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Sacramento’s beer scene rises while Big Beer looms they’re taking our land now?

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Sacramento’S newS & entertainment weekly

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Volume 28, iSSue 46

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EditoR’S NotE

maRch 2, 2017 | Vol. 28, iSSuE 46

25 36 Our Mission: To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

Interim Editor Robert Speer Associate Editor Raheem F. Hosseini Arts & Culture Editor Rebecca Huval Assistant Editor Anthony Siino Editorial Services Coordinator Karlos Rene Ayala Staff Reporter Scott Thomas Anderson Contributing Editor Rachel Leibrock Contributors Daniel Barnes, Ngaio Bealum, Janelle Bitker, Alastair Bland, Rob Brezsny, Aaron Carnes, Jim Carnes, Willie Clark, John Flynn, Joey Garcia, Lovelle Harris, Jeff Hudson, Dave Kempa, Matt Kramer, Jim Lane, Kel Munger, Kate Paloy, Patti Roberts, Ann Martin Rolke, Shoka, Bev Sykes, Mozes Zarate

38 Design Manager Lindsay Trop Creative Director Serene Lusano Art Director Margaret Larkin Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Designer Kyle Shine Marketing/Publications Designer Sarah Hansel Contributing Photographers Lisa Baetz, Darin Bradford, Kevin Cortopassi, Evan Duran, Lucas Fitzgerald, Jon Hermison, Shoka, Lauran Fayne Worthy Sales Coordinator Joanna Graves Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Olla Swanson, Joy Webber, Kelsi White Advertising Consultants Matt Kjar, Paul McGuinness, Wendy Russell, Manushi Weerasinghe Lead Director of First Impressions & Sales Assistant David Lindsay Director of First Impressions Hannah Williams Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Services Assistant Larry Schubert Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Andy Barker, Kimberly Bordenkircher, Daniel Bowen, Heather Brinkley, Allen Brown, Mike Cleary, Jack Clifford, Lydia Comer, Rob Dunnica, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Joanna Gonzalez-Brown, Lori Lovell, Greg Meyers,

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40 Sam Niver, Gilbert Quilatan, Lloyd Rongley, Lolu Sholotan, Zang Yang N&R Publications Editor Michelle Carl N&R Publications Associate Editor Kate Gonzales N&R Publications Writer Anne Stokes Senior N&R Publications Consultant Dave Nettles Marketing & Publications Consultant Dan Howells, Steve Caruso President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Executive Coordinator Carlyn Asuncion Director of People & Culture David Stogner Project Coordinator Natasha vonKaenel Director of Dollars & Sense Nicole Jackson Payroll/AP Wizard Miranda Dargitz Accounts Receivable Specialist Analie Foland Sweetdeals Specialist/HR Coordinator Courtney DeShields Developer John Bisignano, Jonathan Schultz System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins

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I’ve lived in Chico, the home of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., since 1972. I vividly remember seeing Ken Grossman, the prime mover behind the company, pulling up at a downtown bar in a funky old pickup and rolling a keg of Pale Ale into the establishment. The year was 1980, and Grossman was just getting started.

Little did we know then that Sierra Nevada would become the craftbrewing behemoth it is today. What we did know, beyond any doubt, was that Pale Ale was far better than any beer then available in Chico.

For quite a while Chico was the only place in the world where you could get Sierra Nevada beers. Grossman, who’d taken welding classes so he could build his brewery himself, couldn’t afford to expand beyond his hometown. He’s said many times since then that if Chico’s beer drinkers hadn’t bought his Pale Ale, the brewery would have gone belly up.

But buy it they did. Hell, they loved the stuff. So this is what beer can be, they marveled.

Since then the company has steadily expanded, adding new lines of beer, experimenting with styles and ingredients, and joining with other brewers in spreading the word through its annual Beer Camp Across America. And it’s never advertised, relying instead on quality and word of mouth to sell its products.

Grossman also has built two new state-of-the-art breweries, one in Chico and the other in Mills River, N.C. The Chico brewery, which has a popular taproom and restaurant as well as a gorgeous music venue, has become a mecca for beer nerds and the most popular tourist spot in town.

Such is the power of a commitment to excellence—and good beer.

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“They are capiTalizing on The populariTy.”

asked at art street:

What do you think about our beer culture?

Bryna Lovic teacher

We are seeing a lot of art, local craftsmanship and I think beer is under that. I have lived in downtown for 20-some years. I do remember when … it was just us: down here … we had this really tightknit community. The community is still there. It is just more crowded.

andrei Pares student nurse

With ... the Sacramento Republic FC ... and Golden 1 Center opening up, I have seen more breweries popping up. Portland has breweries and does well. I would like to see them become a staple.

I have been wanting to try the Sacramento Brew Bikes but haven’t had a chance to do that yet.

diana artgute a student

They are capitalizing on the popularity. The way they do brewing looks interesting.

I have been to a restaurant that has a brewery and I kinda watched how they do the brewing and I watched them putting it into the bottles.

That was pretty cool.

Brent amene yro musician

I’m an amateur as far as beer knowledge; I like seeing it blossom. I like the direction it is going. You know we are always putting on events, but people don’t always show up. But now people are coming out. I see microbreweries popping up all over the place. They’re not just Midtown anymore.

keLLer Johnson

sen saetern

bartender

manager

Our beer culture in Sacramento is highly competitive, which is great.

Some people are sinking, and some people are making it. There is no right or wrong.

It’s competitive, and that’s why we are drinking great beer. I have tried a lot of great beers. The culture is only going to get better.

I personally service the ...

Sac Brew Bikes. I remember when they started with one bike. They have four bikes now. From what I understand they utilize those bikes here more than anywhere in the United States. A new brewery has just opened up, and I think they are a good addition to our community.

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Spit splatter Re “Enemy of the people” by Robert Speer (SN&R Editor’s Note, February 23): So Sen. John McCain is a man you “respect greatly as a man of integrity”? Is this the same John McCain you and your fellow liberals spit on when he returned from Vietnam? I remember you, as do all the other GIs passing through this state of fruits and nuts.

Lou Meyer r an cho Cor d o v a

All ages and more Re “All-ages, all-rages,” by Anthony Siino (SN&R Feature, February 23): I remember driving up from Stockton in the late ’80s and early ’90s just to find a dance club where we could go as teens.

The [lack of such clubs] generally left kids wandering around Midtown at all hours of the night and making trouble at friends’

houses while parents were away.

Today, a lot of teens are in the same bind, with the added entertainment outlet of sitting home alone playing video games or glued to social-media sites.

I wish the author had checked out a place that just popped up in East Sac called The Silver Orange. They call themselves “a new chill space for teens,” but they’ve been hosting all-ages concerts by local bands, art

shows and open-mic nights.

I’ve gone there with my 13-year-old to shoot pool, and my 22-year-old daughter and her friends got to sell their digital fan art there. In March they’ll be opening Monday nights up for 18+ to play music on their stage, play D&D, air hockey or whatever.

Gypsy Andrews Sacramento

Nazi-splaining Re “On socialism and Nazi punching,” by Dave Kempa (SN&R 15 Minutes, February 23): So Ms. Mattox is a communist-socialist. She’s so proud of herself. Clearly this must be because whatever she knows of history was learned in the California education system.

She hates Nazis ’cause they are sooooo bad. Obviously she has never been exposed to real history. If she had, she

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would know that the real world communists killed millions more people than her hated Nazis ever dreamed of. I suggest she visit a local Ukrainian church and ask the legal immigrants there what communism did for them and their families.

Kenneth Lauszus North Sacramento

Correction Re “Dirty drinking” by Alastair Bland (SN&R News, February 23): The story incorrectly made it appear as if all public water systems in Davis and Woodland were out of compliance with state safety standards. Of the 292 public water systems out of compliance, two are in Davis and Woodland, with these two systems serving a total of several hundred people. SN&R regrets any confusion.

ON Our prOfile Of N’GiNA KAvOOKjiAN, CO-OwNer Of SOuth: I was in a Lyft last week having a conversation with the driver who hails from north England. The topic turned to Cajun food (he’s also lived in New Orleans twice he said).

When I asked him his favorite spot for Cajun food in Sacramento, he said it’s South!

NiChoLe ANtoiNette ChoiCe v ia Fa c e b o o k

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Jay Hansen also said Michelle Rhee would be a great choice for Secretary of Education. He’s part of the problem, not the solution.

online Buzz contributions are not edited for grammar, spelling or clarity.

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California’s Lake Berryessa, near Winters, is one of thousands of pristine pieces of BLM land that is open to the public across the United States.

Photo courtesy of istock/shackleford-PhotograPhy

The new land grab Does California’s original environmental sin illuminate threats to Nevada’s future?

by Scott thomaS anderSon

this story was made possible by a grant from tower cafe.

Clad in jeans and a lumberjack’s flannel, biology professor Joe Medeiros combs through reams of documents about the Center for Sierra Nevada Studies in Rocklin. Outside, a storm thrashes trees and hammers diamonds on the pavement, symbolic of the changing weather in Washington, D.C. Congressional Republicans changed House rules earlier this year to make it easier for states to seize control of federal lands, opening the door to the sell-off of protected wildlife habitats and sprawling natural monuments.

Days after the congressional move, Utah became embroiled in a political

8 | SN&R | 03.02.17

firefight when one of its elected officials introduced a bill calling for federal authorities to liquidate 3.3 million acres of public land. It’s a turn of events many conservationists think could never happen on the West Coast, but Medeiros knows all too well that, at least in California, it already has.

Medeiros, of Sierra Community College, oversees a major archive on the destruction of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. The pristine landscape lost its federal protection in 1923 so a reservoir could be built to fuel Bay Area expansion. The latest developments in Washington, D.C., have

sc o tta @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

conservationists worried history might be about to repeat itself in dozens of locations across the West, especially in the wake of a collective amnesia about what happened to one of the most famous wild sanctuaries in the world.

“There is very little awareness that Hetch Hetchy was part of a national park,” Medeiros observed. “It was a raging fight at the time, with hundreds of editorials written from coast to coast.

But now the awareness has just fallen away. … Our national parks are the great sacred places that we promised to protect. This was an atrocity.”

While a replay of Hetch Hetchy is

unlikely in California, two federal land experts told SN&R the risk is high for Nevada’s hills sweeping off the eastern side of the Sierra.

The new push to transfer and sometimes

privatize federal property started January 3, when congressional Republicans passed a resolution that could potentially compel the Department of the Interior to give its lands over to states without getting budgetary compensation.

The vote has been viewed by some analysts as Western-state Republicans trying to revive the so-called “Sagebrush Rebellion,” a movement in the 1970s to weaken federal control over vast expanses of terrain. By 1980, the Sagebrush Rebellion had a new figurehead in President Ronald Reagan, though it eventually tapered off when the great communicator appointed a moderate to run the Interior Department and the Supreme Court ruled against a Colorado rancher’s challenge to federal stewardship.

Following the House of Representatives’ January vote, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah immediately introduced House

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dams if they do Resolution 621 calling for the federal government to sell off several million acres of land across 10 states to “nonfederal entities.” By February 2, Chaffetz was reaching out to Utah’s largest newspaper to announce he’d changed his mind, after his office was reportedly flooded with angry messages, including from constituents in the hunting and fishing communities.

Nevertheless, nature enthusiasts and sportsmen alike are worried a legislative genie is out of the bottle, one that could surface anywhere in the 334 million acres of land under federal protection.

If employees for the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forestry Service or the national parks share those concerns, they can no longer say so, since President Donald Trump issued, in his second week in office, a gag order on their ability to communicate with the public.

One person who can talk is Carl Rountree. He recently retired from the BLM after 35 years of service that included acting as the assistant director of its Natural Conservation System.

Rountree thinks that any public lands that haven’t already been designated by Congress as “wilderness areas” are the most likely spots to be targeted.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the federal government currently protects 28 percent of the land in the United States. By contrast, BLM reports note that only 3 percent of land in the Lower 48 enjoys the special wilderness designation. In other words, even if Republicans leave wilderness areas untouched, the vast majority of the public’s open space could be up for grabs.

“It’s not that this new rule change completely opens the door to state and private ownership, but it certainly addresses a stumbling block that was there before, and it makes the process less complicated,” Rountree said. “As a former BLMer, I’m pretty concerned.”

SN&R spoke with numerous environmental groups that believe a similar coup attempt in California is unlikely.

That’s not the case for Nevada. the recent change in house rules was a boost for Republican Rep. Mark Amodei, of Nevada’s Second Congressional District.

Amodei introduced H.R. 1484 last year, calling for 9 million acres of land operated by the BLM and Forest Service to be transferred to his state in two phases. Critics say the language of the bill actually opens the door for Nevada to annex nearly all federal land in its borders during the second phase.

The bill would also allow Nevada under the federal government than under to use any newly acquired lands for the state.” generating state revenue, specifically Netherton and members of Friends by leasing them to schools, colleges of Nevada Wilderness are worried that and hospitals or selling them to private prediction doesn’t pencil out. interests.

“The alarming part of it is they’d Amodei has continued to push for his have to sell off a lot of the land to be bill to get a hearing in Congress, and, able to afford to manage the rest,” unlike Chaffetz in Utah, he has strong Netherton contended. “And you have political allies in Nevada. Gov. Brian to add in the rising fire budgets. … I Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller both don’t think they are planning for any have endorsed the deal, while Nevada major environmental review before they Republicans in the legislature passed a sell, and the bill has no language about resolution supporting it. resource protection.”

Shaaron Netherton, who spent 22 Meanwhile, experts like Medeiros years working for the BLM before see in the push to destabilize federal becoming the executive director of lands the shadow of California’s original Friends of Nevada Wilderness, said environmental sin—the destruction it’s somewhat unclear which of the Hetch Hetchy Valley. acres of public land her Mederios recently state’s Republicans edited the largest want to control. academic e-journal “It’s frustratever compiled on ing because restoring the Hetch there are no Hetchy, published maps out there last year by Sierra that they’ve College Press. released,” One of its contribNetherton told utors was Robert SN&R. “There Hanna, the greatRobert Hanna might be imporgreat-grandson of great-great grandson of tant wildlife lands, famed nature writer conservationist John Muir or lands that are and conservationist being used for hunting, John Muir. fishing and recreating— Hetch Hetchy was and maybe lands we don’t want targeted for destruction in order to just sell to China.” to create a reservoir for supplying San Jeremy Garncarz of the Wilderness Francisco with reliable water. Muir, Society has been monitoring the recent who wrote that Hetch Hetchy was “one events in Nevada, where Amodei and of Nature’s rarest and most precious Heller also introduced a bill to block mountain mansions,” battled politicians the president of the United States from from the Bay Area to Washington, D.C., creating any new national monuments in in an attempt to stop the project. The their jurisdiction. Garncarz agrees that inability to save this sculpted cathedral the political plans to take ownership of within Yosemite National Park haunted federal sanctuaries are disturbingly vague. Muir to the end.

“We’re operating under the assump“It was a devastating blow for him,” tion that everything could be on the Hanna told SN&R. “Protecting that table,” Garncarz said. valley is what he dedicated the last seven One group officially supporting years of his life to. He was fighting Amodei’s bill is the Nevada Lands some of the most powerful people in the Council. In a statement on the group’s country. I know what it did to him. It’s website, NLC treasurer Sheldon Mudd the greatest assault ever on our national argued the transferred lands will be parks. It’s a wound and a historic wrong better protected and maintained under that’s never gone away.” state authority. Mudd also denied that a Hanna agrees with Medeiros that the massive sell-off of the people’s property issues of restoring Hetch Hetchy and is imminent. protecting all other national parks should “While it’s true a mere two percent go beyond traditional red and blue talking will be sold to pay for the development points. “When it comes to this, I’m a firm of a stronger state land management believer that you just need to put politics division, all other land is slated to stay in aside and do what’s right,” Hanna said. Ω public hands indefinitely,” Mudd wrote.

“Land sales are no more guaranteed

“It’s the greatest assault ever on our national parks.”

The rupture of the oroville dam spillway that temporarily displaced 190,000 people could be just the beginning. According to three climate science experts speaking via teleconference last week, the near-disaster was a symptom of California’s aging water infrastructure—an infrastructure mostly built over 50 years ago, and for a different climate.

Noah Diffenbaugh, senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, said February 24 that the latest round of storms is indicative of new climate extremes, oscillating between drought and heavy precipitation. According to Diffenbaugh, low precipitation years combined with increased heat will make droughts more likely.

But heavier rainfall can come in a deluge, as demonstrated this winter. Diffenbaugh explained that snow is melting earlier in the year due to an overall upward temperature shift. This means more rainfall and less snowpack at lower elevations, posing an increased flood risk, especially to the Sacramento Valley and the Natomas Basin.

“These are the kinds of conditions that climate scientists have predicted for decades in California,” Diffenbaugh said. “[They] are projected to intensify as global warming continues in the future.”

Juliet Christian-Smith, senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said California’s water storage infrastructure, much of it decades old, was not designed for rapid onslaughts of water. And there may be no silver-lining reprieve from the drought; it’s likely that a heavy rain year may be thwarted as early melt and runoff escapes into the ocean, circumventing the state’s grossly outdated water storage infrastructure.

“By 2020, 70 percent of our dams will be more than 50 years old,” Christian-Smith said. “[Our infrastructure] was constructed and is operated often for past climate conditions. … It has huge hidden costs. For instance, climate change was ignored during the relicensing of the Oroville dam.”

Christian-Smith was referring to a motion of intervention filed in 2005 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by advocacy groups Friends of the River, the Sierra Club, and the South Yuba River Citizens League over the inadequacy of the oroville spillway to handle emergency weather events.

In identifying direct threats to the area, Christian-Smith cited the Sacramento San Joaquin Bay Delta as one of the more vulnerable areas of the United States. She added that, without proper infrastructure investments, the amount of land in the sacramento region that sits below sea level, protected by aging levees, is particularly concerning. (Matt Kramer) This story was made possible by a grant from Tower Cafe.

hollyWood sheriff Local law enforcement can’t get enough of the spotlight.

Sacramento County supervisors were poised Tuesday to approve a request from their sheriff and chief probation officer to allow a film crew to begin production of a documentary titled Cease Fire for the A&E network.

The sheriff’s department was already featured on MSNBC’s Lockup series last year and has been filmed numerous times for the grandaddy of true-crime reality shows, Cops.

Production company 79 Strong Media LLC is behind the A&E project that is intended to “to document the everyday heroism of the brave men and women who were born and raised in the same communities that they today are trusted to protect and serve,” according to an agenda report. Camera crews would follow sheriff’s deputies and probation officers patrolling the streets.

Under the proposed agreement, the sheriff’s and probation departments would have final approval on all completed segments before they could be readied for broadcast. (Raheem F. Hosseini)

03.02.17 | SN&R | 9

Steinberg’s grand plan

The caveat is that they have to prove that spending the money on nonmedical services—like housing vouchers for the homeless—reduces health care costs and utilization.

County spokeswoman Samantha Mott Mayor thinks big on housing homeless residents, but told SN&R that’s the primary reason proposal exposes rift with county officials the county didn’t pursue the grant. With multiple hospitals and managed-care systems, all with their different informar a h e e mh @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m tion management systems, Mott said,

by Raheem F. hosseini “How would we track and present this data?”

