Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore, Anquan Boldin and the rest of the San Francisco 49ers will take the field on Monday Night Football against the division rival St. Louis Rams. Coming off a 22-17 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Niners are currently just out of first place with a 3-2 record.
The Rams have found themselves on a bit of a slide after starting 1-0. After last weekend’s 34-28 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis sits in last place in the NFC West at 1-3. San Francisco is led by Kaepernick’s seven passing touchdowns, 1113 passing yards and 205 rushing yards. The Rams took a huge before week one when their starter Sam Bradford tore his ACL and the news came down that he would miss the entire NFL season. Southern Mississippi product Austin Davis, has stepped up to take the reigns. He has stepped up big, passing for over 300 yards in each of the Rams last two games.
While you enjoy the high octane action on the gridiron, add to the experience by imbibing a beer from San Francisco’s own 21st Amendment Brewery.
Founded by Shaun O’Sullivan and Nico Freccia in 2000, 21st Amendment is a craft brewery that isn’t interested in the status quo. Well-known for canning their beer instead of the usual the usual bottling, 21st Amendment got its name from the famous amendment to the constitution that repealed the 18th amendment and put an end to alcohol prohibition.
When prohibition went into effect, local bars and pubs around the country closed their doors. They were places were people met and exchanged ideas, debated philosophy, politics and shred life experiences. “With the passage of the 21st Amendment, repealing Prohibition, American society began the slow climb back to reclaiming the essence of the neighborhood gathering place,” says O’Sullivan. “In this spirit, we hope to celebrate the culture of the great breweries of old, making unique, hand-crafted beers, great food, and providing a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere that invites conversation, interaction and a sense of community.”
The idea of canning their beer was born from a trip O’Sullivan took to the Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado in 2005. He noticed that Oskar Blues seemed to be doing really well canning all of their offerings. When he returned to the Bay area, he told Freccia about his idea. Initially, Freccia wasn’t on board with the idea. “But, we really looked into all the reasons canned beer is better: light can’t get through and spoil the beer, cans go places where bottles aren’t allowed like beaches, lakes and golf courses.”
O’Sullivan says that cans are perfect for those with an outdoor lifestyle and weigh much less, are cheaper to ship, chill faster and can be recycled easily. “We bought a tiny, two-head can filler and started packaging our beer in the brewpub’s five-hundred square foot brewery.” The first two beers they canned were their IPA and Watermelon. “We then took a page from our friend Pete Slosberg from Pete’s Wicked Ales days and Sam Adams who back in the day brewed their beer at other breweries.” They began brewing at Cold Spring brewery just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota. “In 2008 we started brewing back there and produced 1,000 barrels of beer and this year, 2014, we will produce about 70,000 BBLs, putting us in the top fifty largest craft breweries in America.”
Recently, they ran out of capacity in Cold Spring so the duo decided to finally open their own production brewery in San Leandro, California just across the Bay from their brewpub in San Francisco. “This is a big bold and exciting move for us.” They purchased a German brew house that is being built in Hudson, Wisconsin with an initial overall capacity of 100,000 barrels, and scalable to over 250,000 barrels. “All this will allow us to open new markets, produce exciting new beers, and control our quality even better than ever.”
21st Amendment produces three beers year round:
Brew Free! Or Die IPA
“Like Abe, we believe in freedom. Freedom from the notion that IPAs should only assail you with bitterness. And from the idea that a big, balanced, hoppy beer can’t possibly come in a can. We believe that those who have tasted freedom shall forever brew free.”
Back In Black IPA
“Inspired by Paul Revere’s midnight ride, we rebelled against the British style IPA, embraced the more aggressive American version and then recast it in bold, brave, defiant black. Our Black IPA is a Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of the expected.”
Bitter American Session Ale
“If you’d been rocketed into space against your will, you might be a little bitter too. Bitter American is our long-overdue tribute to unsung, unwitting heroes everywhere. This American session ale packs a lot of hop and malt flavor into a refreshingly lower-alcohol brew, making it the perfect beer to have on hand when you have a little history to make.”
21st Amendment also offers seasonal beer including Hell or High Watermelon Wheat beer, He Said Pumpkin beer, Fireside Chat and Sneak Attack Saison. The limited edition “Insurrection Series” beers are Hop Crisis Imperial IPA, Lower De Boom and Monk’s Blood.
What’s on the horizon for 21st Amendment?
In early 2015, 21st Amendment will open a new, 100,000-square-foot production brewery, tasting room, beer garden, restaurant and event space in the former Kellogg Cereal Factory in San Leandro just across the bay from San Francisco. “The new facility will create more than one-hundred new jobs for those in the area and will be an ideal destination for craft beer aficionados and beer lovers near and far.”
