Often it seems that whenever a politician is associated in a story about beer it's of them taking a stand against the beer industry, or just saying something stupid about alcohol in general - sometimes it's nothing more than a politician getting caught with his pants down. Today's story, however, is not the case.
I first made my way to Auburn Alehouse a few months before they had opened (along with Mike and Mark of PBN, of course). On that first trip it was hard to not notice the proximity of the brewery to Auburn's city buildings, the heart of all things local in the city. We'd asked about how that was, if the city was giving Brian a hard time with permits and licenses. Well, it turns out the folks that work for the city were making a fuss over AAH, but it was mostly them stopping in to interrupt construction to find out when they could get a cold beer with lunch! Yes, it goes without saying that the city of Auburn (which includes the City of Auburn) has embraced their new brewery, not a chore when someone like Brian is on the brewdeck.
All this leads me to the point of the post. A couple weeks ago Brian had a special guest brewer to lend a hand in the making of Auburn's Octoberfest. This guest was none other than the Mayor of Auburn - Keith Nesbitt! According to Brian this wasn't just a photo opportunity for the Mayor, in fact I don't even think there was a press presence during the brew. No, it seems that Nesbitt helped with hauling ingredients and even mashing out - and apparently he enjoyed the work too!
Given that Octoberfests and Marzens are essentially the same beer (German amber lagers) Brian decided to call the beer Mayor's Marzen - “mayorzen” (unofficial at this point, I believe). I hope that the Mayor will return to pour the first pint, it seems like the right thing to do after all.
So, here's to a good collaboration between brewing and politics. Personally, this is story I'd love to see played out around the country.
