 doing anything different? Are they building anything more? 858 00:29:07,653 --> 00:29:09,959 Or they're gonna expand on on anything. 859 00:29:11,724 --> 00:29:13,804 You, you know, they they... Their... The company 860 00:29:13,804 --> 00:29:15,884 never isn't growing, and they're always sort of, 861 00:29:16,044 --> 00:29:18,204 you know, making little acquisitions of breweries here 862 00:29:18,204 --> 00:29:20,219 in there in in the world and So, 863 00:29:20,698 --> 00:29:22,216 but, you know, they're taking lag Need to 864 00:29:22,216 --> 00:29:23,415 more and more and more countries. I mean, 865 00:29:23,575 --> 00:29:25,892 I understand it's on fire in Paris and 866 00:29:25,892 --> 00:29:28,621 in Sao paulo and Rio and I I 867 00:29:28,621 --> 00:29:30,453 was in... We were talking about in H 868 00:29:30,453 --> 00:29:32,683 chi Min City is old Sai. Right? And 869 00:29:32,763 --> 00:29:34,914 I have came into a... We've met met 870 00:29:34,914 --> 00:29:36,268 some brewers there at a place called heart 871 00:29:36,268 --> 00:29:37,119 darkness Brewing 872 00:29:37,476 --> 00:29:39,775 And his his... His Ipa tasted a lot 873 00:29:39,775 --> 00:29:41,518 like maximus. It was it was very cool. 874 00:29:41,677 --> 00:29:43,024 You know? I mean, it it was nothing 875 00:29:43,024 --> 00:29:44,292 not again, not copied, but you could tell 876 00:29:44,292 --> 00:29:46,777 how influences appear, but the thing is all 877 00:29:46,777 --> 00:29:48,690 the brewers we met their all new, the 878 00:29:48,690 --> 00:29:51,640 undercover shutdown story. Oh, yeah. And these guys 879 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,363 are in freaking vietnam. And they knew, you 880 00:29:54,363 --> 00:29:57,225 know, it's like that so you sessions some 881 00:29:57,225 --> 00:29:57,781 of I'm sure. 882 00:29:58,576 --> 00:29:59,474 Well, all. 883 00:29:59,848 --> 00:30:01,200 Some of it was cool. Yeah. And I 884 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:02,845 didn't I didn't correct them. So that 885 00:30:03,442 --> 00:30:05,114 in some ways that's what He does is 886 00:30:05,114 --> 00:30:07,105 they're taken h to the world. It's in 887 00:30:07,105 --> 00:30:08,640 a world. Yeah. And the beer 888 00:30:09,016 --> 00:30:10,870 is exactly the same as it was 889 00:30:11,659 --> 00:30:14,153 that When you were there... The the the 890 00:30:14,371 --> 00:30:15,328 specifications of the bear are the same. 891 00:30:16,125 --> 00:30:16,205 Yeah. 892 00:30:17,162 --> 00:30:18,278 In some ways, I think the beer is 893 00:30:18,278 --> 00:30:20,352 even cleaner too than it was when we 894 00:30:20,352 --> 00:30:23,549 made it because they're just more scientific brewers 895 00:30:23,549 --> 00:30:24,820 than we were. You know, we were all 896 00:30:24,820 --> 00:30:26,728 homegrown brewers and... Right. And so they brought 897 00:30:26,728 --> 00:30:28,557 things to it the appears more stable and 898 00:30:28,557 --> 00:30:30,490 it's flavors are a little sharper, or a 899 00:30:30,490 --> 00:30:33,049 little brighter now, And I mean, it's sort 900 00:30:33,049 --> 00:30:34,970 of like someone focusing a camera, you know? 901 00:30:35,529 --> 00:30:37,289 The lab techs and stuff as well. Yeah. 902 00:30:37,610 --> 00:30:37,930 But 903 00:30:38,664 --> 00:30:39,164 I 904 00:30:40,737 --> 00:30:42,412 