Beer aficionados are raising a toast this week to Bill Brand,
veteran East Bay journalist and renowned beer writer. Brand’s widely
read newsletter full of quirky humor, incisive wit, and crucial
information about craft beers was a holy grail for anyone with a love
of the hops. “He was the man,” said Rodger Davis, head brewer at
Berkeley’s Triple Rock Brewery. Brand, 70, died February 20 of injuries
sustained after being hit by a San Francisco streetcar.
“I shed some tears,” said Vic Kralj, proprietor of the Bistro,
Hayward’s “Home of Extreme Beers.” “We will miss him terribly. … He
was a gentleman’s gentleman, in the old sense of the meaning.” Such
gentlemanly-ness extended to his writing, explained Jay. R Brooks,
Marin publisher of the Brookston Beer Bulletin: “He tended to focus on
the positive as opposed to the negative.”
That was certainly the sense this reporter got upon meeting Brand
last summer at the Bistro’s wet hop beer festival. In zipped this elfin
whirlwind: lopsided grin, mustache askew, rumpled, late as usual,
furiously scribbling in his characteristic, upside-down style. When
cornered by enthused fans, however, Brand was all embarrassed fumbling,
as if looking for an escape.
There was more to him than beer. He was an accomplished and generous
reporter at the Oakland Tribune since 1981. He covered
everything from education, to science and technology, astronomy, and
solar power. He also served as night editor and business desk
editor.
“He was my first boss,” recalled Chris Campos, Sunday Editor at the
Contra Costa Times. “He was a top-notch reporter totally
dedicated to journalism and his craft.”
Brand’s dedication showed in other ways. Lisa Wrenn, now the Bay
Area News Group’s assistant managing editor for Features, started under
Brand at the business desk. “He taught me just about everything I ever
knew about newspaper copyediting,” she said. “He very quickly raised my
game.”
Brand was always willing to lend a hand. Brooks says he lent a big
hand to Oakland’s Linden Street Brewery. “They were having trouble with
PG&E and Bill went to PG&E and somehow managed to get their
power turned on.”
“Here was a guy who was intensely competitive,” said Josh Richman,
Oakland Tribune political reporter. “And yet he was a mensch,
the kindest, most easygoing guy in person I have ever met in seventeen
years of journalism.”
Brand is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, a
son-in-law, and two granddaughters. His family asks that donations be
made in his name to the Contra Costa County Food Bank.