The mayor’s deputy chief of staff, Kelly Fong Rivas, told SN&R that city Even without the matching dollars shelter. The plan also calls for a heavy An audacious plan to house 1,600 homeless officials were “huddled up and crafting a offered by the waiver, the city’s broadinvestment in case management services people over the next two years pushed game plan” to answer that question. brushstrokes proposal last week was finanfor those receiving housing help. simmering philosophical differences One of the most pressing issues elected cially ambitious, calling for an investment That last component is critical to the between city and county politicians to the leaders have yet to address is the apparatus of $20 million to house 1,600 homeless plan working, Erlenbusch contended. forefront last week, while also stopping they’ve created for delivering services to Without an explicit income and employshort of addressing the crisis on City Hall’s residents over two years, while preventing the most vulnerable. an equal number of vulnerable people from ment strategy, Erlenbusch said, the people doorstep.

Since coming into office, Steinberg falling into homelessness. the city brings off the streets risk sliding During a February 21 workshop on has sought to use his political clout to If the city wins the federal waiver, back into homelessness once the assistance identifying homeless housing solutions, bring city and county politicians to the Steinberg suggested, it could double those stops. “This is not going to work if you Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced that same table, resulting in a rare summit on numbers. don’t have services behind it,” he the city would take the unusual step of January 31. But the marathon meeting Homeless activists commended the told SN&R. applying for a federal waiver the county instead shined a spotlight on the shocklong-term plan but pointed out that the The plan doesn’t come cheap. had declined to pursue, even though the ingly discombobulated “coordinated entry” short-term situation was still pressing.

Steinberg said the city has conserwaiver could free up tens of millions of system that had sprouted under the “I thought it was an outstanding vatively estimated it would dollars in matching funds to get people off watch of previous administraproposal,” said Bob Erlenbusch, execuneed $18.5 million to carry the streets and into permanent housing. tions. Created with the goal tive director of the Sacramento Regional out its two-year strat“This is not us vs. the county. It is just of providing a streamlined Coalition to End Homelessness. “But egy, but officials are factual,” Steinberg said of the county’s path to services for what are we doing to meet the immeditrying to round up “administrative” decision to pass on the those needing immediate needs?” $20 million. The Whole Person Care waiver program. ate relief, the system The lowest current estimates are that city has pledged “Every county other than Sacramento has instead become approximately 5,200 county residents $5 million from its County with a population of a million a byzantine maze experience homelessness at some point general fund, with people or more is applying for the waiver. that’s difficult to during the year. But a more substantive Sutter Health on The county made that decision and we penetrate and almost count involving K-12 schools revealed board to contribute respect that.” impossible to exit. that nearly 12,000 enrolled students in the another $5 million Even though counties would normally Darrell Steinberg “Our system we county were without housing back in 2013. and raise an equal apply for the waiver because they’re the Sacramento Mayor currently have is overEmily Halcon, the city’s homeless-services amount from local founones managing local health and human whelmed and, perhaps, coordinator, said about 25,000 county dations and businesses. services systems, Steinberg said he pushed beyond its capacity,” residents are precariously housed and at The last $5 million could come received a call from a senior official in Halcon acknowledged last week. risk of slipping into homelessness. from the county, state or other partners, Gov. Jerry Brown’s office inviting the city “Because of this clash of supply and Erlenbusch noted that the county’s the presentation indicated. to submit an outline of an application by demand, there’s a lot of waiting, there’s winter sanctuary program ends March The fact that the county’s participaMarch 1, when applications were due. a lot of back-and-forth and a lot of Steinberg said the senior official offered 31, removing up to 100 overnight shelter tion isn’t assured was another sign general confusion about how to get from slots. Meanwhile, the city and county of tensions between the two political to help take the city’s application the rest start to end.” continue to enforce ordinances against bodies, which have enjoyed an uneasy of the way, as the Sacramento area deals That has created a wait list for sleeping outside. alliance since the county relinquished with an ongoing homelessness crisis that housing that is “70,000 deep currently,” “What about April the first, to keep sole responsibility for managing federal has resulted in four known deaths this year, Halcon said. Meanwhile, homeless people alive, keep people warm?” homelessness dollars to Sacramento two on City Hall property. services providers charged with navigatErlenbusch wondered.

Steps Forward, an initiative launched in Steinberg, the former state Senate ing the coordinated entry system say 2009 by then-Mayor Kevin Johnson. leader who recently mediated a public the only reason that number isn’t bigger The city has resigned itself to taking the “We have not yet figured out how dispute between Republic FC owners, is because Steps Forward has made long view. to share that burden in a way that’s both sought to portray the city’s decision in it harder to get their clients onto its As presented by Halcon, the two-year responsible, fair and—even more impornonjudgmental terms. community queue, which is the first step plan calls for putting 1,200 Housing Choice tant than either of those things—actually “This is not oppositional to the to accessing housing services. vouchers controlled by the county in the helps our people,” Councilman Steve county in any way,” he said earlier in the “Coordinated entry is uncoordinated,” hands of homeless residents, while spendHansen said at last week’s workshop. workshop. “For, in the end, the city should Erlenbusch said. “It’s a mess right now.” ing additional money to grease reluctant The Whole Person Care waiver not and cannot go its own way. We need Unless city and county leaders address landlords to accept the vouchers. Another gives local jurisdictions flexibility in each other.” But, he added, “While we’re these deep-rooted structural issues, 400 city-controlled public housing units how they spend federal aid to improve going to work cooperatively with all of our Erlenbusch said, the city’s voucher-based would be dedicated to people without health outcomes for Medicaid recipients. partners, we’re not going to wait.” plan “will just be a colossal failure.” Ω

“This is not us vs. the county. It is just factual.”

An extended version of this story is available at www.newsreview .com/sacramento.

10 | SN&R | 03.02.17

JOIN THE

Little scandals Paraeducator banished from South Natomas special–education class after dispute reaches social media

by John Flynn

After drawing attention to a classroom incident with unfortunate racial overtones, veteran paraeducator Cory Burleson-Bayone can’t find work in Sacramento County.

Events began February 9 during a special-education class at Bannon Creek Elementary in South Natomas.

There teacher Ju Park put on a The Little Rascals DVD from the 1930s for students working on an art project so she could attend a meeting.

Like many things from the ’30s, the series of short comic films about poor neighborhood kids, originally known as Our Gang, contains material that is questionable by today’s standards. The most objectionable moment in the DVD comes when the young characters give joke answers to a teacher during a pop quiz. When she asks where they got these answers, one student holds up a “Minstrel and Blackface Joke Book.”

Appalled, Burleson-Bayone, one of three part-time paraeducators in the room, snapped a cellphone photo of a black student who raised a fist in front of the screen. The photo was taken from behind the student’s seat so his face is not visible. Burleson-Bayone shared the photo with her sister, who sent it to a friend, Faith McKinnie, who then tweeted the photo.

Burleson-Bayone says she didn’t know this would happen, but the photo ended up triggering a disciplinary double-standard: understanding for the well-intentioned instructor who put on the outdated material, and exile for the longtime classroom aide whose displeasure reached social media.

McKinnie took it upon herself to write a blog post, titled “The Minstrel Classroom.” The post linked to more offensive clips from The Little Rascals series that were not shown to students—none of whom reported “concerns about the content of the DVD,” according to an official report by the Sacramento County Office of Education, which learned of the incident through the social-media posts.

Burleson-Bayone says she learned of the tweet and blog post for the first time the next day, when other teachers stormed into the classroom asking who had provided the picture. BurlesonBayone said the students responded by pointing and calling her a “snitch.”

“I’m just sinking in my desk,” Burleson-Bayone told SN&R. “It was not a good day. It was probably the most horrible day I’ve lived. [But] when things come up in your lap, and you want to fight for children’s rights, you have to do what you’re called to do.”

After school ended, BurlesonBayone tried logging onto the account that gives her access to her paycheck and open teaching jobs in Sacramento County, but found that she had been locked out and that her contracted days at Bannon Creek had been terminated due to an “investigation.”

SCOE Superintendent Dave Gordon said this occurred because BurlesonBayone violated a policy against using cellphones and photographing students without permission, particularly those with special needs. She claims she wasn’t aware of the policy.

Gordon declined to say whether Park faced disciplinary action. SCOE has since implemented new policies requiring teachers to preview supplemental materials prior to showing them to students, and ensure that certified staff members are present before leaving a classroom. As part-time classroom aides, paraeducators are not considered certified staff.

Burleson-Bayone said she was not interviewed about the incident for the report. The 16-year educator said she believes the matter could have been resolved differently.

“If [they] would have just asked me [about what should be done], it would have been a simple, ‘Hey, we screwed up. We apologize. We’re sorry. Let’s burn it,’” she said. “It’s a mess.” Ω

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An extended version of this story is available at www.newsreview.com/sacramento.

03.02.17 | SN&R | 11

Matsui’s marching orders by jeff vonkaenel

Crowd management is an important feature of any politician’s town hall meeting. In normal times, the major problem is how to find a crowd to manage. But we are not living in normal times. Now we’ve got some real crowd control problems.

In 2016, Sacramento Democratic Rep. Ami Bera took tough questions about his vote on the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act at his Elk Grove town hall meeting, attended by more than 300 people. More recently, Roseville Republican Rep. Tom McClintock made national news when he was escorted out of a raucous town hall meeting by police, escaping hundreds of angry residents concerned about losing their health care and other President Donald Trumprelated issues.

So I did not know what to expect when Sacramento Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui scheduled a President’s Day town hall meeting at Sutter Middle School to discuss health care. I’ve attended many town halls during normal times. Usually, there are few people and little energy. But at Matsui’s event, the energetic crowd, estimated at 600, overflowed the gym.

It was a love fest. After Matsui was introduced, she received a standing ovation. Unlike McClintock, who opposed the Affordable Care Act, Matsui supported it and was part of the Democratic brain trust that helped navigate it through stormy political waters.

Now Matsui is in the position of trying to save the ACA. Audience members did not come to change her mind about health care. They came to receive their marching orders. They wanted her to explain what was happening, and to tell them what they could do to help.

Matsui explained that the Republicans have turned health care into health chaos. When Barack Obama was president, they did not

12 | SN&R | 03.02.17

je ffv @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

have to worry about any of their ideas actually being implemented. So they could rail against the unpopular parts of the bill, such as increased taxes, without actually having to figure out a workable system. But now their ideas cannot be implemented without the system crashing down.

Matsui deferred all political questions. She focused all her answers on explaining legislation, rather than focusing on defeating Republicans.

I am 65 years old. And I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime. There were so many people who have never been engaged politically before, wanting to do something. It reminds me of hearing my parents and grandparents talk about the Depression and World War II. The Depression stories were all about the family and the neighbors sticking together to get through tough times. And their World War II stories were all about what they did to help the war effort. Some joined the Army.

Others grew vegetable gardens. And still others knitted socks for the soldiers.

This is not the Great Depression.

But there is no denying that this is a critical moment for our country. And at a middle school gym, more than 600 mostly white, mostly middle-aged residents asked their congressperson not for a reduction in their taxes or an extra benefit, but rather, how could they help their country in this time of need.

And the woman before them, who took her first breath in a Japanese internment camp in Poston, Ariz., on September 25, 1944, was now a member of the U.S. Congress.

It was a very American moment. An America-worth-fighting-for moment. Ω

Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority owner of the News & Review.

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With congressional Republicans in hiding over their misguided plot to blow up the Affordable Care Act, the California Alliance for Retired Americans staged two demonstrations outside the offices of Reps. Tom McClintock and Jeff Denham on February 22 and 24, respectively, to protest their proposed gutting of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. mcclintock had already been posterized while fleeing angry constituents at a Roseville town hall. Republicans are apparently shocked— shocked!—that people don’t want to die.

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Sacramento police say there have been at least 10 instances where male victims were catfished into ambush robberies by the prospect of a date with a woman they met online. In each case, the victims showed up at a predetermined location and were confronted by several suspects, often armed with guns. Police say the fake dates were arranged through a variety of social platforms, but declined to specify which ones. “If it appears too good to be true, it probably is!” police warned in a media release. Does this mean Scorekeeper should stop emailing the supermodel who wants to have dinner in an abandoned warehouse?

On February 22, President Donald Trump overturned title IX protections that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing. In a statement,

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Richard A. Hernandez, president of the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, a regional coalition of LGBT business owners, denounced the targeting of a community that’s “particularly vulnerable to bullying, discrimination, depression and suicide.” Despite rhetoric from the religious right, it’s hard to find evidence that a transgender person has ever assaulted anyone in a bathroom. Meanwhile, four contestants claim the president entered the dressing room of the 1997 Miss Teen USA pageant while they were changing.

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03.02.17 | SN&R | 13

Charting the craft beer boom in Sacramento

by Nick Miller

Brewers know it’s real, but Big Beer is lurking

I

’m no longer surprised by Sacramento’s emergent and, frankly, overzealous craftbeer scene. The region’s brew galaxy will continue to expand, and without misgivings about the sustainability of such growth, or of an oft-proclaimed “craft beer bubble.” Craft is now as American as Russian subterfuge and late-night presidential Twitter rants. It’s officially arrived.

At the very least, this means we can skip the formalities: Thursday marks the beginning of another Sacramento Beer Week, a time of year when I find myself pondering the “the state of brew” and marveling at the local scene’s odyssey.

And how—mercifully—I no longer have to familiarize readers with that “new thing” called “craft beer.”

That said, perhaps you’re a latecomer who needs a peek at the data.

Here you go: In 2009, there were fewer than 10 breweries in the Sacramento region. In fact, some of the finest breweries in the city were shutting off their taps and closing at this time. Today, there are 74 regional breweries—more per capita than in the Bay Area, Los Angeles or San Diego.

This is not to mention all the bars and restaurants piling onto the craft bandwagon, or speculators planting hop fields from the Delta to the Sutter Buttes, and 14 | SN&R | 03.02.17

all those Midtown Instagrammers doing their best Cindy Sherman impressions with pints of suds. Our beer explosion is at once on-trend and very normal.

Yet something happened in the Sacramento beer world this past year involving a young, modest brewery some 45 minutes outside downtown Sacramento, and it reminded me that the Great Beer Acceleration we’re currently experiencing is still so damn unreal.

The brewery in question is Moonraker Brewing Co., tucked away in a nondescript commercial warehouse in rural Auburn. Moonraker opened last April, a couple of days before Earth Day. The owners are Karen and Dan Powell, and they give a damn about the environment.

For instance, there are solar panels on the brewery’s rooftop. They espouse a net-zero energy goal, and their brewing system is powered with renewable electricity, despite the fact that probably 99.9 percent of the industry brews with gas. When they opened, the Powells also decided to sell their beer in cans, instead of the standard glass bottles, because cans are 100 percent recyclable.

Well, canned beer caught fire in 2016.

Local breweries such as Moonraker, Track 7 Brewing Co. and Fieldwork Brewing Co. started selling fresh

IPA-style beer in 16-ounce cans, and straight out of their brewhouses instead of at stores, forgoing distribution and the proverbial middle man. These canned beers brimmed with crisp hoppy goodness, and were just days out of a fermenting tank, with an aroma and character much more alluring than the stale stuff sleeping on BevMo! or Safeway shelves.

Anyway, one of the first canned beers Moonraker sold was called Yojo.

Customers dug it. The word got out fast.

But really, no one saw coming what happened on January 30. The most popular beer website on the planet, RateBeer.com, christened Yojo the No. 1 IPA in the world.

RateBeer also heralded Moonraker as the best brewery in California—and the ninthbest brewery on the whole damn planet.

(Reminder: There are nearly 7,000.)

“It’s been a little surreal,” Karen Powell told SN&R this past week.

No kidding.

She explained how her brewery has tripled production after being open just nine months. Moonraker is now a destination for beer pilgrims from all over the state. “Our tasting room on Saturday, we had a line out the door, all day.”

So, again, while I’m seldom fazed by beer’s big surge, the fact that the local brew scene is going full-on Stanley

Kubrick—that we’re seeing moonshots— is admittedly bizarre.

Big Beer boom—and the bad guys Someone has to rise to the top, however, so why not Sacramento?

I think back to a lecture by Bart Watson, the chief economist for the Brewers Association, a national trade group with nearly 2,000 beer-producing members. This past summer, he held court in front of a standing-room-only crowd of several hundred inside the Sacramento Convention Center, part of the annual California Craft Brewers Association beer summit.

As an example, Watson zeroed in on the year 2011, when there were just 1,813 breweries in the United States. A decent number. But then he pointed to what he called the “current explosion”— illustrated by a line between 2011 and 2015 that shot toward the ceiling. The number of U.S. breweries today: more than 5,000.

California leads the way, as nearly one out of every five of the nation’s breweries operates in the Golden State, according to statistics from CCBA, a political advocacy and education organization based out of Sacramento.

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In 1990, there were just 67 breweries in California. This week, the CCBA was scheduled to announce that we’d crested 800.

A vast majority of these new breweries are in neighborhoods, a.k.a. “nano breweries,” most of which produce fewer than 1,000 barrels annually. Moonraker was locked in at around that level of production—but now it will do closer to 3,000 barrels in 2017. Still, that’s not a lot of brew. By comparison, the four largest breweries in the state all put out more than 1 million barrels a year.

Tom McCormick is the CCBA’s executive director and an industry veteran going on several decades. When we chatted this past summer, he admitted that his contemporaries would never have anticipated this scope of industry advancement some 30 years ago. Which of course raises the question: Is this a “Peak Beer” moment in California?

“Not really,” was his succinct response. “Maybe if you had four [breweries] on [a] street corner. Maybe.

But a community can support a number of these” smaller beer producers.

Other major California beer experts echoed his confidence.

I spoke to David Walker at the Beer Summit. He’s the co-founder of one of the largest craft producers in the state, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., which

puts out more than 300,000 barrels of beer annually all over the country. He forecasted even more accelerated and extraordinary growth. “There will be 10,000 breweries in this country” in the near future, he predicted—which means the industry boom isn’t even at the halfway point.

The industry’s roar has caught its corporate beer overlords’ full attention.

In the past year and a half, AnheuserBusch InBev—the gatekeeper of dozens of popular mainstream beer brands, from Budweiser to Corona to Stella Artois—has fast-tracked the gobbling-up of smaller craft and independent breweries, doubling its portfolio by acquiring new ones such as Golden Road Brewing, which was founded in 2011. And now, going forward, they’re putting the craft community in the crosshairs big time. In fact, the Budweiser-owned Golden Road is scheduled to open a brewpub in the heart of Midtown, inside the old laundromat at L and 19th streets.

Why is Bud getting crafty? Sales of traditional corporate beer—Miller, Coors Light, Heineken—are trending downward, while craft is surging into double digits, up nearly 13 percent in 2015, according to the national Brewers Association.

Craft beer now makes up more than 20 percent of the $106 billion in annual national beer sales—and this booming

market is gnawing at the bottom line of so-called Big Beer.