I just blank on what I was going 905 00:30:42,412 --> 00:30:44,963 to ask you about, but... So, yeah. So 906 00:30:45,123 --> 00:30:46,638 I know that they've built a brewery in 907 00:30:46,638 --> 00:30:47,730 the Netherlands and 908 00:30:48,485 --> 00:30:50,553 and then 1 1 in Belgium, they're were 909 00:30:50,553 --> 00:30:54,076 actually using a, brewery from the 13 hundreds 910 00:30:54,212 --> 00:30:54,712 at 911 00:30:55,583 --> 00:30:57,259 1 point, like in the Netherlands as well 912 00:30:57,259 --> 00:30:59,255 too that they were... Yeah. Brand... Putting together. 913 00:30:59,814 --> 00:31:01,491 Yeah. I thought that was that was really 914 00:31:01,491 --> 00:31:03,407 interesting. There was something... Oh, I know. So 915 00:31:03,407 --> 00:31:04,285 in the museum, 916 00:31:05,097 --> 00:31:06,633 they have the bottle 917 00:31:07,010 --> 00:31:08,603 of undercover shutdown ale, 918 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:10,697 all the agents 919 00:31:11,153 --> 00:31:14,043 that rated logging need for the undercover shutdown, 920 00:31:15,310 --> 00:31:17,061 signed the bottle and gave it to Ron 921 00:31:17,140 --> 00:31:18,652 Ron, and they put it in a glass 922 00:31:18,652 --> 00:31:20,801 close, and that is actually in the museum 923 00:31:20,801 --> 00:31:22,805 sonoma mechanic exhibit. Do you wanna tell the 924 00:31:22,805 --> 00:31:24,316 story a little bit? Tell the story man? 925 00:31:24,952 --> 00:31:25,589 Oh, well, 926 00:31:27,021 --> 00:31:29,344 we we always spoke Pat the brewery. But 927 00:31:29,344 --> 00:31:30,939 but we weren't a pub, so we weren't 928 00:31:30,939 --> 00:31:32,694 a bar. We was just us at work. 929 00:31:32,854 --> 00:31:34,769 And Right. And, you know, I I would 930 00:31:34,769 --> 00:31:36,420 never a second. I mean, we we had 931 00:31:36,539 --> 00:31:38,136 You know, we're... Are you are you okay 932 00:31:38,136 --> 00:31:39,893 to work today? Not are you... Not are 933 00:31:39,893 --> 00:31:41,809 you sober? Are you straight? Are you, you 934 00:31:41,809 --> 00:31:43,405 know what the... Yeah Was more... Because, you 935 00:31:43,405 --> 00:31:45,321 know, and the people that work there, we're 936 00:31:45,321 --> 00:31:46,931 we're all rag tag. And so, you know, 937 00:31:47,250 --> 00:31:49,559 everyone... Nobody was like polished. And so it 938 00:31:49,559 --> 00:31:51,231 was just us. And they... 939 00:31:51,869 --> 00:31:53,222 But we were having these open houses on 940 00:31:53,302 --> 00:31:55,861 Thursday nights and so the Abc thought, wonder 941 00:31:55,861 --> 00:31:57,208 what's going on there. And so they sent 942 00:31:57,208 --> 00:31:59,190 some people in. And and for 8 nights 943 00:31:59,190 --> 00:32:00,775 in a row, they they are weeks in 944 00:32:00,775 --> 00:32:02,305 a row, they came in. They got 945 00:32:02,614 --> 00:32:05,005 hammered and had we cut off. The Abc 946 00:32:05,005 --> 00:32:07,316 b guys. Yes. Because we... Because when they 947 00:32:07,316 --> 00:32:09,410 finally did the bust, we re... Of course 948 00:32:09,467 --> 00:32:11,636 recognized them and and they would they're bartender 949 00:32:11,636 --> 00:32:13,153 would caught them off of them now you're 950 00:32:13,153 --> 00:32:15,149 not over serving you. You you you're a 951 00:32:15,149 --> 00:32:15,309 mess. 952 00:32:16,027 --> 00:32:18,203 And so these are the people that are 953 00:32:18,342 --> 00:32:20,586 then, like, writing up a Or, then they 954 00:32:20,586 --> 00:32:22,966 tried to buy pot from people, and nobody 955 00:32:22,966 --> 00:32:25,980 would nope nobody would sell pot. But everybody 956 00:32:25,980 --> 00:32:27,506 would give them whatever they wanted to free. 957 00:32:27,983 --> 00:32:29,336 And the agent told me that I was 958 00:32:29,336 --> 00:32:30,690 out of town that the night of the 959 00:32:30,690 --> 00:32:32,839 party. That came back in Monday morning, and 960 00:32:33,078 --> 00:32:34,591 and and then I called the agent right 961 00:32:34,591 --> 00:32:36,595 away and I was like, I understand you 962 00:32:36,595 --> 00:32:38,106 try to buy pot people You should be 963 00:32:38,106 --> 00:32:39,856 ashamed to yourself. Then she said, what this 964 00:32:39,856 --> 00:32:41,129 is what I do for living. And I'm 965 00:32:41,129 --> 00:32:42,970 like, well, alright. Day. I sal and she 966 00:32:42,970 --> 00:32:44,160 goes, no, but they're all willing to get 967 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:45,508 me for free. I'm like, yeah, those are 968 00:32:45,508 --> 00:32:46,777 my people. They were raised. 969 00:32:47,252 --> 00:32:48,600 Yeah. It's was better to give than receipts. 970 00:32:48,838 --> 00:32:50,923 That's an amazing and I have heard it 971 00:32:50,923 --> 00:32:52,602 before, but when coming from you. It's even 972 00:32:52,602 --> 00:32:54,040 more amazing. But then the whole thing even 973 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:56,038 went on a while longer. That went on 974 00:32:56,038 --> 00:32:58,356 for a full year before we finally got 975 00:32:58,356 --> 00:33:00,368 the allegations out. Left And, 976 00:33:01,007 --> 00:33:02,683 I had an attorney in the city, and 977 00:33:02,683 --> 00:33:04,141 the guy who was my attorney 978 00:33:04,519 --> 00:33:06,835 within that firm. There's a working on this 979 00:33:06,835 --> 00:33:08,990 was the former general counsel for the Abc 980 00:33:08,990 --> 00:33:11,389 b. He had just left to go into 981 00:33:11,389 --> 00:33:11,786 private practice. 982 00:33:12,580 --> 00:33:14,247 So I thought, well, this is great. He 983 00:33:14,247 --> 00:33:16,470 knows knows the lay lam, but the end 984 00:33:16,470 --> 00:33:17,740 turned out that, while he's a good guy 985 00:33:17,740 --> 00:33:20,220 and he tried hard he wasn't gonna represent 986 00:33:20,220 --> 00:33:22,209 something that was gonna be problematic for the 987 00:33:22,289 --> 00:33:23,959 Abc because in the end, as soon as 988 00:33:23,959 --> 00:33:25,471 we closed our deal with the Abc, 989 00:33:26,445 --> 00:33:27,964 he he went back to work for Abc. 990 00:33:28,204 --> 00:33:29,904 No. Did the big shots at the Abc 991 00:33:29,964 --> 00:33:32,924 know that there their people were getting hammered. 992 00:33:33,805 --> 00:33:35,579 That... I'm trying to buy pot don't know 993 00:33:35,579 --> 00:33:37,097 what they knew, you know, It's instead say, 994 00:33:37,177 --> 00:33:38,616 but I do know that the the the 995 00:33:38,616 --> 00:33:40,794 2 guys in Sacramento who ran the Abc 996 00:33:40,933 --> 00:33:42,292 took a meeting with me, and they shouldn't 997 00:33:42,292 --> 00:33:44,050 have done that because I went around their 998 00:33:44,050 --> 00:33:46,136 regional guys. And I sat there and we 999 00:33:46,136 --> 00:33:47,807 talked for a while, and they agreed that, 1000 00:33:47,966 --> 00:33:50,272 you know, yes, Sonoma County. No pod is 1001 00:33:50,272 --> 00:33:52,261 not meth. They said, but we have only 1002 00:33:52,261 --> 00:33:54,266 1 rule, and I got bars and Fresno. 