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| RIP Griz, The Bay Area's Beloved Home-brewing Oracle |
Monday night September 23, 2013 our friend Greg Miller passed away in his sleep. We have lost our beloved Griz.
I remember the first time I met Griz at BrewCraft in San Francisco, CA. I ran out of sanitizer and was getting ready to make some home-brew for a big camping trip. I double parked my VW T2 Leopard Lounge Art Bus out front and ran inside the store. Sitting in the corner in a recliner was Griz, a white bearded, bigger than life character, who owned the place. He saw my Leopard print painted vintage VW Bus and asked me if was friends with Wavy Gravy. He told me a long detailed funny story about how he once partied with Wavy at a big festival and it involved a VW Bus.
I remember the first time I met Griz at BrewCraft in San Francisco, CA. I ran out of sanitizer and was getting ready to make some home-brew for a big camping trip. I double parked my VW T2 Leopard Lounge Art Bus out front and ran inside the store. Sitting in the corner in a recliner was Griz, a white bearded, bigger than life character, who owned the place. He saw my Leopard print painted vintage VW Bus and asked me if was friends with Wavy Gravy. He told me a long detailed funny story about how he once partied with Wavy at a big festival and it involved a VW Bus.
I
asked him all kinds of home brewing questions and he was more than
helpful. His answers were wise in the “Wise
Ass-est” ways. He had a great wealth of
knowledge and a helluva witty, funny guy.
From that moment on we became friends.
For many years, I would visit Brewcraft for my supplies and ingredients’ and consult the Home brewing Oracle Griz. I’d ask him about recipes and told him what I was hoping to make, he would grab a piece of paper and quickly scribble down special recipes for me he thought would make what I was describing. I would trust him, gather the ingredients and those home-brew recipes were some of the best I have ever made.
Griz
was a legend and a foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area Home-brewing community. It was wonderful to see him at State Comp, the California
State Home-brewing Competition at Stern Grove over the years. I had the honor of singing jazz & blues
at several of them. My rendition of, “I’ve
got beer under my skin”, was a classic eye roller.
I
can’t imagine what Brewcraft will be like without our home-brewing Oracle sitting
in the corner. I am just very happy to
have known him and had the opportunity to learn from him. Rest in peace my dear friend. THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU. I love you and will miss you very much. I will brew a nice Porter in your memory.
Great post. He was truly a unique personality and will solely be missed by the homebrew community. Raising a pint in his honor.
ReplyDeleteYes he was, he will be very missed by many. Thanks Andy.
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