AB InBev isn’t the only corporate behemoth snatching up independent breweries. In the past couple years, MillerCoors paid an estimated $35 million

controls more than 30 percent of the global beer market.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the craftbeer industry is wary of this mutating beast. McCormick was candid about the corporate beer menace. He’s worried

“I have people come In here all the tIme and say, ‘I’m goIng to open a brewery.’ we just wonder If the market can sustaIn that. I don’t know. I don’t thInk anyone knows. but we’re goIng to fInd out.” karen powell owner, Moonraker Brewing Co. to acquire Saint Archer Brewing Co.; the Heineken Co. bought half of nearby Lagunitas Brewing Co. for $500 million; and Constellation Brands, which brews Modelo, acquired Ballast Point Brewing Co. for a $1 billion.

And the monster is eating itself, too. AB InBev forked over more than $100 billion to gobble up its foremost competitor, SABMiller. Now, AB InBev

about more mergers and acquisitions, and how the big guys could squeeze indie brewers. He’s also anxious about this new AB InBev animal’s infinite coffers, and possible future spending on lobbying to damage smaller craft producers.

“If you were to ask me the greatest threat to our industry now, that is far and “the beer Issue” contInued on page 17

03.02.17 | SN&R | 15

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“the BeeR issue” continued fRom page 15

away it,” he said of macro beer. “And it is clear now what their strategy is: If you can’t beat them, buy them.”

I concur with McCormick that Budweiser’s so-called evil empire is a meaningful danger to independent beer.

But I’d also wager that the No. 1 threat to Sacramento’s newfound craft-beer industry is self-chosen: Sacramento has too many breweries— and a lot of the beer isn’t very good.

The No. 1 threat to Sacramento beer I don’t make that statement lightly.

There are real people behind these 74 local breweries. But good people don’t equal good beer. And it’s time for some real talk.

Ryan Graham is co-owner of Track 7 Brewing Co., one of the first of these new-wave local spots, and that opened in 2011. His brewery is arguably the leader of the pack in Sacramento. He’s also the only local brewer to sit on the CCBA board. During a recent chat, he too reasoned that inferior beer is the biggest menace to Sacramento’s beer scene success.

“Quality is paramount. And we have brewers in Sacramento who are putting out infected, just fundamentally bad-quality beer. And that’s a problem,” he said.

“It’s not enough to be local. Local works for a very narrow window of your beer-making life.”

Graham wasn’t lobbing bombs, or breaking some kind of industry code of silence. Plenty of local beer insiders talk smack about Sacramento breweries. By comparison, Graham was diplomatic, if candid.

Why so much inferior beer in town?

Perhaps because the barrier to entry is lower in Sacramento than, say, the Bay Area, where it costs more to start up a brewery, partly because property values and rents are significantly higher.

Either way, we’re beginning to see casualties, what with the recent closures of Dragas Brewing (in Rocklin, which shuttered last month after just two years) and Roseville Brewing Co. (which opened in 2012 and closed in January).

Part of the problem is that beer is sexy, and so many people—from amateur homebrewers to investors with some commas in the bank account—want in on the boom.

Just ask Rohit Nayyar, owner of one of the premier retail stores in the region, RoCo Wine & Spirits in West Sacramento.

“Everybody wants to be a brewer,” he told SN&R during a recent chat. “Everybody wants to be part of this.”

He says folks come into his store every day and ask about opening a bottle shop, or for tips on growing hops (Nayyar also has 20 acres of hop land near Yuba

We’re NoWhere cloSe To a “Peak Beer” momeNT iN The GoldeN STaTe—aT leaST, accordiNG To califorNia crafT BreWerS aSSociaTioN execuTive direcTor Tom mccormick (ShoWN here SPeakiNG aT laST Summer’S SummiT iN SacrameNTo).

City). But the reality on the frontlines at his store and many others is that “a lot—a lot—of beers are failing,” he said.

“National brands are failing,” he told SN&R. “There are so many people who get into the industry and don’t know what they’re doing. And in Sacramento, it grew too fast. Everybody wants to be in it.”

Again, this isn’t a bombshell. His words echo numerous conversations among industry folks and casual beer consumers.

Even Karen Powell at Moonraker hears it. “I think there are a lot of people who walk into a successful brewery and have a misconception that, ‘Oh, I’m going to start a brewery,’” she explained. “I have people come in here all the time and say, ‘I’m going to open a brewery.’ We just wonder if the market can sustain that.

I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows.

“But we’re going to find out.”

Best beer in Sacramento history Let’s not resign ourselves to a fatalistic discussion of local craft beer’s shortcomings. Instead, let’s explore a fascinating paradox: Lots of local beer may suck—but this is also a tremendous moment to be a brew drinker in the 916.

“I don’t think the Sacramento beer consumer has had better local beer at any time than now,” is how Graham with Track 7 put it.

I second that. From Berryessa Brewing Co. to Mraz Brewing Co., Bike Dog

Brewing Co. to Auburn Alehouse, there’s no shortage of quality brewers constantly surprising with new offerings.

Graham says innovation is key.

“The good breweries, the ones that are going to be able to stand the test of time, are going to be able to reinvent themselves over the next 10 years,” Graham said.

Even Powell, at 9-month-old Moonraker, said that adapting is something her leadership team discusses on the regular. When her brewery was blowing up and winning all those awards—BTW, it just topped the most overhyped and heralded beer on the planet, Pliny the Younger, at the largest IPA festival in Northern California earlier this month—she, her husband and brewers held a powwow to figure out what the hell they were going to do on the heels of all this newfound demand.

“The challenges are trying to find that balance, where you can keep the consumer happy” despite lines out the front door, she said. Nothing is worse than waiting in a queue for 30 minutes—and then the brewery running out of the beer you wanted.

Graham said he loves the fact that beer drinkers are more discerning than ever. “Sacramento consumers have gotten way more savvy than when we opened the door five years ago,” he said. In fact, he doesn’t think Track 7 would’ve been successful if they did today what they did when they opened.

“Business is definitely booming, there’s no doubt about that,” Nayyar said.

“But it’s definitely unexpected.”

There’s that word again. And that’s my whole point. Phenomenons such as Moonraker will turn heads, but the everyday ebb, flow and tsunami of the beer scene should no longer astonish. We may all agree that we don’t know where the industry is headed. But we shouldn’t be so naive as to pretend that it won’t involve all sorts of drama, from Olympus honors and sellout can releases to additional brewery closures and even some juicy front-page scandals.

I like to imagine Sacramento’s beer future like the one described by McCormick this past summer, a place where mainstream offerings such as Bud and Coors Light might someday disappear completely.

“I think industrial lagers will eventually go away, because it’s a really uninteresting product,” he wagered.

He also described how the industry was kick-started by artist-scientist types, the Sierra Nevadas of the world, people who founded breweries upon a culture of helping and innovation. And this is a beer world that I hope shakes out over the coming decade.

“They don’t get in it to make money,” McCormick said. “They don’t get in it because their parents expect them to be brewers like a doctor or dentist.

“They get in it for the love of brewing.” Ω

03.02.17 | SN&R | 17

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5

under-the-radar

bottle shops When you need a break from the frenzy of Beer Week, grab a bottle at one of these stops to unwind

by Rachel leibRock

The Beer Issue.

S

howcases and special tastings. Crazy collaborations and delicious pairings. History lessons and community discussions. Sacramento Beer Week is awash in hoppy, boozy opportunities.

But what if you’re looking for a bit of quiet respite from all that celebratory togetherness? Easy: Grab a bottle (or two, or three) and head home for a night of Netflix and swill. Sacramento has no shortage of great places to pick up brews (though you still can’t buy single bottles in Midtown) including the always great Corti Brothers in East Sacramento or any Nugget Market.

Following are five other stellar options for a night with a bottle—some obvious and others, well, not so much.

1.

Shift Change

This mini-mart-gas-station combo, located near Hollywood Park, used to be just another janky corner stop-and-shop. Not anymore, my friend, not anymore. The neighborhood market still sells gas but, under new ownership, it also boasts a stop-worthy beer selection that includes more than 200 craft beer options from the likes of Track 7 Brewing Co., Modern Times and New Glory Craft Brewery. Plus, pick up a bag of coffee from Insight Coffee Roasters and doughnuts from Marie’s Donuts. It’s kind of perfect, really.

4516 Freeport Boulevard; (916) 731-8010; www.facebook.com/ShiftChangeMarket.

2.

Curtis Park Market

Before Shift Change got into the convenience store-meets-craft-beer business, Curtis Park Market, under the direction of owner Keenan Gorgis, handily redefined what it means to be a go-to bottle shop with its generous selection of handpicked brews. If you haven’t stopped in lately, however, now’s the time to add it to your personal beer map. The shop’s expanded in both size and beer scope—the towering rows upon rows of bottles is dizzying. Recent offerings include Valiant Brewing Co.’s Chernyy Medved Russian imperial stout with cherries and vanilla and Dogfish Head Brewery’s Flesh & Blood IPA. Plus, they’ve been known to squirrel away bottles of Russian River Brewing Co.’s still coveted Pliny the Elder. So, you know, it doesn’t hurt to ask if there’s a spare in the back.

2703 24th Street; (916) 456-6488; www.facebook.com/CurtisParkMarket.

3.

Pangaea Bier Cafe

Most everyone knows Pangaea Bier Cafe as a must-stop for an after-work or weekend beer paired with small bites. Those who haven’t ventured past the bar or patio, however, would be well-advised to take a peek into its adjoining bottle shop. It’s packed with hundreds of selections, including many of the cafe’s tap favorites.

There are lip-puckering sours, deep, dark stouts and quite possibly almost all the Belgian ales you can dream of. Stuck on what to buy? Ask your bartender for some friendly suggestions.

2743 Franklin Boulevard; (916) 454-4942; www.pangaeabiercafe.com.

4.

Tallac Bottle Shop

On the surface, this aging South Sacramento bottle shop doesn’t seem like much—what with its fading posters, flashing neon signs and other remnants of typical liquor store fare (junk food, cigars and lottery tickets). But, nestled amid its generous selection of champagne, wine, whiskey, 40s and football game-ready six packs is a small but not-too-shabby craft beer selection.

Look for choices from Russian River Brewing Co., Drake’s Brewing Co., Lagunitas Brewing Co. and more.

5994 14th Avenue; (916) 457-3670.

5.

Granzella’s

If you’ve got the time, this one is worth the road trip. Located about an hour north off of I-5 in Williams, Granzella’s is a popular stop for those in need of a hearty meal, quick sandwich or ice cream. There’s also an expansive gourmet and gift shop and an addicting olive-tasting bar.

Whatever you do, however, don’t miss a stop at the large beer case that boasts more than 150 options, including brews from New Belgium Brewing Co. and Anderson Valley Brewing Co. 451 Sixth Street in Williams; (530) 473-5583; www.granzellas.com.

03.02.17 | SN&R | 19

Heart of steel

Award-winning brewer Jennifer Talley has muscled her way through chilly breweries to elevate the quality of the craft beer in Auburn

by Janelle Bitker

20 | SN&R | 03.02.17

Photo courtesy jennifer talley

T

he mill is roaring inside Auburn Alehouse, the family-run brewpub about 40 minutes outside Sacramento, and the whole place smells like malted barley. The entrance matches Old Town Auburn’s charm with warm lighting and exposed brick, but Jennifer Talley’s domain is stainless steel. She observes as the team brews a batch of Gold Digger IPA, one of the brewery’s popular standbys.

In the fall of 2014, Talley showed up here, tasted a few beers and decided she’d take a job. That plan probably wouldn’t have panned out for most individuals—especially since Auburn Alehouse wasn’t looking to hire—but luckily for Talley, she’s one of the best brewers in the United States.

“I thought the beers were really good,” she says. “It seemed like the environment I wanted.”

And Auburn Alehouse owner Brian Ford was happy to oblige.

“Of course I knew who she was, so we made a position,” he says. “I wanted more quality, more consistency. Jen has definitely helped us get there.”

Among her many achievements: 13 Great American Beer Festival medals and seven World Beer Cup medals, including five and three gold medals, respectively.

She’s a beer judge for both competitions and frequent conference speaker. And she literally wrote the book on session beer—titled Session Beers—which will be released in September at the Great American Beer Festival.

In 2011, she received her biggest honor to date: the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Craft Brewing. It’s the most prestigious peer-given recognition in the country, focused on brewers who have not only dedicated their lives to craft beer, but also shared their knowledge to help advance the industry as a whole. Talley is the first and only woman to win the award.

“I’m sure there will be others,” she says. “Right now, it’s just me.”

A hippie soul At age 16, Talley went to her first Grateful Dead concert, and her love of craft beer was born.

She traveled around to see the band about 100 times.

“Being on Shakedown Street, having these big coolers open up: there’s Sierra Nevada, there’s Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout, there’s brown ales,” she recalls.

From there, she started homebrewing and, at 21, she nabbed an assistant brewing gig at Squatters Pub Brewery, part of Salt Lake Brewing Co. She stayed put, eventually becoming Squatters’ brewmaster and the greater company’s research and development director, for 20 years.

“You do a lot of growing up between 21 and 41,” she says. “I just questioned myself and how much could I truly grow by staying at the exact same company.”

After taking some beer-oriented trips to Belgium and Germany, Talley segued to Redhook Brewery near Seattle, where she managed production of 140,000 barrels a year—a big jump up from Salt Lake Brewing’s 40,000. Ultimately,

“I’ve never seen myself as a woman brewer.

I’ve always jusT seen myself as a brewer.” jennifer Talley, brewer, Auburn Alehouse

Washington’s gloomy weather and the brewery’s corporate structure didn’t jibe well with Talley’s personality.

“I didn’t realize what a small brewer at heart I was until I got to this really big pond,” she says.

From there, she went to Russian River Brewing Co., the Santa Rosa brewpub most famous for Pliny the Younger. After a year and a half, she decided she wanted to focus more on family.

Her mom, who had been taking care of Talley’s two young kids while she worked full-time, had grown ill. Cutting back to part-time and relocating to Grass Valley, with its easygoing vibe and excellent school system, seemed like the next best move. And Auburn Alehouse proved to be the ideal fit.

“Here, I’m able to put a lot of processes in place and do a lot of development and bring a lot of knowledge and experience,” she says. “I love teaching people.”

See: the Russell Schehrer Award, that top-honor for stepping into the role of team coach.

She’s also designing new beers, so Auburn Alehouse fans can expect to see some more experimental brews, starting with Sacramento Beer Week. The brewery will release Cheap Trick, a juicy, hazy, New England-style IPA with a hint of orange Creamsicle born out of a collaboration with High Water Brewing; and a collaboration with Peter Hoey, former brewmaster of Sacramento Brewing Co., will yield Sacramento Saison, a fruity farmhouse made with mandarins from Magnolia Hill Orchard.

“We’re definitely coming out of our comfort zone,” Talley says.

Chalk up that mindset to her Grateful Dead phase and hippie soul.

“Deadheads at the time—late ’80s, early ’90s—were very open-minded individuals,” she says. “In brewing, flavor profiles, tasting [as a judge], being open to new ideas, new processes and new ways of putting flavors together is important.”

Women who brew Talley has never worked with another woman in a brewery. But she doesn’t blame the beer industry.

“I believe it’s parenting,” she says. “I think if young girls are raised differently to believe in themselves and believe any door is open to them, maybe we’ll see more of a shift.”

Talley thinks of brewing as a trade, like construction or plumbing—bluecollar fields that don’t draw many women.

“It’s usually a father who has the trade job and brings the son on. I plan to bring my children as much as they want into the trade,” she says, adding that her daughter right now is more interested in brewing than her son.

“Why aren’t women more interested in trades?” she says. “When you start at the bottom of any of these breweries, it’s not pretty.”

Talley remembers days at Squatters when it would be 0 degrees Celsius on the streets and negative 10 degrees inside the brewery. She performed a ritual of standing in buckets of hot water to warm up the steel toes on her rubber boots.

“Is there sexual discrimination? Well, yeah,” she says. “There’s sexual discrimination all over the world for women, but it’s no higher or bigger in my industry than another industry.”

It’s partially why Pink Boots Society, an international group geared toward advancing women’s careers in the beer industry, formed in 2007. Last summer, a chapter launched in Sacramento, proving there’s a growing force of local women in beer. Talley admits she hasn’t been a very active member.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she says.

“But I’ve never seen myself as a woman brewer. I’ve always just seen myself as a brewer.” Ω

photo by lisa baetz

photo by lisa baetz

moonkraker’S popular yojo ipa moonkraker’

track 7’S growlerS

W

by John Flynn

The rise of the New England

IPA

Fruitier New England IPAs are a hit in Sacramento

hile working the night shift at Moonraker Brewing Co., head brewer Zach Frasher met a man who didn’t drink much beer, preferring screwdrivers. But after trying Yojo, Moonraker’s flagship New England IPA, he shook Frasher’s hand and asked for another glass.

A couple of years ago, this sort of beer couldn’t be found in the Sacramento area. But with the proliferation of crisp, bitter West Coast IPAs, Frasher formed the vanguard of local brewers inspired by the opposite coast’s emphasis on a softer, less aggressive mouthfeel and fruity hops.

“If I mention that you’re going to get apricot and peaches and tangerines, people typically will listen and start picking up those flavors,” Frasher said. “It’s a lot more approachable to the palette with power of suggestion.

I know a lot of people that don’t like IPAs. Then I give them Yojo, and they are converted.”

A little under a year old, the Auburn-based brewery has carved out a niche by embracing the New England or Northeastern-style IPAs more than any other area brewer. Frasher had been home-brewing similar varieties since 2011 and now, Moonraker has five other bright, hazy beers influenced by the style.

Frasher creates Yojo with Auburn’s soft water that has a mineral content so low, it’s close to distilled. Combined with high-protein malts like oats, rye and flaked wheat, the beer gains a cloudier, fuller body thanks to betaglucans, the same compounds that make oatmeal gummy. He also uses a proprietary English yeast that yields fruitier flavors than the California Ale yeast used in West Coast IPAs. Beyond that, he purchases artisan hops like Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, Equinox and Galaxy, patented varieties that have a flavor and aroma closer

“ThE IPA Is lIkE ThE chEEsEburgEr.” chris keeton Head brewer, Rubicon to tropical fruit than the West Coast’s piney, citrus notes. He also dry-hops, or adds hops while the beer cools instead of during the initial boil, which reduces bitterness and pulls out more fruity aromas and flavors—sort of like a coldbrew coffee.

“Each of these specifics plays a part in the whole spectrum to make the beer,” he said. “It’s not just one thing.

It’s all kinds of things.”

When the head brewer at Rubicon Brewing Co., Chris Keeton, could no longer tamp down his curiosity, he purchased a can of the Moonraker flagship. The self-described “skeptical, old-soul curmudgeon” brews clear beer and was certain that the opaque Yojo would curdle after a month in the fridge. But then, he poured it, watched a frothy, fragrant head rise, then drank his words.

So in a tongue-in-cheek move, he made the Helter Skelter IPA, named after a one-off Beatles song that broke from the band’s pop style to rock like the Rolling Stones and the Who. And just as the Beatles put their own spin on things, Rubicon made its NE-inspired IPA clear.

“With this beer we can do that,” he said. “If we’re making a Russian imperial stout, there’s guidelines that we need to meet. Am I doing a disservice to this beer by [making it clear]?