1003 00:33:54,345 --> 00:33:56,735 He says that sell meth. And so you 1004 00:33:56,735 --> 00:33:59,284 have... I can't make a exception. Yeah. Yeah. 1005 00:33:59,444 --> 00:34:01,037 I understand. He said so he said, how 1006 00:34:01,037 --> 00:34:02,550 long could you take a suspension? I was 1007 00:34:02,550 --> 00:34:04,795 like, 20 days. That way, I could sell 1008 00:34:04,795 --> 00:34:05,989 10 days in the beginning or 5 days 1009 00:34:05,989 --> 00:34:07,024 in the beginning of the month, 5 days 1010 00:34:07,024 --> 00:34:08,378 the end of the month. I'd have a 1011 00:34:08,378 --> 00:34:10,528 financial statement for the bank. We'd have business 1012 00:34:10,528 --> 00:34:11,219 going on 1013 00:34:11,578 --> 00:34:12,612 He says when do you wanna do? I 1014 00:34:12,612 --> 00:34:13,965 said, well, we're putting in a bottling line 1015 00:34:13,965 --> 00:34:15,956 in January. It'll take 20 days to install. 1016 00:34:16,195 --> 00:34:17,547 He's like, what day do you wanna start? 1017 00:34:18,264 --> 00:34:20,355 Cool. And it was set. And And and 1018 00:34:20,434 --> 00:34:22,914 I walked out of that meeting, they we're 1019 00:34:22,914 --> 00:34:24,275 we're we're, like best friends by the end 1020 00:34:24,275 --> 00:34:26,275 of that meeting. A problem that he had 1021 00:34:26,275 --> 00:34:26,755 been resolved, 1022 00:34:27,315 --> 00:34:29,247 and and and I went It got my 1023 00:34:29,247 --> 00:34:31,740 car took a huge fucking head off. So 1024 00:34:32,117 --> 00:34:34,508 off joint and fell asleep for an hour. 1025 00:34:35,784 --> 00:34:37,554 That's such a great story. I mean, I 1026 00:34:37,554 --> 00:34:39,871 can't believe those Abc people were coming in 1027 00:34:39,871 --> 00:34:42,108 and getting hammered and s. Damn. You know, 1028 00:34:42,347 --> 00:34:43,786 they were having a good time. Yeah. They 1029 00:34:43,786 --> 00:34:45,893 were doing what we. Them to do was. 1030 00:34:46,108 --> 00:34:47,379 But then they came back to shut you 1031 00:34:47,379 --> 00:34:49,841 down. Yep. Well, the ticket... They were just 1032 00:34:49,841 --> 00:34:52,224 people. The citation you the the museum to 1033 00:34:52,224 --> 00:34:53,812 the citation they gave Ron. 1034 00:34:54,463 --> 00:34:57,730 When they arrested him is in the museum 1035 00:34:57,730 --> 00:34:59,562 as well, The museum with Sonoma County exhibited 1036 00:34:59,721 --> 00:35:01,989 Baron Hops, the on top of that. Opens 1037 00:35:02,286 --> 00:35:04,757 tomorrow to the members, and then April 20 1038 00:35:04,757 --> 00:35:07,387 seventh is the Shin. And I hope you're 1039 00:35:07,387 --> 00:35:09,220 gonna be able to come, Tony. There's gonna 1040 00:35:09,220 --> 00:35:10,667 be bunch of legends from the, you know, 1041 00:35:10,746 --> 00:35:14,166 the beer industry, Tara Is doing a, book 1042 00:35:14,166 --> 00:35:16,233 reading a book signing from a woman's places 1043 00:35:16,233 --> 00:35:17,719 in the Brew house, which your