Interview: head brewer Rodger Davis (Triple Rock Brewery)

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Brewers Bay Area

Drake's head brewer Brian Thorson, Blue Palms proprietor Brian Lenzo and Triple Rock head brewer Rodger Davis pose outside Blue Palms.

INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Do you have any mentors?

Obviously Vinnie [Cilurzo]. Vinnie’s a mentor to all. Vinnie taught me to hop a beer. I tried to brew them wrong so many times. He and I had a conversation many years about fresh hopped beers, like freshly picked hops. He said, “What you want to do is a 5:1 ratio. If you’re going to use one pound, use five pounds. If you’re going to use one ounce, use five ounces.” I told him that I wasn’t going to use fresh hops during the boil, only at the end. He said, “Well then you can never use too much.” And I’ve been trying to prove him wrong ever since. And I don’t think I have, because you can add so many hops at the end of fermentation, at the end of your boil, and still have a drinkable beer. You have more aroma, more aroma, more aroma.

Besides Vinnie, obviously Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada comes to mind. As far as mentors, to be honest with you, I’ve gone through the small brewery, to the big brewery, to the small brewery. I would say Bert Boyce. Bert Boyce actually taught me a lot.

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

Most of the time you can see me at home. I have two taps at home. Outside of that, Beer Revolution in Oakland, Toronado, City Beer, Trappist, you know, the good beer bars. And what do I like to drink? I’ll typically drink anything good. A lot of San Diego breweries, when they make it to Northern California, I’ll drink those. I don’t get out that often. Or sour beers. I’m a big sour fan. My wife’s a big sour fan.

What’s the key to successfully pairing food with beer?

That’s really a hard thing for me. I’m a brewer. I make beer. Chefs come in all the time and they’re like, “Hey, I want to pair this with that. What would you do?” “I don’t know.” I honestly don’t know. What I would say is a really good Imperial stout with chocolate. That would probably be my best pairing. Either that or a summer ale with barbecued chicken that’s been marinated with lime juice, cilantro and garlic. Don’t forget garlic. Garlic! Garlic!!

What are your favorite outdoor activities?

My favorite outside activity is hanging out with my wife, on my patio, cause we have two fountains that I built from barrels, that we cut open from beers that I produced. It’s kind of cool. You hit this button and all of the sudden, fountains start going off. They’re from beers, like, “Oh, that’s that apple brandy barrel that I produced.” So that’s kind of cool. But other than that, I like biking.

If you could only drink one more beer, what would be the glass?

Everybody always asks me that question. I don’t know why. If I could only drink one more beer, if I could put the setting in, I would be in West Flanders, not drinking a Cantillon, not drinking a Drie Fonteinen blend, but I’d be sitting there with a bottle of Pliny the Elder, with my wife.

How come?

Because I want to go out hoppy.

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Joshua Lurie

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

Blog Comments

You know, Sean you got a spelling error at the end of page one? It says Continued on nexe page instead of next.

Adam, I’m the person who made the spelling error. Midway down the page, it now reads “next” instead of “nexe.” Thanks.

Very delicious stuff.

My father in law is Roger Davis. OK, not THAT one. Nor the one on “Dark Shadows”, but a cool guy all the same. Thank God for beer.

Cant wait to give TR a try!

I remember when I gave my son his first sip of beer. He hated it. Haha!

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