Potentially. But we’re able to slip in while it’s in its inception. And now it’s, ‘Oh, you can have a clear NE IPA,’ and boom, I’ve got my trademark down.”

Keeton prefers clear beers for their aesthetic. Plus, high beta-glucans in the malt can lead to inefficiencies in the older brewing system at Rubicon.

Keeton wants to keep things consistent for the 30-year-old brewery’s clientele. But after taking over four years ago, he realized the market demands more variety in IPAs beyond the classic Rubicon IPA—winner of the 1989 gold medal at the Great

American Beer Festival.

“The IPA is like the cheeseburger,” he said. “When you start curing your own bacon, or encrusting the patty with blue cheese—all of these extra things become the IPA.” Over at Track 7 Brewing Co., brewmaster Ryan Graham went to the East Coast in August and saw that the New England IPA seemed as widespread as the West Coast version is here. He’s done several New England-inspired beers like Love and Hoppiness, which came out only a week after Yojo.

The beer is clear like Rubicon’s because Graham believes that the beer-drinking community still has a prejudice against cloudy brews. He blames West Coast fatigue for the New England IPA’s popularity surge, but also Sacramento’s tendency to adopt outside trends.

“Sacramento inherently looks at others for a way of constructing its own identity,” he said. “It’s really great that we have breweries making world-class examples of this style. But [if Sacramento] continues to build on farm-to-fork and develop an identity that’s its own, it’ll be most successful in its long-term development of its own artisanal culture.”

He doesn’t see the New Englandinspired styles overtaking Track 7’s Panic IPA. But still, he thinks it necessary to keep pushing the envelope to stay competitive among the high concentration of more than 60 local breweries. In other words, the New England IPA’s effects will continue to ripple.

“There’s a place for it,” he said.

“Really well done NE IPAs, are gonna be embraced just like really well done West Coast IPAs. People have been calling for the end of IPA for 10 years.

And it’s continued to evolve. So I imagine there will be some lasting legacy effects from NE IPA for West Coast brewers no matter what.” Ω

03.02.17 | SN&R | 21

AAron o’ cAllAghAn enjoys his own swAg. Photo by john hermison

by AAron CArnes

Gamify your guzzling The Sacramento Beer Frontier passport makes a game out of trying new breweries, but could it turn Sac into a magnet for beer-bro tourists?

22 | SN&R | 03.02.17

“D

runk Pokémon.”

These words pop into my head as I stand in the West Sacramento Rubicon Brewing Co. location, trying to work up the nerve to ask the bartender to stamp my Sacramento Beer Frontier passport, hoping he won’t laugh at me. He doesn’t.

The program, designed by environmental grants manager and beer enthusiast Aaron O’Callaghan, officially launched this year, and is already a hit with local adventurers. Like Pokémon Go, you have to leave the comfort of your home to participate, only you visit your choice of 52 Sacramento area breweries to collect stamps—instead of violent, squeaky cartoons. Along the way, you earn prizes: a bottle opener, a pint glass, a local brewery map. If nothing else, it’s a good way to track every brewery you’ve been to, like how a real passport gives you a visual for all the countries you’ve visited.

I enter Rubicon with my friend who’s lived in West Sacramento for six years.

Still, he was unaware Rubicon even had a location in his neighborhood. As the two of us sip beers and play shuffleboard, the passport has already done its job.

“This whole project is about bringing awareness to your neighborhood brewery,” O’Callaghan tells me a few days earlier over beers at Sactown Union Brewery. “This is a fun way for locals to come up with something to do and engage in their community, instead of spending time chasing the most interesting beers from across the country.”

I like beer, but struggle to understand the appeal of collecting stamps from breweries like it was an accomplishment.

Yet, when I accompanied O’Callaghan a month earlier at a promotional event at Fountainhead Brewing Co., the response was overwhelming. The primary purpose was to give out passports to Kickstarter backers (he raised $8,632 last year to launch this project). He rewarded them with roughly 25 passports, but sold an additional 50 to people off the street.

Their eyes lit up when O’Callaghan explained the concept.

Passport holders are actually using them, too. At Rubicon, my friend and I meet a guy with a passport, and we ask him what he likes about it. “I’m a stat man,” he replies, deadpan, which seems like an odd reason. He also tells us he tracks all his individual beers with an app called Untappd.

Another fan, Peter Brown, a Roseville teacher, says he loves how the program turns discovering new breweries into a game.

“It’s a genius product,” Brown says.

“I feel like a kid at Disneyland.”

I’m all for fun, but I worry about the impact this program will have on Sacramento in the long run. I watched

Bend, Ore.—a town I visit annually to see my oldest friend—became overly crowded with frat-type beer tourists after the city created a beer map last year, highlighting themselves as a “beer destination.” From my observations, hotels had nearly doubled in price from the year before and were almost impossible to book. Traffic was horrendous.

O’Callaghan says he worries about the same thing, and points out that most of the beer maps and ale trails in these towns—Bend included—are designed by tourist boards with the purpose of flooding the town with cash-filled tourists.

Beer Frontier is owned and operated by O’Callaghan, just a guy who wanted to create a fun project for other like-minded beer drinkers. His target audience isn’t hardcore beer drinkers. So far, he’s gotten the biggest response from locals looking for an excuse to check out the city’s many breweries.

“I don’t know that Sacramento will ever become Bend, Portland or San Diego,” O’Callaghan says, but he points out that a small increase in business could greatly improve our beer scene.

“These breweries operate on a pretty tight margin. Just increasing traffic by a little bit could have a good overall effect on the region as a whole in terms of the sustainability of the industry.”

Beer Frontier could grow much bigger. O’Callaghan isn’t opposed to the idea, but it seems unlikely. Since his program isn’t connected to a tourist board, it’ll likely stay local and keep the city from becoming a beer-tourist playground. Besides, the passports aren’t in hotels; they’re inside local hangouts like Taylor’s Market.

No one has gotten all 52 stamps yet, which will earn you a customized map of the breweries, the order in which you visited them and your beer-guzzling time frame. (There’s no time limit.)

O’Callaghan personally makes these— that’s not something Visit Bend would do.

In the end, I made it to the first level with just four stamps, which earned me a custom bottle opener. I wanted to see if winning a prize would excite me enough to go further. Not so much. But then again, I’m no Pokémon fan. As others enjoy this little game, at least I can feel comfortable that the breweries aren’t packed with obnoxious beer tourists—for now. Ω

Photo by lisa baetz

“This dirT is The besT dirT in The fucking world. so leT’s leT The dirT guide us.”

J.e. Paino,

ruhstaller’s owner

Preserved in amber T

hree beers deep, Ruhstaller’s owner J.E. Paino celebrates in the middle of his new, packed taproom in Dixon. The December opening and February kickoff party concluded seven months of work that started when Solano County shut down the facility at Ruhstaller’s Dixon hop farm—even after Paino said he spent more than $50,000 obtaining permits and up-tocode remodels.

“The county walloped us,” he said. “But you know what? Getting walloped adds a little flavor. That adds a sliver of terroir.”

Terroir ranks among the top-used words in Paino’s vocabulary. More often applied to wine, it’s French for a growing environment’s impact on flavor. Though the kerfuffle with the county made Paino question his choice of location, he decided to remain in this region due to its perfect climate for “growing beer.” The cozy, newly opened cement-and-wood space allows Ruhstaller to experiment with ingredients and cater to those on the quieter side of the Tower Bridge.

Though Solano County smacked him down, Paino thanks the local government for maintaining the region’s ecology. He said Sacramento

was the “Napa Valley of hops” before national brands shifted toward cheaper operations in Washington. After tests confirmed that beer tastes different depending on the hops’ growing-region, Paino doubled-down on capturing our fertile valley’s essence.

“LA has concrete. San Francisco has the Bay. And we have dirt,” Paino said.

“The dirt is what makes us distinct.

This dirt is the best dirt in the fucking world. So let’s let the dirt guide us.”

As opposed to other brewers’ consistency, some of Ruhstaller’s “wet hop” beers can taste differently at the tap house, in the bottle or after a couple weeks of aging. His freshly harvested hops get added while they still contain maximum terroir, but before they’ve been dried and standardized.

So instead of building a fanbase for same-every-time beers, Paino seeks to popularize his entire approach. Akin to wine-making, he wants to capture “a moment in time” rather than a brewer’s replicable prowess. It’s a gamble, but he thinks a worthwhile one as the modern beer scene resembles the time before corporate consolidation, when local breweries flourished.

“How did they differentiate themselves? Quality,” he said. “How did they do that? They chose better hops.

Where did those hops and ingredients come from? Here!”

A proponent of cloudy, unfiltered beer, Paino believes residue contributes flavor. He hypothesizes that beertasting took a dive when the glass was invented as people let appearance sway their opinion of flavor.

To renew the focus on taste, Ruhstaller’s brewers have established their “R&D” brewery in Dixon, where they brew two or three one-off batches weekly with different local ingredients to see what those ingredients “want to be when they grow up,” as Paino put it. When they find a winner, they release it as part of their test series and limit information about its contents to promote an “emotional taste-bud” experience when sipped.

Every five to six weeks, a new variety comes out. In Ruhstaller’s Dixon and K Street taprooms, customers can usually try two or three side-by-side as the brewery hones in on what sets Sacramentan beer apart.

“If we take hops from this region and stack them up against any other beer out on the market, I don’t want to say they’re going to be better,” he said.

“But they will always be different.” Ω

Ruhstaller’s owner J.E. Paino grows local hops that capture ‘a moment in time’

by John Flynn

03.02.17 | SN&R | 23

coin-op game room beer week high scores: Friday 3/3:

Wednesday 3/8:

Sactown Union Vs. New Helvetia Battle of the Bridges

21st Amendment Tap Takeover

Monday 3/6: Suds of Saccani Saccani beer tap takeover

Tuesday 3/7: Pilsnerpalooza

Thursday 3/9: Drakes Vs. Mraz IPA vs. Sour

Friday 3/10: NorCal Vs. SoCal The Great State Divide

908 K street 9th & k

916.661.6983 .

24 | SN&R | 03.02.17

/coinopsac

For the week oF MArCh 2

T

he Sacramento beer scene is richer than ever before—after Prohibition, that is—with more and more exciting beer being produced every year. Of course, there are also way more breweries to keep track of, with each doing its own events for Sacramento Beer Week.

One look at the events page can send you into a foamy, FOMO tailspin.

Luckily, a bunch of the annual events are reliably excellent. If you’re not obsessed with tracking down the newest of brews, consider the following: On Thursday, March 2, the Sacramento Brewers’ Showcase marks the official start of Beer Week, with a $40 ticket getting you unlimited pours from more than 40 local breweries.

Get to the California Automobile Museum (2200 Front Street) at 6 p.m. and pace yourself. More details—and the full list of Beer Week events—at http://sacbeerweek.com.

Boneshaker Public House’s (2168 Sunset Boulevard in Rocklin) sixth annual Sour Power fest takes place Saturday, March 4. Get your fill of tart, wild and funky goodness from breweries such as the Bruery, Avery Brewing Co. and Shady Oak Barrel

House. More at www.facebook.com/ boneshakerpub.

Go to New Helvetia Brewing Co. (1730 Broadway) early on Sunday, March 5, for its popular beer and chocolate pairing flight, a collaboration with Ginger Elizabeth. It’s so, so delicious, and last year’s supply sold out fast. Details at http://newhelvetiabrew.com.

That same day, hop-heads shouldn’t miss Track 7 Brewing Co.’s (826 Professor Lane in Natomas) second annual Brewery invitational + Competition, an ambitious gathering of West Coast breweries pouring their best specialty IPAs. Participation from San Diego is strong with the likes of Belching Beaver Brewery, Modern Times Beer and Societe Brewing Co. Find $60 tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/2771489%20.

And because Beer Week is a whopping 11 days, let’s fast-forward to Saturday, March 11, for the third annual Mikkeller weekend at Hot City Pizza (5642 J Street). You’ll have two days to try some of the best beers from everyone’s favorite Danish gypsy brewery, which happens to be the Hot City team’s favorite brewery, period. Check out the rest of the pizza shop’s always-killer Beer Week lineup at www.pizzatanning.com.

—JAnELLE BiTkER

illustration by sarah hansel

Dance theatre of harlem THURSDAY, MARCH 2 Since 1969, the Dance Theatre of Harlem has wowed audiences across the globe. For those who’ve never seen this troupe, expect a lively show replete with interpretive DAnCe dance and songs that are neither dated nor derivative. As an added bonus, a special Q&A session will be held after the performance. $12.50-$58; 8 p.m. at Mondavi Center, 1 Shields Avenue in Davis; www.dancetheatreofharlem.org.

—EDDiE JoRgEnSEn

Graciano’s Prohibition SATURDAY, MARCH 4 Graciano’s Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and Speakeasy is recreating the roaring 1920s with a Prohibition all its own. To get in for free, you’ll need to RSVP—and you won’t even get the secret password until five hours before the party starts.

There will be drinking, Chicago-style pizza and jazz. $5; 9 p.m.

CuLture at Graciano’s Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and Speakeasy, 1023 Front Street; www.facebook.com/ gracianosdeepdishsacramento.

—LoRY giL

Sacramento LGBt wedding expo SUnDAY, MARCH 5

Mario kart 64 tournament

ArtSoup March 2017 TUESDAY, MARCH 7

TUESDAY, MARCH 7

A wedding is a wedding, right? Yes, but folks in the LGBT community might find that dealing with standard vendors may not always exPo yield the best results. At the Sacramento LGBT Wedding Expo, couples can interact directly with vendors aimed specifically at meeting their needs. Free; noon at Hyatt Regency Sacramento, 1209 L Street; www.saclgbtweddingexpo.com.

—AARon CARnES

Two years ago, hundreds of nerds gathered at LowBrau for an epic Mario Kart racing tournament, with smack-talking announcers.

At last, it’s time to relive the glory at Sactown Union, where 32 teams will battle for gift certificates. Free with one drink minimum; 5:30 p.m. at Sactown Union ViDeo GAMe Brewery, 1210 66th Street, Unit B; www.facebook.com/ sactownunion.

—JAnELLE BiTkER

Capitol Indie Collective’s ARTSoup is a community dinner spliced with “Shark Tank.” For just nine bucks, you can enjoy a meal at CLARA with like-minded art enthusiasts and listen to pitches from local artists looking for some sweet seed Art funding to help make their visions a reality. The vast majority of your meal ticket goes to the artists who impress the most. $9; 6 p.m. at Capitol Indie Collective, 2420 N Street, Suite 140; www .capitolindiecollective.com.

—DAvE kEMpA

03.02.17 | SN&R | 25

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LO ORKSHOP W N IO T A T FERMEN E TOWN? H T N O T A NIGH G HOT A STEAMIN SS? YOGA CLA

IllustratIons by saraH Hansel

Buttercream bliss CUpCakes, sUgar pie Bake sHoppe The cupcake craze may have waned, but cupcakes will never disappear. They’re such perfect packages of fun. Jolanda Ahmann turns out gorgeous and delicious versions at Sugar Pie Bake Shoppe.

The baker coaxes butter and sugar into ethereal cakes with myriad flavor combinations ($3 each, $28 for a dozen). Her Sea Salted Caramel tops a light cupcake with clouds of buttercream and just the right amount of salt. 916-529-2416; www.sugarpiebakeshoppe.com.

—ann Martin rolke

Fruity bits Hearts’ Beat, UprigHt Brewing CoMpany

IllustratIon by Mark stIvers

Beer bath

By John Flynn Bottoms up: Beer Week brings a slew

of new releases. Let’s start with some funky stuff and work down to IPAs (available starting March 2, unless noted otherwise).

Bike Dog Brewing Co. will debut a stout made with cocoa butter nibs and raspberries, named MC Brambles after a rapping cartoon bear in the children’s book Jamberry. On March 9, it will offer Cause Célèbre, a “giant” saison aged in sherry barrels.

American River Brewing Co. will blend the ginger and cinnamon of Belgian ale yeast with heavy piney and citrus-y hops in Belus. And along those same lines, New Glory Craft Brewery paired up with High Water Brewing for the Lemon Meringue Pie Specialty Ale, brewed with graham crackers, vanilla beans and lemon juice, available March 4.

Fruitier yet, Device Brewing

Co. will serve a traditional German Berliner-Weisse, a very light sour beer served with a spritz of raspberry, mango or blood orange syrup on March 12.

Some of the new IPAs don’t skimp on the fruit, either. Track 7 will unveil its Richard Buttock’s Tropical Paradise Kettle Sour IPA with pineapple and apricot. A collaboration with the Sacramento Beer Enthusiast0s, the IPA will appear at the Curtis Park location on March 4.

In honor of the 916’s newly bestowed area code, New Helvetia Brewing Co. will debut the 279 Pale Ale along with the California Gose.

In the ultimate taco pairing, Claimstake Brewing Co.’s West Coast IPA Ay Pato Güey is actually brewed with corn masa.

And drawing on sources even farther afield than Mexico, New Glory

Craft Brewery will present its Juicy Secret IPA, a “modern IPA” brewed heavily with Vic Secret hops imported from Australia.

Device will also reintroduce the Citramento IPA, which owner Ken Anthony said was sold “stupid” fast in its last release. This time, it’ll reemerge in a can at noon on March 3.

But the real happening trend?

Northeast IPAs. Track 7 will debut its Everything Wrong (and Right) Fruited Northeastinspired IPA that contains lactose, vanilla, apricot, passion fruit and peach on March 1. It also collaborated on two other NE-inspired IPAs: Rule G, a double IPA dreamed up with Final Gravity Taproom & Bottle Shop, and Magnetic, a team effort with Device Brewing Co., made with juicy Vermont yeast and fruity hops.

Finally, the two old-timers, Rubicon Brewing Co. and Sudwerk Brewing Co., chose the New England-inspired IPA for their “Mi Casa, Su Casa” tradition, when the ale-specializing Rubicon and the lager-loving Sudwerk use their respective yeasts, but otherwise the exact same recipe, to showcase the miracles those microbes work. Ω

Brewed with Chelan cherries harvested from an orchard near its Portland home base, Upright Brewing Co.’s Hearts’ Beat is boldly flavorful. The beer is fermented in oak casks packed with dark cherries—each cask contains more than 100 pounds of the tiny, tart fruit. The result is a brew with a tart bite and only a hint of sweetness—perfect for those who occasionally crave fruitiness—without the cloying taste of a cider.

Available locally at Corti Brothers, it’s not cheap ($24 for a pint-plus bottle), but think of it as a welcoming advance on spring. www.uprightbrewing.com.

—raCHel leiBroCk

Scarlet citrus Blood oranges Just as winter ends, blood oranges begin. They come to market around now, after most other citrus varieties. Blood oranges require cold nights to develop their bright red coloring, and they’ve surely had it this year.

The gorgeous scarlet color comes from anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant. Use blood-orange juice to make striking cocktails and marmalade, or enjoy them in a traditional Italian salad with thinly sliced fennel and extra-virgin olive oil. Moro varieties may have an almost berry-like flavor, while Tarocco are the sweetest. The Bream Tarocco subvariety from Lindsay, Calif., has few to no seeds.