wife, Chris 1044 00:35:17,918 --> 00:35:20,296 is actually in. As well as Natalie Russian 1045 00:35:20,454 --> 00:35:22,516 River and, you know, older and newer, like, 1046 00:35:22,674 --> 00:35:24,260 all kinds of... On the 20 seventh You're 1047 00:35:24,260 --> 00:35:27,135 talking about July. Right? No. April 20 seventh 1048 00:35:27,930 --> 00:35:28,089 is... 1049 00:35:28,805 --> 00:35:30,794 It's gonna be... It's gonna be called the 1050 00:35:30,794 --> 00:35:33,351 spring fling, So not only at the museum. 1051 00:35:33,590 --> 00:35:35,811 At the museum. So there's gonna be... They 1052 00:35:35,811 --> 00:35:38,269 have a modern museum next door. So Brianna 1053 00:35:38,349 --> 00:35:40,903 Darling is gonna be throwing metal sculptures at 1054 00:35:40,903 --> 00:35:43,391 the same time. We're gonna have beer 1055 00:35:44,481 --> 00:35:46,548 tasting, Mh. As well out in the garden. 1056 00:35:47,741 --> 00:35:49,269 And then this is separate from the beer 1057 00:35:49,269 --> 00:35:51,985 festival that's gonna happen July twentieth. So this 1058 00:35:51,985 --> 00:35:54,222 is gonna be an event for just kind 1059 00:35:54,222 --> 00:35:56,001 of like people coming and seen 1060 00:35:56,552 --> 00:35:58,639 the exhibits of and then July twentieth 1061 00:35:59,091 --> 00:36:01,154 in the sculpture garden, we're gonna have an 1062 00:36:01,154 --> 00:36:01,654 evening 1063 00:36:02,027 --> 00:36:04,346 beer festival. So it's not gonna be so 1064 00:36:04,346 --> 00:36:06,417 hot. Yeah. There's all these beautiful redwood trees 1065 00:36:06,417 --> 00:36:07,612 and stuff in the sculpture garden. 1066 00:36:08,647 --> 00:36:10,240 Pond farm brewing just told me that they're 1067 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:10,740 gonna 1068 00:36:11,355 --> 00:36:13,444 bring some beer. Remember there's the pond from 1069 00:36:13,444 --> 00:36:13,764 ceramics. 1070 00:36:14,244 --> 00:36:14,744 So 1071 00:36:15,844 --> 00:36:17,605 there's a pond farm brewing in Marin, and 1072 00:36:17,605 --> 00:36:19,525 they're they were thrilled to find out that 1073 00:36:19,525 --> 00:36:21,779 they're all the ceramics and things bond bon 1074 00:36:21,779 --> 00:36:23,139 form. They're gonna be pouring their. 1075 00:36:23,859 --> 00:36:25,940 Log is actually a sponsor. I got them 1076 00:36:25,940 --> 00:36:27,539 to actually do a cash sponsorship. 1077 00:36:28,432 --> 00:36:29,705 I'd like to get more from them. I 1078 00:36:29,705 --> 00:36:30,580 can I'm gonna try. 1079 00:36:31,932 --> 00:36:33,284 Russian a sponsor as well. 1080 00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:34,398 Alright. 1081 00:36:35,208 --> 00:36:36,799 Man, it's a pleasure to have you and 1082 00:36:36,799 --> 00:36:38,470 you're such a great guest. You you gotta 1083 00:36:38,470 --> 00:36:40,379 do it more often. Well, that comes be 1084 00:36:40,379 --> 00:36:42,224 nice to be invited. Then this museum show 1085 00:36:42,224 --> 00:36:44,144 it yeah be very cool. And we're gonna 1086 00:36:44,144 --> 00:36:45,984 be involved in and talking a lot about 1087 00:36:45,984 --> 00:36:47,916 it as we have been. He is the 1088 00:36:47,916 --> 00:36:50,471 founder of Lag anita, now retired. Tony Mcgee. 1089 00:36:50,711 --> 00:36:52,148 Tony Great to see you again. Thanks for 1090 00:36:52,148 --> 00:36:52,467 coming in.