Interview: brewmaster Arne Johnson (Marin Brewing Co.)

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Craft Beer Marin County

Photo courtesy of Mike Condie

INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

What’s the criteria for a beer that you brew at Marin?

I brew beers that I like. I think for me, that’s all you can honestly do as a brewer, is brew beers you like and hope other people like them. You have to believe in your palate. I try to keep a good balance to them and try to make interesting new things when I get the opportunity, but overall, drinkability and balance and having assertive flavors. That’s kind of my style and goal.

What’s your top selling beer at Marin, and why do you think that’s the case?

Mt. Tam Pale Ale is 30 or 35% of what we make, and it’s been our established flagship since they opened the brewery in ’89. It’s a drinkable beer, approachable to everybody, has a lot of character and it’s still a balanced beer. A lot of regulars come in every day and that’s all they drink.

Does it make your job easier or harder to have so many other craft breweries now?

In a sense it makes it easier because there are so many more people to feed. We have a great community of brewrers, and most of us are friends. We’re still a brewpub, some of the bigger breweries get more competitive about it. It’s nice to be part of a community where people are willing to help each other and look for the greater good of the industry and hopefully that will help us all out.

What was the most recent beer that you brewed, and what was your inspiration?

I just brewed an Imperial stout with star anise and blackstrap molasses. It’s a specialty one off for sixth anniversary of City Beer Store, called Platypus Venom. They asked me to do a beer for them and just told me to do anything I was inspired to do. I’d never made an Imperial stout commercially and wanted to do it. Anise was the main flavor, and I also put in brewer’s licorice, blackstrap molasses, and Belgian dark candi sugar. I just wanted to make an assertive, unique beer to help them celebrate. The platypus is their logo, and when I started doing research on this project, I discovered it’s the only venomous mammal.

How do you go about naming your beers, in general?

Traditionally at Marin, they use names of places here in Marin, hence Mt. Tam Pale Ale, Point Reyes Porter, and San Quentin Breakout Stout, but we’ve run out of some of those names, and we do like to do a half-dozen new beers a year, so I try to get inspired by the beer. If we can find a place that’s suitable in Marin, we’ll do that, but sometimes I’ll come up with it, or Brendan comes up with it, or we get together as a committee and throw a bunch of names out there, see what works.

What music do you like to listen to while brewing, if any?

In the brewhouse, I don’t have any music, because I have to hear things going on in the brewery. We do a have a crew in the cellar, but it’s most often Reggae or Grateful Dead.

Who’s a brewer you’ve never brewed with before that you’d most like to brew with?

That’s a good question. The guys at The Bruery down in Orange County, they do a lot of inspired beers and I think it would be fun to work with them on a project.

Where and what do you like to drink when you’re not working?

My favorite places? I live in San Francisco and I spend a lot of time at Magnolia Pub & Brewery. Also, City Beer Store and Beer Revolution, the two bottles shops in the Bay Area. There’s a little bar in North Beach, Church Key, near where I live. My girlfriend’s a bartender there. I’m always looking for something new and different and just like to see what others come up with.

If you could only drink one more beer, and you couldn’t brew it, what would it be and why?

I think probably my favorite beer is Rodenbach Grand Cru. I just love the sweet and sourness of it and it really works well with a lot of foods. I could have a bottle every night of my life and be happy.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

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