—ann Martin rolke

03.02.17 | SN&R | 27

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Red, white and sushi

by Rebecca Huval

Sakamoto Japanese cuisine

HHH 2131 J Street, (916) 661-5129 www.sakamotosushi.com Meal for one: $9 - $18 Good for: Spicy and cooked sushi rolls Notable dishes: Sunburnt roll, Sake Sake roll, chicken katsu

The Platonic ideal of Japanese sushi might look like minimalist slivers of nigiri precisely prepared with sparse adornment. The fish speaks for itself.

But sometimes you aren’t craving sophistication in your sushi. Sometimes you want sushi so thoroughly nontraditional and hyper-American that you can practically hear Bruce Springsteen blaring in your mouth: Bring on the mayo rolled up with fried shrimp and torched jalapeños.

Savor the red-white-and-blue excess of spicy unagi sauce on cream cheese on sugar on salt. The type of sushi that screams, “I can handle a bigger driveway and a bigger tube of rice than you.”

At Sakamoto, you can revel in such sushi. The Japanese restaurant opened in November in the former location of Tamaya Sushi Bar & Grill, with new ownership but some of the same sushi chefs. They’ve clearly had fun revamping the menu.

Even the names of the rolls—the Armageddon, the Kraken, the One Punch— might make you wonder: Are these food items or Michael Bay movies? The Armageddon ($15) layers cream cheese with lobster salad, spicy crab and panko shrimp, topped with seared tuna, avocado, unagi sauce, garlic mayo, green onions and sesame seeds. It’s enough to make Liv Tyler cry from all of the explosions of flavor.

Another dish that exemplifies this maximalism, the Sunburnt roll ($14) packs creamy spicy tuna, lightly fried panko shrimp and spicy crab. The seafood triad provides a soft-and-crunchy core that’s alternately present and overshadowed by its toppings of soft scallops, spicy mayo and garlic mayo (that’s two kinds of mayo), unagi sauce,

r e b e c c a h @ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m

green onions and itty bitty orange balls of tobiko that pop in quick, ticklish bursts. The surrounding rice is torched. The cacophony of tastes washes over you like a wall of blackgaze music—all instruments in the mix on full blast. You taste everything without necessarily identifying the ingredients contributing to each sensation. Perhaps beyond all reason, it is wonderful.

A tamer option, the Sake Sake roll ($11), bundles warm tempura asparagus next to cold slivers of salmon, layered with even more salmon and zesty lemon peels on top. The contrast of temperatures, in addition to the unexpected brightness of lemon, make this sushi pop without any need for thick sauces.

Some holdovers from Tamaya appear, including a few wacky appetizers. The Hot Lava ($8) ensconces a mix of spicy crab in a volcano-shaped shell of delicious tofu that’s deep fried with rivulets (or, one could say, lava streams) of unagi sauce. Be careful when lifting the mini Mount Fujis with chopsticks—the fried shell sometimes lifts up without its crabby contents. The fried shell and potent seasonings nearly mask the seafood on the inside. Sometimes, the fun overwhelms the fish.

Granted, the restaurant also serves traditional options, such as wide selection of nigiri, ramen and hand rolls.

The bento boxes ($9-$11 during lunch) with soup, rice and a salad offer a filling way to try its entrees, such as finely fried chicken katsu and vegetable tempura with a delicate layer of fried batter. However, when exposed without sauce, the fish lacks the oomph of delectable sushi found at places such as Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine—Sakamoto’s sashimi tastes only so-so.

But it’s the two-page selection of spicy, cooked and mild rolls that sets Sakamoto apart from Sacramento’s other sushi purveyors.

At Lou’s Sushi or Kru, you can find spider or rainbow rolls that seem prim next to the all-out calorie rampage of the 10-ingredient Armageddon. At Sakamoto, you might discover a first among your sushi-dining experiences, but an effect found in many red-blooded American restaurants: You’ll leave stuffed. Ω

Sometimes, the fun overwhelms the fish.

skill &

dedication you can taste

Race to the bottle Beer and live music already pair well, but Oak Park Brewing Co. is amping up the combo. Local band Race to the Bottom has infused its ’90s stadium rock sensibilities into the punchy hops of its own Race to the Bottom Double IPA, made in collaboration with the Oak Park brewery.

Though the musicians have about a decade of experience together as a band, this marks their first foray into craft brewing—so, they helped out with the conceptual swagger more than the actual siphoning. To create a bottle that’s “easy to drink while enjoying live music,” the 7.8 percent ABV spring ale has an earthy, floral nose with “hints of lavender and chamomile,” writes guitarist Joe Whitworth. On March 4, try a pint ($7) while listening to the Scott Weilandesque vocals that inspired the brew. Race to the Bottom will play at the brewery alongside local bands Sunday School and Humble Wolf starting at 3 p.m. with free admission.

Details at www.facebook.com/events/244204656024092.

—Rebecca Huval

916.476.5384 866 57th street sac, ca 95819

RecoveRy Recovery Event event for for

Salima Akbari Salima akbaRi

Girl Scout cookies go V

by SHoka The time of year has come once again for girls in green vests and sashes to stop you from entering Safeway to ask, “Would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?” If you are vegan, you can say yes! Thanks to one of the Girl Scouts’ licensed bakers, five of its cookie flavors are vegan. ABC Bakers’ plant-based recipes are the classic mint-chocolate Thin Mints; Thanks-A-Lots, shortbread dipped in fudge; Peanut Butter Patties, vanilla cookie smothered in peanut butter and covered in chocolate;

Girl Scout S’mores, graham cookie

Please join My Thai Kitchen for

double-dipped with crème icing a fundraising event that will be and chocolate; and Lemonades, held on Saturday march 4, 2017 shortbread with lemon icing. Go to to help our beloved coworker and www.girlscouts.org to stalk, er, find friend, Salima Akbari, during the the nearest cookie-selling Scout’s time of recovery from a recent hours and location. You could also Please join My Thai Kitchen for a fundraising event that will be held accident.

20%and from theSalima sales Akbari, that to help her download the Girl Scout Cookie to help our beloved coworker friend, are generated will be donated to her ĚƵƌŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƟŵĞ ŽĨ ƌĞĐŽǀĞƌLJ ĨƌŽŵ Ă ƌĞĐĞŶƚ ĂĐĐŝĚĞŶƚ͘ ƉŽƌƟŽŶ ĨƌŽŵ Finder app from iTunes or Google the receipts that areher generated will be donated to her and her three and three children.

The event Play—because of course there is an ĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶ͘ DŽƌĞ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ ĂďŽƵƚ ƚŚŝƐ ĞǀĞŶƚ ǁŝůů ďĞ ĂǀĂŝůŝďůĞ ƐŽŽŶ͘ begin from 11 am to 9:00pm. app for that. Just double-check that the cookies are from ABC Bakers when ordering.

My Thai Kitchen �@8=K>?8K>?88

1465 Eureka Road, Ste 140 Roseville, CA 95661

03.02.17 | SN&R | 29

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Where to find the region’s best craft breWs

Oak Park Brewing Co. 5 AUBURN

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ELK GROVE

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2222 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento 916-922-1745, www.capitolbeer.com Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat11 a.m.-midnight, Sun 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

La Riviera Market & Spirits 19

Final Gravity Taproom & Bottleshop 5

CapitolBeer

CAP’s Pizza & Tap House 2

8760 La Riviera Drive, Ste. A, Sacramento 916-399-4217, Sun-Thurs 11 a.m.11 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

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9205 Sierra College Blvd., Ste. 100, Roseville 916-782-1166 Mon-Wed noon-11 p.m., Thurs-Sat noon-midnight, Sun noon-8 p.m.

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FinalGravityRoseville

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Crooked Lane Brewing Co. 11

Kupros Craft House 1217 21st St., Sacramento 916-440-0401, www.kuproscrafthouse.com Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-midnight, Fri 11 a.m.-2 a.m., Sat 10 a.m.2 a.m., Sun 10 a.m.-midnight KuprosCraftHouse

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8704 La Riviera Drive, Sacramento 916-573-4782, www.pitchandfiddle.com PitchandFiddle

536 Grass Valley Hwy., Auburn 530-878-5232 www.crookedlanebrewing.com Mon/Wed/Thu 3-9 p.m., Fri 3-10 p.m., Sat noon-10 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

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KuprosSacto

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6601 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento 916-330-3973, Mon-Thurs 11:30 a.m.10 p.m., Fri 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat noon-11 p.m., Sun noon-9 p.m.

BREWERIES

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zpizza and Tap Room

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435 Main St., Woodland 530-668-1044, Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.10 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

30 | SN&R | 03.02.17

9

FinalGravityCA

Father Paddy’s Irish Pub 4

1850 Grass Valley Hwy., Ste. C-300, Auburn 530-889-2175 www.finalgravitybeer.com Tue-Fri 3-10 p.m., Sat noon-10 p.m., Sun noon-8 p.m.

Placerville Public House

FinalGravity2.AuburnCA

Doyle’s Pub and Taproom 3 312 E. Bidwell St., Folsom 916-983-8277 www.doylespubandtap.com Tue-Thurs 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-midnight, Sun 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

2703 24th St., Sacramento 916-456-6488 Sun-Mon 8 a.m.-11 p.m.

CurtisParkMarket

TAP ROOMS Capitol Beer and Tap Room

866 57th St., Sacramento 916-476-5384, Mon 5-8:30 p.m., Wed 5-9 p.m., Thurs 4-9 p.m., Fri 4-10 p.m., Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

BOTTLE SHOPS

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Twelve Rounds Brewing 17

18

26

3514 Broadway, Sacramento 916-660-2723, www.opbrewco.com Tue-Fri 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat-Sun 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

7988 California Ave., Fair Oaks 916-241-3108 Mon 3-10 p.m., Wed 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Thurs-Fri 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat 9:30 a.m.11 p.m., Sun 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Fountainhead Brewing Co. 13

4621 24th St., Sacramento 916-228-4610 Mon 5–9 p.m., Thurs 5–9 p.m., Fri 3– 10 p.m., Sat 12–10 p.m., Sun 12–9 p.m.

9331 La Riviera Drive, Sacramento 916-364-8701

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1040 Florin Road, Sacramento 916-395-2875, Sun-Sat 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

771 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Roseville 916-746-7799, Sun-Sat 6 a.m.-11 p.m.

2000 Town Center Plaza, West Sacramento 916-375-8700, Sun-Sat 6 a.m.-11 p.m.

157 Main St., Woodland 530-662-5479, Sun-Sat 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

RoCo Wine & Spirits 28

2220 Lake Washington Blvd., West Sacramento 916-760-8135 Sun-Thurs 10 a.m.-midnight, Fri-Sat 10 a.m.-2 a.m.

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The Pryor family opened their restaurant, CAP’s Pizza & Tap House, in January.

PHoTo by Anne STokeS`

• Hand Tossed Artisan Pizzas • Self Pour Craft Beer & Wine

CAP’s stAnds for fAmily New pizza and tap house honors owners’ late son

• Big Screen/Sports 6601 Folsom Blvd.

916.330.3973 • www.ZPIZZA.com

by Kate Gonzales

W

Before the family told Cody they found a space, hen guests step into CAP’s Pizza & Tap he committed suicide on July 3, 2016.

House, they’ll see the pool tables, a long The family grieved and left town for a while, with line of taps and the Pryors, the family the restaurant still in the back of their minds. They behind the new Rosemont restaurant. What may go returned to Sacramento and the space was still open. unnoticed are the details that honor the family’s “I felt like it was the right thing to do,” Cheri oldest son and brother, who died last year. says. “[We] started making it come to life with Cody The use of reclaimed wood marks his love of in mind.” nature, and cement floors are reminiscent of the CAP’s held a soft opening Jan. 20, and the grand years he spent skateboarding. But the most signifiopening on Feb. 3 was especially meaningful: It cant dedication to the late Cody Allen Pryor is writwould have been Cody’s 29th ten in large letters on the wall: birthday.

CAP’s. His initials are part of the “Our grand opening was restaurant’s name. an absolute celebration,” “It’s a wonderful memorial Cheri says, adding that they to my son,” says Cheri Pryor, will continue to honor Cody’s Cody’s mother. “I know it’s a memory. She’d like to support place he would be really excited organizations that raise about and really proud of.” awareness around suicide and For months, Cody and his suicide prevention, as well as brother Nathan had wanted Cheri Pryor a nonprofit that helps families to go into business together.

Co-owner, CAP’s Pizza & Tap House with children with special needs, Nathan was set on opening a which was close to Cody’s pizza restaurant after perfectheart. ing his dough recipe, and his Between Cody’s death and opening a brand new parents, Cheri and Troy, and sister Lindsay Fox came business, it wasn’t an easy year for the Pryors. But on board. today, Cheri is comforted by the words her late son “My husband and I decided, let’s invest in a family would say to her when she was feeling stressed: business,” Cheri says. “Let’s open a restaurant.”

“You’re doing the most.”

As brand-new business owners, they envisioned a “I’m sure that’s one of the things he’d say,” Cheri small restaurant but found a large space on La Riviera says with a laugh. “He’d look at the restaurant and Drive in the neighborhood where they raised their kids. say, ‘Wow, we’re doing the most.’”

“It was perfect,” Cheri remembers, “and then it became not-so perfect.”

“ [The restaurant is] a wonderful memorial to my son.”

Beer week Releasing maRch 3R d

“Good ViBez” a m e R i c a n Pa l e a l e

light body, golden color, hints of lemon Perfect for the transition into spring

4621 24th Street Sacramento, CA • 916.228.4610

03.02.17 | SN&R | 31

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craft happenings T hurs day, M a rc h 2 • Barrel Aged Bonanza, 6 p.m.-close Kupros Craft House, 1217 21st St. Sacramento

F r i day, M a rc h 3 • Barrel Aged Bonanza, 6 p.m.-close Kupros Craft House, 1217 21st St. Sacramento • Moonraker/Alvarado Street special releases Capitol Beer and Tap Room, 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento • Lagunitas Special Release Pint Night Pitch and Fiddle, 8704 La Riviera Drive, Sacramento

saT urday, M a rc h 4 • Barrel Aged Bonanza, 6 p.m.-close Kupros Craft House, 1217 21st St. Sacramento • Barrel Aged Weekend, 11 a.m.-close Capitol Beer and Tap Room, 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento

• Barrel Aged Weekend, 11 a.m.-close Capitol Beer and Tap Room, 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento

M o n day, Ma rc h 6 • Claimstake Presents: The Shakeover, 11 a.m.-close Capitol Beer and Tap Room, 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento

T u es day, Ma rc h 7 • New Glory/Tahoe Mountain Collab Night, 11 a.m.-close Pours of the only keg of a special-blended sour, Capitol Beer and Tap Room, 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento • Craft Can Castle Build-Off, 6 p.m.midnight Kupros Craft House, 1217 21st St. Sacramento • Rubicon Brewing Co. Special Release Pint Night Pitch and Fiddle, 8704 La Riviera Drive, Sacramento

Th ursday, Ma rc h 9 • Collaboration Night, 6 p.m.-midnight Kupros Craft House, 1217 21st St. Sacramento • Knee Deep Special Release Pint Night Pitch and Fiddle, 8704 La Riviera Drive, Sacramento

sun day, Ma rc h 12 • The Sour Finish, 11 a.m.-close Sour beer all day long, Capitol Beer and Tap Room, 2222 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento

o n go i n g eve n Ts • Trivia Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m.

Final Gravity, 9205 Sierra College Blvd.

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NEWSREVIEW.COM/SACRAMENTO/CALENDAR 34 | SN&R | 03.02.17

CAll for ArTIsTs There’s a palpable sense of excitement for the third annual, all-local First Festival—a hopeful bounce back from last year’s low turnout. Now, the fest is looking for local artists to contribute to its pop-up art gallery, which will take Art place May 6 and 7 at Riverwalk Park in West Sacramento. Submissions are due by Friday, March 10, and should fit under an overarching but flexible theme of “Unity in Diversity.” We’ll be upfront here: There’s no monetary payment, but there are some festival perks and, obviously, an audience of potentially thousands of attendees.

Find the full guidelines at www.facebook.com/ artistsofsacramento.

—JAnelle BITker

honest weirdness homesICk for AnoTher World: sTorIes Readers who loved Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel Eileen will definitely want to pick up this collection of fourteen stories, many of which appeared in The Paris Review and The New Yorker. As dark as the themes in Homesick for Another World: Stories ($26, Penguin Press) are, Moshfegh’s humor is still darker; we may feel guilty when we smirk or chuckle, but smirk or chuckle we must. Whether it’s the hipster dude whose relationship with a high-end furniture dealer requires him to track down an ottoman, a high school book English teacher who slums with junkies, or a new widower who starts to question everything when he looks at his late wife’s recent vacation photos, these stories will show us just how normal our weirdnesses are, at least when they’re accompanied by authentic emotion.

—kel munGer

The Golden AGe of Book IllusTrATIon Maybe you’re a book collector.

Or maybe you’re a book hoarder.

Either way, I’m not judging, and neither is the library.

The California State Library has lent artifacts for a new exhibit, The Golden Age of Book Illustration, at Sacramento State University’s library gallery. It showcases the long history of creating images for books—certainly not as simple as it Exhibit sounds—as well as different types of book illustration, starting with the advent of printing technology in the early 19th century. Expect to see a range of processes, including woodcuts, engraving, etching, aquatint, lithograph and chromolithograph. “Barn Owl” (pictured), for example, is an aquatint engraving on an elephant folio from the early 1800s, and you’ll have to get your butt to the University Library Gallery to figure out exactly what that means.

Check it out for free from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Tuesday to Saturday, through May 19.

This is an exhibit for book collectors, publishing scholars and art history geeks alike—an unusual look into the past of everyone’s favorite possession: books, right?

And maybe, just maybe, walking into the building will remind you that you should really be taking advantage of your local library.

For tickets visit sacballet.org or call 916.808.5181 M-Sat 10am-6pm

Community Center Theater

Display your work at First Festival

Nerd out on publishing

March 24-26/2017

photo courtesy of sacramento state

Peter Pan & Viva Vivaldi

FIND OF THE WEEK

Co-sponsor: Jim Hargrove Co-sponsor: Richard & Ursula Wertz

ee

Photography: Keith Sutter, Design: FUEL Creative Group

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Shane Koyczan > MAR 16-18

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mondaviarts.org 03.02.17

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35

ReviewS

Stormy magic

by Jim Carnes

she’s not buying it.

The Tempest

4

6:30 p.m. thursday, 8 p.m. friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. saturday, 2 p.m. sunday, and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; $26-$35. sacramento theatre company, 1419 h street; (916) 443-6722; www.sactheatre.org. through march 19.

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1833 Howe Ave Sacramento, CA

As Shakespeare’s The Tempest begins, a stormtossed ship loaded with nobles and their servants and sycophants is wrecked and its occupants washed up on a magical island. The scene is a marvel of lighting and staging, a glimpse into this strange land where Prospero (a magnificent Matt K. Miller) and his daughter Miranda (Hope Luna, sharing the role with Monique Ward Lonergan) have lived in exile for 12 years.

Prospero had been duke of Milan until his pursuit of the study of magic got him deposed by his brother Antonio (Ian Hopps), who is among the shipwrecked. Also on board are Alonso, the King of Naples (Gregg Koski), his son Ferdinand (Sam C. Jones), his brother Sebastian (Kevin Gish) and his advisor Gonzolo (Gary S. Martinez, strong in a supporting role). Stephano, the king’s butler, and Trinculo, the king’s jester (played by Michael RJ Campbell and Jake Mahler, respectively) provide much comic relief, while island dwellers Ariel (Emily Serdahl) and Caliban (Atim Udoffia) do Prospero’s bidding as he maneuvers events to his planned outcome. Aaron GalliganStierle directs the intricate story in a way that makes it all easily understood and enjoyed despite its sometimes dense language and complicated cast of characters. He divides scenes into “the nobles,” “the fools” and Prospero in a way that keeps the plot organized. Ω

Photo courtesy of sacramento theatre comPany

4 Belleville Young expats Zack and Abby seem to have created an ideal life—they’re a newly married young couple living in an old apartment in Paris while he works for Doctors Without Borders and she teaches yoga. But from the opening scene of Belleville, when Abby returns home unexpectedly and finds Zack enjoying sketchy websites, you know there’s more beneath their carefully constructed surface.

You also know if you’re a Big Idea Theatre regular, this current production is probably not going to end well for at least one of the characters—since the theater tends to choose plays with darker themes and hues. What playwright Amy Herzog does so well in Belleville is to slowly suck the audience into the story while gradually adding suspense and shifting sympathies.

Belleville directors Jouni Kirjola and Jamie Kale skillfully steer a solid four-person cast: Zachary Scovel as Zack, the patient husband to an emotionally fragile wife; Nina Dramer as Abby, the needy-and-naive spouse; and Vernon Lewis and Sarina Krastev as the Parisian landlords who are dragged both willingly and unwillingly into the slowly escalating drama of the American couple.

This is a 90-minute production with evolving plotlines, where characters cautiously juggle loyalties and lies, and where their secrets and deceptions constantly threaten to topple what seems to be a most fortunate life. The set is a simple old-city living room, with the drama augmented by creative lighting and the chaotic and constant sounds of Parisian street life.

—Patti RobeRts Belleville; 8 p.m. thursday, friday and saturday; $12-$22. Big Idea theatre, 1616 Del Paso Boulevard; (916) 960-3036; www.bigideatheatre.org. through march 26.

4

Diary of Anne Frank

Making her dramatic debut, young Rachel Trauner does an excellent job bringing to life the Jewish girl whose diary became one of the best known books in the world. The story of a persecuted group hiding to prevent arrest and deportation hits a timely chord. F, Sa, 7:30pm; Su 2pm, Through 3/19. $12-$25. Woodland Opera House, 340 Second Street in Woodland; (530) 666-9617; www.woodlandoperahouse .org. B.S.

Going West

This family-oriented show provides an energetic overview of the building of the Central Pacific railroad in the late 1800s, with an emphasis on laying rails from Sacramento through the Sierra. The script complements what kids usually see during a visit

1 FOUL

4

The Meeting

Simply staged and expertly acted, this is one of the best Celebration Arts productions in recent memory. James Wheatley directs this one-act drama smartly and with real respect for playwright Jeff Stetson’s story about a fictional 1965 meeting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Not much action takes place, but the growing respect each man shows for the other as they

debate their very different approaches to the same problems of black disenfranchisement and the struggle for equality is powerful. Th, F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 3/18.

Celebration Arts, 4469 D Street; (916) 455-2782; www .celebrationarts.net. J.C.

5

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

This comedic salute to Anton Chekov plays with a top notch cast and a superb set by John Iacovelli. The production is notable for an outstanding monologue by Vanya (Justin Streichman).

Th, F 7pm and 9:30pm; Sa 2pm, 4:30pm, 7pm and 9:30pm.

Through 3/4. $12-$18.50. Main Theatre at Wright Hall at UC Davis; 1 Hutchison Drive in Davis; (530) 752-2471; http://arts.ucdavis.edu. B.S.

Short reviews by Jim carnes, Jeff hudson and Bev Sykes.

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3

4

FAIR

GOOD

WELL-DONE

5 SUBLIME– DON’T MISS

PhOTO cOURTESy OF cITy ThEATRE

24-hour party people City Theatre’s latest production is Simon Levy’s adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald’s landmark 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. Directed by Lori Ann DeLappe-Grondin, this classic drama explores love, excess and parties. There’s romance, wealth, music, socialites and excessive consumption. Basically, it represents the American Dream, defiled. 8 p.m. Friday, March 3, and Saturday, March 4; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 5; $13-$18. Performing Arts Center Auditorium at Sacramento City College, 3835 Freeport Boulevard; http://citytheatre.net.

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4

to the California Railroad History Museum in Old Sacramento and the action is presented in a snappy vaudeville style. The catchy music by Noah Agruss and the resourceful performance by big Rick Kleber are highlights. Sa, Su 1 pm and 4pm. Through 4/2. $18-$23. B Street Theatre, 2711 B Street; (916) 443-5300, www .bstreettheatre.org. J.H.

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03.02.17 | SN&R | 37

The fear is real

Get Out never trust people who have servants.

4

by Daniel Barnes

Williams plays Rose, the girlfriend, and Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford play her parents, respectively an esteemed hypnotherapist and a cutting-edge brain surgeon, while a couple of It was only a matter of time before the Black Lives terse black servants roam the grounds like smiling Matter movement got its own horror movie. With zombies. the recent spate of captured-on-video murders of Rose assures Chris that her parents are tolerAfrican Americans at the hands of authorities, as well ant to the point of embarrassment, but Chris’ as the attendant white apathy and victim-blaming, best friend Rod (Lil Rel Howery, walking away the terror of being a black person in a world of crazy with the film like it belonged to him), stokes his white people has been omnipresent in the public paranoid fears about being the only black person consciousness. in a room full of white people. Great setup, but Several documentaries last year tied the Black the trick is to stretch the story beyond the premise, Lives Matter movement into a larger historical examisince it’s instantly obvious that something is nation of the American civil rights movement, most amiss. Making his directorial debut, notably I Am Not Your Negro, Do Not Resist Peele manages to continually pique and 13th. Those films are essential docuour interest, even when we know ments, especially the former two, but where the story is heading. no genre provides anxiety-exorcising Almost the entire classic catharsis quite like horror. By their horror canon is structured A smart and stylish very outlaw nature, horror films can around white fears of otherness sociological horror go places other films would never in all of its forms, but Get dare—that’s why it’s a shame that movie.

Out rearranges the pieces, most of them never go anywhere at all. aligning itself with Black Lives Writer-director Jordan Peele’s Get Matter by putting an innocent Out, though, is a smart and stylish socioand utterly sympathetic black logical horror movie more akin to recent man at its center, and forcing the revisionist genre entries like The Babadook and viewer to empathize with his very real It Follows, albeit with a healthy helping of What We fears. Perhaps the most exciting part of the film Do in the Shadows-level belly laughs. It’s provocative was when the lights came up, and a diverse group and complex, which makes it a change of pace for of men and women of all ages and races left the the prolific production company Blumhouse, whose theater buzzing with excitement. Ω many, many horror films tend to rely on earsplitting soundtrack spikes for their scares, as opposed to anything truly unsettling or perverse.

Daniel Kaluuya, a prolific television actor best known to movie audiences as Emily Blunt’s fellow FBI agent in Sicario, stars as Chris Washington, a handsome and polite young black man going to meet Poor Fair Good Very excellent his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. Allison

1 2 3 4 5 Good

38 | SN&R | 03.02.17

fiLm CLiPS

3

A Cure for Wellness

An ambitious young Wall Street shark (Dane De Haan) travels to the Swiss Alps to extract one of his company’s honchos from a secluded health spa run by a mysterious, vaguely sinister doctor (Jason Isaacs). When a car crash makes the young man a patient there, the sinister vibes he gets from everyone become more threatening by the hour. Make no mistake, the script by Justin Haythe and director Gore Verbinski is a total crock and doesn’t make sense even on its own wacky terms; Haythe and Verbinski came up with only half a story, finally resorting to visual echoes of movies from Hitchcock’s Spellbound to Last Year at Marienbad and Mystery of the Wax Museum. And yet it’s almost hypnotically beautiful and you can’t look away, right up to the off-the-wall ending. Verbinski delivers the goods on that score. J.L.

1

Bitter Harvest

TV movie veteran George Mendeluk directs this would-be epic set during the Holodomor, a largely unknown genocidal famine that occurred in Ukraine between the world wars, as Stalin deliberately starved the country to death. Unfortunately, the stiff performances, slipshod production values and overall incompetence hardly serve the gravity of the real-life events. It seems like Mendeluk and his writer Richard Bachynsky Hoover were striving for something sweeping and old-fashioned, but the end result is claustrophobic and comically out-of-touch. The supporting cast mixes abashed slummers like Barry Peppers and Terence Stamp with equally abashed no-names, and as the wishy-washy protagonist who learns to love the saber, 30-something “adolescent” Max Irons gives a performance that can only be described as bad. Although there have been three previous films with the same title, this Bitter Harvest is an original story based on real-life events, so at least no beloved source materials were blasphemed. D.B.

2

The Great Wall

Two medieval European mercenaries (Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal), in China to steal the secret of gunpowder, find themselves prisoners caught up in a war with strange velociraptor-like creatures that attack China every 60 years. Director Zhang Yimou, the darling of art-house cinemas the world over, tries his hand at a fantasy adventure epic and achieves only low camp, albeit with his customary eye for brilliant color and striking tableaux. As the presence of Yimou and a cluster of Chinese stars (led by Tian Jing as a female general) demonstrate, the movie is a blatant attempt to suck up to Chinese audiences, with a take-the-money-and-run script by a six-man tag team of American writers struggling to disguise the fact that this is just a cheesy monster movie tarted up in imperial Chinese drag. J.L.

4

BY DANIEL BARNES & JIM LANE

I Am Not Your Negro

Based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript for Remember This House, a proposed book about the civil rights struggle that focused on Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, I Am Not Your Negro tells a decades-old story that carries a disturbing relevance. In that respect, it’s a lot like Jason Osder’s clear-eyed 2013 scorcher Let the Fire Burn, but in a formal respect the film piggybacks on the in-their-own-words documentary trend made popular by movies like Amy and Janis: Little Girl Blue. Directed by Raoul Peck (Lumumba) and narrated by Samuel L. Jackson (every film made in the last quarter-century), this deeply personal docu-bio is a thoroughly engrossing, powerful and necessary film. At the risk of losing all credibility, I will even use the dreaded “I” word, and declare that this is one of the most “important” films you will have the opportunity to see this year. D.B.

This baby has not faith in the current proceedings.

3

A United Kingdom

In post-World War II Britain, the king (David Oyelowo) of the African nation of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) marries a typist for Lloyd’s of London (Rosamund Pike). Their interracial union not only alienates both their families, but also enrages the apartheid government in neighboring South Africa, sparking an international incident and revealing the genteel racism of the English diplomatic establishment (personified by Jack Davenport and Tom Felton). Written by Guy Hibbert and directed by Amma Asante, the movie is an inspiring true story abetted by a decorously professional execution. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it has a stolid predictability, moving from frustration to triumph with the clanking regularity of a well-built clock that nevertheless could do with a little oiling. J.L.

4

John Wick: Chapter 2

Director Chad Stahelski and writer Derek Kolstad reteam with star Keanu Reeves for John Wick: Chapter 2, a surprisingly necessary sequel to their left-field 2014 action success. It picks up right where the first film ended, with the legendarily prolific hitman Wick mowing down the final few sleazy gangsters who are holding on to his car. Wick proceeds to wield his precious automobile like a samurai sword, single-mindedly chopping through henchmen until he reaches the boss level, at which point he backs off in exchange for a life of peace. After that kill-crazy bender, Wick buries his old life in the basement, but immediately an old contact comes carrying a marker, forcing Wick back into ultraviolence. While John Wick leaned heavily on the theme of grief, with Wick’s corpse-strewn revenge mission serving as cathartic therapy, the sequel focuses more on addiction—whether by blackmail or bloodlust, Wick just can’t quit. D.B.

4

The Lego Batman Movie

The title pretty much tells you what to expect. Batman/Bruce Wayne (voiced by Will Arnett in a deadpan rasp) contends with an army of bad guys (nearly all with celebrity voices) led by the villain he loves to hate, the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), while grappling with the instant family represented by the youth he inadvertently adopted (Michael Cera, “animated” in every sense). Comic book movies used to be fun, and the idiot solemnity of the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale movies are long overdue for ridicule. Director Chris McKay and writers Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern and John Whittington are happy to oblige. The result is more fun than Batman’s been since Adam West hung up his purple tights. Somewhere, surely, Batman’s late creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger are smiling. J.L.

1

to safety. The gloomiest and grisliest of the X-Men franchise is expertly crafted in detail but overlong, dreary and dispiriting as a whole.

Rated a hard R for its Grand Guignol violence, in which every decent person meets a bloody and horrible end, the movie has an ugly edge: Keen looks about ten years old, and putting her through these paces amounts to a distasteful kind of kiddie porn. Written and directed by James Mangold as if he’s bored to death with the series—a feeling it’s easy to share. J.L.

1

Rock Dog

A Tibetan mastiff (voiced by Luke Wilson) feels unfulfilled in the family business of guarding sheep against predatory wolves—so he moves to the big city to become a rock musician. Director Ash Brannon’s résumé includes such Pixar classics as A Bug’s Life and the first two Toy Storys, but you’d never guess he’d even seen a Pixar movie, much less worked on one. The script he concocted with a mind-boggling nine other writers is a cockamamie nonstory, the characters are boring, the animation is shoddy, the gags aren’t even worth groaning at and the music is worthless junk. For that matter, so is the movie, an excruciating, unendurable stinker from first frame to last. Wilson and a handful of celebrity voices (J.K. Simmons, Sam Elliott, Eddie Izzard, Mae Whitman, Lewis Black, Matt Dillon) labor in vain. J.L.

Logan

Former X-Man Logan, the Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and the near-senile professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart)—living in squalor in Mexico, hiding from dark forces (led

by Richard E. Grant) seeking to bend the race of mutants to their evil will—are forced to help a fugitive mutant child (Dafne Keen) flee

03.02.17 | SN&R | 39

The odd folder Petaluma expands from electronic duo to five-piece band that dances between analog and digital

by AAron CArnes

Photo BY ShoKA

In fact, when Habel and Sweeney started working together, they focused on making acoustic and analog instruments sound as though they were electronic.

Eventually, they incorporated sampling and electronic recording techniques. On the album, they play pianos, drums, guitars, a couch cushion, pots, pans and whatever else they could get their hands on.

Remarkable for a band’s debut album, the songs never seem to be in a rush to get where they are trying to go. They’ll even let a gentle downtempo part linger for a while, past the point most musicians would be comfortable with, before picking back up.

These high school buds have forgotten how to sit at a table.

“There has to be the potential for getting lost and confused,” Sweeney says.

The strongest feeling that the mellow, emotive record evokes: teetering delicately on a fence When Pat Sweeney and Rob Habel started tinkering between joy and sadness. on songs together two years ago, neither of them The collaboration doesn’t sound like anything considered their project a full-fledged band. Then, either of them has worked on before. The two they expanded into the electronic five-piece Petaluma members have known each other since high school, and became a band on a mission to make it. and have teamed up on various projects. Habel’s Sweeney identifies a moment when things roots are varied, but he hadn’t often mixed genres started feeling official. A year and a half ago, they before. Sweeney played the bass in blues and were only a duo and had taken nearly 30 song rock bands, but later took an interest in sketches and whittled them down to 10. This production. would essentially become their self-titled The band name came from one album, released in January. of Habel’s computer folders for “From there it took on a life “There has to his many original tracks, which of its own,” says Sweeney, the be the potential are organized by genre: folk, bassist-percussionist-guitarist, psychedelic, industrial. Those for getting lost and who looks like a bearded songs he deemed too odd to philosophy grad student and confused.” fit elsewhere went into the speaks in thoughtful bursts.

Pat Sweeney “Petaluma” folder. Fully realFor Habel, hearing the tracks bassist-percussionistized on the album, these tracks side by side showed that it was guitarist fuse all of his influences together. more cohesive than just some As the duo prepares for their isolated tracks. record release show, they have to “These songs were so new and so present a different perspective. At their different from anything we’d done before, first performance in December, they played to have them next to each other and working and mostly preprogrammed music. Now they have a flowing together, that’s the moment when we felt five-piece band. this could be something really cool,” says Habel, “We are in the process of finding these songs the lead vocalist who also plays keys and guitar. again and asking how they are going to grow in this The album is spectacular. Their two years new three-dimensional world outside the computer,” of work appear in its nuanced production Habel says. “They’re like kids: We released them, and complex art-pop songwriting structures. now we just have to see what they become.” Ω The chords and melodies bring to mind Dirty Projectors, Sufjan Stevens and Tame Impala. Even calling the project electronic is misleading. While there’s a prominent component that harkens back Keep tabs on Petaluma’s soon-to-be-scheduled release show at to dark ’80s synth-pop, the members also mix in a www.facebook.com/petalumasounds. lot of live instruments.

40 | SN&R | 03.02.17

SouNd advice

Couch concert Like a hug: Jessica Malone had a smile the size of her face. The local singer-songwriter was beaming as she played two separate sets with two different backing bands at the Torch Club in celebration of the release of her album, Miles Left to Walk. She even sat in as backing vocalist for Eugene, Ore., singersongwriter Caitlin Jemma, who played in between the sets.

Though the club hadn’t quite reached capacity, it lacked for elbow room, a surprising feat considering it was a Wednesday night. The audience ranged in age from early 20s to late 70s. One multigenerational group crowded around the merch booth, singing along to every song.

Considering Malone’s intimacy and interaction with the crowd, I wondered how many of them were family. They certainly seemed invested in her success.

Though she played a long time— three consecutive sets is no small feat—her joyful, grateful spirit didn’t waver. “I’ve hugged most of you already. If I haven’t, I’ll hug you after the show,” she said halfway through her first set.

Malone’s relaxing onstage demeanor engaged the crowd. She sang with passion, but restraint.

When she did let loose on those rare occasions, it packed a punch.

Her in-place dancing and flirtatious lip curls told their own sly, mysterious story.

The show was part of an eight-city album release tour with Jemma that started the Friday prior in Monterey. Jemma played rootsy Americana music that Malone accompanied nicely with her vocals.

Malone’s music was harder to pin down. Songs drifted between the realms of funk, jazz, blues, rootsrock and power-pop. The unifying factor can best be described as a feel-good inspirational vibe that seemed honest and unfiltered.

The final set was reserved mostly for new songs. Her songwriting, while still diverse, has evolved a stronger pop edge to it. After one of the newest tunes, someone in the audience by the

merch booth yelled out, “That’s the hit song right there!”

Malone smiled and just continued on to the next song. There was clearly nothing on her mind besides singing on the Torch Club stage.

—AAron CArnes

Choosing darkness: California singer-songwriter Garrett Pierce returned to Sacramento for an intimate and low-lit show on February 22. The former local showcased a diverse body of work, including both old favorites and new songs off his upcoming album Dusk. He received a hometown welcome of more than 50 people at Warehouse Artist Lofts— despite his move to Sonoma County.

The concert brought both Pierce and Crossbill Records labelmate Tom Brosseau to a cool studio space in the heart of downtown, which gave the night a cozy vibe. Payam Bavafa of San Francisco trio Sholi joined the indie-folk singer on electric guitar. The sound of Pierce’s classic acoustic guitar intertwined skillfully with that more modern instrument. The bittersweet songs were brutally honest.

Among his unreleased songs, Pierce played “Greyhound Song,” which he said he wrote about “being so broke you can afford a greyhound ticket out of town but not the tacos.”

The slow song spoke of hard times, and resonated with the crowd of clapping audience members. With their somber tone, these tunes fit the mellow vibe of the concert with its couch seating. Pierce writes the type of music you listen to while lying on your bedroom floor.

The song lineup also included haunting songs like “Lioness & Lion” from 2009’s All Masks. In a nice contrast to his slower tracks, “All Souls’ Day,” featured Spanish twang off of 2006’s Like A Moth.

Pierce closed out the night by letting the crowd choose a light or dark song, and once the audience chose the latter, he offered to be the light in the darkness.

—estefAny GonzAlez

MISO A R O F G LOOKIN HOP? S K R O W ION T A T N E M R FE WN? O T E H T N A NIGHT O OT H G N I M A A STE SS? YOGA CLA

EVENT PROMOTERS: POST EVENTS FREE OF CHARGE!

CHECK OUT SN&R’S BRAND NEW ONLINE CALENDAR, A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF WHAT’S HAPPENING EVERY DAY IN THIS COOL CITY. NEWSREVIEW.COM/SACRAMENTO/CALENDAR 03.02.17 | SN&R | 41

03 FRI

03 FRI

03 FRI

04 SAT

Red Fang

Arrington de Dionyso

Jose Gonzalez & The String Theory

Andrew Castro

Goldfield TradinG PosT, 7 P.m., $15-$18 Red Fang’s latest album, Only Ghosts, stays true to its beer-soaked, stoner-metal edge that’s propelled the band onto Billboard’s Top 200 charts and on tours nationwide METAL and overseas. The album is also known as the band’s most accessible body of work with its melodic approach to the hardhitting genre heard in the songs “Shadows” and “Flies.” Catchy hooks and riffs are met with Red Fang’s talents for speed and power present throughout the entire album. In all its grit and glory, this group of Portland-based metalheads know how to write music that’s contemplative yet complex. It’s clear, but also mud-soaked. 1630 J Street, www.redfang.net.

—sTePh rodriGuez

Gold lion arTs, 7:30 P.m., $10 In the haze of weird indie bands back in the ’90s, Olympia, Wash.-based Old Time Relijun stood out as this crazy explosion of noise with, at times, broken instruments. Listening back, the group incorporated some interesting polyrhythms, throat singing and sophisticated chords. Now, as a solo artist, OTR guitarist and singer Arrington de Dionyso has taken his experimental roots and used them to make challenging, ExpERIMEnTAL but rewarding music. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, but has a fondness for the saxophone, which can really squeak out some sinister melodies. 2733 Riverside Boulevard, www.arrington.bandcamp.com.

—aaron Carnes

sol ColleCTive, 7 P.m., $10

mondavi CenTer, 8 P.m., $12.50-$45 Although point of origin should not be an issue, singer-songwriterJose Gonzalez was born in Sweden. And while he hasn’t been as prolific as his fans would like, InDIE FoLk his catalog has been used all over the place. His live show pairs him up with a talented team of string players that is sure to please both newcomers and longtime fans alike. Showgoers can expect a set featuring songs from is latest long-player, the fabulous Vestiges & Claws, as well as earlier works dating back to 2003 and possibly beyond. Get your tickets in advance. 1 Shields Avenue in Davis, http://jose-gonzalez.com.

—eddie JorGensen

In a stunningly short period of time, Andrew Castro has built a dedicated local fanbase and diverse body of work. Four EPs in one year? Does this guy ever sleep? Now, the singer-songwriter is ready to release his debut full-length, Can I Play for You? Entirely written while on tour, the songs touch on anxiety, relationships, drinking, insomnia and life SInGER-SonGwRITER on the road. The show, which also marks Castro’s first time performing with a band, doubles as a benefit for Loaves & Fishes. Castro’s gigs have a history of selling out, so come early and catch Megan Bone and SpaceWalker. 2574 21st Street, www.andrewcastromusic.com.

VOTED BEST DANCE CLUB IN SACRAMENTO! KCRA

STAGE COACH TICKET GIVEAWAYS

ON

BREWS

AT STONEY’S EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT VALUED AT $300 EACH WITH B92.5 THE BULL. HORNS UP!

WEDNESDAYS

COLLEGE NIGHT $2/$3/$4 DRINK SPECIALS 9-11

THURSDAYS

INDUSTRY NIGHT SPECIALS $1,000 PROGRESSIVE KARAOKE CONTEST

FRIDAY

B 92.5 COUNTRY FRIDAYS .50 CENT BEER & $2 JACK SPECIAL 8-9

SATURDAY

COUNTRY DANCE SATURDAYS/KARAOKE UP FRONT

SUNDAY FUNDAY

18 & OVER COUNTRY DANCE NIGHT PLUS .50 CENT BEER & $2 JACK FROM 7-9PM FREE LATE NIGHT BISCUITS N GRAVY FRIDAY FEB 24TH B 92.5 HONKY TONK BOOMBOX

STONEYS ON ST PATTIES DAY

CORNED BEEF, RUEBEN AND MORE PLUS FREE LATE NIGHT SHEPHERDS PIE $3 GREEN BEERS, $4 JAMESON & $5 CAR BOMBS 7-9PM PLUS THE BAND THE CORDUROYS WILL TAKE THE BIG STAGE, KARAOKE UP FRONT!

1320 DEL PASO BLVD IN OLD NORTH SAC

STONEYINN.COM 42 | SN&R | 03.02.17

916.402.2407

—Janelle BiTker

ShE juST cALLED hERSELf A PiEcE Of ShiT jELLyfiSh.

04 SAT

06 MON

08 WED

08 WED

Photo by Kenneth bachor

Alterbeast

Ghostface Killah

Starlite lounge, 8 p.m., $10-$12

The Piano Men

harlow’S reStaurant & nightclub, 9 p.m., $25-$30

One of Sacramento’s finest technical death metal bands comes home to Starlite from a long tour, ready to liquify some faces with speedy riffs and DEATh METAL crushing breakdowns. The band will be bringing some new tunes off of its upcoming record, and, needless to say, they probably rip. It’s not too often that Sacramentans get to see Alterbeast in a local setting, so don’t miss this if you’re in dire need of more insane shredding in your life. 1517 21st Street, www.facebook.com/ ALTERBEASTofficial.

—anthony Siino

Ghostface Killah is on a short list of rappers impervious to falling off. It was understood on Supreme Clientele’s classic cut “Mighty Healthy,” “the world can’t touch Ghost.” With every solo record, Ghostface rejuvenates his rabid fanbase. The loyalty is indebted to his unbridled and daring collaborations. Each time we think Ghostface has nothing to prove, he teams up with the likes of Adrian Younge, RAP/hiP-hOP BadBadNotGood and MF Doom. Plus, he’s the uncontested poet laureate of slanguage; to this day the verdict is out on how you could play him like he’s got a flower pot head. 2708 J Street, www.facebook.com/GhostfaceKillahOfficial.

Laura Stevenson

harriS center for the artS, 7:30 p.m., $19-$55

preSS club, 8 p.m., $10

Although both fantastic players in their own right, these two great piano players on one bill couldn’t be more apropos. This bill combines the work of TRibuTE AcTS Elton John played by Craig A. Meyer along with the songbook of superstar Billy Joel interpreted by the ubertalented Donnie Kehr. The two artists will share two star-studded nights chock full of hits by both artists backed by their own equally talented backing band. If you’ve been yearning to hear “Rocket Man” and “Just The Way You Are” together without having to pay upward of $300, this is the ticket. 10 College Parkway in Folsom, www. pianomenmusic.com.

—blake gilleSpie

Laura Stevenson’s songs are full of wit and brash self-deprecation hidden within bright, poppy tunes delivered with a wink and a shrug. Some of the songs on her latest album Cocksure are presented in such chirpy, major chord glee that one iNDiE ROcK might miss that she just called herself a piece of shit jellyfish. Backed up by a talented band that relishes their involvement in obscuring less-than-lightweight lyrics, Stevenson’s open-range melodies complement her tendency toward a vivid run-on sentence. Such writerly freedoms make for bold songs as charming as they are confident. 2030 P Street, www.laurastevenson.net

—amy bee

—eddie JorgenSen

2708 J Street Sacramento, CA 916.441.4693 www.harlows.com 3/4

TWISTA (SOLD OUT)

3/2 $25ADV 8PM

DON CARLOS

3/5 $25ADV 5:30PM

PORTER & NICKERSON WITH STEVE PALTZ

ZION ROOTS

3/3 $20ADV 5:30PM

IAN ETHAN ADRIAN BELLEU (ALL AGES)

3/3 $15ADV 9PM

BASH & POP THE YAWPERS

3/6 $25ADV 8PM

GHOSTFACE KILLAH

3/7 $15ADV 5:30PM

AN EVENING WITH MIKE ZITO

COMING SOON 03/09 John 5 & The Creatures 03/10 This Charming Band 03/11 Catie Curtis 03/11 Midnight Players 03/12 Isaiah Rashad (SOLD OUT) 03/15 Pure Bathing Culture 03/16 Elvis Costello tribute 03/17 Purple Ones 03/18 Will Whitlock 03/19 G Love 03/22 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 03/24 Save Ferris 03/25 Mouths of Babes 03/25 Bob’s Child Reunion 03/26 Beatles vs. Stones 03/29 The Blasters 03/30 Roger Creamery 03/31 Tainted Love 04/01 Tainted Love 04/04 That 1 Guy 03.02.17 | SN&R | 43

thURSdaY 3/2 List your event! post your free online listing (up to 15 months early), and our editors will consider your submission for the printed calendar as well. print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations. online, you can include a full description of your event, a photo, and a link to your website. Go to www.newsreview.com/calendar and start posting events. Deadline for print listings is 10 days prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.

BADLANDS

2003 K St., (916) 448-8790

#turnup Thursday, 9pm, no cover

BAr 101

101 Main St., RoSeville; (916) 774-0505

BLue LAmp

fRidaY 3/3

SatURdaY 3/4

SUndaY 3/5

MondaY-WedneSdaY 3/6-3/8

Fabulous & gay, 9pm, call for cover

Spectacular Saturdays, 9pm, call for cover

Tea dance & beer bust, 4pm-8pm, no cover; Industry Sundays, 8pm, no cover

Big Mondays happy hour all night, M; Karaoke, Tu; Trapicana W

ERICK TYLER, call for time and cover

TROPICALI FLAMES, call for time and cover

1400 alhaMbRa, (916) 455-3400

SAPIENT, THE HALVE TWOS; 9pm, call for cover

LIL YASE, 8:30pm, call for cover

The BoArDwALk

Closed for Remodel

Closed for Remodel

9426 gReenbacK ln., oRangebale (916) 988-9247

ceNTer for The ArTS

314 Main St., gRaSS valleY; (530) 274-8384

cooper’S ALe workS

235 coMMeRcial St., nevada citY; (530) 265-0116

SLOWLY BUT SURELY, MAD QUEEN, MY DALLAS TEENS; call for time and cover

Karaoke, call for time and cover

DISTrIcT 30 Hey local bands!

Want to be a hot show?

Mail photos to: calendar editor, Sn&R 1124 del Paso blvd., Sacramento, ca 95815 or email it to sactocalendar@newsreview.com. be sure to include date, time, location and cost of upcoming shows.

fAceS

Everything happens dancing and karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

foX & GooSe

MARTY COHEN & THE SIDEKICKS, 8pm, no cover

1001 R St., (916) 443-8825

Closed for Remodel

Closed for Remodel

Absolute Fridays dance party, 9pm, $5-$10

GoLDfIeLD TrADING poST

TIM SNIDER & JUSTIN CHITTAMS, 8pm, $12-$15

BIRDS OF CHICAGO, 7:30pm, $20-$24

SMUSHROOM HEAD, SLUTZVILLE, BLACK WEED; call for time and cover

Party Time with Sequin Saturdays drag show, 9:30pm, $5-$12

WHISKEY MYERS, THE WANS; 7pm W, $13-$15

Poker tournament, 6:30pm, call for cover Old school r&b and hip-hop, 9pm, $10

hALfTIme BAr & GrILL

Karaoke, 7pm, no cover

BLACKOUT BETTY, 9pm, $5

APPLE Z, 9pm, $7

hArLow’S

DON CARLOS, 9pm, $25-$30

IAN ETHAN CASE, 6:15pm, $20-$25; BASH & POP, 10pm, $15-$18

TWISTA, 8pm, $25-$40

2708 j St., (916) 441-4693

The hIDeAwAy BAr & GrILL

TWILIGHT DRIFTERS, SWITCHBLADE TRIO; 9pm, $5

2565 fRanKlin blvd., (916) 455-1331

hIGhwATer

1910 q St., (916) 706-2465

EDM & karaoke, 9pm M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, no cover

Sunday Mass, 2pm, no cover

open mic, 7:30pm M, no cover; Pub quiz, 7pm Tu, no cover;

GrAcIANo’S SpeAkeASy 5681 lonetRee blvd., RocKlin; (916) 626-6366

Open mic, 8pm W, no cover

RED FANG, 7pm, $15

1603 j St., (916) 476-5076

1023 fRont St., (916) 321-9480

Closed for Remodel

CLINTON SPARKS, MATT CALI; call for time and cover

1016 K St., (916) 737-5770 2000 K St., (916) 448-7798

Trivia, 6:30pm M; Open mic, 7:30pm W, no cover

On the low, 10pm, no cover; Loveless, 10pm, no cover

TOTAL RECALL, FUNK IN THE TRUNK; 10pm, no cover

Jazz jam with Reggie Graham, 5pm, no cover

Open jazz jam and spoken word, call for time and cover

PORTER & NICKERSON with STEVE POLTZ, 7pm, $25-$30

GHOSTFACE KILLAH, 9pm M, $25-$30

Open jam with Leo Bootes & Co, 4pm, no cover

Cactus Pete & his 78rpm record round up, 8pm Tu, no cover Heavy, 10pm M, no cover; Tussle, 10pm Tu, no cover; Good stuff, 10pm W, no cover

Salty Saturday, 10pm, no cover

All Ages Welcome!

1417 R Street, Sacramento, 95811 • www.aceofspadessac.com Thursday, March 2

HIPPIE SABOTAGE chaz wheeler

Thursday, March 9

COMMON KINGS

¡Mayday! - Makua roThMan wiTh Tribal Theory

saTurday, March 11

wHITECHAPEL

caTTle decapiTaTion – GoaTwhore alleGaeon – necroMancinG The sTone

Friday, March 17

THE CADILLAC THREE saTurday, March 18

KEYS N KRATES

COMING

Tuesday, March 21

CHRONIXX

Max Glazer (FederaTion sound) - Jah-9

Friday, March 24

CHELSEA GRIN

ice nine kills – Gideon - enTerprise earTh up in sMoke

Thursday, March 28

THE ORwELLS The walTers

wednesday, March 29

STRfKR psychic Twin

Friday, March 31

PINK fLOYD LASER SPECTACuLAR

TickeTs available aT all Dimple RecoRDs locaTions anD www.aceofspaDessac.com 44 | SN&R | 03.02.17

SOON

03/08 03/14 03/19 04/01 04/02 04/04 04/05 04/06 04/08 04/09 04/12 04/13 04/14 04/16 04/17 04/18 04/19 04/20 04/21 04/22 04/24 04/25 04/28-29 05/04 05/11 05/16 05/27 06/03 08/26

Skillet SOLD OUT! Social Distortion SOLD OUT! Dance Garvin Dance SOLD OUT! The English Beat Red Moderatto NF Rebel Souljahz Yuridia Mayday Parade The Damned Tech N9ne Beats Antique El Haragan Oh Wonder - 2nd show added Oh Wonder SOLD OUT! Jai Wolf Granger Smith Katchafire Jimmy Eat World SOLD OUT! LANY Kehlani SOLD OUT! Moonshine Bandits D.R.I. Real Friends Blue October Jack Russell’s Great White Somo Y&T

thursDaY 3/2 Kupros

1217 21st st, (916) 440-0401

frIDaY 3/3

saturDaY 3/4

MIKEY LP & THE KROOKS, 9:30pm, no cover

sunDaY 3/5

TIGERTAIL ROOSTER, 9:30pm, no cover

monDaY-WeDnesDaY 3/6-3/8 Porch pickin,’ 7:30pm, call for cover

luna’s cafe & juice bar

Comedy, 8pm W, no cover

1414 16th st., (916) 441-3931

midtown barfly

Truth, , 9pm, call for cover

old ironsides

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover Open mic stand-up comedy and karaoke, 8pm, no cover

1119 21st st., (916) 549-2779 1901 10th st., (916) 442-3504

on the y

670 fulton ave., (916) 487-3731

powerhouse pub

614 sutter st., folsom; (916) 355-8586

the press club

Midtown Moxies burlesque: one hit wonders, 8pm, $18-$20

Salsa Wednesday, 7:30pm W, $5

MIKE WATT & THE MISSING MEN, THE BANANAS; $12-$14, 8pm

Lipstick, 9pm, $5

Karaoke, 9pm Tu, no cover

Resonance: modern love edition, 9pm, $6

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm Tu; Dart & movie night, 7pm W, no cover

8 TRACK MASSACRE, 10pm, $10

GROOVELINE, 10pm, $15

MONDO DECO, SUN VALLEY GUN CLUB; 8pm, call for cover

2030 P st., (916) 444-7914

starlite lounGe

TIA CARROLL, 10pm, $10

Live band karaoke, 8pm M, call for cover

DJ Larry’s Sunday night dance party , 9pm, no cover

Monday vibes, 9pm, no cover

ALTERBEAST, DEPTHS OF HATRED; 8pm, $10-$12

1517 21st st., (916) 704-0711 Country dancing & live band karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Country dancing & live band karaoke, 8pm, $5-$7

Country dancing & live band karaoke, 8pm, $5

Country dancing & live band karaoke, 9pm, call for cover

Country dancing & live band karaoke, 8pm, $5-$7

torch club

X-TRIO, 5pm, no cover; MARSHALL HOUSE PROJECT, 9pm, $6

PAILER & FRATIS, 5:30pm, no cover; HOOPTY, 9pm, $7

RED DIRT RUCKUS, 5:30pm, no cover; DAVE KELLER, 9pm, $8

Blues jam, 4pm, no cover; Front the band, 8pm, no cover

JESSICA MALONE, 5:30pm Tu, no cover; PORKCHOP HOLDER, 8pm Tu, $5

ace of spades

HIPPIE SABOTAGE, CHAZ WHEELER; 7pm, $26.50-$32

cafe colonial

FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, FOCARA; 8pm, call for cover

904 15th st., (916) 443-2797

8pm Saturday, $10-$12 Starlite Lounge Metal

Open mic, 9pm M, no cover

stoney’s rocKin rodeo

1320 Del Paso BlvD., (916) 927-6023

Aenimus

All ages, all the time 1417 r st., (916) 448-3300 3520 stockton BlvD., (916) 736-3520

SKILLET, 6:30pm W, $30

the colony

COLD TRAP, BARC, DUCK JOX; 8pm, call for cover

shine

JESSICA MALONE, JULIET COMPANY; 8pm, $7

3512 stockton BlvD., (916) 718-7055 1400 e st., (916) 551-1400

Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (916) 498-1234 ext. 5 Phone hours: M-F 9am-5pm.

All ads post online same day.

Deadlines for print: Line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Adult line ad deadline: Monday 4pm Display ad deadline: Friday 2pm

Online ads are

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Hiring Investment Officer II (Multiple Openings) BS in Bus Admin, Econ, Fin, Math or rel, plus 3 yrs of invstmnt anlys exp [or, alternatively, MS + 2 years] for public agency or private fin institution, insur co, pension fund, endwmnt fnd, invstmnt firm, real estate dvelpmnt & invstmnt firm, or other private corp or entity hving a major invstmnt mangmnt prgrm. Pls snd your res ref job ID: LBRLJZ-2017 to K-Morgan @ CalPERS - 400 Q St, LPN 3260, Sacramento, CA 95811.

LOCAL DRIVERS WANTED! Be your own boss. Flexible hours. Unlimited earning potential. Must be 21 with valid U.S. driver’s license, insurance & reliable vehicle.

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Livelinks - Chat Lines Flirt, chat and date! Talk to sexy real singles in your area.

Call now! (877) 609-2935 (AAN CAN) Champagne Entertainment Escorts, Exotic Dancers, Bachelor Parties.

916-491-0980. Always Hiring ¿Hablas Español?

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Porkchop Holder 8pm Tuesday, $5 Torch Club Rock

COLIN CURTIN’S KINGDOM, TENT CITY CHRIST; 8pm, $7

STILL

*Nominal fee for adult entertainment. All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. Further, the News & Review specifically reserves the right to edit, decline or properly classify any ad. Errors will be rectified by re-publication upon notification. The N&R is not responsible for error after the first publication.

The N&R assumes no financial liability for errors or omission of copy. In any event, liability shall not exceed the cost of the space occupied by such an error or omission.

The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.

AIRLINE CAREERS begin here - Get started by training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students.

Job placement assistance.

Call Aviation Institute of Mainetenance. (800) 725-1563 (AAN CAN)

MISHA ALLURE, BACK ALLEY BUZZARDS; 8pm W, $5

THE GOTHSICLES, 8pm, call for cover

PREGNANT? THINKING OF ADOPTION? Talk with caring agency specializing in matching Birthmothers with Families Nationwide. LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Call 24/7 Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions.

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18 Plus - Call 1-800-413-8915 Try it free.

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more adult online

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DIVERSITY is our

SPECIALTY The Only Club mento In Downtown Sacra

ys Military Monda lita Mi ry ID w w/ Cover on Mondays $5 C

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ALLANI

See her dance Wed-Thurs 6pm-3am

PARTY PARLARE AFTER :30am -3 m 2a every Sunday

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03.02.17 | SN&R | 45

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W/AD $5 OFF AFTER 7PM 1 DRINK MINIMUM EXP 3/23/17. NOT VALID ON UFC FIGHT NIGHTS

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SOUTHERN BELLE FROM SMALL-TOWN WEST VIRGINIA. GREW UP AS A GYMNAST AND BEAUTY PAGEANT QUEEN. STAGE TIMES: Wednesdays & Thursdays 10pm & 12:30am Fridays Noon, 9:30pm, 11:30pm & 1:30am Saturdays 9:30pm, 11:30pm & 1:30am

STORE SIGNING FRI & SAT 6-8PM AMATEUR CONTEST/AUDITIONS EVERY MONDAY

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by JOEY GARCIA

Holding vs. folding I’m 27 years old, and my partner is 53 years old. We love each other and would like to take things to the next level. But I can’t. I’m scared of losing him. He’s so much older that all I think about is that we don’t have much time before his health deteriorates. I am terrified of being left behind when he dies. He wants to live together and eventually marry (if we still can given the political climate).

What should I do?

Stop trying to get the future right. The next time your mind tells a story about how terrible it will be when your partner dies, ask it to stop assuming things it cannot know. Age is not the only predictor of mortality. Fixating on your partner’s death distracts you from seeing your deeper fear of abandonment. So face the eternal question: Is it better to have loved and lost, than never to have given your heart completely? Find your heart’s response based on two things: how you feel now with your man and surrendering to love.

Let bliss be yours. In the process, practice taking charge of your thoughts instead of letting your thoughts take charge of you. But don’t turn away from your epic romance. The road not taken will haunt you. And, remember, your man will always be with you and you with him. You live eternally in each other’s hearts and minds. P.S. 50 is the new 40, so your man is older than you, but younger than you think.

your desires? If she’s not sexually adventurous, seeing something like “BDSM” next to “visit the Grand Canyon” or “watch the Giants in spring training” probably frightened her.

You might consider becoming a better communicator. Hone your seduction skills, too. There’s no guarantee that either will result in your getting what you want, but both skills will improve your marriage and your sex life.

There’s this guy at work I’ve been flirting with for weeks—the hot, sexy kind of flirting that doesn’t belong at work. Last week, a group of us went out. I got drunk and hooked up with my crush. The sex was mind-blowing. The next morning, I sat in his apartment eating scrambled eggs and listening to him actually talk. I freaked.

He’s a right-wingconspiracy-spouting, Trump-supporting jerk. I left and have avoided him since. I so want to hook up with him again but I don’t really. Do I?

The road not taken will haunt you.

My wife and I have been married almost 50 years. I’ve begun thinking about the things I’ve missed and made a bucket list. I urged my wife to do the same. We swapped lists. She didn’t speak to me for days because I included certain sexual activities on my list. She let me know that she is not interested in fulfilling those desires with me. Must I go to my grave unfulfilled?

Yes, if you’re in a monogamous marriage. No means no, after all. But I wonder why you chose to shock your wife by handing her your bucket list.

Why didn’t you talk to her first about

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About last week …

Just last week, you said the Trump administration would be too busy suppressing voting rights to spend any time going after cannabis users. I just saw Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer saying they were gonna go after the recreational market.

What gives?

—Khan Phused Welcome to the Trump administration! No one knows what is going to happen; they will probably say something completely different next week. This administration seems to be allergic to facts.

Spicer tried to tie legal cannabis use to the rise in deaths from opiate use, stating “When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming around so many states … the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people.” Spicer has apparently chosen to disregard studies showing that states that allow either medical or recreational use have seen a 25 percent decrease in cannabis opiate related overdoses. The old “cannabis is a gateway drug to heroin” story has been debunked time and time again; just last week, under pressure from Americans for Safe Access, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website removed a document filled with such myths.

Spicer’s statement shows either incompetence, ignorance or both.

And don’t get me started on his hypocritical “transgender rights should be left to the states, but weed is a federal issue” bullshit.

As to what could happen, who knows? If President Donald Trump’s regime is really interested in going after the recreational market, it faces an extremely difficult battle. California, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Nevada, Colorado, Maine and Alaska all allow for recreational adult use of cannabis. Is the DEA really ready to go after legitimate business owners in eight different states? Think about how many rich whites dudes have recently gotten involved in the legal cannabis game.

You really think the DEA is gonna try and put rich people into all these private prisons? Probably not.

Also, if the plan is to go after recreational use while leaving the medical cannabis alone, California is good to go. We’ve had medical marijuana laws on the books since 1996. The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act is well on its way to creating robust and comprehensive regulations.

Plus, the California Legislature may even help us out. One of the 44 cannabis related bills introduced this session is Assembly Bill 1578, which would “prohibit a state or local agency from using resources to assist a federal agency to investigate, detain, detect, report or arrest a person for commercial or noncommercial marijuana or medical cannabis activity that is authorized by law in the State of California.”

You are reading that correctly: Some California lawmakers want to keep local law enforcement from snitching to the feds. Gotta love it. Call your representatives and tell them to support AB 1578.

The California cannabis industry has faced bigger battles. Weed is way more popular than Trump, and Califonia is still full of outlaws. We will be fine. Ω

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At least one Sacramento-based company is trying to edge its way onto the family dinner table. Tyrone Jones Medicated BBQ Sauce ($30 per 8-ounce bottle) is the flagship product from Jones and his eponymous company, although the website promises an olive oil and a steak sauce in the future. Supposedly, the sauce pairs best with barbecue chicken and ribs, but lacking the necessary foodstuffs, we settled for a finger sample.

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FRee will aStRology

by John Flynn

by Rob bRezsny

FOR THE WEEk OF MARCH 2, 2017 ARIES (March 21-April 19): I predict that you

will have earned the title of Master Composter no later than March 26. Not necessarily because you will have packed your food scraps, wilted flowers, coffee grounds and shredded newspapers in, say, a deluxe dual-chamber tumbling compost bin. But, rather, because you will have dealt efficiently with the rotting emotions, tattered habits, decrepit melodramas and trivial nonsense that has accumulated; you will have worked hard to transform all that crap into metaphorical fertilizer for your future growth.

Time to get started!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It’s a good time

for you to wield your emotional intelligence with leadership and flair. The people you care about need more of your sensitive influence. Any posse or tribe you’re part of will benefit from your thoughtful intervention. So get out there and build up the group morale, Taurus. Assert your healing ideals with panache. Tamp down the insidious power of peer pressure and fashionable nonsense. You have a mandate to wake up sleepy allies and activate the dormant potential of collective efforts.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): If you were ever in

your life going to be awarded an honorary Ph.D. from a top university, it would happen in the next few weeks. If there were even a remote possibility that you would someday be given one of those MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grants, now would be the time. Likewise if you had any hopes of being selected as one of “The World’s Sexiest Chameleons” or “The Fastest, Sweetest Talkers on Earth” or “The Planet’s Most Virtuoso Vacillators,” the moment has arrived. And even if none of those things happen, I’m still pretty sure that your reputation and status will be on the rise.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You’re wandering

into places you’ve always thought you should be wary of or skeptical about. Good for you! As long as you protect your innocence, I encourage you to keep exploring. To my delight, you have also been fantasizing about accomplishments that used to be off-limits. Again, I say: Good for you!

As long as you don’t overreach, I invite you to dream boldly, even brazenly. And since you seem to be in the mood for big thinking, here are other revolutionary activities to consider: dissolving nonessential wishes; transcending shrunken expectations; escaping the boring past; busting irrelevant taboos.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I did a good job of raising my daughter. She turned out to be a thoughtful, intelligent adult with high integrity and interesting skills.

But I’m not sure my parenting would have been as effective if I’d had more kids. I discussed this issue with Nathan, a guy I know. His six offspring are all grown up, too. “How did you do it?” I asked him.

“Having just one child was a challenging job for me.” “I’ll tell you my secret,” Nathan told me. “I’m a bad father. I didn’t work very hard on raising my kids. And now they never let me forget it.” In the coming weeks and months, Leo, I recommend that you pursue my approach in your chosen field, not Nathan’s. Aim for high-quality intensity rather than scattershot quantity.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In her poem “Not

Anyone Who Says,” Virgo writer Mary Oliver looks down on people who declare, “I’m going to be careful and smart in matters of love.” She disparages the passion of anyone who asserts, “I’m going to choose slowly.” Instead she champions those who are “chosen by something invisible and powerful and uncontrollable and beautiful and possibly even unsuitable.” Here’s my response: Her preferred formula sounds glamorous and dramatic and romantic—especially the powerful and beautiful part. But in practice it rarely works out well—maybe just 10 percent of the time—mostly because of the uncontrollable and unsuitable part. And now is not one of those times for you, Virgo. Be careful and smart in matters of love, and choose slowly.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The poet Rainer

Maria Rilke bemoaned the fact that so many of us “squander our sorrows.” Out of self-pity or lazy self-indulgence, we wallow in memories of experiences that didn’t turn out the way we wished they would have. We paralyze ourselves with repetitions of depleting thoughts. Here’s an

alternative to that approach: We could use our sadness and frustrations to transform ourselves.

We could treat them as fuel to motivate our escape from what doesn’t work, to inspire our determination to rise above what demoralizes and demeans us. I mention this, Libra, because now is an excellent time to do exactly that.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): It’s time for the

Bliss Blitz—a new holiday just for you Scorpios.

To celebrate it properly, get as buoyant as you dare; be greedy for euphoria; launch a sacred quest for pleasure. Ah, but here’s the big question: Can you handle this much relief and release? Are you strong enough to open yourself to massive outbreaks of educational delight and natural highs? Some of you may not be prepared.

You may prefer to remain ensconced in your protective sheath of cool cynicism. But if you think you can bear the shock of unprecedented exaltation and jubilation, then go ahead and risk it. Experiment with the unruly happiness of the Bliss Blitz.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In his

book The Horologicon, Mark Forsyth gathered “obscure but necessary” words that he dug out of old dictionaries. One of his discoveries is a perfect fit for you right now. It’s “snudge,” a verb that means to walk around with a pensive look on your face, appearing to be busy or in the midst of productive activity, when in fact you’re just goofing off. I recommend it for two reasons: (1) It’s important for your mental and physical health that you do a lot of nothing; that you bless yourself with a healing supply of refreshing emptiness. (2) It’s important for your mental and physical health that you do this on the sly as much as possible; that you avoid being judged or criticized for it by others.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I wish your

breakfast cereal came in boxes decorated with Matisse and Picasso paintings. I wish songbirds would greet you each morning with sweet tunes.

I wish you’d see that you have more power than you realize. I wish you knew how uniquely beautiful you are. I wish you’d get intoxicated with the small miracles that are happening all around you.

I wish that when you made a bold move to improve your life, everyone greeted it with curiosity and excitement. And I wish you would let your imagination go half-wild with fascinating fantasies during this, the Capricorn wishing season.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “You’re a different human being to everybody you meet,” says novelist Chuck Palahniuk. Now is an excellent time to contemplate the intricacies and implications of that amazing truth—and start taking better advantage of how much freedom it gives you.

Say the following statements out loud and see how they feel: (1) “My identity isn’t as narrowly circumscribed as I think it is.” (2) “I know at least 200 people, so there must be at least 200 facets to my character.” (3) “I am too complicated to be completely comprehended by any one person.” (4) “Consistency is overrated.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Your immediate

future is too good to be true. Or at least that’s what you, with your famous self-doubt, might be inclined to believe if I told you the truth about the favorable developments that are in the works.

Therefore, I have come up with some fake anxieties to keep your worry reflex engaged so it won’t sabotage the real goodies. Beware of dirty limericks and invisible ladders and upside-down rainbows and psychic bunny rabbits. Be on guard against accountants wearing boxing gloves and clowns singing Broadway show tunes in runaway shopping carts and celebrities telling you classified secrets in your dreams.

You can call Rob Brezsny for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope: (900) 950-7700. $1.99 per minute. Must be 18+. Touchtone phone required. Customer service (612) 373-9785. And don’t forget to check out Rob’s website at www.realastrology.com.

Beards and brew Joe Williams customized hot rods for 15 years. Then the recession hit, everyone’s “disposable income dried up,” and his business shuttered. A college-dropout, he found his calling while listening to a podcast featuring Charlie Bamforth, UC Davis’ worldrenowned “Pope of Foam,” who was discussing his research on brewing beer. Inspired, Williams cleaned up his transcripts at community college, enrolled at Davis to study brewing and obtained a master’s degree. Now, thanks to a $2 million grant by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., he’s an endowed brewer, tasked with analyzing the suds that get you drunk.

When did you start brewing beer?

2008-ish. I got into brewing beer at home and really enjoyed it. It’s one of those things that encompasses all of my interests in science, fabrication, history. Any time I want to look at something new, it comes back to beer.

How long have you been growing your beard?

Oh God, I don’t know. My daughter is 10 and she’s never seen me without a beard.

So you had it before you became a brewer, but are beards a thing with brewers?

It turns out it is. I didn’t quite realize when this all happened. But everyone was like, “Oh, he looks like a brewer.” You go to a brewing convention and most people are wearing flannel and beards. We didn’t coordinate. We promise we didn’t.

The flannel does bring a kind of versatile warmth …

Right. You get a little water on it, you don’t feel it right away. It’s kind of absorbent.

There’s some logic to it.

Is your campus brewery different from a commercial brewery?

I can do everything that a commercial brewery can do. Well, most things, but we do it on a much smaller scale. Our brewhouse does about 46-47 gallons’ worth of beer.

It’s probably one of the most advanced small-scale breweries in the world. I look at the analytics a little more, the numbers behind what’s going on. We pride ourselves on being able to produce consistent beers.

If we’re looking at a variable (in quality), we can tell whether it’s from the process or the material or whatever.

Is brewing more complicated than people think?

Oh, absolutely. We’re right next to our research winery on campus. And not

PHOTO BY EVAN DURAN

knocking wine—I drink a fair amount of wine—but when you look at wine, it’s two raw materials: grapes and yeast. In beer, we can talk grain, malted barley is what we use, then we add in hops, and that’s another agricultural product that varies seasonally. People tend to think of it as the lazy man’s beverage, and it’s much more than that.

How much is there to learn?

It can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. I know people who have gotten their Ph.D.s studying one little aspect of dry hopping. It’s fascinating. It’s incredible. Beer’s wonderful.

How does the academic climate of Davis contribute to your studying?

We’re in the food science department. I get chills driving down 80, going, “I get to go to work there today.” It’s incredible.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on all things. I have a number of weaknesses, and the great thing about the university system is areas that I’m weak in, the person next door to me in the lab is probably an expert.

Do anything with local ingredients?

I wish we did. But there’s only so many hours in the day. And it really is just Charlie and I doing the brunt of the work. I’d love to have a hop field. We’ve got that great vineyard right next to us.

I’d love to have a hop plot somewhere, someday.

How’s the momentum in NorCal surrounding the beer scene?

Northern California, with Sierra Nevada, has always been a hub of the craft beer resurgence. It’s really easy to pull on 15, 20 different people and get a really good feel for what the industry’s doing. It’s very brotherly and sisterly. I don’t know what it is that attracts the mellow people (to brewing), but they seem to be low ego.

What type of beers are you working on?

We have undergraduates coming to the end of their winter quarter. It’s quite a bit of fun. We’ve got someone making an altbier, someone making an IPA, a hefeweizen, a Saison, all over the spectrum. They’re just finishing up their last brews and getting them ready for our in-house competition.

We get industry brewers to come in and act as judges and they critique the beers.

The winning beer gets brewed at Sudwerk [Brewing Co.] locally, scaled up on their small 15-barrel system, and gets released to market.

What is your favorite style of beer?

I tend to like a hoppy pilsner or a hoppy pale ale. I like them on the lighter color end. Beer is my job. But I still want to have a beer at the end of the day. And I don’t want to think about what the brewer was thinking when they made it. I don’t want to overanalyze it. I just want a beer. Ω Learn more about UC Davis’ brewing at https://extension.ucdavis.edu/areas-study/brewing.

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